Christian Authors: Optimize Your Blog With a Directory

UPDATED ON April 28, 2015:
Since publication of this article, I separated my blog writings:

• Flower and garden related blog is http://prayergardeners.blogspot.com/ and its directory is http://www.prayergardeners.com/blogspotindex.html
• Bible related blog is http://bible-discernments.blogspot.com/ and its directory is http://www.bible-discernments.com/blogs.html

Thank you for your understanding and patience. Tom

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From a book marketing perspective, I have come to understand the purpose of blogging: to interest new readers into the marketing funnel. There are other purposes, don't get me wrong, such as found in the advice given or the humor offered or the story told. But from a promotional standpoint, blogs do not create repeat sales but rather have the potential to generate new sales.

I have been blogging for 2½ years, averaging two blog entries per month. Blogging advocates suggest we should attempt to compose very frequent entries, approaching one per day. Well maybe, but I find it is very hard to develop good meaningful content with that frequency which would draw perspective buyers further into the marketing funnel.

One of the discouraging things I find about blogging is how the lesser articles are made much less obvious while promoting only the most popular. I can write a good article about some flower or add some Bible insight about some topic, but unless it is one of the most popular blogs, it will go virtually unnoticed.

In terms of the marketing funnel, an initial article may draw the person in but the hope is that you will retain them so that they visit other articles that you wrote, most of which are buried. What intrigues one will not have an impact on another.

Therefore, I decided to build an indexed directory of blog articles with the hope of retaining my readers. I placed this directory on my website; each item in the directory points to an article that appears either on my blog or somewhere on my website. The directory is indexed into seven categories: Chiasms in the Bible, Christian Walk, etc. Each of the categories is consistent with the labels that I established in Blogger.

The second step was to add a seven-line header to Blogger that points the reader to that directory. The first of the seven lines is identified below as "Index of Articles by Thomas B. Clarke."

To see this in action, try going to the teaching on Contentment. Then click on one of the six directory choices, listed as "Index of All Articles by Thomas B. Clarke." By clicking on "Chiasms in the Bible", you are directed to http://www.prayergardeners.com/blogspotindex.html#Chiasms. Hopefully if your interest is in chiasms, one of those article might pique your interest.

I have seen other attempts to add a directory to either Blogger or WorkPress, but I think this is more straight forward. One down side is that every time you create a new entry on your blog, you must now take the additional step of adding that to your indexed directory. However, if you develop this approach, you should have greater retention of your blog readers.

Bon voyage, Tom

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For other articles about self-publishing in this series, see:
Index of Self-Publishing Articles by Thomas B. Clarke

Writing Career: Retiring With a Purpose

As I look out the window in front of me, a small and very still lake is quietly moving towards the outlet several miles away. Lily pads with balls of white flowers still remain on this fall day; the geese have left the lake for their morning travels; and a light mist which was over the lake since daybreak is slowly lifting. Tucked into a secluded portion of the Adirondacks in New York State, this retreat seems the perfect place to begin my retirement.

My wife and I arrived here on Saturday; it is now five days later and I have just finished some final work for my employer of twelve years. The remainder of this month will be paid vacation. Next month I start collecting Social Security retirement.

The Failing Social Security System
In a sense, I am very content with knowing that I will receive Social Security. I paid into that system and now I can start receiving that benefit. By withdrawing money from my 401-K and other investments, I should be able to keep the same standard of living that I maintained while I was working. All this is good.

My body is healthy and my mind is still reasonably sharp (ask my wife about that: "Where did I put the xxx?"), so I should be able to continue to contribute in some way. For me, I intend to be a full time self-published Christian author. That will be my contribution or if you will my purpose.

I can certainly see where there is a temptation for newly retired people to seek a new lifestyle: some form of volunteer work, the projects around the home that have been left for many years, the development of relationships with other seniors, the yearning to tell others about Jesus, and of course the enjoyment of our grandchildren.

