Before you begin writing your viral ebook, you need
to know the 5 most common mistakes that can cost you
time and potential income.

1) Never Link Directly to Content You Do Not Control

You should always use redirect links placed on your own
server instead of direct links to affiliate programs.

You never know when the program you are promoting will
change the way its affiliate links work or go out of
business. Using redirect links allows you to quickly
replace the affiliate links with the new version or
redirect to a similar product.

I can not stress enough how important this step is to you.
Once you launch your viral ebook, you can not get it back
to make changes to it. Using redirect links will prevent
dead links and lost profit.

2) Avoid Using Dated Information By Providing Too Specific
Details.

Do not talk about free trials or time specific discounts.

The affiliate program you are promoting my not always be
offering the trials or discounts. You will anger your readers
if they can not get the bargains you promised.

You should also avoid statements like “Just Released” or
“Just Launched!”. The program you are talking about may
have been around for years but the time your reader gets
your ebook.

3) Never Include Information You Do Not Want All Over The World.

Because of the viral nature of your ebook, it will eventually
spread to every corner of the world.

If you include personal information like your home phone
or your cell phone number, you may be unpleasantly
awakened at all hours of the night. The person in England
or Japan, may not be aware you live in United States.

It is best to provide only an email address or autoresponder
for the initial contact.

4) Do Not Brand The Ebook Yourself

Putting yourself in the position of having to manually
brand and send each copy of the ebook is a sure way to
turn your campaign into NIGHTMARE.

You may be thinking, “What’s the BIG DEAL?”

Let imagine for a moment that your ebook starts out slowly
and only 10 people request a branded version the first week.
It takes you about 6 minutes per ebook to brand it and send
it to the user. You have just given up an hour of your life.

Now those 10 people each give it away to 10 people that
also request branded versions. You now have 100 new requests
at 6 minutes each. Now were are talking 60 hours.

As you can see with each passing generation, you will
quickly become unable or unwilling to fulfill requests.

The solution is to give your carriers the ability and
instructions to rebrand the ebooks themselves. This will
take you out of the loop and allow your virus to grow
exponentially unattended.

5) Do Not Forget To Launch A New Window For External Links

When linking to any information not found directly in
your ebook, you should always open a new window. Many
sales processes use javascript that could cause compatibly
problems if viewed within your ebook.

It would be terrible if a viewer where ready to buy a
product based on your reccomendation but was unable to
because you failed to include this simple step.

Avoiding these 5 simple viral ebook marketing mistakes will
greatly increase the profitability of your campaign while
avoiding the pitfalls.

Whether you are a reader or a writer, you’ll find something here that will help you build your writing career, or lead you to a great book.

Book Bonuses - http://www.bookbonuses.com - Have you read a good book lately? If not, this site will definitely encourage you too.

If you’re a writer, you’ll definitely want to contact the site owner about your writing. This site offers a newsletter with over $300 in bonuses just for signing up, and you’ll find out about some of the best titles, and authors, when you read the newsletter.

Author’s Den - http://www.authorsden.com - Although this site requires a membership, it’s free to join. If you want to promote your writing, you can sign up for a premium membership that is an absolute steal. You’ll also get your writing in front of readers who are looking for what you have to offer. Not to be missed.

Dawnstar Books - http://www.dawnstarbooks.com - Want to really learn how to market your books and writing? Then book marketing expert and science fiction writer Anthony Hernandez will show you how.

His no holds barred newsletter is one of the best I have ever read. He will tell you the truth about self publishing, vanity publishing, and a whole lot more. His style is brash, and you’ll want to read every word he has to say.

Book Coaching - http://www.bookcoaching.com - If you write books, author Judy Cullins will show you how to get the most out of your marketing efforts. Her articles are clear and concise, and she can show you how to market just about any kind of book you could imagine. Excellent newsletter with lots of tips, and you can sign up for teleseminars that are reasonably priced to help you today to jumpstart your marketing campaign for your book.

The Wellfed Writer - http://www.wellfedwriter.com - Regardless of what kind of writing you do, fellow Atlantan Peter Bowerman will show you how to market and build the kind of writing career that pays your bills and brings you the satisfaction of saying, “I’m a writer. It’s how I make my living.”

Excellent monthly newsletter. Peter’s advice is sound, and you’ll find lots of good information here.

Amazon.com - http://www.amazon.com - Whether you want to break into the magazine market, or you’re looking for a place to market your books, this is where you should start. This top ranked bookstore offers a lucrative affiliate program you can sell your books through.

You can also search through the selection of over 80,000 magazines to help you find places to market your writing. This site is excellent for helping you find places to market your writing, and it’s probably one that no one thinks to use. You really should.

Cool Stuff 4 Writers - http://www.coolstuff4writers.com - Need a break from writing, or need some great tools to help you run your writing business? Then this is the site for you. You’ll find an excellent collection of forms to help you keep track of all your writing projects, as well as ebooks, books, and lots of other stuff to keep you motivated when you write. Definitely worth a look.

