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Book Marketing and Publishing Tips for Authors–
eZine Issue #115 – March 11, 2020
Publisher: Judith Briles
Practical Publishing Advice and Guidance for Authors
In This Issue
1. April Program … it’s an Audiobook Goldmine
2. Author Tools … Discover Pitchbox
3. AuthorYOU VIP Member Benefit … Meet Casey Demchak
4. Webinar … Hold the date for Card Decks
5. Speaking Unplugged … sell oodles of books moxie via the cash Cow 2-Step and get the super-duper Bonus
6. Hot podcasts for MARCH … Add to your calendar and listen/learn
7. Question of the Week … How do I figure out what sales tax I pay?
8. Book Shepherd "Fun" of the Week … owl says thank you!
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This Week Under The Book Shepherd’s™ Roof
Hello and Good Publishing Day to YOU …
This week is a crowning week for me—as in getting my first—oh my. This afternoon is a close encounter with my dentist and a numbed up mouth. And, my new bulbs that were planted last October are starting to say hello.
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Last weekends all day mini-Extravaganza was a hit for all—plus it was a stellar day outside—so nice that we all ate lunch in the outdoor patio loving the 70 degree weather. Kudos to Nick Zelinger, Julie Bernard, Richard Rieman, Rebecca Finkel, Ron Beach and Pat Comiskey for sharing their sage wisdom. Since the day was so nice, we voted to end an hour early so all could enjoy the outdoors. The final session that I was slated to deliver will be done in a special webinar for just those registered: the Business of Publishing with all the how forms and organizing tips.
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And today, I will be setting up two new webinars. One dedicated to the attendees who were at Saturday’s event and one on creating Deck Cards to augment your book, your expertise, maybe a project that is a gleam in your eyes.
AND, we will make a decision on whether to postpone my Speaking Unplugged until June due to the nasty bug that has affected many events this week. Either way, I’ll get an announcement out to all no later than Friday.
Details HERE: http://bit.ly/Unplugged-Speaking. Treat yourself ... Come … it’s fun and lots of take-aways. Savvy attendees have learned that it’s smart to stay on-site at the hotel. The site is the Embassy Suites DTC North. We usually gather for a let our hair down dinner and bonus time together Friday night. Alumni participants of previous Unpluggeds always get a deep discount. If this is postponed to June 26-27 (back up date), all attendees will be "rolled" over to it.
Have you ever explored the network website where I store all my podcasts? Over 100,000 authors download episodes every month! Here’s a new link to the AuthorU-Your Guide to Book Publishing podcast SHOW page. Tomorrow is a focus on finding and working with a literary agent—Sandra Bond
joins me for a fast hour: discover the "insider’s" quick trick of finding a "like genre" agent to query; why you never "bulk" query an agent; why you should always start with an email. You can select which podcast is for you from over 300 shows … the latest will always be posted on top: http://bit.ly/BookPublishingPodcast
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Add these to your calendar now. Details will all be posted under the Events tab on the website.
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1. March 14 – AuthorYOU Salons
2. March 24 Webinar Creating Fabulous Card Decks that Sell YOU and YOUR Book!
3. March 27-28 – Speaking Unplugged – confirmation of "go-no go" will be made this week. If postponed, new dates will be June 26-27.
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The MARCH Saturday AuthorYOU Salon will be held Saturday, March 14th – if you are an AuthorYOU.org member, join me at my home—we call it Casa Quatar! All start at 8.30 am —we’ve moved the time up by popular demand!
The AuthorYOU Salons—if you are in Colorado—come for coffee or tea … it’s on me. It’s a perfect way to start your Saturday for author savvy and know-how.
Details HERE. https://www.meetup.com/AuthorYOUSalons/events/260321129/
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Want Tips for Authoring and Publishing? Tomorrow on the AuthorU-Your Guide to Book Publishing podcast, editor-in-chief Tom Lutz joins me as we dig into book reviews and author promotion.
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| JOIN the new AuthorYOU …
Renewals were in January for AuthorYOU … if you didn’t, it’s an oh-oh. You have been blocked from the updated benefits and discount codes.
