Author Self-Promotion
It is the author who ultimately
controls the destiny of their book, and whether the book
becomes a bestseller of languishes on a back-shelf of a
bookstore is in total
control of the author. There is very little that the
publisher can do to promote a book unless the author is
motivated to participate in promoting their title through
conference presentations, magazine articles, forum discussions
and a host of other avenues.
Rampant will bring to your book to market, but the sales rest
solely in the hands of the author. The author determines the quality of the book, and the authors
reputation in their community is also a major sales factor.
This is a short guide to
understanding promoting activities for your Rampant TechPress
book. It describes what Rampant does to promote your book, but
more importantly, it discusses what you need to do to ensure
that professionals hear about your book.
What does Rampant do for Promotion?
Because the Rampant
investors are all authors themselves, we are an altruistic
publisher and we seek to maximize author revenue with promotional activities:
While
Rampant makes every effort to get your book visibility in
bookstores and online book sellers, there are many things that
you can do to stimulate sales of your books. As your book
approaches completion you will receive an author questionnaire
that will help us target your advertising budget to maximize
revenue.
Remember, book sales are driven by demand, and unless you
actively help to promote your book (via presentations,
conference proceedings, web discussions), our promotional
efforts may be of limited value.
The author,
and only the author, control the ultimate destiny of the book.
How can you help stimulate sales?
It is
well-known that author self-promotion is the single best way to
market your books. Let’s examine some ways to increase the
sales of your book. In the Oracle world, word-of-mouth is
the best sales tool. Here are the main methods used in
self-promotion:
-
Get Links - Place links on web pages,
pointing to your book detail page
-
Get Reviews –
All your friends and fans should be encouraged to post reviews on Amazon
-
Get Online - Discuss your book in Oracle
forums
-
Get your book reviewed on web portals
-
Present at conferences, seminars and user
groups
-
Write articles that discuss the merits of your
book
Let’s
take a closer look at each promotion method and see how you can
stimulate sales of your book.
Getting Web Links
If you
know people at web portals and can get them to do a small banner
ad, you can sell thousands of extra copies of your book. When
placing links to encourage sales of your book, be sure to use
the Rampant TechPress bookstore link.
Getting Reviews on Amazon
You
will want all of your co-workers, acquaintances
and opinion leaders to praise your book on Amazon! Having
your fans review and rate your books on Amazon, etc,
increases the popularity of your book.
·
Amazon:
www.amazon.com
·
Barnes and Noble:
www.barnesandnoble.com
Discussing your book in Oracle forums
Encouraging others to look at your book inside forum discussions
is a great way to drive-up your sales.
Book Reviews for web portals
Rampant
will provide free copies to book reviewers who will review your
book for online portals. Normally, the author contacts the
portal editor, sells the editor on reviewing their book and
arranges the review. Here are some sites that do Oracle book
reviews:
Presenting at Conferences, Seminars and User Groups
Speaking on your book topic at Oracle conferences is a great way
to drive sales, and Rampant will ensure that your book is
available at the bookstore of all of the major Oracle
conferences. Rampant will provide 3 free copies to give-away for
promotional purposes when an author is selected to speak on the
book topic at an Oracle conference or group meeting. These are
listed in order of importance:
Promotional article publishing
Rampant
TechPress allows authors to reproduce sections of the book (not
to exceed 600 words) in national web sites. These can be
articles that discuss the value of a specific book topic and
contain a link to the Rampant TechPress bookstore.
Here
are some popular online article portals to publish book-related
articles:
Remember, Rampant TechPress wants to help make your book popular
and we are always interested in assisting with any promotional
activities. PLEASE, contact us if you have any marketing ideas
for your book!
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