Tag Archives: Book Marketing Tools

This Week in Links: August 1 – 5

Posted on August 5, 2016 by | Leave a comment

This week’s #ACXU2016 live stream contained a lively and informative discussion on building and maintaining your actor brand. Featuring branding and social media experts from Audible as well as actor/author Gabra Zackman, this panel is a must-watch for Producers and Rights Holders alike. View the video below, then continue your audiobook education with this week’s recommended links.

For Rights Holders:

11 Ways to Overcome Marketing Dread – via Digital Book World – Many authors love writing but fear marketing. Find out how to bridge the gap with these tips.

Great Tips For Branding Your Book Series – via Book Marketing Tools – The same way that your business has a logo, and colors, and a style of presenting things, so too should your books have branding.

Marketing a New Book: 6 Tactics Authors & Publishers Love – via BookBub – With so many ways to market your (audio)books, it can be tough to figure out which to focus on. This post recommends some tactics to focus on, with easy-to-follow examples.

Get A Second Opinion On Your Book Marketing – via BookMarketingBuzzBlog – Seek the advice of others if your marketing isn’t working as well as you’d like. “Sometimes a small repair can fix a big problem”

For Producers:

Does It Make Sense To Outsource Proofing, Correcting & Packaging? – Voice-Over Xtra – A good look at the things that go into a decision to farm out your post production work.

Burnout Can Torch Your Throat – via Dr. Ann Utterback – Stress can take it’s toll on your voice. Dr. Utterback has some advice to help you avoid stretching yourself too thin to perform well.

How to be Believable – via Paul Strikwerda – “As a (voice) actor, it is your job to sell your lines so that the audience is buying it. In order for them to believe in what you’re saying, they have to believe that you believe it yourself. How do you do that?”

Sidestep the Snake Oil – via Steven Jay Cohen – A  changing industry has opened opportunities for new careers in voiceover, as well as some who seek to take advantage of those just starting out. Learn how to avoid opportunists who might not have your best interests at heart.

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This Week in Links: May 23 – 27

Posted on May 27, 2016 by | Leave a comment

For Producers:

Five Alternate Streams of Income as a Voiceover Artist – via Victoria DeAnda – “While this business can be quite lucrative and exciting at times, many voiceover artists want more from their talent.”

Zip Through Your Day, Get Everything Done Seriously! Six Tips For Boosting Productivity – via Voice-Over Xtra – Learn how to manage the limited hours in your day to get the most out of your VO career.

Why You Need To Set A Deadline – via Marc Scott – When setting a goal, you’ll go a long way towards successful completion by setting a deadline.

For Rights Holders:

How to Host a Facebook Launch of Your Self-published Book – via ALLi – Learn 10 steps to successfully host a virtual book (or audiobook!) launch party on the popular social network.

5 Things Most Self-Publishing Authors Overlook – via Book Marketing Tools – “To avoid making the common mistakes, review the following 5 things you should always check off your pre-publishing list.”

Do Writers Offer A Dialogue Or A Rant? – via BookMarketingBuzzBlog – “The good author…tries to think like the reader and understands the assumptions, standards, and knowledge that such readers operate under.”

 

 

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This Week in Links: March 21 – 25

Posted on March 25, 2016 by | Leave a comment

For Producers:

How to Build a Stronger Voice Over Network – via Voice Over Herald – “All voice over actors would like to widen their network in the industry, but rather than wait for those contacts to fall on your lap, you need to create a networking plan that you can start today.”

The Four Steps To Turning One-Off Voice Over Jobs Into Regular Clients – via Voice-Over Xtra – “Working with a client on a regular basis lets you get to know them, their business, their likes, dislikes, and quirks. That benefits your client, and it’s also great for you because you’re more likely to get it right the first time for them – meaning you spend less time in the studio working on retakes.”

How Outsiders View Voice Actors – via Dave Courvoisier – “We see everything through our own filter. WE know what voice-acting and voiceovers is all about…but does everybody ELSE really get it?”

Turning Down Work – via Online Voiceover Coach – “There are circumstances which call for turning away that for which you have worked so hard to get. It will help define you as a business person, an artist, and as a citizen. And in many cases it will also set the stage for you getting continued work in the future.”

