Snappy, Sassy, Sometimes Salty…Your #Book Pitch Must Be!

Quick … when someone asks you what your book is about … do you stumble finding the words to describe it? You are not alone–most authors fail miserably in delivering the “hook” that is gets the listeners attention and buy-in. They don’t get that they have to be a little different, well, may a lot different, to get the attention of the book buyer. To say, “You Who … I've got something to say, worth sharing….”

Did you know that most movie scripts are pitched within a 15 second time frame? Sometimes in 15 words or less? Ruthless editing for words … your words, I know that are awesome, yet you may  be bubbling over with too, too many words. And you lose your audience. Too, too soon.

Think short, to the point, a little pithy, to catch the attention. Think like a one-line description that TV Guide might use to describe a show or movie of the week. You want your buyer to think/say “say what …” “tell me more…”  Than your dialogue can open up when he or she starts probing.

Pitches that connect have several elements:  they use 1 -Alliteration, 2 rhymes, 3-create a visual for the listener, 4-have something that is familiar or a familiar ring to it; 5-snappy and succinct; 6-a sense of fun or aha.Take the Harry Potter series. Loved by millions around the world. 

 If the author had pitched her boy wizard as A nerdy kid who was orphaned as an infant and was taken in by relatives who couldn't stand him. Eventually, he was finally rescued by a group of other misfits and found his true self.

Or … Harry Potter is a fantasy series about a young wizard and his two friends as they fight the forces of Evil and the corrupt Lord Voldemort while students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Which asks, “Tell me more”? Which gets your attention?

Snappy, Sassy, Sometimes Salty…Your Book Pitch Must Be!

Judith Briles is known as The Book Shepherd, the Author and Publishing 

expert and the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Author U, a membership organization created for the author who wants to be seriously successful. She’s been writing about and conducting workshops on publishing since the 80s. She’s the author of 31 books including Author YOU: Creating Your Book and Author Platform that has won four multiple “best” in the writing/publishing categories in book award competitions in 2013. Her latest book is Snappy, Sassy, Salty … Wise Words for Authors and Publishers has just been released.

Join Judith live on Thursdays at 6 p.m. EST for Author U Your Guide to Book Publishing on the Toginet network at: http://togi.us/authoru (you can subscribe on the show’s Home page to get weekly updates of the latest show). Connect on Google+ and become a Peep on Twitter at @AuthorU and @MyBookShepherd.

Author Smarts: What to Do When You Win a Book Award

What’s next …  What do you do when you win a book award? The savvy author tells others about it. Don’t count on your publisher to do it if you are published by someone other than your own company. You need strategies–below are 10 that will add life to your book award … it’s all part of book marketing. Start by creating a shout out for yourself. And doing a happy dance!

Book Awards are a badge of honor ... they set you out and above thousands or other books. With hundreds of thousands of books published each year–a few hundred win awards create clout (hmm…let’s say Klout!) in their midst. Book awards and book marketing go hand-in-hand.

For several of the Author U members and my personal Book Shepherding clients, their email boxes were filled with happy news recently from USA Books News—they were Winners in 12 categories! In fact, 12 emails were sent for each win–two were double winners.

Standing ovations to the Winners and Finalists—many of the books they were competing against were published by major publishers—almost 2,000 entries in 40 plus categories.    

Rhondda Hartman- Natural Childbirth Exercises for the Best Birth Ever

Rabbi Joseph Schultz (a double winner)- The Kabbalistic Journey: From Religion to Spirituality to Mysticism and In Search of Higher Wisdom: Conversations About Religion, Spirituality and Mysticism  

Barbara Sternberg- Anne Evans: A Pioneer in Colorado's Cultural History, The Things That Last When Gold is Gone

Barbara Stratton (a double winner)- Your Child: It's Up To You! Respect Principles Applied Toddler to Teen

Debbie Wilde- The Sustainable Nonprofit: 10 Strategies to Grow a Successful and Exceptional Organization

