Book Marketing Success Podcast

John Kremer
Book Marketing Success Podcast

John Kremer share stories of real-life book authors who have marketed their books in innovative, fun, and money-making ways. He talks about bestseller strategies, licensing subsidiary rights, creating large Internet tribes, social networking for book sales and prestige, and ultimately selling a lot of books. These stories are short, sweet, practical, inspirational, and doable by any book author, whether a self-publisher, an author published by a big publisher, or a Kindle ebook author. You will love this show! Please subscribe now. Thanks. This Book Writing Podcast is designed to educate and inspire writers, book authors, novelists, poets, storytellers, and content creators of all sorts. It focuses on how and why to write a book. This Book Publishing Podcast is designed to educate and inspire book publishers and self-publishers to edit, design, distribute, and promote the best books. This Book Marketing Podcast is designed to educate and inspire book authors and publishers to do a better job publicizing, promoting, and marketing their books. I know at least 1001 Ways to Market Your Books! This Content Creation Podcast is designed to educate and inspire all content creators, including writers, bloggers, podcasters, videomakers, social media marketers, and internet marketers with new ideas and the latest promotional opportunities. bookmarketing.substack.com

  1. 22 HR. AGO

    John Kremer and Judith Briles on Marketing Books

    Host a Podcast and Be a Podcast Guest! John Kremer: Every author should have a podcast. I still believe that. I've been promoting it for a long, long time. I still really believe that because I think podcasting is one of the most powerful tools you have for getting the word out about yourself. The neat thing in today's world, it's easy to create a combined audio-video podcast that you can syndicate on 40 or 50 platforms. Judith Briles: How many people come in and start a podcast with absolutely amazing intentions? Kind of like when people are going to do a blog and then within six months the blog is dead. Is there any stats on the startup for podcasts that start petering out? John Kremer: I don't know of any specific stats, but I do know from my own anecdotal experience that probably 80 or 90% of podcasters give up on their podcasts within six months. It becomes too much work. It's too hard. It's every week. But the thing is, you don't always have to do a podcast that's going to be a forever podcast. You could do a limited edition 10-episode podcast. Some of the most popular podcasts in the world are limited podcasts. They cover a true crime case, and then once you're done covering it, the podcast is done. But the podcast lives on in all the podcast syndication sites. It lives on in Audible. It lives on in Amazon. It lives on in lots of places. Judith Briles: Some of the news shows I'll pick up once in a while, they have both the ongoing, like in perpetuity, like ours has been, and we're seven years old now. But they also have limited edition episodes, almost like a serial book and then it's over. And then maybe they'll come back again when they have a new serial to start up. John Kremer: Even a limited podcast series still gives you the benefits of a podcast, especially the power of syndication. One of the incredibly powerful things about podcasts is that it puts you on 30, 40, or even 50 of the major websites on the Internet, including Apple, Amazon, Audible, Google Play, Spotify, Pandora, and more! You know the power of a podcast because you built up a listenership for your podcast, and you've had millions and millions of listens and possibly views because I know you also put it up on YouTube. Podcasts not only allow you to syndicate it to all these powerful websites, but it also gives you the opportunity to exchange views and podcast episodes with other podcasters. Ask key influencers and authors this question: I'd love to interview you for my podcast, but I would really like it if you would also interview me for your podcast. I think we have complimentary audiences that would like to hear both of us talk on each other's podcasts. The Book of the Month Club John Kremer: I'm going to talk about the Book of the Month Club. Now, this isn't the old line Book of the Month Club, which died a sad death. Judith Briles: So, how do we create our own Book of the Month Club? John Kremer: I met somebody once at one of your seminars, and I'm still trying to track down his name now because I seem to have misplaced it in my move to Arizona. But he offered a book of the month club. He was a business speaker and consultant to corporations. What he did is he wrote 12 short books. I'm talking about short books, 96 to 128 pages, somewhere in there. Then whenever he'd go out and speak or whenever he attended a convention, whenever he met somebody that might be a potential client or customer or speaking agent, he added them to his book of the month club. Once a month, he mailed out real books to his prospect list, a list of about 500 potential customers. He kept adding people to the list as he spoke in different venues and met people on planes, in hotels, or at convention sites. His book of the month bluc not only justified him printing hundreds or thousands of copies of his books but it also impacted his speaking engagements and his corporate consultations. From a business standpoint, his book of the month club made perfect sense for him be

