If you are an author or planning to be, you should plan to write a book series, right from the start. There are multiple reasons why this makes sense. Here are five of the most important reasons to consider a series instead of a single title:

1. A book series builds your fame in the long term. While a single book can make you famous, a series of books builds your reputation over a longer period of time. Instead of being a “one hit wonder” you can become an established author.

Whether you’re writing fiction or non-fiction, when you write a book series it helps you build momentum. How many best-selling authors can you think of who only wrote one book? Very few. Because they recognize that each subsequent book is easier to write, easier to promote and more profitable.

2. A book series takes the pressure off of you to put everything into one book. Too many authors have taken too long to publish their book because they wanted to be sure they included everything ever needed in it. With a single book, you don’t have a way to follow up the information.

However, with a series of books you can add to the readers’ knowledge with subsequent books. This often makes the amount of information (or story) faster and easier to read, leaving them wanting more.

3. A book series lets you test your market and your marketing. Particularly with non-fiction, you can start with a basic level book and easily build momentum into the more complex information in later volumes.

This also lets your readers select the level that they are comfortable with. Most will start with the basics and build their skills as you write your books. Others will join mid-level. And still others will only choose the advanced levels of books.

Throughout the book series you will be testing different mechanisms for marketing, so that with each book you can refine your marketing. This allows you to spend your time and dollars in the most productive ways for your book market.

4. Your readers have more input in a series of books, particularly if you provide feedback mechanisms for them. In addition to the traditional book reviews you may offer live interaction via teleseminars, webinars and Google hangouts. Plus you can give them a comment form on your book site where they can ask questions and offer suggestions on an ongoing basis.

By involving your readers in the creation and direction of the series, you can more easily market your books – because they meet your market’s needs. Readers love feeling like they had a “say” in the next book!

5. A book series lets you cross-promote each of the books. At the end of each book offer a sample of the next book in the series, plus a list of all of the books in the series.

This is particularly easy in today’s digital publishing world. All you need to do is upload your original book with the added sample chapter. Current book owners will be notified of the updated version and subsequent buyers will automatically get the new version with the sample chapter.

Likewise, format the book series covers so that it’s clear they are part of a series. You can even number them if that fits your format. People enjoy collecting the full set.

Overall there are multiple reasons to write a series of books. In the long run it makes it easier for you, relieving the pressure of being perfect with your first book. At the same time, a series of books helps you build momentum and gives your readers time to contribute. Is it any wonder that you need to consider writing a series of books?

Dr. Jeanette Cates is the author of the Teach Online series of books. Start at the beginning with Teach Online: Design Your First Online Course

Traditionally you create an online course for a general audience, both for ease of production and for the largest possible market. For example, you may teach an online course on how to play the guitar.

But years of market research has shown that you can charge more for a course when it is aimed at a particular niche. So whereas your general guitar course may be a $47 course, the more specific courses may be $77.

This is possible because people want something that is taught specifically for them. The closer you come to providing information for specific niches, the more valuable the information is perceived to be.

Here are three things you can do to customize your online course for a more specific niche.

1. Re-title the course to include the niche. For example, Beginning Guitar becomes

• First Lessons On Guitar For Seniors
• Advanced Guitar Techniques For Women
• Romantic Guitar For Lovers

Each of those titles makes it easy to determine whether or not this course is for the person considering registration.

2. Add customized information. One of the biggest reasons course creators do not typically aim their course at multiple markets is that they think they have to redevelop all of the materials.

Instead of doing that, use your existing core course. Then add segments that are specific to the audience you have specified.

For example, in the guitar lessons for seniors, you may include a segment on

• exercises to loosen the fingers
• how to handle arthritis problems when playing the guitar, or
• adaptive devices that makes guitar playing easier.

Each of these lessons segments can be added to existing materials, eliminating the need to recreate the course from scratch while still maintaining the focus on the niche audience.

3. Reduce the size and focus of the course. Instead of teaching guitar, teach a subset of the full course that is everyone’s favorite. For example, 16 Songs You Can Play Tonight – Even If It’s Your First Day to Pick Up A Guitar.

While that title may seem a little long for a typical online course, it says exactly what they will learn. Plus, it’s designed to get the student playing quickly. For many would-be guitar players, this is all they want to know.

