How to Write a Kick-A** Amazon Bio to Sell More Books

By Penny Sansevieri (@bookgal) 

Editor’s note: It’s rare in these articles that I have a guest blogger. I’m including this post from marketing expert Penny Sansevieri because of her detailed insight to one of the largest booksellers, Amazon. I highly recommend her book, The Amazon Author Formula. I use it here with her permission. Penny’s topic is an important one. This week I saw a new book on Amazon from a publishing friend which didn’t include any bio much less one like you are encouraged to write in this article. I encourage you to do more than read this article. Apply the information to your own Amazon books.

Authors often don’t spend enough time crafting their bios. Most of them write up a quick “about me” to satisfy the basic requirements and never give it a second thought. I often see authors treat their bio like a resume. Approaching it this way means you’re likely to bore readers, and worse,  risk making yourself look  not only less interesting, but less interested in your own work and how you’re coming across to readers.

Have I hit a nerve? Good!

Unless you tell me that you know with certainty your bio is helping turn more browsers into buyers, I know for a fact I can help you make it better!

Start with an Outline and All Book Tie-ins

Before you begin, create a list or an outline of everything you’ve done related to the book. This can include life experiences, personal motivations, passion projects, research, past work in a related industry, accreditations, lectures and classes you’ve conducted, other books you’ve written, and awards you’ve won. You may want to include some of these elements, but not all of them. The rest of these bullets will help you determine which to include.

But It’s Not Really About You

Remember that while we start out by focusing on you and your achievements, this bio actually isn’t about you. It’s about your readers and knowing what your prospective audience is looking for, what interests them, what catches their attention, and most importantly, what speaks to their needs.

Let’s take a close look at a bio on Amazon by Mark Shaefer. His bio is keenly focused on his expertise as it relates to the book. Having read Mark’s other books and having seen him speak, I can tell you he probably has a lot more he could have added to this, but he kept it short and relevant to the book.

Write in Third Person

When it comes to writing a bio, never use words like “I” and “me,” because a bio written in the first person can make for an awkward read, especially when you’re listing all your accomplishments. There are other options for getting personal, don’t worry!

Show the Reader Your Expertise Without the Ego

When it comes to the credible portion of the bio you are creating or reworking, this may seem tricky. But remember, this is where the importance of your initial work comes in. How long have you been writing? Did you utilize any special techniques or resources in this book?

Check out Pete Ryan’s bio. He’s a first-time author, but he leads this bio with his background as a journalist, which tells the reader he is an experienced writer. Pete is also a marketing guy and has a successful business in SoCal. You’ll notice he doesn’t even mention it, because it won’t matter to his fiction readers, and Pete knows this.

Add Keyword Strings Particular to Amazon

As we’ve explained earlier, keyword strings matter greatly on Amazon. If you’ve already done your keyword string research, work some into your Amazon bio if you can keep it natural.

Don’t cram your bio full of keywords just for the sake of having them there.

Why does this matter? I’ve talked about how Amazon is a search engine. Like a search engine, Amazon will “spider” or “crawl” your book page for keyword strings, so make sure at least one or two of the ones you’ve found are in your bio, but don’t overdo it because you’ll get dinged by readers for being inauthentic.

Get Personal (If Appropriate)

There’s a time and a place to include personal information in your bio. Obviously, it’s essential to a Memoir of course. For self help, your connection to the topic is crucial. But novelists can also get personal in a creative way because your personality says a lot about your brand.

The key is finding the right balance. For example, if you write paranormal fantasy, the fact that you coach your daughter’s softball team may sound endearing, but it doesn’t fit your genre. On the other hand, if you’ve always had a fascination with mythology and history, and it fuels your stories, that’s great insight into who you are.

Be Funny (If Appropriate)

Be like what you wrote about. That means if your book is funny, then be funny. Check out this bio from Karen Alpert. Her book is I Heart My Little A-Holes: A bunch of holy-crap moments no one ever told you about parenting.

Short Is the New Long

The days of bios that rival the length of your book are gone. Keep it short because, while people do care who wrote the book, they don’t care enough to read paragraphs upon paragraphs about you. Save the long bio for your website, the foundation of your infrastructure, and where readers will go when they want to learn even more about you!

