I’ve been revising the questionnaire I use with new clients who want help in marketing their book. In the last few weeks, I’ve come to realize that I not only need to know the basics about their book, (market, competition, the author’s objectives) but I also need to know the author’s level of commitment to the project.

Let’s face it, marketing a book is work. Most authors market like mad for about 90 days, then stop. Unfortunately, that’s about how long it takes to get some traction with their efforts. So, I decided to find out up front what an author is willing to commit to before we start a project.

Here’s my revised questionnaire. I’ve just started sending this out this week. I’m waiting to see if I’m energizing people to jump in and get started or just scaring them into doing nothing. Take a look and feel free to leave a comment with your opinion!

1. Why did you write this book? (What problem did you see that needed to be solved?)

2. Who is your ideal reader for this book? (Please describe them as thoroughly as you can.) How will your book help them?

3. How does your ideal reader typically solve this problem that your book addresses?

4. What other resources would they consult to solve this problem? (Who is your competition? Please be as thorough as you can in this list.)

5. How can people buy your book right now if it is published? What is the publication date? Do you have a distributor/wholesaler? What formats is your book in? (softcover, hardcover, Kindle, ePub, audio, pdf)

6. What other products and services can you offer readers?

7. What marketing resources do you have already have in place?

• Website
• Mailing list
• Ezine
• Social media profiles (list, number of connections for each)
• People in your network
• Marketing copy for the book
• Graphic design
• Please list any other connections/assets you can thing of.

8. Are you comfortable using a computer and the internet? Would you call yourself a beginner, intermediate, or advanced user? Are you comfortable learning how to use social media and other websites to market your book online?

9. Fast forward one year from now. Your book is a success. What would that look like for you?

10. What would that kind of success give you that you don’t have now? (What is your ultimate goal in writing and marketing this book?)

11. On a scale of 1 to 10, where would you say you are now in relation to achieving those goals?

12. What are the obstacles (or challenges in your life) that are keeping you from achieving those goals? (day job, family commitments, etc)

13. What happens if you don’t achieve those goals?

14. How much time every week are you willing to commit to marketing your book – including personal networking, social media, blogging, writing articles, publicity, etc?

15. Do you have a marketing budget? What is it?

16. The most successful authors commit to marketing their book for a minimum of 3 years. They also commit to learning as much as they can about marketing, publishing, and publicity and put this knowledge into practice in order to get the widest exposure for their book. Are you prepared to make this kind of time commitment?

About 20 years ago I took a job selling for a printing company. I called on nonprofits who sent out printed newsletters and needed brochures and other stuff printed. I knew next to nothing about printing and I had to get up to speed fast. Looking back, I think I knew just enough to be very dangerous.

It was one of the most stressful jobs I ever had. I had no control over the workflow in the shop or the quality of the work done. Yet, I was the point of contact for the client. I still have horrible memories of an annual report that was totally botched by the pressman, who left the company shortly thereafter. It was right after that experience that I started to consider a different line of work.

I see a lot of new authors looking into self publishing their work, either by having the book printed or converted into an ebook. At first, they “don’t know what they don’t know” and it could cost them a lot of time and money if they don’t learn some of the basics about printing and publishing. One new author didn’t realize there was such a thing as designing the interior pages of a book. “Isn’t it just a book format?” he asked blankly. The newcomer wasn’t at fault. He just didn’t know.

That’s why a newcomer to publishing needs to soak in as much information as they can, or make the kind of friends who will answer a lot of questions. If you’re in the Denver area, there’s an event on March 18 and19 to give you a whole lot of good information on writing, designing, publishing, and marketing books. The Colorado Independent Publishers Association is having their 3rd Annual Book Expo featuring published authors and a lot of technical experts who can help you make your publishing dream a reality. (Some of them will probably become your really good friends.) Best of all, this is a free event. Check out the details at http://www.cipabooks.com.

Join the Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) for the next CIPA College Day to be held March 19, 2011.

Your book tour is beginning. Do you know how to package yourself and your book to get that all-important TV coverage?  Learn the right way to work with the media as taught by veteran TV newsman Neal Browne at “Media Coaching & Training,” one of the classes offered at CIPA College on March 19.

Is your website optimized to sell your book? Learn how to make your website a marketing machine in “Evaluating Websites from a Marketing View,” taught by branding expert Patrice Rhoades-Baum.

The March 19th session of CIPA College offers something new: a morning session of FREE roundtable discussions chaired by award-winning authors and CIPA members. Aspiring authors looking for advice on publishing can talk with authors in their genre – from autobiography to inspirational, how-to books to history, children’s to adult fiction.

