I receive questions from authors and writers about using online newsletters for helping promote their writing and/or their book(s) on the blog or website.
I share some of the benefits for writers and authors to establish an online newsletter (aka ezine) as a marketing tool as part of their online promotional plan such as:
1) Offering articles about the genre of your writing
2) Sharing your writing process and systems you use while you are writing your book
3) Profiles of your characters
4) Articles about writing a book
This week while watching the half pipe (I think that is what it is called) at the Winter Olympics, I noticed some of the girls were either listening to their i-pods or texting (or tweeting) something on their phones. I thought, “They are in the midst of one of the biggest dreams of their careers and they are taking the time to send a text to someone or tweet something. Wow!”
I even saw on one of the new reality shows when a business owner got shafted by one of her clients, she mentioned she was going to post something on Facebook about this person. Even a bigger wow!
It really does go to show you the “power” of the social networks these days.
TWEETS-ACULAR for Writers and Authors
:
February 19th
@writerscoach tweeted about her blog post titled 5 Easy Ways to go from Unpublished Writer to Published Writer at @missyfrye Incurable Disease of Writing –>great advice about submitting your writing to article directory and small local publications to name a few.
@peggybechko tweeted about a post at Pick the Brain blog called 10 Writing Tips from Masters. –>Right from the top of the article it starts with a good one. Every time you are included to use the word “very”, replace it with the word “damn” and most likely you won’t mind taking it out of a sentence. Another one is about learning to “love” criticism. –>I know this was a bit hard for me to get used to when my editor started editing my writing. But quickly I learned it was for the betterment of my writing.
@merlynkevans tweeted via @thecreativepenn about how to become a Amazon Kindle Bestseller by @jakonrath. He shares his story about his ebooks he sells on Amazon Kindle. He even talks about a plant called Kudzu. –>Great story about how writers shouldn’t give up and sometimes it is about finding the right path for your writing.
I hope you have enjoyed this week’s Tweets-acular!
I have had some clients ask me this question. I answer with an absolute,”YES! if you want to be known for your writing and your book”. Now, there are always exceptions to the rule, however, that is not what I am talking about here.
And I am not sure if these days, this even holds true. I believe for 99% of business owners (and yes, as a writer or author you have a business), having a website is essential.
The follow up question from a writer may be, “Well, but I don’t have anything to sell (yet) so what would I have on the website?”
Here is my answer. “You can place information about your writing background. Your credentials. Examples of your writing. Of course, a picture of you is always nice. A page about you and your history. You can do an interview of questions for the media to pick up to discuss your book.
I would then follow up by saying, “Also, as a writer, you can add a blog to the site, where people can keep up on a consistent basis with your writing and about your upcoming book.”
Here is a statement that has been said many times and it is a very logical.
Most people don’t buy from people they don’t know. The only other time they may purchase from someone they don’t know, is when someone they DO know, recommends the other person’s product or service.
By setting up a website and a blog, you begin to establish an online presence which allows other people to get to know you during the time your are writing your book.
I would like to share with you about a website that helps authors and writers promote their work: BookBuzzr.
Below is an interview I did with them and I hope you enjoy learning more about their site.
1) Please tell my readers what is BookBuzzr?
BookBuzzr (www.bookbuzzr.com) is a new online book marketing technology that helps authors promote their books on their websites, blogs and social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn. Even at its simplest, the BookBuzzr flippable book cover replaces the old, static, book cover images that authors use on their websites, with a dynamic,page-flipping book format that will pique the curiosity of readers. Further, readers can read an excerpt of the book right there and then. You can see a sample of BookBuzzr below.
As a bonus, when you sign-up, you also get listed on fReado.com where readers can interact with you and with other readers. Further, you can link from fReado to your own author-site or blog thus helping your search engine rankings. Because fReado.com is optimized for search engines and because fReado.com is regularly crawled all over by the major search engines, the information about your book will soon be noticed and your pages should be listed in response to web searches.
2) I like the idea of Book Buzzr as a great marketing additional tool for authors. How easy is BookBuzzr to use?
If you can manage your Facebook page or Twitter account, then you can easily use BookBuzzr. It’s really easy and intuitive. Most users are able to get started in about 15 minutes.
3) Please share one or two tips for beginning writers.
The author is as important as the book and it’s important for the author to spread the story behind the book. It’s also important for authors to remember that they are (in the words of Seth Godin) “idea-merchants” who are in the business of selling ideas and not books. The more authors can spread their ideas, the greater the chance of selling their books. People can get much of the information contained in books online for free. People buy books because they are “souvenirs” and they have formed an emotional bond with the author’s idea. Marketing is about having conversations and the more avenues that authors can find for these conversations (Twitter, Facebook, Blogs), the better.
