Posts tagged ‘promotion’
Diversify Your Writing Portfolio
You know it and I know it — it’s hard to make it in this writing gig. And nowadays, with heightened competition and innovative marketing practices, it’s almost mandatory that you extend your writer’s hand down a variety of promotional avenues.
It’s about building a business – your writing business – and you and your thoughts are the product. What are you going to do to build your name, enhance your capabilities, and brand yourself with high level expectations?
Take the pro-active approach to your writing business and diversify your portfolio with the following items:
1. Blogs, Podcasts and Videos. A triple threat of sight and sound. Engage your potential readers with a regular writing schedule, your blog, giving snippets of your style and a name they can follow. Create podcasts and video linked to your blog and virally distribute on websites such as YouTube and FaceBook.
2. Articles. Write and submit, write and submit. Seek out magazines within your writing genre or those that may compliment your story or writing style. Brand yourself with specialized knowledge. And get published, even if it’s in a monthly edition.
3. Writing Associations. Embrace your industry and attend annual writer’s conferences. Become involved in writing communities and network with fellow writers. Get to know industry editors. Carry a professional portfolio of your writing, published works, awards and any press coverage.
4. Seminars. Seek out opportunities to speak to potential readers and industry professionals. Speak for free if you have to. You can start small — writer’s groups, bookstores. Prepare a presentation with a niche and present it to your writing associations for next year’s conference.
5. Facebook and Twitter. Get e-socially connected. It’s a must and it works. Haven’t you heard a story of a friend of a friend…well, that can be you and your writing the friend is speaking of. Get involved in social networks, treat it as an element of your business, and promote your writing.
Start small and understand that this combined effort will take time. It’s one of those things — you give it all you’ve got and it feels like your efforts are slow paced. But with consistency and the extra mile, the payoff can be grand.
2010 Call for Entries: Submit Your Published Titles
Attention all writers who have published in 2009 and 2010. If your book has an ISBN, submit your story to The National “Best Books 2010” Awards sponsored by USA Book News. The Best Books Awards is now celebrating their 7th Year of honoring outstanding independent and mainstream books.
Select from 130 categories, including first time author, specific genres and design. All submitted entries will receive online coverage (final deadline is August 31, 2010), and those submissions received by March 31, 2010 will receive a six-month full color listing on USABookNews.com, including your color book cover, a brief paragraph about your book title and a hyperlink to your web site.
“The National Best Books Awards are specifically designed to garner Media Coverage and Book Sales for the winners and finalists throughout the 2010 holiday season and 2011!” In addition, winner and finalist book titles will be promoted through USA Book News E-zine, sent to thousands of book buyers, along with instant coverage and immediate exposure to over 500,000+ subscribers to USA Book News online networks and media outlets. The award sticker is added to your book cover and you may continue to promote your book as Award-Winning.
Entry Fees and Deadlines:
$69 per title/per category
- Enter your book(s) on or before March 31, 2010 and receive a six-month full color listing on USABookNews.com. (All entries must be postmarked on or before March 31, 2010.)
- FINAL Entry Deadline is August 31, 2010. (All entries must be postmarked on or before August 31, 2010.)
- Winners and Finalists will be announced nationally in late October 2010.
- Eligible titles must have a 2010 or 2009 publication date and ISBN number.
- Galley copies are welcome.
- All sales are final. Books are donated to charity or discarded after the competition and will not be returned.
Submission Checklist
- ONE copy of your book per category entered (Galley copies are welcome)
- A completed Entry Form for each title.
- A past Press Release or Marketing Material for each title (if available)
- A check for the entry fees, payable to JPX Media (if paying by check) or
- Be sure to include your Online Payment Order number on your entry form.
You may find the entry form on www.USABookNews.com.
Remember that exposure is key to book marketing success. These kinds of chances are what take us places and it’s not too late to get on track to publishing your book through Wordclay — this could be the motivator you have been waiting on. Your book may be the award winning story we’re all looking for. Good luck!
–Melissa
Note: All entry information was taken directly from www.USABookNews.com/2010bestbooksawards.html
Marketing Meet Technology
I have to admit that I’m a late adopter when it comes to anything surrounding technology. I appreciate the innovation and convenience, but I also enjoy resting on the fence. With that said, once one foot touches the slightly different shade of green, I leap over to enjoy the ease of new pastures.
This era of technology is on an infinite climb. Information is at our fingertips with the responsibility to reciprocate in order to stay afloat in the whirlpool of presence.
As a writer in 2010, our responsibilities go far beyond documenting our thoughts. We have to reach our hands out through the channels of cyber space and offer to information seekers varying avenues that all lead back to you — or me. Hanging onto the fence or not, this is the pace of today. And you — and I — need to keep up if we want to expand our network, get our work noticed, and learn to write and communicate in the latest forms on the latest platforms.
