Promoting your book with a website and social media.

Ok, you've written your book, you've decided to go the affordable route of publishing online via Amazon's Createspace.com, lulu.com, or now Barnes and Noble's new service called Pubit.  With these services in particular you have a great distribution channel.  However, promoting your book is what sells your book.  Unless you're Stephen King don't expect Amazon to run ads for you to sell your book, there just isn't a vested interest in it for an author with a first release.

Here's are some quick basics to use the web for promoting your book:

1.  Create a blog specifically for your book. 

You'll want to create a blog rather than a static website that acts as an ad.  A blog has changing content (supposing you write in it) and because of this becomes relevant to search engines and supporting traffic.  Creating a blog can be extremely simple or difficult depending how visible, how much unique you want the site to be, and how 'writer' friendly you want it to be.

There are many choices to setting up a blog depending on your abilities in setting up a site.  Here are my favorite top contenders all with the most support out available:

Blogger.com

I've been designing sites for about 12 years now and I still use blogger for my personal blog even today. It is no nonsense and just plain easy and at no cost.  You have to love it but if you're doing a huge promotion with some complexity in layout or site structure, you may want to look elsewhere.

Pros:

• Cost nothing to set up or maintain. 
• Search Engine Optimized (friendly).
• It's simple, very simple. 

Cons:

• Small number of themes and not so easy to alter existing themes so the look of your site will not be unique.
• Although it creates an optimized site for search engines it doesn't apply additional tools to get traffic like other services.
• RSS feeds are limited to the main blog only.  Limiting the ability to promote a single feed with user comments to an RSS.

Wordpress - Requires hosting - visit TOPSweb's Web Services for more details

If all you want to do is a blog and nothing else (one changing page with archives) then Wordpress is the best.  There is nothing out there that beats it's ability to be search engine friendly and I mean nothing.  It will literally dynamically build keywords based on the content so it can be found. 

Pros:

• Cost is very low, hosting is about $4 a month.
• Probably a trillion themes to choose from, tons for free. 
• Very easy to use and very customizable.
• Extremely optimized for search engines.  Nothing out there better, hands down!

Cons:

• You have to maintain it.  Often upgrades are as simple as clicking a button, or with the addition of a plugin you would have to click a button to back up a database, but still you are the one responsible for the site.
• Very easy to transfer from another system into wordpress, but like hotel California, check out any time you like, but can never leave - without killing your stats.
• Tons of available support online.

Joomla (Content Management System) - Requires hosting also. 

Joomla isn't just a blog, it is a SYSTEM.  In other words it's not just a starship, it's the Enterprise.  This system isn't for the person who has no computer skills, it requires some reading and some training all available for free online.  It's not that its hard, it's that it's so inclusive.  I highly recommend Joomla if you are technical by nature.

Pros:

• By far the most flexible system for layout and the most attractive themes available.
• Cost is low for hosting, same as wordpress about $4 a month.
• Most features available and can easily juggle multiple pages within the site.
• Tons of available support online.
• Search Engine Friendly - also see cons.

Cons:

• Not simple to use.  Takes time to get to know the interface but worth it if you do.
• Requires a bit of manual effort to induce your keywords to make your pages more SEO friendly.  

* Drupal is another CMS I highly recommend, with the same pros and cons.

2. Yesterday's leftovers are today's delicious blog
When a book goes through the editing process, typically a ton of great stuff is just cut out.  Maybe it didn't flow right, timing issues, too long, whatever the reason it got chucked from the book.  There is often tons of valuable research, side stories, and so on that can be used as content for your blog.  These are often teasers and wets the appetite of the reader for your writing style and promotes a following for your book and your ability to interact with the reader.

3. A little birdie told me to tweet, facebook, myspace, and tweet some more.

The power of social media is the engine behind today's Internet Marketplace.  Take advantage of the tools out there and when you post a new blog, send out an update on your facebook fanpage, your twitter account, and any other services that people follow you or have common interests as you.

4. Feedback - adapt and overcome!

All of the blog systems I've suggested and tons more have the ability to have users comment on your blog posts.  Get it, read it, use it, love it, or just ignore it. Getting feedback is crucial on what you need to adapt to meet a niche reader market and effectively promote your book.  You may discover from this feedback from either user comments on your blog, facebook comments, direct tweets, that maybe you are attracting a different fan base than you had expected.  This may require you to adapt your writing to either shift your fan base, or embrace them and adapt your style to attract more of that niche market.

5. Subscriptions - Keeping in touch
 
All of the blog systems I suggested have RSS feeds.  These feeds can be used by Internet users to subscribe to your feed and read your blogposts in readers and never have to actually visit your site.  There are tons of reader sites from yahoo to google reader to rss owl.  But mostly, other sites can post your content into their sites creating a powerful backlink 'web' or 'net' if you will to gain followers. 

