Super awesome courses available on Udemy

I'm taking the Chinse conversational course because I want to talk to more people than just my immediate friends. Learn a language, learn to be nice, spread knowledge - use Udemy. https://www.udemy.com/jijizhazhachinese/#/

©2000-2014 Claretta Taylor Pam, Innovative Publishers Media Group & Innovative Publishers. All Rights Reserved

What to do when your book is not selling

You work hard on creating your book. You have gone through each and every aspect of your work to make sure that your book is a success, but still it happens that your book is not selling. A marketing consultant does face questions like What to do when your book is not selling? The answer is not that simple. There could be a problem with marketing or with the content of the book. To improve the condition, you must also try to look at issues with yourself and your work also, and then try to make a proper decision. You just cannot blame the public if your work is not selling. The market never lies. It is not the problem of the public. There are million of books being published each day. Therefore, you need to be assertive and try to work on the issue, rather than blaming people around you.

You must first try to see what kind of market your work holds. You might have written using the best language and best words, but if it appeals to a small group of people, then the selling of your book will be less. Depending on the market size, literary agents measure the success of the book and then they accept the manuscript. Agents cannot give a chance to a book which only appeals to a small mass of people. Agents are well versed with the public and their interests, therefore, they will immediately know how much strength the book holds. Agents usually expect that a book must make a sale of around 10,000 to 20,000 copies in one year. If this possibility is more remote, than the agent will not accept the work.

It is not that the book is not good or the script is weak. But sometimes the subjects are not that powerful to attract the right audience. Therefore, understanding the requirements of the public and then creating a book is the smart thing to do.

Sometimes the first time writer overestimates their work. Even self published authors fail to realize the strength of the book and how appealing the book is. They have created the work with great passion, sincerity and hard work, therefore, they are emotionally overwhelmed and are blinded to realize the true potential of the subject. This stops them from cultivating a practical view and expectations.

The best way to prevent overestimating the readers is to make sure the earning history of other books that deal with the same subject. For example, you could search different bestseller lists, discuss with local bookstore managers, or follow the Amazon rankings and compare the earnings. Every writer desires to be a bestseller, but most books are written from a position that is too little to create bestseller sales.

The other situation is where the book has a huge audience, but still the public does not purchase that much. Writers get perplexed thinking of the reasons as to why their work is getting popular but still there is not much selling of the book. This baffling issue can be associated with different factors, for example, saturated type, poor economy, unappealing title, release of book on wrong time and date, too much cost, unsuitable page count, insufficient marketing, limited to seasonal subject content, etc.

If your subject is interesting and popular, readers will appreciate the content. However, if still the selling of books is not increasing, then you must try to think about the above mentioned factors. Depending on the factors, you must try to make important changes. During such a condition, you will have to invest more money and time in advertising your effort. You must also think about reducing your cost. You must try to re-release the novel at different time and you can also think about changing the title of the book. You must always remember, if your book is not selling, then the problem is with you; therefore, do not make a mistake and blame the public for that.

©2012-2013 Claretta Taylor Pam, Innovative Publishers Media Group & Innovative Publishers. All Rights Reserved

What readers expect from your author website

The use of technology in writing is not a very new thing, nowadays. It has become a necessity. An author is expected to have a website. If you introduce yourself as an author, people will first ask about your web address to see your work and then they will buy your book. Therefore, creating an author website is a mandatory task for a writer.

If you build your website, the work is not done there. You will then have to promote your work and your website. Readers are a somewhat critical crowd. They may have loved your first publication of the book, but maybe after a year when your next book comes you will have to promote it again to get the the audience's attention. Therefore, you just cannot take your readers for granted. You will have to take care of what they expect on your website to make them your loyal readers.

When a reader visits your website, they expect to have some exclusive content on the site. They expect to have some interesting features on your website. There should be some surprising stuff like MP3 players with stories and songs, and entire books. There are authors who give some free gifts to the readers who read the blogs on the website. This way the readers return to your website and purchase the books on your website.

A good author’s website keeps the readers engaged on the site with books and many other things. There should be information on new releases and old book information. The new book release should be advertised in a way that it creates excitement before the book comes to the stores. You can give readers a facility to pre-order the books before they release. A good pre-order sale can be very encouraging for both publisher and writer. It is a sign of the success of the book being released. You can show the amount of your pre-order sales to the readers to promote more sales.

