Lessons from Traveling

Welcome back to the blog, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'll be talking about the lessons I've learned from doing a TON of traveling. From my author job to my other job (not telling you what that is), I had to figure out how to be fully mobile so I could keep things running as smoothly as possible when I'm away from my home computer. I'm gonna share how I accomplish it with all of you. I know, I'm a peach. :)

Without further ado... Grab that coffee and a notebook because here we gooooooo!

Lesson 1:

Know where you're going and what you'll have access to while you're there.

This one was hard for me because I'm used to having the programs, wifi, and power supplies I need when I need them. Having things like Photoshop at my fingertips allows me to do my job in a streamlined way, but I can't haul my laptop and monitor everywhere I go. It's not economical, and my laptop is a beast of a machine. It's super heavy and is a bit of a power hog.

I discovered that you can't do everything on an iPad that you can do on a laptop, so I adjusted. We'll get into what I do to avoid these things at the end so you can focus on the issues and not the solutions. Onward!

Lesson 2:

Understand space limitations.

I thought I'd have just a little room to do the things I needed to do on the airplane. That just wasn't the case. You also probably won't need your whole purse. Take what's vital.

Lesson 3:

Books are heavy and take more space than you think. 

One is a lot, and more than one pushes your limits unless you're a body builder or have wheels (even then, you have to lift for the overhead). Along with everything else I had to take with me, I discovered I needed to have the husband help me lift my bag when I took more than one.

Lesson 4:

Clothes are overrated.

Sure, you need enough to get you through the days you'll be gone, but more than that, and you're just flexing.

Lesson 5:

Cute Airpod cases are crap.

From having them come apart and flip open to scatter my beloved Airpods to the wind to having them randomly stop sticking to the case, I've been through some stuff.

Lesson 6:

You'll need a business card at the exact moment you aren't carrying one.

This happens to me every time I travel, and I always promise myself I'll stick a few in my wallet. hahaha No. I don't. 

Lesson 7:

You won't be able to do the thing when you need to.

I thought I could handle everything I needed to while I was on the go, but I quickly realized there are some things I can't do remotely.

Solutions:

• Assure you have plenty of outlets where you're staying so when your devices decide to die on you, there's a plug nearby.
• Get cases with keyboards attached. Yes, they're heavier, but if you're used to typing on a keyboard, you'll struggle with a screen.
• Pack light if you have access to a washer and dryer. You don't need ten outfits for a five-day trip.
• Check the website to see if you have wifi. This has tripped me up more than once, and I end up using my phone as a hot spot. Yuck.
• Find apps that easily do the things you're used to doing on your desktop for the iPad (if this is how you roll--I do highly suggest getting at least a small iPad for travel).
• Get a robust Airpod case that clicks closed and hooks onto things.
• One book will do ya. If you truly need more, go digital.
• Be better than I am, and add those business cards or bookmarks to your wallet (or get a digital one). That way, when someone asks, you have it on hand.
• Airplanes are best suited for phone use and not typing on a keyboard. Find a way to work from your phone when in the air. Your elbows will thank me, and your seatmates will thank me, too!
• Work ahead. Do as much as you can before you leave, and use automation to keep things running while you're away. That way, all you have to do is monitor everything.
  

There ya go. These are the hard-won lessons I learned from traveling with my stuff. As you may know, I'm about to move states, and when I say we're back and forth between the new place and home a lot, it's an understatement. We're here as much as we're there, and I haven't moved all my work stuff yet. ha. Ugh.

My usual packing list:

• iPad with keyboard case
• Pen and small pad of paper
• One book
• Batteries or backups for things that need them
• Medications
• Phone
• Small wallet with ID and one credit card 

All that goes in a very small backpack, and then I put clothes for exactly the number of days I'll be gone plus one, my overnight bag with shampoo and such in it, and my chargers into a small suitcase. It's changed my life for the better. I no longer worry about my bag getting lost because chargers and clothes are easy to replace, and I can work and have my meds either way because of the backpack.

I hope you got something out of the post for today! Can you think of anything I missed? If so, drop me a comment and let me know! Thanks for reading and being awesome. :)

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Book Marketing

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I hope you're all adjusting better than I am to the time change. I could've slept another six hours or so today. Haha. So, we'll be talking about book marketing, scams, and what NOT to do. I saw a very timely post on Facebook the other day where someone was talking about getting taken advantage of, and I thought it might be a good topic for a post. Now, here we are!

