Overview of discussion of show:

·What to include in your presentation

·How to tweak it to appeal to various audiences

·Planning and preparing your most effective speaking approach

·Locating and locking in appearances in appropriate speaking venues

· What to charge

· Pitching and promoting your presentation

· Organization, planning and follow up

· Fulfilling book orders that result from your talks

· Leveraging modern technology in speaking and promoting appearances (I’m especially passionate about this subject and using Skype to reach classrooms)

Bio

Barbara began a journey five years ago that she never intended to travel. After her Dachshund, Frankie was diagnosed with a disc disease which caused paralysis she thought she would need to say goodbye to her. But what started as heartache turned out to be a blessing in disguise that led Barbara to her purpose and passion. Since 2007 Barbara and Frankie who is in a doggie wheelchair, have shared their positive and inspiring messages with thousands of children and adults. Having had wonderful success with this, Barbara wants to help and inspire other authors to connect directly with their audiences and experience the enriching rewards.

If you can’t make the show live there will be a replay and a notice will be posted once that is available.

It takes a lot of sweat equity to sell books. There’s no way around it. But one thing I’ve learned these past few weeks through a course I am taking with Dan Blank called, Build Your Author Platform, is that building relationships is so important. Also seeking out experts in book marketing is key.

It made me think about all the experts I have found along the way that have helped me. It truly does take a team.  And when it comes to book marketing experts I recommend the following below. I encourage you to check them out today. Follow them via social media or perhaps interact with them on their blog. I, for one, am grateful for each and every one of these experts who have helped me on my book promoting journey.

Dan Blank of We Grow Media: Dan helps writers build their platforms, and work with publishers to grow their online communities.

Joanna Penn of the Creative Penn:  Joanna has so much good information on her website to help you with writing, publishing and marketing. It is endless!

Yvonne Perry of Writers In the Sky:  Editing and marketing help, plus many other services at very reasonable costs.

Jane Friedman: A decade of hands-on experience in using new media and technology to engage and grow both online and offline communities.

Dana Lynn Smith, The Savvy Book Marketer: Drawing on her 17 years of publishing experience and degree in marketing, Dana Lynn Smith helps authors learn how to sell more books through her how-to guides, training programs, one-on-one coaching services, blog, and newsletter.

Joel Friedlander, The Book Designer: Practical advice to help build better books with a focus on helping independent publishers.

Mary Shafer:  Marketing expert with years of marketing, publishing and writing experience.

Be sure to stop by the Savvy Book Marketer, Dana Lynn Smith’s website by April 14th for your chance to win her ebook, “How to Get Your Book Reviewed” as well as her special half price offer for her ebook, ”Savvy Book Marketer’s Guide to Selling Your Book to Libraries.”

I’ve purchased every one of Dana’s ebooks and have found great value in all of them. I think you will too.

To help you sell more books and in my passionate effort to help you, I’ve lowered the price on my Kindle version of Class Act: Sell More Books Through School and Library Author Appearances to $4.99 (it was $8.95).

I’m also throwing in three bonus gifts so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel and can start booking school, library and organization visits today!  What are they, you ask?  I’ll send you the following templates I use:

• Book order form template
• Letter of agreement template
• Invoice template

I will send them all in word documents so you can customize them with your information.  After you purchase the Kindle Class Act book selljust forward me a copy of your purchase receipt from Amazon to barb@joyfulpaws.com and I’ll forward templates to you.

I’m also having a special sale on the print and PDF versions of my book via these links below. But hurry as this is a limited offer and will only be good through April 30^th, 2012 (Kindle version will remain at $4.99) and I’ll throw in the templates with this limited time offer also.

PDF version (download to your computer) $6.95 (reg. $8.95)

Print version $8.95 + shipping (reg.$11.95)

If you wish to order through Amazon you can but that price remains at $11.95. Though, I’ll still send you templates if you email me copy of your purchase receipt.

Wishing you much success!

