Book Award for Entrepreneurial Publishers

Announcing the 2009 Excellence in Demonstrating Groundbreaking Entrepreneurship (EDGE) Award! 

Entry open to independents authors of books and ebooks worldwide who publish for the North American market with a 2008 copyright (or that were released in 2008).

Announcing the EDGE Awards sponsored by Professional Advancement Seminars and Services (PASS) Publishing Company recognize and promote independently published books and ebooks that change people’s lives and promote the professional. EDGE – Excellence in Demonstrating Ground-breaking Entrepreneurship. The EDGE Awards were conceived to recognize and reward extraordinary books by independent publishers.

 

The EDGE Awards are focused solely on independently published business books and ebooks. Winner, Finalists, and Honorable Mentions appear for an entire year at www.publishpass.com. Winners will also be featured and highlighted prominently in our monthly newsletter. Awards are a great tool for all those involved. Awards influence reviewers, buyers, decision makers and future clients. The gold seal prominently placed on the book cover often captures the buyer’s attention and leads to higher sales. Enter now at: 

http://www.publishpass.com

 

·         Any non-fiction book that promotes an industry accepted scope of practice in a professional area of expertise will be accepted.

·         A submission should set forth a theory that has justifiable merit and factual basis.

·         The book can cover any professional topic but must give a solution or benefit for issues of that professional practice. 

·         The entry must meet the standards of the professional practice from which it is related.

·         Each entry must list the profession to which it is related.

 Awards: Winning titles will be exhibited in a 2009 Publish PASS EDGE Book Awards Showcase web page. An overall Grand Prize winner, an honorable mention will be awarded. 5 finalists will be named, for each profession submitted a special award will be given to the top book and the top ebook.

Each entry will be judged on and receives an individual evaluation with the judges’ commentary based on the following criteria:

 

·        Appropriateness of subject matter.

·        Depth of research

·        Is the entry “well-sourced”? Are sources credible and accurate?

·        Presentation

·        Impact of entry on the problem or issue covered

·         How well the book has achieved its goal

·         What possibilities are suggested by the book

·         What the book has left out

·         What specific points are not convincing

·         Eye catching cover

·         Market appeal

·         Client generation ability

Publishing as a Marketing Tool

Good marketing begins with collaborative efforts and strong organization. What is more organized then a good book? Research shows that when there are solid connections between the customer and the goods and services they desire profits increase. The amazing growth of business information on the net is another market driver.

According to Osterman Research, email volume alone is growing between 35 and 40 % annually. How do you get in front of your niche in a way that demonstrates your creative new and useful ideas that solve the challenges that people face every day?

Creativity is only useful if it is channeled and directed. According to Warren Bennis, “Today’s successful companies live and die according to the quality of their ideas.” Creativity is critical for survival in any career. It is the life blood for constructing a competitive edge.

In order to succeed in the current market requires that entrepreneurs must drop their limiting assumptions, beliefs, and behaviors. They must critically analyze the connection between resources, needs and values. Entrepreneurs must harness their creativity and learn the techniques and behaviors that generate ideas.

Successful entrepreneurs tap into their creativity to throw off existing paradigms. They don’t allow themselves to be rule driven and they avoid preconceived ideas of what the world is or is not. Creativity and innovation are an integral part of entrepreneurship.

The Nuts and Bolts of Writing – Finding your Book’s Focus and Structure

Finding the focus and structure of your book takes some trial and error runs on your part. Finding your focus is not the same as finding your topic or your BIG IDEA. Your focus is the dramatic premise or theme of your book. It not only identifies your essential themes for the entire work it also helps focus the writing. This in effect draws the reader into the content and makes the reading much more meaningful.

There are several techniques to find focus. You can begin by identifying a single image, detail or quote that conveys your message or you can list important actions taking place in the work.  This list eventually becomes your working outline as you begin to organize the information into recurring themes or messages. 

Integrated Marketing Strategies – Building and Maintaining Brand Awareness Pt 4

Your website should still be the center of your marketing efforts; however, to make this happen you now have to have a marketing plan that drives traffic to your website. How do you do this? Through a variety of tools that include some variations of the following:

• Search Engine Optimization
• Press Releases
• Social Networking
• Blogging
• Article Marketing (to include possible syndication)
• Newsletters
• Internet Advertising
• Video or Podcasting
• Viral Campaigns
• Pay per clicks
• E Books
• White papers

The key to marketing success is learning what people are looking for and where they are looking. The internet has become ubiquitous in our world. A smart marketer will build a keyword-rich webpages and websites based on those words.

