Book Marketing Blogs
by Penny SansevieriMay 7, 2012
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.
May 2, 2012
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…)
April 25, 2012
Guest post by Jeff Rivera:
Stop Marketing!
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The first step you must take in order to build a robust fan base doesn’t require any physical effort, but without it, your campaign will fall apart.
I want you to completely throw the word “marketing” out the door. That’s not what we’re doing here. What we’re doing is something that is a new way to do something old, but something that works more effectively than tweeting all day. In fact, it’s something that your grandparents might have taught you and their grandparents before them.
What you’re going to be doing is BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS! By this I mean treating people like normal human beings. Building lasting relationships with people is not only paramount to your success; it’s also a skill that can be developed online. But before we start that, there’s something you need to do. (more…)
April 23, 2012
Now that the Facebook changes have gone into effect, let’s take a look at how you can maximize the “new” Facebook Pages. Back with us again is Amy Porterfield who will step us through some of the creative ways to boost your exposure and your page on Facebook.
The apps that now appear on your Facebook Page can be used in all sorts of ways. You can use them in some pretty great ways but it will be important to make sure that the thumbnails associated with them are coordinated in colors and look. You can have fun with these, but I’d recommend keeping an eye on your branding because these show up on the top of your page and are very visible.
Amy, now that we know we can use these fun applications, what are some marketing tips that folks can use to make the most of these?
Well, you can and should rename your applications. When you do, make sure there’s a clear call to action, especially since the default welcome tabs have gone away, you can really use these to maximize your impact and get folks to sign up or whatever it is that you want them to do. You can also move these applications around.
So, how do you upload a custom thumbnail?
The first thing you want to do is collapse all of your applications so they all show up. And then, hover over the right corner of any of your applications and you’ll get that little edit pencil that popped up when you moved the boxes around. Next, you’ll get the drop down and you want to click on Edit Settings. Once you click on Edit Settings a box will pop-up here and you can add or remove the application, you can change the thumbnail image and you can name your application; like I said, put in a really good call to action – Enroll Now, Sign Up Here, Listen, or Watch or whatever you want to do. (more…)
April 20, 2012
Let’s take a look at some of the top book marketing Tweets from the past week, courtesy of bloggers, marketers, authors and others. The topics include growing your Twitter following, creating content worthy of a Like, share, pin, retweet or Google +1, making your blog homepage effective, and much more. Happy marketing!
**************
* 30 Things to Tweet About Your Brand
Not sure what to Tweet about yourself? These ideas will help keep your Twitter stream active:
http://socialmediatoday.com/soravjain/488958/30-things-tweet-about-your-brand-short-guide-brands (more…)
April 18, 2012
We had a great show with host Penny Sansevieri leading a discussion on why book reviews matter, how to get your book reviewed and pitfalls to avoid when seeking reviews. Our special guest was Amy Collins.
About our guest: Amy Collins is the owner of The Cadence Group, a sales and marketing service provider for the publishing industry. In 2008, The Cadence Group launched New Shelves Distribution, a full-scale book warehousing, sales and fulfillment company selling publisher’s books directly to the national chains and independent bookstores in North America. Learn more at http://www.thecadencegrp.com.
Do reviews matter?
Yes, despite all the changes in the publishing world and how books are promoted, reviews are still important. The difference between now and then is that 15 years ago a really good review from a respected review outlet would convince a national chain and most of the top independent bookstores to carry the book. These days there are fewer chains or independent bookstores so a good review doesn’t have the same impact.
Publishers Weekly (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Authors wanted reviews back then because a good review was worth a couple thousand units to the library market alone. Now, Amy says, libraries don’t have that kind of budget anymore, so a good review is not an automatic buy – just a better chance to be considered.
There are more places to get reviews in this new world, although the review space is highly competitive. (more…)
April 16, 2012
About 10 months ago, I listened to Gary Vaynerchuck talk about this new site called Pinterest. He was really excited about it, though at first I didn’t get it. “Get on Pinterest now!” Gary encouraged. I didn’t listen, thinking “oh, dear, not another social network!”
However, Pinterest has proven to be anything but another social network. First, its growth has been extraordinary. According to several reports, including a blog post shared on Mashable, from September 2011 to December 2011, unique visitors on Pinterest increased by 429%. That kind of growth has never been seen in a social network and while it’s still early for Pinterest, we’re seeing a lot of staying power, especially with established brands like Macy’s, Land’s End and magazines such as Real Simple – which got more traffic from Pinterest in October 2011 than from Facebook.
For those of you who haven’t been on Pinterest, the concept is almost deceptively simple. You sign up for an account (there’s a waiting period right now as Pinterest tries to manage traffic and new accounts, once you sign up it should take about a week before you can get in). The site is a collection of boards, sort of like virtual bulletin boards that you name and add to your page. You can have as many boards as you want and name them whatever you want (though make sure to read through the Pinterest terms of service so you know you’re not violating any of their regulations). The boards can describe your brand, book, message, or business. We’ll look at some board ideas in a minute but for now, think bulletin board. (more…)
April 13, 2012
Here’s a roundup of some of the best book marketing Tweets from the past week, courtesy of bloggers, marketers, authors and others. The topics include using Facebook for book publicity, building hype on Goodreads, improving your Google ranking, and much more. Happy marketing!
**************
* Even More Ways to Master Facebook’s Timeline
Now that Facebook has officially switched Pages over to the Timeline format learn some additional tips and tricks:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/even_more_ways_to_master_facebook_timeline.php (more…)
April 11, 2012
As of March 30, Fan Pages on Facebook underwent significant changes. I’ve asked our Facebook expert Amy Porterfield to share some insights into these changes.
First up, Amy can you tell us what the biggest difference is with the new Fan Page changes?
Here’s the thing, it is no longer about the number of Likes. Just because you have a lot of likes, a lot of fans, doesn’t mean you’re going to have success on Facebook. If you want bottom-line results you must create ways to keep fans coming back for more, collect leads from quality fans and get them to take action inside and outside of Facebook.
With all the new changes, Pages are now more visually stimulating, which means that you can actually get more engagement just by the fact that there’s a new layout on your Facebook page. To couple that with some of these strategies we’ll talk about in this article, you’ll have some surefire ways to get more action from your Facebook fans. (more…)
April 9, 2012
Guest post by Adria Saracino:
Finishing a book is hard work, so the last thing you want to hear at this point is that there’s still a lot of work to be done. You’re exhausted, you’ve pored over everything and you just want to get it out there – so imagine how miserable you’d feel if you sent it on its way only for it to be ignored by the big wide world.
If you want people to notice your book, it’s got to look great. People do judge books by their covers (you’re probably even guilty of it yourself). Publishing houses spend a lot of money on the cover of a book, so how are you supposed to compete on a modest budget?
The answer is stock photos. Using stock photos in your design is an affordable way of creating a professional looking cover, something a lot of book publishers both big and small do. However, there are a lot of considerations if you plan on going this route. Here is a how-to guide to using royalty free images.
Cover Design
The look of your book says a lot about what’s going on inside. Do your research and find where your book should be placed in the market, try and figure out what works for bestsellers in a similar genre. Get inspired and learn from the big guys – after all, they’re the ones you’ll be competing with. The Book Designer: http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/01/3-secrets-to-e-book-cover-design-success/ offers practical and easy to understand advice for those delving into book design for the first time. (more…)
Comments Off