4) Please share with us a few of the writers you have showcased on BookBuzzr? There are so many books uploaded onto BookBuzzr that it is very difficult to make a call. Some of my personal favorites include:
- Free to Eat by Fiber Girl – a diet book releasing in January 2010 but available for preview on BookBuzzr – http://www.freado.com/book/3771/Free-to-Eat-the-Proven-Recipe-for-Permanent-Weight-Loss
- Uncommon Sense – a controversial poetry book by Chad Lilly – http://www.freado.com/book/4196/uncommon-sense
- Something to Think About – an inspirational collection of short essays, quotations and poetry by Pat Ballard (the Queen of Rubenesque Romances) – http://www.freado.com/book/4429/Something-to-Think-About-Reflections-on-Life-Family-Body-Image-Other-Weighty-Matters-by-the-Queen-of-Rubenesque-Romances
- Cook from Your Heart – a beautiful, coffee-table book on intuitive cooking and eating – http://www.freado.com/book/1352/Cook-from-Your-Heart-Recipes-for-Transformation
- Alternative Poetry – an easy to read book of poetry from Michele Brent – http://www.freado.com/book/4041/Alternative-Poetry-Books-Yellow-edition-Lite
- America’s Dumbest Doctors – a hilarious book by a medical professional recounting acts of doctors doing crazy things – http://www.freado.com/book/4440/Americas-Dumbest-Doctors-Ever-Wonder-About-Yours
5) What is your favorite success story about bookbuzzr?
There are several success stories with authors mentioning higher visibility, more interest in their books and of course, higher book-sales. A few days ago, we received a message from Philip Nork – Author of ‘Sensitivity 101 for the Heterosexual Male’ in which he says, (after using BookBuzzr) “I have had many e-mails from people who have gotten an e-mail from me asking about
the product. I love it and I am sure it has helped me sell many copies of my book Sensitivity 101 for the Heterosexual Male. Thanks for helping us llittle guys get started.”
Another success story is of Chetan Dhruve (Author of “Why Your Boss is Programmed to Be a Dictator.”) Chetan has received several positive comments on his book from distinguished academics and business leaders after they discovered his work on BookBuzzr. His book has also been receiving a surge in sales on Amazon UK and Amazon US as a result of the interest created
by BookBuzzr.
And finally, we’ve had poet, author and publisher Chad Lilly who wrote in to say, “In just over a month of using BookBuzzr, my books, ‘A Day in the Mind’ and ‘uncommon sense’ both climbed to record sales rankings on Amazon”
6) What things are coming up for Book Buzzr for the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010?
We’re lucky since our first version of the BookBuzzr Flippable Book Cover has been so very well received. Now our focus is on refining it and making it even more attractive for end-readers.
We’ve recently introduced a “Related Books” feature that present other books to reader when they complete reading a particular book-extract. This has dramatically improved the potential for new authors to get discovered on BookBuzzr. We’re now working on improving this important feature.
We’re also adding the capability into BookBuzzr to have the text on the pages of the book sample get indexed by Google. This means that users searching on Google will find results from within the book. This can help in book discovery for people who are searching for information on search engines.
7) Do you have any thoughts on using Twitter effectively?
We see Twitter as an excellent place to initiate relationships and build goodwill. Towards this end, we focus on giving useful information related to book-marketing to our followers on Twitter. The strategy has proven successful. We have over 8,000 followers and Twitter is one of our biggest sources of traffic. My colleague – Freya (@bookbuzzr) – manages much of our activity on Twitter.
Have you ever heard of Blog Carnivals? Perhaps you have heard of them but never taking the time OR found the time how to post your blog posts. Or maybe you didn’t understand how posting to a blog carnival can help you in the promotion or marketing of your book, event or products.
Blog Carnivals—what are they? Well, put simply, they are a list of blog posts under the umbrella of a specific topic or subject.
Blog Carnivals can be used as another method of marketing and promoting your work (books or writing). It allows a way for your showcase your expertise to be seen by new readers and audiences. Yo
You have the opportunity to showcase your blog posts on another site that will be targeted to your subject
of expertise.
How do you get started?
Go to Blog Carnival home page. Tip –> be sure to type in http://www.blogcarnival.com NOT http://www.blogcarnivals.com.
You will first see listed on the home page dome of the most recent blog carnivals (left side) and most popular blog carnivals (right side). You can also see some of the NEW blog carnival (listed in red).
On the left upper hand side you will see the register (sign up link). It is free and only takes about 3 minutes.
Once you register, you can go on the home page and start searching for blog carnivals.
In order to see the variety of blog carnivals available, go to the link at the upper right hand side where it states blog carnival indexso you are able to see the list.
