Steve Avery … baseball fan, bibliophile

For the next 14 days, we’ll be taking a little detour from the traditional marketing posts you’ve come to know and love on the Marcie Brock blog as I lead by example and follow my own writing prompts for the Author Blog Challenge.

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Day 15 writing prompt:

Find someone you know, either online or in the real world, who is a true bibliophile and interview them about their reading habits.

This prompt was inspired by a recent conversation with my friend Steve Avery – the most avid purchaser, reader, and consumer of books I have ever met. In short, he is a true bibliophile. Steve and I have been friends for years. We met selling tickets for the Arizona Diamondbacks way back in 2000, and in all the time I’ve known him, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen him without a book. His house looks like what I imagine the back room of a book shop might look like, except there’s just one copy of each title.  He recently admitted to me that he’s more of a collector than a reader, in that while he buys between one and two dozen books a month and starts all  of them, he probably finishes fewer than 50 percent.

Steve was one of the first people I knew who owned a Kindle – but he seldom uses it now, because he has an iPad and an iPhone in part, but mostly because he just prefers printed books, hardbacks if he can get them. I went with Steve to the midnight release of one of the middle Harry Potter books (I couldn’t begin to tell you which number or title, but I’m sure he remembers) at a Waldenbooks up the street from his house that has long been converted into a check-cashing store.

A true sign of Steve’s friendship is that he has bought a book, read it very carefully so as not to make even the slightest crumple in a corner as he turned the pages, and then gifted it to you because you once mentioned it in passing. Almost as big a baseball fan as he is an avid reader, he’s probably got every baseball title ever printed. I always consider it a coup when I can alert him about a new baseball book or seminar before he’s heard of it.

Steve does not buy used books unless it’s a rare or hard-to-find title. If it’s not hot off the presses, he’s probably not interested. He is not only a consumer of books – but he devours book magazines and websites. His favorite authors are the father and daughter duo, James Lee Burke and Alafair Burke. The best thing he’s read recently is Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn.

He loves to attend signings and considers his vast – and ever growing – collection of autographed books among his most prized. The most memorable signing he attended was that of Sophia Littlefield, who was interviewed by her longtime friend, Juliet Blackwell. As Steve tells it, they threw away the script and carried on an impromptu interview for an hour which he found utterly delightful. Questions he’d most like to ask his favorite authors include “How autobiographical is your work?” and “Are you considering moving into the YA market?”

The book that most surprised Steve recently was William Landay’s Defending Jacob “because he wrote beyond the obvious end of the story.”

A history major with an avid imagination and a very funny storyteller, Steve does not fancy himself a writer at all. I think he really shorts himself in this area – but he will tell you he’d much rather read the words of a true expert than dabble at conveying a convoluted message.

He recently left me a Facebook message with a new proposition. Because he reads almost any kind of fiction but would like to get to more nonfiction titles, we are going to begin a book club of two. He’ll choose two NF titles that interest him and ask me to choose the one I’d most like to read. He’ll buy it, read it, pass it on to me, and then we’ll discuss. Like grownups. Our first assignment is Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain. I’ll let you know what I think of it when I find a moment to stop nattering.

Happy reading!

Laura

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We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.

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In honor of our 1-year anniversary (May 2, 2012), we’re hosting the Author Blog Challenge! It starts June 2 and is open to published authors, authors-in-progress, and would-be authors. Come check us out!

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The challenge of time and priority

For the next 16 days, we’ll be taking a little detour from the traditional marketing posts you’ve come to know and love on the Marcie Brock blog as I lead by example and follow my own writing prompts for the Author Blog Challenge. There’s still time to register. Join today and qualify for drawings for daily giveaways for every day that you post.

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Day 13 writing prompt:

What has been the most challenging part of your book process: writing, building the book, printing, distributing, marketing, etc.? What do you wish you’d known before you began?

The original idea for my book, 1,001 Real-Life Questions for Women, came to me in March 2001. It took me a few months to compile the questions, and the book was nearing completion in early September 2001. Then, like so many dimensions of all our lives, it came screeching to a halt as a result of the 9/11 tragedies.

While I lived in the NYC area, I commuted to the Financial District from New Jersey. I worked in the World Financial Center, the complex directly across the street from the World Trade Center, connected to it by a footbridge. In fact, the PATH train I took to work every day was stationed in the WTC. Certainly these tragedies resonated uniquely with every American, but because a former co-worker lost her firefighter husband, and my friends and loved ones were lucky to escape with their lives, for me the events were eerily personal.

