Excerpted from: 90+ Days of Promoting Your Book Online
IF YOU’RE JUST TUNING IN, please start on PART 1 HERE.
IMPORTANT NOTE
+
When you see a + next to any specific day in the book, it indicates an ongoing marketing activity, one that you’ll need to perform repeatedly while you continue to promote your book. Please refer to the chapter titled “AFTER 90 DAYS: YOUR BOOK’S DAILY MARKETING PLAN” for a recommend schedule of these ongoing marketing activities.
Days 21–23:
Signatures
A signature is effective, yet subtle, marketing text you can add under your name to every email you send, and also under your name when you’re posting to discussion lists, blogs, or news articles online.
Unfortunately, this tool is underused or misused by many. You should absolutely use signatures to promote not only your book(s), but also your website, ezine, or blog in general. And, don’t forget to promote your free ebook to continue attracting new subscribers!
EMAIL SIGNATURES
In your own email program, search the Help function for the word “signature.” If you’re not already familiar with this nifty gizmo, read about it in your email program. The email signature is usually easy to set up and use.
In your email signature you can pretty much get away with blatant self-promotion without appearing to be promoting yourself. Here’s an example. Several times each month, I send out a questionnaire to magazine editors that pay writers, asking them whether they’d like a free market listing on WritersWeekly.com. Market listings show writers what types of articles a magazine editor is interested in, how much they pay, what rights they take, etc. Lucky for me, my website targets writers, and most editors are also writers. Many editors even secretly freelance for other publications on the side to earn extra money, and have a deep desire to freelance full-time so they can work at home. So, while I’m offering their publication (their day-job) free exposure in WritersWeekly.com, the writer in them also sees my email signature, which promotes my free ebook, my website, and usually one or two of my other writing-related books.
Here’s the key. It’s much easier to get someone to sign up for something that’s free than to get them to buy your book when they first meet you. Hook them now and they’ll probably buy from you later, after they get to know you through your ezine. Marketing professionals know that prospective buyers usually have to see a new product (book) several times before they’ll actual buy that item. So your primary signature should promote your FREE ezine and FREE ebook. That way, they’re more likely to subscribe to your ezine and you can start exposing them to your book (via ads in your ezine) on a repeat basis, whenever you send them a new issue.
Sample Email Signature Promoting a Free Ebook
FREE PAYING MARKETS FOR WRITERS
How to Be a Freelance Writer (includes 103 paying markets!), a free ebook, is available for instant download to new WritersWeekly subscribers. Sign up and receive your free book instantly right here.
Sample Email Signature Promoting a New Book
**FREE EXCERPT!!**
BOOK PROPOSALS THAT WORKED! Real Book Proposals That Landed $10K – $100K Publishing Contracts. Want to read real book proposals that landed these contracts? Simon and Schuster, $100,000; Berkeley Books, $25,000; Osborne-McGraw-Hill, $19,500; Random House, $15,000; and many more! See a complete list here.
Sample Email Signature Promoting Our Publishing Company
Since we also own BookLocker.com, I have a different email signature that promotes that service to authors. And, many writers have considered writing a book, or have already written one. Is this signature obnoxiously long? Yes, but it’s an email signature so it’s perfectly acceptable, and not considered spam since I only send this to folks who have previously contacted me.
============================================
PUBLISH YOUR BOOK IN 1 MONTH – $675
(add $200 if you need original cover design)
D.I.Y. PROGRAM ONLY $78
UNHAPPY WITH YOUR CURRENT P.O.D. PUBLISHER?
If you own your production files, move to BookLocker – only $268.
ALREADY A BOOKLOCKER AUTHOR? PAY ONLY $268!
(original cover design is extra)
See:
http://publishing.booklocker.com/packages.php
============================================
BookLocker is rated “OUTSTANDING” by attorney Mark Levine, author of The Fine Print of Self Publishing
“As close to perfection as you’re going to find in the world of ebook and POD publishing. The ebook royalties are the highest I’ve ever seen, and the print royalties are better than average. BookLocker understands what new authors experience, and has put together a package that is the best in the business. You can’t go wrong here. Plus, they’re selective and won’t publish any manuscript just because it’s accompanied by a check. Also, the web site is well trafficked. If you can find a POD or epublisher with as much integrity and dedication to selling authors’ books, but with lower POD publishing fees, please let me know.”
– Attorney Mark Levine, author of The Fine Print of Self-Publishing
Unsolicited BookLocker Author Testimonials
============================================
Sample Combo Email Signature
Don’t think you have to stop at one email signature. I often combine mine like this:
============================================
FREE PAYING MARKETS FOR WRITERS
How to Be a Freelance Writer (includes 103 paying markets!), a free ebook, is available for instant download to new WritersWeekly subscribers. Sign up and receive your free book instantly right here: http://www.writersweekly.com
============================================
**FREE EXCERPT!!**
BOOK PROPOSALS THAT WORKED! Real Book Proposals That Landed $10K – $100K Publishing Contracts. Want to read real book proposals that landed these contracts? Simon and Schuster, $100,000; Berkeley Books, $25,000; Osborne-McGraw-Hill, $19,500; Random House, $15,000; and many more! See a complete list here: http://www.writersweekly.com/books/3332.html
I know. Pretty long and blatantly promotional huh? But, it works and nobody has ever complained about my email signatures in the 15+ years I’ve been using them.
___ Day 21
Create four different email signatures, one each to promote:
Your free ebook (per the previous chapter)
Your free ezine
Your book(s)
Your website
___ Day 22
Create a combo signature that features all or some of your signatures.
