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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE BOOK MARKETING EXPERT NEWSLETTER! A newsletter all about SUCCESSFUL publishing and POWERFUL promotion. Oct. 13, 2011 Issue #257 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ in this issue — Note From The Editor — Drive Traffic to Your Site — Feature Article: Six Simple Ways to Promote Your YouTube Channel! — Sneak Peek: Third Annual Book Marketing Conference Online — Available Now: AME’s Book Marketing Resources — Book Bits and Bites — Finding Ways to Connect and Relate to Your Readership — Update Your Emails — Enter Today: The 2012 Indie Excellence Awards — Use Twitter and Facebook for Press Releases — Penny in the News! — Hear What The Publishing Insiders Have to Say — Create a Facebook Media Room for Publicity — Networking on Steroids — Why Websites Need Facebook Like Boxes And Buttons — 2011 Self-Publishing Book Expo — Social Media Snippet: InboxQ — Social Media Snippet: ManageFlitter — Reader Tip! — WHO ARE WE — ———————————————————— Penny C. Sansevieri, Editor penny@amarketingexpert.com Welcome to a new issue of THE BOOK MARKETING EXPERT NEWSLETTER. You are receiving this newsletter compliments of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. To opt out, please scroll down to the bottom of this newsletter. |
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Dear Author, What a fantastic Fall it’s been so far! I hope you enjoying this season, although I’m in California as I write this and it’s 101 degrees here today! We are sizzling in October. And you know what else is sizzling? This newsletter! (if I do say so myself) We’ve got another packed issue and we’re so excited to have you along for this journey. So, I’m off to speak at How to Write and Publish Books that Change Lives, then I’m at the Self-Publishing Expo. I’m so excited. If you’re going to be at either of these upcoming events, please let me know. I’d love to meet you in person! And, (drum roll): Get Published Today is on our site and available for purchase: http://www.getpublishedtoday.com. Many thanks to Wheatmark for being such an exceptional publishing partner. I also just finished 52 Ways to Sell More Books and that should be in print before the end of the year. Whew! What a busy few months it’s been! This week we’re talking YouTube – video is such an amazing vehicle for promotion. We’re getting ready to launch some exceptional video programs on our own YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/bookmarketingame. We hope you’ll tune in! Wishing you a wonderful Fall, I hope success is sizzling for you, too! Wishing you publishing success, Penny, Paula, Amy, Bianca and everyone at Author Marketing Experts, Inc. |
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Drive Traffic to Your Site
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Learn how via Penny’s article, “Twenty Ways to Drive More Traffic to Your Website and Blog:” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/penny-c-sansevieri/book-marketing-tips_b_976997.html |
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Feature Article: Six Simple Ways to Promote Your YouTube Channel!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We talked about making interesting and fun YouTube videos in a previous article, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/penny-c-sansevieri/a-quick-and-easy-guide-to_b_926451.html, and now we’re going to look at how to promote those videos! First, if you’re not on YouTube you should be. Video viewing online grew by 35% this year, which is amazing. Meanwhile there are 35 hours of video uploaded every minute to YouTube, so if you’re going to get seen, YouTube is where you want to be. Make your video searchable. With so many videos getting uploaded to YouTube each day, it’s more important than ever to ensure that your audience can find your video on the site. How do you do this? First, make sure you have a compelling title. Use your keywords and make a strong emphasis on the benefits of the video. People don’t want to be surprised, and the minute you make them figure out something, you’ll lose them to a more focused and succinct video title. Next is your video description. I see a lot of videos on this site without descriptions and that’s a big mistake. Why? Because if you capture your audience with the video title, you really want to keep their attention with a compelling description. Remember, solve their problem, offer solutions, and entertain them. Whatever it is you’re doing, tell them clearly in a keyword rich description. Make them short. Don’t push long videos to this site. Short is key, and studies have shown that viewer interest starts to decline as you inch towards that two-minute mark. If you have a long video you want to upload, consider editing it down into shorter segments. Also, while the two-minute mark is key, I find that education videos can sometimes be longer. We run short seminar excerpts up to seven minutes and they do fine. Page Layout. When you’re setting up your YouTube channel, be sure and use the “Player View.” I don’t recommend using a grid view which is also an option. Additionally, set your video to play automatically. When you’ve done that, create playlists of your most popular videos. You’re going to keep updating this as viewer