Guest Blog - Author Nancy Dane

This month author Nancy Dane has completed production on her 3rd book with Tate Publishing. The official release is coming this summer, but that won't stop Nancy from selling pre-release copies now! Click here to view and purchase Nancy Dane's books.

Below are Nancy's terrific thoughts regarding author sales and her successful venture to become one of Tate Publishing's best-selling authors. It didn't come easy, and it was not done overnight. But Nancy has found her audience and is one of the hardest working authors I know. And best of all¾she is having a blast selling books!

Great Writer¾Few Sales? What Works for Me

In the four years I’ve been published, I’ve learned some valuable and sometimes hard lessons. Most of all I’ve learned that success is spelled h-a-r-d w-o-r-k. There’s just no getting around it. I don’t care how excellent the book¾if you aren’t willing to get out and promote, you are doomed to fail. There may be exceptions to this, but I haven’t seen any.

I often tease that my books sell well because I’m more used-car salesman than anything. Only slightly a joke! A good sales campaign is imperative for success. A few keys for reaching that goal:

1. Find your audience and target them. (I write Civil War historical fiction, so I go to Civil War events, reenactments, etc.) At events, I talk to people and engage them in conversation as they pass by. If not, that is exactly what they will do¾pass you by!

2. Accept public speaking engagements. (Even if you are petrified, go ahead. You’ll either die of fright or get better at it!) J

3. Write more than one book. Several titles give credibility to an author and make a table display more impressive.

4. Watch for and then walk through every door of opportunity. For example, I now do professional development seminars for teachers. As a result, my books are being used as curriculum in Arkansas Public schools.

5. Develop a website (for ideas check out mine at www.nancydane.com ) and have business cards with the web address. Also I’ve sold books to old high school chums because of my 'Nancy Dane' Facebook page. Send me a friend invitation!

6. Let me say it again¾you can’t sit home and write and expect the books to sell themselves. Get out there and promote. Ultimately, the motto for success is lots of h-a-r-d w-o-r-k. The resulting sales are worth it. I now enjoy the thrill of great fan mail and readers clamoring for Book Three in my 'Tattered Glory' series...which, by the way, is now available here!

Tate Publishing and Tate Music Group - Guest Blog!

This summer is going to be Epic for Tate Publishing and Tate Music Group! I've invited Jonathan Robles, one of our TMG publicists and in-house social networking guru, to write the below guest blog today to explain...

If you haven’t heard by now, Tate Publishing and Tate Music Group are giving away a new Apple iPad this month to one of our Facebook fans or Twitter followers (full details are at http://www.tatemusicgroup.com). It’s just one of several prizes we’ll be giving away over the next few months. But there’s so much more going on!

With awesome prizes - great new book, e-book, and CD releases, new social media features, the launch of a new service for music artists, and several other exciting events - it’s going to be an “Epic Summer.” And we want you to be a part of it all!

Whether you’re a writer, a musician, or just a fan, this summer is going to be a great experience! And if you’re connected to us via Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, YouTube, and our blogs, that experience will be even greater!

Author updates, local book signings, music news, concerts in your area, video blogs, and free downloads—it will all be at your fingertips, thanks to new media and a growing presence on social networks. We want to talk to you. We want to hear from you.

This summer we’re starting a conversation - we’re building a community of artists, authors, and fans. Perhaps you had never heard of Tate Publishing or Tate Music Group until now. Well, take this opportunity to get to know us and we’ll try to do the same for you. Give us your feedback—we’ll listen. Interact with us. When you communicate with us through our social media sites, be assured that you are talking to real people—not computers.

Keeps your eyes peeled for some awesome announcements and great features over the next few weeks! (You might even win a cool new iPad in the process.) And get ready for Summer 2010...it’s going to be Epic.