If there was less money available in the Social Security system, as there will be for those who are younger, more may be required. Rather than transitioning from full-time work to full retirement, it may be necessary to work on a part-time basis. WHAT'S WRONG WITH THAT? Most of us that are newly retired can still contribute in some way. As our bodies and minds continue to break down, this will become less and less feasible. Eventually that would mean full retirement, but it is not necessary at the normal retirement age.

Not all people are well-suited for self-employment; it takes a certain entrepreneurial spirit to be able to succeed at that. On the other hand, our society must adjust to having small jobs that men and women in semi-retirement can move to. These would be potentially less stressful as well as lower paying jobs. Yet they could provide the necessary income to counter the reduced Social Security payments.

Most importantly, semi-retired and retired people need a purpose. While employed in some way, our contribution was our purpose. Without a purpose, depression and physical illnesses can develop. By being active, we get to fulfill our reason for being here.

Most importantly, we should be asking God at this stage, "What do you want me to do?" His purpose, whether it is writing or telling Bible stories to our grandchildren, should become our reason for being here.

Therefore, the failing Social Security system is not something to be feared or to make us apprehensive. Rather it is an opportunity to help us fulfill God's purpose in our lives.

Christian Authors: Remarketing with Google AdWords

Remarketing with Google AdWords

Have you noticed graphical ads suddenly appearing from companies where you have either done business or considered doing business? I recently ordered some products from Land's End using their web interface; suddenly their ads started popping up in various locations throughout the internet. Another example is Budget Inn where I was doing a price comparison of alternative motels – ultimately I chose another motel. However, for several months I was seeing Budget Inn advertisements. Why? Remarketing.

I didn't click on these ads because I did not have a need at the time. However, they left an impression. Many marketing studies have shown that familiarization often leads to purchase decisions, where a single presentation gets far fewer sales.

In the last two weeks, I began promoting my book, Joshua's Spiritual Warfare, to those that have previously visited one of my webpages. By using Google AdWords, there have been nearly 1400 presentations of one of my four graphical ads, such as:

To get to this point, I developed a series of webpages that attracted many new visitors each day. Once the webpages were tuned for marketing, I was able to begin the remarketing effort. What follows is a description of that process.

Organic web pages
Soon after publishing this book, I realized I needed a way to get people to know about it. Placing my book on Amazon and other retail sites was inadequate, as were the several webpages that I developed that presented content of the book. I needed a way to get people to discover my site. The way I did that was to write a compelling webpage that described something that is not very well known: chiasms in the Bible.

Perhaps you have never heard about chiasms. If that is you, I suggest that you open another tab on your browser and then perform a search on "What is a chiasm?" or possibly "define chiasm". You should see my article, What is a chiasm? Definition and explanation of the chiastic structure by www.bible-discernments.com. In many cases, when people search for information about chiasms or the chiastic structure, they will find my article at the top or near the top of the list of candidate page.

The What is a chiasm? article is an example of an organic webpage. I did not pay anyone to put it on the search engine's first page; it got there through a long process of editing and re-editing so that the article would be both informative and compelling. The average person spends nearly five minutes reading the content; there are five hundred new visitors each month.

Focus on marketing
I had a problem, however. The large number of visitors did not translate to a large number of sales. They got there because someone mentioned chiasms or the chiastic structure in something they read or heard, and they did some research to understand this topic. I suspect some people may have felt either skeptical or exhausted after having read that article. There was no reason for them to continue to learn more.

Once I decided to try remarketing, I realized I had to change the emphasis of the article from information to marketing. I needed to keep the article compelling so that people would stay engaged, but I needed to drive them towards other webpages. That meant revising the content so that people would clearly see the value of the chiastic approach: it would change the way they read the Bible. They also needed to understand my qualifications – very few people have written anything about chiasms in the Bible yet it opens a whole new understanding of the Scriptures.

I reviewed and modified as necessary nearly every single sentence in that article, added the information about myself and the book at the bottom of the article, and created a webpage where people can see other books about chiasms: Chiasm Bookstore - Recommended Books About Chiastic Structure. At the same time, I added the Google remarketing tags to my webpages so Google could begin to capture visitors.