Another method is the old newsletter method by catching email addresses by subscribing to premium content, Joomla handles this method famously.  A newsletter can inform the subscibers not only of content being posted in the blog, but can announce books signings, when the next books is coming out, additional thoughts, etc.

6. Don't be anti-social
 
When it comes to content, more is better but not so much in the same place.  As I mentioned earlier you want to build a proverbial 'net' to catch users.  So write fresh content to your facebook fan page, interface on with others on twitter, talk on groups, write ezine articles.  Within all of this, delicately place a link back to your book's website where you have your master content and promotions to you the sale of your book.

7. One for one, more for many - One site per book more sites for other stuff.

Again to the play off more is better.  If you have multiple publications, then create an individual site for each book.  Create an author site that ties your muliple sites together and promotes each of them.  I'm happy to contribute to this blog owned by John Kurt because it is about a common passion between the both of us, technology.  This blog is a good example in that it will continue to talk about these things as well as provide links to promote John's books as they come available.  No opportunities lost.

In conclusion, an ebook or any book for that matter to a new author does not gain instant momentum by making it available for the ipad or the kindle.  There has to be a promotion tied behind that book just as if it were any other commodity or product.  It has to be marketed and nurtured to an intended audience in order to sell.

Happy writing,

Michael D. Donahoe
TOPSweb, LLC

Just because you have an e-reader doesn't mean you won't want to go to the store!

Relatively this will be a short post.  I read an article at Fastcompany.com about a feature being added to the Barnes & Noble's Nook e-reader that is simply genius. 

A new feature is being added to the Nook e-reader that will actually give you reason to grab your Nook and head to your local Barnes and Noble store.  A new feature recently added called "More in Store" menu will allow you to connect to the B&N's network through their proprietary WIFI and actually read books and some periodicals in their entirety while you are in the store. 

I don't know about most, but one of the things I absolutely love about Barnes and Noble is to go there and browse through the books.  Even if I intend on purchasing and ebook, I'll go there and thumb through the book just to see if it is exactly what I'm after.  The thing is, B&R provides an experience.  A relaxing atmosphere, a nice cup of coffee, a WIFI connection.  They've gotten more money out of me as a place of escape or oasis from a hectic life than Amazon has gotten from me with all of their wonderful convenience. 

With all of the Starbucks in the B&N's, wouldn't it be awesome if they extended this feature to all of the Starbuck's as well.  With all of that potential caffeine I may never sleep again.

Michael D. Donahoe
TOPSweb, LLC

Google Editions - the facts and the fiction

If you haven't heard yet, Google is to launch a new service by the end of June called "Google Editions" where they will supposedly be competing in e-book sales competing against the Apple iPad bookstore, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.  At present it is rumored that Google right out of the gate will begin with over 4 million publications. 

The Wall Street Journal stated last week that publishers have not yet made any commitments and Japan Today stated yesterday that nearly all publishers are on board. 

The mystery it seems to be around how Google will handle the sale and content of its e-books.  If you visit http://www.google.com/books you can currently see a huge collection that Google has acquired and offering in epub format for downloading.  These are primarily scanned copies and do not offer a high quality reading experience, but certainly do the job of keeping an electronic copy.  There is speculation that Google will use a browser based format but many are concerned with having the ability to access the files offline.

Lets explore the option of Google staying with the open source EPUB format for a moment.  Google certainly has traditionally supported open source formats.  However, even though the EPUB standard is based on common platforms such as XHTML, XML, and a subset of CSS to layout content.  EPUB has a couple of major issues from what I see standing in the way of it being adopted as Google's e-book platform of choice.

First the EPUB format does not have a standardized DRM to be used with the .epub format.  Meaning, an .epub file sold with a DRM specifically for an iPad will not necessarily work on an Android device even though it has the same file extension.  This openness of the standard actually creates elements of closed source for books to be sold.

Second, and what can be seen as a huge flaw in the Google eye is the fact that the EPUB standard uses an OCF 1.0 container format (similar to a zip file) that makes linking outside of that file very difficult.  It also uses very structured metadata for keywords in its XML structure, meaning limited search capability.  This most likely has little appeal to Google as keyword indexing is the life blood of every entity of Google's ability to match advertising to user interests.

A lot of speculation is that Google will use a browser format and this in itself seems to fit the model for Google more closely.  By using a browser based reader Google can easily provide the service across any Internet capable device and can stick to the 'keep it in the cloud' philosophy.  As far as people's concern for being able to read offline, that may be a back burner issue to Google as they inch their way into the Wifi arena.  I think it's safe to say that the days of being 'offline' will be a thing of the past as I with all the speculation that exists about Google and Verizon tablet to be I'm sure will be an always online device as well.

