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Did you know that a successful e-book can easily (and I mean EASILY) outsell even one of the most successful traditional books of the past 15 years?

I’m talking here about millions of dollars — MILLIONS — in a single 12 month period. Think about that.

This video shows why and how you can market your information the same way successful e-book authors do. It dissects the strategies of one e-book publisher who generated more than $22 million in sales in a single year.

Yep, you read that correctly — $22 million in a single year.

It’s been almost one month to the day since my last where I kind of started to touch on this topic. That post caused a bit of a stir both among my current subcribers and with people who were exposed to what we talk about here for the first time.

So, with this video, I think I’m taking it to the next level.

This video comes with one warning: it’s long. Probably the longest video I’ve ever posted here on The Author’s Edge.

But if you can spare 45 minutes, I honestly believe it has the power to change the way you think about books and the publishing industry forever.

Enjoy.

And PLEASE, bookmark this post if you find it useful (links to the most popular services are below) and leave some comments or ask questions in the Comments section.

I want to hear what you think.

 

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A couple days ago I came up with this idea to write a blog post about how authors can and should be thriving, even in an economy that’s as crappy as it is right now.

So I started writing…

And writing…

And writing.

Well, what initially was going to be a 500 word post, or perhaps a piece for Ezinearticles.com or something, turned into what can only be called a “massive missive.”

I’m not going to go on and on about it here — the report is detailed enough. But basically what I set out to prove is that there are some very simple ways for authors to make more money, right now, even in a recession, from stuff you already know.

There’s gold in this report, gang. Pure gold.

Download the PDF of the report here.

And please leave some comments below and let me know what you think. Will this impact your business? Will you take action on it?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I thought I’d start off the week (and the month) with a little bit of a missive. I don’t tend to “write” much here on the blog, preferring instead to post what I hope are useful and instructive videos, audio interviews, etc. But my first love is and always will be the written word. So I’m dusting off my keyboard here to write a few words about something that’s been nagging at me for a while now.

Two things spurred me to write this entry today.

The first…

…was a forum post I happened to stumble on a few weeks back. It was a “writer’s” forum where authors — published and unpublished, it seemed — could share experiences, advice, and just generally converse on what it’s like living the life of a writer.

Somewhere buried in this forum was a discussion about book marketing. This alone made the experience unique, as precious little hard drive space seems to be dedicated to actually selling a book once it has been written.

After a brief exchange related to a particular marketing strategy, one of the authors and forum members piped up to say something along the lines of: “I thought it was the author’s job to write the book, and the publisher’s job to market it.”

The second…

…is Terry Whalin’s great blog post from last week — “Find a Need and Fill it”

Funny thing is, most of Terry’s very informative post isn’t even about this particular topic. But he does touch on it right up front, and that’s what finally got me to put pen to paper here on the blog.

In commenting on a recent Twitter post from Penny Sansevieri, Whalin made a great comment about authors who expect their books to find an audience — to SUCCEED — while at the same time expecting fortune to smile on them through some unique combination of luck, divine intervention, or an Oprah invite.

Here’s the relevant portion of Whalin’s post. Tell me if it doesn’t make perfect sense…

New books are continually entering the marketplace. It is one of those realities of the market which every author needs to know about and acknowledge. There were over 400,000 new books published in 2007 which is a lot of books when you consider the typical big box bookstore only has 10,000 to 15,000 titles.

I was amused to see Internet marketing expert Penny Sansevieri’s tweet about an email from an author who proclaimed, “I don’t need to market my book because people will just find it.” Right. It’s like throwing a party when you don’t send any invitations then wondering why no one came to it. (As a complete aside, I encourage you to sign up for Penny’s free newsletter. Why? To confirm your subscription, you receive a seven-page list of Top Author Marketing Experts Confidential Contacts. A free resource for every author or would-be author.)

With the volume of books coming into the market and places like magazines and newspapers cutting back on their review space, it is increasingly difficult to get readers–and reviews of your books. Here’s where I’m going to with this post: that situation creates an opportunity or a need which you can fill–even if you’ve never been published or are much published. How are you supporting good books that you discover? Are you telling other people about these books (even if you don’t get paid for that proclamation)? It can pay off for you.

Now, far be it for me to come into a discussion like this with guns blazing, but Terry and Penny are exposing a fundamental truth that practically compelled me to start this site in the first place. You’ve probably heard the old saying that “the baker doesn’t know how to run the bakery.” It’s a shame, but in my experience most authors not only don’t know how to market themselves and their books, but THEY DON’T WANT TO.

It’s easy to get caught up in the dream — to rely on the old cliche of the writer toiling in obscurity until the world finally catches on to his or her genius, as if by accident, and elevates them to exalted status.

Here’s the reality IMHO…

No one cares about your book more than you do. Not the publisher, not your publicist, and certainly not the general public.

You have to make them care. After the writing is done, your job isn’t over. It’s just beginning. The real work is in getting people to care about what you’ve written. And that will NEVER happen without some good old-fashioned get-your-hands-dirty marketing. If you wait to be “discovered,” it won’t happen.

