best book of the year – Page 3 – President of Outskirts Press

Best Book of the Year votes – update

Last time I mentioned I would discuss some of our award-winners. First and foremost is the current poll for the Outskirts Press 2010 Best Book of the Year award. The polls are open through the end of this month and then we’ll crown the winner. It’s a close race! As I write this, Frank and Doris are dead-even with 48.43% each. That’s impressive, and speaks directly to each of their respective marketing efforts. Doris started strong out of the gate, capturing in excess of 60% of the votes when the polls first opened on the 15th. In the days that followed, however, Frank launched what appeared to be an effective marketing campaign of his own and brought his total percentage above Doris’ for a few days. Now they’re neck and neck. What would be really interesting would be to ask them what marketing tactics they are pursuing. Hmm… we might do that, at least for the winner once the polls closed. It might shed some valuable information on “platform building” for other writers. Following in the footsteps of successfully published authors is part of what we embrace at Outskirts Press.

Watch the polls and vote for your favorite here (yes, WordPress allows you to share polls across multiple blogs — cool, huh?) For details about the three finalists, visit the Outskirts Press Blog.

blogging

The power of public polls on blogs

As of today, over 250 people have voted for the winner in the Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Award on this poll:

If you haven’t voted yet, now is the time. It has been interesting watching the results change as a result of specific marketing efforts. When the poll first opened on the 15th, it was publicized to our social community and a part of our widely-distributed e-mail newsletter. After that initial salvo, preliminary polling results had Doris in the lead, followed by Frank, and Robert in the #3 position.

Then, a couple of days ago, it seems Frank made some specific marketing efforts to increase his votes. Perhaps he conducted his own email campaign, or perhaps he notified his own circle of friends, family, colleagues, etc. He hasn’t informed us specifically what he has done, but the proof of his efforts is in the pudding of the polls. As of today, when I write this, his book has surpassed Doris’ in the public poll percentages. Congratulations, Frank! An author’s publishing platform is determined largely by marketing prowess. We shall see if Robert and Doris can keep pace with marketing efforts of their own through the rest of April.

By the way, this is a good lesson for marketing books in general. If you make a marketing effort, you will see tangible sales results. Just like the authors of our Top 10 bestselling books in March.

More about polls and their use on blogs in a few hours…

blogging, self publishing, self publishing a book

Vote for the Best Book of the Year 2010

You may have noticed with the previous poll that the very right-hand edge of it was “cut off” by the width dimensions of this blog’s theme. WordPress allows you to set three different poll sizes, and that poll was set to the maximum, which does fit on our Outskirts Press blog, but doesn’t fit in its entirety here.

The next poll, however, fits on both. This is the poll for the Best Book of the Year Award 2010 and its $1,500 Grand Prize. I summarized the finalists in a previous posting here.

Or for more details, you can visit each of these respective blog postings for details about…

Now it’s time to vote. We’re taking votes through the end of April and the winner will be notified in the first week of May. Good luck to them!

self publishing, self publishing a book

How to Win the Best Book of the Year Award

Personally, if I were a finalist for the Best Book of the Year award, where my chances of winning were dependent upon the votes I received from other people, here’s what I would do to try to increase my chances.

5 Ways to Win the Best Book of the Year Award (or, 5 ways to get people to buy your book)

I would make sure my author webpage was pristine, and loaded with content about the benefits of my book.
I would make sure my webpage had a video that visitors could watch. Statistics are telling us that nearly 50% of the time people spend on the Internet they spend watching videos.
I would make sure I had a Facebook Profile/Page and that I was actively pursuing “likes” leading up to the vote. That way, on the day of the vote, I could broadcast a message to all my “fans” about where to go to vote for my book. After all, if nearly 50% of the time is watching videos, the other 50% is probably spent on Facebook. All authors should have a Facebook account.
I would have either an audio excerpt of a section of the book, or, if I wasn’t pleased with the sound of my own voice, an enhanced audio excerpt of a professional reading an excerpt. People are more likely to vote (or buy) if they “like what they hear.”
I would make sure I had some positive reviews (5-star reviews) on Amazon. Some people may buy the book and make their vote based upon receiving and reading the book. That is ideal. But the reality is that most people will make their decision based upon other factors other than the book itself — those other factors might as well be as encouraging and positive as possible.

You may notice that these steps for winning a popularity contest don’t differ all that much from the steps required to sell a book — people make the decision based largely upon the same set of criteria: How much they can learn about the book in advance, and how much they like/respect the author.

It’s hard enough finding success in this world. If you have the power to move many things in your advantage, shouldn’t you?

Best of luck to the finalists. The polls open Friday on our blog and we’ll be accepting votes through the end of the month.

self publishing, self publishing a book

Best Book of the Year Finalists

Here’s more about each finalist to the 2010 Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year award. Find more details on our blog, where we are highlighting each of them on the 11th, 12th, and 13th, of this month.