Eventually, though, the shock began to abate, and my own life crept back toward a routine – but for a long time, images of the WTC (before and after) appeared everywhere, and each time I gasped anew. The site of the Twin Towers in pre-9/11 movies still catches me off-guard sometimes.

So, for a long while after the terrorist attacks occurred, I put aside this project. It felt trivial and ridiculous in light of the events of the world. But slowly, I was drawn back to it – because it is important and worthwhile. Upon rereading them, it seemed to me that a number of the questions required re‑wording in our post-9/11 world. I offer them with humility, honesty, and the utmost respect.

Eventually I hit on a layout for the interior pages that I liked and seemed to prove useful to the readers – and I had an official launch in December 2010. In 2011, I entered the Global eBook Awards contest and won in the category of Women’s Studies. Since then? Nada. Marketing plans that have been waylaid by client work. Formatting for Kindle and a paperback version, with only the questions (as opposed to a workbook format) in process but incomplete.

My biggest challenge? Continuity. Time. Priority. I seem to work in spurts, making giant progress. And then back on the shelf for another six months to a year. The good news is that the book has a certain timelessness about it – and I know the right things to do. It’s just now making a concerted effort to do them.

Writing about it again as a part of the blog challenge is motivating, though! Glad to be in the mix, just like everyone else in the Challenge.

Happy publishing!

Laura

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We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.

__________________

In honor of our 1-year anniversary (May 2, 2012), we’re hosting the Author Blog Challenge! It starts June 2 and is open to published authors, authors-in-progress, and would-be authors. Come check us out and register today!

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The pros … and cons … of designing your own book cover

For the next 17 days, we’ll be taking a little detour from the traditional marketing posts you’ve come to know and love on the Marcie Brock blog as I lead by example and follow my own writing prompts for the Author Blog Challenge. There’s still time to register. Join today and qualify for drawings for daily giveaways for every day that you post.

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Day 12 writing prompt:

Describe your process for choosing and designing your book cover. Who created your cover? How did you find him/her? What do you love about your cover? What might you do differently next time?

Although my book is geared toward women, I didn’t want anything frilly or girly for my cover. And definitely NO pink! I realize, in retrospect, that I could have had a professional design my cover, but at the time I was putting it together, I didn’t really have funds for a cover designer, let alone the thought process that would have valued such an investment. So I did it myself – something I do not typically recommend that authors do.                        

Though my cover has evolved over the years (VAST improvements in font and general structure), it remains focused around a painting I made nearly a dozen years ago when I was substitute teaching at my niece’s Montessori school in Phoenix. It was a late-spring day during the after-school program (i.e., too HOT to run around outside), and most of the kids and I were entertaining ourselves with a variety of painting techniques: finger painting, stamping, and water color. It wasn’t the only painting I made that day – I remember also creating a whale swimming in a sea of artsy swirls of blue and teal and green. No idea where either of those originals is now, though I know I never threw them out.

Eventually, the sunflower (sometimes with the pot and sometimes just the head of the flower) became images I used in all aspects of my book – from interior page design to bookmarks to e-cards and, of course, the website.

The facet of my current cover of which I am most proud is the WINNER label for the Global eBook Awards, which I won in the category of Women’s Studies.

It’s funny because green and yellow (gold) were the colors of my grade school, a place and time that hold few fond memories for me. Back in the days before virtually every Catholic school (and many charter and other private schools) moved to uniforms, we were required to wear green, yellow, gold, or white clothing, though not a specific tartan or uniform skirt or pants. Ugh. My sister cringes every time it even comes up in conversation. Nevertheless, I love the colors as applied to my book cover. I love the versatility of the flower design, and the ease with which a sunflower of any color is recognized.

If I had it to do over again, I’d at least employ the consultation of a professional book cover designer. I’d probably actually go with a ? or some other symbol or image to indicate the concept of questions. I might actually put a woman on the cover – novel idea, no? Nevertheless, it is what it is and I’m happy with it. For now.

Happy cover designing!

Laura

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We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.

__________________

In honor of our 1-year anniversary (May 2, 2012), we’re hosting the Author Blog Challenge! It starts June 2 and is open to published authors, authors-in-progress, and would-be authors. Come check us out and register today!

