Promote Your Book with LibraryThing.com

Been discussing self-promotion on the blog and realized that I hadn't mentioned anything about LibraryThing, a social network for book lovers (much like Goodreads) which has around 1.2 million subscribers vs. around 5 million subscribers at Goodreads.com (love the customizable author profiles there). I've played around with LibraryThing (i.e. "LT") in the past but only recently signed up for an actual J.J. Hebert member profile, followed by my author page. Simply visit http://www.librarything.com and sign up for an account. Then, if you're an author, search the site for your book(s) and click on your name. That click should bring you to your unclaimed author page. Look at the right sidebar--click "Is this you?" to claim your author page. Once you've done all of that, take advantage of LT's amazing giveaway feature...one of the reasons I finally decided to register as J.J. Hebert...

LT, unlike Goodreads, allows authors to post eBook member giveaways. In other words, as an author you can offer your eBook to readers in exchange for reviews! You can provide as many free copies (i.e. "downloads") to the LT community as you want. You'll just be responsible for contacting the winners with a way to download the eBook for free. You could email each winner with the eBook attached (e.g. PDF) or point the winners to a download link or supply them with a coupon for 100% off...

Why give away your book for free? Like any new product, it's important to get your book into as many hands as possible early on. You're probably not a brand-name author at this point, so giving away free copies gets your name out there and helps with word of mouth. I've done three separate giveaways at Goodreads for my book Unconventional, but I was forced to give away paperbacks, which cost money to print and ship to the winners. I believe I only provided six copies total during those three giveaways at Goodreads because of the costs. That means only six winners read my book for free and then posted reviews. At LT, I've seen authors offer two hundred free eBook downloads in exchange for reviews, and the authors didn't have to pay a dime to print or ship those books! (You can also submit physical copies of your book(s) in the giveaways at LT)

Need help with book publishing? Contact MindStir Media book publishers today!

Bookstore Sales Up Nearly 10%

Despite the Borders bankruptcy/store closures, increasing e-book sales, and breakout self-published stars like Amanda Hocking, bookstore sales rose 9.3% in February, totaling $1.11 billion according to a report by the Census Bureau published this morning. That's right, plenty of readers are still buying print books!

Breaking News: Self-Published Author Amanda Hocking Surpasses One Million Units Sold

According to one of Amanda Hocking's recent tweets, she has "officially sold 1,030,758 books (not counting the books sold through Smashwords in the last month or so that haven't reported yet." Congrats, Amanda! Haven't heard of Amanda Hocking? Read this article for a quick summary. Authors should note that the explosion of sales occurred when Amanda started sending her work to bloggers for review.

Promote Your eBook For Free

Admittedly, I spend most of my book marketing time on Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter, but there are a couple communities in which I've recently become more active in order to promote the eBook versions of my inspirational novel Unconventional: Kindle Boards and Nook Boards. Both forums allow authors to promote their work for free. Just make sure to follow the forum rules, so you don't get banned. Good luck!

Random House Adopts the E-book "Agency Model"

Today, according to this Publishers Weekly article, Random House switched to the "Agency Model" for e-book sales. So what does this mean for consumers? Higher e-book prices, usually somewhere around $9.99. Consumers in general are not happy with this price point, especially while there are plenty of quality "bargain e-books" available from indie authors, some $2.99 or lower. The amazing Amanda Hocking, USA Today bestselling indie author of the Trylle Trilogy, for example, sets her own e-book prices (as other indie authors do) anywhere from $0.99 to $2.99. To date, she's sold around 900,000 copies of nine different e-books. Obviously, consumers have embraced her model. The low prices support lots of e-book sales, and readers appreciate receiving a quality read for under five bucks.

Tell me, do you think Random House made the right move here? Click here to weigh in with your comments.

Inspirational Fiction for 99 Cents on Kindle

To celebrate the end of winter (yes, it's ending!!!), I'm offering the Kindle edition of UNCONVENTIONAL for only $0.99. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Unconventional-ebook/dp/B002QHVW1G. Could you please spread this deal? Thanks so much!

