Ghosts of Cherry Street: And the Cumberbatch Oubliette

Currently the Amazon Kindle edition Ghosts of Cherry Street is the #3 Best Seller in Pulp Thrillers, the #6 Best Seller in Hard-Boiled Mystery and the #6 Best Seller in Noir Crime.  The launch campaign for the just released Ghosts of Cherry Street: And the Cumberbatch Oubliette was coordinated by Bookstand Promotions.

Ghosts of Cherry Street: And the Cumberbatch Oubliette is a suspense thriller involving a chamber of incarceration and torture and a fiendish secret by a cunning serial killer.

As the story begins, retired Chicago detective Jack Handler and family are getting ready to embark on spring vacation on the island with the boys and three friends. Before the fun begins, Jack assigns the kids a research project at the local library involving a case he’s following. By the time the kids discover too many facts for their own good, it’s way too late for fun.

When one of their own is kidnapped, there’s no telling what will happen in this fast-paced thriller. If they are to rescue their loved-one from the clutches of the Cumberbatch Oubliette, not only must they outsmart a cunning serial killer, they have only hours to do so.

The Amazon Kindle Edition of Ghosts of Cherry Street can be purchased here.

The Paperback Edition of Ghosts of Cherry Street can be purchased here.

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Here are the benefits of doing a FREE Book Launch Promotion on Kindle:

1. It gets you noticed.

The challenge today for authors is not getting published (which is relatively easy) but getting noticed.   A FREE promotion of your Kindle is an inexpensive way to get lots of downloads on your book and getting lots of people reading your story.

2. It gets you reviews.

Kindle readers of your book will get a pop-up page from Amazon at the end of your Kindle book asking them to rate the book.  If your free readers like your book they will give your book a review.   Getting reviews is critical is distinguishing your book from the millions of other books on Amazon.

3. It helps your Amazon rankings and search results.

Free Downloads of a book will count as paid sales once your book reverts to its regular paid status.  This boosts your book rank within your books categories which makes it easier for new readers to find your book.

Additionally, Amazon search results are based on an algorithm that gives a lot of weight to sales (free downloads or paid sales).  So if a customer searches for a topic related to your book and your book has had a lot of downloads, your book will show up higher in the search results than books on the same topic with fewer downloads.

4. It gets you post-promotion Kindle sales as well as hard copy sales.

Generally, you will see paid Kindle sales jump after a FREE promotion.  This is because readers who like your book will recommend it to friends and associates; the additional Amazon reviews for your book will convert online browsers of your book to buyers of your book, and; your book will come up higher in your assigned book categories and Amazon search results increasing the ability of people to find your book

Because a FREE Kindle promotion increases the visibility of your title it often also increases the sales of your hard copy editions (i.e. paperback and/or hardcover).

Voyage Media has developed, sold, produced and/or distributed over 2000 entertainment projects for self and unpublished authors, emerging screenwriters and power-house production companies and studios such as Jerry Bruckheimer Television, Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate, and many others.

Voyage Testimonials and Success Stories

I’ve produced a television show for 25 years, so I know how to produce television, but I had no idea how to transform a book into a movie. If you’re looking to have your book adapted by a producer, you have to present your project in a way that works for producers. Voyage reviewed my book, came up with a log line, a really good treatment, and then we did a lookbook. The lookbook is absolutely phenomenal. I’m blown away at the work Voyage has done. The pictures tell a thousand words, and the copy enhances the whole concept. It basically condenses ten years of my life and a 400-page book into 7 pages of pictures and copy that anybody can look at and in 2-3 minutes know if this is a project they want to invest in. Producers and the people that pull the trigger are busy and have very little time for details. They want to see it in their minds and know its a good movie, and Voyage has done that. Voyage has put my book into a format that I can present to anyone at anytime, and they’ll know in a couple of minutes if this is a project they want. And that’s the key to selling it.

Michael Fowlkes

Television Producer

Author, Perfect Bait

MICHAEL VIDEO TESTIMONIAL: https://vimeo.com/87051534

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“If you have any interest in getting your book made into a movie or tv series, Voyage can help. You’re not going to be able to mail books to producers on your own and expect to get any kind of return. They get a lot of that stuff, and it probably goes in the trash. But Voyage can help market to these people in a way you can’t do on your own. Voyage helped get my book optioned so that it can potentially be made into a movie. I wouldn’t have gotten this far on my own. The process of working with Voyage was well worth it, and I will certainly go back to Voyage with anything I write in the future.