If you're ready to dive in, grab your drink and get comfy. Let's rock and roll!

I think we'll start with what NOT to do when marketing your books. 

My top nine:

1. Don't throw spaghetti. This means don't just toss everything at the wall and hope something sticks. Do your homework, track things, and know where your efforts will pay off before diving in.
2. Don't hire an expert who's never marketed your genre. Self explanatory, no? Readers of different genres enjoy different things outside the book world. Your expert should know where to find them.
3. Don't spend all your free time marketing. Break it up, or you'll experience burnout. You won't even have the will to write any longer. It will destroy you. 
4. Don't pay for courses unless you've fully vetted the person giving them AND they write in your genre (see #2). Assure you've checked their sales ranks (now and past), and see if they give you a glimpse into their method before you pay.
5. Don't expect friends and family to share or help you. If they do, that's great, but nothing will kill your vibe/love for your friends and family faster than them not living up to your expectations. Maybe they meant to and didn't, but that's neither here nor there. Just no.
6. Don't try to do everything yourself. Whether this means hiring someone or finding automated tools to help you along the way, you're one person, and a well-marketed book needs many.
7. Don't quit. It can be daunting when you've spent hours and hours doing research on keywords, posting online, and running mail campaigns only to get one sale. I get it, I do, but don't quit. If you quit, there's no way you'll succeed.
8. Don't hire anyone without a contract in place. Ever. This protects you AND them, and it should have a clause stating that they're not eligible for any of your profits from the sale of your books.
9. Don't talk about hot-button topics in public. Just don't. Sure, you may win some folks over now, but the ones who leave will never come back. Maybe just be a good person in general. *gasp* Oh my gosh! Yeah, it's possible.
   

Now that you know the don'ts, what are the dos? 

Easily, they're the opposite of the don'ts. If we go a little deeper...

Every marketing person isn't the same, so be sure you're checking out who you hire. If you have a PA, then you should be meeting with that person at least once a week to go over numbers. Make sure they're doing what you pay them to do, and assure their role was outlined from day one (contracts). At that point, you're an overseer as well as a doer. If they can't operate independently, you should hire someone new.

Make sure you get along with the person. I cannot stress how important this is. You'll have to work with them weekly, so you better enjoy his or her personality. They need to own up when they make mistakes and be prepared to apologize, with a plan on how to do it better moving forward. We all screw up, but when you're paying someone to do a job, that's your time and money, and you're owed a resolution.

In today's landscape, you may also consider your alignments. Be on the same page. You don't need bad blood down the road because you have differences of opinions.

Not least on this chatty list at the bottom: Be careful. There are crazy people out there. You're a public figure. Maybe you write under a pen name, but if you do, and you write things that may be considered taboo, do your level best to protect your anonymity. Maybe you're not that popular, and you think you'll be okay. No. Protect yourself as you can.

Do you guys have any tips to add to either of these lists? I'd love your feedback! Drop me a note below.

I hope you enjoyed this post and that it helped you (even if just a little). Be sure and come on back Friday. We'll be digging into yet another AI model. :)

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

An Author and Reader Guide to StoryOrigin - Part One - Signing Up with SO and Integrating Mailing Lists

Hey all! I hope you're doing well and staying out of the way of the mess hitting the fan right now. Today, I'd like to introduce you all to a platform that's been getting a lot of traction called StoryOrigin. I'm not gonna lead in with a bunch of yakkity, so just grab your coffee or tea and let's get going!

*******AS ALWAYS, THERE IS NO COMPENSATION FOR ME TO DO THIS AND NO AFFILIATE LINKS ARE USED****** That being said, know that all opinions are my own, and I'm free to give them. ;)

First off: What is StoryOrigin?

StoryOrigin is a platform for authors to gain new subscribers to their newsletters through group promotions and swaps, give out ARC copies, have a universal book link page, and distribute audio codes. Newsletters are a huge part of most authors' marketing efforts, so you need to know how to make the most out of every tool available!

But there's more! I know, right? StoryOrigin is also a site for readers to find ARC copies and keep up with how they're doing on their reviews.

If you don't have a mailing list and want to use StoryOrigin for some other reason (ARCs, audio code distribution, etc...), this post isn't for you. Scroll to the bottom of this page and find the links to the next parts!

