Category: Book Promotion

Alternative Marketing Methods, Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Book Promotion Strategy, Kelly Speaks, Marketing Your Self-Published Book, Networking, Self-Publishing, Social Media Marketing

Navigating the Network | The Art of Self Promotion (part I)

Ten years ago, self-publishing was by and large the province of wishes and dreams, and its successes were so rare that they warranted national attention.  In the early 2000s, authors like Christopher Paolini (author of the Inheritance cycle of fantasy novels) performed exhaustive regional trips to promote their books, visiting schools, libraries, and local coffee shops in a sometimes-desperate attempt to build a market base.  As the traditional publishing industry has struggled to overcome both infighting and growing competition from digital retailers––and as new avenues have opened up for authors looking to publish outside of these traditional structures––all parties have turned to a parallel revolution in hopes of finding assistance.  That revolution, you will have already guessed, is the tangle of startups, failures, and increasingly pervasive communications networks that we call, collectively, Social Media.

Fast forward to the present day, and you find yourself witness to the rise of these two new revolutionary forces––a self publishing industry with a substantial slice of the present ebook and print publishing market, and the aforementioned popular social networking platforms, typified by Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and so on.  It would be easy to link these two forces together, and to assume that a successful presence on the one side will equate to equal success on the other, but this isn’t strictly true.  Many new authors find themselves lost in the complications of navigating this network––so how might one make it safely through the white water? 

The task of building a brand, or finding a tribe, is tricky––but not impossible.  It is important to keep five points in mind from the very beginning.  Today we’ll examine the first of these points:

1. Social networks are fantastic tools.

Tweets can outdistance sonic waves, as the Daily Mail reported in May, and Facebook has proved invaluable in linking dissidents, outmaneuvering government censors, and supporting revolutions.  Social networks combine the appeal of a grass-roots movement with enormous computing power, a vast sociopolitical reach, and instantaneous delivery.  Authors like Hugh Howey and Amanda Hocking have become internet sensations (and self-publishing success stories) in part because they are so intensely engaged with their readers online.  You can use Facebook to build a fan page and coordinate events in cities across the world.  You can utilize Tumblr’s built-in question function to respond to readers’ queries about purchasing details or the more obscure details of a character’s backstory.  And with its 140-character limit and endlessly useful hashtag feature, Twitter is the ultimate paradise for spreading news and reviews.  While it might be a bit of an overstatement to say that social networks can do everything and anything, they can certainly do a great deal for the burgeoning author.

Check back every Wednesday to read more about the art of self promotion!  Next week, we’ll be looking at the analog social network––that is, what you can do to build your platform as an author even before you plug in to Facebook and Twitter.

If you have other big news to share, please comment below.

KellyABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com.
Book Promotion, Contests, Kelly Speaks, Uncategorized

Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) New Writers Awards Accepting Submissions

Book contests are a great way for self-publishing authors to gain credibility and exposure. Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) New Writers Award for poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction is currently accepting entries. Here is what you need to know:

  • The work must be a first published volume.
  • The work must have been published between Spring 2013 and Spring 2014.
  • GLCA will also accept galley proofs for works to be published in late spring or early summer of 2014.
  • Winning authors tour several GLCA’s member colleges to give readings, lecture, visit classes, conduct workshops, and publicize their books.
  • All entries must be postmarked no later than July 25, 2014.
  • Winning authors will receive an honorarium of $500 from each of the colleges they visit. Travel, lodging, and food expenses will be reimbursed.

The Benefits of Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) New Writers Awards

  • Credibility — This award reflects outstanding literary achievement in the judgment of a committee of scholar-critic-writers who have professional and personal commitments to excellence in literature and the encouragement of creative writing. It is a mark of distinction that confers recognition to both author and publisher in promoting the book.
  • Publicity — The winning authors’ visits to the GLCA colleges, with the attendant local promotion and publicity, should serve to stimulate sales in this Midwestern area.These campus visits expose the authors and their works to large numbers of students through readings, question and answer sessions, and possibly workshop class sessions.

For more information on submitting an entry, visit http://glca.org/programs/new-writers-award.

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog at http://kellyschuknecht.com.
Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Book Promotion Strategy, Book Signings, Kelly Speaks, Uncategorized

5 Ways to Promote Your Book in March

March is National Reading Month and Small Press Month. This makes it the perfect month to focus on promoting your book. Here are five ways you can promote your self-published book in March.

