Michael Stelzner came out with a new book called simply Launch. With his title, Michael follows the trend. One-word titles are “in.” Book publishers always follow what’s “in.” It used to be cats…now dogs have taken over.

But … Michael is not following any book marketing traditions. Instead he came up with a way to create buzz for his book – viral marketing. Here’s what he did.

– chose 50 top bloggers
– sent each top blogger 2 copies of his book
– invited each blogger to keep 1 copy and hold a contest to give away the other copy

What’s been interesting: Each top blogger has found a unique, creative way to hold a contest. My favorite: Denise Wakeman asks us to identify a superstar in our field who we’d like to interview. Others have gone for the tried and true, such as why you deserve this book or what’s your biggest challenge.

Book marketing just isn’t what it used to be … and yes, it really was different even ten years ago.

Another new component of book marketing: Getting reviews of your books on Amazon.com. I am a frequent reviewer on Amazon and I’ve learned over the years just what it takes to get your book reviewed … and how to alienate the reviewers, get a bad review or (worst of all) lose your credibility by trying to buy your way in. Check out my guide to getting your book reviewed and go behind the scenes.

A few years ago I was asked to write a sales letter for a new self-published book. The author had invested thousands of dollars in editing, cover design and book marketing. He had a list of speaking engagements, a blog book tour and a stash of press releases.

There was just one problem.

When I sat down to write the copy, I got sinking feeling most copywriters get when they get one of those “work your magic” assignments. The book had not been written with copywriting in mind. I had to dig through the chapters to find hooks that would make good copy.

The problem was, the author had some good ideas. With a little coaching, he would have had a great book. His book coach had focused more on (a) getting the #*@&! book done and (b) getting a marketing system in place.

To be fair, his book sold. With my copy, he made #19 of the Amazon list during the campaign. So why bother writing a better-constructed book?

(1) Your book is just the tip of the iceberg…or the first step in your marketing funnel, if you are a service business owner who needs clients. Ideally, you won’t just sell books. You get clients so excited they’ll ask you for follow-up services. At the very least, you won’t leave them disappointed.

(2) Even if you sell the current book, you could sell even more books if your copywriter got some good material. Your copy could be even stronger if you had hooks sprinkled throughout the chapters.

(3) Your book can sell and can even reach best seller status for a short time. For staying power, you’ll need great reviews and recommendations. Reviewers will read your book, not the sales letter. And nobody will recommend a mediocre book to friends.

The solution:

(1) When writing non-fiction, write a book proposal even if you plan to self-publish. You will be forced to think about the marketing before you write the book.

(2) Show your outline or rough draft to a copywriter. You will get ideas for chapter titles, content, and organization, before you commit to the final product.

(3) Get a sales letter draft before you finish the book and write your book to meet the promises of the sales letter. You’ll have some back-and-forth as you go.

I can help write your sales letter or help with a break-through consultation.

So…you’ve been advised to write a book. Great idea! But you wonder how to translate the benefits of writing a book into real clients and dollars.

These 3 tips come from John Eggen. I am interviewing him tomorrow at 10 AM Pacific / 1 PM Eastern. No cost to attend (except your phone company’s long-distance charges).

Click here to sign up. John works with professionals who have a specific goal – writing books to build their businesses. If you’re in that category – or want to be – you will be able to use these tips.

Turn Every Email You Send into a Client Magnet

The first easy technique to attract new clients is to create an email signature line that announces you are authoring a book.

Then place the title in the signature line for your emails using these exact words: “Author of the forthcoming book, (insert your title and subtitle here).”

It’s that simple.

Independent professional Jeanna Pool, tried this technique. She reported, “I got two new clients and $25,000.00 in income, all within 30 days of starting my book. It took just three minutes to use John Eggen’s simple technique.”

Turn All Your Introductions into Business Magnets

Another proven way to attract new business is to simply announce the title and subtitle of your forthcoming book in all the prepared introductions about you.

This includes introductions made by others, or you, in all your public presentations, your marketing materials, on your Web site, in your bio, in your media kit, etc.

Time required? A few minutes.

Kathleen Holland tested it while she was writing the first draft of her book. She reported, “In just the first four months, I booked an extra $48,000 in fees to me. Now I have more inquiries for my coaching programs than I can handle.”

Add a lift to your elevator speech

You can also add news about your forthcoming book into your elevator speech (also known as an “audio logo”)  and automatically attract more business.

Independent professional Michael Cannon learned how from John and started using this method as soon as he started writing his book’s first draft.

Cannon reported, “I’ve been getting 30-40% more first meetings with CEO prospects and a 25% increase in those who closed. I’ve also been getting less negotiation on price, because they perceive me as an authority.”