Include a Call to Action & How Readers Can Find You

Do you want your readers to take any action besides buying your book? Are you giving something away on your website? Do you want readers to join your exclusive reader group or your newsletter? Then mention these offers in your bio. Don’t forget to add your website address so they can find you.

Customize It & Change It Up

Your life isn’t static, and your bio shouldn’t be either! Is there something going on in the world that ties into your book? Mention it! You should also modify your bio when you win awards, get more mentions, or get some fab new reviews. For example, “The New York Times calls this book ‘groundbreaking…’” is a review quote you could easily add at the end of your bio for a strong finish. An upcoming release or mention of your other work is also another reason to tweak it a bit.

Find reasons to change up your bio! You can do it as often as you want, and don’t forget the algorithms notice and respond when a book page is updated.

If you’re reading this and you’re with a traditional publisher, you may be thinking, “The publisher won’t let me change my bio!” Trust me, you don’t need your publisher to make changes. Just do it on your Amazon Author Central dashboard and—voilà—done and done.

Your bio should be a fluid extension of your author brand, so update it as part of your monthly book marketing plan. This may seem tedious, but it serves another purpose: it gets your eyes on your entire book page, and once you’re there, hopefully, you will be inspired to cast a critical eye on other parts of the page to make updates that could help drive more sales.

Penny Sansevieri is Founder and CEO Author Marketing Experts, Inc., best-selling author and internationally recognized #bookmarketing and #indieauthor media relations expert. Go to Penny’s website to get more marketing insights at:amarketingexpert.com After studying this article what actions are you going to take with your Amazon bio? Let me know in the comments below. 

New Podcasts 

Several times a week (almost daily), I’m booking new podcasts. Here’s a couple from last week:

Maxwell and Dean Rotbart and I spoke on the Monday Morning Radio - Podcast. Watch W. Terry Whalin: Harnessing the Power of Books for Profit and Influence at: https://bit.ly/40bu9Rc

I enjoyed a LIVE conversation about Publishing Myths with Gillian Whitney on the EasyPeasyBooks Podcast at: https://bit.ly/4amtv8a Watch a video clip at: https://bit.ly/40wVQVM

Sue Pats (@suepats) and I spoke about The Truth About Publishing on the Solopreneurs Nubeginning Podcast at: https://bit.ly/40gBwGW 

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Throughout my many years in publishing, I’ve co-authored over a dozen books and reviewed thousands of submissions (no exaggeration). As a part of the process of working with these authors, I speak with them about their dreams and plans. Many of these authors have  unrealistic expectations about what will happen with their published book. Many aspects of the details of publishing are outside of anything an author can control. I wrote 10 PUBLISHING MYTHS to give authors practical help. You can get decades of insights in 10 PUBLISHING MYTHS for only $10, free shipping and over $200 of bonuses. 

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Since 2004, I have blogged about The Writing Life over 1,700 entries and one of the top 27 content writers. With this simple form, each week you can get my new articles, encouragement and insights at: https://t.co/W6uU64u6aA

A Different Author Strategy

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Some publishing experts estimate 1,000 new books are published every day. This estimate includes the self-published books and it can be overwhelming when you consider the volume of print material which is entering the world. 

How can an author standout, be different and sell books? In this article, I want to give some strategy ideas and action steps. Upfront, I will tell you each of these methods are not quick and easy. They require effort and work to sell books. 

As you read and study the path of other authors, you need to understand success leaves traces. If you study the details of the success of others, you can discover the path for your own success and sales of your book. First, you have to gather some basics. What type of book are you writing? In general the techniques and path for a children’s book will be different from a novel from a nonfiction self-help book. Each of these types will often follow a different strategy and path to sell their books.

Several years ago I interviewed an author friend who self-published a nonfiction book. In the creation process, he created a book which was well-written with an attractive cover. He crafted the back cover copy and made sure there was a publishing logo on the spine and the barcode on the back was perfect. This friend paid attention to the details as he self-published and produced a book which when placed along side any other book would be accepted. Many people self-publish but they slip on these production details. 