PS:  If you’d like personal one-on-one consulting with me regarding anything from self-publishing, booking author visits, help with brainstorming presentation ideas, marketing tips, or help with what it entails to visit schools via Skype I am also available for consulting.

Author school visit tips

By Leonardo Ramirez

The kids that come to your reading or talk (I prefer to think of it as “hanging out” with them) are always wide-eyed and eager to have someone from the outside come in and change things up a little. They come from all walks of life and from different households, but for the 50 minutes or so that they are your audience, they are truly yours and there for one thing only . . .

. . . to have fun.

Read the rest of the article here.

Tell us a bit more about you and the story behind Frankie

I’ve been on an amazing journey for the last ten years thanks to observing and paying attention to the lessons my dogs have taught me. I didn’t become a writer until my early 40′s which was brought on when my chocolate lab, Cassie was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer. I guess you could say it was my own “awakening” and it made me pause to think about what I wanted for my life. It lead me to becoming a writer and writing about what I love most, which is animals.

Read the rest of the interview here.

Purchase Barbara’s book Class Act here or through Amazon.

I’ve put into practice the advice in your excellent book and my first ever author visit went so well I was amazed. The librarian who spearheaded the book sales for the junior high was very pleased with the forms I used and the professional agreement letter and other materials. That visit immediately led to referrals to two other schools. 

I think it was especially important for me to label myself (as you do) author EDUCATOR. My website is also designed with that in mind.

Thanks again for all your excellent advice. 

~Deborah Heal, author of Time and Again

For more information on Class Act and a special book promotion I am running which includes Nancy Humphreys book Marketing Your Book to Libraries visit my sell more books  page.  Both are available as an instant pdf download.

For the print version of Class Act and special price running through December visit my book sales page to order your copy today.

These days authors must do most of the marketing of the books themselves, whether they go the traditional route of publishing or are an indie publisher. Exploring all avenues with a well rounded approach helps authors sell more books. One avenue to explore is doing author appearances at schools, libraries and organizations. It can be a bit more work to put these together but with the right information and help author visits are beneficial in helping you connect directly with your audience, which in turn helps  you sell more books.

In this Skype interview Vonnie Faroqui from Writer’s In the Sky interviews me about my new book, Class Act: Sell More Books Through School and Library Author Appearances.  It does take a few moments to download, but I think you will find it helpful to get your started down a successful road of doing personal appearances.

http://nashvillewriter.audioacrobat.com/download/BarbaraTechelClassAct.mov

Just a reminder of a special book package sale running right now to help you sell your books to libraries, as well as to schools and organizations. Check it out Today!  For a print copy of my new book, I also have a special price running for a limited time and you can order the book here.

Nancy Humphreys is an author, librarian, indexer and consultant for book authors. Nancy worked for twenty years in college, university, public, and non-profit libraries in Wisconsin and California. She began her library career as a business bibliographer and reference librarian at the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse. She was director of the Women’s Center/Women’s Studies Library at UC Berkeley, and she worked at the main and branch libraries of the public library in Oakland, California. Her non-profit experience was as director of a public health library and cataloger for a business trade association library.

Nancy has published two books, along with articles, book reviews, poems and short stories in glossy, literary, and “underground” magazines. She’s the co-author of a a set of self-published guides on Bruce Springsteen and author of a new guide, Marketing Your Book to Libraries: An Insider’s Guide for Authors. She is currently working on a collection of short stories and a book about the ancient Chinese book of wisdom, the I Ching. (http://wordmapsindexing.com/about-me/)

As a back-of the-book indexer Nancy worked for a publishers of trade books, scholarly books, cookbooks, and how-to guides. Currently she works almost exclusively with self-publishing authors, something many indexers are not comfortable with doing. As a self-publisher herself, Nancy knows from experience the challenges authors face in creating and selling their books. She’s committed to helping other authors create and market their fiction and nonfiction books to the biggest market in the US – a market hidden in plain sight – libraries.

