Archive for the ‘Author Success Story’ Category

I’ll confess: I love Allie Phillips. Not only is she one of the kindest, politest people I’ve ever worked with, but she dedicates a chunk of her time to protecting animals: a very noble cause. So I was beyond thrilled when I noticed that, in a recent month, Allie got over 1,100 visitors to her site, AlliePhillips.com.

So what is she doing to get so much publicity for her books and her cause? Here’s what she had to say…

Who built your website? How was the experience?
Smart Authors built my book website and the experience was so seamless and wonderful that I had them build my coaching/healing website too (ManifestedHarmony.com)! They have always been available for follow up questions and tweaking both sites. The customer service has been fantastic!

Which social networking sites do you regularly participate in? Facebook? Twitter? GoodReads? LinkedIn? Any others?
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. But I spend most of my time on Facebook because that seems far more interactive.

How many online followers do you have?
LinkedIn = 326
Pinterest (new) = 26

Alliephillips.com
Facebook = 1735
Twitter = 110

Manifestedharmony.com
Facebook = 638
Twitter = 115

How has your online presence (be it through a website or social networking profiles) increased your visibility/book sales?
The website, since the outset, has ended up being an educational portal where people can talk about how to help animals through my blog and other social media sites. My purpose in writing 2 animal protection books was to raise awareness about helping animals. So even though book sales have not [skyrocketed as a result of] the website, my mission of helping animals has.

For the manifestedharmony.com website, I believe that the website has increased my visibility. Since the website is global and has connected me to people from all over, it has encouraged me to move my practice to more online work (trainings, etc.) rather than in-person work. So the web presence is helping me to grow!

What is your “secret” to achieving this success? Were there any tricks or creative ideas (i.e. a contest) that you used?
I still struggle with marketing and outreach. So it’s just perseverance everyday, posting on social networks and linking back to the websites, keeping people engaged and my two sites front and center. For the coaching/healing website, I started posting free videos which has been a huge success for getting views. I just use my camera to tape the footage and then use the IMovie feature on my Mac to edit them. I’m so not tech-savvy and I was able to figure it out. I think people like to see who we really are and videos are a great way to do that. I don’t think you need to do anything fancy with videos either. Just be yourself, be real. I also respond to every posting (whether on the website blog or social media) to show that people have a connection with me and in an age where we relate better to technology than people, I think that’s a bonus!

Is there anything you would do differently if you were starting over again?
Get more help on marketing. It’s not my forte.

What is the greatest lesson you’ve learned in the process of building your online presence as an author?
The publishers are not helpful at all … it is up to the author to market their books and themselves. I was not prepared for that at all. One of the best moves that I made was getting myself into a professional writing network (the Cat Writer’s Association). I’ve learned so much about writing and publishing just by watching the numerous emails everyday that are posted to the group.

How and where do you promote your website? Is the URL on business cards? Your email signature?
For alliephillips.com, I have business cards and post cards that I place inside books that I sign. I have all of my URL’s in my email signature. For manifestedharmony.com, I have multiple brochures, business cards, flyers. I have the URL’s on all printed materials, on videos, in my email signature.

Final words of wisdom for any new authors wondering how to get started….
Outreach is crucial to being an author or online business person. Creativity will get you noticed, so do not be afraid to be yourself. In fact, it is essential that you portray who you really are and get comfortable with being different. If you are comfortable with videos, I highly recommend posting those on your website. Just realize that the outreach and marketing never ends … it is hand-in-hand with the creativity of being an author.

Ready to talk with us about building your own author website? Contact us today for a free consultation!

Clare O’Donohue is a published author with multiple book series under her belt. She’s also a savvy marketer of her own work; Clare regularly gets over 500 visitors to her website, ClareODonohue.com, every month.