This author targeted book sales to libraries. The American Library Association says there are over 123,000 libraries in the United States. He located a list of these libraries with the phone numbers. For several hours every day, he called the libraries, introduced himself and had a brief pitch for his book. He got the librarian interested in his book, got their name and with their consent, mailed a book with an invoice. It took hours of work and the development of a plan and execution of that plan, but he sold thousands of books in this process.  If you want more of the details, I have this interview in the extra products when you purchase my 10 Publishing Myths book. This strategy to sell books worked for this author and you could learn from his success.

I follow the teaching and stories from book marketing expert John Kremer, author of 1001 Ways to MarketYour Book. Recently he made a bold claim encouraging authors to make up to $150,000 before your book is published! The strategy of pre-sales is one every author can learn about and practice.

If you have published or plan to publish a children’s book, then look at the information and actions in this section from John Kremer. As with the other strategies in this article, you can learn and then implement the practices for your books. 

Have you heard of bestselling novelist Terry McMillan who has several movies including Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back. As John Kremer said, “Her first novel was published by a large New York publisher, but they didn’t do much with it. This was in 1987. They sent out press releases. They sent out some review copies. But Terry was a first-time novelist, so media didn’t care. Nothing much happened.” How did Terry turn around this experience? John gives the details in the Rule of 3,000. McMillan handwrote personal letters to 3,000 bookstores. It was a huge commitment of time and energy but it got attention and paid off. Few authors would make this sort of effort but it launched a bestselling novelist. Maybe you want to follow this path for your book.

John wrote some additional details saying, “The response was so great that she ended up doing a 39-city book tour. Her efforts gained her plenty of rave reviews for her book as well as two reprintings in six weeks. That’s a major success for a first-time novelist. Her publisher got behind her once they saw that the book was selling, and it was worth reprinting again and again. The key point to this story is not who Terry sent letters to, but how many letters she sent. It’s a numbers game, and what happens with most authors, even though I’ve told them this story many times, is that they ignore this crucial advice. Write a lot of emails.”

One of my Morgan James Publishing authors published a personal story with a tie to the pro-life issue. She mailed 1,000 copies of her book to Crisis Pregnancy Centers around the United States. The effort was a financial and time investment in her book. One of the keys for her success will be the strategy behind it. Did she offer bulk sales to these places and how is she following up on the mailing? Each of these strategies have different details which are important for them to succeed. 

My encouragement is for you to learn about these different author strategies for selling and marketing your book. Try some of them and see if they work for you. If they work, then do it some more. If not, then press on to another one. There is not one path to success but many paths and as an author you have to select the one for you. If there was a single path, every book would be a bestseller. Instead we know some books have dismal sales and others succeed. 

My encouragement is to try a different author strategy to sell your book and keep doing it over and over until you find success. Is there another strategy that you have used to successfully sell books? Let me know in the comments.

 

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Much of the publishing process is outside of the writer’s control. 10 Publishing Myths helps writers have a realistic perspective and take action. Get 10 Publishing Myths for only $10 +FREE shipping + over $200 of free bonuses.

Steal This Book Marketing Idea

Imitation is one of the greatest forms of flattery. I've been observing different book marketing ideas for years and never seen this idea.  I wanted to write about it and give you the details so you can use it (or improve it and use a variation) with launch your book.

Evan Carmichael is a brilliant entrepreneur and marketer. His first book is called Your One Word. It includes an interesting subtitle which stresses a benefit to the reader: “The Powerful Secret to Creating a Business and Life That Matter.” Notice several actions with this bookmark:

First, he asks, “Did you get your free bonuses?” The answer is “no” and you keep reading. Every author needs to offer some sort of bonus that ties to your book. Then Carmichael explains how to get the bonuses: “Email a picture of you and the book to oneword@evancarmichael.com and we'll send them to you!” He has set up a special email address for receiving these photos.

Many people are using a smartphone so taking a self-photo with the book is easy then emailing it to this address. In this process, Carmichael captures the email addresses of his readers—which is something every author should be doing—and adding to his email list in this process. I'm unsure what he is going to be doing with the photos, but I guess I will learn because I emailed my photo.