Technology and Publishing roundup

There's been quite a bit of new information in the last few weeks concerning technology that will help change the publishing industry, so we'll dive right into some of it.

Amazingly, APPLE, with all the great press they received last month, is taking a beating this month. After Steve Jobs chose to tell Adobe to take a hike, and say Adobe Flash wasn't allowed on his precious iPad, the US government is now considering suing them over the decision. So much for the "savior" of the publishing industry. Oh, and Gizmodo (who was the happy recipient of a recently found iPhone 4), is considering suing the local police after Apple ordered a house-raid of the Sr. Editor from Gizmodo.  Ridiculous.

With the coming digital age, and thus eBook copying and piracy, most publishing companies are going to be throwing their eggs into DRM,: Digital Rights Management. The problem is that it doesn't always work, and that sometimes it just pisses people off.  Take an example from computer games: Ubisoft  is pissing off its customers with over-doing encryption, etc.  Hopefully the publishing industry doesn't throw all their eggs into that basket, as I'm confident there will be backlash if they do.

Speaking of pissing off customers, here's another: When a company chooses to "control" its hardware too much by manipulating what software you can put on it (*cough*, Apple).. they oftentimes anger customers. SONY recently chose to remove the Linux-install option on the PS3 and is now getting sued by its customers.


Any company wishing to enter into the eBOOK hardware space in the future should take note.

Since they are all the rage at the moment, how about we look at iPad's competition?  First, there's the JooJoo. The product is quite interesting as it and others like it will end up being the biggest competition for the iPad. "Why?" you ask...  because the joojoo's standard OS is Linux (Ubuntu), it is capable of 720p video, and a far-more-powerful Intel ATOM based processor. The battery life is half, which is a huge plus for apple, but many computer geeks like myself are willing to trade performance for battery life.  Plus, you can put it into lower power modes.  Linux offers open-source software, and often free downloads. You don't have to go through Apple to get your books movies, music, etc.  Apple can, and may, win this fight with billions of marketing dollars, but in the end, the geeks like us will prevail with a more open source product.

Then, there's the HP Slate. With HP's recent purchase of PALM phones and operating system, they will enter the fight... too late, but will enter it nevertheless. There's a news article about it's delay here. And an interesting comparison between it and the iPad here.

Another piece of the competition pie is the Notion Ink ADAM.  It, too, will run a more open-based operating system (like Android), and a swivel (front-to-back) camera, and uses an NVIDA chipset. The chipset is being delayed, so unfortunately Apple continues to earn the gold medal for time-to-market with the iPad.  Next year, however will prove the most interesting.


All of the newest technology will prove quite valuable in the continuing eBook revolution, where you'll be able to use software like Stanza and Kindle apps to search for your favorite book.



Lastly, there's information about the now-available Google book store.  What does it mean that Google, Stanza, and other companies are entering the eBook fray?  In my opinion, it means the market is about to be flooded with a gross amount of lesser-quality-material, books, articles, and magazines that aren’t as well edited.  (uh… like a blog??)  It also means FAR more chances (um… like a blog) to get your material out there.

All of the above information, in my opinion of course, is great news for new authors.  It can also be great for established authors.  They no longer have to worry about that little thing called shelf space.  Also, here's an article about how, with the coming eBook age, the publishing industry's tactic of "returning" un-purchased books is over.

I'm off on vacation...see you in a week or two.

Online publishing... oh my.

Ah, technology and publishing.

After posting my short story, "The Bastard Son" and receiving (surprisingly) good feedback, I chose too examine online publishing for (possible, free) download by all the iPad, iPhone, Stanza, Kindle, Sony Reader, Nook, etc fans out there. 

After some quick research, I discovered that two of the "major" databases are: Smashwords and Feedbooks.  There are others, but I'll just focus on these for now.

First, I went to the Smashwords website, hesitant that it could be that easy to (self) publish in their database. The result: amazing. This is clearly the future of publishing in the digital world. People can post whatever work they've done, and the customer "votes" on what is good and what is bad. Bingo...the digital age.

Smashwords even comes with their own how to publish on Smashwords webpage. Included in the site is a FREE Style Guide, which for any new author, has an incredible step-by-step formatting technique (with MS Word of course) on how to format before submitting to the database. They also come with advice on how to obtain an ISBN number. Ridiculous.

I then swing over to Feedbooks, who also have a step-by-step instruction to convert your story to the open standard of ePUB.  Goodness.



I chose to hold off on submitting it to these wonderful sites becuase I'm waiting on a friend. He helped me come up with the story, is volunteering to do an audio version / podcast, and is contributing some art. Once that's done, I'll be off and digitally "publishing" my story.

EDIT: ...and this is not including ManyBooks.net, Free-ebooks.net, and others...

Welcome to the future. :)