Anyone who reads your manuscript or book, even a chapter at a time, is an AER.
You should know the name of each and everyone your AERs along with how to communicate with them.
Is your AER on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ ?
Does your AER have a blog? If so, comment on it. Subscribe to it.
AERs do NOT have to buy your book. However, they must read your work even if it is a chapter at a time.
If you give your manuscript/book to an AER, they should expect to give you some kind of feedback about it. Make this as easy as possible for the AER.
When you receive this feedback, whether it is good, bad, or indifferent, you must be “insanely appreciative” of it.
Your AERs may receive your work a chapter at a time or all at once. Beta Readers make the very best AERs and they require special handling.
Interact with your AERs on FaceBook, Twitter, Google+, blog posts, websites, etc. and, most importantly, in person if possible. Nothing beats face time—not even FaceBook.
Reward your AERs for being evangelical about your work!
Remember, Acquired Early Readers help authors build their networks—online and off.
Next post will be about how to build your AER base and increase your number of AERs along with more on the care and feeding of AERs.
How to go about finding AERs (Acquired Early Readers)?
The Sales Curve of Your Book will Follow the AER Curve.
Conversely, Do Not Confuse Book Sales with AERs.
AERs (Acquired Early Readers) may be:
Beta readers
Other Finalists in writing competitions that you competed in
Critique partners
Book reviewers,
Manuscript evaluators
Writing group members
Friends & family
Those who would take a special interest in your story-line–your niche markets.
How to determine your niche markets?
Is your amateur sleuth a real estate agent, a hospital administrator, or a chef?
Does your protagonist always diet? Does he love wine? Does she knit? Does she travel, research, teach, or strips at a dance club?
After you determine your niche markets, then begin building relationships with the people who are in them. Share advice and tips, ask questions, attend meetings and gatherings. Members of your niche markets are potential AERs.
Next post will be on the Care and Feeding of AERs.
Each week we will go into more detail of the “hows” and “wheres” to acquire more Readers for your books…. stay tuned!
Books sales take off because the author makes them take off.
Treat your new title as a new business product that you want to take off. Taking off requires energy as it does with a plane, starting a car, or launching a business. Lots of energy.
Many authors are adamant that if they write the ‘great novel’ that people will find it, buy it and read it just because it is a great novel.
However, as successful entrepreneurs know, buyers just don’t “discover” your new products. Launching a new product takes strategy, time, and lots of energy. An author with a new title is launching a new product—whether or not the author is traditionally published or self-published.
Traditionally published means that the author has found a venture capitalist, so to speak, to help share the costs of creating a new product—taking a manuscript and then creating a new published book. The author has usually put in the sweat equity of creating the work. The publisher determines if that the work is worth investing into. Self-published authors take on all the costs and risks of creating a published book.
Premise: Each new novel is a new product that needs to be launched.
Even if your work is picked up by a publisher, you still have the primary responsibility of launching your novel (unless you are in the top two percent of all authors).
There are 2 Rules that you must learn to successfully launch a a new book:
Rule #1: You cannot wait for Readers to come to you. You have to go and get them one by one.
You, Author, must be aggressive in “Early Reader Acquisition.” Venture capitalists call this “early user acquisition.” You cannot expect potential Readers to discover your new book just as you would not expect a potential buyer to discover a new product. You must do whatever it takes to get those first Readers.
I hear three reasons why Authors are not going out there and acquiring Readers:
I’m shy. I’m an introvert. I don’t like networking. It takes meeting people one on one. You don’t have to get on stage to build readership.
I’d rather be writing. Who wouldn’t? Pounding the streets hawking your product is hard work.
I don’t have time. What would you think of a business owner who doesn’t make time to get clients or customers?
To succeed (aka get paid) for your writing, you must acquire Readers. Period. There is no other way around it. Acquired Early Readers, or AERs, are an integral piece to your book’s marketing plan.
To find AERs, you must spend at least thirty percent (minimally) of your time marketing your book even as you are writing it. You must prepare for the launching of your your book on a daily, consistent basis. No matter where you are in the publishing process, start acquiring your early readers as soon as possible.
Rule # 2. Cherish your Early Readers. Show them how much you appreciate them. Be over the top.
Be “insanely appreciative,” as Steve Jobs would say, of your Acquired Early Readers. Translated this means that your AERs should have an “insanely great experience” for taking the time to read your new book.