The future of information marketing is in the social networks that are popping up all over the internet. Facebook, Biznik, and other networks are growing in popularity. Engaging prospects and customers on social sites has now become a critical part of a focused marketing plan.

Just because you launch an awesome site and announce it in social websites does that mean you will get the traffic you are looking for? Of course not! If only it were that simple! Planning and creating an amalgam of methods that reaches out to the world at large and begins to create an audience. Your marketing plan must:

• Catch the audience’s attention
• Generates interest
• Provides useful or helpful information that solves a specific customer problem
• Create and opportunity for your target audience to take action

One inexpensive way to do this is to create newsletters, eBooks, and white papers. But how do you get those to your audience? How do you create the audience? Through opt-in methods that are permission driven. Give them something of perceived value to get their name and email address in order to build a database of contacts. A good newsletter contains relevant information that benefits your audience. It also helps that audience to learn more about you and your company so they can build the trust required to potentially make a purchase in the future. Newsletters and eBooks help personalize your business and create a positive perception of you and your business when done well.

Integrated Marketing Strategies Pt 2 – Building and Maintaining Brand Awareness

I have a son who at a young age wanted to start a business painting 911 curb addresses in the neighborhood. We lived in an area where the snow plows regularly scraped the numbers off. His startup wasn’t a bad idea. He just wasn’t sure of how to close the sale. He had stencils; he had the pre-requisite black and white cans of spray paint. He beta tested his process on our curb and on the neighbors’. He had practiced all his techniques but his “elevator speech.” His father pressed him to try and “sell” him a painted curb. My son inhaled and began with a stammer, followed by a stutter, and then a long string of “ahhhs and uhhhs.” His dad asked him, “Do you know what you want to tell me?” Long pause followed by a deep inhale and a sob. His dad asked him, “What are you selling? Why do people need to buy what you are selling? Why are you the one to hire for this service?” My son paused for a minute and then said through the curtain of frustrated tears, “Dad, I don’t know why they should hire me. I guess ’cause I do a good job.” Shrugging his shoulders he turned to walk away. His dad stopped him, “Boy! Are you a man or a mouse?” My son without missing a beat said, “I don’t know dad, but I sure like cheese!” He had no clue what his message was or how to get it out effectively…he just knew he liked money.

Integrated marketing is about building and maintaining brand awareness and identity. Good integrated marketing sends a coordinated series of different but related messages through different kinds of media thus increasing the chance or reaching and persuading the target audience. Perhaps the most critical part of an integrated marketing campaign is to maintain a consistent theme in your message.

Book Reviewers – Some Non-traditional Sources to Consider

Getting a self-published or POD book reviewed is easy to do! Create a list of potential reviewers while you are waiting for your book to come back from the printer. Once you have your book in hand from the printer you are ready to send out review copies.  So how do you develop a list of potential reviewers?

• Book Reviewers – Let’s pretend for a moment that you just wrote a book on baseball bats and you want your book reviewed. While your book was at the printer and in between writing sell sheets and press releases, you began to conduct research on the who’s who in baseball genre self-published book reviews. Your search starts by going to Google and typing in “sports” or “baseball” and “book reviews”. Why not add “bats”? Baseball bats are a highly specialized area and perhaps that would be too limiting of a search. Perhaps the reviewer who will give you the most glowing review will be the one who never read a book about the equipment related to the sport that is his or her favorite genre. Crafting the search for the list is important as you want it to be manageable.
• Reading Groups – Don’t just search for reviewers. Include reading groups and reviewing publications as possible sources for reviews as well. Reading groups and book circles can give great mileage to your book’s marketing campaign. Select those that are genre specific to increase your likelihood that they will select your book to read and review.
•  Reviewing Publications – There are some publications that will accept unsolicited books for review. A little research on line and in some writing handbooks will expose a few potential sources. Your best luck will be genre specific publications that cater to your target audience.
• Reviewers on the Web – Some reviewers exist on the web independently. Some are found through host sites and social networking organizations related to books and book promotion. They are often thrilled to give you a review in exchange for a free book. A little homework will reveal what genre they prefer. Consider perusing the web for bloggers and ezine article writers who have existing reviews on the web.
• Writer’s Portals – What better person to review your book than a writer! Check out some of the writer’s sites on the web. There are now several social networking communities where some members offer review services. A peer review is a definite plus in your favor! A simple web search for author groups should reveal a sizeable list with potential reviewers.