Best of all, right now, it's free, so let's get you enrolled!

There's a lot to go over, but we'll start with signing up, integrating all the mailing list types, and press forward from there. All posts will be listed and linked on all posts for easy navigation.

Start by going to the StoryOrigin homepage:

Click Login in the top right hand corner.
Click Signup! Where it asks if you're new to us. If you've already gotten this far, feel free to skip to the relevant content. :)

Enter Name and Email Stuffs. I'm making dummy accounts that will be deleted once this tutorial is done. If you have an author website, feel free to click to add it. You also need a privacy policy IF you have an email client that requires one, so go ahead and link it.
Next, you'll see a page that looks like this. We're gonna start at kinda the bottom and work our way up.

Go all the way to the bottom and click Author Profiles.

Right now, you have to have a new account to manage more than one profile, but hopefully, this functionality will be available soon. You should see your author name and website (if you added one) listed.
Let's go one higher and click on Integrations. This is where you'll connect your mailing list and a VERY important function of the site.

MAILCHIMP

Click the blue button to integrate and select your provider from the list. I'm going through each one, starting with MAILCHIMP, so if your provider is different, scroll down until you find that instruction. Select Mailchimp from the dropdown and click Authenticate Mailchimp.

Sign in to your Mailchimp account and click Allow.

There you go! All done! You should be taken back to the page on StoryOrigin that shows your Integrations. Your Mailchimp account should be listed like so:

MAILERLITE

On to the next one: MailerLite Click Integrate Email Provider and choose MailerLite from the dropdown. You should see this:

Your API key is found by clicking your name in the top right hand corner on MailerLite, selecting Integrations, then clicking USE next to Developer API. Will look like this:

Copy it. Go back to StoryOrigin and paste the string of letters and numbers in. Click save. MailerLite is now on your list. You should see it back at your Mailing List Integrations page.

ACTIVECAMPAIGN

Now, we'll go on to ActiveCampaign. Click Integrate Email Provider and choose ActiveCampaign from the dropdown. StoryOrigin walks you through this one:

Follow the directions (copyable text on ActiveCampaign is a little difficult to see, but it DOES copy):

and click Save. ActiveCampaign should be added to your Mailing List Integrations page.

AWEBER

Now we're headed to the next one! AWeber! Click Integrate Email Provider. Choose AWeber from the dropdown.

Click Authenticate AWeber, log in to your AWeber account, click Allow Access, and it should appear on your Mailing List Integrations page (I couldn't do this one because they want a credit card up front).

CONVERTKIT

But we're moving on to ConvertKit! Integrate Email Provider. Choose ConvertKit from the dropdown.

Click on the hyperlink: Click here in the text. It will bring you to the page shown below. You can also get there by logging into ConvertKit, choosing Account, then Account Info. The arrows show where the info is on the page. You have to click SHOW to get the API Secret.

Click save, and ConvertKit will be added to your Mailing List Integrations page. And that's it! Super easy to add your mailing list(s)!

Next time, we'll go over the next two tabs up: Subscribers and Posted Mailing Lists.

Links to all other posts in this series will go below this line (I'll add them as they're completed).
Part Two - Subscribers and Posted Mailing Lists

Thanks for reading, and remember to WRITE ON!

Jo

How to: Make a Sound Marketing Plan

Happy Monday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'm going to talk about that thing we all hate the most (besides blurb writing), marketing. Scary word, eh? It's not when you get into the nuts and bolts of it all. Why? I'll tell you below. So, grab your drink of choice (yes, it's too early for those drinks), and let's get going!

Let's begin with timing.
I always hear folks asking when the best time is to start marketing. Ideally, it's a year out, but who writes a book and waits a year to publish it nowadays? Not me.
You can start six months out, three months out, or one month out, depending on what kind of traffic you're wanting to get.
A six month plan would include teasers and things being shared that far out first. Get people excited about the release so they're foaming at the mouth by the time the book hits the shelves.
My last successful Facebook event, and my bestselling book on release, was planned six months before the book went live. I had over 1k attendees, and a ton of interaction leading up to the release day. It was a LOT of work, but the results were well worth it.
Will I ever start that far out again? I'm not sure. I think a lot of folks were weary of hearing about the book by the time it went live. Do what works best for you. You'll have to test things, play around with dates, and dive in head-first if you want to see results. A failure is just a learning opportunity, after all.