preferences change. The dashboard on YouTube gives you a lot of options, use them! Get a custom channel. Make sure your YouTube channel is branded to you, your book, or your business. A custom channel will help represent your message better and makes your entire video series look more professional. Annotating your Channel. Have you ever watched a YouTube video and seen words or a call to action pop up during the video? These are called Annotations and anyone uploading a video to YouTube can use them, they’re fantastic! You can use Annotations to drive people to a sale or get them to view another video or video link on your site. Almost whatever you want. If you want to learn how to do Annotations, here’s a great article on it: http://www.reelseo.com/youtube-annotations-guide/ Promote your channel. Be sure to push your channel out through social media channels. Promote it on Facebook, Twitter, your own website and even in your signature line. Every time you upload a video you should promote it on these sites, and every once in a while, push a random video to your list to keep reminding them you have a fantastic YouTube channel! Finally, YouTube got a real boost from Google+. Now you can load a video into the “Hangouts” section of Google+ and watch a video together with others in your Hangout. (Don’t know what a Google+ Hangout is? Click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tku1vJeuzH4) It’s a great way to share and comment on videos and you should be encouraging your readers to try this. In fact, why not invite your followers to join you in a Google+ Hangout to watch a video and get their instant feedback? You could gather great data! The importance of YouTube can’t be overstated. It’s a fantastic platform and, if used properly, can really help ignite interest in your book. Don’t burn out on it; getting on YouTube can be fun, lots of fun. But sometimes (like with any social media) if you aren’t staying with it, you might burn out or lose interest. Check out my ideas for creating YouTube content to keep your channel going. Be a star on YouTube, you’ll be glad you did! |
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Sneak Peek: Third Annual Book Marketing Conference Online
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Have you heard about the Third Annual Book Marketing Conference Online? Get immediate access to the preview Workshop Series PLUS: * “The 7 Mistakes That Even Smart Authors Make When Marketing Their Books Online.” Discover what 14 world renowned book marketing experts will teach during the live and recorded sessions! You won’t want to miss this. http://www.bookmarketingconference.com/ |
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Available Now: AME’s Book Marketing Resources
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Like” our AME Facebook Page for marketing articles and tips, YouTube videos from our book marketing channel, notices about upcoming webinars, Publishing Insider shows, and more: http://www.facebook.com/bookmarketingame?ref=sgm. Need Book Marketing Content? Visit the articles page on our AME website and you’ll find a range of articles by Penny, which may be used along with her byline (provided at the top of the page) at no cost. The complete list is at http://amarketingexpert.com/articles/. Learn ‘How to Succeed Online and Sell More Books’ and much more on AME’s Book Marketing Channel on YouTube. New videos are added regularly to keep you up to date on all things book marketing! http://www.youtube.com/user/BookmarketingAME. |
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Book Bits and Bites
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New Words: “‘Mumpreneur,’ ‘mankle’ and ‘mamil’ Among New Words Added to Latest Dictionary:” http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/oct/05/clicktivism-unfollow-new-words-dictionary Looking Back: “10 Best-Selling Books That Were Originally Rejected:” http://flavorwire.com/216086/10-best-selling-books-that-were-originally-rejected Desk Envy: “Awesome Stacks Of Books Found In Offices:” http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikehayes/awesome-stacks-of-books-found-in-offices Well Drawn: “Six Famous Authors Animated:” http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blogs/PWxyz/?p=7302 |
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Finding Ways to Connect and Relate to Your Readership
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The primary concern of any writer – professional, amateur (and looking to go pro), or just starting to dabble – is writing. You want to transfer your ideas to the page, hone them for maximum intended impact, and then release them to the reader. But writing, as it turns out, is only the first step in getting your product to the people who will consume it. Whether you’re writing a blog, short stories, poetry, or the next great novel of our generation, you need to interest readers if you want them to buy the product; and this means you have to first reach them and then forge a connection. So if you’re looking for ways to get your work to the masses, here are a few modes of connection that you may want to consider. 