4 Basics that Might Revive Your Writing by Diana Flegal

In a recent EPCA newsletter I came across an article link celebrating a 23 year old book becoming a New York Times Bestselling title.

Dr. Henry Cloud’s title Boundaries hit the list after a marketed campaign that you can read about here. Rob Eagar, marketing consultant to authors, publishers, and non-profits, helped Dr. Cloud spread his message further than it had previously reached.

Just goes to show this marketing thing might be worth the effort after all.

So please, when your agent or conference workshop leader offers you advice for building your social media presence. Take a look and see what small thing you can do to bring attention to your expertise.

And keep to the basics:

#1: Write a good book:   Boundaries is a great book. I read it and have recommended it often.

#2: Surround yourself by a group of objective people/ critique group and listen to them

#3: Believe in yourself, but be willing to learn new things continually

#4 Never quit/ be willing to rewrite/ take a class/ begin fresh

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writers and Stewardship by Andy Scheer

“You have a big responsibility,” I told her at the end of the Writing for the Soul conference.

Through a weekend packed with twelve class hours and six keynotes, she’d learned a lot. Now comes applying what she learned.

She already has a speaking ministry to teens. Her nonfiction sample I evaluated shows great potential.

But she’s behind the curve in presenting her material online — either to publicize her work or to enable access by online readers. She’s more relational than a techie.

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” I said. “Find people who are. Concentrate on what you do well, and enlist the help of people with the website and technical skills you lack.”

With 25 of the conference’s 70 sessions devoted to promotion and marketing, she’d been given access — either live or through recordings — to what she needs to apply. I hope she does.

Authors Shifting from Book Store Signings to Virtual Campaigns by Jennifer Hudson Taylor

We have an interesting conversation going on my  Facebook Author Page. I've asked readers if they ever attend author book signings and why or why not. Most of the comments favor "no" because most book signings are too far away. A few said they would drive a long distance only if they really like and want to meet the author. Then there are the various ideas of what is reasonable distance 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours.

On my writing loops, I've "listened" in on a few discussions among authors who are booking fewer and fewer book signings. Most reasons are obvious ranging from the cost of travel and book stores closing to more readers are buying ebooks and no one bothers to show up. Is there any wonder that authors are looking for more ways to reach readers where they hang out in a cost efficient manner that won't break our near nonexistent budgets?

For most, the answer has been building a blogging or podcast platform and feeding it through network connections via social media. When new books come out, authors launch promotion campaigns and go on blog tours ranging from interviews, guests posts to book review spots. Others hire publicists such as Litfuse for Facebook Parties and Upon the Rock Publicist for Twitter Campaigns, and a host of others for blog tours. Some simply post online announcements and hope for the best.

Online bookclubs are becoming a popular way for authors to promote themselves and their books, such as Yahoo Groups, ACFW, Goodreads, and The Bookclub Network.

Of the following online activities, which ones have you tried and would you do them again? What promotion efforts have you done that are not listed or mentioned? Share with your colleagues!

• Online Bookclubs
• Facebook Parties
• Twitter Campaigns
• Blog Tours (book reviews, interviews, guest posts)
• Social Media Announcements 
• Virtual Book Signings

Timeline for Book Launch Campaigns by Jennifer Hudson Taylor

So much goes into launching a book whether it is your first or one of many. Most likely, you'll know the release date a year in advance. Some smaller publishers may give you six to nine months notice. This will give you plenty of time to save and plan for your book launch as you continue writing the next book and revising macro and copy edits on soon-to-be-released book. 

If you receive an advance, my advice is to keep your day job or let your spouse keep supporting you, and plan to use a good portion of it, perhaps all of it, on your promotion efforts. You can write the next great American or European classic, but if no one knows about it--your book will remain one of the world's best kept secrets. Therefore, the best thing you can do for your writing career is to invest in it--wisely.

Below is a general timeline to help you plan for your upcoming book launch. This is only meant as a guideline, not something set in stone. Feel free to modify it as circumstances vary from author to author, publisher to publisher, and depending on genre and other ideas you may have. 

