Wednesday, March 20, 2019

HOW TO MARKET YOUR BOOK

March 20, 2019

INDIE BOOK CONTEST - 2019 Human Relations Indie Book Awards

2019 Human Relations Indie Book Awards Judging Guidelines
The purpose of the Human Relations Indie Book Awards is to recognize indie authors who have written books with a human relations focus related to various interactions among people in different settings such as work, organizations, school, home, family or in personal lives. This is the fourth year of the Human Relations Indie Book Awards.  We had a diverse group of indie authors for the previous years’ awards that ranged from professional perspectives to indie author’s personal journeys of self-reflection and human relationships. Book entries for the 2019 Human Relations Indie Book Awards should be published between 2012 and 2019 and must be received in print version (no ebooks accepted) and written for an English speaking audience. Books can be self-published, independently published or have a creative or scholarly writing approach from smaller publishing companies or presses where the author had a voice in the publishing process.
Each contest category (depending on the number of entries) will recognize Gold, Silver and Bronze award certificate winners and Honorable Mention (s) may also be given to recognize honorable writing in the area of human relations. All book entries will also be considered for the Director’s Choice awards who exhibit outstanding writing in the area of Human Relations. The number and type of Director’s Choice Awards vary each year according to the type of entries received and the selected Director’s Choice winners will receive the award certificate and a gift card.
Each author should complete a book submission form with two copies of the book and the entry fee for each entry. Do not send more than two books no matter how many categories you enter. Authors may enter more than one book category but will need to mark the additional categories on the book submission form and add the additional entry fee for each category. Entry fees should be paid in check in U.S. dollars or sent with a U.S. postal service money order or American Express money order. No books will be returned after the contest and will be donated to libraries, charities, educational programs or those in need. Entry fees start at $75.00 for the first category ($65.00 for the first category if the entry is postmarked by March 15th, 2019), $55.00 for the second category, $45.00 for the third category and $35.00 for the fourth category.
2019 Human Relations Indie Book Awards final deadline for entry is May 1st, 2019- but earlier entries are encouraged to allow more time for judging the book entries. Winners will be announced in June 2019 when judging is completed.
Judges names will not be posted due to confidentiality. Books will be judged on book content, book organization, book presentation and the human relations message conveyed in the book. Judges decisions are final.
A broad range of book categories will provide authors the opportunity to enter one or more categories that may be related to the book’s human relations content. There are approximately 45 categories that include topics related to human relations issues, memoirs, children’s books with a human relations focus, poetry and the arts human relations books, fiction human relations books and general human relations book categories.
TO ENTER: EMAIL humanrelationsindiebookawards@gmail.com

MARKETING YOUR BOOK IS ESSENTIAL

One of the most difficult things for an author, once his or her book is completed, is to market it. We were born to be writers, not marketers. However, writers must become marketers if they stand a chance to compete with the millions of other books published. The good news is I have discovered a wonderful website, www.absoluteauthor.com and they can be your one stop shop for you with your marketing strategies. As an author, would you sit down to write your novel without the appropriate tools? I think not. Then why market your book without them? You shouldn’t as your marketing strategy will not be effective. I have also written a book that will help you to market your book. My book, How to Launch and Market a Book provides a step-by-step approach and it covers how I launch my books as the #1 New Release on  Amazon. This is one book you must have as your resource.

Here is what you need to effectively market your book.

  1. A One Sheet – A one sheet is a single document which highlights your book that you should have available to give to book reviewers, newspapers, magazines, bookstores etc. Your business card isn’t effective as it does not have the information needed. 
  2. A Flip Book Trailer – A flip book trailer is a twenty to thirty-second video that highlights the elements in your book. They are important as they give readers a chance to look inside your book for the format and style and it is the perfect opportunity to showcase what other readers think about your book.
  3. A Book Trailer – long are the days where someone is going to pick up your book because of the front cover. Yes, that is important. However, readers want to be drawn into your book visually and a book trailer is the perfect means to accomplish this. Think of your book trailer as if it were a film. 


Here is a different kind of book trailer for One Step at a Time by Liz Ashe Havrilla. It is longer in length and made especially for her book by our production team.


4. Author Website – this is a must. Luckily for you, here at Absolute Author, when we publish your free author interview, we put you on a subpage. It’s like having your own webpage. With that said, if you have your own website, be sure to backlink this page to it. It will increase views. Although the author interview is free, there is a minimal charge to host your book’s trailer or flip book trailer. 
5. Book Reviews – Book reviews are a must, and I don’t mean the ones your friends and family write for you on Amazon. Although they are important, having a professional reviewer is key. Why? When you have a professional reviewer read and review your book it carries weight with your readers. Absolute Author has one of the best in the industry. Dr. Carol Michaels worked for more than two decades as a publisher and/or journalist and has written hundreds of reviews. She offers her service at a valuable rate.
6. Press Release – Don’t underestimate the power of a press release. Not only will a press release give your book coverage it will also get your name and your book into listings for web searches. The more press, the better your book sells. One thing we at Absolute Author have discovered is that authors have a difficult time writing press releases. We offer this service at a fraction of a cost. We also offer a one stop where we can submit your press releases too. How? Dr. Carol Michaels has a solid network of reporters and journalists from her two decades of working in the industry. Your homework is already completed. So, this service from Absolute Author is two-fold; e.g., a well-written press release and distribution to at least 300 news sites which includes NBC, ABC, FOX, CNN and more. Other distribution sites charge from $250 up to $1,000 dollars for this service. Here at Absolute Author can do it for a lot less because of our network. 
7. Author Blogging – Yes, blogging is important. Many authors don’t use this resource to promote their own writing because they don’t have the time to maintain a blog. Guess what? You can guest blog on Absolute Author and one of our Absolute Author’s Dr. Melissa Caudle, the author of The Keystroke KillerNever Stop Running and A.D.A.M. also has agreed to allow other Absolute Authors to guest blog on drmelcaudle.blogspot.com.  This is a  perfect answer to your blogging problem. You can be a guest blogger as much or as little as you want. This is a wonderful way to share with your readers and it gives you backlinks as well. So, what are you waiting on? Become a guest blogger and social media influencer today. Contact carol.absoluteauthor@gmail.com or drmelcaudle@gmail.com.
8. Marketing Print Ads – When you publish on Facebook, Twitter or just about anywhere you need print ads that you can post. If you hired a graphic design artist, you could spend thousands of dollars. We at Absolute Author understand your need and offer you fifty print ready prints. Here are a couple of samples below.



For the next four weeks, I am conducting a book giveaway for a chance to win three of the novels by Max Hawthorne in his Kronos Rising series. Subscribe to my blog or leave a comment below. This series comes at the right time as we fly into spring and into the summer.