My next post will be about how to find AERs.
NOTE to AUTHORS: I will go into more and more details about this topic in a series of articles over the next several months. Please expect approximately one article a week along with homework assignments.
I am writing this series in response to the many authors who have written well crafted and compelling works, but are not increasing their number of readers or of book sales. Several of these authors have been contracted by legacy publishers. Others by small presses and, yet, many others are self-published. All are true entrepreneurs in this new era of publishing. I hope to pass on sales and marketing techniques that are tried and true in the business arena to authors who are trying to launch their works and their careers. [/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
Ninety percent of all searches on the Internet are performed on Google; 900,000,000 unique visitors per month as of March 13, 2013. That is nine hundred million per month and growing.
If you want your books to be found (or your services, products), you must rank within the first three pages of Google searches. To optimize your SEO ranking, you will need to understand how to obtain all the “Google Goodness” that you can muster and that means you need to be on Google +.
What is Google +
Google + is a Social Media Platform such as FaceBook, Twitter, YouTube.
Google + is the fastest growing social media platform. It has surpassed Twitter and YouTube in percentage of global internet use and is rapidly gaining on FaceBook, which is number 1. (Forbes, Jan. 26, 2013).
As of January 2013, Google + had 343 million users; FaceBook had 693 million users.
Why should you add yet another social media platform to your author platform?
How does Google+ effect you? It directly affects your search engine optimization. If you don’t use it, it will lower your ranking. If you do use it, it will raise it.
Google + usage ranks significantly in Google’s SEO equations for getting your site or information to the top of the Google Search pages food chain. To put this in a different way, Google has the advantage and will have it for the foreseeable future. Google has a successful track record, deep pockets, and creates the technology platform that delivers social media. ‘Nuff said. Google owns the playing field, the game itself, and pays the players.
Google + Social Media Platform has the staying power of Google behind it along with sophisticated technology and ability to interconnect “The Internet of Things” in ways that we can’t even imagine. Google+ is not an experiment. It has top Google priority and that means if you are serious about your SEO ranking, Google + needs to be your top priority social media promotional tool.
Okay, so now you understand a little more about why you shouldn’t dismiss Google+ as the next MySpace or just another social media platform. But what can Google+ do for you?
You can create longer conversations, share more thoughts & info, which in turn helps you build relationships with people who you might not have otherwise met–such as new readers.
And then there are the Google+ Hang-outs for group meetings, live discussions, or demonstrations. Hangouts are great for panel discussions, too. More about that later.
“You just can’t write a good story. I reject good stories all the time. You must write a good story well.”— Cory Skerry, Slush Pile Reader for Tor.com and Shimmer Magazine♦
Imagine hundreds of manuscripts to read; day in and day out. It is your job—your job to select manuscripts worthy of your editors’ time and publisher’s consideration. And finding a great manuscript is how you earn your pay.
However, every time you recommend a manuscript to your editor, you are either destroying your reputation as a Reader or building it as a Discoverer of Talent. Your career’s future in the publishing biz depends on your decision making skills. The clock is ticking. Meanwhile, your slush pile is getting deeper by the hour.
If you ever have the opportunity to hear Cory Skerry present his talk “Slush Pile Readers Secrets Revealed,” do it! He is an engaging speaker who tackles the serious issues that an author’s work will encounter when dealing with the gatekeepers of the publishing industry. But, he does it with aplomb and mirth. I cannot begin to do justice for his Do’s and Don’ts Advice or to his entertaining presentation. Nevertheless, the advice he offers to writers has such merit that I would be amiss if I didn’t try to pass on some of his tips and secrets.
Below are just a few. Skerry reminds us that these tips are for commercial fiction—not literary fiction.
Top reasons for Rejection of Manuscripts are:
Not keeping your promises to readers by the end of the story. Follow Through and Deliver. If there is a smoking gun on the mantle, there must be a reason for it.
It is boring. Authors have a tendency to tell the reader too much information and explain too much. This takes away from discovery and suspense, which makes the story boring.
“Workshop-itis” is what happens when too many authors critique a work. The story loses power, personality and color—too many accommodations and changes will turn your work into a murky mud-brown piece [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][ed.].
Stilted dialog. Read your dialog aloud. Have someone else read your dialog and listen to it. What do your ears tell you?
