Do you pre-market your book? Why not? If you aren’t you need to give careful thought to doing so. Why you ask? “I haven’t finished writing it yet, who or why would they buy it before it is done?”

Great question, but! Many first time authors haven’t thought of this concept much less thought of it’s value. Pre-marketing will assist you in final title approval from your buying audience. As you talk to others you’ll also get ideas for parts of your book. You’ll also get all kinds of ideas for your cover design. What about distribution and venues to sell it in. All of these pieces will come into order if you do some pre-marketing.

A well known author and independent publisher I know told how he had a book underway. Nothing new for him. He had the cover design already in his head and on paper now. Yet he felt maybe he should do a little checking. So he had a cover designer friend make two additional potential covers and put them on his website. Then he e-mailed all his contact list and asked them to vote on the three covers and let him know which one they would “buy” not the one they liked. As it turned out it wasn’t his design. Because of that he went with the choice of the crowd even though it meant giving up his design. He still likes his design best though.

Pre-marketing will definitely get you more ideas of distribution and outlets.

Pre-marketing is always a good thing.

Many new authors look for an agent or publisher that will assist them making that big jump into the world of publishing. Remember we all have something of greaqt value to share with others and what better way than to put a book out on the subject/topic.

You are your best bang for your buck. Yes you! Who else knows the topic as well as you? Who has the answers or or where to find them. Who else has the passion for the topic? Exactly, it is you.

The questions arises as to how and where can I learn all there is to it. Many folks can get to the printing part then we realize there is so much more. NWABP is an excellent resource for folks. You will find many others who have gone through this already and willing to share their experiences and knowledge with you.

Before taking out a loan to promote your book do a little footwork first. Come visit NWABP

At a recent publicity committee meeting the above topic arose. The discussion went from how to publicize NWABP to how auth0rs/publishers publicize there book or business. The majority of the authors are experts in their fields and want to write books to disseminate the information and maybe make a little money. Or pay the costs.

We tend to invest in cover design, editing, printing, handouts, press kits etc. yet many never invest in themselves. Mainly in the ability to communicate verbally or presentation skills such as speaking. Until one becomes known the bulk of your buying public needs to hear from you. Your passion about your topic needs to come out. That ability to speak or present isn’t always easy or natural.

One sure fire way to overcome this is Toastmasters. The groups are supportive with positive feedback. Speaking is no different than any other profession, we continually need practice and learning.

Besides being the NorthWest Association of Book Publishers it is a group of dedicated souls that enjoy sharing and helping others in this wonderful world of publishing of books. It is a mix of authors, publishers, editors, printers, marketers, designers, graphics, and many more.

The purpose of our monthly meetings are to gather and usually have a guest speaker talk on a useful topic. We also have networking time before, during and after the meetings. Members also have the opportunity to become part of the leadership team to continue the growth of the group and direction. By being in the leadership you will also learn much more and make even more connections.

Come visit, join, get involved.

How many of you have planned your marketing strategy before writing your book? How about before you printed your book?

As I thought, many of us tend to gloss over that portion because we felt the writing was the most important part. Writing is of course extremely important. As we have seen many times over from new members when they find they have a garage full of books and no immediate large demand.

There are so many tips on this topic. How many would like mini series of ways to market or plan to market during some of our meetings. If that piques your attention please be sure and let our President know as he plans meetings.

Two Workshops for Publishers and Writers

If you have even given thought to writing and publishing a book you’ll want to attend this information packed event:

Fairfield Inn
6100 Meadows Rd.
Lake Oswego

Saturday, June 6, 2009

oooooops……..You’re right, there has been a bit of a lapse. You know, other things to do and so many of them. Isn’t that what life seems to made of. So many tasks to do and never enough time for them. Sometimes we need an organzier. 

NWABP is in for some great growth. Through the new members and enthusiasm being generated, authors and publishers will have more to learn and share from than before.

Please be sure and pass along to all those potential friends and relatives with a book to share to come visit our monthly meetings.

This afternoon NWABP held it second in a series of publishing seminars. Today we talked about marketing and selling books on the World Wide Web. The morning began with Carol White explaining and demonstrating the ins and outs of Amazon. Linda Beattie Inlow discussed other sales venues, includeing Half.com, eBay, and Craig’s List.

Paul Gerhards started the afternoon session with a primer on blogging. He also started this blog, live, as demonstration of how easy it is to set one up. Linda rounded out the afternoon with an overview of several of the most popular social networking sites, including MySpace, Facebook, and Eons.

Carol White talks about Amazon

Linda Beattie Inlow discusses social networking.