JOAN HOLMAN - Internet Marketing Guru & Book Marketing Diva

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Greetings,

Are you thinking about writing a book? Do you want to self-publish in order to promote yourself or your business? Or do you have dreams of being a successful author? I have written or worked on the development of many books. This includes being a ghostwriter and being involved in story development for books. I have extensive knowledge and experience in working with authors and publishers, and there is some good news and some bad news about publishing these days.

The good news is that technology (print-on-demand and the Internet) has made it very affordable and easy to self publish and distribute your book. The bad news is that getting your book published by traditional publishers has become much more difficult. No matter who publishes your book, yourself or a publisher, you are going to have to be the one to market the book. So many authors think if they get a publisher, the publisher will do all the marketing. That simply is not true. Therefore, you should seriously consider self-publishing and proving your book in the marketplace by promoting it yourself.

Promote Your Ideas, Business or Product by Writing A Book -- Writing a book can be one of the most powerful ways to position yourself as an authority or expert. It can be used as a tool to promote your ideas, yourself, your business or your product.

Publishers & Self-Publishing-- For many people, getting a major publisher is the first choice, but doing this can be challenging. Self-publishing as an option has become very acceptable and has actually been the initial route taken by many successful authors. You can use self-publishing to test your book and establish a market for it and then sell the reprint rights to major publishers. Or you can continue to sell your book directly to the public. 

Examples of successful books that were originally self-published include: The Christmas Box, The One Minute Manager, Life's Greatest Lessons, Sugar Busters, The Schwarzbein Principle, The Joy of Cooking, Mary Ellen's Best of Helpful Hints, In Search of Excellence, Rich Dad-Poor Dad, The Lazy Man's Way to Riches, Dianetics, Cliff Notes, You Can Heal Your Life, and Creative Visualization.

FACT: In a survey conducted by the American Association of Publishers, 80% of Americans stated they would like to write a book.

Myths About Writing A Nonfiction Book

1. Your book will be an overnight success. In fact, it usually takes a major investment of time, effort and/or money to promote a book.
2. Literary agents want manuscripts for review. Agents want proposals, not manuscripts.
3. You need to be a great writer to get a publisher. What publishers are really looking for are great marketers. If you are a great marketer, they can edit your book to improve your writing.
4. Publishers main consideration in buying your book is great content. Although content is important, publishers want to sell books, so they want authors who already have a platform (i.e., audience) and who will use that platform to sell their books.
5. Books stay in bookstores indefintely. In fact, a large number of books get returned to the publisher or are remaindered on the "dollar" table.
6.  Getting people to buy your book is all about how good your book is. Actually, many mediocre books have sold a lot of copies because of a great marketing strategy and sales effort.
7. Your publisher will market your book. Today, publishers expect authors to market their own books. In fact, the ability to market your own book is how publishers will decide whether they publish your book or not.The publisher will print your book and get it into stores, but you must promote your book yourself.
8. Book sales will make you rich. In fact, only 1% of books published ever sell more than 50,000 copies in the entire lifetime of the book. The real way to make money is by using the book to help promote your business, your speaking career, your consulting career, or to sell related products. 

FACT: Most books are sold outside of bookstores.

Writing A Book Proposal

• Create a Working Title for the Book
• Explain the Concept for the Book
• List Your Credentials that Are Relevant to the Book
• Name Some Books that Compete with Your Book
• Create A Chapter by Chapter Outline of the Book
• Create A Couple of Sample Chapters
• Describe the Target Audience for the Book
• Detail How You Will Market the Book 

FACT: Literary agents require book proposals to be double-spaced and un-bound.

Book Development & Book Marketing Tips

• You can start your writing career by publishing content on the Internet.
• Write a weekly or monthly newsletter or blog and position yourself as an expert.
• Develop a large database of names and contact info for people who are interested in what you have to say.
• You can test possible book names by using Google Ad Words, like Timonthy Ferriss did for his bestselling book The 4-Hour Workweek
• You should create a short video to post on YouTube and other sites to promote your book
• If you are going to submit a proposal to a literary agent, you should hire an experienced freelance editor to critique it and help you make it compelling
• Get a great photo of yourself to include in your book proposal, to put on your web site and to use in all your marketing materials 

HARNESS THE POWER OF THE INTERNET TO PROMOTE YOUR BOOK

Today, authors and publishers are harnessing the power of the Internet to market books. Your book should have at least a dedicated web page, if not an entire web site. Short videos on YouTube can promote your book. Getting mentioned in blogs can promote your book. Using online news releases, giving away free chapters or even your entire book can actually help you boost visibility and sales of hard copies of your book. There are Internet-based radio shows that can interview you, knowledge-sharing web sites where you can submit articles related to your book, and discussion groups that are related to your book topic. 

Joan Holman Other Services: Manuscript Evaluation, Ghostwriting, Editing & Book Development Consultation

Testimonial from an aspiring author Meg Robinson about Joan Holman's consult on her manuscript & book marketing opportunities:

JOAN HOLMAN IS PURE GOLD

"After completing my travel memoir, "Drawn by a Star", and deciding I needed help to market it because the proceeds of the book are going to two charities in Peru, I surfed the net and almost immediately found Joan Holman’s website. I can’t describe the excitement I felt as I read about her credentials. Joan is an artist, a writer, a psychologist, has worked in the film industry...and the list grew more and more interesting. As an artist, a scriptwriter and as yet unpublished author myself, I felt I’d struck gold.  But, after an initial couple of emails I wondered if I was going to be right out of my depth.  Here was a highly professional person so successful and so accomplished, was she going think marketing my work a waste of her time?  On the contrary, what has transpired has been helpful guidance beyond anything I could ever have imagined.   Joan is a sensitive artist, a highly gifted writer and communicator, plus she is a former teacher of psychology. She has treated my manuscript with huge respect and interest, made me feel a real writer and made me feel a friend. And possibly the most helpful aspect of all my work with her to date has been her amazing ability to ask the deepest of questions.   These questions have clarifed the bigger picture of what I’m trying to express in my book and to solve in my life, because the two are indisputably intertwined. This is where she put on her psychologist’s hat.  I felt I was in the presence of a great mentor, somebody whose insights and awareness left me unable to walk away from her questions.  In her questioning, I’ve been challenged to rewrite the final section of my book, and in doing so, have exorcised a secret that has haunted me for 36 years. The release from this is priceless. Whatever happens to the marketing of my book and its future, my own future is now brighter and lighter and sparkles thanks to the expertise, guidance and encouragement of this extraordinary person who so generously is willing to go the extra mile with her clients.  Thank you Joan, you are quite simply, pure gold."

Meg Robinson

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