Announcing Book Deals!

A Book Promotion Site for Readers of Christian Fiction and Nonfiction

Book Deals LogoIn March of this year I wrote:

There is the need for a site where authors can feature all works that honor and respect God and Christ, offer online chats with readers, stream live video events, feature video trailers and promotions, and publicize events. Imagine if Goodreads married Bookbub and their offspring produced a site similar in appearance to Amazon but without the commerce aspect. That is my vision.

This vision actually came to me last year. I’ve noodled on it for almost twelve months. I kept looking for someone to launch such a site. I certainly didn’t want to take on such a huge task. And yet here I am, attempting the impossible.

This link is a sneak peek of what I’m working on: https://bookdeals.app/

There is still work to be done, but in the weeks ahead we plan to roll out Book Deals with a soft launch. Our goal is one million subscribers. When we reach that goal, then upon a book’s release we should be able to push it to “best seller” status within days.

When I was at LPC our FREE Kindle newsletter ranked at the top of our promotion tools. It was free marketing for our authors and if the title was new to subscribers, the email blast always generated sales. Often it pulled in sales for other books by that author.

With BookDeals.app (and yes there will eventually be an app) should Amazon ever kick Bibles and Christian books from their site, there would still be a way to communicate new releases of Christian titles and general market titles written by Christian authors to the masses.

Later we hope to expand the offerings to audiobooks, Christian music – movies – TV shows. Not sell, but point to places where music, shows, movies can be purchased or streamed.

If you would like to know how you can help grow this area of God’s kingdom, email me.

 

Cost of Amazon Ads Keeps Increasing

Why Last Year's Marketing Strategies No Longer Works for Your Book

Cost of Amazon Ads Keeps Increasing

I recently informed several author clients that I no longer recommend Amazon ads. For almost ten years Amazon ads have been the best advertising investment, but now the ROI is upside down. You might spend a couple hundred dollars per month to earn fifty in royalties. It seems my gut instinct was correct. A recent article in MarketPlace Pulse confirms that too many ads are chasing too few clicks, thus increasing bid prices.

According to Marketplace Pulse research, the average cost-per-click (CPC) was $0.85 in 2020. It reached the lowest point of $0.70 in early May when the pandemic caused supply chain disruptions, resulting in some brands running out of stock and pulling back on advertising. However, it recovered by mid-September and then hit three distinctive peaks: Prime Day in October, Black Friday and Cyber Monday in November, and holiday shopping in December. After that, CPC settled at around $0.90 for most of Q1 2021.

My experience suggests Amazon ad pricing will only rise. As a way to combat the limitations Christian authors face, in the months ahead look for a new BookBub like site / app for Christian Readers. The ministry of Christian Devotions continues to work  in new ways to make books found.


Books I support—authors I trust.

A Mother's Song: A Story of the Orphan Train Enjoy Today Own Tomorrow Journal Sober Cycle: Pedaling Through Recovery One Day at a Time Deep End of the Lake RUSH BROKEN VESSELS: God's GLORY through FLAWED Humanity Rhinestones on My Flip-Flops  Land of My Dreams Labor to Leadership The Flight to Excellence Faith House: A Journey of Faith In Addiction Recovery Little White Squirrel's Secret

Rise of Mute Spirits

Is Cancel Culture of a Demonic Nature

“While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke.” Matthew 9:32–33

The term cancel culture gets banded about daily, but perhaps the movement to silence opposing points of view is of a more demonic nature.

The Supreme Court has ruled that incitement, defamation, fraud, obscenity, child pornography, fighting words, and threats are banned speech. “The Brandenburg test was the Supreme Court’s last major statement on what government may do about inflammatory speech that seeks to incite others to lawless action. The Brandenburg test remains the standard used for evaluating attempts by the government to punish inflammatory speech, and it has not been seriously challenged since it was laid down in 1969.” – Wikipedia

Recently, however, private companies have begun to forbid speech of a certain nature (God, Jesus, certain Bible verses) that falls outside the Brandenburg test. One of the leading monitors and censors of this is Amazon. In a recent push the company began censoring ads and books that promote the transforming power of Jesus Christ. In fact  “transforming” “transformation” and “conversion” appear to be words flagged in Amazon’s algorithm. Below is a screenshot from Amazon’s ad team.