It’s about getting your word out. It’s about marketing you and your book. It’s about capitalizing on each supplemental opportunity to tell your story. And it’s work — hard work.
So let’s focus on marketing your book — the steps necessary to develop and maintain your presence in the book industry and a way for random information seekers to discover you. Marketability begins small, with your book’s overall look and moving onto supporting materials for your writing. Extending to a world of potential readers, a focus of local, regional and global will guide your efforts.
And now, sit back and soak in the overwhelming feeling of it all. Understand that marketing in today’s standards will greatly determine your overall author success. We’ll begin tomorrow with the foundation of your platform — your book’s image.
–Melissa
Authors, New Opportunity to Promote Yourself on Facebook with Customized URL
Facebook recently announced that starting at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Saturday, June 13, 2009, you’ll be able to claim a customized Web addresses for personal profile pages or Facebook Pages on a first-come first-served basis. So instead of having a random number for your URL, you can have a URL with meaning. Very cool opportunity, especially for authors.
As an author, your name is an important piece of your brand essence. Readers associate your name with your genre and style of writing, and the more that you can publicize your name online the better. By claiming your own Facebook URL using your name, it will be used as a search term not just within Facebook, but in other search engines such as Google, Yahoo or Bing.
Of course, choosing a personalized URL doesn’t automatically publicize your Facebook account. You change the security setting if you’d rather not have your name out there on Google, but for authors this is a wonderful opportunity as long as you meet Facebook’s requirements.
Facebook has put some strict requirements in place that you must meet in order to be eligible to claim your personalized username URL:
First, only profile pages and Pages are eligible – not groups or events.
Second, you must have created your Page before May 31, 2009, or your personal profile before 3:00 p.m. on June 9, 2009. (The limitation is only temporary, so if you are a new user or haven’t joined yet, you can still claim your username on June 28, 2009.)
Third – and this is the real kicker – if you want to create a username URL for your Facebook Page (of which you are the administrator), you have to have at least 1,000 fans prior to the May 31 cutoff date. Ouch.
It’s still not clear whether Facebook will lift this requirement of 1,000 fans or not, and this restriction has become a topic of much debate. As an emerging author, or any other business or organization, getting 1,000 or more fans of your author fan page is no small task. While I understand that Facebook is trying to avoid the feeding frenzy of URL consumption that would ultimately occur if there was no regulation, it seems that they may be setting the bar a little too high. What do you think?
Regardless of your Pages’ fan count, you should not be discouraged from registering your personal profile this Saturday at 12:01 a.m. (well, let’s face it – it’s LATE Friday night).
And if you have not already, set up a Facebook Page for your “author-self” and start promoting your brand and your books. You may not be able to claim your custom URL for your Page just yet, but you can still spread the word online, which will ultimately help you forge more connections with readers and sell more books.
-Angie
P.S. Become a Fan of Wordclay’s Page and join our Wordclay Writers Group to connect with fellow authors.
Five Ways to Maximize Your Book Marketing Success
As any author with book promotion experience will tell you, book sales don’t just happen by accident. But with a plan of attack and a little persistence, you can land 
yourself your first event or coverage.
It’s a huge accomplishment to receive press coverage for your book. But what next? Well, if you’re not doing anything to promote that success, you’re missing a big opportunity.
Whether you’ve just landed a book signing, or gained coverage in an article in an online news Web site, you’ve got something to use – evidence of success. You’ve got to grab on to that success, wave it in the air. Put it on your author resume as proof of your worthiness.
So how do you maximize your exposure? Start online and go from there. You can multiply your press coverage in a matter of hours, especially if you’ve already established some online avenues for yourself. Use your first success as a stepping stone to your next one. Here are few ideas to get you started:
1. Add details of your press coverage to your own Web site or blog. There’s no shame in posting a link to your article, or listing the details. And if you don’t already have one of these babies, consider the possibilities. There are many sites that offer free blogs or author Web sites.
2. Post your press coverage on social sites. Add information to your page in MySpace, or share material in Facebook. Just remember the key to social sites is relevancy. A well-placed link and post in a writers group on Facebook will be seen much differently if posted in a fan group of cheddar cheese.
3. Share the news with pertinent organizations. You might be surprised to learn just how many organizations would be interested to know about your success. From community organizations to collegiate, it never hurts to let them know, and they just might feature your success story on their Web site or in their newsletter. For example, if you’ve self-published your book through Wordclay, they will consider featuring your press coverage or event in their “Press Breaks” or author spotlight on the homepage of their bookstore (or this blog). And all you have to do is let us know (hint, hint …).
