Content Marketing Today

Here’s a terrific eNewsletter–and Why It’s So Effective!

Perfectly Targeted Content for its Readers

If you’ve ever written a book or thought seriously about writing a book,you may have some idea of how daunting the process can be. Of course,the writing itself is difficult enough—as my co-author Joe Pulizzi and I have come to learn. One really complicated part, however, is figuring out how to get your book produced and marketed. That’s where BookSurge, an Amazon.com service, enters the picture. Here’s why it’s newsletter is so terrific.

Self publishing a book is becoming much more popular today. Authors are realizing that publishing companies are not inclined to share the wealth–and because all but the most famous authors must do all of their own marketing at their own expense.

When you work with a publishing company, you might hope to get $1-$2 per book at most. In a recent podcast, author Paul Gillin suggested that his successful book, The New Influencers, was essentially a loss leader because he was making so little money from it. He basically saw it as a marketing tool, rather than as a moneymaking proposition.

If you self publish, you can expect to net perhaps $7-$10 per book. It also means that you must operate as a publishing company, handling everything from copyediting to design to printing — and, of course, marketing. For a sliding scale of fees, BookSurge will handle most of those chores. They enable authors to turn their words into a finished publication and have it printed on demand.

The genius of the BookSurge newsletter is its clear understanding of the concerns current and future authors have when it comes to creating a successful book.

The newsletter leads with a great story about how to submit your masterpiece for book awards and literary competitions. That’s stuff that authors absolutely need to know, but would have trouble figuring it out alone. They also include information and links to upcoming awards for which authors can compete.

To the right of the lead story is a quick survey, which asks,

“Which of the following marketing and promotional tools do you think would be the most effective?”

This is a great way of determining the knowledge level and interests of authors who might consider using BookSurge. They obviously want to get to know their prospects and customers much better.

Free Webinar that authors will stand in line to attend

Scrolling down you find a free Web seminar entitled, “Mine Your Own Business: How to Manage Your Product Line.” The webinar is all about managing the marketing of your book to ensure its long-term success. If you’re an author, you , would not miss this webinar.

We all love success stories. BookSurge presents a great one.

Finally, you get to the sort of thing that keeps all authors from giving up — a great success story. Kamilla Reid had written plays but never a book. Inspired by the CV and CBS TV show,’the amazing race,’ she wrote the first of a series of fantasy novels aimed at kids 10 and up. Unlike many writers, she’s also great marketer. She stated, “in addition to an entertaining book, I knew I needed a great website and book trailer, all the things that I thought kids would love.” Her highly interactive website, www.rootkarbunkulus.com, includes video weblogs for ardent fans and a lively Web forum. Read about Kamilla’s fantastical content marketing strategy by clicking here: Can Fantastical Content Marketing Create NY Times Bestseller?

The BookSurge newsletter is terrific, because it really understands its readers — authors who desperately want to have successful books. There is almost nothing in the newsletter about BookSurge itself. Instead it offers guidance, role models, and great links that will inspire its authors to keep on writing and keep on promoting.

I love this newsletter. But then I guess I should. I am one of those authors.