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Stay involved—if you don’t, it’s a publishing boo-boo. AuthorYOU promises its members a lot and delivers more. And wait ‘til you see the bundle of goodies and discounts we are starting to post on the website for Members only. All will be up before the end of the month. Yup, it’s a good idea. Not a paid-up member? JOIN or RENEW AuthorYOU today. Benefits galore.
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| And a heads up—hold the FIRST Saturday of each month for our live event meetings—
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Are you ready to discover The Audiobook Wizard’s Guide to Audiobook
Creation – 2020 Version? It's happening on April 4th
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Things have changed rapidly in the world of audiobooks since Richard Rieman’s award-winning book, The Author’s Guide to Audiobook Creation, (part of Judith Briles’ AuthorYOU Mini-Guide Series), debuted in 2016.
· For the first time last year, half of all Americans over the age of 12 have listened to an audiobook
· There are new major competitors to Amazon’s Audible in the audiobook creation world
· Nonfiction books (History, Biographies, Memoirs) are overtaking many other genres among audiobook
listeners
The Audiobook Wizard, Richard Rieman will share:
· How to Avoid Audiobook Publishing Predators
· When Narrating Your Own Book is the Best Option
· How You Can Cover the Cost of Audiobook Production through Crowdfunding
· How to Use Audible’s new promotional codes to get reviews and boost sales
…and much more.
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About Presenter Richard Rieman
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Richard Rieman, known in Denver as "The Audiobook Wizard," is an acclaimed authority on indie audiobook publishing. He has narrated and produced hundreds of Indie-published audiobooks and is the author of the Global eBook Awards Gold Medal Winner in Writing/Publishing, "The Author’s Guide to Audiobook Creation."
Richard is also an Audible Approved Audiobook Producer (Top 10%), a 2019 Gold Medal National Ben Franklin Independent Book Publishers Assn. (IBPA) Award Winner for Audiobook Nonfiction, and a 5-time winner of the EVVY Award for audiobook narration and production.
When: Saturday, April 4 from 9 to Noon
Where: Denver Women’s Press Club, 1325 Logan St., Denver
Cost: AuthorYOU members: $25 – Nonmembers $35 until March 30th.
Registration increases $10 on March 31.
REGISTER: https://authoru.org/events.html
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2 Author Tools – Discover Pitchbox for IDing Bloggers and Influencers
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It’s a tool for targeted content marketing. How would you like to find the best content for influencers in your niche to share? Bet you would. Discover Pitchbox to search for a specific keyword or hashtag, and go even farther by learning who has shared that specific type of content. If you need to improve on topics for content marketing, then you will love what this nifty tool has to offer. The software is integrated with Moz, Majestic, SEMRush, Ahrefs, and LRT to help you get the best topics from top blogs. Watch the tutorial. https://pitchbox.com/
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Make Fake Emails with Burnermail.io
Burner Mail is a that may bring some sanity to your email stream. Add it as a browser extension to instantly fill forms with fake emails that forward to your real ones. That way you can test out
newsletters or other resources without worrying about exposing your main email address. The free version gives you 5 burner emails that you can manage, swap out and use as needed. I upgraded to the premium subscription ($30 a year) to get unlimited emails and other upgrades.
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VIP AuthorYOU Benefit - Meet Casey Demchak
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Award-winning copywriter and consultant Casey Demchak writes marketing materials that sell books. The marketing message platforms he creates for authors include back cover copy, Amazon descriptions, website sales pages, eblast promotion copy, author bios, and more. Learn more at www.caseydemchak.com.
AuthorYou members will receive a 10% discount on all projects!
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| HOLD the Date: Tuesday, March 24th, 4 p.m. MT - 6 p.m. ET
Join Judith and Rosie Battista for a-rockin' webinar that shows you the why-how-and get it done to create a card deck around your book, your expertise, your speech. Put it on your calendar. Be there—it’s a LIVE show and tell. Yes there will be a replay … but this is an hour with Rosie doing a live demonstration—questions welcomed—there will be few slides.
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| Want to Sell Oodles of Books?
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Join me in Colorado for my 4th Speaking Unplugged slated for March 27-28 – it’s all about creating the Cash Cow 2-Step!
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Would you like to turn the book you have or are creating into a money machine that cements your expertise and authoring success?
