Listen in as Mike Capuzzi of Bite Sized Books and the Main Street Author Podcast interviews John Kremer on how to sell more books.

Lots of great tips are shared in this half-hour interview. You’ll be glad you listened in.

Listen in as Mike Capuzzi of Bite Sized Books and the Main Street Author Podcast interviews John Kremer on how to sell more books. #BookMarketingTips #MarketingBooks #podcasting
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Check out Bite Sized Books here: https://bitesizedbooks.com

Also, check out other episodes of the Main Street Author Podcast here: https://mikecapuzzi.com/main-street-author-podcast

And here is the Foreword I wrote for Mike’s new book (coming out soon): Marketing with Free Books.

In 1986, I published the first edition of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books. Coming in at over 700 pages this behemoth of a book soon became the book marketing bible in the publishing industry. Since then, I have periodically updated it and today the “Real World Edition” is the most current edition and now includes strategies to market digital books and digital content.

Over the years, I spent untold hours of research and writing its content and now that I look back on the past 30+ years, it was “stupid.”

I say that with tongue in cheek (but with some truth to it) because the book has helped so many authors. However, the reality is I should have done what Mike Capuzzi is doing with this book and make it much more focused.  Instead of one 700-page book, I should have had seven 100-page books, each focused on a specific way to market your books.

Ah… live and learn.

Today’s non-fiction book readers don’t want to have to go through hundreds of pages of content to get the helpful information they are seeking. While my book has an impressive thud factor when I drop a copy on someone’s desk, the immense amount of information I share is often intimidating to readers.

This is why I love Mike’s concept of short, helpful books—or shooks as he calls them. For the business owner who is looking to write a book, I think writing a shook make complete sense. They are faster to write and publish and much easier on readers to read.

There is no doubt being a published book author changes the way people look at you. If you are reading this book, I am assuming you have already written a book or are just about to write one. So, there is no need to try to convince you to write a book. However, what I can tell you is that writing a book is only part of the book success equation.

The other part is focused on marketing your book—and the persistent and consistent things you do to get your book in the hands of targeted readers.

Without effective book marketing, people will never know about your book and more importantly, they will never be able to get the help or information they are seeking. As an author, you must do everything you can do ensure book is easily found, which is why I wrote 1001 Ways to Market Your Books.

The difference between my book and Mike’s book, besides the obvious difference in page count, is that this book is for authors who do not care about selling their book, but instead are using it as a gigantic business card and sales tool. While these authors may sell a few copies a year, their primary goal is to give away as many FREE Books as possible to ideal readers.

The “Get my FREE Book” offer has been around for decades because it works and in Marketing with FREE Books, Mike shares 50 proven tactics to leverage a FREE Book marketing strategy. Yes, that’s 951 less ways than I share in my book, but that’s the beauty of Mike’s book.

It only focuses on one type of book—the FREE Book—and it only shares the best ways to leverage a FREE Book marketing strategy for non-fiction, business-focused authors.

Mike’s got a winner here and now you and your business are going to win because what Mike shares is pure gold. Implement a few of these tactics, and I know your book marketing efforts will be successful. And, if you are interested in even more book marketing strategies, please check out my website and books. They are an excellent complement to Mike’s book.

Congratulations for investing in a copy of Marketing with FREE Books and congratulations on the future success of being able to share your FREE Book with the world!

John Kremer, author of 35 books
BookMarketingBestSellers.com

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Selling More Books Audio Series (includes more than 15 hours on book marketing). Only $67. Order here via Paypal or credit card: https://py.pl/IIHGm

In this audio podcast interview, internet marketing expert Tom Antion interviews book marketing expert John Kremer on how to write and market your books.

Introduction of John Kremer by Tom Antion

Book marketing expert John Kremer is the author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books. And I got to tell you I bought that years and years ago. I’m not sure how many editions are out now but it’s not just books I use it for. That book has influenced all of my 400 plus products over 24 years. So this is really a classic of the world. John is a mentor to authors who have sold over a billion books. That’s with a B billion and founder of the Billion Book Initiative to help the next generation of book authors sell another billion books. Over the past 30 years John has helped thousands of authors and that is not any kind of hype. This guy is an icon of the industry. He’s helped thousands of author,s both major celebrities and those just starting out, to sell over a billion books!

