Publishers Weekly has just published 2010 sales figures for top-selling children's books in hardcover, paperback and e-book format. Some trends to note: most of the best-sellers are either part of a series, or a licensed character/TV/movie tie-in. And the series are generally by established, name-brand authors. While this really isn't a surprise, it will be interesting to watch if more smaller publishers start doing series by lesser-known writers. It's clear that once readers find something they like, they want more of the same.

The positive take on these numbers is the sheer volume of the sales. We're talking millions and millions of books sold, for all ages, in a questionable economy. And if you look at the e-book best-sellers, they're often the same titles as on the print best-seller lists. More evidence, I think, that e-book sales don't take away from print, but just expand a book's audience.

Writers know the importance of outlining. A good book starts with a strong outline or plan. But do you know the importance of outlining your social media marketing?

Of course you have a website. You’re on Facebook, you tweet, you blog. You’re familiar with MySpace, YouTube, Tumblr, Linked In, and other social network sites. Do you have a plan to make your efforts work together toward your goal?

Unless you are one of those rare creatures who have never procrastinated or even been tempted to procrastinate important tasks, you’ll want to have specific time to reach the goals. Just as you break down writing a book into small steps, so you should break down your social media marketing plan into small steps.

A reasonable time frame to get a basic plan up and running is two to three months, depending upon how many elements you plan to implement. As you grow more familiar with the use of a marketing plan and develop a comprehensive career plan, you may want to take a more long-range view and create a plan for six months to a year or even more. Clearly, this is something you should start while you're writing your manuscript, in order to establish a social media presence. Once you've sold your book, you can instantly plug book promotion into your existing online platform. The following outline pertains to promoting a newly-published book, but many of the elements (such as creating a website and blog) can be started when the book is still a work-in-progress.

You’ll first want to identify your target audience. That’s obvious, you may say. I write for children so children are my audience. That’s great, as far as it goes. What about reaching your readers’ parents and/or teachers as well?

The number of social media outlets continues to grow. Use those with which you are most familiar and comfortable. As your skill and comfort level with these grow, you may want to add more.

Some of the most common social networks are:

LinkedIn

Tumblr

YouTube

Yahoo Groups

Twitter

MySpace

Blog Talk Radio

Facebook

Start with the basics. Is this your first foray into social media marketing? If so, you will probably want to begin with the basics to lay a strong foundation for future growth. Goals should define what your efforts will yield at the end of your chosen time frame.

Break them down. You know the goal-reaching routine. Break each goal down into a series of specific tasks. Have you ever watched the Bill Murray comedy What About Bob? Richard Dreyfuss, Bob’s psychiatrist, counsels him to break his goals down into baby steps. Apply this same advice to your social media marketing program. For example, if you want to increase your blog's presence by both offering to write guest posts for other blogs, and by scheduling guest writers on your blog (all in exchange for linking to each other's blog and promoting each other's books), you'll need to contact at least two to four other bloggers per week to meet your goal. Let’s look at how a sample eight-week plan would come together. If this seems like too much, spread it out over 12 weeks.

Week One:

- Create a series (three to five is reasonable) of 30-second videos previewing upcoming releases.

- If you haven’t joined Yahoo Groups allowing author promotion, do so. Search Yahoo Groups (http://groups.yahoo.com/) for keywords like author promotion, book reviews, children, author promo, novel excerpts, etc. Many Yahoo Groups have been established for readers to read excerpts, interviews, book reviews, and news of giveaways or contests hosted by authors for children.

- Look at your website.

o Determine if your website encourages reader participation. Does it need updating or to make it more easily navigable?

o If you have determined that it needs updating, design a new site, making certain you have included links to your other social media efforts.

- Blogging.

o Schedule guest blogs by other authors for your blog and link it to your updated website

o Blog on your own and other authors’ websites. Read more

 I know that many writers are concerned that eBooks and apps will lead to their work being downloaded and passed around without recompense. Fair enough. But then there's this, from musician Martin Atkins during a speech at the recently completed South By Southwest festival:  

"It's not a problem if 20,000 people 'illegally' download your music. It's a problem if they don't."

