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Book Marketing and Publishing Tips for Authors
Newsletter Issue #273 – March 8, 2023
Practical Publishing Advice and Guidance for Authors
1. Author Tips & Tools ... Free Canva Zoom Background Templates
2. AuthorYOU VIP Member Benefit … Meet Total Printing Systems
3. Webinar The AI Writing Revolution... Register for March
4. Book Publishing Unplugged ... Register for MAR In-Person & Online Unplugged-2 spots left
5. Amazon Bestseller ... Register now for April workshops
6. Replay Webinar for Book Sales ... Create Sizzling Non-Bookstore Sales
7. AuthorYOU Salons … Posted through April
8. Hot podcasts for March … Add to your calendar and listen
9. Question of the Week … Do book covers sell books?
10. Book Shepherd “Fun” of the Week … Window washing cat
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This Week Under The Book Shepherd’s™ Roof
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Today is a celebration of and for women ... hear us roar ... and do we ever. In fact, in my opinion, this should be an everyday cheer.
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Hello and Good Publishing Day to YOU … and
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| My sooooooo jazzed feeling continues. Within one day of The Author’s Walk going live on Amazon, it was labeled as #1 New Release in several categories. The entrance was minding its own business ... no announcement or social meeting pushes ... and then sales started—both for print and eBook editions.
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It’s Happy Book Birthday time that I will be celebrating this year. The Author’s Walk-Finding and Using Your Voice to Create Publishing Success is a different book for me ... not the usual “how to” when dealing with publishing and speaking positioning. It’s the reality check. The armchair encourager. For the writer putting the toe in the possibility of writing a book—or the author who needs to be recharged. The book that readers are telling me, “If only I had this when I first started writing.” It’s up on Amazon https://bit.ly/AuthorsWalk
Are you an Aspiring Author? Do you need a brush up on Book Publishing 101? If yes, then get you to either the Online or the In-Person Book Publishing Unplugged slated for Friday, March 17 for ONLINE participants and Saturday, March 18 for IN-PERSON participants. The IN-PESON is limited to a maximum of 10 participants and held in my offices in Colorado. There are TWO spots left.
Details are on TheBookShepherd.com website under the Experiences tab. Registration link is below.
Congrats to Kathy Schultz writing as Katherine Burlake. Her latest, The Hunt for Raubgold grabbed multiple
bestseller spots this past week—US-Canada-Australia-Austria. It’s a huge WOOT!
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The window is open to particiate at the Barnes & Noble Book Fair April 22 (Colorado Blvd.) and Sunday April 23 (Southlands Mall). If you are selected as a participant, it means you are cross-selling the other authors featured. And that you are inviting your friends and
followers to come to the support. It means you are not just sitting at a table. Not just offering your book. We are, in effect BN Greeters, welcoming people to the store. We greet, steer them to our table, and are happy campers. Of course, the goal is to sell your books. If you are interested, email or call me now.
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On Thursday, March 9, I will be doing a morning session of Ask Judith starting at 11 am MT – come with your questions—I’ll answer them. Get it on your calendar for the second Thursday every other month. at 11 am MT.
Register here: https://bit.ly/ASKJudith
Passcode Judith
Add to your calendar
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On Friday, March 10th, Author Talk Happy Hour featuring Colorado Authors Hall of Fame inductee Jerry Jenkins goes live at 5 pm MT ... it has to be 5 pm somewhere! Jerry has hit the New York Times bestseller list 21 times. He’s the author of over 200 books that have generated over 70 million books sold to date. His Left Behind series has become a classic. Come. Learn from a master storyteller and writer on Friday, March 10th.
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Amazon Bestseller - Registrations are open for my Amazon bestseller workshops... the next session will be in ONLINE in APRIL: 5, 12, 19, 26. Details are on the Experiences tab on TheBookShepherd.com. Get registered now to participate in the next program. All programs are now scheduled for 2023 – a total of five through October
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And on May 3, 10, 17, I will be delivering my new Create and Write Snappy Sassy Sizzling Book Back Cover & Marketing Copy 3-session online workshop. Early bird details here: https://bit.ly/SizzlingCopy
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Have you subscribed to my new YouTube author and publishing tips channel? Always less than three minutes … a new one pops up five days a week, Monday through Friday. Become a subscriber and take a peek—there are already 190 short videos posted: https://bit.ly/Author-PublishingTips
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| And it’s Woof Wednesday ... when you are writing are you thinking of the reader’s five senses as he or she devours your words—your story—your ahas?