Fred Eason

Author,  500 Miles to Nowhere

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“Voyage’s services are valuable, especially for people who are working outside of the Hollywood system who have something that has the potential to go big but can’t quite break in.“

Nick Rosen

Producer & Director, VALLEY UPRISING

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“Voyage has been around the pond, they know people, and they have networks and connections. If you want to make it as a professional in this business, then these are the guys who can help you get there.“

SusannahFarrow

Writer and Producer

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“Voyage gets projects DONE. Their actions speak much louder than the words of other, so-called industry insiders. I trust them to efficiently and effectively guide me on my journey toward becoming a professional.“

Ken White

Writer and Producer

The first step in promoting your book is to develop a marketing plan to sell your book. If you don’t know where you are going, no road will take you there. If you want to sell books, you need to know where you are going; you need to have a plan on how you are going to sell your book.

To develop a basic marketing plan to sell your book, you need to ask yourself four basic questions:

1. Who is my most probable customer for this book?

2. Why should my most probable customer want to buy my book?

3. What do I have to say to my most probable customer to make them want to buy my book?

4. How do I reach my most probable customer?

Answering these questions will help you think like a marketer and will lay the groundwork for implementing your marketing strategies after your book is published. More importantly, answering these questions will help you better plan your book subject matter, your book title and your book description so that when the book is published you can sell it.

Let’s examine each of these fundamental marketing questions.

1. Who is my most probable customer for this book?

You need to identify the most probable customer for your book. You need to do this so you can then target these people in your marketing and promotional efforts. While it may be tempting to believe that the whole world will want your book, from a marketing perspective you need to focus on the people who will most likely actually buy your book. You need to identify the demographics (that is, the objective facts) about your most probable customer. These demographics need to include at least some of the following information:

• Age
• Occupation
• Employment Status
• Income
• Location
• Gender
• Education
• Race/Ethnicity
• Marital Status
• Family Status
• Religion

Once you have this information, you are ready to answer the second marketing question:

2. Why should my most probable customer want to buy my book?

Now you want to get into the head of your most probable customer. What motivates them? When they buy your book, what are they expecting to get out of it? Are they seeking information? If so, what kind of information? Are they seeking excitement? If so, what kind of excitement? Are they seeking escape? If so, how? You are attempting here to understand the emotional psychology, or the psychographic profile, of your most probable reader.

Your answer to this question should be no more than one or two sentences long. Answering it will help you to answer the third question:

3. What do I have to say to my most probable customer to make them want to buy my book?

Your focus here is to determine what you need to say to your customer with:

• Your Book Content: Does the content you are writing appeal to your most probable customer or are you trying to cover too much? Your book content should be focused on what your most probable customer wants. If your most probable customer wants paranormal romance, don’t give them French history. If they want to know how to white water river raft, don’t tell them about your personal struggles with alcoholism. Stay focused on what your customer wants. Many authors make the mistake of trying to say too much because it means something to them. Don’t focus on what you want to say, focus on what your most probable customer want to hear.

• Your Book Title: Your Title needs to appeal to your most probable customer. Ideally, your title should reflect what your most probable customer will use as Search Terms on Amazon and Google since that is the way most books are found today.

• Your Book Description: Your Book Description will, typically, go on the back of your book as well as appear on the websites of online retail stores across the country. It is this description that people will read first in deciding to buy your book. Thus, it needs to be complete and to appeal to your most probable customer. As with the title, your Book Description should include Search Terms that your most probable customer will use to find your book.

• Your Book Cover: While we have always been taught that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, the reality is that books are constantly being judged by their covers. As a result, you need to be sure that your cover strongly appeals to your most probable customer. Your book cover will be seen by anyone looking for your book, and so it needs to be compelling to your most probable customer.

• Reviews: It is great if you can get an advance review for your book before it is actually published. This review will be based upon your unpublished manuscript, and the review should be written by someone whom your probable customer looks up to. Once the book is published, of course, you should still seek reviews using the review copies of the book that come with your Book Publishing Package; but advance reviews will be very helpful in marketing your book right out the gate.

4. How do I reach my most probable customer?

After you have produced a book that appeals to your most probable customer, produced a title, book description and book cover compelling to your most probable customer, and obtained advance reviews, you need to make a list containing ways that you can reach your most probable customer. That is, you need to make a list of the websites they visit, the search terms they use, the book categories they browse, the magazines they read, the events they attend, the stores they go to, and the programs they watch and listen to. The demographic profile you produced with Question 1 and the psychographic profile with Question 2 will help you in compiling this list.

Here are some channels for you to consider in reaching your most probable customer:

A. Amazon Categories: What categories of books does your most probable customer look in? This is where you want your book to be posted in Amazon. For most authors the more specific the category the more likely your book is to be noticed (i.e. it is better to be listed under Historical French Romances than Romance).