Lynn Hellerstein- 50 Tips To Improve Your Sports Performance, Mara Purl- Where the Heart Lives

Dianne Maroney- The Imagine Project: Stories of Courage, Hope & Love

A J White- The Bloomers: Wise Women Creating a New World

Judith Briles- Author YOU: Creating and Building Your Author and Book Platforms                        

It’s time for you to start bragging … and formally announce you and your books kudos to the world. Here are 10 strategies to starting noodling with  … Get your computer open and begin your shout outs with:

1. Create the publicity to now support your book and drive up book sales. Write a media release that includes who awarded you, in what topic area. Make sure you include your book title (I’ve actually seen this forgotten), you as the author, publisher and where the book is available. For example, I live in Colorado—the top book store in Denver is the Tattered Cover—include that the book is available (and make sure it is). If you have a judge’s comment and appropriate, include it.

2.  Tell the media world. Create and send a media release to your local newspapers, TV, radio or any organizations you belong to.

3. Think social media. Let your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Plus, Pinterest, YouTube and any other Fans know … add the link to Amazon’s page for your book. You can create a video and post on YouTube. When I hear about AuthorU members or Book Shepherding clients, it is immediately posted on our Facebook Fan pages, the next It’s Monday at Author U and announced in next issue of The Author Resource ezine that includes the cover of the book.

4. Have a photo with you, your book, award … post it, post it, post it … on all social media sites. If appropriate, link to them as well.

5. Blog it … blog about it on your blog; and if there are other blogs you’ve been following or are appropriate to connect with …announce to their world as well.

6. Add that you are an Award-Winning Author to your signature line for all emails.

7. Don’t forget your website. Get it on the Home page—include a photo of you and your award and book. Add it to your Media page … if you don’t have one, create it—use the logo of the group that honored you … once you win one award, that seem to start multiplying. Add to the page as they come in.

8. Get it on your Amazon and B&N, Goodread  pages and any other pages you have out there.

9. If you are speaking on your book, or pitching your speaking skills to a group, make sure you let them know with a quick email or note of your award. You never know—it could be just the thing to push the program committee to select you.

10. Bravo … it’s celebration time—share it with your friends—have a party!

Judith Briles is known as The Book Shepherd, the Author and Publishing expert and the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Author U, a membership organization created for the author who wants to be seriously successful. She’s been writing about and conducting workshops on publishing since the 80s. She’s the author of 31 books including Author YOU: Creating Your Book and Author Platform that has won four multiple “best” in the writing/publishing categories in book award competitions in 2013. Her latest book is Snappy, Sassy, Salty … Wise Words for Authors and Publishers has just been released.  

Join Judith live on Thursdays at 6 p.m. EST for Author U Your Guide to Book Publishing on the Toginet network at: http://togi.us/authoru (you can subscribe on the show’s Home page to get weekly updates of the latest show). Connect on Google+ and become a Peep on Twitter at @AuthorU and @MyBookShepherd.

Authors All a Twitter with Twitter … here’s your top 10 Tweets for Nov 7th

Wahoo… today is National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day. If you are a chocolate lover … it’s a happy dance … add a few almonds … and you become the star on the dance floor!

Chocolate is a vegetable, made from cocoa beans. Almonds are good for you, as they help to improve your 

Cholesterol levels. So, bittersweet chocolate with almonds is really, really good for you, right!?

Don’t forget … if you are in Colorado … The BookCamp is next week … we will have chocolate! Don’t miss this, Terry Brock and Gina Carr and a tour de force in social media, positioning, gadgets and gizmos to make your authoring world rock—get registered on the website. 

Today, Your Guide to Book Publishing will focus on deep sales that return big book bucks for Authors. Judith Briles will host Amy Collins as her guest—it’s all about pitching to libraries… If your have a children’s book—don’t miss it. Tune in at 6 Eastern, 5 Central, 4 Mountain, 3 Pacific and for our out-of-the-country 

members and followers … you are going to have to do the clock crunching for your time zone at http://togi.us/authoru. You can also go to the Home page of Author U scroll down and click on any of the 

past shows—just click and you are instantly there! 

