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Yanni has been teaching Meditation, Intuitive Development, Healing and metaphysical subjects for over twenty years. Additionally, he has been doing intuitive counseling for the past fifteen years, and is certified in numerous holistic modalities and have studied and practiced many esoteric healing modalities

In this interview, John and Yanni explore a number of topics, including:

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John Kremer consults in the areas of book marketing, book sales, book promotion, publicity, direct marketing, pricing, book titles, book covers, book marketing plans, book proposals, rights sales, and general planning for book publishers of all sizes as well as for individual authors. While most of John’s consulting is done over the phone, he also provides on-site consulting services.

Among other services, he provided the strategy that took Deepak Chopra from a vanity press author to being on the New York Times bestseller list eight times. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, authors of Chicken Soup for the Soul, credit John’s book, 1001 Ways to Market Your Books, as the guiding light for their rise to bestseller status.

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While there are many new methods of book promotion that are now available with the advent of the internet, some of the best book marketing strategies have existed for decades, and are still extremely effective as part of your overall promotion strategy.

Effective Methods For Marketing Your Book

Here are a few of the methods that I personally used years ago to make my book “When You Can Walk On Water, Take The Boat” an award-winning best seller:

1. I sent review copies to my local newspapers, magazines and newsletters. Most of them ignored it, but the few that did respond printed a short review that gave me enough material to use in further promotions.
2. I sent review copies to national publications and found that a few actually looked at my book. I used the great comments and ignored the ones that were not too good.
3. I went to a number of local bookstores and asked them to carry my book on consignment. Instead of the normal 40% discount, I offered 50% discount. It was a win-win situation. The bookstores received a larger than normal discount and they didn’t have to pay for the books until sold. What I found was that some bookstore owners read my book and started recommending it to their readers. Then I was asked to give a little lecture and to sign my books. And this led to more exposure at lectures, at bookstores and more book-signings.
4. I did unorthodox things such as leaving a copy of my book on an airplane seat. On every flight I’d take extra books and would leave one on the seat hoping that someone would pick it up, read it and tell everyone that they found the greatest book ever written abandoned on an airline seat   Did anyone ever read those abandoned books? I don’t really know for sure. Somebody, somewhere would probably read it. That’s one of those crazy, mystical things that fascinate me.Your book is an energy system. The book, of itself, has no value except as a bunch of paper with printing ink splattered all over it in the form of words. The value of the book is in the information it conveys. There are some who believe that information is alive – that it has a special built-in energy. Your personal energy is a part of the information in your book. Love your book, treat it with respect and it will carry your energy and message to all its readers. It’ll become “attractive” because it will attract readers to it. I’ve seen this happen over and over again.
5. Many times I’d stop at a bookstore and ask if they had a copy of my book in. They’d check their computers and say, “No, but we can order it for you.” I’d smile and say OK and order it under my friend’s name. (I had my friend’s permission to do this.) When the book came in, they’d call my friend and he’d say he didn’t want it any longer. The bookstore would then put the “WaterBook” for sale on their shelves. Generally, a customer would buy the one copy and the bookstore would order more.
6. I accepted almost every invitation to speak and I’d always take some of my books with me. Inevitably, a number of attendees bought some and asked for autographs. As time went by, I was asked to speak at larger gatherings. I started getting paid for speaking. Word got around and the more I lectured, the more books I sold.
7. Interviews sell books. Shortly after the “WaterBook” was published, “Body Mind and Spirit” magazine did a short review. I sent them a “Thank You” note and mentioned that I’d be happy to agree to an interview in an upcoming issue. For a while nothing happened, but eventually they did a wonderful interview with me that increased my book sales substantially.
8. Radio interviews are great for getting known quickly and getting your books into the public psyche. Weeks after “WaterBook” was published, because of the kindness of a good friend, I was asked to be a guest on a radio show in Nashville, Tennessee. The name of the show was “Beyond Reason” and the producer was a well-known, Nashville celebrity by the name of Teddy Bart. The show was a fantastic success and resulted in many bookstores in Nashville stocking my book.
9. In addition to lecturing and giving workshops, I also attended lectures and seminars. It wasn’t what I learned at the lectures and seminars that was important (and I did learn a lot), but the contacts I made proved to be invaluable. In one case, a lady introduced herself to me and asked what I did. I told her about my book and gave her a copy. A week later, she phoned and told me how she enjoyed my book. Would I, she asked, be willing to sell her 200 copies of the “WaterBook” as gifts for her real estate clients? Of course, I was willing! Paul Zuromski, founder and former editor-in-chief of Body, Mind and Spirit magazine purchased thousands of copies to give away as incentives for those who subscribed to his magazine.