1. Guest blogging. The main goal for any writer is to become known. To that end, there is no better way to get your name out to whole communities of potential readers than by writing guest posts on related blogs. You can choose blogs that focus on your particular genre or go for sites that review the work of new authors (for example). But if you’re good at what you do, you’ll kill two birds with one stone: not only will you get your name out there and potentially promote your current body of work, but you’ll also deliver a sample of your writing at the same time. 2. Social networking. If you don’t have a Facebook page and Twitter account it’s high time you joined the social media revolution. Once you get a few fans following you, you’re going to have to work to maintain and expand your readership and social networking can be a huge boon in this capacity. By keeping readers informed of upcoming events (signings, online sales, etc.) and providing them with added value over the average reader (excerpts, additional content, and so on) you can keep them interested and coming back for more. 3. eBooks. Selling your books online is a great way to expand your readership. Although you will likely have to sell eBooks for less (at least initially) you may find that gaining more followers is well worth any potential loss of revenue. Think of it this way: you could have the same 1,000 readers gobbling up everything you write at full price from real-world stores or you could hook 10,000 online for a fraction of the price (with the hope that they may be willing to pay more later on). 4. Signings. Doing it old school is nothing to scoff at. While you can get a lot of attention by using an online marketing strategy to turn yourself into a brand, there’s simply no substitute for looking people in the eyes and shaking their hands. Making a personal connection with readers, however short-lived, is essential to keeping them hooked on your books. And you might be surprised by how much you can learn about your readers by listening to what they have to say about their likes and dislikes where your writing is concerned. 5. Answering comments. Think of your website or blog like a couples counseling session by which you get to communicate with readers on a one-on-one basis in order to improve the relationship. Although it’s not quite as good as meeting in person, it’s still a great way to get feedback on your work, assess the marketplace for your product, and make your readers feel like you’re a real person instead of a cyber-robot. In short, everyone wins when you take the time to connect with your readers. Guest post by Sarah Danielson. Sarah is a writer for Power of Two Marriage, http://poweroftwomarriage.com/, the best alternative to marriage counseling online. In her spare time she enjoys reading and she is currently writing a book on the joys of freelancing. |
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Update Your Emails
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Use http://www.wisestamp.com/ to keep your emails updated with your latest tweets! Wisestamp doesn’t currently work in Outlook, but for other email providers it’s a great way to share your latest social media info in each signature block! |
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Enter Today: The 2012 Indie Excellence Awards
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Indie Excellence Awards contest is taking submissions! NIEA celebrates overall excellence, including design and promotional text. To enter, please send one copy of your book per category entered. Books with publication dates of 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 are eligible. Books published anywhere in the world may be submitted as long as they are in English and can be purchased in the United States. For more information, expanded category listings and entry forms please visit: http://www.indieexcellence.com |
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Use Twitter and Facebook for Press Releases
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Both Twitter and Facebook are great venues for sharing your publicity. Learn how to make the most of both sites for your PR: http://smedio.com/2010/10/25/how-to-use-twitter-and-facebook-for-press-release/ |
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Penny in the News!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Penny’s article “Your 10 Point Website Checkup” appeared on the Faith, Hope and Grace blog: http://nquatrano.wordpress.com/2011/10/02/your-10-point-website-check-up/ * Self Publishing Resources ran Penny’s article, “Planning an Exceptional Book Signing From Start to Finish:” http://self-publishingresources.com/2011/09/30/planning-an-exceptional-book-signing-from-start-to-finish/ * Penny has a series on book marketing underway at BookBuzzr: http://www.bookbuzzr.com/blog/?s=Penny+Sansevieri&x=0&y=0. * Keep up with Penny’s latest publishing/marketing piece for Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/penny-c-sansevieri. |
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Hear What The Publishing Insiders Have to Say
