Book Trailers: Cost Effective Marketing Tools for Authors, Publishers, and PR Firms

Book Trailers: Cost Effective Marketing Tool for Authors, Publishers and PR Firms

With the increasing number of free video sites on the internet, book videos or book trailers are becoming an increasingly effective tool for book marketing. By combining voice-overs with appropriate graphics and music beds, trailers have the ability to not only create interest, but increase book sales. However, many authors, publishers and PR firms have been afraid to put them in their marketing toolbox because either they don't have the technical skill to create an effective one or they think trailers are financially beyond their reach.

No longer limited to just YouTube, most of the major search engines have added the option of uploading videos directly into their system. AOL, Yahoo and Google are only three of which have video sites. Most of the popular social network groups such as MySpace, Facebook and Gather have added the ability to upload videos to their sites. By adding links to networking sites such a Digg or Drop Jack, the videos effectiveness is extended. In addition, there are a multitude of individual groups that target interests, genres and activities who also allow videos to be uploaded. These groups allow the author to interact with their target audience, which not only offers sale opportunities, but to also allows the author to receive feedback on her or his work and more fully understand what the readers are looking for. Readers’ responses will only serve to help make the author more effective as both a writer and representative of her or his work.

Placing the trailer on these different sites is only the first step. It can be a well crafted trailer, representing an excellent book, but if the readers can't find it, it is totally worthless. Using search engine optimizing keywords in the tag line and title of the trailer will make it more searchable. The genre, author, and title need to play an active role in the tag line; however, the tags also need to include what makes the book unique and relevant. In addition, by being creative in the way it is tagged, it can be connected to existing books or topics. It is away to help others who are interesting in the same topic to find the book. The best way to know what keywords the search engines are keying into is to actually do the search. Not only will it give the author additional ideas for keywords, but it will also show what has been successful for other authors.

Unlike other book marketing tools, book trailers are a multi-media asset. Using both audio and video, they carry an interactive message. The voice over gives the direct pitch, while the graphic give emphasis and subliminal support. The music bed sets the ambiance. From romantic to scary, the music will accentuate the message, especially during the times when the voice over isn’t called for. When these elements are intermixed properly, they make a successful trailer.

As effective as they may be, some authors, publishers and PR agency are still reluctant to use them because of the cost, which can be into the thousands of dollars. These trailers use existing movie video or create their own, which radically increases the cost. However, still pictures with the help of special effects and transitions, can have the appearance of movement at a fraction of the cost. Coordinating the effects and transitions with the audio portion adds depth and increases the trailer’s effectiveness, while keeping the costs low.

Valkyrie Publishing produces cost effective book trailers in all genres, as well as offering online distribution services. Go to http://www.youtube.com/user/Tirgana to watch the trailers Valkyrie Publishing has produced for authors, publishers and PR firms. To learn more about what their services, email Valkyrie (at) yahoo (dot) com or go to www.theresachaze.com

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Choosing the Best SEO Keywords

There are many sites, including Yahoo and Google, that have listing of the current popular key words. However, adding a phrase that has nothing to do with your topic will only annoy people and discount your credibility. If the key words have nothing to do with your site or subject matter, do not use them. Instead, be creative in the way you combine terms and topics to create your own niche market.

The following are three suggestions how effectively use key words for your project.
1. Include the most descriptive and accurate keywords on your topic even if they are not the most popular. By doing so you not only build a good foundation, but also cast a wider net for your customers to find you. Although your ranking might not spike, you will have a consistent rise in the rankings.

2. Use qualifiers to be more specific such as: romantic fantasy, occult horror, Michigan mystery, etc. It is way to catch the attention of a reader who might be looking for something more specific than just a fantasy or mystery book.

3. Create your own niche keywords or markets that haven't been made popular yet. By creating your own combination, you create a brand name that is all your own, thereby creating a market place that has little competition.

Using the previously listed sites, can also find you suggestions on which key word options will be the most beneficial to your project. By typing in the word “publishing”, the site came up with the following keywords list ranked by popularity.

412 desktop publishing
373 publishing
252 publishing companies
225 self publishing
171 southwestern publishing
158 book publishing
133 book publishing companies
130 rock publishing
117 music publishing
114 concordia publishing

These are only the first ten of the 100 possible listings. However, it is sufficient sampling to demonstrate the different combinations available for just the one key word.
Correct usage and placement of key words not only increases your search engine rankings, but can also create a personalized niche market for your product.