1. Read Across America Day

March 3 is National Read Across America Day, also known as Dr. Seuss Day. This is the perfect opportunity for children’s authors to promote their book. Schedule a reading at a local school, library, or bookstore. You can also get creative and host a Read Across America event for adults.

2. St. Patrick’s Day

Holidays are always a great opportunity to promote your book. Even if your book has nothing to do with St. Patrick’s Day, you can get creative with your marketing plan. Perhaps, host a St. Patrick’s Day give away or schedule a St. Patrick’s Day event. For instance, you could schedule a book signing, wear your favorite green shirt, hand out some Irish potatoes to your guests, and promote your book while “celebrating.”

3. Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2014

Bologna Children’s Book Fair will be held March 24-27. It is the most important international event dedicated to the children’s publishing and multimedia industry. Last year, the event had about 1,200 exhibitors coming from 75 countries and 25,000 international professional trade representatives. To learn more, visit http://www.bookfair.bolognafiere.it/en/the-fair/895.html.

4. Book Expo America 2014

Book Expo America will take place May 19-31. It is the #1 book and author event  that offers the book industry access to new titles,  authors, and education about the publishing industry. BEA is the best place to  discover new titles and upcoming books and meet face to face with favorite and  up and coming authors. To learn more, visit http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/.

5. Schedule an interview or book signing event

People won’t buy your book if they don’t know it exist, so schedule an event  that will help you connect with readers and gain some press for your book. Two great options are a radio interview or book signing event. Start by contacting local radio stations or bookstore to set up the event.

I’d love to know, how do you plan to promote your book in March?

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog at http://kellyschuknecht.com.
Book Promotion, Jodee Speaks

How to Promote Your Self-Published Book During Small Press Month

Since March is Small Press Month, now is a great time to promote your self-published book! Celebrate Small Press Month by doing something to promote your book every day during the month of March. Here are some ideas to get you started.

March 1 – Order extra author’s copies to have on hand as you work through these promotion tips.

March 2 – Contact other independent published authors in your area and combine your resources to fully exploit the opportunities during this month. With the advent of social networking sites, this is easier than ever. In fact, your publisher may already have a group on sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

March 3 – Contact your local bookstores and suggest they offer discounts on Small Press books this month. Bring in yours and offer it to them at a discount to get them started.

March 4 – Contact your local newspapers and inform them of Small Press Month. Suggest they write a small article or events calendar for Small Press events in the area. Tell them you will be sending them a press release.

March 5 – Send a press release to the local media (newspapers, radio, television) mentioning Small Press Month and your independently published book. Be sure to mention any events you are hosting or participating in.

March 6 – Follow-up on your press release from yesterday with the local media via telephone. Reiterate Small Press Month, your planned events in the community, and your Small Press book. Send them a review of your book so they can use it as a foundation.

March 7 – If you haven’t yet published your book, today is the day to start. Research self-publishing companies and choose a company that finds your needs.

March 8 – Contact your local libraries and suggest they feature Small Press titles, including yours. Offer to leave a free copy with them. Also, leave a sales sheet.

March 9 – Send out review copies of your book. If you need help getting started, contact your self-publishing company. They may offer resources to help you.

March 10 – Contact local schools in your area and tell them about Small Press Month. Mention that you are a local published author and offer to speak to their assembly about how to accomplish their dreams of being published. This is particularly effective if you have a children’s book you can then sell after the assembly.

March 11 – Contact local universities and colleges. Same concept as yesterday — promote yourself and your book by sharing your knowledge of how to write a book and get it published. Have copies of your book available to sell.

March 12 – Schedule a seminar or teleseminar on “How to Write and Publish a Book” and offer a “Small Press Month” discount on the registration fee. Send out a local news release about your class.

March 13 – Contact other sales channels outside of the bookstore that may be likely to sell your book. This may include websites related to your book’s topic, gift stores, hardware stores, grocery stores, boutiques, etc. Look at your book and ask yourself where your readers may be shopping.

March 14 – Contact local art studios, design boutiques, or other small independent businesses in your area. Give them the opportunity to share in co-op on some advertising initiatives (plus, if applicable, offer to conduct some events in their venues).

March 15 – Join with other independently published authors and arrange a co-op advertisement in the local media, using any dollars secured from local businesses you spoke with on the 14th. In addition to simply promoting your book, promote your upcoming events. The other authors can join in the events, which may lead the bookstores to be more interested in scheduling it.