Remarketing
I must admit that I found Google's information about remarketing to be challenging at times. You can read about it at Google Help on Remarketing. Google seems to be continuously learning how to make their product better, which means they are better positioned to provide details about their system.

On August 14th, after achieving the 100-visitor minimum for remarketing, I turned it on. In the last two weeks, there have been almost 1400 presentations of one or more of my graphical ads to those that visited one of my webpages. My cost has been $6.84 during this period as 5 people clicked on one of my four ads.

Monitoring the process
I have noticed an increase in the number of returning visitors to my website over this two-week period, but it is too early to be conclusive about that. Yet there have not been any sales during this period! I daily check the statistics, noting how any changes that I make are reflected in the ads responsiveness.

I need to continually refine my use of this system as I know I have just scratched on the surface. And I realize Google will make their product even better and provide more tools to help target the correct population.

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For other articles about self-publishing in this series, see:
Index of Self-Publishing Articles by Thomas B. Clarke

Overcoming Self-Condemnation

These days it seems that many Christians are living in a world of inadequacy – inadequacy with themselves because of their own personal failures. As I was writing one of the workbooks in the Proverbs Untangled series, I received the following direction from the Lord regarding this sense of guilt and shame. If that is you, then dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I pray that you take this word from the Lord seriously.

I think we can all agree that Jesus Christ was the only perfect man to walk this earth. Let's say that His perfection is 100%.

According to Matthew 9:13, did Jesus come for the imperfect or the perfect? If we perceive ourselves as incapable of sinning or making mistakes, where is our need for Jesus? Or more to the point, if we are constantly striving to be that 100% but failing, where is our need for Jesus?

If we are operating at something less that 100%, say 80% perfect, what does Romans 8:1 say about the remaining 20%? It says, "For there is now no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus."

Our sense of inadequacy says that we are focusing on that 20%, dwelling on each time we add another circumstance to that stumbling block. This sense of inadequacy says, "I could do it, I could achieve it, if I was only better at what I do."

Paul, after stating in Romans 7 that he continues to sin despite his efforts to achieve better, continues to that relieving word in Romans 8:1. Paul is stating that his 20% is covered by Christ; he is at 100%. His mistakes and sins do not lead to condemnation, for they have been forgiven and covered by grace.

If we are in Christ Jesus, we are now a finished work. We will continue to do things that we should not do, but to the glory of God, these are forgiven (John 3:17). Yes, we should continue to grow so that our 20% becomes less, but know that grace covers all.

If you are plagued by a sense of inadequacy, please know that you are 100% perfect in the eyes of Christ.

A Birthday Tribute to My Mom

Mom, this is a tribute to you.

Today, on your 91st birthday, I thought it appropriate to let the world know what a great mom you are. If only the world would listen!

Loie Clarke is not the average, run-of-the-mill, middle class traditional American mom, whoever that might be. Married in 1943 to your high school sweetheart Bruce Clarke, you have always kept an upbeat, positive approach to life. If you had problems with Dad, you kept them to yourself. I think it is fair to say that your rosy cheeks are an outward presentation of your inner self.

You were never a complainer; it was simply not part of your vocabulary. Complaining was just a total contradiction of that positive “can-do” personality. You have your opinions, sometimes very strong opinions, but those opinions were never presented in a critical way. In thinking back over the years, I gave you plenty to complain about, but you did your very best to present the best side of things.

How often I have told the story of how dad came home one day from the tennis court. The doctor had told him to start getting regular exercise because, as a man in his mid-forties, he was having too many health problems that were related to stress on the job. He took up tennis because he had played it frequently in his youth. Tennis was not your sport, knowing little more than which end of the racket to hold.

But tennis suddenly became your sport. Dad came home from the tennis court and announced to you that he and his partner had just won a match. Your inquiry set you into action, for dad confessed that his partner had been a much younger woman. That next day, you were on the tennis court and you never looked back.

