As the owner of a company that provides book reviews and operates a book contest, I’ve long been aware that there are many bogus contests and reviewers out there. I’ve also promoted blog tours for authors, and I firmly believe that having your own blog and being a guest on someone else’s blog is a great way to get the word out about your book. But not all blogs and bloggers are created the same, and worse, some are not very honest.Recently, I became aware of a new trend among bloggers to offer giveaways to their readers. Sadly, many of these purported giveaways are scams, or at least, they are not completely honest or providing what they claim they will provide for the book’s author. Following are some examples and guidelines to follow before providing your book to bloggers who are offering giveaways.First, let’s look at the book giveaway process and what may motivate bloggers to offer a regular book giveaway. The bloggers requests authors and often other owners of various products to send them the products so that they can review them. Next, they read the book or use the product and write a review of the product, posting the product information on their blog. They then ask people to submit their names through some electronic form or via email for a random drawing for a giveaway of the product. The product is then mailed to the winner. Sounds simple enough.But it’s actually more complicated than that. The blogger isn’t going to go through all this work without getting something in return. Often, the blogger will post an image of the product with a link to where it can be purchased, such as an online bookstore that not only sells the product but also has a referral program where the blogger receives a commission on all products sold when people click through from the blogger’s site to the seller’s site and buy the product.That is even reasonable and there’s nothing wrong with people being paid for their work. The possibility of unethical and scamming behavior comes, however, in various, sometimes small, but nevertheless serious ways. Before you submit your book to a blogger, here are some things to watch out for:1. FTC Disclosure-It is the law now that anyone who receives a profit when he or she endorses a product must disclose that upfront. A legitimate website will have an FTC disclosure statement on it that the owner is receiving a commission (whether through click-thru or the direct payment by the author or product owner) for promoting the work. That does not mean the blogger is being dishonest in providing a good review of the product. In fact, if the FTC disclosure is there, it’s a good sign the blogger believes in being honest about the product. If the FTC disclosure is not there, don’t participate.2. Product Reviews-Before you send your book to someone to review it, look at the past reviews at the site. A lot of bloggers (and book reviewers) claim that they review books when, in fact, they simply copy the product description as it appears at the author’s or an online bookstore’s website, or they copy the back cover description and post that as a review. That is not a legitimate book review because it does not reflect the blogger’s personal opinion of the book and it’s a good sign the blogger didn’t even bother to read the book to find out whether it deserves to be endorsed. The blogger is simply trying to get as many products featured on the blog as possible so more commission can be earned.3. Multiple Copies-If bloggers request more than two copies of the book, it’s unlikely they want the books for review or giveaway. It’s understandable the blogger might want a book to read and then another to send to the giveaway winner. However, it’s much more sensible for the blogger to request only one copy and then after the giveaway’s winner is named, request that the author personally send the winner an autographed copy. If a blogger requests more than two copies, it’s likely the blogger is collecting inventory to resell-perhaps to a local used bookstore, or perhaps at an online store, thereby making a profit off copies of books he didn’t pay for and that the author thought would be given away.4. Drawing Results-An honest blogger running a book giveaway is going to disclose the names of the winners, although for privacy’s sake, it might just say Amanda W., Syracuse, NY or George T, Salt Lake City, UT. What is suspicious is not giving any indication that there are winners.If you are still unsure whether to submit your book to a blogger’s book giveaway, contact the authors of some of the previous giveaways and ask them whether it helped them or they ever heard from any of the readers. If the blogger is running a legitimate contest and gives the author the email and mailing address of the giveaway winner, you can contact the person and rest assured that your book is going where it should. If the blogger is mailing out the copies himself, you don’t have proof the books are being mailed out. In fact, I’ve heard from some authors who have participated in such giveaways multiple times that they have never received a thank you or any feedback from the people who supposedly received their books. While not receiving feedback is not necessarily a sign of dishonesty, when you do receive feedback it’s a sign that everything is functioning as it should.Will a book giveaway help promote your book and give you publicity? It could if the blog gets a lot of traffic, and if the blogger truly is giving away the books, you may at least find one new fan. The blogger, of course, may tell you how the blog receives tens of thousands of views, and if that’s true, it’s great because then a lot of people will hear about your book, and if they are interested and do not win it in the giveaway, hopefully, they will buy it.If you do get scammed, you’ll only lose out on the costs of the few books you give away, but that said, no one wants to be scammed, so do a little research before you decide to give away your books and you can rest assured that the readers whom you want your books to reach will be the ones benefiting from the book giveaway rather than solely a blogger who is out to make money without ethics.

