Most of you have heard the arguments for and against offering your book for free to increase sales. I did something a little different by offering a free bonus gift for people who purchased my book, Pioneering Today, for a limited time.
I ran the promotion for two weeks. Because I started the promotion on the launch day of my book, it’s hard to know what my sales would have been without it. I did have several people take me up on the offer. I also had sales where people didn’t request the bonus material.
It made me wonder if they didn’t want the material or they purchased without seeing the offer. (Amazon allows you to see the sales of both Kindle and Paperback to help track.)
I did have the most amount of requests for bonus material on the last day of the promotion. This confirms my belief that you need a time limit on any promotion and shorter may be better. In fact, I had two readers send me the proof of purchase an hour before midnight on the last day.
I’ll definitely offer bonus materials again. I do think for ease of delivery and time-saving, that I’ll make sure all materials are electronic only. Trips to the post office, cost of delivery, cost of the cards, and mainly the time to address material helped me make this decision.
By far the single most driving force of sales has been not the bonus material or free things offered, but the readers. After reading the book, I’ve had numerous people purchase copies (some up to ten) as gifts.
The take away from all this: the best promotional tool you have is your book. Make sure it’s the best it can be. It will speak for itself.
What promotion has prompted you to buy a book? Authors, what marketing or bonus gifts have worked the best for you?
“Success is a finished book, a stack of pages each of which is filled with words. If you reach that point, you have won a victory over yourself no less impressive than sailing single-handed around the world.”- Tom Clancy
Mr. Clancy’s quote, once my eyes stumbled upon it, coaxed a satisfied sigh from my gut. I closed my eyes, imagining myself at the helm of a ship, arms stretched out like Rose and Jack from The Titanic.
But seriously, like the next day, my excitement and feelings of great accomplishment hit an iceberg when I forced myself to pay attention to two words that had floated around my mind throughout the project:
If my manuscript is the Titanic, then the book proposal is the iceberg.
A book proposal is a thorough description of a manuscript, the market it would serve, and a sample of the story, usually the first two or three chapters.
And something I had no idea about until my manuscript was nearly completed.
Once my manuscript was finished, I assumed I could change the sail on my writing ship, pound out a quick proposal, and venture into new waters of querying agents.
Not so.
I had no idea about the painstaking amount of work a thorough, well-written, well-representing book proposal entailed. It took time and several confusing revisions to write an acceptable book proposal.
So here’s some advice, sailor to sailor:
1) Discern the genre. Book proposals, and when to submit them, are different depending on fiction or non-fiction. Fiction and memoir manuscripts should be completed before the proposal is submitted to an agent or a publisher. Non-fiction books can and do sell on proposal with a couple of chapters to provide the flavor and quality of the writing.
2) Work on your proposal while you are writing your manuscript. I should have started researching book proposals right away. Writing the proposal while working on the manuscript would have provided needed focus. A proposal can be a great map of where you are in your project, and where you need to go.
3) Write well. Your book proposal is probably the first writing sample a prospective agent or editor will see from you. Don’t rush. Let the voice rendered in your manuscript seep onto the proposal page. Agents and editors see many proposals. Take the time and attention required to make your proposal flawless and flavorful.
4) Stick to the basic elements of a proposal. Some include a cover page, an overview of the story, the hook, a biography of the author, marketing strategies, chapter summaries, and sample chapters.
I purchased a template from a famous author. It was a great way to get me started, but once an agent was landed, she preferred I use her agency’s template. Though similar, it wasn’t quite the same. Realize that an agent or editor will probably want you to tweak your proposal.
5) A successful book proposal requires research. Learn from the best. Check out:
Have you written a book proposal? Are you in the process of writing a book proposal? Any advice? What’s been the most challenging part of the process? Please share with your fellow sojourners.
As a mother of two elementary aged school children and a pediatric ER nurse–the events in Newtown, CT crushed me. I could imagine the terror of those parents waiting to know whether or not their children were okay. I’ve helped deliver the news of a child dying, and then grieved with all those involved.
Over the days and weeks to come, many questions will be asked. People will cry for policy changes. New gun laws. Should there be armed officers at each and every school? What about the shape of the mental health system?
These are valid points of discussion on many levels, but I think they are symptoms of a problem most don’t like to talk about. There is evil in the world. And this truth cannot be ignored or explained away. So what overcomes evil in our fallen world?