B. Websites and Blogs: We recommend that you make a list of the top five websites and top five blogs or social networking sites that your most probable customer visits regularly. For each site, you should identify how that site might be able to help you. That is, you need to identify if the site does book reviews, allows article submissions, allows advertising, etc.

Google Search is your best tool for finding websites related to your book’s topic.

C. Facebook and Twitter: We recommend that you find friends on these two very popular social media sites who are interested in the topic of your book. You can search for groups and individuals within these social media sites who have interests related to your book’s topic.

D. Stores: We recommend that you compile a list of the top five brick-and-mortar stores that your most probable customer visits regularly. These can include local bookstores, local gift shops, and specialty stores. They can also include other businesses and community organizations that your target audience regularly frequents, such as gyms, churches, schools, and doctors’ offices.

E. Special Events: Make a list of the special events that your most probable customer is likely to attend. These can include trade shows, conferences, and speaking engagements.

F. Targeted Lists: Identify any lists of postal mailing addresses and/or e-mail addresses targeted to your most probable customer, which you can use to reach them.

G. Print Media: Make a list of the print magazines and newspapers that your most probable customer reads. For marketing purposes, the more targeted the media, the better. In other words, if you’ve written a mystery novel it is usually better to get a book review or place an ad in a mystery magazine than in the local metro paper.

You may want to consult Writers Market, a book released annually by Writers Digest magazine, which lists numerous book and magazine publishers, or www.writersmarket.com, for a list and description of all the specialized magazines that may be of interest to your target market.

H. Broadcast Media: Make a list of your most probable customer’s favorite radio and TV programs. As with print media, the more targeted the media, the better.

Armed with the answers to these four marketing questions, and with your lists of possible channels through which you can reach your target audience you have the foundation with which to build a powerful marketing plan to sell your book.

Bookstand Publishing’s unique Customer Review Service is a very efficient tool for getting book reviews about your book posted on Amazon and elsewhere.

Here is how it works:

1.  First we identify Amazon reviewers who have written reviews for books similar to yours.

We have a program that finds these reviewers based on the books and topics we identify (for example, if your book is about white water river rafting we find Amazon reviewers who have written reviews for other books about river rafting).  We will find at least 50 reviewers with email addresses and often we find more.

2.  We will send you an excel spreadsheet with the reviewer names.

This spreadsheet will include the Amazon reviewer names, email addresses, the book they reviewed, a link to their review and any website or blog that the reviewer hosts (a lot of the frequent Amazon reviewers have websites or blogs where they talk about their favorite subjects.). You get to review this list before we sent to it to be sure you are comfortable with the books and reviewers we have identified.

3.  We develop an email to send to the reviewers.  

We will send out the email on your behalf but your email will be the reply email.  The email will be addressed to each reviewer by name.  The email will say that you would like to submit your book to them for their review.  You get to review this email and approve this email before we send it, of course. Here is a sample email:

Sample Email

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Subject: Review Copy of Blue Moon

Hi Mary,

My name is George Smart and I would like to submit my recent book, “Blue Moon” for your review.

In “Blue Moon,” New York in the turbulent 1960s and 70s are the backdrop of Al’s journey through love, war, Mafia, and street gangs.

He and his friends get strong and fight back. Al and Marina fall madly in love. But her Mafia family interferes with the fulfillment of their tormented relationship. Al finds solace in music but still longs to be re-united with Marina.

Author: George Smart

ISBN: 978-1163498XXX

Softcover, 350 pgs

Topic: Fiction/Literary

Availability: The book is available on Amazon.com.

Please let me know if you have any questions. If you wish to review my book, I will be pleased to send you a free copy (I can send you either a paperback copy or a PDF electronic copy).

Best,

George Smart

georgesmart@gmail.com

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4.  Once you approve the list and the email, the email will get sent out to the list.  

We expect about a 10% return (so if we send it to 50 reviewers we expect about 5 to respond saying they want either a paperback or PDF copy of the book.  Typically 90% of the people who request a copy will a review and post it on Amazon (and sometimes on their website or blog as well). Responses will go directly to you and you will need to provide the reviewer with any printed book copies or electronic galleys they request

You need to remember that these people are typically prominent Amazon Reviewers and they are doing you a favor to review your book. You need to respond immediately to their emails, and be professional and courteous and thank them even if they respond saying they don’t want to review your book at this time.

The Customer Review Service is a great tool for getting book reviews and is available under Publicity Services on our Marketing Services Order Form.  You can also call Andy at 408-722-8746 to discuss.