John Kremer: On Pinterest Marketing

Pinterest is basically the best social network for selling things because it’s made up of a buying audience. People are using Pinterest to save things that they really want to buy. And they actually share what they like, something that a lot of other social networks don’t do as well. Pinterest is a great tool for driving a lot of traffic to your content and picking up sales. And Pinterest users spend more money than users of any other social network.

Tom Antion: Your Pinterest webinar really opened my eyes. After I started using your method of creating pins in a certain way so that they really stick out, wow, I sold two protection dogs at $20,000 a piece! And so Pinterest is not any kind of simple playtime. Pinterest is a serious way to really reach people. You guys really nailed it with that Pinterest webinar.

Pinterest is basically the best social network for selling things because it’s made up of a buying audience. People are using Pinterest to save things that they really want to buy. And they actually share what they like.
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John Kremer’s Advice on Working for Yourself

When you are starting out, try to find a part time job that pays you well enough that you can cover your expenses and then spend the rest of the time creating the life you want.

You don’t want to fall in that trap of working parttime and not working on the life you want. You have to set aside the time to build the work that you want to do. I did that when I was working that year part time: I would work four hours a day and then write for four hours a day. Doing that, I finished writing a book in less than a year.

John Kremer’s Advice on Writing Books

Tom: Give us some tips about writing things to promote your business.

In today’s world you don’t have to think about writing a big book. My 1001 Ways to Market Your Books that I’m best known for was over 700 pages. That’s insane to write something that big. If I were doing it today, I would write books of 96 to 120 pages. And I’d write multiple books. That way you can use them as big business cards. You can actually give them away because they’re not that expensive.

Book-of-the-Month Club

I have a friend that does what he calls the book-of-the-month club. He’s written 12 short books. He’s a speaker and consultant to corporations. And when he finds a hot prospect, he sends that prospect a book every month for 12 months. With some nice letters and follow-up emails. Via this book-of-the-month club, he books a lot of speaking and consulting. As a result, he now he owns a nice olive grove in Greece among other things.

Tom Antion: I’ve always said that a book is—from a business standpoint—one of the biggest hassle, least profitable things you can do, but it’s massively profitable in the end. Why? Because it leads to these other things that you can sell: Coaching and speaking and all that.

Yes, but you can’t produce junk. You have to produce real content worth reading, meaningful content that will showcase your expertise and help to sell people on all the other products and services you have to offer. A real worthwhile book builds your credibility. It helps you sell everything else you offer.

You have to produce real content worth reading, meaningful content that will showcase your expertise and help to sell people on all the other products and services you have to offer. A real worthwhile book builds your credibility.
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Creating an Amazon Bestseller

Tom: You can pretty much be brain dead and have an Amazon Bestseller now. You could sell two books in a category that nobody ever reads and get in the top hundred for that category and then call yourself an Amazon Bestseller.

John: I hate that idea of the fake Amazon Bestsellers. Because in the book industry itself, your book would have to be in the top 500 of all of Amazon to be considered an Amazon Bestseller. When authors say they’ve had an Amazon Bestseller and it’s one of those fake bestsellers, people in the industry know the real numbers and the author immediately loses all credibility with them (bookstores, media, top websites, podcasters, etc.). If you want to be a real book author, you want real book sales, and lots of them.

The sad thing is that most authors who get one of those fake Amazon Bestsellers quite three weeks later or three months later because they haven’t done any of the essential follow-up that would be necessary to build on any momentum from those Amazon initial sales.

If you want to be a real book author, you want real book sales, and lots of them. #books #authors #writers
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John Kremer: On Consulting

Most people who do consulting for awhile discover one major thing: The consultants can give the best advice ever, yet most of their clients only listen to about 50% of what they tell them AND only act on about 10% of that advice. As a consultant, that response gets frustrating. At one point, I actually thought about charging people double my normal consulting fee and then giving them back half of it if they would simply follow my advice.

It’s hard when you are offering the best advice out there and your client either doesn’t hear it or, worse, doesn’t act on it. I understand that authors always have so many options presented to them and a limited about of time, money, attention, and skill to implement all those options. That’s why, when I consult with people, I always try to focus on one or two things they should begin with. I try not to overwhelm them with too many options to begin with.

At one point, I actually thought about charging people double my normal consulting fee and then giving them back half of it if they would simply follow my advice. #consulting
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John Kremer: On Staying Motivated

I don’t really have a technique for staying motivated. But this I know: You stay motivated because you’re doing something you love. And because I love what I’m doing, it’s not hard to stay motivated.