“Are you living your book dream … or are you living in stuckyville because you can’t stop tweaking, perfecting … procrastinating?”  Judith Briles

Here’s your Top Ten Tweets for the past week 

Tweets are faster than a speeding bird … below are Author U’s Top Ten Tweets from the past week that you may have missed …

Success & Resources

#Author … #Speaker? Read this! How to Pitch Yourself as an Expert to the Media http://t.co/zkQ77Se5kK  

#author alert: NEW litagent: Sarah Joy Freese of Wordserve Literary http://t.co/NyylpWorzm Seeks F & NF #books, including Christian works

How #authors can boost your #Klout score when it goes limp-hot info for #books on #authoru. Listen to podcast with #authoru http://ow.ly/q9p9x

Wow-#authors and #books: watch 4 #free webinars from the #Publishing Chicks at Sea. Don’t miss the Trends for 2014! http://ow.ly/q9GCy

Writing

The top 20 most retweetable words on #Twitter for #authors and #writers. #authoru Please Retweet 

http://ow.ly/qaG1b

Social Media and Marketing Strategies

@MariSmith on why #socialmedia is like running a 5K … good reminder for #authors. http://ow.ly/q8akd

#authors-stuck on ways to promote your #book on #blog? @Heidi Cohen has 23 great ways to kickstart yours. http://ow.ly/q7Zam

#author smarts: How to Create a Stellar Online #Book Tour – http://t.co/8S1HUx1ayn

#author alert: Ten Reasons Your #Book Should Be an E-Book, Too – http://t.co/eaUKv867Nh

Cool and Sometimes Goofy or Unbelievable!

#author treat! How Pumpkin Pies Are Really Made – Have a Happy #Halloween #books http://t.co/pDTn9GK28o

Bonus:  Last week’s Your Guide to Book Publishing with Judith Briles deep- dove into creating an event thatgot people coming and talking about you and your book!—Listen in. http://togi.us/authoru  or you can download directly from the AuthorU.org website.

Don’t forget to fill out “About” on your FB page. It’s what people see! Add your URL there. Connect with us on Google+ and join the Author U group on LinkedIn.

Not following Author U on Twitter? Change that and follow: @AuthorU

Join the Author U LinkedIn Group. Join the Author U Community on Google+

How to Sell More Books on Amazon With This Simple Trick

What author doesn’t want to sell more books on Amazon (or anywhere for that matter)? Book marketing expert and Author U Advisory Board member Penny Sansevieri shares this simple trick to Author U followers so that they can shine above the book crowd:

If you have worked on your Amazon book page, you
know you can add photos. But have you considered posting more than just your book cover? You can upload additional photos related to your book’s content, too. It’s a great method to help your book stand out and captivate readers/buyers. See the examples below for both fiction and nonfiction. It’s easy to do, just click on “add images” and upload your photos. Why not get more out of Amazon?

http://www.amazon.com/Sell-Books-Truckload-amazon-com-ebook/dp/B00CJ0USL0/ref=cm_cmu_pg__header

Here is an example of a fiction tittle: http://www.amazon.com/Shelf-Life-Publicist-Book-ebook/dp/B00FA5EB4Q/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-2&qid=1379446200http://www.amazon.com/Shelf-Life-Publicist-Book-ebook/dp/B00FA5EB4Q/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-2&qid=1379446200

About the author: Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns. She is the author of five books, including Book to Bestseller, which has been called the “road map to publishing success.” AME is the first marketing and publicity firm to use Internet promotion to its full impact through The Virtual Author Tour™, which strategically works with social networking sites, blogs, Twitter, Pinterest, Linkedin, YouTube, and relevant sites to push an authors message into the virtual community and connect with sites related to the book’s topic, positioning the author in his or her market. In the past 24 months their creative marketing strategies have helped land 11 books on the New York Times Bestseller list. To learn more about Penny’s books or her promotional services, you can visit her website at http://www.amarketingexpert.com.