This year’s College dean, Dr. C. Daniel Miller, is enthusiastic about adding the free roundtables to this session. “One of the greatest things about CIPA is the way experienced authors and publishers are so willing to help newcomers with the 1001 questions they have about publishing and marketing a book. Since this College Day is on the same day as CIPA’s EVVY awards for publishing excellence, we wanted to celebrate the fantastic past winners and introduce them to the next generation of successful authors.”

The afternoon sessions, Media Coaching & Training and Evaluating Websites from a Marketing View,are geared to more experienced authors and independent publishers. The registration costs for these two classes are only $30 each for CIPA members and $45 for non-members.

In addition to CIPA College and the EVVY Awards taking place the evening of the 19th, CIPA is also simultaneously hosting their 3rd annual Book Expo on March 18th and 19th. All three events will take place at the Red Lion Hotel at 4040 Quebec St., Denver, CO 80216. The Book Expo features a publishing trade show of printers, editors, marketing experts, graphic designers, and much more. Friday’s roundtables will feature technical experts and a manuscript pitching session for unpublished authors. “If you’ve ever wondered whether your book has what it takes to be successful, you won’t want to miss this opportunity!” says Miller.

For more information on CIPA College, the EVVY Awards and the CIPA Book Expo, go to CIPA’s website at www.cipabooks.com. Please note that CIPA members receive substantial discounts for individual CIPA College classes and for the multi-class discount packages.

In addition, CIPA is expanding up and down the Front Range, with additional College Days scheduled for April 2 in Loveland and on May 7 in Colorado Springs. The complete schedule of classes is available at www.cipabooks.com.

Authors looking to stay home and avoid the intimacies of airport security will love virtual book tours.

Aside from the obvious advantages – no shoes or makeup required, no worries about being the only person at your book signing, and no travel costs – virtual tours can deliver a hefty audience for your book and your blog. Here’s how they work:

1. You and/or your trusty assistant will compile a list of suitable blogs who might like to be a stop on your “tour.”

• Each blog should be suitable for your topic or a book review blog.
• If it’s a book review blog, do make sure they review books in your genre. Most reviewers will have a page giving their requirements for book submissions.
• Some bloggers will state on their site whether or not they will participate in blog tours and give details on how to contact them and submit a book. Follow their instructions. It sounds silly to remind you, but many people will ignore the requirements and needlessly annoy the blogger they are trying to recruit for their tour.

2. Give some thought about what results you would like to have. If hoards of new visitors come to your blog/website as the result of your tour, what would you like to have them do? Sign up for your blog or ezine? Download a free ebook? Buy your book?

A contest – usually with a prize of a free copy of your book – could be held for the best comment posted on each guest post or review. (This is also a terrific way to build your mailing list.)

3. Create a spreadsheet of your targeted blogs to track your requests and results. Include info like their URL, contact info, and submission requirements for your future reference. (This list could come in handy again if you write another book or if you build an ongoing relationship with the blogger.)

4. Contact the blogs on your list following each blogger’s stated preference on how they want to be contacted. Personalize the emails. (It would help to actually read some of their blogs so you can do this.) Tell them a bit about your book and reasons why they would want to review it. Have an excerpt of your book on your website to direct them to.

5. If they agree to review your book, mail them a copy. Most book reviewers review for free, except for receiving a copy of the book. (This is another good reason to respectfully follow their directions, don’t you think?)

Topic blogs that you’d like to “tour” are a bit different. When you approach them, make sure you’ve read enough of their blog to personalize the approach. Suggest either an interview or a guest post that you will provide. Suggest a topic that fits in well with their blog.

6. Once you and your blog hosts are in agreement, provide a guest post in the time frame you agreed to. It is REALLY IMPORTANT that your post be original, not an old post from your blog or a guest post you already submitted to someone else’s blog.

7. To get the maximum exposure for your guest posts or reviews, publicize them in your own blog and social media pages and profiles. When the post or interview appears, be sure and send a personal note of thanks to your hosts.

Your blog tour can take place over a couple of weeks or a couple of months. Keep a spreadsheet with your tour locations and dates, marking them off as you go.

8. Blog about your tour on your own blog, giving tour updates and encouraging your readers to visit your tour blogs.

9. Reciprocate! Offer your tour hosts a guest post on your blog. This could be the start of a great online relationship!

In today’s hyper-fast, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it world, printed books become dated very quickly. The average production time of a book can be 6 months to a year after the author has finished writing it and the editor has finished the last correction. That’s a lot of time for a nonfiction book to age and have some of its information become obsolete. I no longer keep books on internet marketing past a year old. In fact I do most of my research online using blogs and news sources. Often, I buy ebooks on topics where I want the most current information.

