SPQ 033: How to Write an Author Bio That Sells Books

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Author Bios as Landing Pages

In episode 17, Steve explained how to use an easy-to-remember URL to direct people to your Amazon author page. His URL, HabitBooks.net, redirects to his author profile and makes it easier for people to find his books.

Your author bio is your personal landing page, or a page designed to sell something, so it should always be helping you sell more books. It’s easy to set up your author bio on Amazon; simply go to Amazon Author Central and follow the steps. You should also set up author pages at Kobo, iBooks, and other platforms.

No matter where you have a bio, you must write something that engages readers and (hopefully) gets them to buy more books. Many readers check the “About” section of the author bio first, so you need to think carefully about what you write.

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SPQ 029: My Presentation – The 80/20 of Building a Nonfiction Author Platform

spq29 author platformSteve’s Presentation

In one week, Steve is participating in the Author Marketing Live event. The virtual event, which runs from January 26 to January 30, has 20 speakers giving one-hour presentations. Learn more or register for Author Marketing Live at www.amlticket.com.

Steve will cover the following topics during his presentation:

  • How to identify what works for your business
  • Email marketing
  • Which platforms to focus on
  • How to maximize your book launch
  • Simple marketing tricks that have a long-term impact on sales
  • How to scale your business into a full-time income

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SPQ 025: How to Set Up a Podcast for a Self-Published E-zine or Magazine

SPQ 025: How to Set Up a Podcast for a Self-Published E-zine or Magazine

The Question…

How would I set up a podcast for an e-zine or newsletter that I am planning to self-publish?

Biggest Takeaway…

[Tweet “Figure out where your market is and determine if a podcast is the right way to go.”]

Steve’s Answer…

Steve doesn’t consider himself the go-to person for podcasting, so he’s going to share some resources he used to prepare for the Self-Publishing Questions podcast. They are not affiliate links; he simply wants to support the people who did a great job talking about their experiences with podcasting.

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SPQ 023: Can You Promote Fiction Books to a Nonfiction Audience?

SPQ 023: Can You Promote Fiction Books to a Nonfiction Audience?

The Question…

Brad of LifeOnPurpose.com has a moderate-sized list on living your true life purpose. His other passion is speculative fiction and talking about his writing experiences on www.wbradfordswift.com. How can he leverage his list as a life coach?

Biggest Takeaway…

[Tweet “It’s hard to cross-promote to two markets. Light promotion and explanations go a long way.”]

Steve’s Answer…

This is a hard question to answer because everyone has their own tastes when it comes to fiction vs. nonfiction. Steve loves to read personal development books and business nonfiction, but his fiction tastes tend to be in the horror, fantasy, and science fiction niches.

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SPQ 021: 7 Ways to Stand Out in a Crowded Book Market

SPQ 021: 7 Ways to Stand Out in a Crowded Book Market

The Question…

Christian of Unpopular Tales asks how it’s possible to stand out in a market that’s saturated and full of competition.

Biggest Takeaway…

[Tweet “Having an author platform is the best way to stand out in a crowded market.”]

Steve’s Answer…

Amazon and other eBook platforms have become very crowded with authors. You need to up your game to stand out from this crowd. There are seven ways to do this

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SPQ 017: URL Forwarding – The #1 Way Readers Can Find Your Author Page

SPQ017: URL Forwarding – The #1 Way Readers Can Find Your Author Page

It’s not easy to get readers to check out your author page, especially when the Web address is full of letters, numbers, and assorted characters. In this episode, Steve details his URL forwarding strategy to kick off a new series called Simple Book Marketing.

The Question…

Instead of answering a question today, Steve is introducing his Simple Book Marketing segment. He’ll discuss an actionable strategy you can immediately apply to your book-based business.

Biggest Takeaway…

[Tweet “Create some simple URLs to help people find your books. Use URL forwarding.”]

Simple Book Marketing: URL Forwarding

Your Amazon author page is a landing page. It is used to promote all of your books and show your authority in a particular niche. Your author page even pulls up content from Twitter and your blog. When people land on your author page, they see a lot of information that can help you sell more books.

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SPQ 016: How Much Does it Cost to Publish My First Book?

SPQ016: How Much Does it Cost to Publish My First Book?

The Question…

How much is the start-up cost of publishing my first Kindle book? How much is okay to invest for marketing?

Biggest Takeaway…

[Tweet “Treat a book-based business like any other start-up company.”]

Steve’s Answer…

Steve recommends treating a book-based business like any other start-up company. Be smart about not wasting your money by tracking expenditures and spending money only when necessary.

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