Lots of
happenings below. My theme for the year, Be a DOER ... not a dreamer is off to a fast and big start. It’s the perfect few lines to noodle on and infuse yourself with inspiration each Saturday on my new blog
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Have you ever explored the network website where I store all my podcasts? … Holy Moly … over 14 million downloads now of various podcasts since the podcast started six years ago.
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You can select which podcast is for you from over 600 shows … the latest will always be posted on top of the podcast home page: http://bit.ly/BookPublishingPodcast ... it goes directly to the Show Page, where you can view all podcasts at once—just scroll … you’ve got a lot to pick from to expand your learning and how to curve.
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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 8 Animoto Live! in the Afternoon Online, In-Person
2. March 9 Ask Judith Anything webinar
3. March 10 Authors Hall of Famer Jerry Jenkins tells all ... Zoom
4. March 11 AuthorYOU Salons – IN-PERSON & ONLINE - AuthorYOU members only
5. March 14 Webinar: The AI Revolution—Discover how to dominate your genre
6. March 17 Book Publishing Unplugged – ONLINE only
7. March18 Book Publishing Unplugged – IN-PERSON only
8. April 1 1st Saturday AuthorYOU program – TBA
9. April 8 AuthorYOU Salons – IN-PERSON & ONLINE - AuthorYOU members only
10. April 12 Amazon Bestseller Campaign Workshop
11. April 13 Thursdays with
Judith – Questions Authors Walk – ONLINE
12. April 14 Authors Hall of Famer Margaret Coel tells all ... Zoom
13. April 14 Book Marketing Unplugged - Online
14. April 15 Book Marketing Unplugged – Denver
15. April 22 Barnes & Noble – Colorado Blvd
16. April 23 Barnes & Noble - Southlands
17. MAY 3, 10, 17 Create Book Marketing Copy ONLINE
18. MAY 6 1st Saturday AuthorYOU program – TBA
19. MAY 11 Ask Judith Anything webinar
20. MAY 12 Authors Hall of Famer Michael Gear tells all ... Zoom
21. MAY 13 AuthorYOU Salons – IN-PERSON & ONLINE - AuthorYOU members only
22. MAY 19 Social Media Unplugged ONLINE
23. MAY 20 Social Media Unplugged IN-PERSON – Denver
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AuthorYOU members … the March second Saturday AuthorYOU Salon is slated for Saturday, the 11th and is at
the ONLINE time only this month, 7 am to 8.30 MT. Remember, there must be a minimum of five participants outside of me if they are registered by Friday noon, the day before. If not, I will cancel. Info is below … you need to be registered to attend.
https://www.meetup.com/AuthorYOUSalons/
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I love mentoring authors, and their books, and supporting their vision. If you want intense, one-on-one time with me over a several-month period PLUS the ability to call me or email with a quick response, join my Mentor Program. There is 1 spot open —if you want an accelerated six months that deals with your infrastructure; your influence building; your what? … this may be the missing ingredient in your mix.
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Want tips for Authoring, Marketing and Publishing?
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Each month, you will get a variety of topics on our monthly podcast. Never a repeat program … always fresh, listen in. http://bit.ly/BookPublishingPodcast ...Every Tuesday, a new blog is posted. On Wednesdays, a new edition of this newsletter. On Thursdays, a new podcast. SHARE THEM with your author friends.
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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. https://mp.gg/e9d1o
And a heads up—hold the FIRST Saturday of each month for our live event meetings—it’s
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| 1 Author Tools – Canva Zoom Background Templates
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You gotta admit … the folks at Canva are fast. With the world Zooming, Canva has jumped into the
“Background” game.