Second, he includes a little Amazon logo with five stars (clearly suggesting readers to give him a five star review). Then he asks for the review saying, “If you're enjoying this book it would mean a lot to me if you could review it on Amazon so others can discover it too!” Evan is following a key principle: if you don't ask, you don't get. Also with a color, he emphasized the words “a lot.” Followed with gratitude of “Thank you!” and his signature.

The overall effect is to touch his readers, get an email address and encourage them to write a book review. This little bookmark certainly caught my attention and I suspect will be effective for other readers. Carmichael's book released on December 6, 2016 and as of this writing has 76 Amazon reviews (way more than your typical nonfiction book). It looks like this strategy is effective.


One other key if you use this idea: write an excellent book. Carmichael has a well-crafted book with solid insights, stories and great interior design (use of bold and sub-heads for example). The foundation of every book is exceptional writing. The book is a hardcover business book with an attractive cover design—and published by Tarcher (an imprint of Penguin Random House). The publisher tells me that lots of energy has been poured into the creation of this book with excellent endorsements and broad bookstore distribution. Your One Word is a well-made book.

In my years in publishing, I've never seen such a bookmark but believe many others can replicate this idea with success. It's why I wanted to show it to you.

What do you think about this bookmark and idea? Is it something you could use? Tell me in the comment section.

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The Value of Consistent Book Marketing

From my years in publishing, I find many writers expect to have instant success. While they may not say it verbally, they show this expectation in other ways. It makes sense since we live in a fast-moving, instant message world. One of the ways I see this expectation is in contract negotiations with new authors. In the details of the contract sometimes writers try and narrow the length of the contract to two or three years. I understand their desire but I often end up explaining that books sometimes take several years to take off and reach the public. At Morgan James Publishing, we've had a number of books with modest sales in the beginning, but the author consistently works at marketing and spreading the word about their book. These authors try multiple approaches to reach their audience. Then almost without explanation, their book begins to consistently sell in large numbers—month after month.

It is one of the truths in publishing that consistent regular action is the path to success. Whether it is trying to write a 100,000 word novel or a 60,000 word nonfiction book or a book proposal or sell a magazine article. The process of taking consistent action will eventually pay off.  You will complete the novel. You will finish writing the nonfiction book or book proposal. You will find an editor who wants to publish your magazine article.

Marketing a book is not a sprint but more of a marathon where slow and steady rules the day. Penny Sansevieri is a marketing expert who runs a book marketing company. 5-MINUTE BOOK MARKETING FOR AUTHORS is filled with practical, easy to apply information. Sansevieri gives the straight scoop in the opening page, “With more than 4500 books published every day, unless you’re a big name, you can’t afford to set it and forget it. It’s true that the success of a book doesn’t happen overnight; the biggest constant in the publishing industry is that consistent, regular exposure of your books is the best way to reach your book marketing goals.”

Each chapter of this book is designed to encourage authors to take action. As Sansevieri writes, “You only fail if you fail to try! So dig in with me, and learn some great marketing efforts that you can begin in around five minutes!” (Page 11). There is a wide range of action in this book from Goodreads to Amazon to ebook pricing to website to newsletters to social media (Facebook, twitter and Pinterest). Whether you are a brand new author or an experienced author, you can gain valuable insights from 5-MINUTE BOOK MARKETING FOR AUTHORS.

Author insights are embedded into each chapter. For example, the chapter on how to get the best Amazon reviews begins, “Reviews can really help to drive the sale of a book. In fact, several marketing survey companies have cited that 61% of online purchases were made after reading a review.” (Page 45)

Sansevieri is an author but also works with authors all the time. She designed this book with short chapters and each one concludes with a “5-Minute Marketing Action Item” For example, “Join a Giveaway Group (on Goodreads).  Groups are quick and easy to join. You can see what members are excited about and get them excited about your title. The more you engage with potential fans, especially in your genre, the better!” (page 21)

Why are a variety of actions and strategies included? Sansevieri explains, “It’s important for you to remember that there’s no one marketing strategy that will help attract and retain fans. Instead, marketing is a series of actions and consistent engagement over time that will help you to grow your following and keep them engaged.” (Page 88).

