Essential marketing terms I've learned.

I thought I'd put together a few terms that I've come across regularly since I began marketing my YA series "The Chick friends rules". I'm sure there's tons more but these are the terms I've come in contact with most often.

ARC- Advanced Review Copy. Usually a free copy of your book sent to reviewers.

Bar code-That's the row of lines on the back of your book where they will place your ISBN# which will identify your book title.

Blog-Personal digital diary shared with the masses.

Blogger-The author of the personal digital diary that is essential for a word of mouth campaign.

Copyright - Protecting your property. Back in the 80's I would mail a copy of my books to myself as a cheap version of copyright protection. I also remember if I wanted to submit a book to the Library of Congress I had to get an application, print out a hard copy of my book usually at $0.2 per page, get a money order for the processing fee, carry the thick stack to the post office and pay hefty postage.Phwwww! Now I can go directly to the Library of Congress website and upload my book directly from my laptop for $35.00. The process takes 15-20 minutes. Now that's progress. Super simple, easy breezy. http://www.loc.gov/index.html

CPC- cost per click. If you decide to go the paid advertising route, you will see this term used often. It's what you're paying every time a potential customer clicks on your ad that takes them to your designated landing page. The typical rate can range anywhere from $0.15 per click to $0.45 per click. I usually don't go over $0.45


DRM- Digital Rights Management provides the software locks put on information distributed digitally to prevent unauthorised distribution. Every time I upload a book I'm asked if I want this feature. Hell yeah,I want it.

ePub - format used for B&N and others.

eKindle - format used for uploading to Creatspace.

Genre- where does your book fit. Mine is YA (Young Adult).

Giveaway- A necessary marketing tool. Giving your baby away for free.

ISBN- International Standard Book Number. It's your books birth certificate. Awww.You don't necessarily need one if you're going through Creatspace; they will provide you with one for free but it's only good for Createspace. But a batch of 10 isbn codes can be purchased as well from Bowker. http://www.isbn.org/standards/home/index.asp

Month-to-date sales unit- Tells you how many books you've sold within the month. I get butterflies every time I click on this link. But, lately...not bad. Sold 2 more ebook yesterday.

Review- Submitting your book to a reviewer and waiting for a analysis of your literary talent. It can be nerve wrecking.

Tags- keyword or term best used to describe your book. For example, my tags are usually; YA, teens, realistic fiction, social issues,peer pressure, sexual abuse.

URL destination- What website address you want your customers to be directed to. A quick copy and paste will do the trick for this one.

This is all I can come up with off the top of my head. Feel free to share more useful terms by leaving a comment.