When you provide these short courses, aimed at a single and specific outcome, you create a way for people to experience your teaching style, as well as get an immediate result. These short courses become lead generators to get students into your longer courses.

Since these short courses are merely parts of your full courses, it’s easy to separate them. Other than creating a new introduction and retitling them, they do not require any additional work on your part.

These three techniques – retitling, expanding, and reducing – can turn your existing online course into multiple courses for multiple audiences. Start today to look for ways to refocus your online course for multiple audiences – and increase your profits.

Don’t have your own online course yet? Start today with the best-selling book from Dr. Jeanette Cates – Teach Online: Design Your First Online Course.

If you’ve bought a book from Amazon, you’ve probably had the author ask you to post a review of the book. While you might not think much about the request, the author is focused on getting good reviews.

There are a variety of reasons that book reviews are important on Amazon, but here are the eight most important ones from an author’s perspective.

1. A book review helps other readers determine whether or not the book is for them. Nothing is worse that someone who already knows a lot about a topic buying a book, then discovering it’s for beginners. Or vice versa.

While authors generally try to explain who the book is for, a good review can reinforce that point more effectively.

2. A well-written review points out the things to look for in the book. Since you often highlight your favorite portions of the book in your review, it makes it easy for other readers to look forward to that section. It also helps highlight the content that is most relevant to readers – and that provides valuable feedback to the author for their next book.

3. One review encourages the next review. Not everyone wants to be the first reviewer, so you are doing a great service by being the first person to write a book review. Once you’ve gotten the reviews rolling, one review leads to another, with reviewers often piggy-backing comments, responding to others’ comments.

Also note that you don’t have to write a review in order to comment on a review. You can join the conversation about a book at any time.

4. The more positive reviews a book receives, the better it ranks. The better it ranks, the more people see it. The more they see it, the more likely they are to buy it. So by posting a positive book review you are helping the book move up the ranks for more exposure.

And a note about the star ranking – anything below 4 stars is considered “not recommended”, so it helps to be generous with your stars.

5. The simple act of “liking” a review helps boost that review up the list of reviews. As a result, the book reviews appear in the order of the most helpful first. Therefore, whether or not you write a review, take time to read and rate the reviews already posted.

6. Once a book has 10 reviews, it’s eligible to be included in the “also bought” listing, as well as the “you might like” recommendations. These listings, in turn, add to the number of sales the book is likely to receive.

7. After an unspecified number of positive reviews, a book can be included in the “Recommended For You” emails sent to individual Amazon readers. As with every other step of the review process, this adds significantly to the number of sales a book may receive.

8. Many book review sites will not consider a book for review unless they have a number of reviews on the Amazon book page.

With these eight items in mind, you’ll understand why book reviews are important and why an Amazon author is asking you to write a review on the books you buy.

Have you ever read a book that you really enjoyed? Did you tell your friends about it? That’s exactly what a book review is. You are sharing your thoughts about a book.

And like any opinion you offer, it has the advantage of not having to be right or wrong. It’s just your opinion.

Keep in mind that these tips are most appropriate for non-fiction books. While you can apply them to fiction, there are additional considerations for a review of a fiction book.

Start with who you are talking to – your audience

You speak differently to your children than you do to your boss. The same goes for a book review. Deciding who you want to tell about the book makes a difference as to what you include and how you say it.

As you are thinking of what to say, picture the person you’re talking to. And just talk to them on paper as you write the review.

To make it easier write your review in a word processor or a text processor. Then you can just copy and paste it into the review box.

Decide what to include in a book review on Amazon

1. First you’ll choose the number of stars to give the book. Don’t agonize over this. Just choose the rating you think is appropriate.

2. Next you want a title or headline for your review. Again, don’t spend a lot of time on this. It can be as simple as “buy this book”, “best book on the topic”, “great information here”. If in doubt, look at some of the reviews on other books. But don’t stress on this step.

3. Now write the review. The easiest thing to include in the review is what your favorite idea or tip was. Pick it out (you can even refer to the chapter or page) and tell why you liked that item.

Next you may want to say who you think would most benefit from this book. Is it for beginners? Or is it more appropriate for someone with experience with this topic?