So how does she do it? Here’s what she had to say…

Who built your website? How was the experience?
I’ve had three websites since I started. The first was built by a friend and I did that because I thought it would be cheaper, which it didn’t really turn out to be because it took her so long and I paid her by the hour. Plus I didn’t really like it. Then I had godaddy. It was okay, nothing special or personal and I was limited in the number of pages. Then after doing a lot of research I chose Smart Author Sites for my current website. I like that they specialize in authors because I didn’t need to explain what I needed – they already knew. They were able to offer suggestions based on their experiences that made my site better. It was fast, adaptable to my changing needs, and a great value for the money.

Which social networking sites do you regularly participate in? Facebook? Twitter? GoodReads? LinkedIn? Any others?
I use Facebook and Twitter mostly, though I have a presence on GoodReads. I still have a day job, so I keep LinkedIn for that.

How many online followers do you have? How many pageviews have you gotten on your website?
I have about 3,400 Facebook friends between my personal and book sites. And I had just over 500 visits to my website in December alone. I’m pretty excited about that. Half the battle, maybe 90% of it, is just getting people to have heard of you; so when 500 people visited my site in a single month I knew that lots of new folks were checking me out..

Has your online presence (be it through a website or social networking profiles) increased your visibility/book sales?
Absolutely. People expect a website – that’s where they go to find out about the next release or to send an email. If you don’t have one, it’s like not have a phone in the regular world. No one can reach you. Facebook is the way for me to maintain contact with a large group, but a website is an absolute must.

What is your “secret” to achieving this success? Were there any tricks or creative ideas (i.e. a contest) that you used?
I’ve done all sorts of things. One of my most successful was having a character-naming contest. If you wanted your name in my book, you had to get friends to vote for you. It was a fun way to get people who are already fans to spread the word to her friends.  I’ve also given away books, guest blogged, had other authors blog on my site… there isn’t one secret (at least that I know) it’s doing lots of things, being part of the larger community of writers, keeping an on-going presence on social media, and of course, constantly creating new books. I’ve also branched out to writing e-only stories, which is another way to generate new readers because the price point is so much lower than a full novel.

Is there anything you would do differently if you were starting over again?
I’d start with a more professional website so I didn’t have to keep changing it. In an effort to save money, I cost myself more. I also would have gotten involved in the mystery community sooner, as this is a valuable resource and great friendships. And I would have taken more control of the marketing and publicity. I love my publisher and the publicist they assigned me, but the truth is no one will harder for you than you.

How and where do you promote your website? Is the URL on business cards? Your email signature?
My website is on business cards, bookmarks, the back jacket of my books, bathroom walls in men’s rooms….anywhere I can put it.

Final words of wisdom for any new authors wondering how to get started….
In terms of an online presence, first check out lots of author websites to help you decide what you like and don’t like. Join all the social media sites you think you will keep up with. I joined lots of sites, and realized there were some  I rarely go to because I only have so much time. I’ve pared down my social media to a few places and I post frequently. That helps you stay connected and create a base of “early adopters” who will help spread the word. In the off-line world, join professional organizations and get involved in them. The best way to get blurbs, be asked to guest blog, get recommendations for everything from building a website to the best writer conventions, is by connecting with other writers. Plus no one knows what you’re going through like another writer.

John Kuhn and Mark Mullins are business consultants with decades of corporate, entrepreneurial and academic experience. Their newly published book is Street Smart Disciplines of Successful People – 7 Indispensable Disciplines for Breakout Success. And their website, StreetSmartDisciplines.com, has been a success as well, with over 500 visitors in the past month. So how did they do it? Read on to hear their answers to our questions…

Who built your website? How was the experience?

Smart Author Sites did our website. It was a great experience. A very seasoned team of pros that understand what authors need. Outstanding guidance and quality creative suggestion. Completed ON TIME and ON BUDGET!

Which social networking sites do you regularly participate in? Facebook? Twitter? GoodReads? LinkedIn? Any others?

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google +, GoodReads

How has your online presence (be it through a website or social networking profiles) increased your visibility/book sales?

We have used our website as the primary platform to communication our book’s message and the value to the reader… As we designed our social media campaign, we built it to direct people to our website and let the website do the selling for us.

What is your “secret” to achieving this success? Were there any tricks or creative ideas (i.e. a contest) that you used?

