IN THIS ISSUE:
Publishing Industry News
Marketing and Distribution
Trade Show News
*********************************************************************
Year in Review
Over this past year, The BookMasters Group has expanded its manufacturing capacities to match clients’ needs for increased 
speed and quality.
Following the expansion of its distribution services division, BookMasters installed a Timsons web book press to accommodate longer print runs. One of only a handful in the world, the press has three interchangeable print cylinders allowing BookMasters to keep down costs by being able to produce the most popular book sizes on one press. Using state-of-the-art ink and drying technologies, the company can produce books from lightweight stocks up to fine, coated enamel stocks with excellent halftone quality not typically seen on web presses.
For short runs, BookMasters has expanded its high-quality, full-color and black-and-white digital capacities. It has seen 
enormous demand for short run, full-color, hardcover children’s books in recent years, and is unique in providing options for hardcover digital press runs such as custom stamping, rounded spines, and even three-piece cases.
From our Ashland office, BookMasters Asia works with publishers on benefiting from four-color Asian pricing. Representatives in Ashland help publishers obtain estimates, submit files, and ship. The company can digitally produce advance sales prototypes, which can help publishers generate sales ahead of primary print runs.
In our Digital Services division, we have offered composition, editorial, and design services to publishers for nearly 30 years. More recently, it has offered publishers the service of creating, managing, and distributing electronic content to all major resellers.
With an eye toward vertical integration, BookMasters allows publisher partners the opportunity to send raw manuscripts and have BookMasters incorporate up-front XML workflows, which produce tagged files that can be repurposed for print books, eBooks, and marketing components.
BookMasters’ Digital Services offers publishers the opportunity to have e-content distributed to all major content wholesalers and retailers. Through its partnerships, its publishers’ books are available on more than 30 eBook retail sites as well as devices including Kindle, Sony Reader, and Barnes & Noble’s Nook.
Through BookMasters’ e-content distribution portals, publishers also receive a marketing widget. The widget offers a preview 
of the book, including a cover, which can be copied and pasted onto an author’s blog, Facebook, and MySpace pages, and other Web sites. This viral marketing tool can then be copied and pasted by viewers of the page and placed on their respective pages.
BookMasters’ e-content distribution service also offers a direct-to-consumer sales component that lets publishers increase their profit margins while gathering customer information. Publishers receive full retail value for any sales through BookMasters’ online bookstore and can begin building a mailing list of customers who have purchased their product directly. These lists can help publishers promote future titles or with updated editions of previously published titles.
The BookMasters Group has evolved over the last three decades based on publishers’ requests for additional services. Today, it strives to be a one-stop shop for its publishers by offering every service from start to finish. Most recently, this has entailed the further development of its marketing and public relations services for publishers. It is important that the coordination between distribution and sales is finely in tune with marketing and public relations. This is where The BookMasters Group has an advantage in offering these services.
The company offers customized marketing packages for each title, as well as public relations services which target industry professionals, niche, and regional markets. These services evolve daily based on publisher demand and are constantly updated to keep up with industry trends. As a growing department, this sector of the BookMasters Group can work outside the box and is flexible enough to position itself as a unique service provider.
Back to Top
*********************************************************************
Book Marketing
"Excerpted with permission from Brian Jud's Book Marketing Matters newsletter"
Savvy Self-Promotion
Penny Sansevieri, author of From Book to Bestseller, penny@amarketingexpert.com.
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/bookgal
Ready to follow some other Twitters but not sure who you should be following? Head on over to Who Should I Follow (http://www.whoshouldifollow.com/), plug in your Twitter user name, and it'll pop up results appropriate to your tweets.
Pam's Publicity
(By Pam Lontos, Owner of the publicity firm PR/PR and author of
I See Your Name Everywhere; sign up for free publicity tips at www.prpr.net
If you're interviewed on TV, send the right message about who you are, what you think, and how strongly you believe what you're saying.
DON'T wear
Red, black, white or patterns
Noisy, shiny or distracting jewelry
Shiny, slinky materials like silk, satin or polyester
Tinted lenses
Bulging pockets
DO wear
Simple, tailored clothes in natural fabrics and basic colors
Minimal prints
Minimal jewelry
Dark suits - but not black
Light shirts or blouses - but not white
Bartlett's Quotations on
Powerful Publishing Ideas
Robin Bartlett is a former member of the IBPA Board of Directors
and is the Publishing University Chair
Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Professional speakers say that they have to rehearse an average of 8 to 10 hours for every one hour of face-to-face presentation time. That's a ton of work, but in the professional speaking game, the payoffs can be tremendous.
As you practice, (1) Write down your beginning and end paragraphs and memorize them. (2) Give your presentation in front of the mirror, then your spouse, and then a small group of colleagues before you give it to your prospect(s). (3) Anticipate questions and rehearse the answers. (4) Always compliment a person who asks a question on the quality of their question (especially if it is one of the ones you have rehearsed). (5) Make sure your conclusion packs a big, strong, memorable verbal punch. (6) Rehearse again, and again, and again!
Online Book Promotion -- Dana Lynn Smith
Book marketing coach Dana Lynn Smith is the author of The Savvy Book Marketer's Guide to Successful Social Marketing, http://www.SavvyBookMarketer.com. For more book marketing tips, visit http://www.BookMarketingMaven.com.
Twitter is a great way to develop relationships and promote yourself and your book. But it's important to avoid being seen as someone who just promotes themselves. Most of your tweets should be about helping others, but you also need to inject some personality to help people get to know you. Here are some ideas for tweeting:
- Link to helpful or entertaining articles, Web sites, and blog posts and recommend products and services you find useful.
- Offer an incentive to subscribe to your ezine or blog, or offer a free eBook or sample book chapter with no strings attached.
- Announce your live and virtual events such as book tours and teleseminars.
- Teach a mini-lesson in 140 characters.
Ask for advice or ask questions that encourage responses.
Guest Columnist - Patricia Fry
Patricia Fry is the Executive Director of SPAWN -- Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network -- www.spawn.org. She is also the author of 29 books and has been quoted or mentioned as an expert in dozens of others.
Visit her informative publishing blog at www.matilijapress.com/publishingblog
Get additional exposure for your nonfiction book and more credibility as the author by positioning yourself as an expert in your field. How? Use the same tactics you would use in book promotion: Publish articles on your topic, become known at related Web sites, blog often, comment at the blogs of other experts in your field, offer tons of professional resources at your Web site, arrange to speak at appropriate conferences, and join publishing organizations and those related to your topic. Soon you will begin to receive invitations to speak, authors will automatically include your book in their resource chapters, and you will be quoted by other experts in a variety of venues.
The Very Idea
Editorial by Brian Jud
Expect the unexpected. Even the best plans cannot anticipate everything that might happen, so you have to improvise as you go forward. Your marketing plan can help you if you use it as a working tool. Do not think of the word plan as a document. Instead, think of it as a verb - a process that helps you recognize and deal with problems as they occur. That same process could also point out potentially profitable opportunities as they present themselves.
Back to Top
*********************************************************************
Author 101 University
Shelley Sapyta, Account Executive in Sales, and Randy McKenzie, National Sales Manager for AtlasBooks, attended Author 101 University in Las Vegas, October 30 and 31. Top publishing and marketing experts from around the country shared their tools and techniques on how to get books published as well as be successful as an author and publisher.
With more than 350 attendees, the two-day university was extremely busy, and excitement was in the air. Shelley and Randy were constantly meeting new and repeat authors with new books.
The booth was nonstop action with authors wanting quotes on printing and advice on distribution and marketing. Shelley said, “We enjoyed meeting and advising new authors on how to get their book printed and make the right decisions. We left making new friends with lots of interest in our publishing services.”
As part of the program, Randy was on a “panel of experts” discussing sales and distribution. The panel included many prestigious people from the industry including Scott Hoffman—Folio Literary Management, David Hancock—Morgan James Publishing, John Kramer—Publishing Consultant, Ken Atchity—Literary Agent, and more.
Mark Victor Hansen, the bestselling author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, and Rick Frishman, public relations expert and bestselling author, hosted the event.
Back to Top
*********************************************************************
Upcoming Events
2010 Professional & Scholarly Publishing Annual Conference
Renaissance Mayflower Hotel
Washington, DC
February 3-5, 2010
www.pspcentral.org
Publishing Business Conference & Expo
New York Marriott Marquis Times Square
1535 Broadway
New York, NY
March 8-10, 2010
www.publishingbusiness.com
Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2010
Bologna Fair Centre - Piazza Costituzione Entrance
Bologna, Italy
March 23-26, 2010
www.bolognachildrensbookfair.com
PLA – Public Library Association Show
Portland Convention Center
Portland, OR
March 23-27, 2010
www.placonference.org
London Book Fair 2010
Earl’s Court London
London, England
April 20-22, 2010
www.londonbookfair.co.uk
Book Expo America 2010
Jacob Javits Center
New York, NY
May 25-27, 2010
www.bookexpoamerica.com
Society of Scholarly Publishing 32nd Annual Meeting
Hilton San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
June 2-4, 2010
www.sspnet.org
American Library Association Show 2010
Washington Convention Center
Washington, DC
June 26-29, 2010
www.ala.org
This calendar was up-to-date and accurate as of December 15, 2009. Information was culled from a number of sources. BookMasters cannot be held liable for the accuracy of the information within. Please visit the listed Web sites for more information.
Back to Top