The Assault of Unclean Mute spirits

 

The offending language in this ad is the claim that God can help those struggling with addiction and find healing–which is one of the reasons Christ came.

Find healing and hope regardless of your addiction. Allow God to invade those dark thoughts that condemn you. Begin your faith journey today.

Amazon cites the ad because it targets “customers based on certain personal characteristics.”

By this standard we might expect that ads for expectant mothers to be banned. Dealing with cancer? Sorry, no ads for cancer books. Feeling a little large around the waste? No ads for dieting books.

Except on Amazon you will find ads for dieting books, and cancer books, and pregnancy books. Clearly “customers based on certain personal characteristics” is not the real culprit. If not, what is?

I suggest the offending phrase is “Allow God.” I say this because I have faced the Amazon ad censors before. When I ran Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, Amazon randomly banned ads for Conversations With Jesus, a 365 day teen devotional. The approval or disapproval seemed to depend on who at Amazon read the ad that day. Amazon blocked other ads with the words “God” “Jesus” or which promoted the transforming power of Christ.

My point is not to bash Amazon. I have friends, believers in Christ, who work for Amazon. If not for Amazon, LPC would never have grown like it has. Amazon is a business. For authors and publishers, Amazon is like Rome. It makes the rules, enforces the rules, and banishes or destroys those who violate its rules.

But the day is coming, and I think soon, when Amazon will ban the Bible and all Christian content. Others claim Amazon earns too much money from Bible sales to ban it from their site. Except Amazon has already banned the Bible.

If you go to: amazon.cn and search for Bibles you will see a long list of Bibles from which to choose. This might lead you to think you can buy a Bible in China from Amazon. You cannot. Those inside China see a “no results” response to their search for the Bible. Amazon does not need the revenue from Bible and Christian book sales. Amazon needs happy customers and based on current cultural trends, most Amazon shoppers would gladly applaud Amazon for pulling Christian content from its U.S. site.

Christian authors need an alternative to Amazon, and I do not mean another store site. We need a site like Bookbub for Christian books, videos, audio, and all forms of Christian entertainment and educational material. Bookbub does not sell books; it provides information about a book and points visitors to online booksellers. This is my vision: that someone build a site like Bookbub for Christian authors.

Christian authors are represented on Bookbub but we are one small segment of their platform. Some have suggested Christian authors simply point to Christianbooks.com. Christianbooks.com carries a nice selection of titles, but their policy (according to my last correspondence with Spring Arbor distributors) is that Christianbooks.com only carries Christian content. If a Christian author writes a general market novel that does not offer a salvation message, the title is rejected. I applaud the work of Christianbooks.com, but its exclusivity would leave too many Christian authors without a way to make their books found.

Thus the need for a site where authors can feature all works that honor and respect God and Christ, offer online chats with readers, stream live video events, feature video trailers and promotions, and publicize events. Imagine if Goodreads married Bookbub and their offspring produced a site similar in appearance to Amazon but without the commerce aspect. That is my vision.

In March 70 AD God’s people thought the protection and peace they enjoyed would continue to last. The destruction that followed was one half of a prophetic warning from Christ. The rest of his warning remains for some date in the future. “There will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.” Matthew 24:21

For those who have their ears to the ground, we hear the distant thud-thud-thud of Romans soldiers approaching. Let us prepare while there is still time.

 

Find healing and hope regardless of your addiction. Allow God to invade those dark thoughts that condemn you. Begin your faith journey today.By the way the book Amazon refused to advertise is: Faith House: A Journey of Faith In Addiction Recovery. Nice book, nice author, and a believer trusting God for provision and sales.

Book Publishing News 06/16/17

Book Publishing News 06:16:17Want to Make a $100k as an Author?
8 Things Every Author Should Know

Last year Written Word Media conducted an extensive author survey to discover the strategies and tactics of successful authors. They focused on emerging authors and financially successful authors, isolating what the financially successful authors do differently than the emerging authors. This year WWM tweaked the survey to reflect changes in the publishing industry.

