Writing, Amazon.com, & Personal Branding Success in 2011

  • 2 min read

During 2011, it will become harder and harder to separate writing, Amazon.com, and personal branding success.

Many authors underestimate the number of marketing opportunities that Amazon.com offers those who are interested in building their personal brand.

Certainly, there are numerous other online and offline book retailers; chances are, your home is within a few miles of a well-stocked Borders or Barnes & Noble superstore.

Yet, building on the success of the Amazon.com Kindle during 2010, two recent events underscore the close connection between writing a book, Amazon.com, and personal branding success. These two events indicate that Amazon.com may become even more important to authors writing to build their brands during 2011.

1. A new guide to marketing on Amazon.com

For a long time, my two favorite books about marketing and promotion on Amazon.com have been:

Both are detailed, helpful, and informative, written from the point of view of experienced self-publishers. You certainly can’t go wrong with either or both.

Last week, however, I received a review copy of Dana Lynn Smith’s The Savvy Book Marketer’s How to Sell More Books on Amazon.com.

Dana’s book combines a concise, fresh treatment of book marketing resources on Amazon, plus more emphasis on Amazon’s top-selling Kindle e-book reader.

Dana begins by describing the various Amazon marketing options available to authors, providing tips for making the most of author profiles, reader reviews, and as well as options available to self-published authors.

In my favorite section, as she described in a recent guest post, Dana discusses how marketing Kindle books both resembles – and differs – from marketing printed books. She also provides specific examples of Kindle marketing, such as preparing preview pages.

(Note: the above are not affiliate links.)

2. Seth Godin’s Domino Project

 

More evidence of Amazon’s likely growing influence during 2011 comes from Seth Godin’s announcement last Wednesday of the 2011 launch of his Domino Project, powered by Amazon.com.

Seth Godin’s frustration with conventional book publishing is well known, although one of the most popular business and marketing book authors in the world (as a glance at Seth Godin’s Author Profile page on Amazon shows).

As a committed agent of marketing marketing change, Seth wants to reinvent book publishing, removing the barriers that conventional publishing put in the way of new authors interested in publishing books to build their brand.

Seth Godin’s Domino Project is committed to reinventing publishing, helping qualified individuals publish books to build their personal brands.

As you can see from the Domino Project’s Frequently Asked Questions, Seth’s  plan is to simultaneously publish paper, audio, and Kindle versions of books on an accelerated schedule. The Domino Project launches in January, 2011, and the first titles will be available in March.

Writing and personal branding in 2011

Obviously, Amazon.com has competitors and will always have competitors. Format, publisher, and retailer market shares will undoubtedly be changing for decades to come. The answer to Who will be on top? at the end of 2011 is irrelevant. What’s more important is whether or not you take advantage of the personal branding opportunities that Amazon.com is offering now, and will be offering during 2011. What’s your opinion? Have you experienced difficulties getting “conventionally” published? Do you own a Kindle? Do your friends or co-workers? More important, do you see a Kindle book helping you build your personal brand during 2011?

Author:

Roger C. Parker is a book coach who helps clients make right choices. He blogs about writing every weekday. His latest book #BOOK TITLE Tweet: 140 Bite-Sized Ideas for Compelling Article, Book, & Event Titles helps authors choose the right title to build their brand.

Trending around the web:
Picture of Roger Parker

Roger Parker

Roger C. Parker is an author, book coach, designer, consultant who works with authors, marketers, & business professionals to achieve success with brand-building writing & practical marketing strategy. He helps create successful marketing materials that look great & get results, and can turn any complex marketing or writing task into baby steps.

TRENDING AROUND THE WEB

The best communicators are not the most detailed but the most selective about which details their audience will use

The best communicators are not the most detailed but the most selective about which details their audience will use

Global English Editing
A study that tracked how couples split their time between texting, calls, and being in the same room found that face-to-face time — and, more surprisingly, even brief phone calls — predicted how understood a partner felt, while hours of texting moved satisfaction not at all

A study that tracked how couples split their time between texting, calls, and being in the same room found that face-to-face time — and, more surprisingly, even brief phone calls — predicted how understood a partner felt, while hours of texting moved satisfaction not at all

The Blog Herald
As AI-generated content floods search results and social feeds, a growing number of companies now exist just to certify that a human made the thing you’re looking at

As AI-generated content floods search results and social feeds, a growing number of companies now exist just to certify that a human made the thing you’re looking at

Global English Editing
Researchers asked people to reconnect with an old friend either by phone or by email, and the people who predicted the phone call would feel awkward were wrong — it left them significantly more connected than email did, with no extra awkwardness at all

Researchers asked people to reconnect with an old friend either by phone or by email, and the people who predicted the phone call would feel awkward were wrong — it left them significantly more connected than email did, with no extra awkwardness at all

The Blog Herald
People leaving a conversation with someone new consistently underestimate how much that person actually liked them, and the effect held up even when researchers followed college roommates for months after they first met

People leaving a conversation with someone new consistently underestimate how much that person actually liked them, and the effect held up even when researchers followed college roommates for months after they first met

The Blog Herald
Psychology says people who reach their 60s without a large circle of friends aren’t lonely — they’re the ones who figured out the one relationship truth that emotionally intelligent people swear by, which is that one person who truly sees you is worth more than a hundred people who only know your name

Psychology says people who reach their 60s without a large circle of friends aren’t lonely — they’re the ones who figured out the one relationship truth that emotionally intelligent people swear by, which is that one person who truly sees you is worth more than a hundred people who only know your name

The Blog Herald
Load more
CATEGORIES
Explore