Re: Author Earnings

**"* M* P* <m*@dargan.com>**

love this idea...I've tried to structure a " Grow WITH You" virtual program
of this, but have not launched it yet...the side garden is great food for
thought. It was for 2400sf...

I remember our meeting 10 years ago at GWA! YOU GO GIRL. too!!  xx

*Mary Palmer Dargan*, ASLA, APLD, CLARB
*America's Landscape Alchemist & Licensed Landscape Architect*
Celebrating Dargan Landscape Architects 40th year of serving and caring.

If you need help with your garden, please contact:
Please book my complimentary conversation
now<https://www.timetrade.com/book/4TJZG>

Dargan.com  404-354-1715 (cell) 404-231-3889 (office)
*NEW BOOK! *Lifelong Landscape Design <http://dargan.com/book>

<http://www.facebook.com/darganlandscape>
<http://twitter.com/mpdargan>
<http://linkedin.com/in/marypalmerdargan>
  <http://pinterest.com/marydargan/>
<https://www.youtube.com/user/GardeningWithPoppy>
  <http://dargan.com/blog>

On Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 11:09 AM, Betty Mackey <bettymackey@verizon.net>wrote:

> Dear Mary,
>
> You are an inspiration to me! I always remember you back in 2004 on a bus
> after my talk. You were excited at the possibilities. And look at
> everything you have done since then (an overnight success based on your
> decades of garden design experience)! You go, girl! You've helped many
> people improve their environments and lives.
>
> That is a great idea about connecting a book drawing to collecting email
> names and addresses at a talk.
>
> I misread that sentence for a moment and it gives me an idea -- you could
> do a real drawing of a plan for a side garden (for places where houses are
> not so far apart) that makes a little alley type of strip into something
> nice. It could be one page -- one side with the little plan and the other
> with some book and website info.
>
> Cheers and good wishes,
>
> Betty
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>  From: "Dargan, Mary Palmer" <mpdargan@dargan.com>
> To: Betty Mackey <bettymackey@verizon.net>; Garden Writers -- GWL -- The
> Garden Writers Forum <gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 10:59 AM
> Subject: Re: [GWL] Author Earnings
>
>
> Always a gold mine of information, Betty. Thank you!  I love the idea of a
> FB page per book. Am revamping our website also. The radio idea is great.
>
> I'll just add book drawing giveaways at lectures to collect future email
> names. They are already your ideal client and always seem to pop up in the
> most amazing places in the future, like on sales receipts of future books!
>
> This is a great thread.
>
>
>
>
>
> *Mary Palmer Dargan*, ASLA, APLD, CLARB
> *America's Landscape Alchemist & Licensed Landscape Architect*
> Celebrating Dargan Landscape Architects 40th year of serving and caring.
>
> If you need help with your garden, please contact:
> Please book my complimentary conversation
> now<https://www.timetrade.com/book/4TJZG>
>
> Dargan.com  404-354-1715404-354-1715 (cell) 404-231-3889404-231-3889
> (office)
> *NEW BOOK! *Lifelong Landscape Design <http://dargan.com/book>
>
> <http://www.facebook.com/darganlandscape>
> <http://twitter.com/mpdargan>
> <http://linkedin.com/in/marypalmerdargan>
>   <http://pinterest.com/marydargan/>
> <https://www.youtube.com/user/GardeningWithPoppy>
>   <http://dargan.com/blog>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 10:53 AM, Betty Mackey <bettymackey@verizon.net
> >wrote:
>
> > Ah, book marketing and author/publisher income.
> >
> > In my lengthy career in these areas, I have a few observations and
> > recommendations. If you do as well as I do, you will be far from rich but
> > maybe you'll be happy. It helps that I am naturally frugal. This forced
> me
> > to become adept at Photoshop and passable at other digital stuff.
> >
> >
> > 1. Get all the free publicity you can. Do a one-page press release and
> > email it to people who are likely to look at it. Give away review copies
> > freely and pay the postage. But beware of purchased ads. They never
> worked
> > well for me. Doug?
> >
> > 2. Doing an ebook has always helped my print sales of the same book.
> Every
> > now and then giving the Kindle edition away free for a day or two gives
> the
> > book's digital and its paper sales a boost for the next couple of weeks
> and
> > lifts it to a higher position in the lists. It has helped get Amazon
> > reviewer stars, too. Ebook picture books are the future now that so many
> > people read on pads. You can have all the color you want and at no extra
> > cost.
> >
> >
> > 3. If you do five books with so-so sales and then come up with a hit
> book,
> > it will soon outshine all the rest put together. So, only publish best
> > sellers (laugh here). Or just keep trying.
> >
> >
> > 4. Do all the marketing you can do. Radio is great and you can be on the
> > air from home. Guests should use landline phones if possible because they
> > are preferred by the interviewer. Direct mail sometimes works. One good
> > market found makes up for a lot of wasted mailing pieces. Email marketing
> > is often considered spam, but if you take the time to make it personal
> > rather than bulk, it can help. Either way, it is just hot air that does
> not
> > inflate the waste stream.
> >
> > For instance in December I emailed a press release tip sheet on using
> > citrus for the holiday with quotes from the author of a little book I
> > publish (Citrus). I meant to send out more than I did, but was very
> pleased
> > that many of those sent were picked up and used. I'm sure those who acted
> > on it were glad that the same info was not repeated everywhere else.
> >
> >
> > 5. Social media. I am not good at this but I really love Pinterest. Look
> > me up: http://www.pinterest.com/bbmackey/ . Twitter seems to require
> > constant tweeting and I will never start doing that even though I have
> over
> > a thousand followers. Whatever I say seems to get lost in the constant
> > river of tweets. Ask someone else about Facebook. I hear that having a
> > Facebook page for each book is good and does not intrude on one's
> personal
> > life.
> >
> > 6. Go to garden writer events and be friendly. Give out your book to
> > people with blogs and columns who want to take a look but don't force it
> on
> > them. Even an older book can still get reviewed if it is a good match
> with
> > a reviewer or a garden trend.
> >
> >
> > 7. Make a great website or update the one you have. I am reworking mine,
> > but not right this minute.
> >
> > Cheers, everyone,
> >
> >
> > Betty
> >
> > www.mackeybooks.com
> > betty@mackeybooks.com
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ________________________________
> >  From: Doug Green <gardeningemail@gmail.com>
> >
> > All the marketing data and stuff anybody needs is out on the Net or in
> > ebooks for sure - and much of it works for non-fiction as well as
> fiction.
> > I have a worksheet of to-do's that would choke that proverbial horse. :-)
> >
> > It's a great time to be a writer quite frankly. :-)
> >
> > Doug
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
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