I’m also motivated, of course, because my wife wants me out of the house. So that gets me into the office every day. And gets me to work. Once I’m at work, I start doing the things I love and time just slips away.

This I know: You stay motivated because you’re doing something you love. And because I love what I’m doing, it’s not hard to stay motivated.
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The Product Launch Formula

The Product Launch Formula is designed to sell a product for 10 days or seven days or five days and then you say “I’m cutting you off if you don’t sign up. You’ll have to wait a year or two years before you can get in again.” I understand the logic of that in terms of setting a deadline to encourage people to act now, to create urgency.

But I much prefer never setting a deadline. I come from the world of book publishing where when you publish a book, it’s available forever. In today’s world, books don’t go out of print, especially with print-on-demand technology. I like that when I promote a book, it’s always available so whenever somebody decides it’s right for them, they can buy it. That fits my mindset better than setting an artificial deadline.

Saying that, I do understand the urgency technique. And respect it. But I’m not a big fan of using it, especially when selling books.

John Kremer: On Doing Interviews

Doing online interviews is one of the best ways to promote a book.  Interviews are so much more effective than book reviews because you can control the messaging when you are interview but you can’t control the prejudices and insights of a book reviewer.

When someone hears you speak via an online interview—and they like what they hear—they are going to tell more people about you and your book. Be sure to share good content. Don’t hold back. And tell some great stories because stories are what people will remember and share with others. Interviews are a great way to share stories, start word of mouth, and sell more books!

Tell some great stories because stories are what people will remember and share with others. Interviews are a great way to share stories, start word of mouth, and sell more books! #stories #interviews
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John Kremer: Find Something You Love

The key thing in marketing books is real simple: Find something you love to do. If you love the things you’re doing when marketing your books, you’ll do them well. Otherwise, you’ll do them halfheartedly or not at all. If there’s something you don’t like doing about marketing your book, don’t try doing it yourself. Find someone who loves doing that thing and hire them.

If you want to be successful as an author, you have to fall in love with marketing. You don’t have to love everything about marketing, but you have to love enough things that you actually take the time to tell other people about your book. Word of mouth rarely happens if you don’t start it. And word of mouth sells 80% of all books.

When I first started speaking, my stomach would gurgle and gurgle, roll over on itself. I was really nervous. But as I spoke more, I grew to love it. I started pushing the people introducing me off the stage so I could begin my talk. Now I love it.

A number of years ago I was speaking at the national convention of the National Speakers Association. I was sicker than a dog. There were 300 professional speakers in the audience. When I got up on the stage, everything fell into place. I spoke for an hour and a half and most of the people in the audience did not know I was sick. Because while I was speaking, I wasn’t sick. But the minute I was off, I was sick again.  But I delivered a great speech, and that’s what was important.

I was able to deliver that speech because I love speaking. I love sharing what I know. I love sharing stories of how other authors have sold millions of books. I love inspiring authors.

If you want to be successful as an author, fall in love with marketing. You don’t have to love everything about marketing, but you have to love enough things that you actually take the time to tell other people about your book.
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Book Marketing Tip: Word of mouth rarely happens if you don’t start it. And word of mouth sells 80% of all books. #bookmarketing #books #authors
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You can find the complete unedited transcript for this podcast here: https://screwthecommute.com/episodes/11-this-guy-can-sell-your-books-tom-interviews-john-kremer

Earlier this year, I was interviewed by Kathryn Guylay for her Make Publishing Fun Summit. Listen in as I talk about marketing your books and selling lots more copies of your books.

Nugget #1: Speaking is a great way to build a buzz around your book, product, or service.

Nugget #2: Word of mouth accounts for 80% of sales of your book, product, or service.

Nugget #3: If you are just getting started on your speaking career, go local first.

Nugget #4: Speaking begets more speaking.

Nugget #5: Your mindset should be about sharing, not selling.

Nugget #6: Your tribe building starts with fan #1.

Nugget #7: Re-purpose your content to reach your audience in the way that they like to consume content (text, audio, video, or online).

Nugget #8: Don’t be stingy with your content.

Nugget #9: If content is king, packaging your content is queen.

Nugget #10: Marketing is love.