ARC reviewers.
Start looking for them at least three months out, and deliver the book at least a month (some prefer two) ahead of time. They need those hours to get your book read. Why? Well, they have lives, too.
A gentle reminder sent two weeks out is best for getting follow-through.
Sign up more of these than you need reviews. Not everyone will do what they say.
Protect yourself! I give some handy hints on how to nail a pirate here.

Finding your audience.
Let's be honest, my horror and thriller books have a MUCH different audience than my historical fiction or fantasy novels. While some may cross over, chances are most of them won't. I've found my target thriller audience, and I love them to pieces. None of them read other genres. So, where the folks who read erotica hang out, you likely won't have good luck with a gory horror novel.
Where are they hiding? Keep looking. You'll find them!

Cross promotion.
This goes hand-in-hand with the item directly above. Find authors who write in the same genre to do this with. Backmatter inclusions in a YA sci-fi novel of your NA contemporary romance won't do jack. Ask those authors in your genre to also share your stuff on their pages.
RETURN THE FAVOR. Put their previews in YOUR book and share on YOUR page, too. I cannot stress this enough. Be sure and get it all out there a good month in advance.

Now that you have all the things you need to think about, make a list. Start however far out you want, but remember to include tasks and dates for each of the above. Don't rely on social media alone. Go where the readers of your genre are and interact (organically--not just "buy my book" posts).

A sound marketing plan might look like this (you should've already found your readers by this point):
24 Weeks out -

• Schedule author interviews with blogs
• Start posting to social media about what's coming
• Blog about writing the book
• Schedule Facebook party 
• Make a landing page for the book on your website

16 Weeks out -

• Finalize list of bloggers willing to help (yeah, they schedule way ahead of time)
• Add the book to Goodreads with a release date
• Find ARC reviewers

8 Weeks out -

• Have cover designed
• Order swag and vehicle imagery (I drive around ATL with huge magnets on my car)
• Contact radio station and local papers
• Contact authors in your genre willing to swap materials

6 Weeks out -

• Send book to ARC reviewers
• Send book to editor
• Schedule other marketing venues (I love NetGalley)

4 Weeks out -

• Prep posts and send HTML to bloggers
• Get book formatted and print book ready to upload

and so on.

Keep up with this stuff in something like Asana, so you get emails to remind you what's about to happen or what needs doing. I wrote a post on navigating that platform here.

What do you think? Have anything to add? Questions?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Book Landing Pages Spare You Headaches and Irritated Bloggers

Happy Monday, everyone! So, today's post is because I've seen a number of bloggers over the weekend talking about last minute postings showing up in their email inboxes and how it annoys the crap out of them. When given less than a day to put up a post and make it pretty, giving it to them 24-48 hours ahead of time just isn't kosher. It chains them to their blogs and email inboxes. Worse, they may simply not see it in time.

Guess what?

You just missed out. Plus, you managed to annoy bloggers that are working for free and only trying to help.

As I've always said, make it EASY for people to share your stuff. This isn't hard.

So, to help you help them, today is all about book landing pages. Get those pencils ready, and let's get going!

A book landing page is any page that showcases your book and provides buy links. It can be a page on your website or blog, but it needs to focus on just that one book. Make it pretty, and make sure there's not a lot of visual confusion.

Here are some examples of landing pages:

This is from the Frayed Fairy Tales website.

This one is from Alessandra Torre's site.

And this one is from Geneva Lee's site.

As you can see, the things all these pages have in common are buy links, book covers, and info. There's not a whole lot there because there doesn't need to be. Keep it simple. If you do a web search for "book landing page," you'll get a ton of generic ideas on layout and such.

When you're making your HTML to send to your bloggers, send them the link to that page on your blog or website (shortened with bit.ly so you can track the clicks) instead of waiting for a purchase link.

On release day, go update your site BEFORE time for those posts to go live. It's so much easier to update one website than a ton of blog posts.

Save yourself time and emails, and save your bloggers the stress of rushing. They'll thank you and be much more likely to share your stuff in the future.

I'm just going to add my own little note to go along with the above. I feel like it's important.

When a blogger shares your release stuff, go to the blog and type out a quick thank you. This goes for shares on social media, too. It takes time, YES, but it's worth it. They work hard, and they don't get paid for what they do. Show that you appreciate them. It matters.