The Canva site now has a whole category of Zoom
templates for customizing—everything from professionally branded backgrounds to fun ones for virtual happy hours (think the TV show Friends coffee shop, the Golden Girls’ kitchen, families—you name it. Most are free, but some images cost a credit or are only available with the paid Canva accounts. You will need to explore the site.
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| 2 Meet Member Benefit … Total Printing Systems
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Total Printing Systems is committed to pushing technology further, utilizing the strengths of technology, and combining those strengths with over 25 years of experience in the book manufacturing industry. The result of this combination of technology and experience has brought Total Printing Systems to the forefront of the digital book manufacturing industry.
Total Printing Systems does not just refer to you as a customer. We consider every business opportunity a chance to establish a long term partnership. Our goal is loftier at Total Printing Systems than the traditional customer-supplier model in this industry. We want to establish new friendships as well. Our customers become print partners.
Our print partners range from young to well-seasoned, from micro publishers to large fortune 500 companies. Whether you have one title or are an established publisher with tens of thousands of titles, you can have confidence in Total Printing
Systems as a capable, cost-effective, and conscientious candidate for the management of your project.
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| 3 The AI Writing Revolution
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| Discover How to Dominate Your Genre and Industry with Smarter Content
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ChatGPT is a powerful artificial intelligence platform that is quickly becoming popular among developers. Is it a friend ... or a foe to Human Intelligence writers and authors? Or can it be used to enhance and expand what H.I. delivers? It’s time to talk built-in biases and limitations of ChatGPT.
This is a SHOW and TELL webinar.
REGISTER HERE: https://bit.ly/AIRevolutionWebinar
What’s the difference between OpenAI playground and Chat GPT and other resources?
· Lean how to prep ChatGPT with information before you ask it to product output, including using the phrase, "Do you understand?"
· Show how the more detailed the prompt you provide, the better your results are. Learn and use the phrase, "Prompt Engineering."
· How to repurpose what you’ve already created.
· How to flip copy from serious to humorous.
· Discover how to create images – ways to create the ooh and aww and how to avoid the OMG, delete it.
· Tips on adding AI created music to jazz up a blog.
· Tips for ideas for AI to create swag.
For fiction authors ... how about writing a story in the style of a specific author, but a theme that the author is not known for, such as "write a story in the style of Tony Hillerman with a plot of a space cowboy being stranded alone on his ship"? Hmmm.
For nonfiction authors ... how about fast-forwarding your research needs to get instant answers? Or build an outline and mini descriptions for chapters? Hmmm.
REGISTER HERE: https://bit.ly/AIRevolutionWebinar
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| 4 Book Publishing Unplugged - 2
SPOTS LEFT
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ONLINE – Friday, March 17
IN-PERSON – Saturday, March 18
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Calling all Aspiring Authors ... are you ready to take your writing, your manuscript, your book to Publishing Success?
Would you be willing to invest one day to get all the latest publishing and strategy information you need ... information and strategies that will create the Game Plan to be an awesome and seriously successful author? Either Online or In-Person.It’s Book or Bust time
March 17 – on Zoom
March 18 – Judith’s Offices
Experience a full day with Judith ... no pitches, just Judith Briles Book Publishing Unplugged delivering an amazing depth of publishing, authoring, and marketing information that she has derived from her 40 + years in the publishing field and as The Book Shepherd.
Create the bestseller you dream of ... turn into the award-winning and sought after author you aspire to ... get the answers to the questions you have ... all of them. Judith is the master book publishing coach and guide.
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| 5 Can Your Book Be an International Bestseller?
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Yes, it can. Next workshop starts in April …
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Create an Amazon Bestseller Campaign for Your
eBook Online Course in 4 weeks!
There are 23 steps in your journey … a journey where you could pay someone to travel and implement for you … or one where you can roll up your sleeves and learn how to create, implement, and execute. As in DIY.
The Create an Amazon Bestseller Campaign for Your eBook Online course is the later. I will take you through each step during the four weeks. When you complete #17, you are ready to execute your bestseller action plan.
Judith’s goal is for you to have all components for your campaign DONE before your implementation/execution day. All social media tease pushouts done and scheduled before the big day starts.