Ebooks have a relatively short production cycle. You write the book, edit it, design a cover for it, and convert it to pdf. If you’re aiming for wider distribution, you can also do Kindle and epub versions so your ebook can also be read on iPhones, the Nook, and Sony’s reader. It’s also pretty easy to get your ebook listed on ebook sites.

Many authors have a bias against ebooks because they’re not “real” books. They want to hold that printed book in their hands. I can understand that. But there’s a growing segment of the population that prefers to read books on an e-reader or their smart phone. You don’t want to miss that market.

Here’s some possibilities for publication you can consider:

• Print a short run – 500 to 1000 copies of your book for the print book lovers and the bookstores and other retail outlets.
• Produce epub, Kindle, and pdf versons of your book to distribute on ebook stores, Amazon, and on your own web site.
• Plan on updating the ebook version more often if the basic information continues to be relevant and you want your book to maintain it’s relevance. Or publish the updates in a sequel to the original book.
• Reprint the printed book combined with those updates – another 500 to 1000 copies – when you need to.

I’ve been talking recently with several people who are interested in podcasting their books, but haven’t got the slightest idea of how to start. So, here’s a list of resources I’ve compiled ranging from videos to equipment reviews. This is by no means all of the resources out there, but they’ll get you started.

Tutorials:

1. How to Podcast from Jason Van Orden, author of Promoting Your Podcast.

2. Podcasting tutorial from GuidesandTutorials.com.

3. If you’re a Mac user, here’s one on how to use GarageBand to podcast.

4. Here’s a video on how to use Audacity (a free audio recording software) to podcast. (See Equipment below for a link to download Audacity.)

5. How Stuff Works tells you How Podcasting Works.

Equipment

1. Audacity is free audio recording software. Here’s a handy tutorial on how to use it.

2. Microphones for podcasting: Here’s a video from jupiterbroadcasting.

3. Amazon.com had a ton of them. Search on “podcasting microphones” and check the reviews.

4. Guidesandtutorials.com had a nice review of microphones.

5. Podcasting News had a nice video on podcasting microphones under $100

Distribution or Now That You Have a Podcast, What Do You Do With It?

Post them here:

1. iTunes store

2. digitalpodcast.com

3. Here’s another tutorial on voices.com on how to podcast plus how to distribute it.

4. mypodcast.com

5. You can also self-host your podcasts on your WordPress blog

There’s several hundred more resources (at least.) Here’s another thing you might try: download a free podcast for yourself and get a flavor of what’s going on. You, too, might become a fan!

I’m the volunteer PR chair for the Colorado Independent Publishers Association here in Denver. If you’re here in Colorado and are on the fence as to how you’re going to publish your book – publish it yourself or try to sell it to a publisher – here’s a workshop you might want to attend.

CIPA Workshop: Shows Authors and Would-Be Authors How to Choose the Best Route on The Road Map To Publishing Your Book

Denver, CO –  August 10, 2010 –  New authors wonder: Should they independently publish their books or try and get a publisher?

The answer can be found at The Colorado Independent Publishers Association’s Summer Workshop, The Road Map to Publishing Your Book, on August 28th. CIPA has assembled a group of the finest, cutting edge experts in the publishing industry. They’re experienced and in front of the publishing curve. Whether you’re just beginning to write your first book or you’re a published author this is the place to be for information and education.

Michael Madigan – former Rocky Mountain News reporter and independently published author of “Heros, Villains, Dames & Disasters” will present on the importance of keeping your writing business professional  and how to avoid the bumps in the road. It doesn’t have to be have to be a tedious or dead-end business exercise — if you have a plan and a platform! See how Michael turned a good idea into a great book, and walked away from one mediocre offer from the traditional publishing world in order to produce what would become a Center for the Book finalist and Colorado Authors’ League 1st Place winner!

Trish Moore –  Independently published Trish Moore is the Workshop Keynote speaker. Spend some time with Trish Moore and be inspired to thrive – not just survive in your writing life! Based on the words of such masters as Wayne Dyer, Oprah Winfrey, Deepak Chopra, Louise Hay and others, Moore’s  “F.U.E.L. – Focused Unlimited Extraordinary Life” Workbook ranks in Amazon’s Top 350! Sit down, strap in and get ready for this delectable ride on the riled side!

Connie Martin:  The journey of a lifetime starts not only with a single step, but with a level head! Join storyteller, author and mother of five Connie Martin as she introduces you to a highly creative approach to writing. Photo ops and occasional stops along the way…bring your imagination and look forward to a walk-about like no other!

Dr. Cynthia Koelker: Long before Doc Cindy ever met her fairy godmother and was asked to dance with one of the five most handsome princes in the publishing world, she was small-town girl with a plan! Get the inside scoop on  the importance of such valuable travel tools as GPS (Great Publishing Sense), the road less travelled, touring  partners, and sensible shoes.