You can easily stop your review there. Most reviews are fairly short – under 250 words. But if you want additional ideas for what you could include in your review, think about these questions:

• How does this compare to other books you’ve read on the topic?
• Did the information you got from the book help you do something?
• Is there a quote from the book that will stick with you?
• Did you opinion or knowledge on the topic change as a result of reading the book?
• Was the author funny or entertaining?
• Did something surprise you?
• Are you looking forward to reading future books from this author?

Include negative feedback if needed

Since the book review is your opinion, you are just as correct to include negative comments as positive ones, particularly if they will help future readers who are considering buying this book. However, remember to keep the positive perspective, rather than lash out at the author.

Here are some sample phrases that you can use for negative comments in your review.

• While overall the book was good, I wish the author had…
• The book would have been better if…
• I don’t recommend this book for…
• I wish the author had included…

While you may have hesitated writing book reviews in the past, you will find that they become easier with each one you write. So the next time someone suggests you write a book review on Amazon, you’ll know exactly what to do. Remember you are just sharing your opinion with your fellow readers!

Jeanette’s Note: I am excited to be a part of the virtual book tour from my good friend D’vorah Lansky. D’vorah has a community for authors and is well-known and highly respected in her field. And naturally, as you will see in this article, she writes well! So enjoy – and be sure to check out her newest book!

by D’vorah Lansky, M.Ed.

I’d like to thank Jeanette for graciously hosting me, as a guest blogger, in celebration of the launch of my newest book, 21 Ways to Launch a Successful Virtual Book Tour

Social networking is a powerful way to grow your business, reach, readership, and sales. As an author, you want to become known for your area of expertise and as the go-to person for your topic. The purpose of social networking is not to constantly promote your book, but rather to be seen as someone who interacts and offers value to the community.

Social networking is a fantastic way to get the word out about your virtual book tour. One effective strategy is to create a Facebook page for your book or for you as an author. Set this up weeks or months before your virtual book tour, and ask for “likes” from your blog as well as from your Facebook friends.

By taking the time to set up your profile on several of the key networks, you will benefit in many ways. You will meet and connect with more people and become known as an authority on your topic. You will also gain exposure to people who are looking for speakers or people to interview, as they will have greater access to you. You will also benefit from additional links to your blog, as you are able to list links on your social networking profiles and post messages inviting people to read your latest blog post.

I have found that I get more responses when I share something interesting but not too personal. For example, when I’ve share about a great book I read or course that I took, people generally comment back and join in the conversation. I also find that when I share something humorous or moving I get the most responses.

In addition to Facebook, another popular social network is called GoodReads (GoodReads.com.) GoodReads is the largest social network for readers in the world. They launched in January, 2007 and have more than 17 million members who have added more than 550 million books and 23 million reviews! GoodReads’ mission is to get people excited about reading.

In addition to being a social network for readers, GoodReads is a social network for authors. Authors are able to set up an author page and add their books and biography. You can also participate in or create groups and discussions and create a book giveaway event. A book giveaway on GoodReads is where you set the dates of the giveaway and decide how many winners you are willing to send print copies of your book to. At the end of your giveaway contest, GoodReads randomly selects the winners, and provides you with a list of people who entered your contest. My favorite GoodReads story is when I saw a tweet come across Twitter where one of the winners of my book giveaway was sharing her excitement for my book and the fact that I personally signed the book before mailing it to her. If you’d like to see an example of an author page on GoodReads, you can visit my profile at: http://www.goodreads.com/dvorahlansky

These activities allow you to expand your reach and connect with new readers. What is your favorite social network, or social networking tip for growing your reach and your business relationships? Scroll down to share your thoughts.

This post is being written in honor of a virtual book tour celebrating the publication of my third print book. You can enjoy the festivities by joining us on the tour to 21 blogs, in honor of 21 Ways to Launch a Successful Virtual Book Tour. Scroll down to access the virtual book tour schedule as well as a link to the book on Amazon. Thank you and enjoy!

D’vorah Lansky, M.Ed., is the author of 21 Ways to Launch a Successful Virtual Book Tour. Visit her book blog and check out the full schedule for the virtual book tour, celebrating the launch of this exciting new book: www.VirtualBookTour21Ways.com

D’vorah offers virtual book tour workshops and courses for authors, entrepreneurs, and virtual professionals. She has taught hundreds of people, across the globe, how to conduct successful virtual book tours. You can purchase her newest book on Amazon at: 21 Ways to Launch a Successful Virtual Book Tour