Select Case Studies
Please consider Author Planet® if you seek a high level of expertise and integrity in:
strategic planning – author branding – social media marketing – brilliant author websites – project management writing – developmental editing
We would love to chat about your project.
We Positioned Practical Nonfiction to Stand Out in a Competitive Marketplace
Our client pioneered a health-related program for children, and, through her international speaking engagements, classes for professionals, and clinical work, had become renowned worldwide. In fact, she became so well-known that her programs and theories were already used in other books, written by people who had learned from her. She was in a position we have seen before: forced to compete with her own legacy. Our job: to come up with a book concept for her that would be a “category buster,” breaking through the competition to establish her publicly as the leader she already was among professionals. Get quote for similar project.
We Helped a Creative Genius Corral Ideas into a Salable Book
This client is an artist of international recognition and one of the most creative people on the planet. The challenge: to pull, from his hundreds of journals and never-stopping brainstorms, a book concept that: 1.) Remained true to his identity and personality, 2.) Contained an identifiable and marketable hook, and 3.) Could sell even in an enormously competitive marketplace. Our work: We coached the client through identifying the challenges and helped him find, within his own work, an ideal concept as well as content and structure (while maintaining his creative, fresh approach). We provided a practical plan to keep him on track in concept development. Additional tasks: managing Wikipedia page, coaching through updates of author website, development of corporate speaking plan to support new book concept, fleshing out concept into clear structure, pitch letter & sellable book proposal. Talk with us about similar projects.
We Ran an Amazon Review/Giveaway Campaign and Hit Number 1
Our self-published client needed a higher profile on Amazon. We devised and ran, through our own work and that of carefully selected subcontractors, a giveaway campaign that obtained more than 40,000 downloads of his ebook, the #2 Spot on the Kindle Free Book Bestseller list, and the #1 Spot on the Kindle Free Mystery/Thriller Bestseller list. His review count on Amazon quadrupled to more than 110, and the reviews continue to grow long after the promotion. Our campaign included: identification and personal emails to potential reviewers, editing and revising his brand on all social media, contracting with giveaway blogs, timing, running and promoting the campaign. Get estimate for your Amazon campaign.
We Provide Friendly and Authoritative On-Call Publishing Career Management
Our favorite work. No author is an island. Several clients rely on us to manage multiple aspects of their careers, from creating social media (Tweets and posts) to publication advice to editorial work and writing projects. Everything impacts everything else (the timing of a proposal submission is often contingent on the launch of a professional-looking website, for example.) We work either on a retainer or hourly basis and engage subcontractors where needed. Get coaching quote.
We Created and Ran an Email Opt-in Newsletter Campaign and Landed More than 1000 Subscribers, Fast
Our client needed to beef up his mailing list in anticipation of direct promotion for his next book. We worked with a subcontractor to increase traffic to all his social media platforms (with a focus on driving people to his email sign-up), helped him brand his website and blog to reflect his passion and engage a community with similar interests, designed his online newsletter, set up an automatic feed through Mailchimp, scheduled the newsletter and used it to promote a discount campaign. Current newsletter opt-in subscribers: more than 1,300. Newsletter campaign estimate here.
We Created and Ran a Targeted Social Media Campaign and Made our Client (Relatively) Famous
Our client, a highly credentialed public health advocate, had no experience with social media and little time to pursue it. But she wanted to jump in, so as to build the audience for her memoir, and establish her authority in her specialized field. Our mutual goal: quality followers with similar interests, with a focus on professionalism of her community (as opposed to raw numbers.) We worked with her to select the combination of social media venues most appropriate to her needs (get seen without getting overwhelmed). We set her up on Twitter, Facebook and Hootsuite, and researched and discovered others most likely to enhance her profile (and become real, supportive relationships for her). On a weekly basis, we draft rough tweets and, after her review, post on her behalf. We continually recommend new ways to exploit online opportunities. To anchor these efforts, we designed a carefully branded website for her, and include RSS feeds from other sites and many other thoughtful assets to make her site a destination. We keep this client and several others on predictable schedules so that social media is effective and isn’t a burden. Our results: In less than a year as a direct result of our social media efforts, has been invited to speak at two major conferences in her field, asked to contribute to two books, interviewed on TV and in local and national media, and developed professional relationships internationally. Get quote for social media marketing.