Facebook Users Prefer Print Books Over E-books

I ran a poll yesterday at my Facebook profile page and asked my digital-embracing friends (they're using a social network, so obviously they've embraced "digital") what they prefer--e-books or print books. I wondered if the e-book format would actually triumpth over print in this poll due to the fact that the participants were "digital savvy." I think there's a belief out there that readers who choose print books over e-books aren't digitally advanced. I don't think that's true, and maybe this poll kind of proves that ... Here are the poll results:

Print Books: 85%
E-books: 12.5%
Enjoy both, can't choose between one or the other: 2.5%

I found it interesting that a few of the comments were from friends who actually own an e-reading device but still prefer print books. Many of the participants are in love with the smell and feel of print books and therefore will not switch to digital (or bother with e-books at all). So what's my conclusion? It appears that e-book sales (or popularity) might have increased from last year's 9%, but e-readers like the Kindle and Nook will need to do a better job mimicking print books if they ultimately want to conquer print books. Even some of the most digital savvy readers aren't about to abandon the "old fashioned" physical book for another piece of technology!

What do you think? Will you run a poll of your own and let me know the results? Click here to comment.

E-Book Sales = 9% of Trade Book Sales in 2010

This is old news but worth repeating for some ... In 2010, according to the Association of American Publishers (AAP), e-book sales represented around 9% of trade book sales. While the e-book format is incredibly important in today's publishing world, keep in mind that print format is still very much alive, especially adult paperbacks which rose 4.1% in 2010. Also, downloaded audiobook sales increased by almost 5%. Just another reason why you should publish your book in as many formats as possible!

Do you have a book you'd like to publish in multiple formats? I encourage you to visit www.mindstirmedia.com, home to the self-publishing company I own. MindStir can help you publish your book as a paperback, e-book, and downloadable audiobook.

Promote Your Book with Goodreads.com

If you haven't heard of Goodreads.com, it's official -- you live under a rock. Goodreads is the largest social network for book lovers. With over 4 million subscribers, plus 50 million pageviews and 5 million unique visitors per month, Goodreads is THE place to promote your book ... I constantly recommend their Author Program, a completely free feature offered to self-published and traditionally published authors. Learn about the program here. The program is even valid for those who decide to publish via e-book format only. Of course, I don't recommend publishing in only one format, as I explained in a previous post, but it's nice to know that Goodreads is interested in helping all types of authors, including you.

Need help with book publishing? Contact MindStir book publishers today!

NY Times E-book Bestsellers List - What Do You Think About It?

Not sure if you noticed, but last Sunday the New York Times finally launched their e-book bestsellers list in the newspaper's print edition. The list is split into these categories: "e-book fiction" and" e-book non-fiction" as well as "combined print & e-book fiction" and "combined print & e-book non-fiction." Amazon.com has decided to display the NY Times e-book bestsellers list themselves right here.

So what do you think about this new list?

Self-Publishing - Book Formats: Print, eBook, or Audiobook?

I've been receiving lots of emails lately from folks asking about the different book formats ... There seems to be confusion about whether it's important to release a book in multiple formats. For instance, some writers are convinced that they should go straight to eBook and forget about a print version altogether. Others don't bother with eBook and want to release their book in print only. I think -- in both cases -- this is a big mistake. When you start comparing print vs. eBook, you're going to lose sight of someone very important: the reader. Readers want options. Releasing eBook-only excludes readers that do not have an e-reading device and/or do not enjoy reading digital text. Releasing print-only excludes those who prefer reading digital text or refuse to pay the price of other formats. And then there's the audiobook--a hugely forgotten format in self-publishing. Many book lovers prefer audiobooks over all formats. iPods and other mp3 players are great for listening during long trips by plane, train, car (for some, these trips represent the only free time they have available for literary entertainment)... Many readers suffer from motion sickness and simply cannot read while moving, but they'd still love to be entertained by a good book. Hello, audiobook!

So what does all of this mean? Release your book in as many formats as possible in order to reach the widest audience possible!

Look at the movie industry. Most new movies are released in at least three formats: DVD, Blu-ray, and Digital Copy. You see, some movie lovers don't have a Blu-ray player, so DVD is an ideal option. Others have a Blu-ray player, so obviously they're going to opt for the Blu-ray Disc instead of DVD. Digital Copy is a format that is usually included in some sort of COMBO PACK, in which you receive all three formats in one pack...for one price. Viewers enjoy Digital Copy on the iPod Touch, iPad, and other devices ... My point:  I'd like see more self-published authors (and traditionally published authors, too) offer combo packs: Print, eBook, and audiobook for one price. I've tested a paperback & eBook version of the combo pack at my website: http://www.jjhebert.net. It's been a huge success. I highly recommend it!