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Be in the know and hear what the publishing insiders: Penny Sansevieri, CEO of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. – and her guests – has to offer in terms of tips and insights into the industry! Listen here. Publishing Insiders is now available on iTunes, so you can keep up with the show wherever you go! Upcoming show: Promote Your Book: 250+ Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques, Tuesday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. Eastern Do you have what it takes to be a successful author, but you’re not sure how to go about it? Are you a published author with a book that is struggling in the marketplace? Promote Your Book gives enterprising authors the advantage they need in order to more successfully navigate the publishing industry and gain a better understanding of their responsibilities as a published author. Join us as author Patricia Fry offers insights into tried and true book promotion techniques. Learn how to promote creatively; when, why and how to get involved in social media; how and when to submit news releases and tip sheets; ideas for arranging book signings, radio, and TV appearances; tips for submitting articles and stories for publication; how to land and present speaking gigs and much more. Shows available for download at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thepublishinginsiders: * How to Get Your Book Reviewed |
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Create a Facebook Media Room for Publicity
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You should have a media room on your website, but consider having a media room on Facebook too. Here’s why: http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-page-tab-pr-2011-09 |
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Networking on Steroids
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you’re on Gmail try Rapportive: http://rapportive.com/. It looks up all data related to your contacts: hobbies, social networks, etc. Wouldn’t it be great to mention to a reporter you’re pitching that you hope he had a great weekend and oh, by the way, hope he made time for (insert favorite hobby)? People love it when you make it all about them. |
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Why Websites Need Facebook Like Boxes And Buttons
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The box and the button are two different elements but each makes a difference when placed on your website. Here’s why: http://www.allfacebook.com/why-websites-need-facebook-like-boxes-and-buttons-2011-09 |
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2011 Self-Publishing Book Expo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The 2011 Self-Publishing Book Expo will be back for a third year, on Saturday, Oct. 22, at the Sheraton New York Hotel (811 Seventh Avenue, NYC). Highlights of this year’s show include: * What’s Your Story – a forum for aspiring authors to pitch their book ideas to a highly experienced group of agents, editors and publishers. * One-on-One Manuscript Evaluations – where professional editors will sit down with authors to review and assess their work. * Sixteen panels – led by an impressive list of industry professionals on such topics as eBooks, social networking, pricing, distribution, website building, and the legal aspects of self-publishing, to name just a few. For further information, please visit: http://www.selfpubbookexpo.com |
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Social Media Snippet: InboxQ
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Answering questions on Twitter can really help up your engagement. Check out InboxQ, https://www.inboxq.com/. It’s super easy to set up and once you do, you can go in and answer the most popular questions related to your topic. I bet you get a lot of followers that way! |
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Social Media Snippet: ManageFlitter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.manageflitter.com/ helps to manage your Twitter account by showing you who’s just clogging your Twitter stream with junk, who isn’t following you back, and who might be spamming you! |
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Reader Tip!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you’ve got a Reader Tip you’d like to share, please send it to penny@amarketingexpert.com with the subject line “reader tip.” Submissions should be 75 words or less. |
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WHO ARE WE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Author Marketing Experts, Inc. is a full-service book marketing, promotion, and publicity company. We serve authors at all stages of marketing and promotion. We offer a full range of packages and services to choose from. To see a price list or schedule a free consultation, send your e-mail to penny@amarketingexpert.com with the subject line “Author Services Info.” You can also visit our website at www.amarketingexpert.com. Reprint permission Reprinted from “The Book Marketing Expert newsletter,” a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://amarketingexpert.com/ |
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Like this newsletter? Pass it on! We never rent or sell subscriber lists to any third party. Your privacy is very important to us. Always. To subscribe to this newsletter, click here: subscribe@amarketingexpert.com. |
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Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ email: penny@amarketingexpert.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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