Test Yourself – How Professional are You Publishing? Part 1

Questionnaire

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Just yesterday I wrote a short blog article about Charles Kaiser, mentioning several interesting books of this American Bestseller author, and even watched a video of one of his many interviews he had on national TV.  When I checked out his Amazon and his Goodreads pages however, I was shocked by the unprofessional appearances…

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But it is NOT his Fault!
His publisher, one of the largest in the world, one of the “Big Five” is responsible for this disaster.  They establish the author’s presence to the public, they have the login data, and won’t give their authors access.  However, most, if not all publishers – no exception if large or small trade publishers – need URGENTLY boot-camp-like training on how to build an author platform and how to market books in the 21st century. It was not the first time that I have seen such improper author pages. Hey Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House, Hachette Livre and HarperCollins: L.I.S.T.E.N…  Don’t embarrass your authors and their readers!

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Self-Publishing Authors Know Better.
In contrast, an hour later, I checked out the online presence of a bestselling self-publishing author with only two books so far and was surprised how professional and appealing her platform is.  She implemented just about every step and everything a perfect author presence needs.  There are dozens, maybe hundred small steps, many of them need just a minute to set up.  This was when I got the idea to set up this test / questionnaire.

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Are You Ready to Answer these Questions?
… and add up your “YES” answers at the end of this little test. Don’t worry, no one is seeing your answers, and how favourable you compare. The test needs to be split in two parts as there are so many test questions.  Today’s questions are regarding your author platform, and the next one will be about the publishing process and your sales efforts.  I think it’s a great way to see what you have already achieved – and where there is room for improvement. Ready? Here it goes:

  1. Do you have a well-defined “target-audience” for your book(s) YES / NO
  2. Do you sell your book on more than two online retailer sites YES / NO
  3. Do you post regularly (at least once a week) in your blog or your website YES / NO
  4. Did you count / make a list of all keywords in your manuscript YES / NO
  5. Do you use at least 3 links in each of your blog posts / web pages YES / NO
  6. Is your website / blog mobile-friendly created YES / NO
  7. Do you have an appealing “About the Author” page / Author Bio site YES / NO
  8. Do you have a sign-up form on your blog/website for an email newsletter YES / NO
  9. Do you have a sales page for each of your books on your website/blog YES / NO
  10. Did you include testimonials or review snippets from happy readers YES / NO
  11. Did you place Share and Follow buttons on your website/blog YES / NO
  12. Do you write regularly guest posts for “high-traffic” book blogs YES / NO
  13. Did you submit your blog to Blog Directories YES / NO
  14. Do you post regularly at Google+ reader/book-lover communities YES / NO
  15. Did you analyze your webpage speed scores with Gtmetrix.com YES / NO
  16. Do you use an attractive, professional author photo at all online sites YES / NO
  17. Do you have a free “about.me” website as virtual “business card” YES / NO
  18. Did you set up your Online Bookstore at your website YES / NO
  19. Did you create an Amazon author page for each country you sell books YES / NO
  20. Did you place editorial reviews to your Amazon sales page YES / NO
  21. Did you use the best-ranking keywords in Amazon’s categories YES / NO
  22. Do you have at least 2,000 followers on Google+, Twitter and GR YES / NO
  23. Do you post regularly blog articles on LinkedIn and Google+ YES / NO
  24. Did you contact at least 10 book reviewers last week / month YES / NO
  25. Did you find Beta Readers / Book Reviewers 3 months before launch YES / NO
  26. Do you ask your reviewers to place Amazon Reviews worldwide YES / NO
  27. Do you ask your readers at the end of the book for reviews YES / NO
  28. Do you place all your online sites / social media links in your book YES / NO
  29. Do you have an email newsletter signup in your ebooks YES / NO
  30. Do you use “Click-to-Tweet” in your books and your website YES / NO
  31. Do you network with book bloggers YES / NO
  32. Do you use social media scheduling site (Hootsuite, Futuretweet etc) YES / NO
  33. Did you create ONE sales link to ALL Amazon “countries” YES / NO
  34. Did you connect ALL your social media sites YES / NO
  35. Are you signed up in at least 10 online reader communities YES / NO
  36. Do you post your book events on free events at Goodreads, Google+ YES / NO
  37. Did you post a “pinned tweet” into your Twitter timeline YES / NO
  38. Did you “feed” your blog to your Goodreads page YES / NO

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How Many YES Answers did you Count?

These were questions, more related to your platform.  The next blog will contain “test” questions related to the publishing process. If you like to learn more about each one of these functions, just type the keyword into the search function on the right upper side of this post and get lots of info and tips through the articles that show up – or get our latest ebook:
111 TIPS ON HOW TO MARKET YOUR BOOK FOR FREE.

 

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