Book Marketing Blogs

We’ve always encouraged authors to branch out online beyond their websites and blogs and build a presence on highly ranked sites such as Squidoo, WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger, etc. These sites offer valuable exposure, as well as links back to your website which is great for getting more people to visit your site. In turn, those visitors help grow the ranking of your site, which means your site becomes easier to find when people search for you, your book, or your topic.

However, it’s becoming difficult to find ‘simple’ ways to create these high quality backlinks to your website because many of the sites are cracking down on what they call “duplicate content.”

Duplicate content refers to having the same information posted on several sites. For instance, you might have used the same write-up for your book synopsis and bio on your website, Twitter, Facebook, and other accounts. You may have cut and paste some blog posts from your blog to provide additional content for those sites. This practice used to be accepted, and it was a quick and easy way to get a site up and running – with the idea that you’d add more original content going forward.

Now, if you use the same material and provide little fresh content on a site, there’s a good chance you’ll lose your page or account. This is true for Squidoo, WordPress, Blogger and Tumblr in particular. (more…)

Here’s a look back at some of the top book marketing Tweets from the past week, courtesy of bloggers, marketers, authors and others. The topics include how to hook your readers, rethinking author tours, why some indie authors are successful (and others aren’t), and much more. Happy marketing!

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* Why Some Indie Authors Are Successful (And Many Aren’t)

Take the initiative and don’t be afraid to rethink your strategy, says one author:

http://powerlessbooks.com/blog/?p=58 (more…)

We had a great show with host Penny Sansevieri and branding expert Liz Goodgold discussing the art of choosing the best book titles.

About our guest: Speaker and author Liz Goodgold is a fiery redhead with over 20 years of experience in marketing and branding. She is the author of RED FIRE BRANDING: Create a Hot Personal Brand and Have Customers for Life and DUH! Marketing.

Visit her at redfirebranding.com, follow her on Twitter, @lizgoodgold, or email Liz at liz@redfirebranding.com

Creating a great title is a combination of developing a great brand and a phenomenal subtitle, and informing your target audience what they are going to get by investing in your book. Pick a clear title that makes the benefits to the reader immediately evident. (more…)

Guest post by Aidan Lucid:

The following scenario is probably quite familiar to a lot of writers. You enter your favourite bookstore, browsing through the various books of your preferred genre and secretly you dream about that manuscript on your computer or gathering dust in the drawer at home, filling up the shelf space. Well, here’s my story of how my dream has become a reality and how yours can too.

It began back in early 2005. I was sitting home one day in my living-room and the image of the protagonist for my novel, Henry Simmons, garbed in golden armour and a red cloak fastened around his neck, entered my mind. I thought that this image was astounding and I commenced plotting out the first book, The Zargothian Tales: Return of the Son of Hamorin, which is part of a trilogy. Before I knew it, I had all the chapters mapped out and all that was left now was the daunting task of sitting down and writing the novel.

As I was approximately four chapters into The Zargothian Tales: Return of the Son of Hamorin, tragedy struck and I was knocked down by a car. The result was that I had a severely fractured right ankle and was wheelchair bound for seven months. Now, as with anyone in this rather unfavourable situation, the usual questions began to run through my mind: “Why did this happen to me?” “What did I do to deserve this?” The fear of never being able to walk again constantly hung over me like a dark cloud. Once these questions and worries had abated and a fortnight elapsed, I decided that instead of complaining and fretting, I should be grateful to be alive and that this accident granted me the opportunity to write my novel. (more…)

We’ve collected some of the top book marketing Tweets, courtesy of bloggers, marketers, authors and others. The topics include setting the ideal ebook price, planning for a non-fiction book, authors promoting with Pinterest, and much more. Happy marketing!

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* Pinterest for Authors: How to Promote Your Writing on the Fastest Growing Website Ever

Pinterest is hot – it’s the fastest growing social media site – and it offers some great options for authors to promote their books. Here’s how:

http://workflowwriting.com/662432/pinterest-for-authors-how-to-promote-your-writing-on-the-fastest-growing-website-ever.php (more…)

Guest post by Jeff Rivera:

Character Appeal

Once you’ve compared your book to similar novels, you’re ready to take the next step in identifying your target audience. This step should be simple since it’s something that only you, the author, would know.

Take a look at the main character of your novel. Who are they? What do they look like? How old are they? What job do they have? Are they gay or straight? Even if they’re alien, who would they be if they were human living in our time?

That’s exactly who you should go after. If the reader can identify with the main character, they’re more likely to like the novel and tell all their friends, which is exactly what you want.  That is your target market, but there’s still one last step you need to take.

Who’s Looking for Your Novel?

Target (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Now that you’ve reviewed the target markets of novels similar to yours, and you have a solid idea of what kind of person your main character relates to, you’re ready to take the third and final step in identifying your target audience. (more…)

Welcome to the May 7, 2012 edition of tips and tricks for writers and authors – our first Blog Carnival! We will run the carnival every Monday, featuring inspiring and informative articles to help you on your writing and marketing journey.

Laura Dawson presents Conquer Headlines and Shine! posted at Design Quotes Digital Marketing Blog ~ Design Quotes Blog ~ Digital Marketing Blog, saying, “Writing great content is enough of a challenge in itself, without the possibility that it may not even be read – all because your headline sucks. Learn how to put a new spin on old headline formulas.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of tips and tricks for writers and authors using our carnival submission form - we’re already getting submissions for next week! Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Are you ready to learn how to sell more books? What are the strategies you need to be more successful? In this video we walk you through how to make the most of your online work to maximize book sales!

How to Sell More Books!

We had a great show with host Penny Sansevieri discussing how to get great media coverage with special guest Liz Goodgold.

About our guest: Speaker and author Liz Goodgold is a fiery redhead with over 20 years of experience in marketing and branding. She is the author of RED FIRE BRANDING: Create a Hot Personal Brand and Have Customers for Life and DUH! Marketing.

Liz is a practicing “branding guru” having worked for such major clients as the World Trade Centers, Sharp HealthCare, Quaker Oats, Pfizer, and Univision, so that she knows what works and what doesn’t.

An often quoted expert, Liz has appeared in over 500 media outlets including ABC, NBC, CBS, CNBC, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.

Visit her at http://www.redfirebranding.com/content/, follow her on Twitter, @lizgoodgold, or email Liz at liz@redfirebranding.com

How did you learn about PR and get covered?

Liz had to learn it on her own… and she started the easy way by responding to reporter queries. There are free services including HARO (Help a Reporter Out) and Reporter Connection. Instead of trying to pitch the media you respond to what they need. It’s a case of the early bird catches the worm.

Learn more about media pitching and leads from two of Penny’s Huffington Post blogs:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/penny-c-sansevieri/thirty-ways-to-make-yours_b_901089.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/penny-c-sansevieri/maximizing-media-leads_b_748574.html (more…)

We’re rounding up some of the best book marketing Tweets from the past week, courtesy of bloggers, marketers, authors and others. The topics include a search engine for writers, how to craft retweetable tweets, tools for Pinterest, and much more. Happy marketing!

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* A Search Engine for Writers

Ever heard of Writer’s Knowledge Base? Check it out:

http://booksbywomen.org/a-search-engine-for-writers-by-elizabeth-s-craig/ (more…)