Use two or more of these “no-brainer” methods and you can multiply your results. As always, your own results may differ widely from these examples. You may achieve greater or smaller sales numbers. A lot depends on your particular target market, your topic, the quality of your other promotions and a host of other factors, sometimes beyond your control.

However, what *is* certain is that during the teleseminar, you’ll learn more from John about the three ways I just mentioned and get access to at least 10 of these disarmingly simple, but effective methods.

If you’ve got a book in progress, or you’re planning to write one, you will get a chance to hear from a top book marketing coach. You will be able to ask questions directly if you live on the call – ANY questions about any book marketing topic, with no obligation.

Join John Eggen and me on Thursday, September 16, at 10:00 AM Pacific/1:00 PM Eastern. http://bit.ly/eggensep16

When you write a book or special report with the goal of attracting clients, you can think of your title as an arrow that zings right to your prospect’s heart.   One rule of thumb: if your title seems over the top to you, it’s probably just right for your prospects.

When you publish a book with an outside publisher, you do not have complete title control. You may be able to suggest a title. You can make the title a negotiating point, especially if you’ve seeded the market so publishers want your book. That’s what TIm Ferriss did when he wrote The Four-Hour Workweek. He tested this title against The Vagabond Millionaire, his original choice, using google adwords. He established an online presence with the blogosphere so his book generated demand before he wrote it.

John Eggen, a book coach who works with best-selling authors as well as business owners, has identified nine components of a book cover that influence the book’s sales. He points out that “The Squash Book” didn’t sell, but “The Zucchini Cookbook” sold 300,000 copies. You can learn more from John (and ask him about titles) when I interview him this Thursday. Sign up at
http://bit.ly/eggensep16

If you’re more interested in creating an opt-in system with a giveaway to reach your niche, check out my special – save over $150 off the regular consulting prices:
http://bit.ly/nicheprogram

In my earlier post, I shared 3 reasons to write a book. These reasons were based on a teleseminar I heard from John Eggen, a writing coach who’s worked with some best-selling authors

Reason #4:  Access to the Media

Reporters constantly looking for sources will favor authors. I can attest to this fact from personal experience.  Although my book, Making the Big Move, was published several years ago, I continue to get queries from authors and editors who want quotes. When the book first came out I was featured in newspaper articles, radio shows and even a college textbook.  I’ve never spent a dime on publicity but my quotes have appeared in Money Magazine, Denver Post and other top media.

Reason #5:  Your book becomes your sales person.

You don’t have to say a word. If your book is written correctly, you demonstrate who you are and what you offer…without saying a word.

Think about it: have you picked up a self-help book and wished you could get one-on-one coaching with the author? Maybe you even called or wrote the author to ask.

Reason #6:  Multiple Income Streams

If you don’t give away all the rights, you can repackage your books content into high-end information products and programs. You can create and license workshops and teleseminars for others to use, based on your book.  You reach people who wouldn’t buy the book and you generate additional income.

Writing coach John Eggen tells this story:

Jay Conrad Levinson said someone asked him how much he made from his first Guerrilla Marketing book. Apparently, he told them $10 million dollars: only $35,000 from the book itself, but $9,965,000 from all the spin-off information products.

Your scale may be a little smaller, but you get the idea. I too made many thousands of dollars from my book – not from royalties, but from coaching and spinoffs.

Reason #7:  Personal Satisfaction

Do you have “Publish a book” on your bucket list? Do you have a message to share with thousands of readers? For many people, writing a book is more about meeting a personal goal than about raising revenue. If you relate to this idea, you have to decide if you want the book to be read and reviewed favorably…so you get tangible as well as intangible rewards. Besides, a widely read book will get your message out far more effectively.

Now that you have more reasons to write a book, learn from one of the premier writing coaches during a FREE call on September 16. Click here to learn more and to register.

Imagine that you could consult with a writing coach who’s worked with some of the biggest best-selling authors: Mark Victor Hansen, Dr. Stephen Covey, Brian Tracy, Mark Victor Hansen, Robert G. Allen, and Ken Blanchard. And imagine that you could ask him, “Why should I write  book to promote my business?”

On September 16 you will get a chance to hear John Eggen, an experienced writing coach, talk about why and how to write your book. As a sneak preview,  here are 3 reasons…we’ll have more in future posts.

If you’re an independent professional you are probably considering writing a book. You’ve been told, “A book gives you credibility. A book motivates clients to call you.”

That’s true. Before I created my first website, I had published a book with New Harbinger: Making the Big Move. It was a self-help book to help people who are relocating. It’s still (if I may say so) the only book that addresses the psychological aspects of moving. The book gave me enormous credibility. One client wrote, “I was so thrilled to see your book and realized, ‘That’s my career coach.’”