6-9 Months

~ Create Marketing Plan for your book launch

~ Hopefully, you already have a website/blog, but if not, buy your domain. Set up your site or hire someone to develop it for you. 

~ Set up your social media sites and link them all to your website/blog. If you already have these sites set up, be sure to update them, check their links, upload your book cover as soon as it's available.

~ Create an online Media Kit. This is a place that will have a page for your bio, photo, book covers and purchasing info, sample chapter, video book trailer, a way to contact you, a calendar with your upcoming schedule and events, and blog tour info. Even if you don't have the info for these pages yet, create the pages and set them up so you can add info as it's available.

4-5 Months

~ Schedule book tours. You can either do this yourself or hire a company to do this for you. If you have the funds, I recommend more than one book tour. Determine ahead of time how many books you plan to give away for review and/or as giveways on blogs. Be sure to schedule a combination of reviews, interviews, and guest posts so readers aren't bombarded with the same info if they follow multiple blogs on your tour.

~ Determine if you will host a contest campaign with multiple giveaways beyond mere books. You need to know where you will host it, who will help, goals, and target audience.

~ If you need to provide books and giveaway items, try to purchase a few each week. Don't wait and try to buy everything all at once. Sometimes bulk isn't the best answer--especially if you're on a tight budget. A little at a time is more affordable when you don't have bulk cash. When I buy things this way, it helps my buy out of my paycheck rather than my book money, allowing me to save it for lean months or or big item purchases. 

~ Put out a call for Influencers who will read the book and post reviews on their blogs, Amazon, B&N, and other online locations.

2-3 Months

~ Set up book signings. Check local schedules for events and festivals that might be taking place where you can bring your books. Piggy-back on their promotion of the event and utilize a location where people will already be gathering. For example, since I write Scottish historicals, a great venue for me has been the highland games held throughout the country. 

~ Start posting a few status updates regarding your book launch and what you're working on to start building excitement and anticipation on your social media sites. 

~ Start designing and ordering bookmarks, business cards, postcards, magnets, and the promotion items you plan to purchase.

~ Determine budget and schedule for any paid ads. 

~ Set up Google alerts for you author name and the title of your new book.
~ Once your book is listed on Amazon, set up an author section on Amazon Central. If you need additional information on what this is and how it will benefit you, I wrote a previous post on it here. 

1 Month

~ Fill out questions for blog interviews and return as many as possible. Submit guests posts where possible. 

~ Write press release, including first book launch party dates and times and begin submitting it to local and online media.

~ Post scheduled events on local media calendars, including public community calendars at libraries, chamber of commerce, etc.

~ Send out personal invites to people for book launch party and online blog tours.

2-3 Weeks

~ If you have a regular newsletter, send out a new one or a special announcement regarding your book release and launch party event.

~ Start posting teasers for reviews with links on blog and social media.
~ Continue answering blog interview questions and guest posts. 

~ Send out a reminder to Influencers.

1 Week

~ Post blog tour info with links on blog and social media.

~ Begin book launch contest and/or blog tour.

Book Release Day

~ Reminder announcement on website/blog and every social media channel with a link where to purchase.

~ First blog tour stop with link and keep up each day until blog tour is over.

If you have additional questions post them in the comment section below. If you need assistance with your upcoming book launch, visit us at Upon the Rock Publicist!

Too Many Rules Can Hurt Your Online Community by Jennifer Hudson Taylor

Last week I joined an online community group and on the same day deleted my membership in the community. It wasn't because the community group lacked information, interaction, had spammers, people with rude behaviors, or any of the reasons we would typically assume. It was for one reason only--too many rules.

I thought to myself, there is no way I'm going to remember all these rules and I will end up forgetting and violating one of them by accident.

My next thought was, I don't have time for this. I need to make my life simple.

My final thought was, what does this online group have that none of the others have? Nothing! 

Delete.