March 16 – Contact all the local radio producers in your area and pitch them on Small Press Month.

March 17 – Make sure your online Amazon.com listing is all it can be. Do you have a Kindle Edition for your book? Is your book participating in Search Inside the Book? Do you have your Book Video trailer playing from your Amazon blog?

March 18 – Contact the major newspapers (New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post) about Small Press Month. They’re likely to write up something if enough authors contact them, and you will want to be among the piles of information they have received.

March 19 – Contact your local community center and inform them of Small Press Month. If you have gathered a band of local authors, this will be more effective. Schedule an impromptu event, celebrating Small Press books.

March 20 – This may be the month to switch publishers if you have published elsewhere. Look at the publisher you chose and ask yourself: Is your retail price too high? Is your profit too low? Is your author’s copy price too high? Are your marketing options too costly?

March 21 – Small Press Month is just one month out of 12. Prepare for other book events, like the London Book Fair, Book Expo of America, Beijing, and Frankfurt.

March 22 – If you haven’t already done so, create a social networking account on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn. Start using these sites to promote yourself, your book, and your events.

March 23 – Contact the Learning Annex (or similarly themed Adult Education Program) in your area and offer to teach a class on the subject of your book. As a published author, you are qualified to teach on your subject since you are an expert. Your book may even be required reading for each student.

March 24 – Start writing online reviews through Amazon. Write reviews for every book you have ever read. Mention that you are the author of your book at the bottom of each posted review. If people like the writing style of your review, they may investigate your book, especially if you write reviews for books within the same genre as yours.

March 25 – Contact the public libraries in each state and mention your involvement with Small Press Month. Send them information about your book. Here’s a link that will get you started: http://www.publiclibraries.com/

March 26 – Start preparing for April (National Poetry Month), especially if you have a volume of poetry you have published.

March 27 – Help other writers you know get published and earn a 10% commission for the referral after their book is published. Contact your self-publishing company to see if they have an affiliate program.

March 28 – Start a blog and keep it active and up-to-date. Register it with blog directories so others start reading it and participating. There are many blog programs to help you get started. Conduct a search on Google to find the one that works for you.

March 29 – Submit your published book to the Google Merchant Center.

March 30 – Publish a “Large Print” edition of your book. With the world’s demographics growing older, “large print” editions are becoming more and more popular. Featuring 14 or 16 point fonts, these editions appeal to the aging community because they are easier to read. This will help you increase your revenue and double the effectiveness of your marketing initiatives.

March 31 – Take a breath. It’s been a busy, productive month.

ABOUT JODEE THAYER: With over 20 years of experience in sales and management, Jodee Thayer works as the Manager of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable customer service reps and publishing consultants; together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process in order to help them publish the book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction or a novelist seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Jodee Thayer can put you on the right path.
Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Book Signings

Book Stores, Book Signings, and Media Events for the Self-published Author

Successful book promotion involves both online and offline sales. There are a number of progressive online book marketing tools available for the self-publishing author today, but the tried and true book signing or media event remains quite viable and a lot of fun. Here we’ll take a look at a 3 part approach to promote your book through media events.

Media events and public appearances can fall into any number of categories and include any number of venues (bookstores, radio interviews, television interviews, writing group speeches, presentations, chat room interviews, public forums, and more).

First things first: identify possible venues. You may begin searching media events through your local bookstore. Local bookstores will often collect event calendars and maintain a list of contact people who provide those opportunities.

Media contacts often send announcements of upcoming events. Keep tabs on those listings and note if any relate in any way to your book content. It’s generally easy to develop correlations and tailor your approach to make your presentation applicable. When contact information is available take the first step and approach the organizer.

The art of selling—be prepared to promote yourself and your work. The true art of selling is bringing helpful and enriching information to people’s lives. In that light, sales takes on nobility. Be proud of promoting. You may not close the deal every time, but be sure to follow-up with every prospective media venue to confirm dates. Selling yourself and your book is a numbers game, and as any salesperson will tell you, the amount of contact is directly proportionate to the amount of sales. Be persistent without being annoying. If, after three or four unsuccessful attempts with a particular venue, move on to another prospect.

Finally, your self-publishing firm may offer assistance. Be sure to check with your representative.

ABOUT JODEE THAYER: With over 20 years of experience in sales and management, Jodee Thayer works as the Manager of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable customer service reps and publishing consultants; together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process in order to help them publish the book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction or a novelist seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Jodee Thayer can put you on the right path.