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8 mistakes to avoid when designing your book cover

According to selfpublishingresources.com, 225 out of 300 booksellers surveyed identified the look and design of the book cover as the most important component of the entire book. All agreed that the jacket is the prime real estate for promoting a book. To that end, here are 8 design mistakes to avoid if you want to sell more books:

1. Waiting until your book is done. Given that the cover is the most recognizable physical feature of your book, much of your marketing will require a cover image to accompany it. If you wait until the book is done to begin designing your cover, you will lose valuable lead time for building your brand and attracting your audience. Places you will use your cover include: website, blog, social media, onesheet, catalogues, media kit, bookmarks, postcards, etc.

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2. Doing it yourself. Many indie authors, in an attempt to conserve money, forgo the investment in a graphic designer with book cover expertise. This is a HUGE mistake. If you hope to have your book make it onto bookstore shelves, you must impress the book buyers who will likely make their determinations based on just a few seconds’ glance at the cover. Additionally, a shopper will spend an average of just 8 seconds looking at the front cover and 14 seconds on the back. This is a total of less than a half-minute to decide if your book is even worth flipping through! If you do not have a professional image that is congruent with your contents, you will likely miss the sale.

One of the surest signs of an amateur book cover: no borders, lines, or breaks anywhere. Just a photo/graphic plopped in the middle of the page, and some text hovering over it. There’s nothing wrong with it, per se, but it’s just not eye-catching in any way. By the way, if you’re going to use this method, at least make sure the graphic is in some way related to your theme. Is the implication here that alcoholics are hidden in the clouds?

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3. Putting too much on it. This is a classic mistake of self-publishing and/or new designers – particularly with the back of the book. Take a look at a few well-designed covers for books that are selling well and mimic them. You may or may not decide to put the author’s photo and bio on the back. Personally, I think that’s wasted marketing space, as there’s plenty of room in the back matter (pages that follow the text of the book) to include author info.

GORGEOUS front cover.  But, wait … the problem is the back cover. With more than 400 words, this back cover does not help the prospective reader, but loses them. Consider that the average reading speed is 225 words per minute, and the average person will spend 14 seconds on a back cover. You do the math.

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4. Making it too different from everything else out there. There’s an understandable desire to create a fresh, new cover that stands out from everything else out there. While you definitely want your book to have its own flavor and personality, be careful of making it too different. One suggestion is going to the bookstore or hitting Amazon to see how other similar books are designed. If there’s a trend toward red covers for your business book and you decide to go with teal and purple, yours may definitely stand out – too much. The last thing you want is someone to look at yours and wonder why it’s sooo different – and skip it to move on to something else. If you’re going for different, make sure there’s a reason and purpose for it.

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5. Writing boring copy for the back. Remember, this is your opportunity to sell the book. It doesn’t necessarily apply to e-books, but for any book that may be sold in a store (not necessarily a bookstore), the likely order of viewing is front cover, back cover, and then opening your book to read a few pages. Use bullet points to tell the prospective reader what the book is about and who would benefit from buying it!

Great job with the endorsement and back copy.

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6. Overlooking the endorsement(s). I generally recommend that my authors begin working on their endorsements as soon as the manuscript is finished. When it comes to your endorsements, shoot for the moon! Ask the most prominent person you can think of with any tie to your subject for their testimonial or endorsement. The worst they will do is tell you “no,” in which case you’ll be no worse off than before you asked them. Be sure to start EARLY with these queries, as it may take some time for a busy person to get back to you. Don’t be disappointed if someone says yes and then does not follow through – just politely continue to inquire and nudge.

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7. Omitting the publisher’s mark. The publisher’s mark is the emblem, symbol, or insignia that designates a book as being the product of a particular publishing company. As a self-publisher, you need to create a publishing company name, and your publishing company will want to develop a symbol that represents it. This symbol generally is printed on the copyright page and on the spine of the book. After getting a general feel for the front cover, this is the first thing I look for in a complete book; its absence is a the clear sign of an amateur self-publisher.

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8. Making the cover too detailed, and the font too small or difficult to read. This is especially important if you will sell your book as an eBook. A great rule of thumb is to shrink your cover image to a thumbnail. If you can still read the title and make out the image for a thumbnail size picture (the first/only way you see many eBook covers), you’re probably on your way to creating a decent cover. Cute fonts may be just that – cute – but if you can’t read the title as a thumbnail or standing across a room, dump the font and go for something simpler.

While this cover design is very clever and I really like it quite a bit, the title and meaning are completely lost when made into a thumbnail.

The bottom line is: Design the most professional cover you can afford. After editing, it is the most important part of the book!

Happy cover designing!

