3 Ways to Read More Books

Thousands of new books are published every day.  No one can keep up. Yes, you can take speed-reading courses and other things but even then, the sheer volume of new books makes it impossible. In this article, I want to give three ways that I'm using to add more focused reading into my life. I'm always learning about books. I use these methods to acquire and read books.

1. Learn to Use Your Public Library

It is not practical to purchase every new book. I find many people forget about or don't use their public library. Get a library card then when you see an interesting book, get on your library website and see if that book is available. In my area, I often find the library has acquired the book and I can ask them to hold a copy for me. When I put a “hold” the library sends me an email when the book is available to check out. Also my library sends me an email when my book is about due to be returned (and possibly I can renew if I haven't read it).

Also ask questions to the librarians about using the library or locating a book you can't find, then listen to the answers. These professionals are helpful and knowledgeable about books. Check out the services of your library and begin to use them.

2. Listen to Audio Books in Your Car

My library has an extensive collection of audio books on CD.  Browse the section and select a couple of different titles. Try the book and if it isn't exactly what you wanted, then try another one. I've heard incredible audio books using this method in my car.

In the last few weeks, I've learned to listen to audio books on my car's speaker system that originate on my smartphone. My car has bluetooth so I'm able to continue listening on my car speaker system to the same audio book that I'm hearing on my smartphone. Listening in my car as well as on my phone, helps me move through the audio book even quicker than normal. For example, recently I got on the hold list for Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. I only had 21 days to hear this audio book but using my car and my phone, I finished it in less than a week. The book was fascinating but uses the F-word throughout so use caution if you get it.

3. Learn to Use Hoopla or Overdrive on Your Smartphone

Hoopla or Overdrive are are free services from your library. Download the apps on your smartphone and learn about these opportunities. There is a bit of a learning curve to use them. Throughout my day I have some time at my computer when I'm setting up my social media. I've found I can be listening to an audio book on my phone as I do some of this busywork. In the process, I'm consuming more books. I also listen to the book while I'm exercising.

I've written about this before (follow this link). After I read (or hear) an interesting book, I add a review to Amazon, then paste the same review on Goodreads. And often (not always) I tell my social media connections about the review. This entire process takes only a few minutes but it is my way of supporting and telling others (quickly) about what I'm reading and learning from good books. Every author needs this type of support—and you will build goodwill with other authors—and help the entire community with this simple and consistent action.

I hope you will use these three ways to read more books. If you have other ideas or methods, I'd love to hear it in the comment section. May the days ahead be filled with more reading and learning from time well-spent.

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Four Reasons Book Reviews Make A Difference

Last week I noticed a short video from one of my author friends. She was headed to a bookstore for an event and book signing. As I watched her video, it was news for me the author even had a book. I went over to Amazon, the largest online bookstore on the planet, and typed her name into the search tool. In an instant, I found several new books which had a release date of mid-September (or about two months ago).

Immediately I noticed the incomplete Amazon listing. The page had no book cover, no detailed information about the book and no book reviews. I hope this author had gathered a good crowd at her book signing (which can be lonely experiences). I'm still amazed at the lack of reviews because this person “should” have known the importance of book reviews on Amazon but had zero reviews. It sends out the wrong message when people view the book on Amazon. In this article, I'm going to highlight four reasons book reviews make a difference.  

1. Show Others Are Reading Your Book. When I go to the book page on Amazon and it has no reviews (or only three or four), it makes me wonder if others are buying and reading the book. 

Sometimes there are many reviews on the Amazon page for another reason. For example, Fox News journalist Megyn Kelly recently released her book, Settle for More. I listened to the audio book. Two or three days after the book released, I went to the Amazon page, there were over 200 reviews. Many of the reviews were one or two stars and obviously from people who disliked Kelly and had not read or heard any of her book. Amazon has recently cracked down on these reviews. I reviewed the audio book and posted it on Amazon but my review was not “a verified purchase” since I didn't buy the book on Amazon.  I looked for my Five Star review of Kelly's book and Amazon has removed it—the first time this has happened to me that I know about. With all of the controversy tied to this book, I can see how removing reviews which were not purchased directly on Amazon was a way to thin out the reviews. You can still see my review on Goodreads. I've written over 700 customer reviews on Amazon. In general, reviews on Amazon are proof that your book is being read and bought.

2. Prove You are Promoting Your Book. It's one step to publish your book (traditional or self-published). Every author needs to be promoting your book and if you have reviews (positive and negative but honest), it is proof of your marketing efforts.

3. Encourage Additional Book Sales. Millions of customers are buying books every day on Amazon, Barnes & Noble,Christian Book.com and other websites. Reviews help those customer's buying decisions.

4. Show You Have On-going Readers. Maybe your book has been out for a while. Is it getting new book reviews? If so, these reviews are proof that people continue to gain value from your book. A few weeks ago,Brent Sampson reviewed my Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. While Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams has been out for several years, a new review shows readers the book is continuing to help others.