Valkyrie Publishing is a consulting service, which helps authors create their dream without risking their royalties or answering to another. It is their job to make the publishing experience as simple and inexpensive as possible. For authors who are not technologically savvy or would just like help with the process, they are an excellent resource and beneficial asset. Valkyrie Publishing is available to help authors successfully and easily publish and market their book by going to www.theresachaze.com

Authors: A New Ebook on Writing and Marketing Your Book

Authors: A New Ebook on Writing and Marketing Your Book


From Blank Page to Book Shelves--How to Successfully Create and Market Your Book is a new ebook, which shares writing tips, and marketing strategies, which will make your publishing experience more successful. The marketing information includes how to effectively use SEO keywords in press releases, chose a publisher and low cost to free promotional options, while sharing writing tips.

The first part of the ebook gives basic writing tips. From plot organization to creating conflicts, this ebook help authors understand the basic structure of both short stories and novels. In addition, there are chapters on characterization and sensory writing, which help the authors draw in their readers into a multi-dimensional reading experience.

The second part of the book includes the importance of protecting the rights of the author, not only by copyrighting the work, but choosing the proper publishing venue. Safeguarding a work can be done easily and inexpensively; if done properly it insures that it will be legally protected. Choosing the correct publishing format and publisher can also make or break a book’s opportunities to reach the reading public.

Marketing and Promotions is explained in the third part of the ebook. It describes how the publishing venue affects how a book can be best advertised not only to readers, but also to bookstore owners. In addition, it lists low cost or free promotional ideas that can be used both on and offline. Search Engine Optimization makes press releases more effective; using the correct key words in the proper format will efficiently attract the attention of the search engines, thereby raising the article or site higher in the rankings and drawing more traffic to it.

From Blank Page to Book Shelves--How to Successfully Create and Market Your Book can’t guarantee to place an authors on the New York Times best seller‘s list; however, it will help improve their writing skills and understanding of the business end of the industry. Currently, this ebook is available at www.theresachaze.com for $7.00.


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Publishing and Publicity Consultant--Let Me Help You Make Your Book Successful

Publishing and Publicity Consultant--Let me help you make your book successful


If you have a book you want to publish you no longer have to depend of the whim of traditional publishers or on the ethics of new breed of POD publishers. Getting your book in print and distributed is cheaper and easier than you think. Hire me and I will make your book look professional. Follow the link below and see what I can do for you.
http://www.geocities.com/tirgana/Valkyrieserves.pdf

Virtual Book Tours: A New Promotional Tool For Authors

Virtual Book Tours: A New Promotional Tool For Authors
By
Theresa Chaze

Virtual Book Tours are the newest marketing opportunity for authors. With traditionally book tours, authors travel from town to town doing book signings and doing interviews to publicize their books. Although the process is very effective, it also involves great expense, travel and time. Virtual book tours essentially do the same; however, instead of the authors physically traveling to bookstores, the interviews and book readings are conducted electronically through posting on blogs and IM conversations.

Although a Virtual Book Tour doesn't have the same personal touch at the traditional tour, it can be more informative and effective. From the comfort of their homes, readers can learn more about new writers and their work. By reading the interviews on the blogs, the readers not only learn more about the author’s work, but about her or his private lives. Interviews are conducted by many bloggers, each of which will give a fresh perspective on the author as a person and on the work. By following the tour, the reader will be able to get to know the author on a more personal level as well as be able to read excerpts of the book.

The internet also allows the readers to meet the authors electronically through IM messaging, conferencing and chat rooms. Many of the IM services have both audio and video features, which personalized the experience more. No longer just words on the screen, the authors can become three dimensional people who can answer questions about themselves and their work in real time. Chat rooms and conference room have the advantage over the one to one IM messaging by allowing the readers to share in on both the questions and answers. By coming together in a room, the author's answers are shared with all in the room instead of just the individual. For the readers, it gives them the opportunity to receive answers to questions they may not have thought of or were afraid to ask.

For the authors, it has the advantages of being able to reach a more diverse audience quicker and more conveniently. No longer do authors have to pack up and travel from town to town to gain the attention of their target audience. The internet has also made reaching new audiences and reconnecting with existing ones, easier and quicker. No longer bound by time and space, authors can not only make direct contact with their target market, but also expand their readership into the general audience. The proper use of key words in the blog will make the interviews more accessible by search engines. The diversification of the type of blogs involved in the tour will help the author reach a varied audience that might not have be otherwise open to the author’s work.

