Selling to libraries is a lucrative market, you can sell a lot of books and become well known. You first have to approach the library market. Below are some tips to help you get ahead if you are interested in going this route.

Get reviews from trade journals.  Most libraries make their purchasing decisions based on the reviews of major trade journals—Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, School Library Journal, Kirkus, and Foreword Magazine.  It is important to be sure your book is reviewed in those publications. Your best bet is to send a bound galley (not a finished book) to these publications at least five months before your publication date and before your book is actually ready to be available to bookstores, Amazon, etc.

Do you have an audio book?  If you have an audio version of your book, you may have an easier time getting in.  The audio review section of Library Journal, for example, is easier to get into than the print section. If you also have a printed version of your book, you can make the librarians aware of your printed book if they notice your audio title first. 

Customize your website. Add a separate page on your website dedicated completely to libraries. Place any publicity you have received, perhaps some posts or articles geared toward the library market. Be sure to include how to order your book and any reviews!

Have you ever thought about why one book sells better than another? Not all authors can be best sellers, but what sends one book to the front of the store and another to the bargain basement? Below are some interesting facts that can help to answer this question!

1. Non-fiction books sell better than fiction.  People want how-to books; they want skills.  Next time you are in a bookstore look at the self help section-the need is growing.

2. Did you know that women buy far more books than men do, almost 75%!  For example, The Chicken Soup for Women series sold 20 million copies out of 68 million for the total series sold. Take advantage of this market and cater to this target audience.

3. Focus your book into a series. if a reader likes your book then having a “brand” that is recognizeable can lead to increased sales. For example, a series works well for children’s books or self-help. Think about the success of Harry Potter.

4. Evolve into products that relate to your book.  Audio books are hot right now and can actually help you sell more books. Think also about seminars, videos or other products that can boost your sales!

Authors of children’s books sometimes don’t spend the necessary time to publicize their book. Many authors of this genre feel that they need to market their books differently from adult novels. While this is somewhat true, there are several different ways to get the word out there about your children’s book. Many of them are easier than you would think!

‘Be’ The Character. If you are set to do any appearances such as a book signings or interviews, consider going as a character in your book. Be creative and pass out bookmarks or flyer’s about your book in character in busy places such as the mall.

Arrange an Event. Consider doing an event geared toward children that is themed with your book. For example if your book features animals, do an event at a zoo. If your book has a backdrop in a park, have an event at a park where children gather. Be creative-children will love this!  

Create An Interactive Website. All authors should have a website and children’s authors should not be any different. Children today are computer savvy. Make your website a place where the story comes alive with characters and interactive features and a place for fans to gather and new readers to learn more about your book!

If you are just starting out or if you are seriously considering self publishing your book, there are questions that you certainly need some answers to. Below are some some of the frequently asked questions.

Can I use Microsoft Word to layout my book?  While Word is a great program, easy to use and available to the masses unfortunately it does not work well with the printing process. The spelling and grammar check does help to create your manuscript but when it is time to layout the book it causes problems. A small change in text or any move that is made in any part of the document can affect the layout throughout the entire document. While it is possible to convert a word document into a PDF document, you can still have the same problems. So what do you do then? If you are interested in designing and laying out your book yourself,  you can invest in a page layout program like Quark or PageMaker. These are fairly expensive programs but not particularly easy for the novice to understand. Our recommendation-have a professional lay out your mauscript-it is worth the money and will give your book the professional look that your book deserves.

What is the difference between self publishing and traditional publishing?  In the traditional publishing process, an author completes a manuscript, submits a a query or proposal, and then submits it to a publishing house. If the publishing house decides to publish the book, they then buy the rights from the writer and pays him or her an advance on royalties. The house puts up the money to design and package the book, prints as many copies of the book as it thinks will sell, markets the book, and finally distributes the finished book to the public.

With self-publishing, the process is a bit different.  The author must provide the funds required to publish the book, and is responsible for marketing and distributing the book or they can hire a publishing company to do this for them. With self-publishing, the author has much greater control over the content of the book, its design and appearance, and where it’s marketed and distributed. The best part is that as an author of a self published book, you own the rights to the book entirely and have the final say in everything.

These are just a few of the questions that authors have about the publishing process, there is alot to learn. Always do your research and weigh your pro’s and cons.

Who doesn’t love giveaways and freebies? By offering free material on your website, you can help to increase your web traffic and thus more potential readers who want to buy your books!

