We will be submitting our series of children books to iBookstore, done using iBooks Author.
Is there any good web sites (like TouchArcade for iOS games) that allows us to promote our children iBooks? Any good suggestions?
Thanks!
iBooks Author-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.7.2)
prMac provides services for ebook marketing....might be worth a look, as it makes the process much easier than going it on your own. I know they've always been an asset for my marketing needs and returned benefits well beyond the costs.
Independant marketing is the greatest difficulty in publishing. Identify web sites and organizations, create a mail campaign, write and distribute press releases. Good luck. - Fabe
Isn't prMac is about OS X, iOS and Apple Universe stuffs? Thought if we are promoting kids books there should be a web site about eBooks in general?
This "Identify web sites" is what I am asking here... 🙂
If your book is on iTunes and used on iPad, you're in the Apple Universe....that's a pretty big reach, which naturally includes kid's books - they have several hundred channels, already identified (done the work for you), that get your info in front of eyeballs. Isn't that what you want?
Contact them with any specific questions...no cost for that as I recall.
Example:
Any new info on Where to promote the iBooks?
Facebook pages, Blogs, web sites
There is no easy way to do this. Google's Panda release last year has made online marketing very difficult for small publishers. It's what people pay me to do and the first thing I tell them is this:
The following are industry stats and apply to traditional publisher books. Of the 1.2 million titles tracked by Nielson BookScan in 2004, only 25,000 sold more than 5,000 copies.
The average book in America sells about 500 copies. --Publishers Weekly, July 17, 2006
As of 2008, the average U.S. book is now selling less than 250 copies per year and less than 3,000 copies over its lifetime. –BookScan, 2010
We're not looking to be 'average' here. Digital books are far outpacing traditional books in adoption and the iPad and competing products are increasing accessibility to these books.
Expand distribution to Nook, Kindle, Sony, Android, Palm and other digital readers. This is time consuming and requires multiple versions of the same book, but well worth the effort.
Next, define the target market is and creating a marketing plan and strategy to reach and entice them. Then implementing the plan, which will require bringing on a few people to handle the necessary (but mundane) aspects of social media promotion, PR, web deployment.
This is a basic outline I use and tweak for various ebook clients and promotions:
(MONTH 1)
Define Market, Begin Marketing and Social Media Plan (this is a 2 week process)
Format e-books (except enhanced)
Program e-books
Set up accounts with distribution outlets
Upload e-book to distribution outlets
(MONTH 2)
Formalize wireframe for website & schematic. Send bids to developers
Hire direct sales copywriter for pitch pages
Contract social media assistants
Secure web developer and begin website construction
Design Front Cover;
Format and complete proof copies of Paperback
(MONTH 3)
Outline affiliate tools needed
Finalize Marketing and Social Media Plan
Complete website
Beta test website
Create target list of like sites/blogs
Finalize Affiliate program, tools and offer
Deploy affiliate program
(MONTH 4)
Finalize SEO
Begin Online Advertising
Begin formatting enhanced e-book for iBooks
(MONTH 5)
Deploy enhanced e-book
Continue social media marketing
Press Release Campaign
Begin creating the newsletter (6 different in the hopper)
Continue online advertising
Review progress, marketing and social media objectives and results
Deploy first issue of newsletter
The last thing I tell them is that this may happen in 6 months or it may take 3 years. It's about constant diligence and building up the brand, working social media, creating a free version of books to let people get to know you as the author and such. My own children's book Storybook Advent Calendar we extracted the story Thomas & The Christmas Orange as a free story. It's been downloaded over 40,000 time on Kindle and other vendors and is now used in Sunday Schools across the country. You can download the PDF version of this story for free on the book's website: http://www.storybookadvent.com.
Since the enhanced versions of the advent calendar and the interactive caroling book and a new book, Have Yourself a Jazzy Little Christmas...Party just got uploaded to Apple this week, we'll be adding that sales copy, affiliate programs and information to the website Monday and Tuesday of this week. We also cross-promote all the iBooks created books within the appendix of each book and include buy links within the iTunes store.
Hope this helps,
Laura
Laura, that's a great action plan. Do you have a more in-depth description of some of those items you'd be willing to share? For example, what sort of affiliate programs do you target (there are so many!). Newsletters.. how do you utilize this, through what channels? What is a social media "assistant." I'm sorry I just don't follow all the lingo. Thanks!
Where to promote the iBooks?