For Rights Holders:

The What, Why, and How of Author Platforms – via The Book Designer – A valuable, comprehensive list of just about everything you need to know to start and maintain your author platform.

Make Your Insecurities Work for You As A Writer – via Book Marketing Tools – Learn about cognitive distortions, how they lead to self-doubt, and six ways to fight back to become a better writer.

The Pros and Cons of Using a Facebook Profile But Not an Official Page – via Jane Friedman – Get the key difference between the two, the pros and cons, and 5 things to consider when making your choice.

How and Why to Set up an Amazon Author Page – via ALLi – “If the reader isn’t happy at every single stage of the book buying process, then they’re probably not going to buy.  Many readers are curious about authors.  It’s up to you to satisfy their curiosity.”

 

 

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This Week in Links: January 18 – 22

Posted on January 22, 2016 by | Leave a comment

For Rights Holders:

7 Book Marketing Trends Authors Can’t Afford to Ignore – via The Book Designer – A look at some of the most popular marketing strategies, with an actionable tip for putting each into practice.

Twitterific Writing Links – via Elizabeth Spann Craig – A trove of information for writers; this one’s worth bookmarking for repeated visits.

Five Marketing Models for Self-Publishing Success – via Publishers Weekly – A handful of tactics to help authors “focus on the bigger picture of building marketing momentum effectively.”

[PODCAST] Listen and Learn: Engaging With Your Email List – via Book Marketing Tools – Author Michael Bunker discusses tips for engaging  your email list without burning them out.

For Producers:

Make These Eight Mistakes To Lose Voice Over Clients And Auditions – via Voice-Over Xtra – You may not even realize actions that drive clients away. Identify and correct with this helpful post.

Facebook Voiceover Groups Galore – via Rhonda’s Voice – Joining an online voiceover community may provide support and education for your career.

Trusting in Your Abilities as a Voiceover Actor – via Victoria DeAnda – Self-confidence is key in a field as subjective as voice acting.

Make Your New Year’s Voice Resolutions! – via Dr. Ann Utterback – Learn three ways to keep your vocal folds healthy in 2016.

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This Year in Links: 2015

Posted on December 18, 2015 by | Leave a comment

Here at ACX, we’re proud of the work you’ve done creating thousands of audiobooks in 2015. We hope the education we’ve shared this year has helped make you a better audiobook producer, publisher, and marketer. Before we look forward to 2016, we’re counting down the top links – based on your clicks – published in our This Week in Links series this year.

For Rights Holders:

5. Where to Find Free Images Online to Use in Blogging & Social Media – via The Write Conversation – Visual marketing content has been shown to be at least two to five times more effective than text alone. Boost your efforts with these free resources.

4. The Twitter Secret – via BadRedheadMedia – Learn how online fan acknowledgement could be secret ingredient in your successful author platform.

3. Six Magic Phrases You Can Use to Sell More Books – via where writers win – Learn key words to use in your “Amazon sales page, your website, your book announcement press release, your e-mail announcement, and other promotional materials that will help you sell more books.”

2. How To Promote Your Self-Published Book On The Cheap – via Book Marketing Tools – New authors may not have the robust marketing budgets of the established players. Use these tactics to jump start your promotions.

1. 25+ Ways To Market Your Audiobook: A Quick Guide – via Kate Tilton – A distillation of our #TalkingACX Twitter chat features a trove of audiobook-specific marketing ideas.

For Producers:

5. Potato Chips Required – Who Would Have Thought? – via Mike Lenz – Can you believe that the fix for common in-booth issues could be so delicious?

4. 3 Things That Define A Successful Audiobook Narrator – via Dane Reid – Veteran Nashville-based audiobook producer Joe Loesch shares the three pillars of his successful career.

3. What is the Best Microphone for Voiceover Work? – via Voice Over Herald – Five solid options for getting professional-quality recordings without breaking the bank.

2. What’s Your Production Process? – via Wayne Farrell – The Audible Approved Producer shares a step by step guide to his production method. A must-read for new narrators.

1. The 7 Most Overlooked Daily Habits of Successful Voice Actors – via Dave Courvoisier – The top spot goes to the veteran “CourVO” and his reminder of the little things that can lead to big successes in the voiceover field.