Don't get me wrong, I believe in rules. Setting up sensible rules are necessary to prevent few people from spamming, posting bad links, verbally abusing and hurting others, or posting offensive things. However, there is a balance. Keep in mind that for every bad individual, there are many more who are reasonable, sensible, professional adults who don't need to be treated like children. Keep your rules sensible and balanced for the majority who are not trouble makers.

I have joined a number of online email lists, Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, and now Google+ Community groups. Some post simple rules that are only a few paragraphs, while others have several pages of specific, mind-boggling, over-bearing rules that no one will be able to remember.

A month ago, I joined a LinkedIn group that I thought would be interesting and helpful. I received a standard welcome email from the moderator with a long list of rules and by the time I got to the third page of rules, I stopped reading. I haven't posted or participated in this group, because to be honest, I'm really not sure what is allowed and what isn't. I will probably leave the group soon. There isn't any point in being a member of something I'm hesitant to participate in.

If you are thinking about creating a community group and the purpose is to build a large network of people that will ultimately increase your platform, my advice would be to try and keep things as simple as possible. Do you really want to waste a lot of time hand-holding, coddling, and reprimanding individuals for the slightest of offenses when you have a lot other productive things to do?

Remember, setting too many unnecessary rules will discourage good people from joining your community, and indirectly slow the growth of your online community.

What are your thoughts? Have you had your hand smacked for posting something to an email loop or an online group forum that you thought would be perfectly acceptable? Have you dropped out or been tempted to drop out of any online communities for something similar? Or have you had to deal with the opposite issue of too much self-promotion and rude comments that went unmoderated?

Where to Find Royalty Free Images & Footage by Jennifer Hudson Taylor

Even though I'm an author who loves the written word, I'll be one of the first to admit that images are often just as powerful--sometimes instantly--through first impressions. That's why I believe images should accompany blog posts, articles, and are instrumental in video book trailers. It's also why YouTube made such a huge splash and isn't showing any signs of slowing down, and Pinterest is emerging as one of the top Social Media sites these days.

However, since many of us aren't professional photographers, and we can't be everywhere catching every possible image, we often have to rely on photos that others have taken. Therefore, we need to make sure we aren't violating any copyright laws by posting our images. If you take a photo, of objects and places then you have ownership of those photos, but if you take photos of people, you will need to get them to sign a permission release form giving you permission to use and publish their photo. If you choose to use stock photos and video, you'll want to make sure it is royalty-free or in the public domain.

Royalty-Free photos are NOT necessarily FREE!

Royalty-Free refers to the right to use copyrighted material or intellectual property without the need to pay royalties for each use or per volume sold, each time it is posted or used, or for a specified time period of use or sales.

Public Domain includes works or intellectual property in which the rights have expired, been forfeited, or are inapplicable.

When I need to use stock photos and videos, here are a few places I go:

Wikipedia - They have lots of photos that have been released into the public domain. I often use them for images of other places I cannot personally visit or things I cannot personally obtain.

Stock.xchng - This is my favorite site for still photos! They often have some great images that you won't find anywhere else. Most of them are free, but once in a while, the author will want permission and you have to email them and ask, or they would like you to give them credit in a byline or link back of some sort.

Flickr - This site has some copyrighted material, but you can do an Advanced Search in the Commons section for public domain images and add to them if you want.

Dreamstime - Free photos that are royalty-free.

iStock Photo - If you have to pay for royalty-free images and video, I like this site the best. You can purchase credits as needed and download the files when you need them. I like this site because of the wide variety of selections they provide in both still photos, illustrations, and video clips.

Free Stock Footage - Royalty-free video footage. You may need to install a plugin to view the video feeds.

ShutterStock - Royalty-free video footage as well as motion animations and still photos. 

Animation Factory - Provides some great motion animations that are royalty-free, as well as PowerPoint backgrounts. 


Pond5 - Royalty-free video, photos and illustrations. Some of the videos are a little pricey, but the still images are $1-$2 ea.

Do you use any sites for images and videos that you would like to share that I haven't listed?

Promoting Your Book Isn't Hype by Jennifer Hudson Taylor

It's common sense business.

Lately, I've seen several blog posts and comments from authors suggesting that platform building and marketing is all a bunch of hype. The controversy centers around whether it is the responsibility of the author or the publisher, and the marketing ploys that take advantage of people without really helping, as well as concepts that cause authors to overburden themselves with unrealistic expectations.

I believe there is value on both sides of the argument, but we can't lose sight of the facts and our ultimate career goals as writers.

Let's take the first issue, who's responsibility is it?
I believe it belongs to both the author and the publisher. It's a fact that publishers do less than they use to do and many admit it. The fact that this is happening doesn't mean it's right or fair. Yet, it's our new reality, and we must learn to deal with it if we choose to be published authors.

Let's look at who has more at stake if the book doesn't succeed. Is it the author or publisher?

The publisher will lose money, and even that is something they can recoup in a better selling book. Therefore, they may decide not to publish future books by that author. Authors are easily replaced and new voices are rising up each day.

On the other hand, the author will lose money, credibility, and possible career set-backs. Readers don't look for publisher names on books. They look for author names. It isn't the publisher's career at stake, but the author's career. We are left to work with the resources that are given to us, and if the publisher isn't going to provide the necessary marketing and promotion, and the author wants the book to do well, it falls to the author. Complaining and resisting won't change the facts. It is, what it is.

Marketing ploys are in abundance and some of these are hype, but not all of them. Authors have to learn to weed out the bad and weave in the good where it can fit into their busy lives and schedules. Platform IS important. You can put a million dollar budget on your book, but if all that money is being spent on cold-calls, cold-ads, cold-announcements -- meaning none of the people have ever heard of you, it's a waste of money. Having a platform changes the game. People in your platform/network have heard of you, feel like they know you, feel that your work and your word has credibility, and they are more willing to pluck down their hard earned money for your book.

Concepts that overburden authors with unrealistic expectations ARE real. Authors feel overwhelmed, scattered everywhere, and they lose focus. You can't be expected to do everything, and no one is expecting you to. Some of us are our own worst enemy. We hear a few things and we automatically assume we must do this, that, and the other without sitting down praying about it, and fitting into our schedule logically and strategically. I've mentioned it before, create a Marketing Plan. It will help you focus on the needs that you need to be doing today, as you work toward your goals for a higher platform tomorrow.

When I find myself starting to complain and I'm feeling overwhelmed, that's when I need to sit down, pray and re-evaluate where I've lost my focus.

• What new things have I taken on and allowed into my schedule that wasn't planned?
• Am I comparing myself to others--way too much? 
• Am I spending quality time with God and seeking Him about my burdens, essentially turning it all over to Him?
• Did my editor/agent really say this or that had to be done or did I assume it just because they mentioned it would be a great idea. Do I need to get clarification?
• Am I being impatient, expecting results now that in reality are going to take a year or several years to accomplish?

Have you caught yourself in the midst of some of these cycles? Do you have other coping skills you can offer and share with your colleagues?

Enhance Your Blog with Widgets by Jennifer Hudson Taylor

Recently, it came to my attention that some people still don't know what a widget is or how to use it. If you are a blogger or a website owner, a widget is a great tool you can use to enhance your website/blog and provide ways for others to promote you or your work on other sites if they choose.

What is a widget?
It's a small application that can be installed within a web page or blog by reusing specific code behind the scenes in the HTML section to make the visual display look neat and uniform as well as interactive. Widgets can be used to allow people to subscribe to newsletters, like Facebook pages, display the latest tweets from a twitter page, and more.

Other terms used to describe widgets include: a gadget, badge or social plugin. Widgets are typically created by Web developers using code from DHTML, JavaScript or Adobe Flash. Those of us who aren't developers can copy the code and paste into the html part of our website and get a similar look for what we want to display on our blog or website.

What Are a Few Examples of Widgets?