Beware of the “First Sentence Myth of Slush Pile Readers.” Don’t over polish the first paragraph—it will only make any weak writing appear even less than it is. Write your story consistently throughout.
Just say NO to Bodily Functions. Do not start your book with your protagonist performing bodily functions. No shaving, no brushing teeth, no vomiting, no toilet “duties,” no toenail clipping, — slush pile readers have read it all way too many times. It is not interesting nor is it amusing to them.
Where Am I? Do not start your book with your character having amnesia, or waking up and not knowing where they are, or feeling startled from a dream, etc. All that tells the Slush Reader is that the author doesn’t know where he is in the story.
Slush Readers Pet Peeve: The protagonist is a writer. Boring. Your story will have to be outstanding to overcome this pet peeve of First Readers.
Author Therapy. Slush Readers can tell immediately that the story is really a memoir or a means of the author getting rid of personal demons. Slush pile readers are not therapists. Get that stuff out of your system before you submit your work as commercial fiction. In other words, don’t be so transparent.
Reasons that Manuscripts are Rejected Other than Writing Craft.
The publisher has already purchased a manuscript similar to yours.
Work doesn’t match readership exactly.
Personal reasons that the work doesn’t resonant with the editorial staff.
The work doesn’t line up with the publisher’s scope/market.
Author therapy –again.
Un-examined assumptions about cultural differences.
He reminds us that we cannot control who reads our manuscripts. So, we must keep submitting even if our work is rejected. And he advises writers to resubmit to new works to publishers who have rejected past works.
And finally, Cory Skerry’s Top Secret for getting out of the slush pile is: “Keep getting in it!”
The next article will be about the nitty gritty of writing Cover Letters and Queries as presented by Cory Skerry to Whatcom Writers and Publishers professional organization.
Nine more Take-away Gems from Donald Maass’ PNWA presentation
Think writing tools, not rules.
Emotions are what connect us to the characters of a novel. What engages your heart will engage your reader.
Create interiority. Create an emotional landscape that the characters travel through–your story’s interiority.
Reveal yourself through your fiction by writing from a personal place, a place of passion, a place of experience, a place that matters. Give these emotions and motivations to your characters.
Genre categories have become a palette from which writers may draw from to create unique hybrids. Great fiction will not be bound by conventions.
Surprise your readers. Don’t just write about the emotions that they expect. Think about the strongest emotions that you have experienced and then think about the underlying ones, the subtle ones. Write about those emotions instead of what the reader would expect from the scene/plot. Again, surprize your readers.
Write your stories like they matter, and they will matter. Powerful fiction comes from a very personal place.
Readers read to make sense of the world.Your reader wants some kind of insight into the antagonist. Who looks up to your antagonist? What does he have to gain? To lose? Why must he reach his goals? How much will he lose to meet his goal? What will he gain? Help your reader view life through the villain’s motivations and perspective. Make your antagonist multi-dimensional.
For more writing tips and suggestions by Donald Maass, we suggest you read his guide, Writing the Breakout Novel. http://www.maassagency.com/books.html
Three Predictions for the 21st Century of Publishing as presented by Donald Maass at the PNWA 2012 Conference.
#1 Selling books will be harder, but holding on to readers will be easier—once they discover your book. Take-away: Start the process of how your book will be discovered–the sooner, the better.
#2 Genre Conventions as we know them are dying. We now have genre blending, genre bending, genre trendsetting, genre morphing. Take-away: Do not let conventions dictate your story.
# 3 In the 21st century, there will be novelists who will change the world. Never before has a writer had the opportunity to reach so many readers so quickly. Take-away: This is our century to leave a legacy with our writing. Writing is about talking to human beings one human being at a time.
Are you frustrated with your book’s sales and book buzz?
Chanticleer Book Reviews and Media can help.
How? Book reviews give the author, the publisher and the bookseller something to utilize for developing discourse with readers —and that is the foundation of building audience for your book.
Building Your Author’s Platform, a step by step, multi-prong approach
You have written your book. You have edited, proofed, and formatted it. It is published, but you find yourself asking: Hello! Hello? Is anybody out there? Where are you, Readers?
Four million books have entered the publishing market since 2010. Then add the millions of works that have been published since the Gutenberg press was invented in 1440. (more…)