Your website must show the speaking schedules and the location of your appearance. There are many readers who will just visit your website to know about your schedule and appearances. Readers like to know about the author’s schedule, this will increase the appeal of an author as a speaker and you will have a good number of visits to your website.

Book recommendations are the best subject on your website. Many readers like to see the recommendations and explanations and information on the book. By using this program, you will be able to make good sales of your book on your website. Book recommendations are a good profession in itself. You can write the book recommendations on sites like Amazon and can make extra cash out of it.

A good number of fan clubs can be very beneficial. Today, readers want to know more about their favorite authors. They want to create a personal relationship with their authors. They very proudly speak about having a favorite author on the friends list of social media sites. Creating a personal relationship with the fans has become much easier and faster on such sites.

It is not mandatory to know your personal life, but people want to know the person who creates their favorite books. They want to know what the writer likes and dislikes. They are curious about how their favorite writer works and from where he or she gets their inspiration. They want to know what kind of books the writer loves to read and to get a glimpse of your personality through these mediums. This is a very interesting relationship between the readers and the writer. Therefore, you can show your presence on social media sites and give links on your website.

A reader will definitely expect contact information on your website. You can give an email address so that a reader can send feedback about your book. You can personally answer the emails to get a good response from your readers.

©2012-2013 Claretta Taylor Pam, Innovative Publishers Media Group & Innovative Publishers. All Rights Reserved

Tips to build your reputation as a creative Writer

The career of a creative writer cannot remain stable. It is a career where every time you have to prove yourself through the quality of work. This consistent quality work, builds up the good reputation of the writer. It is very simple to start a career in writing. You can write a poem or some article and name yourself a writer. It is very hard to sustain and build a reputation as a writer. It is very important that others name you a writer, rather than yourself. Good or bad, reputation follows the writer everywhere. It is important that creative writers consider the quality of their writing very seriously and understand the requirements of the publishing company, editors, and literary agents. It is difficult to undo a bad reputation. On the contrary it is very easy to build a good reputation.

The complete writing process is filled with perils. The majority of writers experience difficulty when starting to write. They have the central theme of the writing, but are stuck on how to begin. Sometimes, writers argue that the ideas are clear and perfect, but the writing or execution of the idea becomes difficult. The best way is to go step by step. The writer must write slowly each day. The writer must work hard on finding correct words depending on the subject. This is the work of patience and accuracy.

It is very important that the writer must be well-informed. Writers must have a habit of reading frequently. It is quite absurd if a person tells that he or she wants to write but do not get much time to read. Good reading is the key to being a good writer. You must be fond of reading everything. A good habit of reading and writing is very important to cultivate the skill of creating your style of writing.

Social networking sites: like many other fields, the world of writing is also very competitive. There are many good creative writers present. Just word of mouth is not enough to establish oneself as a creative writer. Networking is a very effective way to make oneself known. Participating in writers’ conferences and attending writers’ groups have been very fruitful activities which increase contacts with many useful people in the writing industry. Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter do a very remarkable job of building good connections worldwide. It is a very quick and effective way to get known.

Joining an association of writers is also very advantageous. You can join a professional group of writers, if your work is published. It is a great opportunity to join an association and build up a network of like-minded writers. This provides advantages like getting beneficial links, latest news of the industry, and you can join the discussion in groups.

Creative writing needs powerful imagination. It is very joyous work to do. You start a journey filled with adventures, magical worlds, and many more fantasies which you need to put for sale. You can use personal thoughts, imaginations of childhood, stories and experiences and create a creative work.

It is very hard to sell your work overnight and become rich. Your work will receive admiration from newspapers and editors but in order to earn money your work must get sold. Therefore, the sale of your work is very important. Admiration does help to build up your reputation in the long run, but things should be balanced. You must have good earnings and good admiration. This will help you to be a reputed creative writer along with good earnings. Today, the internet provides all the answers. You can create your own profile online, which will make you known as a writer and people can visit your website and look at your work.

You can publish your poetry, stories, and novels online and receive reviews online. Good reviews will add to your good reputation. You can link your profile to your website so that viewers can easily connect to your work.