The HTML for my Facebook looks like:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.ak.connect.facebook.com/js/api_lib/v0.4/FeatureLoader.js.php/en_US"></script><script type="text/javascript">FB.init("19e95ef45366a838c6e883210136a4c1");</script><fb:fan profile_id="334126764915" stream="0" connections="10" logobar="1" width="150"></fb:fan><div style="font-size:8px; padding-left:10px"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/JenniferHudsonTaylor">Author Jennifer Hudson Taylor</a> on Facebook</div>

This is what the code above looks like when inserted properly on the HTML page:

Author Jennifer Hudson Taylor on Facebook

• To insert a Facebook Widget, go here.
• To insert a Twitter Widget, go here.
• To insert Google Gadgets, go here.
• To insert Yahoo Widgets, go here. 
• To make customized Widgets, use WidgetBox.

Marketing Question: Where has your $ paid off in Book Sales? by Diana Flegal

Hello Dear Readers;

I have been carrying on a discussion with published and non published authors about the personal investments they have been making or are considering to help promote and sell their books.

The question arose, "Should I put my money into a book trailer or a launch party?"

Since the launch party 's expense promises to be higher and the venue had only the space for 60 people- the author has decided to go with the Book Trailer, thinking it is where the author would get the largest bang for their buck ($).

I am thinking their is still great power in word of mouth sales and wondering if that was the best choice.

Can you all please contribute to the conversation by sharing where, in reality- the best jump in sales has come from and what you might do differently next time in book promotion?

The experts weigh in on blogs and through their marketing business' but from an author viewpoint- can you let us know what has worked for you?

Have a great writing day and may your POV come across as you desire, and quote worthy phrases spring forth from pen to paper!

Diana

Hanging Out at Google+ by Jennifer Hudson Taylor

Not literally, but there is a feature on Google+ that is called Hangouts. You don't just hangout and type/chat in a room together, but you hangout in a video/audio chat area. With the camera on your computer or tablet, it links everyone up and you can see each other and chat by audio. It's nice to see faces and hear voices. No more typing and skimming to read text to keep up with the conversation. It's better than Skype.



In September, I'm planning on hosting the Highland Sanctuary Book Launch Contest, which will run for a period of two weeks, but in the meantime, I'll be planning and possibly adding more free gift giveaways. Rather than merely listing the winners on my blog, I thought it might be fun and different to use the Google+ Hangout as a place to draw the winning names live on camera. I'd schedule the event ahead of time and announce it to my Social Media networks so people would know what time to "tune" in. For those who can't attend, I'll still post the winners on my blog the following day.

One neat thing about Google+ Hangouts is that you can also stream it straight to YouTube. Technology is changing the way authors promote books. While there are many unknowns, I think we're living in an exciting time.

What are your thoughts? Does it sound interesting? Is it something you might want to try with your book launch contests?

Prioritize Promotional Events by Jennifer Hudson Taylor

While special events are a great way to promote your books, they can also be a drain on finances, time, and energy.  Therefore, you need to prioritize which events will be best for you and stick to your budget and schedule when unexpected opportunities arise.

Each event is different with varying purposes. You may attend some events for the following reasons: 1) sell books, 2) raise awareness about you and your book, 3)  to give back to the community 4) as a means to provide a ministry


Here are some recommended tips:
1) Before your book launch, plan your promotional budget for events and determine your top goals.

2) Keep in mind that events where books are not sold will require you to bring your own books and you may be required to rent space, table and chairs. You may have to buy meals if it is an all day event. Also, if it is out of town, there will be travel and lodging costs.

3) Browse local community calendars at the libraries, bookstores, chamber of commerce, church listings, festivals, etc for events that may have a tie-in to any kind of topic in your novel. If you have a nascar book, consider a nascar event. I write historical novels in Scotland, so the highland games are always great selling avenues for me. What topic or themes in your novels can you capitalize on?

4) Google writing conferences and workshops and send an email with your credentials, bio and links to offer your services as a speaker. Often, they will cover the cost of your travel, lodging, and pay you an honorarium, as well as allow you to bring and sell your books.