I was both impressed and troubled by an interview Dianne Sawyer did with one of the teachers who survived that day. She was amazing. Hustled her children into a small bathroom. Barricaded all of them inside. Kept her calm. Did not allow anyone in until the police keyed themselves inside. She was one of the first classrooms inside the building and expected that she may end up a face in a newspaper, too.
A true hero among many who placed themselves at risk.
What troubled me was a point in the interview when she shared that she told the children she loved them. That she wanted them all to hear something their parents would say. And then questioned if that was the right thing to do.
Is this really where we are? Is this the true dilemma in our response to tragedy…wondering if expressing love is the right thing to do?
I heard the press report that people in Newtown were taking down Christmas decorations. I sympathize with their position. They don’t feel like celebrating. Can’t feel joy when so many others are suffering. A town coming together in shared grief. Our hearts cry with them on so many levels.
And this is where I also grieve. Christmas is about celebrating Christ’s birth. We get lost in the commercialism of it and sometimes, too, I want to pack up all the decorations, and forget gift giving because it’s so far removed from the point of it all.
That God was born into this world to bring light and peace. To one day end evil and suffering. The beginning of a life long journey of love for all of us.
There are certainly no easy answers. I am praying for those in Newtown.
There is light. There is hope. There is God’s indescribable love, even amidst the evil we wish would never touch us. It’s why there is Christmas.
As our treat to our wonderful WaterCooler Readers, we thought we’d do another blog parade. Each of our authors below is blogging about their Writer’s Wish List. Hmm . . . I know I’m intrigued to see what’s on these lists. Funny? Quirky? Serious?
I don’t know . . . you’ll have to click on the links to find out!
For the record, my plan was to be a wildly successful, insanely rich novelist. People were going to mention me in hushed, awestruck tones along with other “last name only” fiction writers. You know: Peretti, Dekker, Grisham, Koontz, King, Pence.
I broke into book publishing in 2001 by writing computer books. In 2003, my dream was fulfilled. I was a published—and soon to be famous—novelist. By 2005, despite excellent reviews, my “career” had pretty much ground to a halt. In fact, in May of that year I hung up my keyboard and joined the prison ministry staff of a large Dallas mega-church, feeling that my grand experiment in full-time freelance writing was a failure.
God had other plans.
James H. Pence (left) and Terry Caffey
In an earlier post (Oct. 1, 2011 – “You Never Know”), I told the story of how God took a single page from my out-of-print novel Blind Sight and used it to change the life of Terry Caffey, a man whose family was brutally murdered. God not only used that page to change Terry’s life; He also used it to change the entire direction of my writing.
In January of 2009, Terry asked me to help him write a book that would tell his story.
I hadn’t written or published in four years and, as I already mentioned, collaboration was not in my long-term plans. However, because I wanted to encourage Terry, I agreed to help him write a book proposal.
Because of the intense media interest in Terry’s story, Tyndale snapped up the proposal and put the book on an accelerated publication schedule. We signed a contract in March of ’09 and the book was set for a September release.
I had to write it in twelve weeks.
The accelerated writing schedule was probably a good thing because I didn’t have the time to give in to sheer panic. I’d never collaborated before, and I had no earthly idea how to go about it. But it was a door that God had opened, and so I trusted Him for the wisdom.
I dusted off my little digital voice recorder and began interviewing Terry. Then I worked at outlining the book, selecting the stories that would go into it, even using my fiction-writing skills to lay out a plot-line.
As I worked with Terry and wrote what would become Terror by Night, I began to notice something unexpected.
I was enjoying myself immensely.
I love telling stories, but I had no idea how much I would enjoy helping other people tell their stories.
And so now I happily call myself a collaborator. Since the publication of Terror by Night, I wrote More God, the amazing story of Nate Lytle, a young surfer who made a miraculous recovery from a massive traumatic brain injury. I also collaborated with bestselling author Stephen Arterburn on a novella titled The Encounter. Soon I’ll begin writing the story of Herb Samme, a dad who lost his son in Iraq and then went there–at age 59–as a civilian contractor to finish his son’s tour and walk in his footsteps.
I never intended to be a collaborator; I wanted to write my own books.
But God led me through an unexpected door and down an unplanned path. He showed me that I can be a blessing to others by using my writing abilities to help them write their books. And in doing so, He changed the direction of my writing ministry.
