PMA UNIVERSITY PREVIEW

Tap Into the Sales Track

by Sharon Castlen and Robin
Bartlett

Untapped markets abound for
most publishers, but finding them takes research and lots of time. Often, it’s
hard to decide where to begin. All that can change if you attend the 2007 PMA
University and take courses from the Sales Track. They’re designed to let you
explore a myriad of new sales and profit-making possibilities for your list.

Courses in the 2007 PMA University
Sales Track include:

·      Making
Bucks Outside the Bookstore. How
to sell more books, more profitably (two of the many tips: your buyers won’t
care whether a book is backlist or frontlist as long as it’s right for their
customers; and they will care about ROI, not just cost).

·      Advanced
Website Tricks to Pull More Traffic and Sell, Sell, Sell.<span
style=’font-size:11.0pt’> For instance, use colors that are right for your
audience—blue is professional; purple stimulates the creative mind; be
careful with red and yellow.

·      Meet
the Online Retailers: Discover the Opportunities.<span
style=’font-size:11.0pt’> Have you seen the figures that show online sales
rising when additional information is provided, and do you know the best ways
to provide content for Amazon and others?

Because dealing with Internet
retailers and search engines can seem overwhelming, PMA-U will offer an
opportunity to meet key players and learn firsthand how to use their programs
and make intelligent decisions about what is right for your list.
Representatives from Amazon, BookSense, and Barnes & Noble will be present
to answer your questions.

You’ll also discover
workshops—led by experts who are effectively working these
niches—on marketing children’s books (awards and blogs can be important
influences), African-American books (especially contemporary, history,
celebrity bio, self-help, and Christian titles), and books for the Hispanic and
Christian markets (which have their own ways of doing things).

And experts will share their
knowledge of the best ways to tap into the search engine maze and the most
efficient ways to use Google and Yahoo!

What about e-books? Is this
something you are interested in? If so, how do you get started? What strategies
work for your genre? Come and get answers to these questions and more.

With passion and many years of
experience, the Sales Track panel members are eager to explore do’s and don’ts
and help you take advantage of new sales opportunities.

Sharon Castlen of
Integrated Book Marketing is PMA University’s Sales Track organizer. Robin
Bartlett is its educational chair.