    1h 4m
  2. MAR 7

    Lesson 2: On Writing Back Cover Copy

    First, a few notes from yesterday’s podcast episode. 1. The author of Power and Petroleum died shortly after I reviewed her back cover copy. Apparently her book was never published. 2. I write promo copy for all authors, no matter where they are on the political spectrum. My job is to write great copy for any author who hires me to copywrite for them. Here’s my copywriting on environmental policy and promotion: If you want people to be worried about global warming, don't talk about global warming. Too big. Too hard to grasp. Too hard to figure out how to help. Tell the story of one lone polar bear cub who is losing its home as it melts around him. We will respond to that. 3. I have no problem with people speaking Spanish. For the past 18 years, I’ve lived in two bilingual states: New Mexico and now Arizona. I interact with Spanish speakers all the time. I studied Spanish in college. It’s a beautiful language. But in the context of the sales copy for the book, I did essentially denigrate Spanish. I apologize for that. A Novel of Ancient Rome This novel had a front cover that looked much more like a nonfiction academic title than a novel. It needed fixing. The back cover read: “A thought-provoking story that is truly original — Copernican in nature. The premise meshes well with historical evidence, which lends startling merit to a sequence of events exquisitely revealed in this gripping novel. The theory proposed will inspire intriguing debate among readers, historical scholars, and theologians for decades to come.” That’s it. There's nothing in the back cover copy to draw the reader into the drama of the novel. Is the novel truly gripping just because the back cover says so? The cover also says other things — none of which indicates the novel is gripping. The rest of the copy says that the book is a theory, an academic think piece. Nothing wrong with an academic think piece, but think pieces are not novels. Not ever. My guess — and it is only a guess based on the jacket — is that this book has a great story to tell, but where is it? Stories involve people, not ideas. Focus first on people. Then focus on the plot. Only then can you move on to tell stories about those people struggling with ideas or conflicts. Besides better descriptive copy, the back cover needed a few testimonials or reviews. The copy was too sparse to sell the book to most readers. Website: https://www.BookMarketingBestsellers.com Website: https://www.BookAuthorAuthority.com Book Marketing Success is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bookmarketing.substack.com/subscribe

    4 min
  3. MAR 6

    Lesson 1: Creating Back Covers That Sell Books

    As you may know, I critique book covers as part of the consulting services that I offer. A number of years ago I had the challenge of reviewing a number of book covers for a client. One of the books was titled Power and Petroleum. Now, the front covers of the books were okay, but the back cover copy was terrible. In this episode, I’ll critique the back cover of Power and Petroleum. First, the title is boring. It has no power to convince people to pick the book up. The back cover of this book was too focused on abstract ideas rather than immediate impact. Here is the original back cover copy: A Wake-Up Call! Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is the successor to Fidel Castro as the enemy of the United States in the Western Hemisphere!! Read quotes from Chavez's speeches to know his intentions: To absorb Colombia and form La Gran Colombia, with Castro as his guide; and with China assisting in future adventures! This warning is by a former resident of Venezuela, and former advisor to the Venezuelan oil industry. In writing the above copy, the author used four exclamation points. There’s only one reason why the writer used so many exclamation points: The copy was weak. Note: Exclamation points do not create excitement. Details create excitement. If you don’t believe me, read my rewrite below: In the coming years, gasoline prices will triple. Cocaine will be on every street corner. Cuba will dictate U.S. policy in the Americas. South America will be ripe for revolution. Mexico will fall. Communists will be knocking at our door. Terrorists will be streaming in through our porous borders. You will be sitting in jail—along with three of your children. No one will be safe. Are you listening? If Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, has his way, the above headlines will be the norm in just a few years. Venezuela and Columbia will join with Cuba and China to create a new reality for the Western Hemisphere. It's time Americans woke up. In Power and Petroleum, Emma Broussard, a former adviser to the Venezuelan oil industry, reveals the hidden intentions of Chavez and his cohorts. You have a choice: Read this book, or learn how to speak Spanish and keep your head down. Notice how the details above created more drama, more urgency. Now that’s drama (whether it’s a true projection or not). It gets attention. And it’s not out of line with what the old cover copy hinted at. Whether the book matches the back cover copy, that I don’t know. I didn’t read the book. But I could certainly sell lots of copies with a back cover with the drama outlined above. How is your back cover copy? Ask yourself: Does your back cover copy get readers excited about picking up your book and buying it? Does it make them want to start reading the book right away? Does it create urgency and excitement? If it doesn’t, rewrite it. Add more details. Create more urgency. Give people reasons to open your book. If your back cover copy does succeed, congrats. You’ve take the first step in selling more copies of your book. Website: https://www.BookAuthorAuthority.com Website: https://www.BookMarketingBestsellers.com Book Marketing Success is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bookmarketing.substack.com/subscribe

    4 min

About

John Kremer share stories of real-life book authors who have marketed their books in innovative, fun, and money-making ways. He talks about bestseller strategies, licensing subsidiary rights, creating large Internet tribes, social networking for book sales and prestige, and ultimately selling a lot of books. These stories are short, sweet, practical, inspirational, and doable by any book author, whether a self-publisher, an author published by a big publisher, or a Kindle ebook author. You will love this show! Please subscribe now. Thanks. This Book Writing Podcast is designed to educate and inspire writers, book authors, novelists, poets, storytellers, and content creators of all sorts. It focuses on how and why to write a book. This Book Publishing Podcast is designed to educate and inspire book publishers and self-publishers to edit, design, distribute, and promote the best books. This Book Marketing Podcast is designed to educate and inspire book authors and publishers to do a better job publicizing, promoting, and marketing their books. I know at least 1001 Ways to Market Your Books! This Content Creation Podcast is designed to educate and inspire all content creators, including writers, bloggers, podcasters, videomakers, social media marketers, and internet marketers with new ideas and the latest promotional opportunities. bookmarketing.substack.com

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