To my knowledge, you never complained, you just took action. (I wouldn’t blame you if you really told him off, but that does not seem part of your nature).

You also have a very spunky side about you. You would not have represented the State of Minnesota in the National Senior Olympics Tennis Championships if you were not very determined. You encouraged Dad to go for the championships, and you and Dad both almost won – twice or was it three times?

I love this photograph of you dancing last year at Crysta's wedding. In a sense, it shows the type of encouragement that you spread, such as all the many girl's tennis teams you coached in the Minneapolis area. I’m quite certain that your upbeat and determined attitude was part of the many seasons of championship tennis.

Jini, my younger sister, and I are your only children. I can’t speak for Jini, but I can certainly compliment you on not meddling with our situations when we became adults. You seemed to very well know that, as difficult as things became between me and my first wife, that it would be contra-productive for you to try and make things right. The intervention of the mother-in-law would certainly not have been welcome, and you knew your limits. This is also consistent with your great aversion to conflict.

I got my love of flowers from you. As a child, I well remember how you planted the many bright salmon, yellow, orange, and red tuberous begonias in front of our house. Near them you planted many luscious pink, purple, violet, and coral impatiens that you watered daily. Now, as caretaker of the Gethsemane Prayer Garden, I can say that I first learned gardening from you, even if it was just from a distance.

Your spiritual walk over the last few years is the biggest reason for me to give you tribute. Dad was not a man without opinions, and his agnostic view of a Godless world was certainly a problem for a woman that had been baptized as a teenager. You honored his view as the head of the home, which kept you home on most Sunday mornings.

Towards the end of dad’s time here on earth, as he mellowed more and more, you started to explore what it means to be a Christian. Since he passed five years ago, you have blossomed in your faith. You are attending church services on a regular basis, going to Bible studies, teaching Bible lessons over the phone to a friend that is a Mason, and attempting to exhibit your Christian faith by your walk. As our Lord continues His work in you, may the fruits of your faith be more and more abundant!

There is much to be done in this world, for our focus must be on the Kingdom of God. I am so glad that you are part of this whole mystery of Jesus Christ that is now revealed.

Happy birthday Mom, I love you,
Tom

Christian Authors: Assessing Your Skills

After I graduated from college many years ago, I took a job as a math teacher at a middle school teaching inner city students. I did this, not because that was my training during college, but because it allowed me to avoid the Vietnam War. At the time, young men were being drafted to go to Vietnam, yet school teachers were exempt from the draft. I was not trained to be a teacher, but the school district thought I was qualified – I was not.

After a year of torturing the poor students, I took a job as a landscaper where the only thing I could torture was plants and my fellow workers. I learned a great deal in those two years, and that is the basis for my part-time work as the caretaker of my church's Gethsemane Prayer Garden.

I then started my professional career working for a small consulting engineering company in Syracuse. It had been a long winter with minimal income from unemployment, so I decided to pursue what I had been trained for in college: civil engineering. My first responsibilities were to climb down sanitary sewers during rainstorms so we could measure the depth of the liquid at the bottom of the sewer – and then write about it. Our purpose was to find out where the excess water was coming from.

Today I am in semi-retirement, working fewer hours as the director of the computer department at a smaller company, and spending more hours at home where I can write what I believe God has called me to write. My job climbing down sewers lasted four years and then I was moved to the accounting department where they had just purchased their first computer. Small beginnings.

Not all writers have the where-with-all to become independent self-publishers. For me, God has given me the skill as a computer programmer so that I can more easily handle the many nuances of this information age. The publishing industry is very different from that of writing, especially for fiction writers. If you find setting styles in Microsoft Word or writing your own HTML to be a challenge, possibly independent self-publishing is not for you.

With my previous books, I hired a person to design the cover and prepare the PDF for the printer. With my current series entitled Proverbs Untangled, I have chosen to design my own cover and prepare my own PDF. That means learning Adobe's Photoshop, hardly a product for the faint-at-heart. I also will have to learn Adobe's InDesign to help move the completed MS Word documents to a properly configured and better formatted PDF. I have much to learn about layout and I am excited to do so.