Your Requirements:
1. 90 minutes of your time online each week via Zoom with Judith Briles. Late Wednesday afternoon will be our start time. This is not a webinar, it’s live, on-line coaching.
2. Social media presence. Thousands would be good but not crucial. You will learn tips and tricks during each session that will have new adds every week.
3. An “I want to be #1 and I can do this attitude” and commitment to do the work during each session and post-work each work.
4. A computer. A free account on either Canva or BookBrush.
Dates: April 5, 12, 19, 26
Times: 4.00 pm to 5.30 pm MT
Judith’s next Amazon Bestseller class begins in February. Four Wednesday afternoons. and are always limited it size. Info here to get registered: https://bit.ly/JanAMZ
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| 6 REPLAY The Buck Starts Here – Create Sizzling Non-Bookstore Sales
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The opportunity for selling books to non-bookstore buyers is twice that for selling through bookstores. And you can sell books non-returnable. In other words, you can double your sales, revenue, and profits—if you know what to do and how to do it.
It’s the secret sauce that authors love.
Replay Here: https://vimeo.com/801221451
- Benefits of selling to non-traditional segments.
- How to prepare for selling in non-bookstore markets.
- Tips for selling into the retail segments.
- How to sell fiction in ways and places you never thought of.
- New ways to sell in large quantities to buyers in corporations, associations and the military.
- Where to find the names of prospective buyers and how to contact them.
To participate, contact Brian Jud at BrianJud@BookMarketing.com
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AuthorYOU Salons … March-April
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Register for the next few months – The Saturday AuthorYou Salon will be ONLINE only starting at 7 to 8.30am MT. AuthorYou members will be emailed the link on Friday. Salons are a Free benefit for VIP AuthorYOU members only.
RULES …
1. You must register for this.
2. If less than 5 people are registered by Noon on the Friday before, event will be canceled. No exceptions.
If you have book marketing, writing, publishing questions, get answers. Or, you just want to schmooze a bit, It’s ONLINE and IN-PERSON on the second
Saturday of each month. You MUST be a paid member of AuthorYOU.org to participate. ONLINE starts at 7 am to 8.30 am MT – IN-PERSON at 9 am MT. Here’s the link to register and getting notices/reminders forward:
Register here: https://www.meetup.com/AuthorYOUSalons/
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Hot podcasts slated for February
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March 2 Special Sales – Brian Jud
March 9 Sensitivity Writing – Barb Wilson
March 16 Book Launches – Amy Ravivhandran
March 23 AI Updates – Greg Jameson
March 30 Audio and Video Storybooks – Richard Rieman
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| Question of the Week ... Will my book cover sell books?
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Answer: According to cover designers, the answer is MAYBE … there are NO GUARANTEES … but there sure are ways to get the odds in your favor. The cover is definitely a draw—the beacon that catches the potential buyer’s eye. For covers, think: less is more. Too many authors clutter up their covers with too, too much—sometimes images; sometimes words.
It’s research time. What are the current books that are selling well displaying? Search Amazon. And, if you can, get to a brick and mortar bookstore. What’s hot? What looks like it’s a trend? Hint—NY books have a “feel/look” to them—fonts, colors, and yes, use of imagery.
Book selling is a competition. Yours should look like it’s in the race.
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Funny
of the Week Love it when I find a fun shorty—a quick smile, a laugh out loud, a learn something new, and a sip of tea … and back to work—perfect. Smile time enjoy— cats are a hoot … this one loves the window washer!
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Get your copy today – it’s my life on steroids … earning a Baker’s Dozen plus ONE in book awards. Now Available in Print, eBook, Audiobook. http://bit.ly/whengodsaysno
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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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This is called a “consult” and I would be delighted to schedule time with you for “just you and your many questions” that need answers. You can book time with me it at: http://bit.ly/JudithCoaching
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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 11 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 eleven podcast channels. How cool is that? Listeners can tune into the weekly (always new – no repeats) show on:
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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 250,000 downloads a month. Her website is www.TheBookShepherd, email: JudithBriles.com and phone: 303-885-2207.
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©2023 Judith Briles - The Book Shepherd™ All Rights Reserved.
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