And this, from author Cory Doctorow:

I recently saw Neil Gaiman give a talk at which someone asked him how he felt about piracy of his books. He said, "Hands up in the audience if you discovered your favorite writer for free ­­ because someone loaned you a copy, or because someone gave it to you? Now, hands up if you found your favorite writer by walking into a store and plunking down cash." Overwhelmingly, the audience said that they'd discovered their favorite writers for free, on a loan or as a gift. When it comes to my favorite writers, there's no boundaries: I'll buy every book they publish, just to own it (sometimes I buy two or three, to give away to friends who must read those books). I pay to see them live. I buy t­shirts with their book­covers on them. I'm a customer for life.

The point? If you spend all your time worrying about people stealing your stuff, you'll probably succeed in preventing it. That's because you most likely wouldn't have spent enough time building an audience who would care enough to do it in the first place.

Loosen up. Build your tribe. Worry less.  Connect more.

In the latest chapter of big publishers' efforts to capitalize on e-book profits, HarperCollins started a new policy this week of limiting libraries' ability to loan out their e-books to 26 loans per title. At that point, libraries will have to re-license the Harper e-books for the next 26 loans. Librarians are outraged, saying the new policy will strain budgets and stifle the promotion of literacy. Two librarians have organized a Boycott HarperCollins website. Read all about the controversy here.

My initial reactions to the announcement, in no particular order, were:

• I understand Harper's desire to make money (it is a business, after all), and their rationale that hard copy library books wear out and need to be replaced — whereas e-books don't — could, I suppose, be argued. So why not a compromise? Why not let libraries license the e-book for 7 or 10 years, and then renew? When the license expires, librarians gauge how popular the e-book has been, and renew if there's still a demand for the title. Just like hardcover books.
• If I were a Harper author, I'd be incensed that my publisher was making it more difficult for libraries to carry a version of my book. (And if I were a Macmillan or Simon & Schuster author, I'd be really peeved, because according to the Publishers Weekly article, they don't license e-books to libraries at all.)
• Libraries are already forced to loan each e-book to only one patron at a time, just like hard copy books, and those e-books automatically expire after one set period. I learned this the hard way when I went to renew an e-book I was halfway through reading, and it had disappeared from my e-reader. I never got around to finishing the book.
• Isn't the goal of every publisher to build an audience for each book? Doesn't limiting access to certain editions of books limit the audience for all the books by that author? In other words, if I can easily check out the e-book version of Book One in a series and I like it, I'm more likely to check out (or buy!!) the hard copy version of Book 2 when it comes out.
• On a closely-related point, isn't the goal of every publisher to spread literacy and promote the written word? Shouldn't libraries be free to offer access to the written word to all their patrons, even those who are housebound and need to borrow books online? How about college students, who prefer to carry their research books on an e-reader instead of in a 50-pound backpack? Or the mother with three young children who just can't make it to the library on a snowy day, but wants new books to read to her kids?
• And finally, remember that libraries aren't asking for the e-books for free. They're paying for the license. And I'm willing to bet that they don't license an e-book unless they also have the hard copy of the same title on the shelves. So the author still gets royalties, and the publisher still makes money.

Publishing is changing, and the old way of doing business needs to change as well. As big publishers become less relevant in today's market, and authors are finding it easier to self-publish, I think it's unwise for publishers to limit the public's access to their authors' books. But that's my opinion. I'd like to know what you think.

Among the many reasons would-be authors give for packing it in and giving up their dream is "I'm too old".  Nice try, but it doesn't wash.  William Steig (Shrek, Pete's a Pizza and many, many other wonderful books) didn't launch a children's book career until he was 61.  Laura Ingalls Wilder didn't publish her "Little House on the Prairie" series until she was in her 50's.

Courtesy of the Huffington Post, here's a look at some more authors who got a late start – but finished big.

And then, allow us to destroy some of your other possible excuses for calling it a day.  Here's

Five Reasons Why You Can’t Be A Writer (And Why None Of Them Are True)

Keep writing, people!

As a writer, you know how important it is to study the market and read books that target the same audience as your manuscript. And the same applies if you're developing a children's book app. But if you've spent any time at the Apple store, you know that searching for and sorting through available children's book apps can be frustrating at best. Now Kirkus Reviews has come to the rescue. Kirkus is launching Discovery Engine in March, a free, web-based search tool that allows users to sort through children's apps based on various criteria, such as age, gender or subject. Designed for parents and teachers, this nifty search engine will make children's book writers and illustrators happy as well.

In the meantime, you can peruse Kirkus reviews of over 50 children's book apps on their web site.