Has God placed some unexpected doors or unplanned paths before you? I hope that in 2013 you’ll take a chance and go through them.
You never know what God might do.
“A person plans his course,but the Lord directshis steps” (Proverbs 16:9, NET Bible).
I recently attended a writing seminar about creating compelling titles for books. A burgeoning writer volunteered her book title for the rest of the group to critique. The consensus of the group was that her title wasn’t catchy enough and needed to be reworked. Several people in the group offered sage advice that would probably have helped her a great deal, had she been open to suggestions – but she wasn’t. The novice writer became incredibly defensive (and borderline angry) about the feedback. She was not ready to be objective about her work. The facilitator had to smooth things over and hastily get a more willing participant for the exercise.
Throughout history, even the most successful writers have to deal with criticism, so there’s no reason why we should consider ourselves immune to feedback. Check out these excerpts from actual famous author rejections from http://www.writersrelief.com:
Sylvia Plath: “There certainly isn’t enough genuine talent for us to take notice.”
J. G. Ballard: “The author of this book is beyond psychiatric help.”
Emily Dickinson: “[Your poems] are quite as remarkable for defects as for beauties and are generally devoid of true poetical qualities.”
Ernest Hemingway (regarding The Torrents of Spring): “It would be extremely rotten taste, to say nothing of being horribly cruel, should we want to publish it.”
Ouch! So, how does one not get touchy about his / her work? Writers are still artists, after all. Artists are famous for being highly sensitive. Artists who have to self-promote themselves may find it incredibly awkward to listen to face-to-face or written criticism. Once I gave a book I wrote to a professor friend to review. He said. “Well, perhaps you should focus on writing things you know about, as opposed to rock stars.” It was a fair point well made, and my creative writing has become much more real as a result of sticking to what I know.
Aside from writing, I also like to paint. One time, it took 3 months to finish a large 12×12 foot piece and I needed to get a moving company to deliver it to my showing – longdistancemovingcompanies.co is my favorite long distance moving company for that. At one of my showings, I overheard a man telling his friend that my art might be best displayed at a fast food restaurant. “It’s convenience store art,” he said as I looked on, trying not to have any sort of facial expression. The critic didn’t know I was the artist or that I was in earshot. It stung, but feedback is still feedback and should be regarded as just that. It proved to be a valuable lesson – you can’t win them all. If you will accept nothing less than 100% acceptance, you will be plagued by disappointment. But here is the silver lining: You don’t need to win them all. You just need a percentage, and as long as you keep putting your work out there, the correct audience that appreciates you will find your work. It’s all about maintaining perspective.
Why does one need to develop a thick enough skin to withstand criticism? Because unless you have someone else to promote your writing on your behalf, it’s all going to be done by you. You will be the one going into the front lines to promote and defend and champion your own work. Confidence helps, so if you don’t feel you have any, then act as if you do. Pump yourself up until you start to believe it. If one reader doesn’t appreciate your writing, that’s okay – there will be others who will. Instead of harboring hurt feelings, why not just say, “There are other audience members in the literary sea. Next!”
How do YOU maintain perspective about your writing?
The busyness of the season tends to breathe a cold chill on us until we remember who’s in charge of our hearts’ thermostats.
We are!
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23
Eat Jesus & Turn up the Heat!
“You are what you eat.”
Sometimes this saying echoes in my mind when I devour God’s Word, but mostly, I think of it when I’m reading one of a hundred Kindle books, and the Spirit calls for my attention.
Why is it so easy, so tempting, to fill up on Twinkie books at the expense of reading the Bible?
Satan reaches into his arsenal of distractions ~ even good ones ~ to keep us away from the gold mine.
The busier we are, the more we need a sweet retreat with Jesus. He warms our souls with the washing of His Word. He renews our minds and teaches us how to think, how to conform to His image ~ so we can reflect His love and maximize our impact on the world.
Think Jesus & Turn Down the Cold!
No thanks to television news, my imagination, and my neighbor’s yappy chihuahua, it takes effort to focus on the character of Jesus. But bless my heart when I do! Because there’s no better thought in the world…
“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8
When I trudged into church with a bad mood one day, my pastor played a video by S. M. Lockridge, and my blahs didn’t stand a chance! Because when you feast on God’s goodness, He fans the flames of your passion. Your problems, worries, and fears shrink in the light of His flaming love. See for yourself how your perspective changes.