Sell Your Book by Pleasing Libraries’ Littlest Patrons by Nancy K. Humphreys

How do you start to write and sell your book to libraries? You start by being aware. Your book begins on the day you become aware that you have something to offer others.

For example Barbara Techel first became aware that her dachshund Frankie had IVDD (intervertebral Disc Disease). She offered her support to Frankie and inspired by Frankie’s courage, Barbara “set out to bring positive awareness to the disease and save lives…”

Barbara also wanted to help people of all ages, and especially children, to “see their own challenges in a positive way through Frankie’s example.” She’s done all that with her books, consulting, and her author appearances at schools and libraries. (http://www.joyfulpaws.com/aboutbarb.htm)

To sell a book successfully you have to know in your heart, that your book even though it may not be as perfect in every detail as you could wish, has something to offer others. If you don’t have that conviction you will falter, for book selling is a very competitive enterprise. It takes persistence to sell your book.

As a book author, you have lots of competitors for your readers’ attention. There are one million book titles published every year in the United States. The good news is that our libraries spend billions of dollars on books each year.

So how do you write a book for the library market?

This is the subject of my book, Marketing Your Book to Libraries: An insider’s Guide for Authors. But here’s a quick way you can begin to learn more about librarians who work with children. Take a look at the awards these librarians have created for children’s books.

Librarians offer a number of awards for children’s and young adult books each year. If you are located near to a bookstore, you may notice that there’s a special section in the store for winners of these library awards.

The prestigious Newbery and Caldecott Medals are just two of the honorary awards given out by the American Library Association (ALA) each year. There are many other types awards for authors and illustrators of children’s and teen books.

These awards include “medals” for audiobooks, videos, lectures, foreign language books, and books that depict and/or express the lives of minorities in the US. Here is a link where you can begin to explore all the awards librarians give to children’s books and books for young adults. (http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia)

On this site for the ALSC, an American Library Association division called the Association for Library Service to Children, you can find a lot of information about the books that have won all of these library book awards. Here’s what to do. Check out all of the awards and find the ones that seem most relevant to your book.

When you click on the name of an ALSC award, you’ll get information about that particular award including, what it’s for, who it’s for, and why librarians are giving out that award each year. That will give you an idea of some of the things in children’s and youth books that librarians are looking for.

Also, on the left side of the page, you’ll see “sub-links” appear under each award once you click on the name of the award. Click the sub-links and look at the descriptions of the current and past medal winners of that award. You’ll see a discussion about or brief description of the strengths of each book. Some awards even offer information about the runner-up books.

And under the links to the criteria for each of these library awards, you’ll find more about how librarians evaluate books to buy for their younger patrons. ALA’s lists of criteria for their awards include things to avoid in your writing as well. This is all free information you’d have to pay a lot for if you subscribed to a how-to-write magazine like Writer’s Digest.

I can tell you based on personal experience that studying writing that wins awards can help get you an award too. When I began writing short stories as a teenager, I read every copy of the O’Henry short story award winners each year along with annual compilations of Best Short Stories from literary magazines. After doing that for a few years, I won second place in the L. Ron Hubbard award for short science fiction, for my story, “A New Kind of Cow”. I’d won a school prize, but I was still an unpublished writer at the time I won this award.

What about self-publishers?

Yes, right now these awards from librarians are largely for books that are submitted by publishers of books for children and young adults. But I expect this to change in the future. Self-publishers now outnumber published authors by three to one. I’m seeing quality books by self-publishers, and some of my clients’ self-published books are selling quite well to libraries.

If you are a self-publisher, these descriptions of library prizes for children’s books can serve a guide to show you the highest ideals that librarians hold for books that they want for their young patrons. If you do get one of these awards, rest assured that bookstores will be selling copies of your book and libraries will be buying it.

But more importantly, learn to write even a little bit like a library book award winner, and I have no doubt you will sell your books to libraries too. That’s because you’ll know what you have to offer librarians and their patrons.

Don’t forget to check out our special promotional package! Both books for only $21.95. Order here today!