Sunday 16 June 2013

Great book for self-published authors (Red Hot Internet Publicity)

By Colin Dunbar

I'm kinda finding my feet with this self publishing diary, blogging thing. I certainly hope I'm offering something of value, and maybe even a little interesting. I'd really appreciate any feedback you want to share. In the next post I'll be sharing more on my progress on my own self publishing journey. Please enjoy.

Book review: Red Hot Internet Publicity by Penny C. Sensevieri

I couldn't wait for my copy of Red Hot Internet Publicity to arrive. The day I picked up my parcel at the post office, I wasted no time in ripping open the package.

Book out, I followed the normal routine of fanning the pages and smelling the paper/ink of my new book.

That night I began reading Red Hot Internet Publicity...

The book is divided into five Parts:

Part One: Red Hot Search Engine Optimization
Part Two: Your Website
Part Three: Red Hot Social Media
Part Four: Red Hot Blogging
Part Five: Driving Even More Traffic

As you can see, Red Hot Internet Publicity covers the main elements for doing business on the Web.


In the Foreword (by Joan Stewart), she says: "If marketing online was a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, Penny would be the one you'd want sitting next to you at the kitchen table. She's an author, a business owner, a publicist and a marketing expert who helped create 11 best-sellers in 22 months." And as I absorbed page after page, I never doubted Penny's experience and knowledge with respect to marketing a business online. This author knows her stuff.

If you've been online for some time, and feel you know it all, consider Joan's words: "Red Hot [Internet Publicity} is also a valuable reminder for experts like me who have been doing Internet marketing for 15 years." (my emphasis)

Joan closes off her Foreword with: "If you know the types of people who are ideal buyers for your book or consumers for your business, but you don't know how to use the technology to find them, you're in luck. Red Hot shows you how."

A neat little feature in the book are the Red Hot Tips. Short, valuable snippets of relevant tips, sprinkled throughout the book.

What I got from this book

Although Red Hot Internet Publicity offers a lot of information, it's not a how-to book. To be honest, such a book would be a monstrous volume, so it's not actually a negative.

I found Part Four and Part Five the most valuable. These are the topics I regularly research.

In the Chapter, WORDS ON YOUR WEBSITE, pages 50 to 54 offer very good advice about the text on your website. Very useful.

I bought this book because I read that it was for authors, and even though it's not for authors ONLY, I still found tremendous value in the book. Especially pages 56 to 58 (Media Room Tips) is very useful for the self-published author.

With what I just said, if you are a new self-published author (or considering self-publishing), you will find Red Hot Internet Publicity valuable. This is especially true if you're just starting out on the Web.

I certainly am pleased to have this book on my book shelf, and can without a doubt recommend it to anyone wishing to do business on the Web. Penny C. Sensevieri has done a superb job with Red Hot Internet Publicity.


Red Hot Internet Publicity

For my South African visitors, this book is available at kalahari.com

Self Published Books

Do you agree that most self-published ebooks are terrible?  In my experience, there are a lot of self-published ebooks that do look terrible, and difficult to read, but if it's most... The Overwhelming Majority of Self-Published Books are Terrible




4 Lessons for Independent Authors: A Recap of BookExpo America 2013

The following is an extract from this article. A neat article.

2. Write your business plan before you write your book

Many of the successful authors I talked to had similar advice: figure out the business/marketing details first.

Who is your audience? How will you find them?
What will they get from your book?
What will set your book apart from similar titles to make it an essential purchase?
What is the marketing hook?
What is the elevator pitch? Can you summarize your book in 3 sentences while conveying the
depth of its content?
Will it be part of a series?
What is your writing schedule and deadlines? How will you measure your progress?
What are my weaknesses, and how can I get assistance in those areas?
How can I build my platform WHILE I write this book?

By answering these and many more questions, you’ll have a clear vision that will not only guide you through the writing process, but fuel you with enough energy to begin the book in the first place (if you decide it’s worth your time). 4 Lessons for Independent Authors


Price Fixing for Ebooks?


Can prices be fixed for ebooks? Real (paper) books? How can prices be fixed for any literary or creative work? How do you feel about this?

"Amazon created the modern eBook market: Kindle was introduced in 2007. Amazon immediately grabbed over 90% of the market. Kindle proprietary files created a “walled garden” and shut others out. Once they got publishers on board, they started to demand more. Amazon played hardball with publishers and punished them by pulling titles for sale and charging below-cost for best-sellers." It’s an Apple and Amazon World


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Self-Published eBooks Account for 12% of the Entire Digital Market
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Are you a fiction author? This article may be useful...

7 Bestseller Book Marketing Strategies For Fiction Writers

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"Throughout life people will make you mad, disrespect you and treat you bad. Let God deal with the things they do, cause hate in your heart will consume you too." ~ Will Smith
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Mini Survey

Will you help me with a mini survey, please?

If you were buying a how-to book on how to do something on your computer, which format would you prefer?

a. Hard copy (paper book)
b. Kindle ebook
c. ePub (used on Tablet or Smartphone)

Many thanks for your time.

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