©2012-2013 Claretta Taylor Pam, Innovative Publishers Media Group & Innovative Publishers. All Rights Reserved

Protection of book titles

The title is the soul of any book. An effective title can give great success to the author. It can also generate openings for numerous passive income sources from licensing the sale of the book, merchandising, and belongings. The book title should be original. The book title also requires authorization, it requires  ownership and security. If, intentionally or unknowingly, you copy the title from another author, it is a very serious allegation and your reputation can be damaged.

Most commonly, the titles are protected under the laws of trademark, especially the titles of an ongoing series. Chicken Soup for the Soul is a very popular series, and when the name of the series comes in people’s mind, it is from the same author. The unfair competition laws protect such names from getting pirated. Such established series come under the same author’s name and is entitled to publish under the same name. When the series gets established and popular with people, the series writer and publisher can enjoy great success.

Trademark law is here to help the consumers get the right kind of information from the writing market. Depending on the popularity and reviews, the series may be carried forward. The sequel of the movie from the series of the book can be denied or accepted depending on the circumstances. Trademark law gives opportunity to cash in on the commercial management and goodwill of a best selling series book or book title.

The advantages of trademark registration include:

·         Positive notice nationally of the trademark author’s claim.

·         Confirmation of possession of the trademark.

·         Authority of federal courts may be appealed to.

·         Registration can be utilized as a source for getting registration in foreign countries.

·         Registration may be updated with U.S. Customs Service to avoid importation of foreign goods.

While selecting the title of the book, make sure that it is suggestive or arbitrary. You must be careful about the title, as it should not reveal too much of the content, but makes readers intrigued about the book. Suggestive titles are more effective than the too much description titles. Marketing agents like descriptive titles, but such titles do not receive a trademarked level in the market.

Many people believe that book titles tell the complete outline of the story. Depending on the studies done on over 300 popular books in the country, around 75% of booksellers believe that the cover page and a good title are very important in the book. The title must draw the attention of the reader. The disadvantage is that the reader might make an opinion about the book, which could be bad or good. You must try to use an attractive title for the book, which is popular in the market, if you are writing your first book.

You can try the use of numerical records to impress the reader with your book title. You can put proverbs and high quality meaningful words. But do not increase the length of the title far too much.

The book titles of series writing are well protected under trademark law. The single titles of the novel, poem, movie, song, periodical or program is not effectively protected by the unfair competition law. This is one of the idiosyncrasies of trademark law. The law states that “In spite of the true relation of the title to the book,” law handles all single title book as "naturally descriptive" at best and "naturally generic" at worst, except the single title has had “broad range of promotion and tremendous success.”

Famous  names: it is not wrong to use the name of a popular person in a biography, which is produced without the person’s knowledge. But it is illegal in any part of the world to give false facts about that person. It is a violation of the individual’s rights and also a violation of trademark law. False facts and slander claims are wrong practices. A writer could be banned from publishing any further work for this kind of act.

©2012-2013 Claretta Taylor Pam, Innovative Publishers Media Group & Innovative Publishers. All Rights Reserved

Book promotion and podcasts

Book promotion is very vital to market your book. You need to create a network physically and online. It is a job which involves lots of talking and associating with many groups and making friends. You will have to find a literary agent who will promote your book. For that you will have to meet different agents and publishers. After meeting different kinds of agents, when your luck is good, one of them will like your work and accept it. Then there will be a promotion campaign and then it will be accepted and published. It is the most traditional and long way to get your book published.

This is the age of fast and quick action. There are many competitors in the market. If your work is not published in time, then the content can get outdated in some days. Therefore, writers tend to search for ways which will reduce the path between the book and consumers. The best way is by spreading the word and reach the consumers' ears. Auditory broadcasting is a very powerful way to make your work known. You must have realized that whatever you have heard is easily remembered as compared to reading. You do remember an old song but you might  not remember an article read from a newspaper this morning. This is the power of listening. You can use it in propagating your work. The sound is powerful, and draws your attention.

Therefore, writers must use this powerful source and try to promote their books. Authors can promote their work by using radio as a medium. This is the more traditional sound source you can use. But today there is a more powerful source that you can use to promote your book, and that is podcasting.

Until now, blogging was considered to be the most effective way of promoting any book. In recent times, podcasting has created an incredible revolution in the writing world. It is a more powerful and speedy means to get your book promoted. Podcasting is creating an audio blog for your book. It is a powerful way to promote and spread the message, in regards to your work and yourself. There is a source of internet radio to promote your work, but it is very expensive and it requires sponsors to carry out the promotion.