Add all of your signatures to your Book Marketing Cheat Sheet.
USING SIGNATURES ON OTHER PEOPLE’S WEBSITES
The great thing about signatures is they are so popular and accepted that people use them when posting online to discussion lists/groups, blogs, news articles that allow comments, and more. However, you need to be much more subtle when using signatures on websites owned by other people or you may risk being labeled a spammer. The way to be more subtle is to have a one-line signature for each of your products/services, and to use only one when posting online: the one most appropriate to each particular post you make. Here’s an example.
One of my books is called DON’T CUT ME AGAIN! True Stories About Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC). When I was pregnant with our fifth child, Mason, my doctor at the time told me I “had to have a c-section” simply because I’d had one previously. My shock and subsequent research revealed what appears to be a mass conspiracy in the medical community, designed to force women to have often-unnecessary surgery for the doctor’s and hospital’s convenience, and for their pocketbooks (c-sections are far more expensive than vaginal births).
This is a really hot topic and there is no shortage of new articles, blogs, discussion lists, and more where I can share my story in an attempt to help other women who also feel their doctor is forcing them to go under the knife.
When posting my story, my signature not only promotes my book, but also gives my words an air of authority. I’m not just a woman who had a successful VBAC. I’m also a published author.
This is the simple yet extremely effective signature I use when I’m posting VBAC comments online:
Angela Hoy
Author, DON’T CUT ME AGAIN! True Stories About Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC)
That’s all that’s needed. If anybody wants to find my book, they’ll simply look it up on Amazon. And, believe me, they do, and they have no problem finding and buying my book based on the title alone. Whenever I go on a posting binge (that’s what I call it when I get caught up in the current news stories and controversy surrounding the topic), I always notice an increase in my VBAC book sales.
Come up with different, short electronic signatures that you’re going to be using when you start conversing with your book’s potential readers online.
___ Day 23
Create separate, one-line signatures to promote:
Your book(s)
Your free ebook
Your website
Your ezine/blog
Add these to your Book Marketing Cheat Sheet.
RELATED:
Book Pre-publication FAQ
Book Post-publication FAQ
More WritersWeekly Articles About Book Marketing!
Marketing to Bookstores – Still a Waste of Time?
How to Sell Books on Consignment to Bookstores and Other Retailers
Do NOT Sneak Your Self-Published Book Onto Bookstore Shelves!
How to Go Broke AFTER You Publish Your Book! (Hint: Buy your publisher’s worthless marketing products and services…)
More articles from the the Publisher’s Desk
Got questions about Print On Demand and Self-publishing? Ask Angela Hoy.
About The Author
Angela Hoy is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the author of 19 books, and the co-owner of BookLocker.com (one of the original POD publishers that still gets books to market in less than a month), PubPreppers.com (print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish), and Abuzz Press (the publishing co-op that charges no setup fees).
Angela has lived and traveled across the U.S. with her kids in an RV, settled in a river-side home in Bradenton, FL, and lived on a 52 ft Irwin sailboat. Angela now resides on a mountaintop in Northwest Georgia, where she plans to spend the rest of her days bird watching, gardening, hiking, and taking in all of the amazing sunrises.
WritersWeekly.com - the free marketing ezine for writers, which features new paying markets and freelance job listings every Wednesday.
BookLocker.com - According to attorney Mark Levine, author of The Fine Print, BookLocker is: "As close to perfection as you're going to find in the world of ebook and POD publishing. The ebook royalties are the highest I've ever seen, and the print royalties are better than average. BookLocker understands what new authors experience, and have put together a package that is the best in the business. You can't go wrong here. Plus, they're selective and won't publish any manuscript just because it's accompanied by a check. Also, the web site is well trafficked. If you can find a POD or epublisher with as much integrity and dedication to selling authors' books, but with lower POD publishing fees, please let me know."
Abuzz Press offers FAST and FREE book publication, but only accepts a small percentage of submissions, and only works with U.S. authors.
PubPreppers.com - "We Prep, You Publish!" Print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish. Offers formatting and design services only, and then provides simple instructions for authors on where to sign up to have the print and ebook editions printed/listed/sold. Cut out the middle man. Keep 100% of what bookstores pay for your book!
Angela's POD Secrets Revealed Series can be found HERE.
Have a POD Book with another publisher? See if BookLocker can give you a better deal. (BookLocker offers "disgruntled author discounts" to those who want to move from other POD services.)
See BookLocker's publishing packages HERE.
ANGELA ON TWITTER https://twitter.com/AngelaHoy
BOOKLOCKER ON FACEBOOK - Provides links to free excerpts!
https://www.facebook.com/booklockerbooks
ANGELA ON FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/angela.hoy.750
ANGELA ON LINKEDIN
https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelahoy/
Angela is the creator of the Original 24-Hour Short Story Contest!
https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/
Read More Of Angela's Articles HERE
90+ DAYS OF PROMOTING YOUR BOOK ONLINE: Your Book's Daily Marketing Plan by Angela Hoy and Richard Hoy
Promoting your book online should be considered at least a part-time job. Highly successful authors spend more time promoting a book than they do writing it - a lot more.
We know what you're thinking. You're an author, not a marketer. Not to worry! We have more than a decade of successful online book selling experience under our belts and we're going to teach you how to promote your book effectively online...and almost all of our techniques are FREE!
Online book promotion is not only simple but, if you have a step-by-step, day-to-day marketing plan (this book!), it can also be a very artistic endeavor, which makes it fun for creative folks like you!
Yes, online book promoting can be EASY and FUN! Let us show you how, from Day 1 through Day 90...and beyond!