Virtual book tours also benefit the bloggers involved by bringing more traffic to their site. As part of the promotional process, the coordinator also promotes the hosting blog thereby temporarily giving the blog additional attention. By hosting a stop on a tour, the blogger also promotes their own message, while helping another. It is a win-win situation for all involved.

Dorothy Thompson is one to the premier Virtual Book Tour co-coordinators. Her promotional website Pump Up Your Book Promotion and her book promotion blog at Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion has helped many authors successful promote their books. In January, she will be hosting a Virtual Book Tour for Kathleen Willey's book Target: Caught In The Crosshairs Of Bill And Hillary Clinton. Currently it is ranked 79# at Amazon. She has also hosted many other authors both in the US and in Canada. Her success rate has surpassed most of the other tour coordinators. In addition, she is the author of the self-promoting e-book, The Complete Guide to Promoting & Selling Your Self-Published eBook. Her success rate has made her tours a valuable promotional asset to the authors she has represented.

Direct Marketing to Independent Bookstores

Direct Marketing to Independent Bookstores
By
Theresa Chaze

Active book promotion and marketing is important to every book's success, especially when it comes to the beginning writer. Contacting independent bookstores is a direct marketing method that is not only cost effective but a successful way for the authors to bring their work to the attention of buyers. With the technological advancements of email, fax and unlimited long distance, it is easier and cheaper than ever before for authors to promote their work to brick and mortar stores.

In the past, authors used direct mailings and industry advertisements to gain the attention of independent bookstore owners. It was a costly and slow process. Not only was it expensive to print full color flyers, but the increasing postage rates made snail mail direct marketing cost prohibitive. Placing ad in trade magazines is effective only if the ad is well placed and designed. Yet even then, the message would only reach those stores that subscribed to the magazine or service.

The internet has opened the door to direct marketing to bookstores by making it cheaper, easier and quicker. Most stores have websites, which contain their contact information as well as accurate descriptions of the books they sell. It is an easy way for the author to reach their target audience by approaching only the stores who carry their genre. By searching the net, an author can find stores by state or specialty. However, compiling list of bookstores can be very time consuming and frustrating. There is no master site that lists bookstores. Instead, the search must be done by location or genre.

If an author is wise, she or he will create a list of the bookstores as they are contacted, not only to check back with them but for future use. However, there are short cuts that an author can take. There are sites that do sell lists of bookstores; however, they are very expensive and have been assembled by non writers. Valkyrie Publishing is offering the list it uses to promote their books. This list has contact information for over 2000 independent bookstores. Most of them have not only the contact information, but also details about the store itself. Below are examples of what the list contains.

Auburn University Bookstore
1360 Haley Center, Auburn, AL 36849
Phone: (334)844-1365
Fax: (334)844-1697
Type of Books Sold: Primarily New
Description: Auburn University Bookstore

Alabama Booksmith
2626 19th Place South, Birmingham, AL 35209
Phone: (205)870-4242
Fax: (205)870-4302
Type of Books Sold: Primarily New

Malcolm's Reading Room
404 17th Street, Birmingham, AL 35203
Phone: (205)563-4846
Fax: (205)802-2240

Page & Palette Inc.
32 South Section Street, Fairhope, AL 36532
Phone: (251)928-5295
Fax: (251)928-2550
Type of Books Sold: Primarily New
Description: For over 30 years we have been dedicated to enhancing the quality of life on the Eastern Shore.

Little Professor Book Center
2717 18th Street South, Homewood, AL 35209
Phone: (205)870-7461
Fax: (205)879-7563
Type of Books Sold: Primarily New
Accepts Book Sense Gift Cards
Description: Besides having an impressive assortment of books, we also have a wonderfully delicious cafe and one of the largest selections of magazines in Birmingham!

The stores are organized by state with additional listings for new age and fantasy stores. The list costs $20.00 payable through paypal only. It is found at www.theresachaze.com.

Free Spiritually Incorrect Ezine--Messages From The Universe November Issue

Greetings,
Here is the November issue of Messages From the Universe. As always it has the Tarot Energy reading for the month along with articles by Rev. Marci Drewy, Bruce Seah, Moriah Marston and many others. Although you are welcome to share the ezine as a whole, the individual articles remain the property of the authors.