Provide overwhelming and compelling evidence to our potential readers that they will gain tremendous value from reading our book. We recommend that all authors provide entertaining and informative details regarding the book and be selling ALL the time.

What is the greatest lesson you’ve learned in the process of building your online presence as an author?

Being “famous” online does NOT translate to book sales! You have to be actively soliciting people every day to buy your book… use blogs, use articles about your book, post pictures and create some video to post as well… Any time we posted these items we got more traffic, which usually resulted in more book sales.

How and where do you promote your website? Is the URL on business cards? Your email signature?

EVERYWHERE… Every blog, every article, email signatures, business cards, in our book, in our videos, we mention it in all radio interviews and have the show host post it to their website and on all promotional materials.

Final words of wisdom for any new authors wondering how to get started….

Don’t quit! This is really hard. Edit your work a bunch of times and then have other editors look at it too… Then have someone, at the end, when you think you’re done proof the entire book… You will be shocked at how much you missed that was just about to be published! Yikes!

Most authors would kill to get 500 visits to their website in a month. But that’s exactly what Chip Wagar accomplished in December on his author website, AnAmericaninVienna.com.

So how did he do it? Here’s what he had to say…

Who built your website? How was the experience?

Smart Author Sites.  It was a great experience. They listened carefully to my ideas and carefully crafted a website that conveyed the essence and spirit of my book.

Which social networking sites do you regularly participate in? Facebook? Twitter? GoodReads? LinkedIn? Any others?

Facebook, Twitter, GoodReads, History News Network, Bees Knees Reviews, Book Page Shoutouts, Deranged Book Lovers,  among others.

How many online followers do you have? How many pageviews have you gotten on your website?

I have over 134 Twitter followers and a similar number of “Likes” on Facebook.  I generally range between 12-40 page views a day on Facebook.

How has your online presence (be it through a website or social networking profiles) increased your visibility/book sales?

I don’t think there is any question that my book’s sales would not be nearly what they are without an on-line presence in this day and age.  I do not advertise in any other way.

What is your “secret” to achieving this success? Were there any tricks or creative ideas (i.e. a contest) that you used?

I try to find users on Facebook or Twitter who share common interests with the themes and times of my book.  For example, genealogy, history, travel and so forth are all good areas for me given the book involves historical fiction.

Is there anything you would do differently if you were starting over again?

Get started sooner on FB and other social media sites.

What is the greatest lesson you’ve learned in the process of building your online presence as an author?

Posting frequently helps a lot in building online presence.

How and where do you promote your website? Is the URL on business cards? Your email signature?

I usually funnel users to my website through social media.

Final words of wisdom for any new authors wondering how to get started….

There are very few “instant” successes among authors, particularly for your first book.  Be patient.  I believe that there are many Pulitzer Prize quality books out there that have not gotten recognition or sales because of flawed marketing efforts.

Almost exactly one year ago, I launched a website for a new client: Soren Kaplan. I must confess … I always did like the site that we built for him, Leapfrogging.com, but I didn’t have any idea quite how successful it would be.

After quickly browsing his recent statistics, I found that Soren has steadily been getting over 500 visitors each month to his site. That’s pretty impressive.

With that in mind, I posed some questions to Soren about what he believes is the secret to his success. Hopefully, these ideas will help other authors take their websites to the next level. Enjoy!

Who built your website? How was the experience?

Smart Author Sites.  Entire site for under $2k!

Which social networking sites do you regularly participate in? Facebook? Twitter? GoodReads? LinkedIn? Any others?

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn

How has your online presence (be it through a website or social networking profiles) increased your visibility/book sales?

Social network is the name of the game.  Also writing for blogs like ldrlb.co and fastcompany.com provides opportunities for others to tweet out and promote articles that reinforce the book.

What is your “secret” to achieving this success? Were there any tricks or creative ideas (i.e. a contest) that you used?

Use Hootsuite to automate twitter posting.  I post 5-7 custom tweets per day and the system does it for me so I spend literally no time myself tweeting!

Is there anything you would do differently if you were starting over again?

