What next...

[MikeBoxwell]

I've written a book called The Solar Electricity Handbook and started marketing it. As everyone knows, 50% of all marketing effort is wasted, but nobody knows which 50%.

Here is what I have done so far:

Distribution
The book is now being distributed in the United Kingdom, Ireland, United States and Canada. Amazon are holding stock in the UK and US, and Gardners Books - one of the biggest book distributors in the UK are also holding stock.

Getting book shops to actually stock technical volumes is not easy, and so I have decided to ignore them for the moment: most technical books are sold online, so I have decided to focus on that market at the moment. When the book is selling well, the book shops will start stocking it anyway.

Online marketing
The web site has been developed, tested and put online. It has been optimised for Google and is starting to get ranked.

The book listing on Amazon has been improved, with more detailed description, the Search Inside facility, and additional photographs and images uploaded. One person has reviewed the book and given it five stars.

The book is uploaded in Google Books which means you can read the first 30 pages of the book online on the Google web site. You can read the first four chapters directly from my web site, so people who buy the book know what they are getting.

I'm on Twitter and have been twittering about the book and the web site. I have also been responding to other people's twitter posts and I'm trying to make sure I'm twittering useful information and comments, not just blatantly selling.

I've been posting on a number of DIY and eco-forums as well. However, I have been posting on some of these forums for months already and hopefully providing genuinely useful and interesting information and assistance where I can and not mentioning my book or web site until I've got a good reputation on the site.

I have contacted a number of people who blog on solar power and renewable energy and told them about the book, which is generating additional interest.

Magazines and Newspapers
I've written a basic press release and then modified it and optimised it for different countries and different target markets - including farmers, caravanners, boaters, builders, architects, DIY enthusiasts, environmental magazines, self-sufficiency magazines, gardeners and so on.

So far, I have contacted around 100 magazines, introducing myself with a short-and-sweet email, including my press release and all contact details, and offering to send a copy of the book for review if the magazine is interested.

For key magazines, I am telephoning first, introducing myself and asking for permission to send a press release. This seems to have been very successful and more often than not, I then get contacted by the journalist afterwards asking for a review copy of the book.

I have a few journalist contacts who have contacted me in the past about electric cars and I have been in touch with them about my new book. Several of them have asked for copies of the book for review.

Free Giveaways
I have given away a few copies of the book free to be used as competition prizes.

What Next
The contacting magazines and sending out press releases is ongoing - I've probably got another 100 magazines to get through over the next week to ten days.

After that, I'm not too sure what I should be doing next.

Has anyone got any ideas?

[Fuzzy]

You have done well so far , SEO, SEO, and SEO and maybe get a PR agency onboard. Lots of Luck

[PremierPDS]

Couldn't you try writing some blogs yourself which would also help SEO wise too!!!

[MikeBoxwell]

The problem with books is that there isn't a huge amount of money to be made at it - the book isn't a full time occupation - at the moment its additional income rather than a main income. But if I can make it successful, there could be lots of interesting spin-offs in the future, and if not, I'll make sure I have some fun along the way and learn some lessons which will help me in the future.

As a result, employing a PR agency is not really an option. I've had some PR training in the past which is helping me though, and the experience of talking to journalists and writing and sending out press releases is making me far better at that sort of thing. I've sent another 20 personalised emails out tonight to editors of magazines, mainly in the US and Canada.

SEO is always good and I've got some ideas of how I can improve in that direction. Of course, Google always takes a little time to start ranking a web site highly. In the meantime, I'm taking advantage of some Google adwords vouchers I have so that I can pay for adwords advertising to promote the site over the next month or so. I've set a limit of £2.50 a day and 15p per click and it is generating some leads.

Meanwhile, on the SEO side, my wife has identified some good keywords where there is high demand and little supply, so I'll be writing some content for another web site that she runs (www.efficientenergysaving.co.uk) that should help both her site and mine.

The blogs idea sounds good. I'll see what I can come up with there.

Offline, I've got a radio interview lined up on a US show next week, talking about solar power for electric cars. The show is also offering copies of my book in a phone-in competition.

I figure that if I keep doing what I'm already doing, I'm going to make a success of this. I've got some pretty high aspirations for the book - my aim is to make it the best selling book on solar electricity worldwide. Will I achieve that goal? Who knows. Ask me in one years time...

Meanwhile, if anyone else has some great ideas - please let me know! The more, the merrier!

[PremierPDS]

Keep plugging and plugging is my advice. You really don't sound like you're doing too badly and you're definitely not sitting on your backside waiting for 'it' to come to you. My son is a prime example of what chipping away can do...he's done a lot of what you're doing but at the tender of 18. He now has some major sponsors on board such as Boxfresh, Inov-8 and Puma and things have all of a sudden gone crazy. He's now struggling to keep up with things between photoshoots and filming for a Channel 4 documentary. All this has been achieved by just constantly emailing companies and a lot of determination. Keep going the way you're going and things will eventually break for you I'm sure!

[MikeBoxwell]

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement.

I have just checked on Amazon.co.uk and I am now the number one best selling book on solar power

Now I've got to make sure I get there for the US and Canadian sites...

[PremierPDS]

Hey well done!!! See, it's all beginning to pay off for you and proof that you're going about things the right way!!! A big thumbs up, lets hope it's the beginning of much bigger things to come!!!

[AboveParr]

Would it suit being sold directly to the public? If so try some of the online ethical products directories - I did some listings for an old client and they were quite straightforward (and mostly free)

[PremierPDS]

Have you tried getting manufacturers and retailers of solar panels etc to stock your book- their customers might find it very informative. Also, what about green/ environmental charities and organisations? Have you tried this yet? Maybe you could offer to do a talk or something and plug your book while you're there and could also bring in some good media attention!

[LOS Design UK]

I have just checked on Amazon.co.uk and I am now the number one best selling book on solar power
...

Out of how many?