As a long-time member of the publishing community as an author and editor, I learned a great deal from reading 5-MINUTE BOOK MARKETING FOR AUTHORS. I highly recommend every author get this book then start applying it to their own book marketing.

I want to return to where I started this article: consistent, steady action will pay off. Remember the parable of the race between the tortoise and the hare. It was the slow and steady tortoise that beat the hare. From my experience, it is the same in publishing. Too many writers quit too soon and never get their work published or achieve the book sales that they dream about. It is critical to keep going and not give up. 

Have you had this experience ? If so, tell me in the comment section.

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Perfect or Detailed. Mutually Exclusive?

As an acquisitions editor, I see many different types of writers.  For almost eight months, I've been emailing and occasionally speaking with an author who “talks” like she has a terrific book—even more than one book. Despite my encouragement to send the material, this author has never completed her proposal or a sample of her manuscript.  In her view, it still needs more work and isn't ready to send to an editor or agent—despite the multiple requests.  Her perfectionism is keeping her from taking action and moving forward. Know anyone like that in your own life?

In contrast, I often see submissions which are unprofessional and missing elements.  Maybe the proposal doesn't have the word count for the manuscript or the author's contact information including their mailing address (or skype if they are outside of the U.S.). Or when I read the material it has no pattern or cohesion like it was thrown together and sent off to an editor or agent to sort out the details and see if it is a fit to be published.

The balance is some place between these two extremes. You want your submission to be complete and professional.  Many of us in the publishing community have created terrific resources so you can learn what a literary agent or editor expects with a submission. I often refer writers to my free book proposal checklist (use the link).  I want to encourage you to take action on your book or book proposal. What are you doing to keep moving forward?

Do you already have a book and want to sell more copies? Then what actions are you taking to make that happen? Are you reaching out to book reviewers or writing a press release or the dozen other ways to stir book sales? If you want this information, follow the links in my last sentence because each one goes to a free teleseminar that I've created.

From my years in publishing, it is important to take action every day. The details are important but it is also important to constantly be expanding your network of people.  You will never reach the right person by yourself. I encourage you to attend conferences and meet new people. Last Friday and Saturday, I was at the Castle Rock Writers Conference meeting writers and editors.  As I spoke with others, I freely gave out my business cards (yes plural because I have two—my Morgan James Publishing card and my local Colorado business card). 

While giving my own cards was important, I also made a point to ask for a card from each person—or at least wrote down their basic contact information if they didn't have a business card. Why? Because I want to continue to work at expanding my network and connections to others. You can take the same actions.

Here's a reality of the publishing world: you only need one connection. It's like the realtor reminding me when we sell a home, you only need one buyer. For your writing, you are looking for the right agent or the right editor to champion your cause. This connection is out there—but you have to be taking daily action to make this connection.

Our world is full of dreams, joy and hope. Notice the image I included with today's article—a pile of rocks with words on them. Take action today and let me know how I can help you.

3 things you can do today to get amazing book blurbs tomorrow

By Sandra Beckwith

What’s worse than not making the effort to get glowing blurbs for your book before it’s published?

Not planning ahead to make sure that you get them from the most impressive and influential people possible.

While you can completely “cold call” the rock stars of your genre or industry and get cover blurbs that will make your mother proud, you’ll have a greater success rate – and work half as hard at it – if you take a few steps in advance.

Why? Because you’re more likely to get a positive response from someone who knows your name than from someone who has never heard of you.

When it’s time to ask people to write blurbs – those endorsements and testimonials you place on your book’s cover and inside front pages or on your retail sales page – you will be talking to people who “know” you instead of people who think, “Who is this person?”

Maybe you’ve been in this situation yourself before: Two people ask you for a favor. One is someone you’ve heard of and the other is a stranger. If you’re like most, you’re probably quicker to respond favorably to the person you know of than the person you don’t. That’s just human nature.