I would be sure to integrate Facebook from the start so people could “like” my home page and each and every blog post.

What is the greatest lesson you’ve learned in the process of building your online presence as an author?

It’s a journey, not a one-time event!

How and where do you promote your website? Is the URL on business cards? Your email signature?

I’m constantly writing for blogs where my website is listed with my bio, business cards, email signature, twitter, Facebook, Linkedin.

Final words of wisdom for any new authors wondering how to get started….

Don’t worry about book sales!  Keep writing and following your passion and the sales will come.

Keep an eye on what your ultimate goal is… Is it really book sales, or is it about finding paid speaking opportunities, consulting projects, or something else?  And remember, book marketing is a journey, not a one-time event.

Today’s authors spend a lot of time blogging, tweeting, Pinning, etc… It’s practically become a requirement in today’s world of writing. But is it possible that the key to an author’s success lies in something much more basic and timeless: word of mouth? Possibly…

It’s important to remember that each genre of book is different. How a biography becomes successful (hot subject matter) is completely different from how a cookbook becomes successful (great recipes at the right time). And a novel? That’s a completely different beast entirely.

You see, when it comes to nonfiction books, it’s easy to get the word about your book out there to your target audience. They already are interested in the subject matter and looking for information on it, so all you have to do is get your book in front of them.

Fiction books are a completely different beast. No one goes on Google and searches for “the best novel.” Instead, fiction books generally become popular because people hear about those books from friends. When everyone else is reading it and/or raving about it, you want to, too!

Want proof that book reviews and/or book clubs are the secret to a fiction author’s success? Just read this Wall Street Journal article.

It talks about Kathleen Grissom’s debut novel, “The Kitchen House,” which came out in February 2010 and is now a huge hit. What took two years and how did it become so popular?

Here’s a paragraph from the article:

In an era when digital buzz is considered crucial to launching books overnight, it was old-fashioned book-club word-of-mouth that prevailed. The book is in its 21st printing, with 254,000 copies in print and 152,000 e-books sold, the publisher says. It has hit some best seller lists, and in July, giant retailers like Target and Costco began selling it; sales jumped 25%. An Alice Walker blurb now adorns a new front cover. Grissom’s $35,000 advance has been followed by “a couple of checks” for $100,000 each with more to come, she says.

How did she do it? Hint: It wasn’t her publisher. As a first-time author, her publisher wasn’t about to invest a lot of time and money into marketing her book. Just like most authors today, Kathleen had to do the work herself:

She sent advance copies to influential book bloggers, asking for a review. If she didn’t hear back, she’d bug them again. Eventually, bloggers began to read it and review it—positively. Book clubs, which pay attention to such sites, started contacting Ms. Grissom via her website. She often offered to speak to the club personally, sometimes driving there on her own dime, or to call in to talk to the groups. She estimates that she has spoken to as many as 50 book clubs over two years. She would also arrange for the nearby bookstore to have enough copies to accommodate the members. Word of mouth spread.

Today, Kathleen’s book is in most airports, on summer reading tables at Barnes & Noble, and will be prominently displayed in its stores throughout the end of the year, said Michael Selleck, executive vice president of sales with Simon & Schuster.

You see? Sometimes a little old fashioned hard work pays off. If you’re the author of a fiction book, build yourself an author website and then focus your time and energy on getting that book reviewed in as many places as possible, and encouraging book clubs to add your book to the reading list. Here’s to hoping you’ll be the next Kathleen Grissom…

A GREAT article was released over the weekend in the Houston Chronicle. In it, they covered a variety of authors and the creative things each of them are doing to promote their books. Here are some highlights … don’t be afraid to steal ideas!

Kayt Sukel
Author of Dirty Minds: How Our Brains Influence Love, Sex and Relationships
Release date: January 3, 2012

• We kid you not …Kayt Sukel stimulated herself to orgasm while an fMRI scanner tracked the flow of blood to her brain. Her first-person story about this ordinarily intimate act appeared in New Scientist in May, under the headline “Sex on the Brain.” Talk about a viral book promotion!
• Sukel tweeted questions to her followers, hoping to elicit comments that might provide fodder for the book.
• She held contests on the book’s Facebook page, “This Is Your Brain on Love.”