“He’s enduringly strong. He’s entirely sincere. He’s eternally steadfast. He’s immortally graceful. He’s imperially powerful. He’s impartially merciful. He’s the sinner’s savior. He’s the centerpiece of civilization. His promise is sure. His light is matchless. His goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes…”
Praise Jesus & Keep it on Auto!
King David pulled off all stops on praise when he sang, danced, and worshipped with all his might. People thought he was out of his mind, but he was too focused on God to care! Maybe it isn’t such a bad thing to be out of our minds ~ especially if they’re dragging us down.
David knew praise begins with an attitude of thankfulness.
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise.” Psalm 100:4
During the rocky early years of my marriage, I didn’t feel like thanking God for my husband, but decided to thank Him anyway. I thanked God in my heart and I thanked him aloud to my husband. “Dwight, I’m thankful God gave you to me.” Sometimes I found it difficult to see something I was thankful for; but when I honestly started to look and I opened the eyes of my heart, I could always find something positive.
Inch by inch, my husband and I breathed God-praises into our marriage and watched God honor the fruit of our lips with restoration.
Perhaps we can start this praise habit by thanking God that we don’t need to settle for cold wintery hearts?
Thank you, God, that we can adjust our hearts’ thermostats by putting You first, and meditating on Your greatness! Thank you that we can place our highest expectations where they belong ~ on You, not on fallible people and circumstances. And thank you that in Your presence, there is fullness of joy. When we break into praise, You allow us to gift ourselves (and the world) with happier, hot-for-Jesus hearts!
“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
Merry Christmas!
Have you ever praised Jesus when you didn’t feel like it? What happened?
When it comes to eating, thinking, and praising Jesus, which of these will you do more of this Christmas season?
I once met a woman at a writers conference and, as writers often do, we began sharing what we’d written, what we hoped to improve on, perhaps publications we’d like to write for some day, editors we wanted to meet. The usual stuff. But when I talked about the last rejection note I’d received, this woman got a curious little smile on her face and sweetly said, “You know, I don’t typically say this out loud, but I’ve never ever gotten a rejection. . .not even once.”
That conference was a while ago, so I no longer remember where I hid the body.
But at the time, my snark-o-meter went on full alert, and I found myself thinking dozens of less-than-charitable thoughts.
Maybe she’s never submitted anything. That would sure hold down the rejection letters.
Maybe she’s writing for a very tight niche–like Amish women scuba divers–and she just happens to be one of three writers on the planet with the right contacts.
Maybe (and here’s where I sank to my lowest level of cynicism), maybe she’s sleeping with the editor. That’s because she’s married to him, and together they started a third-rate magazine and she provides 90% of the content with snappy pieces like “You, Ginseng Tea, and a Happier Colon.”
See, I told you I’d reached a new low.
Big sigh. God probably just sent her my way to improve my humility and compassion skills. Apparently I have a ways to go.
Here’s the thing—I think she was being sincere, and was possibly even surprised at her own good fortune. And she may well have written lovely and informative pieces for top-notch magazines. But the problem with her comment is that it’s the writer’s equivalent of winning the lottery. The real truth is, in the world of writing, if you’re not getting rejections, you’re just not in the game.
The publishing industry has a very steep learning curve. For much of it you’ve just got to get in there and start. I’m not saying you should skip the process of researching the publication ahead of time, spelling the editor’s name correctly, and fashioning your piece with their readers in mind. In other words, don’t ignore the process of learning craft and industry. But much of that learning will come from doing, failing, rethinking, and doing again. Almost every published author I know has at least one massive fail to their credit.
A rejection letter can mean many things, but the only sure thing it means is that you sent something in. So instead of seeing it as proof positive that you can’t write, consider other very likely scenarios such as:
The magazine had something like it recently.
The magazine has something like it already in the hopper and it’s working its way up.
The magazine has worked with a particular writer who’s been talking about doing something like this, and they’d rather take a chance on someone who has some history with the magazine.
Or maybe the piece was just too ______ [insert word of choice—edgy, tame, academic, casual, ecumenical, evangelical, rural, urban, prissy, intense] for their magazine’s style or their audience.
Learn to embrace rejections. Unless you plan to win the writers’ lottery, there’s simply no way to avoid them. In fact, they’re like a merit badge, proving you’re in the game. I’m not saying you’ll ever come to love them. But you can see them as useful. I, for one, open them, learn from them, and then use them to wallpaper my bathroom.