Book reviews should always be free. You are sending them a free book and as such you do not control the time for turnaround and content. If a reviewer requires a fee of any sort (reading fee, handling, etc) do NOT submit a book to them. No reviewer worth his/her literary salt takes money for a professional review. NEVER PAY FOR A BOOK REVIEW.

Ebooks – The Low Down on Promoting Your Newest Work

Ebooks are an easy way to get a “how to” book out for sale. Once your ebook is written and compiled all you have to do is create a sales page on line, set up payment options, and submit its release to different directories.

Some other things to consider doing to promote your ebook:

• press releases
• ezine articles listing your sales page in your bio-box
• submitting for reviews
• listing in ebook directories
• listing on Craig’s List
• listing on Ebay
• listing on Lulu
• creating affiliate programs

Promoting your newest work is just a matter of leveraging your product on the internet. Author marketing and book promotion is hard work but the dividends are certainly worth the effort!

3 Internet Book Promotion Tips

There are some really inexpensive ways to promote you and your books on the internet. You are a topic expert by the time you complete the first draft of your book. How do you get your potential readers to recognize you in that position?

You have to build a platform that puts your name, your expertise and your book title before the reading public.

• Blog – personalize your message for the world to read.
  • Reassures wary customers that you really do know what you are talking and writing about…
  • Strengthens the sense of community among readers
• Social Business Networks – LinkedIn, Biznik, etc
  • Creates the potential for collabroative efforts among members
  • Great source of free business advice
• Article Writing – article directories, newsletters, and print media
  • Write articles that establish you as the an industry expert
  • Drives readers back to your sales site for your book
  • Boosts your SEO rankings

How can you afford not to follow these three author marketing tips? Try just one of these approaches for 30 days and see what happens…

Book Reviews – Can Self-Published Authors Get Them?

Can self-published authors get reviewers to seriously consider their work like their traditionally published author cousins? Getting a book reviewed is an important step for marketing your book, especially for a first time author.

Getting a book reviewed is not as difficult as it might seem if you are creative in how you approach the project. There are some reviewers who will never accept an unsolicited or self-published book to review. Big fat hairy deal! Remember, Chicken Soup for the Soul was once a self-published book that is now multi-million dollar best seller. If you are diligent in your search you will find there are many non-traditional reviewers out there just waiting for a copy of your book.

One of the easiest ways to find who is doing reviews is to go out and conduct an internet research on your genre and book reviewers. For example, if you are a romance writer whose latest book is historically based consider research parameters like: “book reviews” and “historical romance”. It make take a few tries to get the correct combination but you should be able to locate a credible reviewer who would love to read your book.

Keep an open mind and an open eye for potential reviewers. Book reviews are an incredibly visible passive marketing tool that is inexpensive (cost of a book and postage) and often pays off with high sales dividends. 

Writing a Book – Formulating a Strategy to Write a Market Ready Best Seller

How do you know that the book you want to write has a market? Do you plan to just write and see what happens? Some books were made to be written to satisfy our souls, others are written to be marketed in such a way that they support other work we are doing. So how do you create a strategy for your book?

• Define your goals
• Identify your target audience
• Explore and thoroughly research your topic/background
• Write with clarity of purpose
• Carefully and brutally edit

While your book is with an editor begin formulating your softsell marketing efforts:

• Create a blog or forum on your book’s topic and begin creating a ready made audience
• Write articles about your book’s topics and post them in article directories
• Pre-write press releases for your book’s launch
• Begin direct marketing efforts for your pre-sales
• Generate a mailing list to support an E-Newsletter for your potential audience

Effective marketing tactics begin with the crafting of the content. Create a winning strategy and you will have a best seller on your hands.