Get all the best audiobook-related links in your inbox – subscribe to the ACX blog.

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This Week in Links: November 9 – 13

Posted on November 13, 2015 by | 1 comment

For Producers:

Let’s Get Serious About Breath Support – via Dr. Ann Utterback – Breathing is the energy for speech, and not having good breath support is like driving a car with watered down gasoline.”

7 Things (And A Bonus) You Can’t Overlook Before Sending Your Voice Over Auditions – via Voice-over Xtra – “[T]hese 7 points cannot be overlooked. They are the Holy Grail of “must-do” actions on the pre-flight list – a “basic necessities” list of pertinent reminders.

How to Effectively Deal with Customer Dissatisfaction in Voiceover – via Victoria DeAnda – “It is never easy to hear criticism. The first step in dealing with it is to understand that this happens to everyone. The next step is to help the client.”

Audiobook Narrator Tavia Gilbert Shares Her Secret to a Riveting Read – via Writer’s Digest – Learn from this short Q and A with a seasoned audiobook narrator.

From Amateur to All-Star: Everything I Wish I’d Known About Audiobook VO – via That’s Voiceover – Join ACX at That’s Voiceover in Los Angeles on November 14th to learn audiobook production from three Audible Approved Producers.

For Rights Holders:

Book Marketing on Facebook – via Book Marketing Tools – Learn why Facebook may be better for brand building than direct sales.

From Casting to A Narrator to Happily Ever After – via Karen Commins – The Audible Approved Producer offers pro tips on casting your audiobook from an actors’ perspective (check out Karen’s companion article here).

Book Marketing: How Authors Can Use Periscope’s Video Streaming Service – via ALLi – Author Chris Syme takes a look at how the emerging social video platform can work for book promotion.

How to Write Funny Dialogue – via Helping Writers Become Authors – Give your narrator something fun to voice.

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This Week in Links: October 19 – 23

Posted on October 23, 2015 by | Leave a comment

For Producers:

Passion, Persistence And Planning Will Make Your Voice Over Dreams A Reality – via Voice-Over Xtra – “The VO industry is flooded with talented people. What can you do to make yourself stand out and ensure your success in one of the most competitive industries out there?”

Five Voice Over Lessons Learned From Elon Musk – via Marc Scott – “If you want to be great at a “thing”, one of the easiest ways to help you get there is to study those that have come before you.”

What is Marketing – via Joe’s Dump – “Is it your brand? How about mass emails? SEO? Blogs? Cold calling? These may be pieces of an overall marketing strategy, but they are too often mistaken for all of marketing.”

Nasality Unwrapped – via Dr. Ann Utterback – “In most cases, nasality is either a learned behavior or the result of a lazy soft palate.”

For Rights Holders:

[PODCAST] How to Sell Books and Build Your Email List Through Facebook Ads -via Book Marketing Tools – “Books don’t just appear on Amazon from out of nowhere and sell. You’ve got to be there to push them. No one else is going to do it.”

How To Promote Books In The 21st Century – via BookMarketingBuzzBlog – “It’s a great time to promote a book, considering the number of opportunities and tools available, but it’s also the worst time, as publicists and authors feel overwhelmed by how man outlets they need to contact in order to do a lot of activity that may not necessarily yield a lot of book sales.”

World Building 101 – via The Write Practice – If you write fiction, you need world building. It’s the skeleton of your story: though unseen, those bones determine the shape of the beast.

Book Marketing: 6 Top Tips on How to Make LinkedIn Work for Authors – via ALLi – [E]ven here, your objective should be to build great connections, and not generate sales.

Want the week’s best audiobook links in your inbox? Subscribe to the ACX blog today!

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This Week in Links: October 12 – 16

Posted on October 17, 2015 by | Leave a comment

For Rights Holders:

How to Be Retweetable – via CreateSpace – “The trick is writing something in 140 characters that moves your followers and their followers to retweet your content.”

Why You Should Use Video Media to Market your Self-published Books – via ALLi – “The written word will never be replaced, but video can be a creative way of delivering information and reaping the rewards.”

10 Useful Resources for Writers – via Book Marketing Tools – Writing may be a solitary task but that does not mean you should be doing it in isolation.