I am such a nit-picker about the aesthetics of the manuscript, and this too is essential as the reader will be able to quickly determine that something is wrong. I believe God gave me the nature to pursue quality in this manner, but I realize I need the eyes of others to help me see what I don't.

Understand that you will make many mistakes along the way as an independent self-publisher. Subsidy publishers rightfully earn their money by helping those with weaker computer skills, and for many this is really the only viable choice. Writing and publishing are viable for me because God has prepared me and I am now moving towards full retirement from my regular job.

I'm excited about where God is taking me and I remain open to hearing His voice of direction. He has enabled me with both the financial means and the fortitude to become a self-publisher. I was able to purchase Adobe's Creative Suite package which is quite costly. Now my goal is to get this series of books into the market for $50 each. We'll see. There are eBook versions and the inspiration to put it into multiple languages and alternate Bible translations. God knows the plan and I believe He will provide the way because He gave me the vision to pursue this.

That is the most important part of self-publishing. Is God really in this? If you have heard His voice of direction, what is stopping you?


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For other articles about self-publishing in this series, see:
Index of Self-Publishing Articles by Thomas B. Clarke

Why I Don't Market My Books to Bookstores

Return Policy

I was so surprised. An email came into my inbox stating that one of my books was being returned and I should expect it in the mail. The email was from Lightning Source, my printer. I knew this could happen but I did not expect it to really happen. Who would ever want to return A Garden of Love?

I presume that the return came from a bookstore that had special ordered the book, but apparently this was not what the customer wanted. OK, I can accept that.

At the end of the month, my financial statement came as a second surprise, or more like a shock. For this transaction, my account was debited the cost that the bookstore paid for the book (not my wholesale price), and I was charged a fee for redistributing the book back to me. The effect was I paid $1 less than full retail price on this transaction.

In this case, the book was returned in excellent condition, but that is not always true. Yesterday I met with a small publisher that told how a bookstore was regularly returning books that had obviously been read. In a short period of time, this bookstore had returned fifteen books. In order to avoid customer dissatisfaction, this store's policy was to accept returns from their customer regardless of the book's condition. The result was the publisher had fifteen new, slightly used, and obviously used books on his hand.

When a book is returned from the bookstore, three choices are possible: return it to the publisher which is what happened to me, shred it (I believe there is a shredding fee), or sell it to a company that remarkets used books. If it is sold to a remarketer, which means that your book ends up competing against your other new books on Amazon at a dramatically reduced price, or it gets sold to a bookstore to be displayed in the bargain book section. You would earn a little bit on remarketed books, but is it worth it?

Another option is to mark the book as non-returnable which means that once sold, the retailer is stuck with it. Sounds attractive, but that is not the way that the bookstore industry normally works. Most bookstores are struggling in today's economy as witnessed by the closing of Border's bookstores last year. They have a huge overhead in their payroll, building costs, and inventory. As a consequence, many bookstores are looking for 55% of the retail cost of each book to offset their expense stream.

I think it was in 2011, or maybe it was in 2010, where a major Christian bookstore chain decided to return all the books that were not moving quickly from their shelves. That meant that after their inventory was conducted across several hundred bookstores, boxes and boxes of books were returned to the publisher, shredded, or sold as used books by a remarketer. Bookstores typically look at a two-year window for most books, after which they are removed from the shelf and replaced with new titles that might stir the consumer's heart. In this case, that process was greatly accelerated.

As an independent self-publisher, I have to really ask myself, "Do I want to play that game?" Can I really afford to have boxes of books that I once thought were great sales now returned to me?

My solution, for now anyhow, is to mark all of my books returnable to me, but set the title to have a very low discount rate. My printer allows a 20% discount rate which means bookstores won't touch my books unless they are special orders. The question each Christian publisher must as is, "If God is really in this, what is the best marketing strategy that will exalt His name?"

For other articles about self-publishing in this series, see:
Index of Self-Publishing Articles by Thomas B. Clarke