Penguin Guide to Online Marketing

It’s no secret that publishers are doing less and you, the author, are becoming more directly responsible for the success of your book. Budgets are tight (yes, you’ve heard this, I know) and, frankly, marketing dollars don’t always pay off the way we’d like. I’ll have more to say in the next few months about the nuances of self-marketing your book—what works and what makes sense for you. In the meantime, here’s a hugely valuable resource, especially if you’re a beginner. Penguin Group USA produced this marvelous—and free—Author’s Guide to Online Marketing (downloadable PDF) a few years ago, and there's something to learn in every line. Your homework? Figure out how to put it to work for your book—and for you.

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.

Bringing it

I was walking through an airport the other day and saw a huge ad on a window with the headline, “Bring It.”

I love this phrase. We talk all the time about what knowledge, skills and nuances people bring to a discussion. What perspectives, attitude and even prejudices do people have? What do they bring to the table? Which all begs the question, what do you bring?

What do you bring to the table, to the discussion? Am I upbeat? In a good mood? Do I laugh enough? Do my positive contributions offset my uncanny abilities to burn toast and mangle the French language? More importantly, a potential publisher or acquiring editor is looking at what you bring. It isn’t just the author platform or what you know. What do you bring to a relationship? To your work? To your patients? Because it is about you. It’s about what you bring.

What can you contribute every day? What challenges are you up to facing? Can you bring it?

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.

Gathering military nurse stories

While STTI Publishing focuses on professional and scholarly titles, it’s fair to say that our inspirational books for nurses are very popular. So, last year, when someone presented me with a stack of flyers and e-mails submitted by members over the past few years at conferences and via Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), it wasn’t hard to envision what we could do with them. Inspired by an article titled “You’ll know you’re a nurse when ...,” published in RNL in 2005, we had asked members to complete that sentence. Paired with some beautiful photos and smart design work, we ended up with a sharp little gift book that our sales team loves. Which made us wonder what was next.

Partnering with our enthusiastic IT team, we’ve launched militarynursebook.org. Targeted to active duty, retired and reserve military nurses, the website was created specifically to ask these nurses what serving in the military means to them. We’ve asked them to complete the phrase: You’ll know you’re a military nurse when ...

The first few posts are so good, I get goodbumps reading them! We’re working with the top nurses in the U.S. Army, Air Force and Navy to get the word out but need your help, too. Please forward the link, http://www.militarynursebook.org/, to nurses you know who are serving, or have served, and ask them to share their stories with us. The site has the potential to become a community for U.S. military nurses serving around the world. And yes, some stories will be selected for our next book! Look for it in Fall 2010.

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.

Are you linking to your book?

Here’s a tip: When you create a link to your book from your website or blog—you are blogging, right?—make sure you link directly to the book’s page on your publisher’s website instead of Amazon or BN.com. Not that the online superstores aren’t great, but they take a substantial discount on each book they sell. If you link directly to your publisher’s website, customers will most likely pay the same price and get the same delivery schedule, and you will make more money on the royalty.

Are you linking every chance you get? An easy and much-overlooked technique is to add an image of your book cover to your e-mail signature, along with a link to your publisher's website. Ask your editor or marketing contact for help if you need images of the book cover or help with linking.

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.

How important is an author's platform? Critically.

I just finished a chapter in Cindy Saver’s upcoming The Anatomy of Writing for Publication for Nurses (June 2010, STTI) on “platform” for authors. Many don’t understand it, recognize its importance or have a clue how to create it. I know it’s frustrating as an author to be turned away by publishers and others when you come up with projects, and it’s equally frustrating to not know how to set yourself apart.

What is your platform? Your platform is who you are in relation to your topic. How much of an expert are you? If you’re offering your readers a solution to a problem (or giving them a treatise on your topic of choice), your platform is what makes you a reliable source. Do you have special training? Are you an “expert”? Do you have experience other than just “I did it and want to help others do it, too”? Do you have a following? Do you speak? Do you blog? Do you have a website? Do you have readers for a newsletter, or hits on a website or great quotes from well-known people who say, “This person is terrific! Read what they have to say!”

Your platform is your base of credentials. It’s your credibility on a topic. It’s your position in the industry, your company, your topic. It’s any related certifications, degrees, speaking experience, work or involvement. What difference does it make to the success of your book? All the difference in the world!

Can you create a platform for yourself? Of course. But only you can do it—no one else. A publisher can create a great book for you, but they can’t create a market for it out of thin air. If you have no platform, we won’t be able to find a way for your readers to understand why they should pick up “your” book. If readers don’t clearly understand who you are and what your connection is to the topic, they won’t understand your perspective in your book. Lack of significant platform is probably one of the top reasons manuscripts are rejected by any house that’s selective about what they publish.

So how does one create a platform? Become an expert, get certified, take classes, become known and credible in the community based around your topic, create a website, start a blog, speak, volunteer, teach, lecture, travel, network, get to know everyone of importance in the world of your topic and have them know you. If you publish with a traditional house, your publisher is going to want to know who you are within the context of your topic. (If they don’t care, then you have a whole other problem.) Be creative about yourself and where you fit! Have fun and become passionate about your topic. You'll have your platform built before you know it.

(Adapted from a previously published blog posted by the author 20 April 2006.)

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership, published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.

Words from a publisher

I’ve been with the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) for more than a year now and consider myself lucky to be working with such outstanding nurse authors and editors. Paired with the incredible editors at STTI, some of the best tour guides one could ask for have guided me through the new-to-me world of academic and professional publishing.

You see, I have a secret—I come from the “trade.” In the publishing world, “trade books” mean commercial books, the ones you see on tables, shelves, end caps and promo tables at bookstores, such as Border’s and Barnes & Noble. They are the bestsellers, the dogs, the trendy series, the how-tos and the celebrity tell-alls. Publishing books on religion and how to make a low-carb meal differs a bit from helping nurses succeed in their jobs and practice and, frankly, it’s a lot less fun. After 18 months at STTI, I’m not sure I’d ever return to a name-brand book publisher. Why should I when I can be part of so many terrific nurses' lives?

So, why a blog? In meeting many of you at headquarters and STTI events, I’ve discovered two things. First, every conference session on publishing and how to be a journal or book author is packed. Second, even when intimidated by the most experienced author, I find tidbits to help them better produce, market or sell their books. Maybe along the way, I can impart some wisdom to you if you’re a nurse author—or want to be. Feel free to ask questions—my e-mail is under my profile. I’ve been known to have an opinion or two but, hopefully, I can provide an answer or insight or point you in the right direction. With that, welcome!

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership, published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.