A 12-Month Strategic Plan for Marketing Your Book before Release – via LiveWriteThrive – “The key is to think of your book the way Ford thinks of a new car. It’s a product, and you’re a business owner.”

For Producers:

11 Sites Explaining Mic Pick-up Patterns – via Dave Courvoisier – “Why should you know or care about microphone pickup patterns?  Because the mic you use has a unique way of “hearing” you, which effects the way you’re going to want to “address” the mic.”

Don’t Worry About Those Dreaded “How’s” …Focus On Success – Where You Want To Be – via Voice-Over Xtra – “If you don’t have a picture in your head of what your success will look like, you may never get there.”

Getting Ready for the Colder Weather as a Voiceover Artist – via Victoria DeAnda – “The more you do to make sure you do not get sick, the more likely you will be able to get through these next few months being just as productive as you are the rest of the year.”

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This Week in Links: October 5 – 9

Posted on October 9, 2015 by | Leave a comment

For Producers:

Vocal Exercises To Expand Emotional Range – via Dr. Ann S. Utterback – “One aspect of reading copy that must be correct is the em0tion. Even though most of us would agree this is true, I know plenty of professionals who have a tough time getting emotion across with their voices.”

Why Confidence Means a Lot to Your Voiceover Business’ Success – via Victoria DeAnda – “Confidence is everything to your business. Without it, the chances of your business succeeding are slim.”

Be Phenomenal – via Rob Marley – “From the cold call to the thank you note, do as much as you possibly can to make the client feel that they are getting an incredible value for the amount of service you provide.”

Why Good is Never Good Enough in Voiceovers – via Gary Terzza – “How good are you at voice overs? Can you get away with being ‘ok’, ‘not bad at all’ or ‘above average’?”

For Rights Holders:

7 Tips for Making Search Engines Work for Marketing Your Book – via MediaShift – “After all, what’s the point of having a webpage if potential readers can’t find it in search?”

Growing and Cultivating Your Online Community – via CreateSpace – “Essentially, your goal is to grow your community to the point that it’s so large it can’t be handled by one person. That’s when you’ll have one of those problems that’s nice to have.”

7 Habits of Highly Effective Voice Seekers – via Mike Cooper – “Using the Seven Habits outlined below will show your Voiceover Artist you know what you’re talking about, and help you to avoid some of the common pitfalls.”

Book Logline: What It Is & How To Write It – via Book Marketing Tools – “Some authors use the term logline, a story summary, interchangeably with tagline, a marketing term, but the two concepts really are different.”

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This Week in Links: September 21 – 25

Posted on September 25, 2015 by | Leave a comment

For Rights Holders:

Speaking To Promote Your Book – via Book Marketing Tools – “One great way to promote your book, especially for authors of nonfiction books, is to do speaking gigs. Not only can this be another income source, but it will also help to drive book sales and grow your reading audience and mailing list.”

How to Edit Fiction: Watch Me Correct My Own Story in Real Time – via Helping Writers Become Authors – If you’re going to self-edit, you’d better do it right. Learn from the real life edits of author K. M. Weiland.

Learning From Others & Building Buzz – via Author Marketing 101 – Take a trip to your local bookstore to learn how successful authors are marketing their books.

Five Self-publishing Lessons Learned Between Debut and Second Book – via ALLi – “Lorna Sixsmith reflects on some mistakes she made first time around – so she won’t make them again!”

For Producers:

“USB” is NOT a Type of Microphone: A Guide for Podcasting and Home Recording – via Some Audio Guy – “If you’re looking at podcasting, spoken word, interviews, or voice over recording, here’s a quick primer on some of the microphones you might want to consider!”

Regarding Room Tone with Alex the Audio Scientist – via The ACX Blog – Alex is back, with a new lesson to help you save valuable time in the editing stage of post-production.

10 Tips For Social Networking in Person – via Rob Marley – In-person networking is an important skill for actors, even in the digital age. Learn the do’s and don’ts here.

The Best Way to Grow Your Voiceover Business – via Victoria De Anda – Victoria offers five ways to expand your client base and land more VO work.

Vicious Cycle of Vocal Abuse – via Dr. Ann Utterback – Learn how to recognize vocal fatigue and what to do about it.

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