• When a similar orgasm story surfaced — this time with a video (of someone else) from the same New Jersey lab — Sukel blogged about it from a new angle.
• On Jan. 3, when Dirty Minds was released, Sukel hosted a lively Twitter chat.
• She is currently working on writing another piece for CNN about her research.

Rebecca Skloot
Author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Release date: February, 2010

• Fast fact: Rebecca was actually Kayt’s inspiration!

• Rebecca began reviewing books, using her own book’s title in the tagline of her reviews for publicity.
• While she was working on her book, Rebecca started doing some freelance writing for O, the Oprah Magazine. As she got to know the editors, she took every opportunity to chat up her book and — not surprisingly — O agreed to excerpt the book when it was released in February 2010.
• After the book’s release, she did more than 200 speaking events. Two years later, she’s still on tour today.

Mat Johnson
Author of Pym
Release date: 2010

• Mat built himself quite a twitter following. As a creative writing professor, he built 40,000 followers. As a humorist, he built “a loyal, literary audience made up of magazine and newspaper writers, other fiction writers, even celebrities.” Together, he has a vast audience of fans of his writing and fans of his tweeting … that translates into book sales.

• His humorous tweets, of course, all include some degree of self promotion. And retweeting doesn’t hurt either … many of his posts are retweeted and shared with an even larger audience

Tom Zoellner
Author of A Safeway in Arizona: What the Gabrielle Giffords Shooting Tells Us About the Grand Canyon State and Life in America.
Release date: 2011

• Given the serious nature of the book, Tom decided against using social media to promote it.

• Instead, the former journalist wrote opinion pieces and reported stories for a number of publications. All of them, of course, included elements from the book.
• Several years before, he had appeared on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart to promote his 2009 title, Uranium. And there’s no denying: TV scoops up a broader range of viewers than a Twitter feed or a Facebook page.

Justin Cronin
Author of The Passage
Release date: 2010

• With the full support of his publisher, Ballantine (which promoted The Passage at BookExpo America, by the way), Justin produced video trailers, and explored alternative advertising — including phone kiosk signs in New York and billboards in Los Angeles.

• Cronin landed an interview on TV’s Good Morning America the day the book was released.
• What he didn’t expect was what happened during the interview … Stephen King would call in to praise The Passage. Cronin says of the unexpected surprise: it was nice to “have the hand of the great father” on his shoulder.

We should all be so lucky. But maybe one or two of these ideas can turn you into the next bestselling author.

According to the NY Times, “Penguin Group USA has plucked its first author from its new electronic slush pile.” Slush pile? Really? Do they have to be so snobby in referring to it?

Regardless, this is yet more encouraging news for authors who are trying to get themselves known as respected authors without following the traditional route. See my post from last week about Darcie Chan as another example.

Anyway, according to the report, “Ace Books, an imprint of Penguin, has signed the debut novelist Kerry Schafer to a two-book deal, only weeks after Ms. Schafer posted writing samples on Bookcountry.com, a Web site Penguin introduced in April that invites writers of genre fiction to share their work.”

Bookcountry is described as “a place where readers and writers of genre fiction come together to read original fiction, post work or comments, and make a name for themselves.” But, really, it’s just as much a self-serving tool for Penguin as it is for authors. The creators are hoping that some of the authors who post their work on the site might be good enough for Penguin to snap up. Apparently, that has finally come to fruition.

Kerry Schafer, a resident of rural Washington State, posted chapters of her latest attempt, “Between,” a fantasy novel about a woman named Vivian who must destroy a powerful sorceress on BookCountry.com. Within weeks, her work was discovered by Deidre Knight, a literary agent, who happened to be browsing submissions.

It all happened pretty quickly after that. Shortly after their first conversation, Deirdre Knight had taken on Ms. Schafer as a client and negotiated a deal with Ace Books. The deal even included a second book, “Wakeworld,” a novel that Ms. Schafer is only in the early stages of writing now.

Is this a wild and crazy story that’s unlikely to happen again … like winning the lottery? Or is it something that all authors should aim for? Well, probably somewhere in the middle.

You always hope,” Kerry said. “You always have in the back of your mind that maybe something like this will happen. It was an act of faith on my part.”

We offer her our sincerest congratulations on a job well done!

I thought that title might get some attention. But seriously, a client sent me a link a few days ago to an article titled How I Became a Best-Selling Author, posted on Yahoo Finance.

Here are some of the highlights from the article, which follows one woman’s “unlikely road to a hit novel.”

• Five years ago, Darcie Chan submitted her novel, The Mill River Recluse,” to multiple publishers and agents. It tells the story of a wealthy Vermont widow who bestows her fortune on town residents who barely knew her. It was rejected by … get this … a dozen publishers and more than 100 literary agents. Whew!
• Dejected, Darcie stashed the manuscript in a drawer, and buried herself in her legislative work.
• Then, this past spring, Darcie started reading about the rise of e-book sales and authors who had successfully self published, and decided to give it a shot. She published the book electronically, through Amazon’s Kindle self-publishing program.
• A few weeks later, she also started selling it on Barnes & Noble’s Nook and through SmashWords, who distributed it to major e-book retailers including Apple’s iBookstore, Sony and Kobo. By this point, she had sold 100 copies.
• Darcie made every effort to get the book out there to the general public. She decided to drop the price from price from $2.99 to 99 cents (a great benefit of electronic publishing — you can do that and not take a loss). Several reviewers on Amazon said they bought the book because it was 99 cents, then ended up liking it. Number of copies sold to this point: 700
• Then, at the end of June, the book was mentioned on a site called Ereader News Today, which posts tips for Kindle readers.
• Encouraged by the increase in publicity and sales, Darcie decided to do some marketing for herself. She bought banner ads on websites and blogs devoted to Kindle readers and a promotional spot on goodreads.com, a book-recommendation site with more than six million members.
• Darcie then decided that it would be helpful to get her book reviewed, even if she had to pay for those reviews. She paid $35 for a review from IndieReader.com (IndieReader no longer offers paid reviews) and $575 for a review from Kirkus. She also started using blurbs from these reviews as marketing material on her site and in ads. By now, Darcie had sold 14,000 copies.
• In July, the book was featured on two of the biggest sites for e-book readers, generating even more sales. By August, Darcie had sold more than 77,000 copies and hit the New York Times and USA Today e-book best-seller lists, alongside brand-name authors like Michael Connelly, James Patterson and Kathryn Stockett. It later landed on the Wall Street Journal list, too.
• To date, Darcie has sold more than 400,000 copies of her e-book. A few major publishers have made offers to her, but none matched the digital royalty rates of 35% to 40% that Ms. Chan makes now. To date, she’s made  around $130,000 on her book, and that number is only destined to rise.

Basically, Darcie took control of her own destiny, made some good strategic decisions and is reaping the rewards. And her story just goes to show you: authors are now in control of their own destiny. Just like musicians can get around the record companies by selling their music through iTunes, authors can completely subvert publishing companies (and print books altogether) and sell their book digitally.

As the article points out, though, there are some drawbacks to following in Darcie’s footprints. They include….

• Ebooks still make up less than 10% of overall trade book sales.
• It’s hard to get a self-published book reviewed
• Without a print book, you’re not likely to be carried in brick-and-mortar bookstores
• Very few authors have a marketing and advertising budget equal to a publisher’s

All of that said, I hope that Darcie’s story can be an inspiring one to authors like you. I know I’ll steal a few of these ideas….

This is a great read for all authors. Whether you’re planning to blog, having trouble figuring out what to blog about, or hoping to draw more readers to your blog (which covers practically everybody), don’t miss this article by Peter G. James Sinclair on achieving blogging success:

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2011/11/06/what-i-learned-as-a-bestselling-author-that-can-equip-you-for-blogging-success/