What Barack Obama Can Teach Authors

No matter which side of the aisle you happen to be on, no one can argue that Barack Obama was able to engineer one of the most stunning marketing campaigns in recent political history.

But how did Obama’s “movement” start? It started with grassroots campaigning — i.e. MARKETING.

How many speeches to audiences of five, 10 or 20 people in Iowa do you think Obama had to make before he was “discovered” by voters?

Obama’s remarkable fundraising base and much-coveted email list was developed first by grassroots marketing, then by word of mouth, and finally by a brilliant use of technology and social marketing run by none other than Chris Hughes, co-founder of the mega-successful “meet up” site Facebook.

Everything is Marketing

I may be running the risk of rambling here, but I want to make sure my philosophy on all this is clear, as well as why I believe I’m absolutely right on this point.

EVERYTHING IS MARKETING.

Everything.

Authors, bakers and candlestick makers ALL need to market themselves to be successful. Put yourself in your publisher’s shoes. Why would I dedicate limited time and resources to promoting your book if you haven’t first proven to me that you’re going to hold up your end of the bargain?

Prove to me first that you’re willing to work tirelessly to make your book a success. Show me — really SHOW ME — that you’re as dedicated to this process as you tell me you are, and then, maybe, we’ll talk about what I can do for you. Because the bottom line is that no publisher is going to carry you through this process. It’s your book, not theirs. They expect most of the titles they publish to die a quiet death. That’s just the law of averages.

If yours isn’t to be one of those — if yours is going to be one of the ones that breaks out, finds an audience, and beats the odds, it’s going to be 99.9% because of the work YOU did to bring it to the world.

Is it worth it? Is it worth all the work? This may not be how you imagined it would be. The reality is probably not like the dreams you had when you first sat down to write your book.

The question I would ask myself is this: If my book was worth writing, isn’t it worth doing the work required to make sure someone actually reads it? If your goal is to touch as many people as you can with your book, then no amount of effort should ever seem like too much.

This is what it’s all about, guys.

Don’t throw a party and neglect the invitations.

Great interview here today with Dan Janal, the mastermind behind PRLeads.com.

If you want to know how to get the media salivating to write about you and your book, pay close attention to his killer interview.

Enjoy!

BTW — Go check out Dan’s site right here. I think you’re going to want to sign up.

 

 Monsters of Book Marketing - Dan Janal Interview - PRLeads.com: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today we wrap up the “Online Book Marketing Basics” series with part 4.

However, this is NOT the end. Not by a long shot.

This series was intended to give you a solid grounding in understanding how the Internet and search engines work, and to show you some solutions that will help you have far greater success marketing your books online.

But, there’s a LOT more to cover. Don’t worry, I’m not going to leave you hanging and wondering what to do next.

Next week I’ll start posting the next series — think of it as Online Book Marketing 201. But that’s for next week. Make sure you finish up this series first and watch Part 4 below.

Enjoy!

 

 Online Book Marketing - The Basics - Part 4: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Okay, Gang — here’s where we finally start to show you some of the ways around all the obstacles that are stacked against you online.

More to come in Part 4, but for now, dig in…

 

 Online Book Marketing - The Basics - Part 3: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

There’s been some great response on Part 1 of this series, so I’m excited to really start getting into the nitty-gritty with Part 2 today.

This builds on the first video — we talk about what the most popular websites in the world have in common, why Google doesn’t trust you or your site, and begin to talk very briefly about the SOLUTION to all of this.

Hint: The full solution will be coming in parts 3 and 4.

 

 Online Book Marketing - The Basics - Part 2: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I’m excited to launch this new video series today!

I’m calling it “Online Book Marketing - The Basics,” and it’s going to be a very, very extensive video training series on how to market your books online.

I’m posting Part 1 in the series today and will be posting the rest of the series every few days or so over the next several weeks.

This is a truly groundbreaking series for a few reasons. First, for the first time ever it pulls back the curtain that full-time Internet marketers have put up around our strategies and tactics and exposes them to authors.

This is extremely important because most authors HAVE NO CLUE about how to market themselves and their books online. By using the same methods expert Internet marketers use, you’re going to have knowledge that 99% of other authors simply don’t have.

I’ll be writing more about this as I post more lessons in the series, but for now, please take a watch at lesson #1 and really think about what’s being presented here. I think it will change the way you look at online book marketing forever.

Enjoy, and leave some comments below with any question or just to let me know what you think.

 

 Online Book Marketing - The Basics - Part 1: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Monsters of Book Marketing podcast is BACK this week with a very special guest.

In this interview we’ll talk with Brian Jud. Brian is one of the top experts in the entire publishing industry when it comes to things like special sales and premium deals.

Listen up as Brian shares the secrets to how to sell truckloads of books without ever selling a single copy in a bookstore.

This is great stuff and a subject most authors NEVER explore. So listen up…

 

 Monsters of Book Marketing - Brian Jud: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download