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Customer Review Service $350

With our Customer Review Service we will solicit reviews for your book from relevant Amazon Reviewers. Normally we expect 3 or more reviews on Amazon as a result.

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By Cynthia Shannon,  Goodreads Author Marketing Coordinator

“Go where the readers are” is the standard advice for authors contemplating how to best market their books. With more than 30 million members, Goodreads is the world’s largest community of readers. Even better, Goodreads’ mission is to help readers find and share books they love. For authors, it provides a platform to   Continue Reading

Source: www.smithpublicity.com

“With more than 30 million members, Goodreads is the world’s largest community of readers.”  Every self-published author interested in marketing their book should have an account on Goodreads.

Soliciting Book Reviews from Consumers

(1)    Start by doing some research on who is reviewing titles similar to yours.  Dig out your book proposal for the competitive works, and look them up on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  Cross-reference the usernames with social media platforms.   Then, either reach out to them on social media or try to dig a little further to uncover their email address.

(2)    Reach out to book reviewers through Good Reads.  Work on building your network, so, when the time comes, you already have a list of reviewers to reach out to, rather than scrambling to put the list together after your book has already been published.

(3)    People who have signed up for your newsletter or who follow you on social media—especially those who have mentioned you positively on their networks—already like your book.  Reach out to them and ask them if they would be willing to write a review.  They’re already fans, so do something nice for them, like offering to send them a signed copy.

Soliciting Book Reviews from the Media

(1)    Enlist the help of a book publicist or your publisher to help you craft media releases about your book, whether you are pitching them story ideas or sending them a press release, offering them a review copy.

Please see my article on using media releases to get book reviews: http://selfpublishingmadeeasy.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/how-to-use-press-releases-to-promote-your-book/

(2)    Do some research online, using that same list of competitive works that you used to find Amazon reviewers.  Find out who has reviewed books that are similar to theirs, research their contact information, and send them an email (or a message via social media) asking them if they would like a review copy of your book.

Don’t be discouraged if you invest a great deal of time into finding people to review your book, or you get turned downed or told that your wait for a review will be extremely long.  Book reviewers are overloaded, and their desks are piled high with books that they have been asked to review, whether they do it as a hobby or they work for a traditional publication or blog.

1.  Make A List of the Sites and Blogs of Most Interest to Your Potential Audience

I recommend that authors make a list of the top five targeted websites and top five targeted blogs or social networking sites that your most probable customer visits regularly. For each site, you should identify how that site might be able to help you. That is, you need to identify if the site does book reviews, allows article submissions, allows advertising, etc.

Please keep in mind that these need to be targeted websites, blogs or social networking sites.  The more targeted the better.  For example, if your book is on white water rafting, then you want sites and blogs that talk specifically about white water rafting NOT sites that talk about hobbies, boating, or vacations.  For purposes of this task, Amazon, Facebook and Walmart.com should NOT be on your list as these are not targeted or niche sites. 

Here are some resources that can help you find these targeted sites and blogs:

• http://www.google.com  – You should type in specific “long tail” keywords and take a note of the sites that come up at the top of the search results.  When you search the other sites listed below, take a special note of any sites that also have shown up in the top Google search results.
• http://www.topsite.com/ – This site lets you see the top sites under a variety of topics
• http://www.alexa.com/topsites/category – This site lets you see the most trafficked sites under a variety of topics
• http://www.writersdigestshop.com/writers-market-deluxe-2013 – Writers Digest has been the key tool for identifying the major magazines (both online and offline) by genre and topic area for many years.  Writers Digest is a $29.95 a year subscription
• http://www.magagenie.com. –Find out which newspapers and magazines cover your topic area.
• http://www.google.com/blogsearch – Use this Google site to search for Blogs related to your book topic
• http://www.fsbmedia.com/book_blogger_search.php – This Book Blogger Directory allows you to search for  subject-specific book bloggers
• http://www.convertiv.com/niche-social-networking-sites/ – This is a list of niche social media networking sites

2. Take your list of top 5 websites and do the following:

• • • • Identify how each site makes use of outside content: This may include:
        • Book Reviews
        • Featuring excerpts from books
        • Interviews with experts
        • Blogs with content from outside websites
        • Ads sold on their website
        • Sponsorship of a list of recommended books
      • Offer them the type of content they like to feature.
      • Ask for link backs.
    • 3. Take your list of the top 5 blogs (or targeted social network sites) and do the following:

• Identify what content the blog likes to feature (such as news items, videos, photos, etc.).
• Offer them the type of content they like to feature.
• If they allow comments or trackbacks, write and post meaningful responses on the blog or social network site. Always include your name, website address, and book title in your comment to establish your credibility.

