1.- Add Your TEDx Talk To Author Central in Amazon
Pay special attention to your “Author Page” in Amazon. It is gaining visibility and momentum.
People can now “follow you” in Amazon, your bio is showing,
and even your Twitter feed…
And… You can upload your TEDx Talk, in fact, if you have one
don’t wait another minute… Do it!
Even more, if you have upcoming events they can appear there
as well.
To find this page sign up for Author Central and then go to
Author Page… Claim your books, and have your bio appear for all of them.
2.- Ensure Your Book Description Has Good Copy
The book description is the first thing people see, so you have about two sentences to capture their imagination.
Think about the rules of copy-writing:
- Why is your book urgent?
- What problem does it solve?
- What is its unique Proposition?
Answer those questions in short, easy-to-follow sentences.
Make it clear, and make it memorable.
For example, this how I described my book, and I am NOT
saying it to brag, I put it here because I put a LOT OF THOUGHT into it…
“HOW DO I TRANSFORM MY LIFE? The answer is simple. Come up with 10 ideas a day. Every day. It does not matter if they are good or bad, the point is to exercise your idea muscle, to make it sweat.
“People say ideas are a dime a dozen but that is NOT true. Ideas are a dime for three, but if you try to come up with ten by opening this book to any page, you will feel your mind stretching, working, sweating.
People say execution is everything, that is ALSO NOT true. Execution is a subset of ideas.
When you exercise your idea muscle every day you become an idea machine, you are unstoppable.
When a GREAT idea comes your way you are inspired, you feel moved, you HAVE to take the next step. Execution happens automatically.
Try the 180 prompts in this book, list your ten ideas every day and see your life transform, in magical ways, in front of your eyes.”
3.- Make Sure To Have An Audio Book Read By YOU
Kindle and paper back, especially if “self-published” are not enough, people LOVE listening to the author’s voice.
There is an intimacy that develops when you read your words
to your audience, and it pays off because a stronger link is established.
Then
your readers are more likely to stay in touch with you, give you feedback, and
tell you about themselves.
As an author I always want to hear about what the people
reading me think, what they struggle with, what they want… And the intimacy of
audio, in my experience, opens that door.
It’s easy to record a book in a professional studio. Then
use ACX.com to upload your book to Audible and all other distribution channels.
I just released Become An Idea Machine in Audio Book form
4.- Do A Reddit: I Am A…
When we released Choose Yourself, back in 2012, James organized a Reddit “I Am A…” and ended up answering questions for 6 hours straight.
The interaction with the audience was fantastic, and of
course it helped spread the message.
It was great for talking to people directly and it helped
the book, especially on that opening week.
Here is the TRICK…
DO SCHEDULE it, so that it goes into their Google calendar and you have
more people joining.
You have to determine “what you are”, which should be based
on the title of your book, or your accomplishments…
So for example, for my upcoming one I am saying that “I Am
An Idea Machine”
5.- Do A Slideshare A Week
I find Slideshare (.net) is full of terrible presentations. Which means there is an OPPORTUNITY for good ones!
They all want to sell a product and it is too obvious, or
they put too much text on the images, or they just get boring.
Therefore a GOOD Slideshare stands out.
When I did the first one for Become An Idea Machine it got
featured in the main page, and it got about 4K views, and a lot of sharing.
The IDEAL is to use their templates because you only get to
write two lines. And two lines ONLY is enough… Otherwise is complicated
Simple is elegant, so keep it short and to the point, and
ADD VALUE
The week after the launch I made another one with a
CHALLENGE for people to get started listing 10 ideas per day. You can see that
one here.
6.- Get A Foreign Rights Agent
Getting your book translated into other languages is the way of the future.
If you are self published you need to get one. We are lucky
to have found this agency where Marleen (the Co-Founder) is especially careful
and selects great books, and she promotes them all over the world.
Choose Yourself has been translated to over a dozen
languages, and The Power Of No to 7 languages (so far).
These little pieces of information add credibility to the
book.
You can find Marleen Seegers at 2 Seas Agency.
7.- Guest Blog EVERYWHERE With Good Content
Content is king.
So add it, everywhere. Medium is great,
Your blog, other people’s blogs, Quora, LinkedIn… Everywhere
Because my book proposes 10 ideas a day, I have been doing
that… The 10 ideas gets me in the right frame of mind…
I recently wrote 10 ideas to the CEO of Honda To Disrupt The Car Industry And Win…
Will he
listen? Probably not, but the ideas were good, because I thought deeply about
them.
Then in your bio you can have a short one-liner saying you
just released your book and link to it.
8.- Make Info Graphics
We need to remember people read in different ways. Some are more visual, some like to get deep into the words and savor their meaning.
But infographics prove to be a superpower for authors!
Because they make the information easier to digest, and they
serve as a catalyst so people can quickly decide if they want to read more or
not.
9.- The Podcast Tour Is Powerful
The podcast tour is the new book tour. Some say that. I am not so sure, I still believe the face-to-face interaction offers an extra level of sharing, because people “feel” your energy, which is not so easy with just voice…
Nevertheless, when Tony Robbins released his book recently,
he went on all podcasts. I was having trouble believing that he was everywhere…
But he did it because it works, and if there is someone who
studies what works and replicates, that would be Tony… So, find all of the
people you know and ask to go. But ask nicely!
Always offer something for their audience, ALWAYS ADD VALUE.
For example, for my book I posted on Facebook I would give
away the PDF for free to the full audience of anybody who would have me on
their podcast.
I went on lots of them.
That is not possible for published authors in the
traditional way, but maybe you could offer “a few” to be raffled, or something…
10.- Make a Deal With Lists That Sell Books When They Are At A Lower Price
There are several sites now that offer “a book for a buck” or “deeply discounted books.
Some charge, some don’t.
If you are self-published you have the advantage that you
control the price, and so you can make a “deal” whenever you want, If not
you’ll need to talk to the publishers.
These lists go to huge numbers of people.
If you are paying to go on a list, then insist of seeing the
copy that will go together with the book, make sure it is good…
11.- Leverage YouTube
Make short videos about snippets of your book and how you are using the techniques you presented, and how they are working.
Or interview people who are doing that.
If your book is fiction, then maybe tell a little story,
create a cliff hanger.
12.- Promote Everywhere
Use your social media power to the max, share on Twitter, Facebook Google+ etc…
But you already knew that…
One thing I am doing with Become An Idea Machine is re-tweet
and read all the blogs of people who are writing 10 ideas a day together with
me.
It is very satisfying to share ideas. And I love to see how
people interpret and think in different ways.
It enriches both their lives and mine.
13.- Become An Idea Machine
Everyday I try to come up with a new idea for promoting the book.
A few days ago James and I had our books be #1 and #2 under
“Entrepreneurship” in Amazon…
I thought that was interesting, so I said that we were
having a "FIERCE COMPETITION" in our house… which was a joke, but people get it,
and it got some re-tweets.
I hope you become an idea machine with me and help me come
up with more ideas! Please share with me
And do please subscribe to my private list so we can stay in
touch.
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