Features
- Cover Type: Paperback with 204 pages
- Published by: Weber Books February 1, 2007
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0977240614
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0977240616
-
Book Dimensions:
8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
- Weighs: 8.8 ounces
Reader Reviews
One rule of thumb among independent consultants is that they should spend about half their time not just doing the job they do, but schmoozing and hustling the next job. Weber proposes something similar for writers. The craft of writing the book itself is dealt with elsewhere, at length. Weber deals with writing about your book, and about all the other hustling that it takes to get people to pick it up in the first place. He identifies two big parts to this job: selling the book, and selling the writer. An unknown writer is in the odd position of proving he has something to say before anyone will listen. A solid third of the book, plus a pervasive atmosphere throughout the rest, talks about creating an internet presence: blogging, social networking, and generally putting yourself where your potential customers will see you. If you want their eyes on your writing, you have to put a lot of it out there, with new content all the time to keep them coming back. (The motto of the internet may be "Yeah, but what about lately?") Building a following takes time, maybe years, and the day the book hits the streets is way too late. The ongoing effort may seem daunting. If you're really a writer, though, you would have been writing anyway. Weber's advice is about putting it where it will do the most good. Then when your book is on the electronic shelves of the internet booksellers, a whole new job begins. (A new writer's share of brick'n'mortar shelf space is just about zero - your choices are the internet or the trunk of your car.) Weber discusses dozens of techniques for directing buyers to your book, centered largely on Amazon. He discusses lists, links, tags, and especially reader reviews like this one. Positive reader reviews may be the biggest thing that sells a reader, once they've found your book's page. Free review copies, like the one I'm reviewing, are one great way to get the first few reviews written. Weber is well aware of the line between intense promotion and unethical shilling, including embarrassing cases where writers were outed as authors of glowing reviews for their own books. There are cases, though, where the line is subjective - the difference between eagerness and aggressiveness is sometimes in the eye of the beholder. There are reams of useful tips here. One interested me in particular: writing your book so as to make the most of the internet sales venue. When I first opened this book, its dense and detailed table of contents took me by surprise - it lists two or three entries for some individual pages. That made sense after Weber pointed out that booksellers sometimes display the TOC or index on the product page. A detailed TOC or index lets the author make as much use as possible of this feature. Well, it's a new kind of world out there. Weber offers a useful guide to navigating your book through it. //wiredweird, reviewing a complimentary copy
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