This class will teach you what you need to know about media training. We’ll also share with you the media mistakes you never want to make.

Media Training Magic takes place August 9, 2010 at 7pm EST at a computer near you!

1. Develop a shtick. Seriously, everyone at Lulu is a character. For instance: 
   • Bob always wears red socks
   • Manny has an extensive elephant collection
   • Jonathan always tucks his t-shirts into his jeans and somehow pulls it off
2. Hoard Pirate’s Booty Cheese Puffs from the break room. None of the other chips will fulfill your craving for cheesy goodness. Trust us. We’ve been there.
3. Don’t drink the coffee labeled “Jet Fuel”- yes, it’s delicious, but you’ll be bouncing in your chair and will not be able to concentrate.
4. Jam out to music and dance at your desk if you wanna.
5. Practice your ping-pong skills. Do wrist / forearm / shoulder exercises. Otherwise, an impromptu game will leave you embarrassed.
6. Read up on all organic foods and start a home garden. Bring your fresh veggies to work and compare them with your friends.
7. Be careful how loud you ask a question. Everyone within earshot will Google it and read the first three entries to you out loud.
8. No matter what anyone tells you, the animals running across the roof are not squirrels. They’re centaurs.
9. Get multiple monitors- two is the absolute minimum. Forget about being taken seriously otherwise.
10. Learn how to control your blush reflex. This will be particularly useful on your first day because people will greet you with cheers and excessive clapping. Dress to impress that day.

Introducing our partner, Wattpad

Read what you like. Share what you write.™

What is Wattpad?
Wattpad is the world’s largest eBook community, and a platform for remarkable writers, just like you, to connect with readers, collaborate with fellow authors, and expand your fan base.

How many authors & readers use Wattpad?
Over 10 million authors and readers visit Wattpad every month, including the active author message board as well as Facebook and Twitter (@wattpad) communities. Through these channels, your stories will be “liked” on Facebook, “tweeted” on Twitter, and voted for on Wattpad.com by the community, expanding your promotional reach.

How can sharing my work with Wattpad help me?

Research
Allowing your stories to be read for free on Wattpad will give you 24/7 access to your reader’s imagination. Your new fans will give you impressions, suggestions, comments and insights into which story lines are resonating, and which characters are most compelling. Trying out a new genre? Ask your new fans for feedback. Think of it as a marketing research focus group just for your project.

Network
Your newest fans will want to give back. They want to be a part of your life, just as your words have become a part of theirs. Authors on Wattpad have found artists to create original artwork for their books, editors offering complimentary services in appreciation for remarkable storytelling, and promoters willing to sing there praises, simply because they’ve become such big fans.

What are authors saying about Wattpad?
“I just wanted to say what a brilliant idea you had with Wattpad. I really love the site! It gives me immediate feedback and the encouragement needed to keep pushing through 100K+ words over long periods of time. I have never had a negative experience with any of the users, and there seems to be a level of respect established all around. It is wonderful!” – Jolyn Palliata, author of Impending Reprisals

How do I get started on Wattpad?

Registration
Signing up for Wattpad is free and takes just a few seconds. Start your Wattpad experience by clicking here.

Featured Story
Wattpad is also looking for new stories from Lulu authors to include in theFeatured Works section. To be considered, simply sign up for a Wattpad account and email contact@wattpad.com.

Marketing on Wattpad
Checkout this great link, dedicated to how best to optimize you Wattpad experience. From blogging to making connection, Wattpad’s got you covered.

A few months back, we announced that we’d be offering FREE Shipping for the entire summer. You may be thinking, “that’s great and all, but my shelves are packed.” Well, if you’ve recently published with Lulu, now is the perfect time to tell your readers. Create a press release and let your fans know they can get your book this summer with FREE shipping. There’s no better time.

If you need help creating your own press release, we’ve got you covered.

In a recent post, I wrote about how treating yourself as a business can positively impact the way you market your DIY book.  While changing your perspective, researching what works with other companies, and coming up with a plan that you can follow through with are all huge steps towards reaching more readers and selling more books – that’s only part of coming up with a successful marketing strategy.

By completing your book, you’ve done something remarkable.  You’ve put so much hard work and energy into, it can be difficult not to be emotionally attached to your work.  But the key now, is to take a step back and start setting realistic expectations to go along with each of above steps. Otherwise, you may become frustrated or disappointed if you don’t think your book is gaining a large enough readership as quickly as you’d like.