Last year WWM looked at authors earning over $5,000 per month vs. lower earning authors. This year, they compared authors making over $100,000 in a single year vs. authors who earn less than $500 / month from book sales.  Approximately 11% authors surveyed fell into the 100K bucket. Click here to read how these top authors make a living as full-time writers.

Thomas Nelson Launches New Imprint

Thomas Nelson recently introduced Emanate Books, its new charismatic Christian publishing imprint. The word “emanate” means, “something abstract, but perceptible, that spreads out from a source.” This new imprint will publish books that emanate God’s love to a hurting world. Emanate Books will bring twelve titles to market in its first year, beginning with “The Azusa Street Mission and Revival.” Read more.

HarperCollins Christian Gives Independent Christian Retailers a Boost

To support the successful health and growth of independent brick-and-mortar retailers in the Christian industry, HarperCollins Christian Publishing (HCCP) and The Parable Group have deepened their relationship in recent months giving retailers an added boost. Not only is HarperCollins Christian Publishing supporting nearly 90% of The Parable Group Summer Catalog (which celebrates “independents” and shopping local), HCCP also provided postage for stores to mail deeper into their customer list. All participating stores increased their catalog distribution, and 10 stores added the summer promotion due to HCCP’s generosity. Read more.

Digital Book World Reports an Increase in Audiobook Sales

  • “Twenty-four percent of Americans have completed at least one audiobook in the last year, a 22 percent increase over the prior year.”

  • There has been a jump in smartphone listening, up to 29 percent in 2017, as opposed to 22 percent in 2015.

  • Fifty-six percent of survey respondents said that when they listen to audiobooks, they’re not doing anything else, “just listening.” This finding seems to contradict not only the common assumption that audio fans listen while doing other things (driving, working out, dog walking), but also the APA’s own survey result in which 78 percent of respondents said they enjoy listening to audiobooks “because you can do other things while listening.”

  • When it comes to those who do multitask while listening to audiobooks, “A majority of audiobook listening is done at home (57 percent), with the car as the second most frequently cited location (32 percent).”

  • This year’s survey for the first time asked about voice-enabled devices such as Amazon’s Echo with the Alexa software and Google Home. Nineteen percent said they’d listened to an audiobook with one of these devices.

The report also cites podcasts’ popularity as a “gateway” to audiobook listenership.

Does Amazon Have a Fake Book Problem?

Indie author David Gaughran shares the latest analysis and effort to address bad actors in the Amazon system.

Free promotions are one of the perks of going exclusive with Amazon, and an incredibly powerful marketing tool. Free runs can provide significant exposure, which leads to a bump in Kindle Unlimited page reads a few days later. They can also be useful by boosting sell through in a series, or by generating mailing list sign-ups for future launches. As such, authors invest significant resources in free runs, and those places in the Top 20 are high-visibility spots – i.e. incredibly valuable real estate.

“But ebook thieves make a stolen book free for a few days, and then use a variety of banned methods to generate a huge and immediate surge in downloads – generally suspected to be bots or clickfarms or dummy accounts, or some combination thereof. These fake (stolen) ebooks then suddenly jump into the Top 20 of the free charts, displacing authors who have gone to considerable effort to put together an advertising campaign for their work.”

Read how this might impact your ebook’s sales.

Mary Keeley Leaves Books & Such Literary Management

Books & Such Literary Management announced Mary Keeley’s departure from publishing early today, June 5, 2017.  Keeley has been a part of the publishing industry for nineteen years. She began at Tyndale House Publishers where she worked for eight years, first as a product manager, then as an administrator, and finally as an acquisitions editor for nonfiction. Read more.

AWSA Announces Golden Scroll Award Finalists

AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association) announced their finalists for the 2017 Golden Scroll Awards for Publisher, Editor and Fiction Editor of the Year. The winners will be announced at the 2017 Golden Scroll Awards Banquet to be held Tuesday, June 27th from 11:00 to 2:00 p.m. at the Hilton Netherland Plaza Hotel in Cincinnati in conjunction with Unite the CBA Christian International Retail Show.

The Fiction Editor of the Year finalists are Ann Tatlock of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas (Heritage Beacon), Lisa McCaskill of Pelican Book Group (White Rose), and Katie Morford of Silver Fern Creative Services, LLC.