The Key To Job Success In Any Career, by Frank B. Leibold, Ph.D.

After a distinguished 30 year business career with three multinational corporations and nine jobs-culminating in the position of Group President, Frank B. Leibold, Ph.D., re-tooled himself by returning to school and obtaining his Ph.D. Frank then became a nationally recognized university professor of marketing while founding his own global management consulting company. He and his wife reside in South Carolina and spend time traveling to visit and spoil their nine grand-children- two in Australia.

Psych Consults, by Robert J. Mignone, M.D., F.A.P.A.

For decades, Robert J. Mignone, M.D., F.A.P.A., has helped people bounce back from all kinds of crises. A top-ranked psychiatrist in southwest Florida, Dr. Mignone has been called a gifted and inspirational speaker—in person and on TV. A two-time cancer survivor, Mignone shares his experiences in Ordinary Valor: How Cancer Saved My Life, Not Once, But Twice. He is also the author of Psychiatric Injury: Evaluation and Treatment of Psychiatric Impairment and Damages.

The Beads of Lapis Lazuli, by Doris Kenney Marcotte

Doris Kenney Marcotte has turned decades of studying Minoan civilization into two novels. She has researched at the Athens National Museum, the Heraklion Archeological Museum on Crete, and the British Museum in London, among others. She lives in River House in New Richmond, Ohio, and Hilltop House in Wyoming, Ohio.

Now, between you, me, and the bedpost, I think I already know who is going to win. The votes will be open and public and available for everyone to see the results from April 15th through April 30th… But based upon my experience with Outskirts Press since 2002, and the respective tactics already being put forth by these three diverse authors, my experience points toward a winner. I don’t want to taint the votes by stating my guess here, but we’ll see if I’m right when the final votes are counted on the final day of April.

That perspective and that experience is one of the benefits of publishing with Outskirts Press (or any self-publishing company, actually) — but it’s only valuable if one chooses to listen to it and act upon it. I’m always surprised at the number of authors who don’t listen to any advice or suggestions at all. Yes, it’s your book and yes, we’ll do exactly what you want, but…. part of what you’re paying for is that perspective, that experience, and that expertise. Just sayin’…

And that brings us to the final post of the day, coming up later, where I share the 5 steps to winning the Best Book of the Year Award (or, in other words, the 5 steps to selling a book).

branding, self publishing, self publishing a book

Self publishing book awards

The finalists for the Outskirts Press 2010 Best Book of the Year Awards were announced on our Outskirts Press blog on March 31st.

They are:

The Key To Job Success In Any Career, by Frank B. Leibold, Ph.D.
Psych Consults, by Robert J. Mignone, M.D., F.A.P.A.
The Beads of Lapis Lazuli, by Doris Kenney Marcotte

All three finalists have an equal chance to win the $1,500 Grand Prize and receive the honor of publishing the Best Book of 2010 at Outskirts Press. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow on our Outskirts Press blog at http://blog.outskirtspress.com we are highlighting each author and their respective book, including any multi-media or additional marketing efforts they have put forth, in the way of extra editions (hardbacks, Kindle, Espresso, etc.), book videos, teasers, or audio recordings, etc. A successful book means a sound marketing plan.

Then, on Thursday of this week we will summarize the finalists and encourage members/readers of our social media networks to vote on their selection in an open poll that will start on Friday, April 15th. More on that process later today…

self publishing, self publishing a book

Best Book of the Year Award – Update

I’ve mentioned from time to time in the past that I write quite a few of these blog postings all at once, and then schedule them to appear on my blog on particular days in the future. It’s like my own little time machine. Sometimes it presents a problem, like today. I’m writing this blog posting BEFORE the Colorado Independent Publishers Association EVVY Awards take place on March 19th, but I’m scheduling this posting to appear a week later, on Sunday, March 27th. So, by the time this posting actually runs, we will have already announced the results of the Awards Banquet. But, of course, as I’m writing this, I don’t know who won. All I know are the finalists.

But knowing the finalists is enough to discuss our Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Award. Everyone who chooses to publish with Outskirts Press is automatically eligible to win this award and its $1,500 prize. All the details are on this page of our website. Basically, when the dust settles from the requirements, the Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Award is among one of the EVVY-winning books.

Here are the EVVY Award finalists, which means one of these 8 titles is going to win the Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Award for 2010:

The Rise and Fall of Captain Methane
Queen Vernita Meets Sir HeathyBean the Astronomer
The Beads of Lapis Lazuli
Psych Consults
The Key to Job Success in any Career
Whispers of Joy
Art, Experience and Faith
One Wacky Wasp

I can already tell you that One Wacky Wasp won’t win the Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year award. I wrote that one, and I’m not eligible to win the Best Book of the Year Award.