What about you? Do rejections bring you down, sometimes to the point that they impact your next submission?
This single word has the power to kill or kindle a writer’s career.Platform.The term cripples a lot of would-be authors, so their messages and stories never go any further than their minds.
The Platform Builder — Creates Opportunity One Step at a Time
But a lack of platform mustn’t stop you from writing. If you don’t have a platform, or any idea of where to begin, help is available. All you have to do is ask.
The secret to a strong platform doesn’t lie in desperately trying to nail interviews, endorsements, speaking gigs, or social media fame. A solid marketing foundation requires a balance of pieces, fitted together in time, with patience and supervision.
Teaming up with a savvy Supervisor, someone who oversees the methodology behind building momentum for your message, can set you apart. Someone who works with the design, who schedules the work crew, and takes the worry out of the process. A Leader you can confidently partner with.
I found my Master Platform Builder in the Bible.
His watchful eye keeps creations moving in the right direction.
Without Him, I can wear myself out, hoping to grow my writing endeavors into something bigger than I am. Psalm 127:1-2 says it best:
Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the guards stand watch in vain. 2 In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to those he loves.
Relinquishing Control to The Platform Builder
Recently, I realized I hadn’t fully submitted my own messages to the guidance of The Platform Builder. And I’m striving to do something about it. Here are a few ways I’m following His direction, as I bend my will, so he can create a unique marketing stage for my work:
Start each day asking the Lord to build where I can’t, and to show me where I should invest my energy.
Keep good notes as ideas come throughout the day. Create a goal list spurred from this basis.
Take courage and stand true to my beliefs, in written word, and in spoken interactions with those I meet along the way.
Implement at least one action item each day geared toward helping The Builder make my goals become reality.
Don’t be afraid to reach out. If God is for me, no one can be against. Rejection simply means there’s more to do.
Praise God in advance, before results of hard work are evident.
Maintain my platform with regular upkeep. Consult my Supervisor to ensure there are no loose boards, bent nails, or weak trusses.
Resolve to remain humble and helpful to others when good things do happen. After all, this calling isn’t all about me, it’s all about Him.
God owns every nuance necessary to create otherwise unimaginable opportunities. Amazing things happen when we submit our will to the expertise of The Platform Builder. He is the author of holy introductions, miraculous occurrences, and creative inspirations. He owns everything a writer needs to succeed at screen sharing.
What incredible pieces has The Platform Builder provided for your writing?
I may be the only gardener who cheers when deer sample my tomatoes. I’ve tried to reform but to no success. Now I plant extra for the graceful beauties. As a gardener, I seem to do things backwards. Long after most people have hung up their trowels for the season, I can be found in my garden. I like to get a jump on weeds while they’re dormant, and when it’s wet outside they release their hold on the ground more easily.
Weeds can also invade my writing life and stand in the way of my building a platform. As in my garden, they can hide well, appearing to be something they’re not.
Voices from the past tell me what I can’t do.
Time constraints bind me.
Inertia overwhelms me.
Confusion ties me in knots.
All of these can be weeds in my writing garden, but each of them is joined to the same root.
Fear.
When I listen to nay-sayers, I demonstrate that I’m afraid to believe in myself.
There are sometimes legitimate seasons when I have to focus on other priorities, but usually when I play the busy card it’s procrastination. I procrastinate because I fear failure or success or both.
Giving in to the pull to do nothing as time passes can consume my life if I let it. When I allow inertia sway over me, it is always that I’m afraid to commit.
Confusion is often the mask I pull over my fear of trying something new.
As with gardening, if I miss the root, I may break off a weed but it will grow back. I need to use my trowel to remove it. The same trowel works for each of my weeds.
Faith.
Once the weeds are cleared I can prepare the ground to build something. The first step in building an effective social media platform is believing in both the gift within you and the Giver who provided it.
Sometimes in adversity weeds come out more easily. When things go wrong, I’m fully invested in cleaning up my writing garden. But it’s really the vision for the sublime creation my hands can produce that brings forth fruit. Fortunately, that doesn’t have to happen in the rain.
This is the first post in a series on building a social media platform. You can subscribe to receive notification of my future posts next to my image in the sidebar.
Can you think of other weeds common to writers? Are some tougher to remove than others?
WordServe Water Cooler 