Non-Fiction Editor of the Year finalists are Hope Lyda of Harvest House Publishers, Steve Barclift of Kregel Publications and Deb Haggerty of Elk Lake Publishing.

Honored for outstanding ministry partnerships with their authors, the Golden Scroll Publisher of the Year finalists are Kregel Publications, Leafwood Publishers and Moody Publishers.

Amazon Will Be the Fifth Largest Bookstore Chain

A combination of bookstore attrition and its own startup efforts will make Amazon Books the fifth largest general bookstore chain in the U.S. based on the number of outlets.  Amazon Books has opened seven outlets with confirmed plans to open six more before the end of the year. Amazon Books’ growth comes amidst the steady decline in the number of bookstore chains. In 1991, there were 11 chains that had 13 or more outlets, with total outlets topping 3,000. In 2017, the top five chains had 1,076 outlets. Since 2011 store outlets have fallen by 32%. Read more.

Music Musings

  • Decline of music recording industry revenue per year for past 16 years: 4%
  • Growth of music recording industry revenue in 2016: 11%
  • Percentage of revenue from subscriptions and streaming in 2016: 50%+

Marketing Tips

  • How authors can best work with independent bookstores. A panel at BEA offered advice for both traditionally published and self-published authors. Read in Shelf Awareness.

  • Top book marketing takeaways from Book Expo. The folks at BookBub attended BookExpo and have summarized key findings helpful to authors. Read at their blog.

  • Why books are rejected for a BookBub featured deal. A couple of the reasons include poor cover and lack of wide distribution or availability. Other reasons include:

    • “We look at pricing history for the past 90 days, try raising that title’s price and resubmit in three months.”
    • “If multiple reviews mention typos, grammatical errors, that the book feels incomplete, or that the story ends in a huge unresolved cliffhanger, that will negatively impact a book’s chance of being selected.”
    • “The book doesn’t have enough reviews on retailer sites to make them competitive in their categories, nor do they have blurbs from publications or comparable authors. This will make a book less appealing to our readers, which means the submission is less likely to be accepted by the editors.”

    Read more at 9 Reasons a Book Was Rejected for a BookBub Featured Deal.

  • Also: BookBub now offers pre-order alerts. You can now pay BookBub to send a dedicated email to all of your BookBub followers. Only open right now to US authors with at least 1,000 followers. Learn more here.

Book Publishing News 03/03/17

the Big Boys are coming after the IndiesPenguin Random House Sales Decline Almost 10 Percent in 2016

Recently the biggest of the Big Five publishers, Penguin Random House, reported that sales dropped 9.6 percent in 2016. The decline is directly related to the drop in ebook sales in 2016.

According to their annual report, the company plans to employ a “differentiated pricing” strategy. This may mean Penguin Random House could begin to compete with small presses and Indie authors in the “low price” Kindle ebook market.  At the very least, it sounds like the Big Boys are coming after the Indies. Time will tell if the “Biggest of the Big Five” can adapt to the shifting landscape of the ebook market.

Barnes & Noble Continues to Close Stores;
Amazon Continues to Open Stores

“Last week, Amazon opened a store in Chicago, Illinois, its first physical bookstore not in a coastal city, and the second of the seven it plans to open this calendar year. Meanwhile, Barnes & Noble plans to open four new stores and close 12 by April 30, according to David Deason, vice president of development. It already closed the only general-interest bookstore in the New York City borough of the Bronx. Last fiscal year the company closed eight locations.” Read the full article.

Amazon Announces Its Influencer Program

The Amazon Influencer Program is exclusively designed for social media influencers with large followings and a high frequency of posts with shoppable content. An intuitive vanity URL makes it easy for customers to find, browse and buy the products introduced to them through social media influencers. The program allows influencers to earn fees for purchases they drive through their social media platforms. This program is currently in beta mode and open by invitation only.” ~ Amazon

If you are a social media influencer interested in joining Amazon’s Influencer Program, click to apply.

 

Tips for Marketing Your Book

 

Readers are Leaders, Buy a Boy a Book

Dead Calm, Bone Dry Curse of the Black Avenger