Once the final draft is written, you’re no longer an author. You’re an entrepreneur with a product to sell, and it’s critical that you start thinking that way. Instead of spending your time on editing and proofreading, you’ve got to invest your time in marketing activities. That means finding the answers to three critical questions:

a. Who is your audience?
b. What will compel them to buy your book?
c. What methods should you use to reach them?

At this stage, you need to think about capturing leads, producing sales material, getting testimonials and positive reviews, and arranging publicity events. Your focus should be on all the ways you can create awareness of your book.

The best way to get started in thinking like a businessperson is after your final draft is done but before you go to print, sit down and write out the answers to these questions:

. What is my marketing budget?
. What resources do I have in place already?
. What people do I know who can help me?
. What are my sales goals for the year?

Keep your expectations realistic.

The average self-published book sells only about 3,000 copies, and the average book issued by a publisher sells only a few thousand more. For every bestseller, there are hundreds of books that sell moderately and disappear. So you’ve got to keep your expectations realistic, or you’ll set yourself up to get discouraged and quit trying to market your book.

Rather than worry about the overall number of copies sold, I recommend to people that they set their goals, especially for a first book, like this:

a. Monetary goals. For most authors, selling enough copies to break even is a very worthwhile goal. If you can do that, you’ve done great!
b. Career goals. Your book might give a big boost to your speaking career, medical practice or other endeavor.
c. Publicity goals. Your book could position you as an expert in your field, so that you get invited on radio programs, TV, speaking engagements, etc.
d. Publishing goals. Maybe your book is noticed by a publisher who wants to re-release it, or you are offered a chance to write future books.
e. Networking goals. You meet agents, designers, journalists and others who could be wonderful contacts for the future.

Your expectations for your book should not be centered on copies sold. Instead, focus on developing and executing a brilliant marketing and PR plan, making key contacts, and finding ways to create value for readers, for the media and for organizations who might make big bulk purchases. If you focus on those things, sales will take care of themselves.

Concentrate on meeting all 5 types of goals. That way, even if your sales are only moderate, but you do brilliantly in getting publicity and making contacts, you can consider your book a success.

Have a solid, long-term marketing plan.

Before you ever get close to even finishing your first draft, sit down and map out the basics of your marketing and promotional plan. The key questions you’ll need to answer:

. What is my marketing budget?
. When should my book be ready?
. Who is my audience and what need does this book meet?
. What will my price point be?
. How many copies do I need to sell to break even?
. How many copies do I want to sell?
. What marketing channels will I use to reach my readers?
. What relationships can I leverage to make bulk sales?
. What relationships can I leverage to get press coverage?
. Who will design my Website?
. Do I need a marketing staff?
. Will I do an e-newsletter?
. Will I hire a distributor or ship the books myself?
. Do I want to be in the bookstores?
. Will I do “guerilla” marketing?
. What ancillary products can I produce (tapes, CDs, etc.)
. How can my seminars/consulting/current business support this book?

That’s a lot of material, but it’s all important. Take a couple of months and figure it out. You can also cut some time off your learning curve by learning from others who have done it already.
About the author:

If you’re so tired of hearing about the shrinking publishing market you want to scream, then you really need to leave the comfort of your office and hustle yourself down to a conference. There, you will begin to experience every facet of writing. You’ll even get the opportunity to make an appointment or get “face time” with agents, publishers, publicists, and even a producer or two. But before you send in your registration form, there’s a few things you should know about conferences.

First off, keep in mind that not all conferences are created equal. Some are more advanced than others. Some conferences are for published authors offering them unlimited promotional advice and classes, while other conferences focus only on the craft of writing. Determining what you want to get out of a conference will go a long way to helping you decide which one is right for you.

When selecting a conference, don’t get caught up in the glitz of meeting your favorite author if none of the other speakers seem to suit your project. Face it, if the author you so adore goes on tour, chances are pretty likely he or she will be stopping by your city to do a signing anyway. But agents and publishers are a different story. Unless you make it a habit of “doing lunch” in New York City on a regular basis, the likelihood of an agent coming within pitching distance outside of a writers conference is minimal.

So, let’s say you’ve decided on a conference and have your eyes set on several literary agents or producers you want to make appointments with. Before you schedule times with any of these folks, you’ll want know a little bit about them. For example, nothing will end a meeting faster than sitting down with someone who doesn’t handle your type of work. Doing your research can really benefit you. If you’re meeting with an agent, peruse their web site for a list of current and future projects. If they don’t list their projects, pick up a copy of the Writer’s Digest Guide to Literary Agents which will give you this information as well. If you’re targeting a producer you should be able to get a list of stories they’ve covered off of the show’s archives (also on their web site). If your target is a publicist, their web sites usually indicate the type of projects they manage.

Once you have your appointment, be ready to pitch all of your work. If you have more than one project, be sure you have your “elevator pitch” ready (remember we discussed this in our April 10th issue). You’ll want to keep your pitches quick, succinct and interesting! If the agent/producer or publicist doesn’t look interested, move onto the next item and try to learn from the rejections you do get.

One of the things people don’t often consider at these events is the networking factor. Done correctly, networking can bring about amazing results. You never know who knows someone who knows some who can help you further your project. Or perhaps you’re looking for an editor or illustrator, I can almost guarantee you you’ll find what you need by networking. Writers conferences are not a place to be shy. Walk up to people and start a conversation with them and don’t be afraid to speak to a presenter if you catch them between talks. As a frequent presenter at conferences I can tell you, this is why we are there - to help you, the author. Our sole purpose for attending these events is to share what we know.

If you are attending a conference that lasts longer than a day, you’ll quickly start making friends with other writers and want to ‘hang out’ with them. This is great for building relationships but terrible for networking. Mingle and talk with as many other attendees or presenters as you can. During lunch, make sure you sit at a table with people you don’t know. Introduce yourself, ask your fellow conference attendees about their projects and then start talking about yours. Tell people what you need, if you’re looking for a literary agent, say so. If you need a publicist, ask for referrals from other writers. Ask lots of questions, take your business cards (or bookmarks) and always keep a pad and pen handy.

With the right planning, a writers conference can be enormously successful and while they may not lead to immediate publishing contracts, they are certainly a step in the right direction!

1. Know your readers. We’re not just talking about whether your readers are male or female. You’ll want to know myriad factors about your audience. How old are your readers (age range)? Are readers married, single, or divorced? Where do your readers reader live (generally)? What do your readers do for a living? What other books/publications do they read? Develop a profile that includes where they shop, what clubs do they belong to, etc.

These elements will help you incorporate these aspects into your book *and* help you unearth salient marketing opportunities (i.e., publications and stores).

2. Know your market. What’s the market like for your book? Is there a trend out there you’re positioning yourself towards. Are you reading all the publications related to this topic rend? Are there any “holes” out there your book could fill? What’s the future for this market opic? For example, let’s say you’re a fiction writer looking to publish chick lit. Go to any bookstore and you can’t help but spot the cutsie, pink, cartoonish covers. Many thought this trend was dying out, but it has recently seen another surge. What do you know about trends related to your book opic/audience?

3. Similar books. What else has been published on your topic? Have you read all ten books in your category? If you haven’t, you should. You’ll want to know everything you can about what’s out there and how it’s being perceived in the marketplace. It’s never a problem having a similar topic. When I published No More Rejections - Get Published Today, I knew there were other books out there on marketing. I read them all–then angled my book differently.

4. Getting and staying current. What’s going on in your industry today? What are some hot buttons? What are people looking for? What’s next on the horizon for this topic/audience? If you can’t seem to gather this information through traditional channels, why not survey your target audience? There are a number of places to run free surveys, Survey Monkey is one of them: http://www.surveymonkey.com

5. Follow the media. What’s the media talking about these days (besides the California election & Ben-lo)? Keep track of media buzz–what they’re paying attention to and what they’re writing about. Delve beyond the front page of your paper to the second or third page and see what’s filling the pages. If you can get your hands on out-of-state papers, do a comparative review. Do you see a trend in coverage? Is there something that seems to be getting more buzz even if it’s on page six?

6. Talk, teach, listen. One of the best ways I’ve found to get in touch with my audience was to teach a class and do speaking engagements. When I was putting together my book, Get Published Today, I found that the classes I taught provided valuable information for creating a great book because they put me directly in touch with my audience!

7. Timing is everything. When do you plan to release your tome? Are you releasing around a holiday or anniversary? Could you take advantage of any upcoming event and/or holiday for your book launch?

First, your ebook needs to have an attractive title. The title should grab the attention of your intended target audience. The more appealing the title, the more your ebook will be downloaded.

Your ebook needs to have quality content. You can write your own content or ask permission to use another author’s content. Your ebook will be
read more if the content is original.

You will want to put your ad on the title page or on the table of contents. This will give the most exposure for your web site or the products you’re
selling.

It’s important to put your ebook in as many formats as possible. Most ebook software only allows the ebook to be read by certain browers and software.
People may not take the time to download a new software program in order to read your ebook. Other versions of your ebook could be in HTML,
auto responder and downloadable text format.

You can contact other business owners and ask them if they would like to include their ad in your ebook. Just ask them in return to advertise your
free ebook on their web site or in their e-zine for a set period of time. This method will get your free ebook marketing campaign off to a fast start.

Allow the people who download your ebook to give it away to their visitors. This will multiply your free ebook’s exposure. Submit your ebook
to the growing number of free ebook directories on the internet.