Take action now

Fortunately, you can take specific actions now so that you’re no stranger to the people you want to endorse your book in a few months. And the good news is that it’s not hard or painful.

Here are three things you can do today that will pay off when you’re ready to make that important request later.

1. Socialize online.

Connect on social media, but make sure that you’re using the right social media networks. 

Going after high-profile foodies or chefs? Look on Pinterest. Are the people who will blurb your book in the business world? Check out LinkedIn. Looking to connect with Millennials? Try Twitter, Instagram, or Tumblr.

Follow them. Retweet or share what they share. Comment on their status updates and blog posts. Use your best judgment about how much of this is enough and how much is “too much.” You don’t want the person to feel like they’re being stalked, but you do want them to learn your name. 

2. Socialize in person.

Is your dream blurber making a presentation near where you live? Attend and introduce yourself before or after. 

Compliment the speaker and presentation in a follow-up e-mail, mentioning something specific that resonated with you.

When author Minda Zetlin attended a conference featuring Tom Peters as a speaker, she was smart enough to introduce herself on site and ask if he’d write a blurb for her book. To her delight, he agreed to do it. 

“It wouldn’t have occurred to me to ask him if I hadn’t seen him speak,” she said.

Attend networking events where you might meet someone who will be an ideal endorser. Register for key conferences, seminars, and trade shows where you will meet the right people while you learn even more about your topic and audience.

3. Ask for introductions.

Do you know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody? Ask for an in-person or virtual introduction. (This is a particularly good approach when you want blurbs from celebrities and other famous people.)

Don’t even think of leveraging the introduction to request a favor immediately, though. Help that person get a sense of who you are and what you do, first. Be generous with your time and information before ever expecting anything in return. You might send that person links to articles you think he might be interested in, or compliment her when you see she’s been quoted by the press. Notice what others do to keep you engaged with them – in a good way – and emulate that.

Add structure now that will pay off later

Do more than connect with these people you think will help you sell more books when they provide an endorsement.

Catalog or document your contacts, too, in an Excel file or a Word grid. Record their name, contact information, why they will be good “blurbers,” and how and when you’re staying in touch with them. You’ll then be able to use that documentation to your advantage later, when you ask them to write an endorsement for your book that will influence the people you know will benefit from your knowledge or story.

What’s holding you back from going after your dream endorsement?

About the author

Sandra Beckwith is an award-winning former publicist who now teaches authors how to publicize, promote, and market their books through her training programs and free “Build Book Buzz” newsletter. Sandra’s new multi-media program, “Blurbs, Endorsements, and Testimonials: How to Get Experts, Authorities, Celebrities, and Others to Endorse Your Book,” takes the guesswork, uncertainty, and mystery out of this important process and shows you how to get the blurbs of your dreams. Use coupon code BLURB before June 27 to save 33% off the already low purchase price.

Get WordPress Help & Much More

Are you frustrated with working with Web people who take too long to build your website?

Would you like to take back control, and run things yourself?

My friend Christina Hills (who teaches non-techie people how to build their websites without a webmaster) just had a great webinar showing how you can (and should) have a life without a webmaster. Yes, even us non-techies can do this.

The feedback on the call was just amazing, she has just decided to do another LIVE webinar.

Don't miss this chance to join Christina, a WordPress expert to learn how!

————- Webinar Info ———————

Event: Fire Your Webmaster & Create Your Site in WordPress
Date: Wednesday February 20th
Time: 3:00pm Eastern /12:00pm Pacific
Duration: 75 -90 minutes
(You can listen by phone or computer)
To get registered for the webinar, go here.

—————————————————-

Christina has taught hundreds of non-techie people how to easily build their websites themselves in the Website Creation Workshop.

You can build virtually any kind of website you want with WordPress.

Here are some examples of the kinds of websites that people can build:

-Coaching/Consulting Websites
-Personal Passion Websites
-General Business Presence Websites
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-Membership Websites
-Hybrid Blog + Static Page Websites
- and Straight up Blogging Websites

This call will have visuals with lots of pictures for you to follow along during the call.

So many entrepreneurs already learned from Christina how to be in charge of their websites. Join the webinar and learn it yourself.