Okay, off my soapbox for today.

Anything to add?

Well, that's all for this edition, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

PA vs PR vs MA - What's the Difference and Why it Matters

Happy Friday, everyone! Well, today's post is going to be a long one, so strap in and get ready to go! Today, I'm talking about Personal Assistant vs Public Relations vs Marketing Assistant. Yes, there's a difference, and not a lot of folks know what it is.

Personal Assistant: A secretary or administrative assistant working exclusively for one particular person.
Basically, this person is there to keep you on track, schedule things for you, and remind you when you have something coming. They handle what you can't. Think of a CEO and his secretary. Those are the things this person does for you.
Average cost (for authors): $150 per month 
 
Public Relations: Is the practice of managing the spread of information between an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) and the public. Public relations is the idea of creating coverage for clients for free, rather than marketing or advertising. 
These people are the ones who keep your public image out there. They spread the word that you're a thing and that you have books for sale.
Average cost (for authors): $150 per month

Marketing Assistant: A person who helps to promote and sell products or services, including market research and advertising.
These are the folks who pimp books, do market research to see where/how your book will sell best, and suggest advertising strategies based on their findings.
Average cost (for authors): $500 per month average (could be plus marketing fees for promotions and such as well but may be included--every MA is different)

To sum up:

• If you need someone to keep you on track, organize your life, and help you remember when things are due, you need a PA.
• If you're looking for someone to help you with getting your face/name out there, let you know about opportunities to attend events, etc... then you need a PR firm.
• If you're looking for creative marketing solutions that get you results sales-wise, you want an MA. Most of them focus on your target market, and that's what's important.

No matter which option you go with, what you need to ask yourself (honestly) is: "How much money can I make back in return for my investment?" Pay close attention to your ROI. It's all that matters.

A bonus bit of information:

When you do your own promos, keep track of what works and what doesn't. Use one series as a Guinea pig. Do a promotion on book one and send it to one or two places with links you can track clickthroughs and sales on. Write down how many books you sold throughout that promo. Do the same with book two, and so on and so forth.

Then, when you're ready to release that next book/series, you'll know exactly where to put your hard-earned money.

I hope this post helps you make some decisions. As always, hit me up in the comments with questions or thoughts. Remember to play nice!!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

5 Reasons Authors are Divas

Happy Friday, everyone! Wowzers, what a crazy week, huh? Hope you all have big plans for the weekend and have a ton of fun. Today, I'm gonna talk a little bit about authors. If you're ready, get comfy, grab a cup of Jo, and let's get going!

5 Reasons Authors are Divas!

Number 1

No one ever told us how much marketing we'd have to do when we published our book. Seriously, that shit wasn't laid out there in the beginning. We had no idea we'd need a degree in human psychology and social media interaction to make anything of ourselves in the book world. Now that we've found out, we lament the loss of our writing time. It makes us grouchy on the best of days (no matter how many cups of coffee we imbibe). We're tired, frustrated, and downright pissed off most of the time because we don't have the magic formula, and when we find something that works, it's suddenly inundated with 5k other people doing the exact same thing. What happens then? We have to go back to the drawing board and pray whatever we try next works, and then wash, rinse, and repeat.

Number 2

It's literally all about us. All the time. We have to be our own biggest cheerleaders, and that makes our heads swell whether we want them to or not. When a person spends all day talking about themselves on social media, it's hard to step out of that mindset and remember how to focus on other people. Just know that most of us don't do it intentionally. Narcissism is a byproduct of marketing yourself.

Number 3

When a person sacrifices so much of themselves, both physically and mentally, to accomplish a task with the magnitude of publishing and marketing a book, they feel like they deserve some kind of reward or acknowledgement for all that they gave up to make it work. To put it simply: This shit ain't easy. Authors give up time with their families, time they'd spend on themselves, and even time to pause and eat something, for the cause. Do we want to take the time to go get mani-pedis? Hell yeah we do! But unless the nail person can come to our office and do our toes under the desk as we write (I still haven't figured out how the manicure would even occur--Dragon?), we're shit out of luck. I hear people say there need to be more hours in a day. That statement makes me laugh. We'd still use those hours to write or market. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, and if we're not producing books, or talking about our stuff, we're screwed.