Unconsciously I was adopting Strategy #1: Publish a book, get good reviews and leverage the credibility. Of course at the time I didn’t realize I had a terrible title, but that’s another story.

But you may not want to use this strategy. You may want to use the Book as Marketing Tool strategy. Now you don’t care about getting great reviews. You want to give readers good quality information, but you want to get more clients who assign you greater credibility because you wrote a book. Talk show hosts love authors. So do meeting planners; in fact, if you do lots of speaking, this strategy will work really well for you.

The Marketing Tool strategy means you publish your own book. You write fast, based on what you know. You make sure you have a catchy title – a factor you can’t always control when you work with a publisher. You create a striking, professional cover design, another element beyond the reach of traditionally published authors.

An especially good feature of the Marketing Tool strategy is that you actually spend less than you would spend on a glossy brochure. And (best of all) you often earn revenue before the book is published. Just identifying yourself as author of a forthcoming book will increase your value in the eyes of your prospects. Frankly, I was surprised at this idea. I figured you had to be gimmicky. But in fact just a few simple, free strategies will get you more clients and more revenue.

On September 16. a Thursday, at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET, I’m interviewing someone who’s mastered the Marketing Tool strategy.  John Eggen has worked with top authors like Mark Victor Hansen as well as ordinary professionals who just want to add more clients.  If you can be on the call, you’ll be inspired (and some tips work even if you work with a traditional publisher).  Learn more and register at http://bit.ly/eggensep16

“Writing a book. Getting it done.” That’s what a book coach said when I asked her, “What’s the biggest reason people call you?”

My own experience shows that writers begin with this question. “Should I self-publish or try to find a publisher?”

Yesterday I was searching for Google adwords about writing and marketing a book. The big winners reflected my real life experience. “Publish a book” was huge. “Write a book” was big.

But the reason we have so many frustrated, disappointed and yes, broke authors is that they’re googling the wrong thing. You need to google “market your book” and maybe “sell your book.” Google those terms before you write the first word. Keep reading as you write the book. And then you will be ready to market your book when you are finished.

Here’s why. It’s very hard to make a success out of a bad book, especially in the days of Amazon and other online websites. Real people read your book. When you get a lot of “puff” reviews from friends, the “real” reviewers will show up, knives sharpened, ready to do battle. They’ll attack not just your book, but also the “puffy” reviewers. I’ve seen it happen.

What’s the answer? Most authors say, “I just started writing my book, so I hired an editor.” I’d rather see them say, “I just started writing my book, so I hired a marketing consultant.”

What do YOU think?

Just saw a tweet from @publicistebeam warning that books sent for review might be considered compensation. When that happens, I’m going to stop accepting them.

Most of the books I get to review are marked, “Review Copies – Not For Resale.” I can’t sell them even if I want to. Used bookstores won’t touch them. I have to be the public library to accept them. In fact, I have been tempted to send them to a hard-luck library in the middle of nowhere, such as the library I used when I lived in New Mexico. I figure the Feds are too busy searching for illegal immigrants in those border towns to spend their energy prowling through libraries. Anyway, if they were readers, they would never be suggesting this.

Most of the books I get to review are pretty awful. Even when I get nice shiny copies of new books, I have to wonder what possessed an author to write this book, especially if it’s about a dog that’s hard to train or a family coping with a difficult teen. They have little value except as door stops. I suppose I could shred some of the worst and line the cat box, but I can’t bring myself to destroy even the worst book. Used bookstores won’t touch them: they can sense a disaster a mile away. Libraries just hang them out to dry at their annual sales (ever noticed how libraries are still unimaginative when it comes to fund-raising? Even high school kids stopped holding car washes and selling candy).

True, you can use book reviews to Boost Your Business. I made thousands of dollars from clients who came to me by way of book reviews. My Google Analytics system tells me I get subscribers even today. But these results come from real books, preferably non-fiction best-sellers.

What do you think? Share and comment…

Recently I read a book from the Seattle Public Library. I’d seen the book featured at bookstores and the premise sounded good. Unfortunately, the book was hard to read. It was overwritten, disorganized and filled with details of dialgoue that didn’t need to be reproduced. I’m thinking, “Three stars. Max.”

To my amazement, four reviewers happily awarded this book the full five s tars. One reviewer wrote a glowing, detailed account of the boook.

Now, I’ve been reviewing a long time. I feel comfortable making certain judgments. What was wrong?

First, I looked up the other four reviewers. What other reviews had they written? None. What does this mean? They’re probably friends with the author. They’re not regular reviewers who will be objective.

Second, I look at the prices of copies offered in Amazon’s maretplace. With a popular new book, the price of used and other new books will be close to the full price of the new boo. Where there’s a big gap, you have a lot of used copies. Translation: a lot of people didn’t like the book.