Laura

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We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.

__________________

In honor of our 1-year anniversary (May 2, 2012), we’re hosting the Author Blog Challenge! It starts June 2 and is open to published authors, authors-in-progress, and would-be authors. Come check us out and register today!

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What can the entrance to Target teach you about marketing?

I was at a Target department store  last night when I saw two women try to enter through the “Out” door. They stood in front of the automatic sliding doors, seemingly a bit perplexed as to why they wouldn’t open. The magic occurred as I triggered the door mechanism when I approached the exit. For a moment, I thought, “Duh – it says ‘OUT’ right there!” But I quickly recalled that I’ve done exactly the same thing on more than one occasion, because for some inexplicable reason, Target’s doors are backwards! The entrance is on the left, and the exit is on the right.

In America, the cultural norm is that we walk on the right – which extends to entering on the right, meaning that when there are distinct entrances and exits, the entrance is on the right as you face the building, and the exit is on the left. Why is this a big deal? Ask anyone who works in a kitchen the dangers of entering through the wrong door. As a culture, we’re just conditioned to this, so we expect it always to work this way. When it doesn’t – as at Target – we can be thrown off balance.

Now I’ll admit I didn’t spend a lot of time researching it, but I did try, and was unable to find any mention in Target’s literature or any articles/sites about the retail chain as to why they’ve chosen to make their doors completely counter to America’s cultural norm. The thing is, it’s noticeably different. And that, in and of itself, is worth mentioning, because there’s a lesson in it for your book marketing strategy.

There’s no doubt that every author wants to make a splash and stand out from the crowd. We’ve talked about this before. The absolutely best way to do this is by making a stellar product – in your case, write a great book. But there’s more to the book than just the writing. There’s also the cover design to consider. Your website. Your overall brand. Of those last three, where should you work to differentiate yourself? Not necessarily in the cover, and only with care and caution in the website. Here’s what I mean.

Say you go to the bookstore or peruse Amazon for other books on your topic. You find out that almost all of the current books have white covers, so you decide to stand out by making your cover red. Will it work to get you noticed? Perhaps – but maybe not in the way you want it to. Your red book cover may catch people’s eye … but then, either consciously or unconsciously, they could very likely find themselves wondering, “Why is that one so different?” and pass it up completely to compare two or three of the more typical white-covered books. This is not a given, but it’s something to consider. When all the books have a similar look and feel to them, if you do something that is radically different but is not exceptional, that difference could work against you.

Likewise for your website. Over the years, we’ve come to expect website menus to run along the left-hand side or across the top. Market research also shows that the capture box for building your e-mail list works best when positioned in the upper right-hand corner of your website. Say you want your site to have  a different look from the rest; moving these key features is not the place to make those changes. When a user is accustomed to doing things one way and you overtly shift that, the end result is often disorientation – and in the case of a Web visitor, that quickly translates to a click to the next site.

The same is true for your media releases. Yes, we’ve discussed the fact that reporters and prominent bloggers receive dozens – perhaps hundreds – of media releases in a week. Of course you want yours to stand out. But the fact is that there’s an accepted template for media releases, and if you go off the path and vary yours too widely from what people expect, the result could be that your release gets tossed, rather than generating interest, and perhaps a story.

Think about it. You’re a busy reporter and you know a news release typically has a headline, a dateline, a first sentence hook that captures the essence of the pitch, and a quote about the proposed story. But in your release, you start with your bio because you feel that’s the real selling point. Oops. Busy reporter has just tossed your release because things weren’t in the expected order, and they didn’t have time to go hunting through your release to find the pertinent information.

Are you seeing a trend here? Different alone isn’t going to cut it. If you want to make it different, it has to also be exceptional! It can’t simply be different and annoying, like the doors at Target.

How can you make your book cover exceptional? Really amazing art might do it. A different size or shape might do it. French flaps or a pop-up jacket might do it. But then again, you might just be spending a lot of money on gimmicks that don’t pay off.

With the help of the right Web designer – someone who understands the art of attraction, the science of technology, and the business of search marketing – there are myriad ways to make your website stand out.

As far as making your news release stand out, you’d be better off trying to phone the reporter to pitch the story before you send it than to try to get creative with the release itself.

I absolutely encourage you to push the limits of creativity in your marketing strategy, but to do so in the places that pay off. I’m as big a rebel as you’ll find in many arenas, but sometimes it turns out that the path that’s been paved is there for a reason.

Laura

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We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.

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