5) Some book signings are still worth it even if you only sell one or two novels. It you have a local book signing, you don't have to bring your own books, you don't have the cost of travel and rental space, and all it takes is one reader who may spread the word to 4-5 more people and help you pick up more readers. Even if people don't buy your books, they may go home and Google your name, so make sure you have a large sign or banner on or by your table. This is where passing out bookmarks, postcards, magnets and business cards are key.

6) Hold online events. You can host contests, giveaways, workshops, video Q&A, video interviews, podcasts, and digital book signings. New technology is allowing people to be very creative, accessible, and economical. Take advantage of these opportunities.

Any other ideas? Please share!

Understanding & Using SEO Marketing

You've probably seen the online articles and Twitter tweets about improving SEO performance, but what does it REALLY mean beyond the acronym of Search Engine Optimization?

It's improving the visibility of your website through a natural, organic process that doesn't cost money, but be assured, it WILL cost time.

Marketing is an ongoing process and you'll never be able to do enough of it. Therefore, unless you have unlimited funds to spend on buying top search engine placement, you'll need to spend some time improving your site's rankings and page algorithm. When people search for a term, they aren't going to click on hundreds of pages until your site pops up in the listing. This is why you want your site to come up as high as possible in the rankings, hopefully the first page or the first few pages.

However, don't get too caught up in "rankings" since it is only one algorithm used to upload pages to key search words. If you have enough "quality" backlinks linking key search terms to your page or site, it's possible for your site to beat a higher ranking site on that particular key search term. You need to consider the top search words and phrases people will use to find your site. Incorporate them into your html, your blog posts, headers, tags, etc.

Here are a few techniques to improve your site's rankings and algorithm:
1) Cross Linking - This is linking pages within the same website or blog. Examples of  this would be creating a sitemap, a resource center of links to previous articles, archives, top visited posts, etc.

2) Multiply Incoming Links - You want to get as many "quality" sites linking to your website/blog as possible. This is sometimes called Deep Linking. It tells the search engines that you have a lot of worthwhile content. Ways to improve this are offering guest posts to other blogs, uploading your archived articles to other ezines and allowing your articles to be reposted by other bloggers as long as they use your byline and link back to your page.

3) Write Good Content - Make sure blog posts and/or articles contain frequently searched keywords and phrases, but don't overdo it to the point that you get your site banned by the search engines. Just make sure each page contains your key search terms for that page at least twice.

4) Update Content Often - This lures the search engines back to your site to crawl over your content and re-index it. It also builds traffic. This is another reason why it would be better to blog at least 3 times per week.

5) Multiple Domains - Search engines only list one page per domain, therefore, if you have several topics that are strong enough to support their own site, go for it. Examples of this are ministries, author sites, homeschooling pages, and side businesses. I own two author domains, www.jenniferhudsontaylor.com and www.authorjenniferhudsontaylor.com. Also, I own a few more business domains. They all link into each other.


6) Strategize Anchor Links - It may be tempting to anchor as many links as possible to your url, but to the search engines it may look like automation and could result in getting your site banned from search engines. Therefore, use your url, but also link to various pages on your site. Include links to your individual book page, speaker page, bio, and archived articles where appropriate.

7) Use Text Links - Even where you've used an image to link to another page or site, be sure to include a text link above the image as well. Spiders and webcrawler search engines pick up text links first, so list them above the image, not below.

8) Use Frames & Flash Sparingly - So many people have switched to using frames and flash to develop their sites, but they don't allow links to individual pages. It's all or nothing.

9) Truth About Paid Links - Unless the paid link is embedded in the body text and not obvious sponsored links, it does nothing to improve your SEO. It only provides a few clicks to your site. So if you pay for a link, be sure to place it on a quality site and have realistic expectations.

10) SEO is Daily - Be aware that the landscape for search engines changes daily, therefore, you must expect to work on your SEO daily. At least keep it in mind for each blog post and each time you update your site/blog.