The workshop will conclude with a audience participation q & a with many of CIPA’s publishing and marketing experts on topics ranging from publishing, printing and editing to social media and websites.

The Road Map to Publishing workshop will be held on Saturday, August 28, 8:30 am to 2:30 pm at the Red Lion Hotel, 4040 Quebec  St., Denver, CO 80216. Cost of the workshop is $99 if you preregister, or $125 at the door. Sign up at http://www.cipabooks.com.

After the workshop, stick around for CIPA’s 2nd annual Book Fair from 3:00-6:00 pm. The Book Fair is fun, informative, and free! Mingle with fellow authors and publishing pros and enjoy free snacks and a cash bar. CIPA members who want to sell their books and Associate Members who want to sell their services can host a 6 ft table for just $50. For more information, go to http://www.cipabooks.com.

If you want to succeed in marketing online you need to focus on your objectives.

That being said, I’m one of the biggest offenders of succumbing to BSO (Bright Shiny Objects) syndrome. I’m always chasing down rabbit holes, all in the name of research. I do learn a lot of good stuff, but it sometimes results in wasted time and missed deadlines. Not good.

So, here are some of my strategies for staying on track:

I allow myself some “play time” to catch up with friends and family members on Facebook, twitter and the like. Usually I combine this with watching tv or on my lunch hour. Last week  I had a long, fun chat with a high school friend and caught up with my cousin’s wife on Facebook.

During work hours I have a post-it of objectives next to my monitor that has a cryptic list of marketing objectives. As a consultant to self-published authors, my primary objective is to establish my expertise in online marketing and self publishing. So most of the comments I make are related to those topics. I automatically send a tweet to Twitter and post to my wall on Facebook when I update my blog. My blog is also on my LinkedIn profile. I comment on my friends’ status, and pass on articles that I find interesting. I also have Google Alerts relating to marketing and publishing that gives me plenty to comment on and write about.

Does this take hours every day? No, for the most part I spend about half an hour to an hour a day on social networking sites and checking the feeds for my alerts in Google Reader. Can it be done is less? Absolutely. I spend more time because I enjoy it! And, it’s my business to spend time doing this.

I’ll be presenting a talk “Social Media Marketing in 15 Minutes a Day,” on March 25 at EduCyber in Wheat Ridge, CO (my day job.) You can sign up at EduCyber’s web site. I’ll also be presenting that talk at CIPA College in Denver on March 27. CIPA is the Colorado Independent Publishers Association. The college runs from March 26-27. It’s everything you want to know about self publishing. Check it out!

There’s a point in writing your book when you have to stop writing and rewriting and just publish it.

The trouble is, nobody knows when that is. I like Dan Poynter’s advice to publish when your book is 95% ready. Print a few hundred, get some reviews to add to the next edition, fix a few typos and do it again.

I have a friend who’s been working on his book for about 10 years now. At least twice now, he’s been ready to publish, print and get the book out there. At least twice, he’s changed his mind and his editor and has gone back for revision.

I wonder if that book will ever be finished. I hope it will.

I think publishing a book is like growing a garden. Every year I discover one rogue plant in my yard that oversteps its boundaries, or one non-performing perennial, and always there are weeds I can’t get rid of …And next season I will try to make it closer to perfect again.

The good news is that when you publish your book, like cultivating your garden, you get to try to correct your mistakes in the next edition or format.

How do you know if your brilliant book idea is really brilliant? I’ve met a lot of authors who had what they thought was a great idea for a book, wrote and published the book, and were stunned to find out that nobody was interested. Or not enough people were interested to sell many copies of their book.

So, you’ve got this idea for a book and maybe it’s a good one. How do you research your market to find out if if your idea is worth pursuing?

1. Check Amazon.com to see if there’s any books already published on the topic. Amazon has millions of obscure titles available on Marketplace. Don’t see a book on your topic? That’s not necessarily a good sign. Maybe there really isn’t any interest in your topic.

2. Buy some of the titles or check them out from your library. How will your book be  different? You don’t want to write a “me too” book that doesn’t offer anything new. Why would anyone be interested?

3. Research trends in your topic. Is your topic out of style or out of favor? Read online publications and blogs on your topic and look it up on Google Trends.

4. Look at how your topic fits in to what’s happening in the world today.  Nobody was terribly interested in solar power until oil prices went through the roof. Nobodywas really thinking about domestic terrorism in the US before 9/11.

5. Interview experts on your topic as you are developing your theme for your book. Having an expert in your corner might be useful for including new ideas in your book (that are properly attributed,) asking them to write the forward, or including their endorsement as a blurb for the cover. Looking for experts? Find and follow them on Twitter. Join trade organizations, online groups and subscribe to publications in your area.