Number 4

We give a lot of stuff away. Why? Because this is what we've been told will make loyal readers. For every few dollars we make, we're probably spending ninety percent of it on giveaways and marketing. Hours are spent setting things up so readers have the most fun at our parties. Then, we find our books on pirate sites, posted by someone we gave an advance review copy to, or we get a one star review from someone we gave several prizes to, only to have them say they'll never read anything by us again. I mean, holy shit, Batman! Do you have any idea what that can do to a non-diva mindset? Yeah... So, we have to hold our heads up and say it doesn't bother us, put on a brave face, and forge ahead. Otherwise, we go down in all-consuming flames of depression and give up.

Number 5

We're tired of hearing how easy it is to write and publish a book. Seriously. So damned tired of it. We're also sick of people shunning us because we're not worldwide bestsellers with a million bucks in the bank. We freaking work hard, and we have to have an attitude about it because we know we've done something all those mouthing bastards who talk about how easy it is haven't done. If they had, they'd never spout all that bullshit to begin with. Rather than berate or negate us or our work, they'd genuflect. Regularly.

Writing is a job. When someone works for themselves, they don't have 9-5 like regular folks. Authors usually work 10-18 hours a day. So do small business owners. Guess why? Yep, because being an author is the same thing as owning a small business.

At this point, are you wondering why we do it? If you are, just know it's because we love what we do. Writing books is what our insides tell us we must keep doing in order to stay sane.

So, if there's a writer in your life, and you wonder why they're so consumed with themselves, take a moment to consider what it is they do every day. Think about what kind of pressure they may be facing. Ask how you can help (if you can), and be sure and tell them what an amazing job you think they're doing. It matters.

Are you an author? Do you know one? What are your thoughts on the above?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

I Suppose You've Noticed

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I hope you're all having a fabulous week so far, and you're raring to go for the weekend. Just two more days now. Today, I'm gonna talk to you all about what's going on and why the blog has been spotty. Ready? Grab your cup of Jo, get comfy, and let's get going!

As you all know, I don't talk about my personal life very often. This will be one of those rare times. You've invested your time and interest in my blog, so I'm gonna be honest for a moment.

And, no, I'm not apologizing. Missing posts when I have so much going on isn't anything I'll ever apologize for.

So, here's the skinny:

First, my health went to hell at the end of May. I've seen so many doctors in the last two months, I'm pretty sure I've earned a badge of some kind. No, I'm not gonna go into what happened or what's going on; just know that it's an ongoing thing, and I'm still trying to find ways to balance stuff. It WILL happen, and I'd love your patience as I figure it out. 2016 can suck it.

Second, I've been doing things offline for the new F5 collaborative project. Days when I can't look at my computer screen to write or blog are spent working on things we need (details will be coming SOON). Speaking of which, if you'd like to help us when we start rolling things out, fill out this awesome Google form! Thank you in advance!



Third, I've been doing a lot of stuff around my house, and my sons have been here visiting. It's time consuming.

I'm still on track to do a lot of things I wanted to do (and committed to do) this year, but I gotta get a handle on my health first. That and my family will always be priority one.

Today's a good day, so I'm able.

Sending you all light and warm wishes on this rainy Wednesday in Georgia. :)

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Tracking Your Universal URL

Happy Friday, everyone! Ohhhhhh, snap! It's weekend time. Hope you all have amazing plans! Today, I'm gonna show you a quick trick to track those links we made a couple weeks back.

So, pull up this post. Go through the steps there, and then come on back here to add a bonus level.

Ready? Great! Get those clicking fingers ready and let's get going.

So, you have a link now that looks a little like this:

http://a-fwd.com/asin=B00HQHF7PI

and will take folks in every country to the correct page on Amazon. Win!

Now, you throw it into the big, wide world that's the Internet, and pray someone clicks it, right?

Wrong.

You're likely taking that link and adding it to the back of books you've written, putting it on your website or blog (or the blogs of others), posting it on Facebook, or Tweeting it to every bird that follows you.

But how the heck can you know which one of those avenues is working?

Easy. You shorten that tiny link with something like bit.ly, that allows you to track all your clicks. You'll know where the clicks came from, and that will help you determine which marketing avenues are doing what.

Start by taking that cute link above and heading over here: https://bitly.com

Sign up for an account and log in, please!