4. Announce your coverage in a press release. There are numerous online distribution services that allow you to spread the word about your book and events for a small fee, while some are even free. Just be sure to represent yourself well by writing a press release that is professional and meets the standards expected by news organizations. You can always hire a press release writer if you don’t have the time to put in the research.
5. Add to your press kit. A useful tool for displaying information about you, your book, contact information and more, a press kit should also included recent and major press coverage you’ve received, interviews you’ve arranged, and information about events you’ve hosted. You can (and should) create a physical press kit, so you can leave a kit in the hands of potential associates, such as bookstore managers, media members and community leaders.
Remember, once you land just one interview, or hold one book reading, you can use your success as a stepping stone to the next one. By expanding the reach of your press coverage and events, you’re maximizing your exposure and success. And who knows, your single success just might be the “something extra” that catches a news editor’s eye, or tips the scales in your favor to convince the local bookstore manager to stock copies of your book in the store’s “local authors” section.
-Angie
Author Giveaways and Contests: How to Host Contests for Book Promotion
If you’re a published or self-published author, you already know the importance of promoting your book online, creating a buzz around your new title and recruiting new readers on a daily basis. What might elude you are the common methods of achieving those goals. Luckily, the Wordclay team has provided some handy author giveaway tips and contest basics, which you can easily implement in order to reach thousands of potential book buyers.
Tip #1: Consider launching your own Web site or blog. Posting regularly on topics of interest and generating useful content or free previews of your book will help to solidify your credibility in the eyes of readers. You can use your site to establish a strong Internet presence, loaded with valuable keywords which could lead Internet surfers to your page. Remember that securing a memorable, unique domain name will help readers find you again whenever they have time.
Tip #2: Offer a limited-time book giveaway. You could offer a free e-book download whenever a person registers with your mailing list and verifies their e-mail address. Any portion of your book can be given-away for free and serve as an enticement to readers, from your book’s first chapter to a complete printed copy to a PDF. You’ll not only establish immediate trust between author and audience, but you’re also supplying interesting and useful content to the world.
Tip #3: Host a review contest. Invite readers to buy your book, read your work and submit a review to win cash prizes, not unlike Bryan Hutchingson for his book One Boy’s Struggle: A Memoir. And if you don’t have the means to offer cash prizes, a copy of your book in exchange for a brief testimonial or even an e-book to winners of a random drawing just might be enough to earn you a following of devoted fans.
However you decide to market your book online, don’t be afraid to get creative with your promotions by launching contests as well as giveaways, but no matter what, you always want to offer a practical, useful incentive to your Internet visitors to keep them interested.
TheAuthorsEdge.com: Online Book Marketing Tips & Blog
Back from temporary holiday hiatus, the Wordclay team would like to inform authors of invaluable book marketing resource, TheAuthorsEdge.com, where you can learn how to effectively promote your books on the Web and earn significant royalties as sales increase.
Marketing your book online may seem like a daunting task — you may not even know what terms like SEO or Web crawling or organic traffic mean — but Chris Simeral of TheAuthorsEdge.com can definitely help you turn your published book into a success story with his straightforward, simply online marketing strategies.
For starters, his numerous free video tutorials not only explain the importance of various online marketing techniques, but also show you, the author, how to easily implement these Internet techniques. From the very basics of book promotion to seemingly more complicated publicity issues, Simeral explains all.
Find more of his tutorials on his website or YouTube.com.
But that’s not all. Simeral also provides podcast interviews with other marketers, who provide different perspectives and even more tips. Additionally, he manages an Online Book Marketing blog, which is consistently updated with a wealth of publishing news and insights that are sure to help any emerging writer sell more books.
Take five minutes, subscribe to his blog today, download one of his many informative author promotion packets for free, and enact a simple, foolproof book marketing plan that’s bound to increase your Internet visibility.
This is Justin, blogcasting from Wordclay, signing off.
Creating & Promoting Audio Books: Voices.com & Voice123
It’s no secret that audio books are a thriving business for authors, and if you’re already publishing a book, why not look into having a voice over talent record your manuscript for audio publication?
Think about it. Millions of people listen to podcasts and books on their morning commutes and even in their offices as they peck away at the keyboard. Making your audio book available can really get a great buzz going about your book. Even if one person purchases an audio copy of your title, you can bet that others will overhear, inquire about your book and perhaps even add your audio book to their online shopping cart for a listen.
Plus, with iTunes coupled with the iPod hardware so available as the modern listening technology of choice, recouping your investment can be easy with the right marketing plan.