Would you like to know how powerful you, your book and experiences are and how they can influence and change others one word at a time?
Would you like to turn your book, your ideas, your mouth into a business that creates a lifestyle woven with travel, fun, global friends and financial success?
If that’s a YES, get yourself to Denver and show up for the 4th annual Speaking Unplugged bootcamp next month. You can with the smart and
savvy strategies, you will reveal in this interactive and fun intensive workshop. With over 35 years of speaking on the platform, Dr. Judith Briles will show you how to become a successful professional speaker … a speaker that will soar your book sales. Since the 80s, speaking has been her #1 way to sell books … over 1,000,000 of them!
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| Hot podcasts slated for this month
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You can always listen in via our websites: www.AuthorYOU.org (click on the On the Air image on the Home page—wait for it to upload. Or
www.TheBookShepherd.com (click on the Resources tab).
March 5 – Marketing Pizzazz & Pop for the New Decade – John Kremer
March 12 – Finding and Working with Literary Agents – Sandra Bond
March 19 – Add-ons for Your Book Promotions - Rebecca Finkel
March 26 – Wellness Tips for Authors - Connie Pshigoda
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Question: How do I figure out what taxes I pay on book sales?
Answer: Start with an online search—what is your state tax? (if any)—that’s one percentage; then check with the county (if you live in one)—is there a county tax for retail sales? Then, verify with the city (if you live in one) if there is an additional tax. Add them up. Where I live in Colorado—I have two that I file/pay for: my state and city that are
noted on a quarterly basis. Sometimes, the filing has "0" –my sales are dependent upon when I’m speaking—otherwise they are from other bookstores who handle all reportings, including Amazon.
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Book Shepherd "Fun" or an "Uh-Oh" of the Week
Love it when I find a fun shorty—a quick smile, a laugh out loud, a sip of tea … and
back to work—perfect. Love this: Stunned Owl Flies into Window and Thanks Family Who Rescues Him—very cool!
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You can pick my brain … minimum time is 30 minutes. If you need one-on-one-time with me, I’m always open for a few minutes to give you some quick input. But, and it’s a BIG BUT, many call and expect far more than a few minutes.
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| Author Friendly Friday this week …
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Join Author Friendly Fridays: a fun, sharing and a dynamic closed group. You can join in the next week. It’s a full hour when you can ask questions—any question. And, I always include a few strategies to get your authoring life ahead of the competition.
It’s for paid subscribers ONLY and we do it on Zoom.
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This is how each call starts: I share a few strategies, tips and tools that attendees can immediately start to use. All share … and ask plenty of questions. They get answers. Definitely an excellent way to start a Friday. Those of you who aren’t participating, you are making a mistake. I love the variety of books and authors who have chosen to participate. What’s also fun, is the energy that can be felt with what everyone is working on. Love it!
Here’s the link to take advantage of it and subscribe: https://thebookshepherd.com/product/author-friendly-fridays-subscription
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Podcast expands to 7 networks … Follow us and learn …
new shows every Thursday.
And, if you have listened, support our podcast and post a review. Thank you!
The AuthorU – Your Guide to Book Publishing podcast is now heard on SEVEN podcast channels. How cool is that? Listeners can tune into the weekly (always new – no repeats) show on:
iTunes - Player FM - Stitcher -
MixCoud - Bluburry - iHeart Radio - Toginet Internet Radio
Get the latest #AuthorU-Your Guide to #Book #Publishing #podcast with @MyBookShepherd via iTunes here: http://bit.ly/BookPublishingPodcast
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That’s my author and publishing news for today … what’s yours?
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About Judith Briles, The Book Shepherd ™
Book Publishing expert Judith Briles, aka The Book Shepherd has shepherded more than 1,000 authors and created 500 best-sellers and award-winning books. She knows publishing inside and out from both the traditional and independent sides. Judith is an advocate for authors within her blogs, podcasts and speaking engagements. What’s her pet peeve? Two words: publishing predators.
She hosts the podcast AuthorU-Your Guide to Book Publishing that generates over 100,000 downloads a month. Her website is www.TheBookShepherd, email: JudithBriles.com and phone: 303-885-2207.
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