I'm pleased to report that we continue to have a wide variety of Infinity authors achieving success with their ongoing efforts to promote their books in the market place by utilizing a assortment of techniques. We hope sharing what has worked to increase their book sales will stimulate some ideas for ways to increase your book sales.
Two common factors in successful book sales are: one, the importance of the buzz book generated by folks who have actually read your book-word-of-mouth is the best way to spread the word about your book; and two, the value of accumulated sales, each and every copy of your book that is out in the world is a planted seed with the ability to grow interest in your book-especially in niche areas. Now it might be a bit of an oxymoron, but the truth of the matter is accumulated sales do continue to add up month after month to become significant numbers-this is so very true of books that never go out of print.
Curtis Seltzer - January 2011 Top Selling Author: How To Be a DIRT-SMART Buyer of Country Property
"When John F. Harnish told me that I was one of Infinity's three top-selling authors for January, 2011, I was floored.
I am Infinity's least computer-savvy author. I hate self-promotion. I have a website, www.curtis-seltzer.com, only because a friend took pity on me. I don't Twitter. I don't network, socially or otherwise. I'm not all that friendly, and I don't like telephones. I do Facebook only because my daughter stuck my stuff up there, and I'm too stupid to get it off.
I've published two books with Infinity: How To Be a DIRT-SMART Buyer of Country Property (2007, 750 pages, $34.95) and Land Matters: The "Country Real Estate" Columns, 2007-2009 (2010, 365 pages, with a CD inside the book; $29.95). Both are in 8.5-x-11 formats. DIRT-SMART is a comprehensive how-to guide for finding, buying and managing rural real estate of all types.
I started writing Country Real Estate (CRE) to promote DIRT-SMART. CRE began as practical, boots-on-the-ground advice, but it has evolved into a humor/lifestyle/op-ed column. Land Matters collects the first 117 CRE columns and includes 14 commentaries on CD that I've done for Virginia public radio.
I email CRE weekly on a pay-for-use basis to about 750 newspapers, reporters, magazines, real estate blogs, individuals in the land industry and friends. It goes to the membership of the National Association of Real Estate Editors and about 500 independent bookstores, (a list I purchased from John Kremer).
Throughout 2008 - 2010, I wrote a paid weekly column for www.LandThink.com. These 111 nuts-and-bolts essays were about the practical issues involved in buying, selling and managing farms, land investments, conservation properties and second homes. They were based on my 40-year experience investing in land, the 15 years that I've consulted with clients on these matters and my 30-year experience owning and operating a cattle-and-timber farm. (I'm no gentleman, and this farm isn't one of those kind of farms.) That column established me as a more-or-less, half-credible authority on the subject and brought some book sales.
I did two new things during the fall that might explain why I did well in December.
First, I spoke at two land-oriented conferences, one at the end of September, the other conference at the beginning of November. I sold about 25 books altogether, mainly DIRT-SMART. Both speeches went well, and I may have created some word-of-mouth buzz for my books.
My sophisticated point-of-purchase marketing consisted of giving books to anyone who showed an interest, along with my business card and a request to send me a check. Everyone did.
Second, I posted email feedback on my books and CRE on Amazon. DIRT-SMART has nine email comments, and Land Matters has more than 50 remarks from readers.
More optimistic feelings among real-estate buyers in the late fall of 2010 may also have improved my book sales.
I will subscribe fellow Infinity authors for free to my Country Real Estate newsletter. Send me your email address at curtisseltzer@htcnet.org. Maybe, you'll buy a book or two. How's that for cutting-edge marketing?"
Andrew J. Seubert - January 2011 Top Selling Author: The Courage to Feel: A practical guide to the power and freedom of emotional honesty
"It was great news to hear that The Courage to Feel: A practical guide to the power and freedom of emotional honesty is one of the top three best sellers for Infinity Publishing for January 2011. First of all, it's been a delight to work with the people at Infinity who have made it so easy to update and refine my book and to order copies whenever needed. So thank you all.
As a psychotherapist, most of my sales have come as a result of presentations, workshops and trainings I give. These take place at professional conferences, as well as independent ventures.
Needless to say, the creation of a website for our practice has also been a helpful marketing tool. I've appeared on a National Public Radio program, which showcases local authors, and continue to give free talks about all kinds of related topics (my area of specialties are trauma, PTSD, eating disorders and the integration of psychotherapy and spirituality).
I've also found that sending free copies to other therapists, asking for feedback, as well as requesting that they pass the word on to their own clients, has helped immensely. I'm now looking for ways of getting the word to schools and various facilities that focus on emotional healing.
I'm now getting my feet wet with the social media, particularly Facebook and Linkedin. The viral effect of these opportunities is amazing. And, finally, I'm presenting my book in both eBook and audio formats, and am planning on a follow-up book, which will be The Courage to Feel for young people."
Ronald Gunn - January 2011 Top Selling Author: Matrix Management Success: Method Not Magic
"Hello John, thanks for the good news. Well, the blurb here is fairly short but here's how it's been working for us...
Matrix Management Success: Method Not Magic is featured prominently on our consulting firm website, which is www.strategicfutures.com. We have several consulting product lines and one of these lines relates to matrix management. When someone Googles on "matrix management," our website comes up early and often because we pay Google for prominent visibility, e.g., so called search engine optimization with pay-per-click.
The book really is positioned as a marketing tool for our consulting services and it has worked well for us in that way. The CEOs of several organizations that have become clients have "prescribed" our book as required reading for the leadership team and for mid-level managers. We'd like to see more such prescriptions, to be sure! The book is also featured on Amazon.com and so people doing a search for a book on matrix management will find it there.
This is a rather specialized management topic so, to my knowledge, there aren't any bricks-and-mortar book stores that carry it on the shelves although I wish that there were. Therefore, we have never had a book signing event or other kinds of traditional promotional efforts. Everything that we have done to promote the book is strictly electronic or, "virtual" as it were.
So in terms of secrets of success, write your book to a tight niche of interest and make sure that anyone who would use the Internet to find out about that narrow interest will "discover" the book. Hope this helps! Infinity Publishing has been great for us. We just made the volume available as an eBook through Infinity and we are hoping that this will not only achieve eBook sales, but that it will cause folks to order up "hard copies" of the book as well. Cheerio, Ron Gunn"
[Editor's Note: Due to the holiday schedule and a snow storm, Katherine Blanc's remarks about her book selling success where received after the deadline for the January 2011 Author's Advocate. Thusly her remarks are included in this issue.]
Katherine Blanc - December 2010 Top Selling Author: Gold Mountain Girl
"Hi John, This is embarrassing, but the only promotional thing I did was submit the book to the Combined Book Expo exhibit at the California Library Association convention. But that was nearly two years ago. It's actually selling more copies now than it did in its first year of release!
The book appears to be gaining a following via the word of mouth buzz about the book. Since it's a children's middle grade novella, I'm guessing that one child (or parent) reads it, and then shares it with another, and then with another, and so forth. Or perhaps several online reviewers and bloggers have discovered my book and have written good things about it.
Regardless of how it's happening, I'm proud that Gold Mountain Girl is selling on its own merit and is being enjoyed by so many readers!"
-John Harnish
