So I made 500 followers over the weekend so this week is a celebration of all of you.
Every day this week, I am doing a drawing from "my posse" for two prize packages. This is just to thank my followers for wasting time and reading my blog. You don't have to do anything to win except be a follower (yes you can sign up now and be considered for the next day's drawing) and the person who wins can only win once. If you comment, I'll add your name to the hat an extra time.
Here are today's winners:
My 500th Follower - Michelle Zink gets a small special gift. Since she gets all the free books she wants and wanted to give back her gift for one of you, I got her a 10$ iTunes card because I know from reading her blog she LOVES LOVES LOVES Music. (Michelle - it was always my plan to give my 500th follower something so it was only fair. Please email me your email and I'll send you your iTunes certificate :) Thanks for taking a chance :)
My first follower - To kick off my Fiesta, I decided to reward one of my first 50 followers for believing in me. The winner of a 20$ B&N gift certificate is Casey McCormick (at Literary Rambles). For those of you who have not had the luck of stumbling on her blog, Casey does weekly Agent spotlights that tell you everything about an agent. I'm talking down to their favorite color. So check her out - you will be happy you did. A Special Thanks to Casey and all my early followers for signing up in the very beginning. (Casey, please email me your address)
Marvelous Marketer: Daisy Whitney (Social Media Guru)
Daisy Whitney is not only adorable and funny (seriously I want to
be her friend) but she is a reporter, a Tenner/teen author (her book, The Mockingbirds, will be published by Little, Brown in Fall 2010), a social media guru, producer, on-air correspondent, and a serious vlogger. (Is anyone else jealous now? or feeling a tad inadequate? :)I asked Daisy to stop by and explain to us "novice vloggers"(who are really just afraid of bad hair days, nasally voices, and the camera's added 10 lbs) why authors should use online videos. Here's her response:
I asked Daisy to give us a couple of great examples of when online videos that are done well and really work.
"Hi Shelli, there are a number of ways authors can produce and make online videos. Some like John Green do so on an ongoing basis. Jon, along with his brother Hank, has become quite popular on YouTube as Brotherhood 2.0/Vlogbrothers. In fact, his videos have done so well he's inspired a whole community of self-declared "Nerdfighters" who are working to reduce "world suck" every day. I urge all writers to check out his vlogs because they are informal, but professional, funny, intelligent and pure Jon! A good takeaway from his videos is be sure to do something that fits your own brand.
Then there's YA author Jackson Pearce. She started making YouTube videos before her first novel As You Wish was published last summer. Her second novel, the Sisters Red, comes out this summer. Her videos are fun and whimsical and she does a good job connecting them to writing without making them all about her books! That's key - you want to find a mix. While videos can help promote your books, you don't want them to feel like constant commercials. Jackson also has developed an online following in advance of release via her videos.
Those two are good examples of ongoing work done by authors who video blog. I also liked Libba Bray's ridiculously silly promotional video for Going Bovine. Rather than a traditional book trailer, she donned a cow suit and wandered around New York City singing bizarre songs, interacting with people and basically practicing absurdities -- all fitting the novel itself!"
Thanks Daisy! :)
Be sure to check out Daisy's informative blog, her upcoming book, and her NewMediaMinute series