Picture book author Lynne Marie has started My Word Playground, which she describes as a "children's writing & illustrating inspiration/promotion blog".  Each post features a writing prompt or tip from children's book authors, illustrators, or other book-related creative people. In addition to the prompt, the post highlights and promotes the creator's latest work.

She's looking for guest posts. The prompt/tip could be themed with your book topic. Or, instead of a prompt or tip you could share the story behind the story. You could touch upon plot, dialogue, scene, point of view, pacing, punctuation, characterization, genre, school visits, book trailers, promotion, jacket flaps, pitches, queries, theme – anything about which you feel you have something to offer.

In addition to the prompt or tip, Lynne needs a short accompanying blurb about you or your book, illustration or creative endeavor, as well as a .jpg of the cover/art to upload, an author photo .jpg and/or any website or blog links that you may have. You can email everything to: LynnePisano@aol.com
 
So visit My Word Playground to get inspired, then add your own contribution to the mix!

Hi, I'm Josh Jones; Jon & Laura  invited me to do a semi-regular column about the ebook world and how it pertains to children's book writers! Why me? A little over a year ago I founded ePub Bud (www.epubbud.com), a free online service for making, converting, publishing, and sharing ebooks for children. More recently I've also been working with Scribble Press, a real-world store in Santa Monica and New York City where children can make their own books. They're using ePub Bud software to make digital versions of the work kids make in their stores, and I'm basically their guy in charge of everything e. Before all this I founded DreamHost Web Hosting. I like programming and am sort of an "early-adopter" of nerdy gadgets. I had a US Robotics Palm Pilot back in 1997 and a Kindle whenever the first week was those came out. I had an HD DVD player when those came out. My dad had a Betamax.

In summary, I don't know why Jon picked me.

But here goes!

I started ePub Bud back in April 2010 because the advent of the iPad got me realizing we were at the cusp of a very interesting time in children's book publishing… the dawn of the mass-market, COLOR e-reader. The kindle had already paved the way for mass acceptance of ebooks, but it was a silly black-and-white affair with awkward little turn-the-page buttons and slow refresh rates. The iPad promised to be a larger, full-color, touchscreen device that EVERYBODY on the planet (and by planet I mean San Francisco) was going to own within two years. It practically screamed "children's ebooks!" to me.

To shut it up I started making ePub Bud, launching it April 12th, 10 days after the iPad. It's been tough being an early adapter in this arena, because the standards and devices are in constant flux. Early on I decided on the ePub file format to be the one I would use at ePub Bud. It wasn't just because of the catchy domain name it lent itself to either. Mostly because of the domain, yes. But it was a TEENSY bit because as far as I could tell, .epub was to books what .mp3 was to music. It was the open standard, it was the most flexible, and with the announcement that it was the only format the iPad's iBooks app would read, it was clearly to me the format of the future.

ePubs are funny, they're actually just a .zip file (renamed to .epub), with certain specific files inside. The files are just a table of contents along with the book content in the form of HTML web pages (plus any images, audio, and video files for those web pages)…. meaning a .epub is essentially just a zipped up website! And epub ebook readers are essentially zipped-up web page browsers! Read more

"Anything cliché such as ‘It was a dark and stormy night’ will turn me off.  I hate when a narrator or author addresses the reader (e.g., 'Gentle reader')."
        - Jennie Dunham, Dunham Literary

"I don't like an opening line that's 'My name is…,' introducing the narrator to the reader so blatantly. I might be prompted to groan before reading on a bit further to see if the narration gets any less stale. There are far better ways in Chapter 1 to establish an instant connection between narrator and reader. I’m also usually not a fan of prologues, preferring to find myself in the midst of a moving plot on page 1 rather than being kept outside of it, or eased into it."
        – Michelle Andelman, Lynn C. Franklin Associates

"1. Squinting into the sunlight with a hangover in a crime novel. Good grief — been done a million times. 2. A sci-fi novel that spends the first two pages describing the strange landscape. 3. A trite statement ("Get with the program" or "Houston, we have a problem" or "You go girl" or "Earth to Michael" or "Are we all on the same page?"), said by a weenie sales guy, usually in the opening paragraph. 4. A rape scene in a Christian novel, especially in the first chapter. 5. 'Years later, Monica would look back and laugh…' 6. "The [adjective] [adjective] sun rose in the [adjective] [adjective] sky, shedding its [adjective] light across the [adjective] [adjective] [adjective] land."
       - Chip MacGregor, MacGregor Literary

