Friday Marketing Round Up (3/5)

Hi guys. I miss you all. I've been so slammed since the contest trying to catch up on deadlines and get everything out. I guess you could say I've had a bad case of the blogger hangover. The Mardi Gras was a huge success (and took more time than I thought). It was so worth every moment since I gotta make so many new blogger buddies. I appreciate you all participating!!!!

Here are my top marketing posts for the week:

Strong Book Spines - While spines seem less important than front covers, they are in fact often a reader’s first visual impression of a book. (This was interesting to me because usually we think of covers as being critical)

Candlewick's new Marketing Campaign - Candlewick Press launched a new marketing program aimed specifically at frontline indie booksellers, CHIRP. In a bit of double entendre, "CHIRP," short for Candlewick's Handselling Indie Recognition Program. (aren't they so cool! I love the program. Brilliant!)

HarperTeen goes online for Marketing - This campaign included a calendar spotlighting a different young adult novel each day, links to Twitter and to YA blogs featuring Q&As with authors, games, a widget, a browse-inside-the books option, and a sweepstakes offering a chance to win a signed copy of a book and one of five iPod Touch prizes. (Again, brilliant - they had over 62000 entries!)

Do authors really need to promote their books? Is it worth the constant struggle between using time to market or to write. (I say yes. :)

Their So called Life - Fact and Fiction behind the fickle girl teen dynamic. Truth be told, they’re much more preoccupied with their own social activities than marketing messages. (This gave me some interesting thoughts. Can't wait to see what our panel thinks!)

Getting Your Book Noticed on Amazon - As the world's #1 online bookseller, Amazon is pretty much the top dog in terms of places where potential customers search for books, so the higher up in the search that your book lands, the better off you are.

Blog the Right Way - Is there a correct way to blog? Much like asking if there’s a right way to write. Actually, any form or action of writing is a form of expression that satisfies the writer and communicates with their audience is a win-win process. (This applies if your goal for blogging is generate traffic to spotlight you or your books.)

What should you tweet about? Twitter is a great way to meet people, develop relationships, and promote your book, yourself and your business. But it's important to avoid being seen as someone who just promotes themselves. Most of your tweets should be about helping others and help people get to know you.