Its pity that many good books fail miserably, while some “not so great” books become best-sellers.Yet why do many (or most) great books fail to sell? It’s all about marketing.Book sales have increased steadily, but so have the number of books published. Even though book sales have increased, it is less likely that a published book will sell more than a few hundreds copies.On the other hand, some authors make millions with their books. Is that just good luck and a coincidence? Certainly not!As everything on Internet marketing, you must have 3 components:1) Product to sell2) Getting targeted traffic3) Converting that traffic into buyers.That’s it! The best part is: It is simple if you just learn all three parts.I studied hundreds of books and tried to discover why some books became best sellers while other good books failed miserably. What I discovered was a very clear pattern: some authors know how to advertise their books and make them “viral”. Making your book “viral” is really the secret.Thanks to the Internet (and Amazon!) things have changed. A one man company can make a viral book marketing campaign and reach thousands if not millions of people. However, you need to know what to do. Old marketing doesn’t work anymore.Unless you have a lot of spare time and energy, please don’t invest your time to do local book signing events, pursue your family members to buy your book, place an expensive ad to a magazine or try to get a book reviews to local papers. All these work — to some extent although they are really time consuming and out-dated strategies. Your (ROI) return on investment will be low.Few years back, my friend published a book and after few months she was frustrated. In two months she sold 170 copies. She knew that I was on Internet marketing and she called to me for help.I asked her if she did any marketing. She told me “yes”. I asked what she had done. She had done some traditional marketing stuff: She went to book events, printed business cards, approached local newspapers to get reviews written and so forth. She really had spent time and money to market!I thought that I may be able to help her. She took some of my advice and her book sales skyrocketed.So, what did she do after my advice?1) She changed her book name2) She discovered where her readers are on Internet3) She engaged her target audience4) She create viral content which reached thousands of peopleEverything that cost her no money and little effort. Pretty smart, right?Okay, let’s have a look at the first thing: Your book name. Why your book name is important?The Internet is basically a huge search engine. Therefore the first step what you must do is to choose your book’s name very carefully. This is where 95 % of authors fail.Just think about it, if you book name is “Blaah Blaah”, it doesn’t really matter how good your book is. Nobody will be interested by the name of you book and furthermore your book is undiscoverable on search engines (Amazon and Google).You need to do keyword research and choose your keywords (book name) so that it has demand. And what that “demand” means? It means that people use your book name on searches (on Google and Amazon).To choose right name for your book, is as much art as science. Get your book name right and you have done a big part of your book marketing already. You must use 3 criteria to choose your book name:1) You book name (keywords) must have enough monthly searches2) Your book name(keywords) can’t be too competitive3) You book name has to be monetizableImagine if your book name is “Funny Dog Pictures”. It has reasonable amount of searches, but would somebody really buy a book about funny dog pictures? Not really. People who type “Funny Dog Pictures” on search engines are probably just bored and are looking for a good laugh online.Hope that you have success with your book sales. And, you will, if you implement your marketing correctly.

Think outside of the box when it comes to publishing a book, and you’ll be surprised at what a book can do for professional success.At a business meeting or networking function, you want to stand out from the crowd. You want to be edifying and memorable. You want to understand a client’s need, accurately communicate your business services and open the door for future dialogue.Imagine you’ve just had a great conversation with an ideal client, and would like to keep in contact. Like most everyone else in your field, you typically hand over a business card and an exchange of well-wishes. This standard rectangle of cardstock can be underwhelming, if not forgettable. You might even try to write a personal note on the back, just to be memorable, only to watch it get stuffed into a wallet brimming with other calling cards.Now, instead of handing over that business card, imagine handing someone a book. A book you have authored, designed and published, that communicates both your professional knowledge and skill. What has changed?Countless authors have persevered to create titles that have been both personally and economically rewarding. With smart planning and professional vision, the benefits of publishing a book do not stop at the profit from each unit sold. With a little creative thinking, your book can be an all-in-one branding and marketing tool to take your professionalism to the next level. By handing over your authored book in the place of a business card, you’ve already spoke volumes to a client about your industry knowledge, and commitment to good work.A well-focused book will… … establish you as an industry expert. A book is an authoritative source of content. As an author, you become an expert on the subject of your book, even just for the simple fact that you have been published. Immediately, publishing a book shows that you know enough about your field to write a book about it. It’s impressive and legitimizing at the same time. It showcases your industry experience, while providing a real resource to those who read it. Unlike an expendable post on a blog, print publishing suggests that it has been fact-checked, book edited and already assessed for usefulness to readers. Clients subconsciously recognize this, and evaluate authors who have been published as credible experts in their field…. develop the brand of your business. At its most basic level, publishing a book is to realize the manifestation of an idea. When you publish a book, you are presenting your thoughts in way that is both purposeful and self-defining. Choose to write about something you are knowledgeable and passionate about, and your most dynamic writing will follow. This creative process is a productive and mind-expanding practice. How often do you sit down to consider all the ins and outs of your business? A book prompts you to think critically to explain and brand the business you are in. In the course of publishing a book, you will be establishing more about your business, and more about yourself, than you thought possible…. be a valuable marketing tool. Using book publishing to market your industry know-how is a strong and tangible marketing tool. A book is undeniably powerful for the amount of authority, information and professionalism in its pages. A book can increase media exposure from other outlets as well, since you have distinguished yourself as an expert and go-to source on your book’s topic. It can also present opportunities at speaking engagements and media interviews, while adding credibility to your image.I compared the act of handing someone a business card with handing them a book. Undeniably, a well-executed book and the information within its pages will make a very strong impression. Because of this, publishing a book will serve many other purposes besides turning a profit through units sold. Increasingly, professionals are using self-publishing to further their marketing impact.A Sea Hill Press Case Study:A title you can call your own opens many doors and solutions in creative marketing. In some cases, I’ve seen businesses start with a published book-such as one that focused an entrepreneur’s vision in the writing process, and then legitimized his business’ launch.In one book project Sea Hill Press directed, two mothers co-authored a book on premature “preemie” babies. Instead of publishing a book to make profits from unit sales, they enlisted a major diaper company to advertise and sponsor in their book. Their books made it into hospitals and were given to preemie parents, free of cost, as a resource for understanding their child’s unique health issues. The diaper company benefited from the advertising in the book, which the parents came to warmly associate with the health of their child. The two authors, mothers of preemie children, benefited greatly from marketing their names on the byline. They saw a sharp rise in their popularity and recognition of their expertise, which paid off lucrative dividends even though the copies were given away for free. These publishers had effectively made themselves go-to experts in their field through the free distribution of a book.The Bottom Line: Your biggest advantage will be to think outside of the box when it comes to publishing a book. With some creative thinking, you will find that publishing a book can brand, market and expand your professional identity.