Build a Genre, Build a Brand

All successful writers had to start somewhere.  Authors like Stephen King and Dan Brown are continually at the top of The New York Times Bestseller list because after years of work, they have figured out the formula for attracting their readers.  Part of their formula is knowing what their genre is and sticking to it.  In that way, these authors have created a brand for themselves.  Everyone knows you read a Stephen King book if you want to be scared, you read Dan Brown if you want to figure out a mystery.  Obviously, some genres are going to sell better than others based on how reader-friendly they are.  It isn’t realistic to expect a niche-oriented book about nanotechnology to sell as much as a young adult title about sexy vampires, no matter how cutting edge and revolutionary it is.  You must determine what genre you’re trying to fit into and go after the readers that are interested in that genre.  Creating a solid personal brand will greatly help you gain momentum as you build your readership.

Find the Right Audience

Many of the books on Lulu are written with a very specific audience in mind.  And are great because they offer knowledge on topics that can’t be found anywhere else.  In fact, some of our bestsellers are books from these niche genres.  What makes these books bestsellers is that the authors took the time to zero-in on the right audience – the readers that their content matters to.  As much as you want your book to sell millions of copies, you must realize that you’re not writing for everyone – not yet at least.  At first, you’re writing for a very specific and small group of readers – maybe just family, friends, and colleagues. Building a loyal following is something that comes with a lot of time, patience, and research.  You must constantly be in the habit of self-promoting your work.  The good news is that with the internet, it is easier than ever to find your audience and promote your work. For example, if you write a book on photography, start spending time on all of the top photography blogs. Network and become a part of the conversations and prove to those communities that you are a reputable and reliable source of information, then begin to introduce you work.  Be sure to play by the rules too, no one likes a spammer that sends a link of their book out hundreds of time a day.

Publicize with Passion

If a bookstore sells a biology book that is a bestseller, but you have written a biology book that you want them to sell instead, even if you know its better, you’re going to find it pretty hard to convince them to stop selling that bestseller if you can’t stand by your product.  Who else understands the topic of your book better than you, the person that wrote it?  Even if you have an army of publicists, no one can represent and promote your content better than you can. When you’re starting out, your name and your book’s title should always be mentioned in the same sentence. You are the authority and you must show conviction in your work.  Do not expect to sell anything if you’re not willing to put in the effort, time, and energy required to convince readers that your book is the only one they need in their hands.  Your personality and passion play a large role in this, but you should always make sure to list your credentials, experience, or qualifications whenever you’re publicizing your work.  You must also be willing to attend book fairs, trade shows, signings, lectures, and publicity events.  Once you have determined how much time and money you are willing to invest the publicity of your book, you can begin to set realistic expectations for how successful your book will be.  The most important part however, is to always give it your best.

Did you know Lulu has a free marketing tool that allows you to share books with your Facebook friends? Did you know that the entire process could be done in less than a minute? Here’s how…

That’s it! You’re now sharing your book with your entire Facebook network.

Promote your books on Facebook.

Change Your Perspective
The first step to getting a better hold on your marketability is to change your perspective of yourself as a writer, to an entrepreneur starting your own business. You’ve done the writing, but now you have a product to sell. Whenever you take the time to put yourself “out there,” your ultimate goal should be to make a good impression on people so they’ll want to read your work, keep coming back, and recommend your book to others. You’re building your reputation – your own personal brand, and you need people to trust that brand in order to grow a loyal fan base. This is something that takes a lot of time, planning, and strategizing. Any successful business, big or small, starts with a list of goals and then creates a plan to achieve those goals. A successful business also remains flexible and responsive to its customer’s needs and the current trends of the market. You can do this by having backup plans in place for whenever one of your plans doesn’t work or you need to change something on the fly.

Research What Works
Think about successful companies you know of and research the components that made them that way. You’ll find that many businesses share common fundamentals that aid in their success such as mission statements, budgets, and timelines. You can adopt and adjust these to build your own business model and better market your book and your brand. Remember, though, that a business is an investment. All new businesses spend money to move forward and it typically takes about 3-5 years for a startup to become profitable. You must be willing to invest both money and time on your entrepreneurial venture and have a solid plan(s) in place that will allow you to break even until you eventually turn a profit or move large volumes of your book.