As you develop relationships with these sites, you may want to consider developing joint ventures with them to your mutual benefit. For example, you could help them promote their own products or services, and they could help you sell your book. In this regard, you could create an e-mail campaign in which you provide valuable bonuses that complement your book and which target the same audience that would buy your book. The best bonuses are usually downloads such as ebooks, seminar transcripts, audios, free memberships, telecourses, and dollars-off coupons.

Here are the items you need to have in order to get your self published book inside brick and mortar bookstores:

 1.     The Basics 

No bookstore will put your book on their shelf, unless you have the essential items below.

• ISBN number
• Bowkers Books in Print Registration
• Distribution through the wholesaler Ingram and/or Baker & Taylor
• Print on Demand order fulfillment
• Hardcover or Paperback binding

Most self publishing companies will provide these items to you as a part of their basic services.

2.       Return Program

With a few exceptions, brick and mortar bookstores will not carry your book unless it is “returnable.”  “Returnable” means that bookstores can return any unsold books for a full refund with no penalty or restocking fee.

Most (but not all) self publishing companies provide a Return Program for an additional fee.  Shop for this service carefully, as the fee for this service can vary widely.  (Xlibris, for example, charges $1,299 for this service whereas Bookstand Publishing charges only $299).

3.      Acceptable Bookseller Discount

Bookstores normally want at least 40% + of the retail price of your book to carry the book in their stores.    That is, if your book sells for $10, and someone buys the book in their store, they want at least $4 for themselves and to give the wholesaler (Ingram or Baker and Taylor) the remaining $6.  From the remaining $6, the wholesaler will take a percentage and from the rest your publisher will need to pay for the cost of the book that was printed and sold and pay you a royalty.

If you don’t ask, most self publishing companies will give your book a 35% percent discount through the wholesaler, which is enough to get your book carried by online retailers (like Amazon and Barnesandnoble.com) but not enough to get your book carried on bookstore shelves.  You should work with your self publishing company to establish a discount that will make your book attractive to bookstores.  This may involve being sure the price of your book is high enough so that an acceptable discount may be given to the wholesaler and bookstore.

4.       Bookstore Marketing Plan

Keep in mind that just because your book has the basics, is returnable, and has an acceptable discount, does not mean that bookstores will automatically stock your book on their shelves.  It only means that you now offer terms to the bookstores that are similar to what traditional publishing companies offer them.  You still have to sell them on carrying your book.

Here are several ways to do this:

a.  Approach your local bookstore and tell them you are a local author
Ask your local bookstore to carry a small quantity of your book that they can promote as written by a local author.  Let them know that your book is carried by Ingram (or Baker and Taylor) and that it is returnable.
b.  Schedule books signings and readings.  
You should approach bookstores and let them know that you would like to do a book signing and what you plan to do to promote the book signing (e.g. advertising, postcard mailing, etc…)
Keep in mind that no matter what the store manager says, he or she does have the authority to order copies of books into the store and to set up book signings.  If he or she is telling you they can’t do it, it is because you haven’t sold them on the idea that your store event will help their store.
 c.  Advertise your book directly to the bookstores.
There are a variety of magazines and e-zines that go to bookstores promoting new books.   Both Ingram and Baker and Taylor have advertising programs that may be appropriate for your book.  Your self publishing company should be able to review these options with you and see which may be appropriate for your book.
d.  Direct sales
Pitching your book directly to the bookstores via in person meetings, phone calls and personal email correspondence can be effective in getting your book carried by bookstores.    (E-mail lists and phone numbers organized by city and state including phone numbers and e-mails for most major bookstores are available through Elaine Wilke’s How to Get Your Store in Bookstores Master Course, available through Bookstand Publishing here.)

Building an author platform takes time.  Ideally, you should build your platform 2 to 3 years before you publish your book.  In reality, however, many self-published authors decide to publish a book as a way to begin to build their platform. That’s OK; just know that if you have published a book and now are starting to build a platform, sales will be slow until your platform grows.

The most common building blocks of a good author platform are:

•  Your blog or website with a regular readership.  See my article on SEO for Authors –Part I and SEO for Authors – Part II
• An active social media presence. See my article on Social Media for Authors
• Guest articles or contributions to successful websites, blogs, periodicals and/or podcasts
• An e-newsletter or email list with a large number of subscribers
• Personal and professional connections
• Public speaking appearances
• Media appearances and interviews—in print, on the radio, on TV, or online. See my article on How To Use Press Releases to Promote Your Book.

The particulars of the author platform will differ from author to author but your goal in building a platform is to create a large fan base of dedicated readers and develop a reputation in an area of expertise or genre.