Freebies can take a number of forms, they can range from a a free e-book or possibly a free product with an order.  The best thing is that are no rules about freebies, go with any idea that will work to get your book in front of your target audience.

The next step is letting people know hat the free product is available. There are a number of ways to go about doing this. First, place the free product information prominently on your home web page. Then, include the information in newsletters you send to your customer base. Write and distribute a press release about the free product. So be creative and think og what you can offer your current and potential customers to increase your website traffic!

Any author knows that proper grammar and spelling are crucial to their writing. You may have found yourself asking the question, is this correct? Authors today have the luxury of being able to find the answers to their grammar questions and more right at their fingertips–24-7!  Below are some resources that can help.

Grammar Now: This free site is dedicated to answering grammar and composition questions.

Grammar Search: Search top online grammar, usage and style websites

Modern Language Association of America: The Modern Language Association of America is a not-for-profit membership organization that promotes the study and teaching of language and literature.

This is the probably the most common question that first time authors ask….and the answer is not always easy to answer. There is no ”magic number”. Of course you certainly don’t want to order thousands or even hundreds of books your first time publishing, there is no guarantee on how the book will do and you don’t want to be storing hundreds of books in your basement.

There is nothing worse than printing thousands of books only to find out that there was a typo or an error within the book. If it is your first time publishing your book, it is usually recommended that you start with a couple hundred copies, you can always reprint more down the road if you (hopefully) sell more than anticipated and by doing this it gives you the option to make changes if you desire.

You always have the option to print on demand ( POD) as well. This way you can print your books as each sale comes in, and you won’t need to worry about storage or being financially damaged because you had to invest a large amount of money to print hundreds of copies.

The cover of a book is typically what a potential reader will look at first, and if your design pops and grabs their attention, where do they go next? Most likely, they turn the book over and read the back cover. it is important to take advantage of this opportunity to ’seal the deal’ with the reader and maximize this “captive audience.”

While each genre of books are a little different, below are some basics that can help to draw the reader in and land the sale!

 Author Bio: Always Include a brief bio that establishes your credentials. Readers want to not only know who wrote the book but that they are qualified and have the experience to back up their writing.

Testimonials: Include at least one, if not more, blurbs from big names in your industry. These will be people that your target audience will recognize and respect

Promote You Web Address: You should have a website, so be sure to include your URL prominently. If a potential reader decides not to purchase your book right there in the bookstore, they might visit your site to get more information and then hopefully buy your book online.

You will of course need to write some copy in addition to what is listed above. The copy should be meaningful, so it is important to devote some quality time to transforming a relatively small space into a powerful selling tool. If your front cover and title are clear and compelling enough, then your potential buyer will be heading to the back cover!

In the wonderful world of books, the audio book segment is the fastest growing segment in the book publishing industry with over 40 million audio books being sold in the last year alone. An audio book is a unique opportunity to really touch the reader/listener of a book in a different way than a paperback or hardcover could. In this fast paced world, an audio book is hands-free, and that makes it the book of the future.

Converting your title to an audio book that can be sold as as a package of CDs,a  complete set or as a downloadable audio book is a great way to increase sales.  If you are a first time author recording an audio book is far simpler than the long, drawn-out process of writing, editing and publishing of a book. It costs less to produce (it’s just a CD), and sells for more money… It’s trendy, and getting more popular each year.

There are 300,000 new print-books published each year, and only about 10-20,000 Audio Books. The market is largely untapped and unexplored… Most likely, your book will have a better chance at finding a good niche with the Audio Book odds!

Blogging is a quick and simple way for you to publicize your book and boost sales! if you are new to blogging it is quite easy to do, it is one of the best ways for authors to find an audience and connect with readers. it is a informal yet effective way of communication that inspires trust among your readers and brings new potential readers your way.

The reason a blog can be highly effective  is that people who are interested in your topic seek out your message-they come to you. So you may be wondering, ok sounds great, how do I get started? A blog is very easy to get started..it can be a page in your Web site, or it can be the Web site. Blogger is a free and easy blogging program that can help you to get started. Keep in mind that the main thing that distinguishes a blog from a simple Web site is that a blog is frequently updated with short messages, or posts.  You can update as often as you wish, weekly is recommended. Your posts can be about your book, upcoming events, or just ideas that happen to pop into your head. If your book is about a particular subject, post informative articles.  A successful blog is a full of  ideas, inspiration, perspective, and advice, it is truly a revolutionary tool for authors.