Rating: 
Summary: Save Your Money
Review: ... I LOVED The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing by Tom and Marilyn Ross, and was very excited to read this volume...but was extremely disappointed. This book is a re-hash of information from the Guide to Self-Publishing, and much of it is contradictory ... What was most frustrating, though, were the constant ads for the authors' services. Every chapter (and almost every page) had a pitch for their editorial or marketing business. I'm sorry, but the Ross' would have benefited from a good editor. Invest your money in The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing. Also recommended: The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing by Tom and Marilyn Ross; 1001 Ways to Market Your Books by John Kremer ...
Rating:
Summary: Overwhelmed!
Review: As a new author, I've read every book I could find about book marketing. None compared with this one. It's fun to read, filled with informative sidebars, entertaining quotes, and amusing pictures. It's full of specific, valuable information, including phone numbers and websites. There's even a number -- and this was worth the price of the book -- to check your own and your competition's book sales over the past week, year-to-date, and over the past year. This book is a "must have" for any author or publisher.
Rating: 
Summary: Leap to Profitability and $ucce$$
Review: As the author of "Power Positioning: Advancing Yourself as THE Expert," I congratulate Marilyn and Tom Ross for writing the ultimate positioning book for authors and small publishers. "Jump Start Your Book Sales" delivers what it promises and . . . more! The authors explain primary principles, address key issues, share distinctive insights, and provide incomparable resources. Their knowledge, education and experience touch every page of this book and describe professional opportunities that could take years for a reader to discover independently. In particular, the many anecdotal inclusions epitomize what the real world of writing and publishing involves. I was also thrilled about the authors' technological approach to the business by including an extensive number of Internet addresses to serve authors and small publishers with their very specific needs. These run the FULL spectrum from getting assistance with grammar to booking a radio interview to selling book and related products in Asia. It was a thrill to read this book because each page delivers both substance and humanity to the reader. It is obvious that the authors had a genuine mission to help EACH reader excel in the world of writing and small publishing. With "Jump Start Your Book Sales" Marilyn and Tom Ross have set a new standard for this industry!
Rating:
Summary: Invaluable
Review: At first I was concerned that Jump Start Your Book Sales might be all fluff and no substance, filled with a lot of tips that I had already thought of.
Well, my concern was not justified. I had not gotten past page 10 before I realized I had better get out my pen and start taking notes. I was getting dozens of ideas and tips that were supercharging my own ideas about how to publish and market books. And this after going to some $1,000+ seminars on the same topic! So I'm not a complete newbie in this area.
The authors have been in publishing for over two decades. And I really got the impression that they were dedicated to putting down everything they have learned in this jewel of a book. They held nothing back. And I have gained a great deal from reading it.
Multiple areas, from selling your books to traditional bookstores, getting a distributor, to going off the beaten path and selling your books in non-traditional ways, including getting book in mail-order catalogs, and having a company use your book as a premium to help them sell a product or service. They do not just suggest that you check out these avenues. They tell you how to do it, and what to expect, including the price points and types of contracts that will be offered. Every chapter contains a host of resource material that gives you what you need to completely implement the plan yourself.
They also provide key insights on how to build the marketing of your book right at the very start when you are writing it. These were the points I found the most stimulating and helpful. The authors lives and breathe publishing, and it shows in the generous offering in Jump Start Your Book Sales. I will be re-reading my copy, that is for sure.
Rating:
Summary: One of the very best.
Review: By far one of the very best books on how to publish a book. The book's strength is clearly in its nuts and bolts marketing and publicity focus. In my judgment, the chapter covering how to write a book that will sell (which is in contrast to how to sell a book that is already written) is worth the cost of the book alone. Want evidence this book works? Then see my book, Optimal Investing (here on Amazon.com) - it was written and marketed using insights from the Ross' book.
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Summary: Practical, do-it-now suggestions for generating book sales
Review: I love this book! It's chock-full of practical, do-it-now ideas that can help authors and publishers activate book sales. As a soon-to-be published author, this book comes at just the right time to guide me through the sales and marketing process of book publishing. I'm excited to start implementing the Ross' wealth of suggestions right away! I'm sure I'll return to this guide again and again in the months ahead and highly recommend it to other new and established authors - as well as publishers.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book!
Review: If you are looking for a book filled with many ideas on how to sell more books-this is the book for you. Some of the ideas will cost money, others are basically cost-free to implement. Please note: The greatest method to improve you book sales (promotion) is YOUR imagination. You have to use your creativity. You have to improvise many of the ideas in this book to best suit your needs. So put on your thinking cap and get to work! The truth is, the greatest way to make your book a runaway best seller is by word of mouth. You have to create a great product, a book that people will LOVE. A book that they will love to tell their friends about. Once you have people talking, you don't need to do any more work-they will sell the book for you. Zev Saftlas, Author of Motivation That Works: How to Get Motivated and Stay Motivated
Rating:
Summary: The Single Best Book on the Subject
Review: It is impossible to read two pages of this book without finding a new angle, idea, or some hard, practical information about book marketing. As a newly-published author, I found the Ross's book to be my single most valuable marketing resource. I can't recommend the book enough.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific resource for increasing book sales!
Review: Jump Start Your Book Sales is a terrific resource for increasing book sales. It's not only filled with useful suggestions but websites to utilize and media contact addresses. The Rosses cover publicity, advertising, and other marketing strategies as well as dealing with bookstores and the media. Jump Start Your Book Sales is an essential book to any author wanting to sell more books.
Rating:
Summary: The Ross' wrote a boffo how-two book marketing guide!
Review: Marilyn and Tom Ross invite you to explore the real world of gorilla book marketing from pillar to post in both traditional and non-traditional markets. Suspend your disbelief and follow their sage advice. I guarantee you will find ideas you didn't think of. This book is definitely a keeper, your publicity Bible. For those of you who think your publisher is going to do all the things the Ross' suggest, think again. If you want your book to be a best seller, you've got to do the selling and the Rosses tell you how to go about it so it's not so bewildering. The best part, the Rosses give you enough information to make the suggestions your reality. Sometimes following good leaders is better than whacking through your own path--this is one of those times! Be daring, have fun, and sell, sell, sell, and never stop selling! Your books are your intellectual children, love them nurture them, and never, ever forget them for a minute! Blessings, Barbara Garro, MA, CPCU, author of "Grow Yourself a Life You'll Love."
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