Showing posts with label how to promote your book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label how to promote your book. Show all posts

Friday, January 30, 2009

"Marketing 101"--January 30th, 2009

*Click here to SUBSCRIBE to this blog post and have the information directed to your email Inbox; learn how to successfully self-publish, market your book, promote your book and create a fan base for further sales. Also, staying connected allows you to stay current with all LIVE interviews for the Bobby Ozuna show: The Soul of Humanity*

I recently finished the introductory chapter to my first non-fiction title: "The Independent Author--a non-traditional approach to self-publishing." This book will be more than a simple "how-to" book on the world of independent publishing. Yes, you can easily pick up a book and follow the steps and (somehow) miraculously achieve your goals. But what if your approach to self-publishing is off? What if you are getting into something with hopes that should you follow the necessary steps you will create the success you are hoping for without realizing the "steps" are only half the battle???

What if you move forward with the wrong mindset and fall short of completing the tasks described? What then? I compare this scenario to the person who says they wish to lose weight. After all, we all know what to do in order to shed those excess pounds, right? Eat better and exercise a little more and you are surely on your way towards creating the look and feel you want, right? I once worked as personal trainer for a very reputable fitness center and I recall many conversations with people who came to me with and said, "I want to lose weight." They said it as if I had a magic wand and after waving it over their head, they would somehow lose weight. They asked me to help them as though walking into the gym to purchase a high-dollar membership were truly enough to accomplish their desires. In the end many of them were upset, not because the (how-to) process of information wasn't accurate, they were instead approaching the situation with the wrong mindset. And because of that, many of them (I would guess 90% of them) never came close to seeing that desire become a reality. And it was not necessarily their fault. A major reason why they failed was because they failed to prepare themselves mentally for the journey ahead. The key word in that statement is journey.

A major reason why many of us come short of accomplishing our goals isn't because we lack the effort but more so because we lack the proper mindset critical towards completing a project in its entirety. My hope for you--my fellow artist--is to provide a philosophical (mental) approach to self-publishing in conjunction with a procedural (how-to) method for accomplishing your book publishing needs. I have been very successful and it has little to do with luck or timing or effort, but rather it has more to do with opportunity meeting my efforts (luck), the amount of time I put into seeing my dream become a reality (timing) and how far I was willing to go (effort) to see my life become that which I set out to create: A life as a full time writer and book publisher.

Success, as the author Jeff Olson puts it, is a process not the end result. I am not successful as an author if you consider success a destination. I have not yet arrived where I wish to be in my career. But I am successful because I understand the process for creating success. And with that attitude and approach and the vast knowledge of information I have collected these past three years, I have been able to surrender the corporate chains around my neck and work for myself, supporting my family with the gifts and talents I have been given as a writer. And that my friends is the wealth of knowledge I wish to share in my upcoming book: "The Independent Author, a non-traditional approach to self-publishing."

I will be sharing a story here soon (the introductory chapter of the book) on my blog entitled: "The Boy and his Garden." It is a simple (5 page) story about a boy who wished to become a gardener. But I must tell you, everything you need to know, to learn how to "create" success in your life is written within the pages of that story. If you can grasp it and learn how to apply the techniques to your life and your career as an author and indie book publisher, then you too can sit back one day and say, "Wow, look how far I have come."
I look forward to hearing your response on this topic. Please be sure to send me your comments and stay connected with me so you can read the story of "The Boy and his Garden."

I only wish success for you and it has been a great pleasure in helping so many others up the ladder as they venture towards achieving success within their literary careers. I believe together, as independents, we can accomplish anything. And my hope is that this new book will do just that for you.
Bobby Ozuna
The Soul of Humanity Internet Radio Show--supporting the indie arts
817-812-2009


CALL TO BOOK YOUR SHOW TODAY! ALSO, BE SURE TO ASK ABOUT OUR SPONSOR RATES FOR WEB & RADIO ADVERTISING FOR YOUR BUSINESS...

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

"Marketing 101"-- September 24th, 2008

Make it easy for readers to locate your book on Amazon.com with the "Buy from Amazon.com" widget in your Blogger blog.

If you have a book for sale, then you are surely doing all you can to make your book not only available to the public but visible to everyone who stumbles upon your blog. It is imperative that although you work to promote your work and the work of others who helped you get where you are, that you make buying your book as easy as possible for the casual passer-by. And one handy tool available to all authors who have a book to sale, is the "Buy from Amazon.com" widget available via your Amazon Associates program. (See image example below)

*Everyone who has something for sale on Amazon can easily join the Associates program and thereby advertise for Amazon and with Amazon.com.*




BUILD AMAZON WIDGET AND COPY HTML CODE:

To add this widget you simply navigate to Amazon.com and login to your account or simply click the [Join Associates] link at the bottom of the Amazon.com homepage. There you will find a quick and easy one page synopsis and summary of the program and also the link to complete your [online application]. Here you will be promoted to logon using your Amazon.com credentials and once through their secure server logon process you will begin setting up your payment options. These options are intended to help Amazon.com determine where and whom to make checks payable to. See with the Associates program, when you allow Amazon.com to post their widgets (although you can physically post them wherever you choose on your homepage or blog site), Amazon.com will reward you with a % of earnings based on sales generated by links from your websites.

Once you have completed the application process (takes less than the amount of time it takes for you to enter your name, address, & telephone) you will be on your way.  Once in your Associates account generalization page you can then select from a wide range of available Amazon widgets to post on your site (such as the one above which is a direct reference to my book) by selecting the "Build Links/Widgets" link on the left hand sidebar.
The whole process can take less than one hour (depending on how much time you want to spend perfecting the color, size, etc.) and then it's on to the next step: Posting the widget within your Blogger blog. The final step before posting the widget to your blog will be collecting the HTML source code. Amazon.com is so gracious, the developers even put a nice easy [copy] button on the last step. Take that HTML code and paste it into a Wordpad or Notepad document for the next step.

ADD AMAZON.COM WIDGET TO YOUR BLOGGER BLOG TEMPLATE:

Login to your Blogger account and @ the dashboard, select the [layout] option. Once in the layout editing screen, select (where on your blog layout you want the widget) and select (either) ADD PAGE ELEMENT or ADD A GADGET.

*You may need to be upgraded to the latest version of Blogger for these instructions to fit exactly. But keep in mind, you essentially are trying nothing more than to add some HTML/JAVA code as a page element or gadget.*

Navigate to the option that allows for a new HTML/Java SCRIPT option. The window that pops up (blank) is now ready to paste your code from previously--that you should have saved in either Wordpad or Notepad. Paste the code within that window and select Save and you are done.


~Bobby Ozuna
Drawing Stories...With Words

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