Reviews make a huge difference and every author needs to be gathering these reviews. How do you get reviews? I have a free teleseminar about getting book reviews (follow the link). Here's some simple yet effective ideas for you:

1. Ask others to review your book. Tim Grahl has terrific insight on this issue in this article. Scroll down to the bottom of this article and you will find a free download. Yes you have to give your first name and email address but it is well-worth this effort. These tools will help you gather reviews for your book.

Whenever a reader emails you with praise for a book, respond to their email with appreciation—and simple request, “Will you cut and paste those words over on Amazon with a Five Star review?” Tell them what you need. Notice how I suggested the star rating—but also send them a short link to the actual page on Amazon. If you make it easy for them to do it, you will be surprised how often people will do it.

2. As you read or listen to books, write reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.  It's a simple way you can support others through writing honest reviews. 

Do you write book reviews and gather reviews for your books? Tell me about your experiences in the comment section. 

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Small Stuff Matters in Communication

As I work in the publishing community, I'm aware that our business is communication. You may be selling books or your writing or widgets, good communication and handling the small stuff will be key to your success or failure.

Last week I finished listening to actor Rob Lowe's book Love Life. I enjoyed the audio book and heard it cover to cover. As my typical practice, I wrote a few sentences of review on Goodreads and Amazon, then I posted on Twitter about my review. I searched Twitter and saw Rob Lowe's twitter feed and included his twitter name with my tweet. I had no expectations of a response since I have zero connection to Lowe. Yet Rob Lowe also values communication and is using some tool to monitor such tweets. He responded (see this link). This simple response from Lowe garnered over 100 likes and a number of retweets (added exposure for him and for me). The entire process did not take time (for me to write and post my review) nor for Lowe to respond. Yet the communication matters and helped validate the values and details that Lowe wrote about in his book.

As someone who has written for numerous magazines and book publishers, I understand the communication challenges. I've sent many emails and query letters and proposals off to editors with no response or a rejection months later. Now as an acqusitions editor, I have the same challenges of everyone (limited time, lots of responsibility, etc.) Yet I'm committed to consistent communication with my authors and literary agents. 

Does that mean I'm perfect? No, every day much is left undone and there are times where I miss something or don't get a response out. It's one of the reasons that the majority of my day is spent returning calls and responding to emails. Your email or returned text doesn't have to be lengthy—but just a few words like “got it” or “perfect” reassures the sender that you got the message and are doing something about it.

I was speaking with an author who told me the reason she had never written (much less submitted) her book because she has a fear of imperfection and criticism from others in her field. While I understand this author's fears and empathized with her reasons. I also encouraged her to move ahead. No matter what I write, there is always something that can be improved—yet I still work hard on the writing, then push it out into the market. Every book gets criticism because we live in a free society and there are many different opinions. Yet this fact doesn't hold me back from continuing to write and move ahead.

How are you handling the “small stuff” and moving forward?

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Are You An Evangelist?

Many people assume an evangelist is an occupation for someone like Billy Graham. I'm using the word in the secondary Webster definition: “Someone who talks about something with great enthusiasm.”  Pause for a moment and consider what topics you face with enthusiasm and are actively telling other people about it.

In recent weeks, I've been an Overdrive evangelist. Using Overdrive on my phone has raised the amount of books I'm consuming—audio books. Overdrive is a free app that I downloaded on my phone and it is tied to your local library. You can check out the audio book from your library for 21 days then download the entire book on your phone. Now that I have the audio on my phone, I can use it anywhere. I listen to the book while I walk on the treadmill. Because of Bluetooth, I listen to the same book in my car—even when I drive a short distance. Recently I've been traveling and I've listened to these audio books in the airport or on the airplane. If I have my phone, then I have access to the audio book.

You can have different library cards on Overdrive. Each library has purchased different books so you can access a different selection. Currently I have three library cards and recently drove into Denver to get a Denver Public Library Card because they have a larger selection of books on Overdrive.

I listen to a great deal of nonfiction—business books, biography, memoir and how-to books. You can see many of these books just checking this location on Goodreads. After I hear a book, I will write a short review and post it on Goodreads and Amazon. This practice doesn't take much time but increases the number of reviews I post because of the increased volume of audio books I've been consuming.
In my conversations at writers' conferences, I've been asking people if they use Overdrive. If they say, “No.” Then I pass along my experience and how they could use it as well. I've become an evangelist for this program.

Passion and enthusiasm is important for every writer. It is your passion that sustains you for the writing and marketing of a book. For example, for many years I've been passionate about teaching writers how to craft a great book proposal or pitch for their book. I've written a book.  I've taught the material at various writers' conferences. I continue to write about book proposals in my Book Proposal Boot Camp column for Southern Writers Magazine. I have a free teleseminar on the topic and also my free book proposal checklist.

My passion for book proposals has been actively passed on to others. Others have recommended my Book Proposals That Sell or my Write a Book Proposal course or other resources. It's been encouraging to see the Amazon reviews for the book and the feedback from other writers who have used my book to locate a literary agent or get a publishing deal.

How is your passion for your writing translating into action? A book? An online course? A teleseminar? A workshop for a conference? The possible ways for you to pass on your enthusiasm are endless.

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