Now, pull up a blank Word document or blank Notepad. Make a couple of headlines:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• In the back of (title of book) [make one of these for each book you have]
• Website
• Blog 
• Anywhere else you may market

Back to bit.ly! On your main page, you'll see a cute little puffer fish up in the top, left hand corner. He looks like this:

Take the link from a-fwd and paste it in the puffer box.

You'll get a pop-up on the right hand side of the screen with a shortened link in it. Looks like this:

Copy that one and paste it under the first headline in your document (Twitter).

Now, go on back to bit.ly. Click the tiny icon that looks like a price tag:

Type in Twitter (title of book) and click the checkbox to create new.

Click apply. Go to the search box at the top of the page and type in Twitter (title of book). You'll get something that looks like this:

Now, see that tag?

Click the text inside the tag:

Voila! You get all the links tagged with that exact title:

Now wash, rinse, and repeat until you have a separate link for each marketing avenue.

You can reuse tags on other shortlinks:
Back of book 1 Mystic Series (for each book you link there)
Website
Blog

Stuff like that. Then, when you want to find all the results on all your bitlinks for your website, you click the tag and poof! You're in the money! Alllll that data at your fingertips!

Yes, it's going to take you a minute to set it all up the first time. But you'll get better, and faster, as you go along!

Did this help? Got questions? Ask 'em!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Marketing: Things I Learned by Working at the Telephone Company

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Today, we're talking about marketing and some things I learned from my time at two different telecommunications companies. Ready? Grab that pen and notebook and let's get going!

I was lying in bed this morning, my brain ticking away, and for some reason yet unknown to me, my brain attacked my past work experiences in the telecommunications industry. Yeah, okay, I was thinking about marketing and how different approaches yielded different results. For reasons of anonymity, I'm going to call them Company A and Company B. In both companies, I was a customer service representative.

Now, I worked for Company A in 2003ish. I had over a month of training before they'd even allow me to get near a real telephone and consumer. What I learned in training was how to provide customer satisfaction, and how to sell, sell, sell.

You see, Company A gauged performance on sales and disclosure. Problem solving was tickled, but we didn't get down and dirty with how to listen and respond to issues the customer was having. No, we were taught how to turn those issues into sales.

What was unique about Company A is how they taught us to approach the pitch. If you called in with an issue about having a prank caller, I would offer you XYZ product that would allow you to see who was calling and block them or offer you a number change (for a fee, of course).

When a customer called in wanting a cell phone, I was to listen and ascertain how fancy that phone offer should be. Was it someone who appreciated all the bells and whistles, wanted something basic, or wanted the latest and best thing on the market so they had a certain level of status socially? I then sold them a product based on their needs/desires.

Even if you called in and didn't want a cell phone, I was told to prompt you for a story about a scary experience where you had a flat or were worried about your teen. Then, in order to soothe your fears, I was to sell you a mobile device.

There were only three hard and fast rules: 

1. Don't piss anyone off (because a satisfied customer tells maybe ten people, but a dissatisfied customer tells anyone who'll listen).
2. Don't lie (that's lawsuit material right there). 
3. Don't hang up on the customer no matter what (see item one).

I worked for Company B in 2006ish. I had nearly three months of training, the last of which was done talking with actual customers while a coach sat nearby to answer questions or provide guidance, before I was allowed "out on my own." I was trained on how to make the customer happy and give accurate information.

Company B rated performance on customer satisfaction, problem solving, and accuracy of information given. Period. We were taught how to make our customers giddy.

This company's unique approach was not in the customer having the latest and greatest gadget or upgrade, but having the plan that was right for their usage. If you didn't sell anything, that was okay. They wanted people paying for exactly what they needed and no more.

Why? They were looking at it from a retention perspective.

You see, customers aren't profitable for at least two years. If you can't keep your customer around, you lose oodles of money. So, it was still needs based, but it wasn't about the upsell.

I was told to examine every customer's account and make sure they had the plan that worked best for how they used their phones. If that meant removing a product, then so be it. When you hung up, you knew Company B had your back and wasn't trying to price gouge you.

There were only two hard and fast rules:

1. Listen closely and provide the best customer service possible.
2. Don't get belligerent or hang up on the customer no matter what.

How does this pertain to book sales?

I'm getting there! Hang with me.