Since Author Solutions, Inc. has yet to offer audio books, our marketing gang found two superb and trusted organizations that handles voice over talents, namely Voices.com and Voice123.
VOICE OVER TALENT AGENCIES FOR AUDIO BOOKS
Voices.com
Voices.com is a unique web service that helps you complete your voice over recording, music production and language translation projects online. It’s simple, fast, and web-based. You don’t need to download or install anything — everything happens in your web browser.
Helping more than 58,000 people, some of their clients include ABC, NBC, CBS, Dreamworks, Disney, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, AT&T, Bell South, Nortel Networks, Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Xerox, Ford, GM, BMW, Shell, Texaco, NASA, the US Army and many more.
In addition to being fast and diplomatic, ensuring you get the best deal while connecting to the best voice over talents, their clients have said they have reduced their costs by as much as 60 percent by using their service. By working directly with professional voice talent you don’t need to book recording studios, hire an audio engineer or casting director to complete your project.
With their free Client Account you can:
- Post a job or search the database
- View voice talent profiles and listen to audio demos online
- Compare qualifications, quotes and availability of professionals
- Pay the voice talent using SurePay™ Escrow service
- Download finished work securely from Voices.com
- Satisfaction Guaranteed when you use SurePay™ Escrow!
Voice123
Voice123 is one of the biggest and most technologically advanced group of voice over talents and voice producers in the world. Whether you want a local voice talent for your next national TV commercial or a fully-produced piece of audio in Japanese for your book promotions in Japan, Voice123 can help. Voice123 allows you to hire thousands of voice over talent and voice producers from all over the world within your budge. Language, accent and geographical borders are now things of the past!
Post a project and let talents or producers submit auditions or proposals. No time for auditions? Easy: get in contact with the talent or producer right away. Use Voice123′s SmartSearch feature to find the professionals you like, or simply allow SmartCast find the best voice for you.
The entire process may take a couple of hours. Most of their talents and voice producers have their own recording studio facilities, saving you time and money.
Manage all your castings quickly and free! Talents submit their audition using their state-of-the-art online auditioning system. You manage the auditions as you wish grading them, sharing them, downloading them, storing them and much more!
The Point: An investment in audio books can not only earn you money, but also become a lucrative strategy to promote your book worldwide and even break into yet another marketplace.
Smashwords: Using E-Book Marketing as Free Book Promotion
What could be better than finding a great book marketing strategy? How about finding a free book promotion strategy. Well, you’ll be happy to know that there’s one that any author can use: Smashwords.
Smashwords is an online e-book publishing tool. If you’ve ever used another free publishing tool to create printable books, such as Wordclay, it’s only a short frolic down Internet road to Smashwords. Of course, you might be a bit leery of this practice if you’ve never published content online before. Fear not.
I was impressed with all of the options and freedom when publishing content with Smashwords. For instance, you can choose to earn royalties from selling your e-book, or you can give it away for free. Plus, there’s a cool feature that you can offer a (more…)
Closing the Book: Moving from Creation to Promotion
‘Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie…’- William Shakespeare-All’s Well That Ends Well
It is hard for you to ever feel that a piece of written work is complete. The plots and characters tend to continue to develop in your mind after the final draft. You start to wonder if there’s a sequel in there somewhere, or perhaps should you go back into the finished piece and re-write it around the new ideas and developments?
If you want to avoid Book Munchausen’s Syndrome the best thing to do is to get someone else involved. That second set of eyes can help you catch minor spelling and grammar issues and plotholes (areas which have been left confusing or unresolved).You will never be able to market and promote, and ultimately publish and sell your book if you aren’t 100 percent sure about your work. If you are unconfident when you present your writing to the reading public, then they will be even less confident that it is worth their time and money.
Draw the line when you feel that you have a well-structured, completed book. Let it go. Get it out there, and see what people think. If you want feedback, try publishing a version under a pseudonym for free using Wordclay. Pass a copy along to someone, and don’t tell them you wrote the book. Trying things that might be a little unconventional might help to balance the scales.
Large, traditional publishing companies do A/B testing and pay large amounts of money to get real feedback before they really push a product to the mainstream. If you do similar things and receive nothing but negative feedback, then be happy, as you are likely to get unbiased and actionable information. And if your critics just flat out don’t think it is a good book, maybe you can recover the ideas that are worth saving and incorporate them into a new novel.
Remember, people will be forgiving of minor errors if they like the story. If your book is a total page-turner, then readers probably won’t even have time to notice minor errors. Focus on the story. Catch what you can before you send your manuscript out. Respond to feedback, and keep moving forward.
‘Be not afraid of greatness…’ William Shakespeare-Twelfth Night