Come Up with a Plan and Follow Through
Once you have some clearly defined goals (such as getting your book on a retail shelf, or selling X number of copies, etc.) and a plan(s) (attending X number of book fairs, or creating a Facebook fan page, etc.) the next thing you need to do is come up with a realistic timeline to achieve those goals. I think one of the best practices a new author can do to gain traction on his or her book is to create a timeline that lays those goals and plans out with feasible deadlines associated with each one. I almost never get anything done unless I know it is due soon. Moving towards a goal with a deadline can greatly help to keep you motivated. Otherwise, you might find yourself flying blind and quickly becoming demotivated because you don’t feel like you’ve accomplished anything. It is also crucial to be as realistic with your deadlines as you are with your goals. Don’t expect to hit the New York Times bestseller list overnight, start with selling 50 copies of your book, then 100 and check off when you’ve completed a goal. If done correctly, a timeline with realistically achievable goals can reinforce your sense of accomplishment and will excite you as you continue to reach more readers.

Running a business isn’t easy, but none of this is meant to be scary. It is just meant to make a new author think about his or her approach in the journey to become the next bestseller. Be sure to check back for part 2 of “Setting Realistic Goals” next week when I’ll discuss setting realistic expectations and how your mindset can make all the difference with how far your book goes.

Often, I find myself staring down a blank page with a topic rattling around in my head, clouded by a million other thoughts. I was already laying down the groundwork for the upcoming Script Frenzy challenge and thought this would be a great way to get focused and write like I’ve never written before. And it’s really helped.

The days I haven’t written my daily quota, I struggle. It takes me longer to say what I want and I stumble along the way. It’s harder for me to focus and stay motivated. But the days I’ve tackled this writing exercise I fly through pages. The words flow with ease and I’m less stressed about what shows up on the screen.

One of the things I really love about this site are the graphs. Stats are extracted from your writing and displayed after you meet your daily goal. They show you how you are feeling, what you are concerned about, what your mindset is, and highlight your frequently used words. The 750 Words webapp also times you and tracks how many distractions you’ve had. (You can see a sample of my daily stats on the left.) For me, this feature is invaluable when it comes to dissecting my daily brain dump.

If you’ve been wondering how to take your writing to the next level, I highly recommend you try writing 750 words a day.

Lulu empowers creators with the tools needed for success. Our FREE Lulu University webinars provide you with the knowledge and know-how to get the most out of your work. You can register for the Book Signing Gold class by adding the free service to your shopping cart and checking out.

You will be emailed with instructions on attending this free Lulu University webinar from lulu@amarketingexpert.com a few days prior to the event. Webinars are held at 7pm EST/4pm PST and require computer access.

See you in class!

Many authors came with a sample of their book or had a handout with a little blurb and a photo of themselves. It was interesting to see how different each author’s photo was and how much some stood out in my mind – even after talking with so many people. I realized that many people new to the writing profession might not know how important a good photo of themselves is or how much it can help further their career.

An author should have a good photo on hand because it makes you look more professional. The people at BEA with great photos seemed better composed and more prepared. I understand that many authors have spent so much time working on their book and making it pristine, that when they’re done, the photo can be an after thought. You want to be measured by your skill of the written word and not what you look like. But think about the last time you went to the bookstore. Can you recall picking up a title with a blurry, washed-out photo of the author on the back cover or inside flap? Do you think you’d be as likely to spend your hard-earned cash on a book that had a photo like that on it? In the same way a bad cover can make you second guess the quality of a book, a bad photo can make you rethink the reliability of the author. It helps to think of your book as a business card, and a bad photo is like handing someone a card written in crayon.

A good author photo really helps with marketability. Almost always, when the media wants to highlight an author in a piece, they will ask for a hi-resolution image of the author and book cover. I have heard of instances where some reporters found a book that is perfect for a piece, but have to go with someone else because the photo they receive from the author is not very good and they can’t use it. It pays to have a quality headshot or even just a clear, straight-on picture of yourself in front of a nice background. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, it just shouldn’t be a picture from a bachelor party of the author hanging out on the couch.

For many readers, your photo is their first impression of you and it needs to be a good, memorable one. Your readers are investing time and money into your work and a great photo will give them a glimpse of who you are. Props can tell them a little bit about yourself – I remember reading a Stephen King book when I was 13 that had a picture of him and his dog on it. That was over a decade ago and it still stands out in my mind and gives King an aspect I could relate to. As an author, you are putting yourself and your work out there. Don’t be afraid to let people know who you are. You’ve done the hard part and have your thoughts on the page. Now all you have to do is smile and say “cheese.”