This is also the first EVVY Banquet in quite a few years that I will not be attending personally. Traveling requirements prevent me from going. Kelly S will be receiving awards on behalf of our authors in my place.

And I’ll write the next posting AFTER the awards are presented so I can discuss the next steps of the Best Book of the Year awards a little more specifically. From among the EVVY winners, Outskirts Press selects three finalists… and more on that in the near future. In the meantime, congratulations to Dorcey Alan Wingo, Dawn Menge/Heath Rhoades, Doris Kenney Marcotte, Robert J. Mignone, Frank B. Leibold, Joy Andreasen, and William Squires, respectively.

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Picking the Best Book of the Year Award winner

From among the three Best Book of the Year finalists – which I blogged about last time – the winner is determined. Here’s the fun part: It’s up to you who wins. Well, more accurately, it’s up to everyone. And it is especially up to the three finalists themselves.

Each finalist will be showcased in our newsletter and throughout our social networks. Then an open vote will take place to determine the ultimate winner of the Best Book of the Year Award and the $1,500 prize. Everyone can vote, and everyone can see how the votes are falling. The authors themselves have a great amount of control over their own destiny since they can call upon their marketing prowess to get friends, family members, and associates and all members of their social network circles on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn to vote. You know, these are the same people authors often contact about buying their books. So, in essence, we have tried to establish an Award that not only rewards a talented writer, but recognizes a talented marketer as well.

We would like to continue to hold this award each year. Only time will tell. Just like any Hollywood executive will tell you, green lighting the sequel always depends upon the success of the first one.

self publishing

The Best Book of the Year Award selection process

When it comes to awards, our authors are already pretty prolific. From the Benjamin Franklin Awards to ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Awards and the Writer’s Digest International Self-Published Book Awards, Outskirts Press is often represented with talented winners and finalists. Since we understand the value of our authors being recognized by these contests, we do our best to encourage them to submit their book(s) for as many awards as they can. Winning an award or being recognized as a finalist is a great reason to send out another press release, initiate another PR Publicist Campaign, create another book video and upload it to YouTube, etc. In fact, being a finalist or winner in a book contest can breathe new life into all book marketing efforts. And it should. Depending upon which source you believe, there are upwards of 500,000 books published every year in America. A statistical handful win awards. That’s the true quality gatekeeper; not the publisher and not the reader.

Our close relationship with the Colorado Independent Publishers Association also means that many of our authors are familiar with the CIPA EVVY Book Awards, which recognizes excellence in independently published books. Each year we officially nominate approximately 5% of our published titles for submission to the EVVY Book Awards. To help us narrow down the manuscripts, only books published with the Diamond and full-color Pearl packages are considered for nomination. It’s also an unwritten rule — there, I just wrote it — that the books should feature a custom cover design and be professionally edited. After all, we want our official EVVY nominated books to shine, and shine they do: Since beginning our participation in the EVVY Awards, Outskirts Press has been the winningest publisher each year among all participating publishers. Each year we win approximately 10-15 EVVY Awards.

So, in other words, we already have an established method for determining the top 1% of the books we publish each year at Outskirts Press — our EVVY Award winners. The Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Award goes a few steps further. From among all the EVVY-winning books Outskirts Press will select three finalists, in much the same manner we determined the winner of our December Best Book Promotion, Irv Sternberg and his book The Persian Project.

From among those finalists, a winner is determined. How? That’s the next blog topic…

self publishing

Outskirts Press Book of the Year Award

This month our self-publishing company Outskirts Press announced our “Book of the Year Award.” The talented author of the winning publication will receive a $1500 credit to his or her Outskirts Press shopping cart. In essence, the author is getting published for free (since none of our packages cost as much as $1,500).

As the self-publishing industry continues to grow, book awards and contests will become more important. After all, it used to be that publishing a book was, in itself, a testament to the book’s quality. Times have changed with technology. Now that POD publishing makes the act of publishing a book so fast, easy, and affordable, readers need another method for determining if a book is worth their time and money. And writers seeking validation need another method for determining if their writing “has what it takes.”

There are those in the self-publishing industry who have said that POD publishing “opens the gates” and allows customers to determine quality rather than the publishers. More democratic certainly, but the problem with that philosophy is that it asks customers to take a leap of faith on the quality of a book, often times sight unseen. Many readers are hesitant to do that, and an otherwise stellar self-published book can have low sales volume as a result.

Book contests and awards help high-quality self-published books stand out from the crowd. With the launch of our own Award, we wanted to present our authors with an exclusive opportunity to state without reservation, “My book is the best book published by my publisher this year.” So our Best Book of the Year Award was born.

The trick to any book award is making the selection process fair, balanced, accurate, and democratic, and I’ll talk about that next time.