We Created and Ran a Pre-Publication Kickoff Contest Campaign & Got Hundreds of Opt-In Subscribers
This author faced an unusual problem. A huge mini series was set to air a year before his book—on the same topic—was scheduled for publication. He was featured in the show. We needed to capture the audience intrigued by the series, and reach them when the book was published. AuthorPlanet strategized and ran a successful pre-launch campaign. We built an exciting anchor landing page and promoted it through social media. We devised a contest to encourage exponential growth, and captured hundreds of dedicated, opt-in email subscribers eager to be notified when the book was published. Get pre-pub kickoff campaign quote.
We Developed Several Author Websites from the Ground Up. We Discovered, to Our Surprise, That We Really Enjoy this Work…Perhaps because Great Websites aren’t All that Different, Fundamentally, from Outstanding Book Proposals. Similar Branding and Writing Challenges; Different Media. And Websites have Little Birds and Thumb’s Up Signs.
Several clients have asked us to design, build and manage custom WordPress sites. Each site is a personal brochure, crafted carefully to tie in with the needs of the client. We worked with these clients from concept to creation. Their sites include RSS feeds, blogs, branding, social media and newsletter integration, and optimization. Our continual updating for these clients goes far beyond backups–we suggest and post new material weekly, and use analytics to recommend new elements most likely to keep the sites fresh and popular.
Get website estimate.
We Negotiated Hundreds of Book Contracts and Protected Our Clients’ Brands and Approvals
One example: our client had developed a successful online magazine and worked with us to craft both long and short-range publication and branding strategies. With these goals in mind, we provided both background advice and direct contract negotiation with a traditional publisher, enabling her to double her advance payment while identifying and protecting those publication rights key to her future career plans. Get quote for similar work.
We Managed our Client’s Campaign to Create a Whole New Thing Online
Our client, already well-known with a national following, wished to re-brand himself through a national campaign that engaged his current audience and encouraged them to become evangelists for his new project. We project-managed the entire process, working hand-in-hand with his existing production team, and developed an appealing, targeted, interactive website, blog and vlog, multiplied his social media presence, strategized nation-wide meet-ups and community events, helped him hone his message, identified and successfully recruited his most passionate followers, and strategized corporate sponsorship opportunities. Get quote.
We Developed and Planned a Nonprofit’s Book
Our client wished to increase the credibility and renown of her non-profit company. After extensive interviews, we suggested a long-term strategy, through which her nonprofit initially independently published and promoted a related book to garner both early financial benefits and market penetration, and later to use that penetration as a springboard to her ultimate goal of traditional publication. We researched, re-titled, re-structured, and branded her book concept for the popular market. We crafted a detailed proposal for her Board in which we outlined all the financials, timing, and personnel (including specific recommendations) she needed to write in order to promote, independently publish and distribute, and then traditionally publish the work. Get quote for corporate book project.
We Edit, Book Doctor, Critique, Analyze and Advise.
We are Very Good at This.
We provide many authors of fiction and nonfiction with honest assessments of their writing and thorough and thoughtful suggestions on how to improve. One of our recent clients termed our work: “A post-graduate course in writing.” Writing is always, at some level, branding: our editorial assessments are always in the context of the market for the book, the most viable path to publication for the writer, and the desires and expectations of the reader. Get estimate for similar work.
We Craft all Sorts of Short-Term Writing Projects
We have crafted or project managed author bios, press releases, Op Ed pieces, online newsletters, Wikipedia pages, and more for our clients. Get estimate.
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