Name: Penny Sansevieri
Business name: Author Marketing Experts, Inc.
Book Title: How to Sell Books by the Truckload on Amazon
Website URL: www.amarketingexpert.com
Social Media Links: Twitter: bookgal – Facebook.com/bookmarketingAME – Pinterest.com/bookgalPenny – YouTube.com/bookmarketingAME
How did you come to do what you’re doing today?
Actually it’s kind of funny, or not. I got laid off actually twice. The first time when the CEO was terminated and they let go of all of his people, I went to another company and they shut down 2 months after I started. It seemed like the universe was trying to tell me something. I sort of call myself the accidental entrepreneur because I never set out to do this. I was sort of thrown into it. And you know, I always dreamed of being in the book world but never had the guts to go out on my own. Then I was shoved off of a cliff and here I am, 15 years later. It’s been amazing and despite my early roots in corporate America, I never looked back!
Can you describe a typical day in your life?
I’m generally up at 5am and at my desk shortly after that. It’s an insane schedule I know. I run a pr and marketing firm and use that early morning time to catch up on emails, write out my goals for the day and visit a few blogs. I get in a run around 7am, then it’s off to Starbucks for my shot in the arm and back to work till 7pm. My day is generally filled with calls with new authors or existing clients. Sometimes I will also teach a teleclass during the day which I love.
What do you most enjoy about what you do?
I love authors and I love working with creativity. At the end of the day, that’s what drives me. I love being part of the excitement of a book launch, or taking an author from obscurity to a place where they are starting to make tracks or, if they are really, really lucky, get on a bestseller list. It’s incredible to be a part of that journey and I’m grateful to be doing this work. I have this saying above my desk: do what you love and you’ll never work another day in your life. That’s my motto.
Are there any people and/or books that have inspired you along your journey?
Yes, a lot of people actually. But one in particular, a good friend of mine who took me out the night I got laid off for the 2nd time. She insisted I meet her, though I was all about having my own pity party. I had met her when she hired me for a job, years before. Anyway she sat me down, gave me a glass of wine and said: You’re better than this, you were never meant to play in corporate America. And I realized, she was right. The next day I opened my business.
You’ve been working a lot with Amazon’s algorithms, as well as keywords and ranking on the site. Can you talk a little bit about what you’ve discovered, and how it relates to authors from a marketing perspective?
So I think the biggest take-away from Amazon that authors need to know is that it’s a search engine, just like Google. When you start to think of Amazon like a search engine, then you realize that things like keywords and categories are not only important, but mandatory for search. And here’s a big discovery I made: when it comes to keywords authors often think of one keyword. So, for example, “business” or “social media” but the thing is, consumers don’t search that so adding single keywords to your book on Amazon does not make sense and it will not help you come up in search. Instead, consider keyword strings like: business and marketing plan or business and social media promotion. When I put my book: How to Sell Books by the Truckload on Amazon onto the site, I added keywords like: sell more books on Amazon and similar strings like that. If that’s the only change you make to your Amazon listing, I promise you’ll start to see a change in your ranking.
Can you share something that people may be surprised to learn about you?
I also write fiction! A lot of folks don’t associate me with fiction writing but I do and I love it.
What’s next for you?
Well I just released my latest book – the update to my Amazon book and I’m finishing up a re-issue of Red Hot Internet Publicity!
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I love, love these interviews – thanks for inviting me to do this!
