Too tired to think straight this morning, I'm going to share these hints on how to advertise so that those who actually got decent sleep last night can add any suggestions that I missed (as I covered babysitting for my granddaughter so my son could work a double shift):
1. Authors can join Group forums at sites like Yahoo and Google. Don't just join author's groups, either, but readers' groups and any kind of group interested in your subject. If your book features a bowling detective, hit bowling groups. (Done. I have a lot of truckers thinking I'm weird, but....)
2. Use social media, like Facebook, Twitter, and Linked-In to set up profiles about yourself and mention your book, with links to purchase sites. Update those messages whenever there is news about the book and "SHARE" the information. (Done - ad nauseum, per some.)
3. Google "Internet Radio" and your book's subject together, for a list of Internet Radio Stations, LISTEN to some of the shows, then contact that show's moderator, listed on the web site (giving positive feedback on something you have heard), and offer to be a guest on talk radio. (Done, but no major responses in the positive yet because they want to be able to read the book first. Some have been sent "Night of the Tiger" as a prep for this next book.)
4. FAX or e-mail press releases to your local paper, TV, and local Radio stations, and all nearby media outlets and those wherever your book is set, and to organizations that might be interested in the subject with contact information and saying you are available as a guest speaker (keep this local as most of them will not kick in for travel expenses). (Ongoing. No real positive responses yet - unless I pay for advertising - and a lot of Maine towns won't run a press release "if you don't have direct ties to the town". Not only is Maine a little snobby about those "from away", they're even snobby about those who were born and raised in the state.)
5. If you can afford it, hire a publicist to arrange an Internet tour where you can be a guest on other people's blogs and so on. (No cash = unable to do this one.)
6. Start a blog of your own, if you have time to keep it up. Post often. (Done. It's called "Living In A Writer's Head", should anyone wish to check it out, and I've posted the link in my profile. in Facebook.)
7. Get the book reviewed as often as you can. If people tell you they have read it, ask them to please post a review on amazon.com. Save the reviews as they will be useful advertising to put into the print edition. (Ongoing for "Night of the Tiger" and had some select peeps do so for "The Tiger's Cub". Once it's up on Amazon, I'd love to have some of y'all go on and review it there and on Goodreads for me.)
8. Once the book shows up on there, set up your free author's page at amazon.com. (Have done so for "Night of the Tiger" and will be adding "The Tiger's Cub" ASAP)
9. Read books on advertising, promoting and marketing your book. (I've read a BUNCH of these - and they all have this same list in one form or another.)
10. Tell your mother, brother, co-workers, and all the biggest gossips you know. (An age-old joke in my husband's family from before the internet: "The major forms of communication are telephone, telegraph, teleneighbor ["tell-a-neighbor", technically]....lol)
For anyone thinking I've been sitting on this while waiting for the final piece to fall into place, try Googling "The Tiger's Cub" (complete with the quote marks so you can narrow it down to things NOT related to raising tiger cubs or Tiger Cub Scouts). The basic idea, per one of the marketing books I've been reading, is to have most of the hits on the first page be about you.......
Any other suggestions I've missed?
1. Authors can join Group forums at sites like Yahoo and Google. Don't just join author's groups, either, but readers' groups and any kind of group interested in your subject. If your book features a bowling detective, hit bowling groups. (Done. I have a lot of truckers thinking I'm weird, but....)
2. Use social media, like Facebook, Twitter, and Linked-In to set up profiles about yourself and mention your book, with links to purchase sites. Update those messages whenever there is news about the book and "SHARE" the information. (Done - ad nauseum, per some.)
3. Google "Internet Radio" and your book's subject together, for a list of Internet Radio Stations, LISTEN to some of the shows, then contact that show's moderator, listed on the web site (giving positive feedback on something you have heard), and offer to be a guest on talk radio. (Done, but no major responses in the positive yet because they want to be able to read the book first. Some have been sent "Night of the Tiger" as a prep for this next book.)
4. FAX or e-mail press releases to your local paper, TV, and local Radio stations, and all nearby media outlets and those wherever your book is set, and to organizations that might be interested in the subject with contact information and saying you are available as a guest speaker (keep this local as most of them will not kick in for travel expenses). (Ongoing. No real positive responses yet - unless I pay for advertising - and a lot of Maine towns won't run a press release "if you don't have direct ties to the town". Not only is Maine a little snobby about those "from away", they're even snobby about those who were born and raised in the state.)
5. If you can afford it, hire a publicist to arrange an Internet tour where you can be a guest on other people's blogs and so on. (No cash = unable to do this one.)
6. Start a blog of your own, if you have time to keep it up. Post often. (Done. It's called "Living In A Writer's Head", should anyone wish to check it out, and I've posted the link in my profile. in Facebook.)
7. Get the book reviewed as often as you can. If people tell you they have read it, ask them to please post a review on amazon.com. Save the reviews as they will be useful advertising to put into the print edition. (Ongoing for "Night of the Tiger" and had some select peeps do so for "The Tiger's Cub". Once it's up on Amazon, I'd love to have some of y'all go on and review it there and on Goodreads for me.)
8. Once the book shows up on there, set up your free author's page at amazon.com. (Have done so for "Night of the Tiger" and will be adding "The Tiger's Cub" ASAP)
9. Read books on advertising, promoting and marketing your book. (I've read a BUNCH of these - and they all have this same list in one form or another.)
10. Tell your mother, brother, co-workers, and all the biggest gossips you know. (An age-old joke in my husband's family from before the internet: "The major forms of communication are telephone, telegraph, teleneighbor ["tell-a-neighbor", technically]....lol)
For anyone thinking I've been sitting on this while waiting for the final piece to fall into place, try Googling "The Tiger's Cub" (complete with the quote marks so you can narrow it down to things NOT related to raising tiger cubs or Tiger Cub Scouts). The basic idea, per one of the marketing books I've been reading, is to have most of the hits on the first page be about you.......
Any other suggestions I've missed?
the internet radio idea is so smart! i had never heard of it as one of the usual marketing techniques and i feel kind of stupid for never thinking of it myself.
ReplyDeletewhile it is a lot of work, it is possible to do a blog tour without hiring a publicist. (not saying that you have to do this, just that you can.) if you don't just want to google a bunch of book blogs/blogs that have the slightest relevance to your plot, i heard about a site (www.blogtour.org) that helps to connect authors with potential tour stops. i'm not sure how good it is, but it's worth a shot. you can also look at sites that offer blog tours (these range from free [pretty rare] to thousands of dollars) and just take ideas/a general plan of what to do from them. if you google blog tours you'll get a bunch, but here are a few just to get you started:
http://atomrbookblogtours.com/what-is-a-book-blog-tour/
http://www.enchantressofbooksblogtours.com/p/packages.html
http://bewitchingbooktours.blogspot.com/p/tour-pricing.html
http://www.rockstarbooktours.com/p/what-we-do.html
like i said, you obviously don't have to do this, but if you have a few blogger friends that agree to post about your book during the week of its release then even asking them would be like a mini-tour and could be helpful. if you have a giveaway of some sort that readers can enter by sharing news of the book (maybe they get an entry for tweeting about it, an entry for blogging, entries for reviews, etc.) then that could get more people involved in it. just a thought.
oh, and teleneighbor is hilarious! i can't wait to tell my mom and sisters that one.
Thank you for the links, Sarah. As to the "teleneighbor" comment, I often joke that I live with a bunch of unemployed comedians....*grin*
ReplyDelete