These are just a few “out of the box” things that I’ve done to promote my books in the past. There are many other methods besides these that make promoting your book easier than it has ever been before.

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In this session, John Harricharan shares the inside story of how his “WaterBook” became “Best Book of the Year”.  He also offers some crucial tips on what to do if your book has NOT won an award.

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In this important segment, John describes many of the methods he has used to promote, publicize and market his own “Waterbook”.

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There are several reasons to self-publish books, rather than utilize the traditional publishing model of going through a large publisher:

• You will retain control of your work. Most contracts you might sign with a big publisher will take virtually ALL of your rights as an author. That means movie rights, foreign language distribution rights, and much more. Self-publishing allows you to retain all of these valuable rights and ensure that you will be able to decide how your work is distributed.
• Publishing your own book means that you don’t have to deal with the immense amount of time and frustration involved in sending your book to agents and publishers. You will be able to publish on your timeline, rather than that of some businessperson sitting behind a desk at a publishing house.
• You will not have to submit your work to the rampant rejection experienced using the major publishing houses. Having said that, you also need to recognize that EVERY author will benefit from having an editor, and from input from experts in the field. In addition, you aren’t going to hone your craft if you can’t learn to take constructive criticism.
• Using a large publisher usually means a small advance, if any, on the front end, and a small percentage royalty on the back end once your book starts selling. Often, the first royalty check will not be paid to the author for as much as two years after the publishing contract is signed. Publishing your own book, on the other hand, allows you to enjoy a much larger percentage of the sales made by your book, and ensures that you can be paid much sooner.
• When authors self-publish books, and then learn how to effectively promote them, they will have MUCH greater leverage in negotiating with major publishers later on. In other words, once you have proven that you book will sell, publishing houses will be much more willing to negotiate deals that lean more in the authors favor than they would otherwise.

Today, there are so many wonderful avenues to publish your own book that it is the #1 way that I recommend a new author get started.

To be sure, there can be pitfalls along the way with self-publishing, but your chances of long-term success as a published author are MUCH greater if you opt to take this route and go about it the right way.

More than 6 out of every 10 books published fails to make the publisher enough to cover the author’s advance, and around 10% of books ever break even in the publishing process. Part of the reason for this problem is that publishing houses are usually reluctant to put too much money into promotion and marketing for first-time authors. In many ways, first-time authors are faced with a catch-22. Their book won’t sell because the publisher won’t market it, and the publisher won’t market it because it’s not selling.

Here are some specific things you can do to create your book marketing plan, no matter whether your book is being published by a publishing house or whether you’re self-publishing:

Know Your Target Audience

You need to be able to identify readily the type of person who would want to buy your book. You should be able to get a feel for your audience based on a number of factors, including things like age, socio-economic status, gender and geographical location. Being able to identify your audience lets you hone your marketing plan right in on them.

Make Your Book Available In Bookstores

If you’re self-publishing, no one is going to send your books to bookstores for you. Contact several booksellers in your area, and see if they’d be willing to put your book on the shelves. Many bookstores have a “local authors” section where you can have your book placed. Some stores will even be willing to put up a display (if you provide the display materials, of course).

Consider Non-Traditional Book Buyers

Retailers, catalogs, volume dealers and corporations may all be good markets for your book. For example, if you write a book on effective management techniques, you might be able to sell a large number of copies to certain larger corporations for use in their company.

Consider Non-Traditional Marketing Methods

The Internet, social media and other types of nontraditional marketing methods work. From setting up your own website to utilizing the power of sites like Facebook or Twitter, the Internet offers a great deal of marketing opportunities, many of which don’t cost much more than just your time.

Trust Word-of-Mouth

If your book is good, getting a few people to buy it can be all you need to do. They’ll tell their friends, who will tell theirs, and before you know it your book could be a best-seller. While word-of-mouth alone won’t put you at the top of the book charts, it is one way to increase your sales. Interact with your customers if you can, via your website or via book signings. They’re more likely to advocate for you if they feel a personal connection.