Podcasting is an audio blog created by you. It is similar to blog writing. You create your blog on the internet in a document and sent links to people. Similarly, you record your message and save it in MP3 file instead of a document. Like a blog link, you can easily send your audio blog to other music devices like an iPod. It is not that hard to set up a podcast on your computer. It very easily gets downloaded and set up on your computer in less than an hour. Once you save the setup you are free to use it at your will.

You can create a play which is associated with your book and play it on the podcast. You can record a small portion of your book so that the audience hears and thinks of buying your book. You must be careful while recording. The voice must be clear and flawless. There should not be any stumbling of words.

Podcasting is a means to bring the book to life. It is a live promotion of your book. The majority of podcasts need an external microphone on the computer, but you can also use the Audio Acrobat system. This system allows you to record from anywhere in your office, from your automobile, whenever you get time. After recording, you have to save the file in the system. The audio files have their own publication tools. With the help of these tools, you can upload your audio blog to the internet.

The question is how will people know about your audio blog online or about your podcast. First of all, you will have to know your position, that is, the subject of your book. Whether it is on travel, thriller, religion, gambling, etc. Depending on the topic, you can upload your audio blog to that particular forum. You can go on the internet and sent it to an iPod, iTunes, etc. and see the magic as to how fast your book gets promoted.

©2012-2013 Claretta Taylor Pam, Innovative Publishers Media Group & Innovative Publishers. All Rights Reserved

Why authors should be on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a social networking website for professionals in their fields. You will come across good writers on this website. Therefore, if you want to join a professional group of writers, you must be on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn heightens your rankings on a search engine:

When you link your sites on LinkedIn, it gives you ‘Google Points’ to earn. This increases your rankings on Google. You must use a sensible name on LinkedIn, and you can come within the first two pages on Google search very easily.

LinkedIn Answers Questions: LinkedIn not only provides you a platform to flourish, it also solves your queries. If you have any questions regarding publishing or book proposal, you will find professional editors and marketing managers to solve your queries. This kind of expert advice is only provided by LinkedIn. Therefore, it is wise for authors to be on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn Establishes Your Credibility: You will receive answers from all around. The LinkedIn question rating will pick the best answer for you. Another benefit is that, whoever’s answer is selected as best answer will get good ranks on the profile. It means that the profile page of a writer gets high ranks on Google. This is a simple and successful way to institute your integrity on a subject. Due to higher ranking, you will get answers from experts which are trustworthy.

 

LinkedIn associates you with editors and literary agents: You will find numerous experts and top editors and agents on LinkedIn. You will find many of your friends have done schooling with a popular writer or editor. You create a connection on LinkedIn. You can get help by putting a word in your favor with some good editor. This will definitely help you in your writing career.

You must be on LinkedIn:

·         You should be on LinkedIn to cultivate networking for business. You should abide by the rules and regulations. You need to make profit from this medium and do not go into spamming. This spoils your name. If you spoil it on LinkedIn, you will spoil it everywhere. This source is to increase your rankings and get good business.

·         The website helps to create your brand name. People will be saying, if you want to contact him or her, go on LinkedIn. You must keep your profile updated on a regular basis. This is important to get potential customers, employees, and collaborators. You can use the Q&A application to share the information that you hold and also try to answer the questions.

·         You could leverage a channel of social media that will connect you to key collaborators. There is a facility for free and paid accounts to connect you with others. You can see their profile and meet them.

·         You will be fully informed about your competitors on LinkedIn. You will get greater access to useful tools on LinkedIn which will help you to be aware of the latest market trends.

·         The best part of LinkedIn is that you can join a group of writers and share your experiences and know theirs to get a good perspective towards your work. Your business could be big or small, you can enter a discussion occurred on the website and get some attention from others.

·         If you want to do research, you can put it in the forum section and get a good response and good findings on your subject.

LinkedIn gives you real connections. You can share your content. You can add the content generated on the website in your blogs and give links to connect them on LinkedIn. You will get an opportunity to make a strong reputation for yourself. The only thing is that you must be honest in your work. Politeness and authenticity is very important, because false data can last only for a short time. Therefore, authors should be on LinkedIn to get known, to get good connections, and make their work known to people.

©2012-2013 Claretta Taylor Pam, Innovative Publishers Media Group & Innovative Publishers. All Rights Reserved