"Here are things I can't stand: Cliché openings in Fantasy can include an opening scene set in a battle (and my peeve is that I don't know any of the characters yet so why should I care about this battle) or with a pastoral scene where the protagonist is gathering herbs (I didn't realize how common this is).  Opening chapters where a main protagonist is in the middle of a bodily function (jerking off, vomiting, peeing, or what have you) is usually a firm NO right from the get-go. Gross.  Long prologues that often don't have anything to do with the story. So common in Fantasy again.  Opening scenes that are all dialogue without any context. I could probably go on…"
       - Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary

"I know this may sound obvious, but too much 'telling' vs. 'showing' in the first chapter is a definite warning sign for me – the first chapter should present a compelling scene, not a road map for the rest of the book. The goal is to make the reader curious about your characters, fill their heads with questions that must be answered, not fill them in on exactly where, when, who and how.  Don’t ever describe eye color either…"
        – Emily Sylvan Kim, Prospect Agency

"Characters that are moving around doing little things, but essentially nothing. Washing dishes & thinking, staring out the window & thinking, tying shoes, thinking … Authors often do this to transmit information, but the result is action in a literal sense but no real energy in a narrative sense. The best rule of thumb is always to start the story where the story starts."
        – Dan Lazar, Writers House

Do you believe that your job as a writer is to write a great book? If so, you’re half right. Do you believe that your job as a writer is to write a great book AND to market it to the best of your ability?

Congratulations! You’re on the right path.

Publishing has some dirty secrets. One of them is that nobody cares about you. A second is that nobody cares about your book.

Does this leave you depressed? It shouldn’t, because you can make people care. How?

At a recent writers’ conference, I was fortunate enough to meet Randy Ingermanson. Randy, a master of marketing and the author of Writing Fiction for Dummies, listed the false impressions or pipe dreams that sometimes keep writers from achieving their dreams:

False impression number one: My publisher will do it all.

• Publishers only market the winners.
• Your book won’t be a winner unless it gets marketed.
• That means you need to market your book yourself.
• Marketing your book means marketing YOU!
• To quote from the television show Monk, “It’s a jungle out there.”

False impression number two: My publicist will do it all.

• A publicist can only help you if you are publicizable. A publicist can help you become publicizable by asking:

1. How can you connect your novel to the news?
2. What’s your platform?
3. Who cares about what your novel is about? 

• Many authors face these questions only when it’s too late (after their book is published), so hiring a publicist turns out to be a waste of money.

False impression number three: Great writing will do it all.

• Best marketing is a great story.
• In some cases, that’s all it takes, but not always.
• Don’t depend on the brilliance of your prose to take care of your marketing needs.
• Be proactive.

False impression number four: Word of mouth will do it all.

• Word of mouth is best, but it doesn’t start on its own.
• You, the author, have to start a brush fire or a buzz.

False impression number five: My brand will do it all.

• Your brand is “what people think when they hear your name.
• Your brand is not your tagline or logo or picture.

Okay, we’ve talked about the pipe dreams or false impressions under which writers operate. What can we do to work in the real world?

My mother comes from Tennessee. Those from Tennessee don’t have ancestors, they have “people.” Upon meeting others, someone from Tennessee will ask, “Who are your people?”

So what does this have to do with writing?

Every writer needs people. Or a tribe. A tribe is a set of people who know who you are and who love your work. Your tribe is the people who know your brand and will work hard to spread the word about it.

Randy listed four channels of communication necessary if your tribe is to help you grow your brand:

• You must have a way to talk to your tribe.
• Your tribe must have a way to talk back to you.
• Your tribe wants to talk to other tribe members.
• Your tribe needs a way to talk to outsiders.

Tribe-based marketing is all about opening up these four channels of communication wider and wider. This does not happen all at once. It takes time and effort. Fortunately for today’s writers, technology makes it easier and quicker.

Now that we’ve discussed why having a tribe is so important, let’s talk about how to build a tribe.

• Post an article on your web site.
• Join an online community and post on the loop.
• Launch an e-zine.
• Create a podcast.
• Start a blog and post on other writers’ blogs.
• Build a set of lectures on the organization, craft, and marketing of writing.

Obviously you won’t be able to do all of these things at once. Start small, then build upon that beginning. Keep adding to your marketing efforts until you reach the level at which you feel comfortable and can keep up.

Jane McBride Choate is a Contributing Editor to Children's Book Insider, and an author. Her newest books include Bride Price and Eden's Garden from Avalon Romance.