What hit me after I had a little while of contemplation was: Both companies were after customer satisfaction, but one focused on sales while the other focused on retention. Each method worked (they're both huge companies), but the difference in the people working there was astronomical.

At Company A, everyone in the office was on some kind of antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication.
At Company B, everyone was genuinely happy. Every single day.

So, here's what I'm getting at with my lengthy retelling:
If you create a novel that's well written, well edited, and tells a great story, you'll be able to sell it because the level of reader satisfaction rises. Those readers will keep coming back because they know you'll produce a great product and you care about their experience.

But you have to market according to why those readers need to read your book.

Marketing and selling are just phase one. Reader satisfaction is the biggest chunk of pie imaginable. So, focus on the reader and writing a book you know will bring them back for more, and you'll be selling oodles of novels in a short amount of time.

My question for you today is: Why does a reader need to read your book? Give me your best pitch in the comments!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

How Many Books Should I Bring to XxX Author Event?

Happy Tuesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, we're going to address a question that gets asked allll the time:

How many books should I bring to this author event?

Well, I have an answer for you that works with every author event you'll ever attend. So, get your clicking fingers ready and let's get going!

An author event is a lot like a trade show. There will be people buying, browsing, and selling. For this calculation, you'll need numbers. Most of the time, if you look around or ask, someone will be more than happy to share ticket sales numbers in order to help you out.

You should bring books based on the number of people at the event. If you're afraid you'll run out, do a pre-order form for folks who'll be attending so you can guarantee you'll have copies for those who are interested.

But how many, right?

I'm getting there.

Besides your pre-orders, you should bring 1% of the total number of bodies coming through the doors, and you should bring twice that many of any new release you might have.

Let's go through my books and use a number of 1,200, and we'll assume it's a conference for readers and authors of young adult and new adult.

1% of 1,200 is 12. So, I'd want 12 each of my YA and NA titles, and 24 of any new release (which I don't have right now).

Will I sell them all?

No. But I'll have enough on hand. For older works, I usually cut it to .5% of the number.

Here's a rundown:
I, Zombie - 12 (it sells reallllly well)
M -12
The Bird - 6
Mystic - 6 each of the smaller, individual books (novellas). Total would be 30.
Markaza - 12
Mystic collection (5 in 1) - 6
Fractured Glass - 12
The Indie Author's Guide - 6

So, in total, for a YA/NA conference, I'd have 96 books on hand. If there will be adult readers, too, I'd bring this in addition:
Yassa - 6

That makes it 102. No way do I sell all these, but 1% is a good rule of thumb to follow (business wise).

That was about how many I took to the last conference I was at, and I only brought home 40 books.

I know that seems like a lot to have afterward, but I sold 62, which comes out to around 5% of the total number of people attending. That's realllly good, and I didn't have to turn anyone away without a novel in hand.

I could probably have taken half that many, and I wouldn't have had so many to cart back home, but I always go big. *shrugs* At least I have giveaway books on hand! I was able to donate a number of them to a hospital recently, so that made it all better!

There you have it. I hope that clears up some questions. 

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Creating a Universal URL for Your Book on Amazon

Happy Friday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'm going to show you how to create a URL that will prevent you from having to list all the sites on Amazon where your book can be bought, but will take potential buyers right to your book no matter where they live. How amazing is that?

Ready? Grab a cup of Jo and let's get going!

There are a few steps to this, so hang with me.

First, let's go get the ASIN for your e-book (if you already know how to do this, feel free to skip down).

Navigate to your book on Amazon (however you get there) and make sure you're on the Kindle version. Like so:

Now, go to the nav bar and copy the link you see there.

Paste into something like Word or Notepad so you can select a small portion of the text (I'm using Notepad here):

Select anything between .com/ and dp and delete it:

Now, select anything after / and delete that, too:

You now have the basic Amazon URL for your book. Like so:

But we want the ASIN! See that last letter and number string? This one:

Select it. That's your novel's universal ASIN. It's the same on every Amazon store. Hit Ctrl+C to copy it.

Now, go to A-FWD here. You should see this:

Go to the box marked GLOBAL ASIN. Click in it and hit Ctrl+V to paste.

Now scroll down and copy the link that's been created! You never have to post a billion links for your book if you want to reach international audiences. BOOM!

Easy peasy. You can use that link in all your marketing forevermore.

Did you know about this? Does it help?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo