Is Your Book in Walmart?

I rarely include reprints from my newsletter on this blog, but one of my longtime SharingwithWriters newsletter subscribers, Valerie Allen, got such a kick out of this tip when she followed through (see below for the tip), I thought I'd share it with you. I'm also going to put her note to me--you know, to prove that she did, indeed, get a big charge out of the results of the discovery prompted by this suggestion.

HERE'S THE TIP:

Have you done a search on the Walmart site's bookstore for your book? Authors are telling me that their Createspace-printed books have been appearing there with no extra effort on their part. In the past—even before Createspace—I have found my books magically appearing in sites as varied as Harvard’s bookstore and Costco. If you find your book on one of these sites, check to see if the buy page needs any special attention from you—like the addition of reader reviews as suggested in Howto Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically.

HERE'S THE LETTERS-TO-THE-EDITOR NOTE

Carolyn,

Great info for authors in your January newsletter. Will feature your blog on my new Facebook group, Authors for Authors.

Please join us on FB.

I followed your suggestion and checked out my books at Walmart.com.

Yes! They have four of my books! I am thrilled. Who knew?.

Two of my novels "The Prodigal Son" and "Suffer the Little Children."

One of my kids books, "Bad Hair, Good Hat, New Friends."

One of my short story collections, "'Tis Herself: Short Story Collection Volume One" in large print.

P.S. Thanks for your great tips and ideas.

Valerie Allen, author and book fair director

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Valerie's letter is coming out in the Letters-to-the-Editor feature my SharingwithWriters newsletter in February with her permission. We all need an upper now and then! Letters-to the editor is a great way for authors to get more exposure--in writing-oriented newsletters or magazines and newspapers with wide distribution.

Sharing with Writers since 2003: A newsletter that is also a community. Share your ideas. Learn from theirs!

Find back issues at howtodoitfrugally.com/newsletter_copies.html. There is a SharingwithWriters subscription window in the top right corner of almost every page.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Howard-Johnson is the author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers including the award-winning second editions of The Frugal Book Promoter (where she talks more about choosing and the advantages of winning contests and how to use those honors) and The Frugal Editor. Her latest is in the series is How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically. Learn more on her Amazon profile page, http://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile.

She also helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com as well as more advice at The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor (http://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com )

Amazon Offers Preorder to Help Launch E-Books

Most questions I get asked revolve around launching a book appropriately  (and how getting reviews plays into that!). New authors seldom understand the benefits Amazon offers for getting exposure or how to utilize them. I often cover topics like these in my SharingwithWriters newsletter--often as brief tips like this one from the August letter:

E-Book Publishing Tip: Amazon just announced that they have instituted a pre-order program to help you promote the launch of your e-book on Amazon just as the big publishers do for their hardcovers and their paperbacks. Learn more about the program on Amazon's page and more about setting your launch date ahead in The Frugal Book Promoter. You'll learn how this tactic helps you take advantage of both pre-order time and also allows you to apply for reviews with big review journals like Publishers Weekly that require up to 16 weeks of pre-pub notice for your book to qualify for a review. There is still more on that process at this page in the Writers Resources section of my HowToDoItFrugally Web site: http://howtodoitfrugally.com/reviews_and_review_journals.htm. And there is a whole chapter on how to make the power of Amazon work for you in The Frugal Book Promoter, too.  

To subscribe to SharingwithWriters, send an e-mail with SUBSCRIBE in the subject window to HoJoNews@aol.com. Your welcome letter will include a few additional free benefits you can use to promote your book.  

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .