July 14, 2008 by Victor Volkman.

On Thursday, July  10th 2008  Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with publishing consultants Graham van Dixhorn and Susan Kendrick of Write To Your Market about  what makes a powerful book cover and how to transform your book’s cover into your most powerful marketing tool. We covered critical aspects of cover design including, Why starting your cover early in the process of creating your book is a good idea. When should you start marketing your book? How to build your brand using your book cover. What are the criteria for a great non-fiction book title and subtitle? What is involved in obtaining killer endorsements and testimonials? What if your book has multiple target audiences? What comes first on a cover, words or design?

Susan Kendrick and Graham Van Dixhorn, of Write To Your Market, Inc., help you develop a powerful brand with your book cover so that you can achieve the visibility, recognition, and results of today’s most successful “authorpreneurs.” Their clients report results like selling 125,000 copies of a first book, many based on the title alone. Their clients also use the cover language Susan and Graham create to increase Amazon rankings before their books are released; get national media coverage by the L.A. Times, The New York Times, and USA Today; appear on national TV talk shows, including Dr. Phil and The Today Show; and help them win more than 23 major book awards, including Ben Franklin, IPPY, Foreword Magazine, and DIY.Susan and Graham serve clients across the U.S. and in Canada, England, Europe, and Australia, who are experts in the fields of: health, relationships, business management, and many other topics.

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Posted in Branding, Self-Publishing, Book Design, Book Development | Print | No Comments »

June 27, 2008 by Victor Volkman.

On June 5th, 2008 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with Emily Heineman, Marketing Director at Perceptive Marketing.  Emily manages the details of the marketing and publicity efforts – working directly with clients in the book business. Emily laid down the basic facts for us on how brands work in the book genre and how important they are to long-term success.  Branding can take place at different levels: yourself as the expert author, your main character as a darling of pop culture (think Harry Potter), and of course as a book series.  We looked at the nuts-and-bolts of establishing a brand, ensuring your brand is associated with quality, and the importance of consistency among other issues in this wide-ranging discussion.

Emily works with Sandy Lawrence (CEO and Founder of Perceptive Marketing) as the Marketing Director for the company. Most of Perceptive Marketing’s clients are authors or publishers and Emily helps them realize their dreams. She helps to create marketing materials, including press releases, media kits, and press kits, and she facilitates the booksignings and other special events. Many of the Perceptive Marketing authors are children’s book authors who want to present their program and book in the schools. Emily works with the librarian to coordinate the events and make it enjoyable and fun for the author and the kids. Emily is one of the leaders in Perceptive Marketing’s latest project, Operation StoryTime, a program that helps bring authors and books to schools that do not have a budget for author visits – or money to buy the books.

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March 9, 2007 by Victor Volkman.

On Thursday, March 8th, 2007 at 8:00PM, Irene Watson spoke with Paul McNeese, founder of  Optimum Performance Associates, a consulting group that has been specializing in author and writer coaching, book editing, and book packaging for non-bookstore markets since 1994. Paul educated us on the nature of branding and how it applies to both authors and books. step-by-step how to build your brand, and the timeline by which you can measure results and success.

Paul has been a writer for more than 35 years and quite involved in the publishing industry as well. In 2002, he developed OPA Publishing, a publisher and packager of non-fiction e-books and “Print-on-Demand” hard-copy volumes of nonfiction for self-publishing authors and entrepreneurs. About two years ago, he expanded into fiction and now has over 60 titles in print. The company specializes in assisting both first-time and seasoned authors to self-publish and market their work. OPA Publishing also works with authors whose work has been published but has gone “out of print” for any number of reasons.

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Posted in Branding, Marketing, Guests | Print | 2 Comments »