Make Publishing Fun: Book Marketing Advice from John Kremer – 10. Marketing is love.
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Make Publishing Fun: Book Marketing Advice from John Kremer – 4. Speaking begets speaking.
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Source: https://www.makepublishingfun.com/make-publishing-fun-2017-summit

Self-published books once carried a stigma of being not the best books. But that has changed as more books like Wool, The Martian, and 50 Shades of Grey have become bestsellers and been made into movies. Self-published books now rule!

Self-published books average better ratings than traditionally published books on Amazon. On average, self-published books also sell better than traditional books on Amazon.

On average, self-published books sell better than traditional books on Amazon. #selfpublishingtip
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Source: https://bookmarketingbestsellers.com/self-publishing-qa-video-are-self-published-books-good

Self-published books average better ratings than traditionally published books on Amazon.
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When I’m writing a book, I don’t worry about potential sales, potential audiences, or potential marketing scenarios. My first concern is always this: Do I love the book project? Will I like being involved in writing the book for months or even years? That’s how I decide if a book is worthy of my commitment.

Self-Publishing Books: When I’m writing a book, I don’t worry about potential sales, potential audiences, or potential marketing scenarios. My first concern is always this: Do I love the book project? #sp #selfpublishing #writing
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Source: https://bookmarketingbestsellers.com/self-publishing-qa-how-do-i-pick-a-topic-to-write-about

When you discover what truly excites you, what truly moves you and gives your life purpose, you can accomplish anything you want and do it with amazing creativity, energy, and enthusiasm. — Barry Heermann

When you discover what truly excites you, what truly moves you and gives your life purpose, you can accomplish anything you want and do it with amazing creativity, energy, and enthusiasm. — Barry Heermann
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If they are truly honest, all authors hate marketing. They’d rather write.

Building relationships is the key to marketing. And that’s just a matter of making friends.

Of course, if you write a great book, your marketing is at least half done. Great books create great fans. And great fans sell books.

Remember: 80% of all books are sold by word of mouth. Your job is to get that word of mouth started by writing a great book and then marketing your book every day.

Rely on the relationships you’ve created with other book authors, with readers, with fans, with the people that read your blog, and with any joint venture partners.

If they are truly honest, all authors hate marketing. They’d rather write. Building relationships is the key to marketing. And that’s just a matter of making friends. #writing #writers #authors
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Book Marketing Tip: 80% of all books are sold by word of mouth. Your job is to get that word of mouth started by writing a great book and then marketing your book every day. #writers #authors #books #bookmarketingtip
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If you write a great book, your marketing is at least half done. Great books create great fans. And great fans sell books. #writers #authors #books #bookmarketingtip
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Here is an audio interview I did a number of years ago. In the interview, I shared a few Book Marketing Secrets.

Check out these Book Marketing Secrets from book promotion expert John Kremer.
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In this Book Marketing Success podcast episode, John Kremer outlines the five key things every self-publisher must do to publish and promote his or her books.

Self-publishing a book is a serious endeavor. It shouldn’t be done lightly. Create a great book first. Then market your self-published book like it really matters. Because it does.

Here are the main points from this Book Marketing Success Podcast: Self-Publishing Tips: 5 Keys to Self-Publishing Success.

Self-publishing a book is a serious endeavor. It shouldn’t be done lightly.
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Authors: Market your self-published book like it really matters. Because it does.
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Listen in as Daniel Hall interviews John Kremer on the 5 Way Solution to Establish Your Expertise, Drive Traffic, Up Search Engine Love, and Sell More Books.

Use the 5 Ways Solution to establish yourself as an expert in your keyword topic (and, of course, sell more books!).

Pick a topic to establish your expertise.
Write your 5 Ways solution.
Write a blog post about your 5 Ways solution.
Create a tipographic about your 5 Ways solution.
Create a slide show for that same 5 Ways solution.
Create a video for the 5 Ways solution.
Create an audio or podcast about your 5 Ways solution.

There are even more ways to syndicate your 5 Ways solution so it drives traffic to your website, increases your search engine visibility, builds your email list, and sells more books.

Note: You can come up with 5 Ways Solutions over and over again. Every day or every week or once a month. As much as you want!

Enjoy the rainy photo gif of John Kremer and Daniel Hall!

Here is a recording (audio and video) of my live Book Marketing Q&A session via Facebook Live on Friday, December 30, 2016. I cover some very key book marketing tips while answering questions.

Live Book Marketing Q&A session: key book marketing tips while answering author questions
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