The address is below. You may have to cut and paste it into your browser.

http://us.share.geocities.com/tirgana/MessagesNov2007.pdf

If you would like to insure you receive Messages From the Universe every month, please join the free Yahoo group at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MessagesFromtheUniverse/

Six Simple Steps For Successfull Publishing

Doing a simple search on the net for predators and editors, it is easy to discover how many individuals and companies are waiting to take advantage of writers. Making grandiose promises of making their book a best seller, they con unsuspecting writers out of the money, talent and royalties. Even those writers who do the research can find that they have been taken advantage, However, with the new technological advances in computers and in printing, writers no long have to depend on others to make their publishing dream come true. Print on demand opens the door for authors to not only maintain creative control, but also retain all of the profits from their work. There are six simple steps to getting your book successfully published and distributed.

1. Write your book, making sure that it is properly edited.

Not only does you book have to be creative and interesting, but it has to be readable. Meaning that you need to do more than run it through the spell checker. Punctuation, spelling, and grammar errors will detract from the content and discredit the author. Although mistakes can even be found best selling books, they are rare and quickly fixed in the next edition. First time authors especially need to make sure the work reaches the highest standard possible.


2. Format you book so that it is easy to read and looks professional with an eye catching cover and enticing back cover blurb.

Formatting your book not only is resizing it to fit the appropriate book size, but it is also making sure the typesetting gives the pages a professional appearance. Margins need to be justified to give the pages a clean look. In most cases, book covers should be kept simple and uncomplicated; the graphics need to lure the reader to pick it up. The back cover blurb needs to tempt the reader into reading a few pages. The pages within should persuade the reader the book is worth the money.

3. Find a printer who can produce quality books at a cost effective price.
The list of POD printers is rapidly growing. By Googling the “print on demand printers”, the writer can find an impressive of list that varies not only in price but also in services. Some POD printers provide printing services without set up fees; however, they have limited distribution, which will also reduce the number brick and mortar stores who will be willing to carry the books. However, if an author only needs a few copies or intends to sell solely online, theses services are inexpensive ways to get a book in print. Most POD printers charge set up fees, but they also provide other printing options for book size, colors, and binding.

4. Make you book financially attractive to bookstores.
New authors have be realistic about their profit margins. In order for bookstores to be interested, the books have to be reasonably priced with at least a 50% discount off the cover price. However, the current standard discount is 55% off. In addition, making the books returnable is a must. Very few bookstores will risk their money and shelf space on a book by an unknown author if it isn’t returnable. When setting the cover price all three factors must be considered in along with a royalty fee. Never forget to pay yourself for your work, but don’t forget that the higher the cost of the book, the few copies that will be sold.

5. List your book with a distributor who is widely used.
Ingram is one of the widest know distributors in the country. However, they will not work with publishing houses that have less than ten titles in print. For a new publishing house, this can be a temporary obstacle. They do however have a list of associated distributors who will represent books from smaller publishers. The site address for the list is http://www.ingrambook.com/new/distributors.asp. Each of these distributors has their own standards and genres that they represent. Some of which require an exclusive contract for each book.

6. Promoted and market you book 24/7
Whether traditional or POD, a beginning author does nearly all of the marketing and promotions. In order to be effective, the author has to not only find a niche market, but has to create brand name for her or himself. The niche market is the target market that you are seeking according to genre, age, gender and readership. Creating a brand name is process where an author creates a strong connection with the target audience. In the past, traditional publishers placed ads and arranged for reviews. These are both still important venues; however, the internet has opened up many different options. Blogs, vblogs, and homepages are only three opportunities to attract readers, which cost little or no money. Online groups, chat rooms, and message boards are not only places to promote your work, but it is a great way to make connections with like minds.

No longer costing thousands of dollars to get their books in print, more authors are starting their own publishing houses and going out on their own. By doing it themselves, an author can published and distributed to the public for less than three hundred dollars.

Valkyrie Publishing is a consulting service, which helps authors create their dream without risking their royalties or answering to another. It is their job to make the publishing experience as simple and inexpensive as possible. For authors who are not technologically savvy or would just like help with the process, they are an excellent resource and beneficial asset.

Make Your Publishing Dream A Reality: paperback and ebooks

Publish You Own Book. Tired of doing all the work and receiving little or no profits. POD makes self-publishing cheaper and give authors more access to distributors. Traditional publishers throw good books into slush piles. Many POD publishers take your money, keep most of the profits, and give you minimal royalties. Beginning authors do all the writing, promotion and marketing, yet receive very little of the profits. It costs very little to get your book into print and accepted by distributors. Valkyrie Publishing helps you publish your own work and keep all the profits. For more information go to http://www.geocitie s.com/tirgana/Valkyrieserves.pdf or www.theresachaze.com