Once at the list page, you are able to sort the list by different categories such as business, hobbies, or writing. There are several thousand blog carnivals and you want to find those which will be a good fit for your target market so using the categories feature is a great place to start to narrow the search.
Next, once you are in a category list such as writers, you are going to want to look for those blog carnivals that are most recent and most active. One of them in this category is Just Write.
What makes a good blog carnival to be a part of:
Let’s use the Just Write blog carnival as the example here. The reasons why it would be a good blog carnival to participate in is 1) It has a great track record. You know this by looking at the “past posts” tab on this page. You can see right away this blog carnival has been around consistently for about 3 years.
2) On each blog carnival edition (here is the March 13th edition) you can see there are several people who are participating.
To submit an article (blog post) to a blog carnival:
You have found a blog carnival you wish to participate in for the next edition. For instance, let’s say you have picked, Just Write blog carnival. Once on this page, you would click on the orange “submit this carnival button” on the upper right hand side. You will see the submit form where you will place in the url of the page link for the post you want to submit. Then hit enter and then you would place in your name (sometimes this get populated on you put in the url). Enter your email address–> This allows you to receive the notifications of the blog carnival posting. Some carnivals have category areas and you will wish to place your posting in the most relative category.
You are ready to submit!
5 Tips to Success with Blog Carnivals
1) Use the search and categories feature at the top of the home page to save time.
2) Research the most recent and most popular blog carnivals.
3) Remember your target market when posting to the blog carnivals.
4) If there are categories in the specific blog carnival, take the time to place your posting in the appropriate area.
5) Once you receive notification of the blog carnival, be sure to go and become active by commenting on a few other participant blogs.
As a journalist, I received countless press releases. It was easy to identify the professional press releases from the ones that were prepared by someone who wasn’t sure of what they were doing. The professional ones were quickly plucked out of the stack to become the fodder for news stories. The rest often went into the circular file (divided into days of the week) just in case someone was looking for a story idea or needed a last minute item for a newsbrief. There were even a few that were quietly put into a side pile very near the garbage can.
Because press releases serve a very valuable function inside a news room, they are your organization’s (or an entrepreneur’s) greatest tool. In many cases they are the first line of contact established between a journalist or editor and you. For that reason how they look and how they read matter – a lot!
Here are three tips to help you create a timely and effective press release:
1) A press release is a hook, not a book.
• Most journalists don’t have time to read more than a one page press release. Having to wade through more than that may neutralize a journalist’s interest in the topic.
• Double space the copy. Most press releases are four to seven paragraphs long. On occasion, the text (which should always be 12 pt) can be single (or 1.5) spaced with double space between paragraphs.
2) It needs to be easy to look at and easy to read.
• Avoid colorful inks and fancy fonts. Remember that journalists and editors receive many press releases a day. While a warm and fuzzy pink ink and curly script may make you feel warm, it may only frustrate the journalist who has to quickly scan the copy for content.
• Keep the language simple. It needs to be something that can be understood by anyone. If technical terms are necessary, italicize them and include a one to three word explanation of what the word means in parentheses.
3) Think of the press release as a mini-news story.
• Take a look at some of the news stories you’ve read and notice which were the most effective. Model your release after those.
• The opening paragraph needs to be succinct and compelling; it also needs to include basic details of location (including street address), time and date.
• Include a quote from someone related to the event or news issue. For example, if the press release is about a new book, then get a quote from a reviewer or an expert in the industry the book is written about how the book is helpful or relevant or how the author’s expertise makes him or her ideal author for such a book.
• Avoid claims to fame. Words like “magnificent” or phrases like “the best in the world” should not find their way into your press release. These are subjective and more appropriate for advertising venues. Remember: news stories are objective and claims need to be substantiated.
• The final paragraph should contain public contact information (phone, website) for those wanting to know more about the topic of the press release. Include other pertinent information, such as ticket cost, purchase price for book, etc.
• On the bottom of the page add a final line (flushed right) that reads: Media contact only: name, phone and/or email.
Take a few moments (well it will probably take you about 45min to an hour) to read these posts below that I found this week via Twitter, Facebook and or Google Alerts.
Now, here is an “oldie” (from April 2008) but a goodie for writers—what NOT to do when pitching a story to Mashable. For those who may not know, Mashable is one of the highest blogged, rss feed, twittered social media sites on the internet. So if you are a writer and wish to write for them–be sure to read this!
Last and fabulously last….one of the best lists I have seen for the publishing, writing, reading industry on the web. tweeted by Book Gal Penny S.
Oooo-one more. Just found this one. Great post as a reminder regarding networking for writers and authors at conferences and conventions. JA Konrath, author of several books and short stories wrote a post called Con Etiquette.
