Final Day!
This has been such a fun week giving out gifts to my followers in appreciation of you tagging along with me on this journey.
Here are my final winners for the week!
Winner #1 - Tricia O Brien (Talespinning)
The Forest of Hand and Teeth (HB) by Carrie Ryan and Get Known Before the Book Deal
Winner #2 - Gail (Write from the Visual Soul)
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (PB) and The Power to Write (7 keys to discover the writer within)
Congrads!!!! Please email me your address.
All prizes will be mailed out next week so be sure I have your address. If I do not have your address by next Friday, I will draw another name. My email is sjohannes@bilaninc.com
Don't fret though - I'm having a Marketing Scavenger Hunt the week of Feb 15th with tons more prizes. Two grand prizes being a Marketing Package (for agented/published authors) that includes books and marketing surprises as well a Writer Package (for unagented authors) that includes a craft books, fun books, and a read/critique of query/3 chapters from my awesome agent, Alyssa. (this rocks right?)
There will also be one surprise - I'll give you a hint - create your book pitch in 4 sentences.
Marketing Round Up
Here are my favs for the week:
Seven Types of Outreach To Cement The Publisher-Author Bond & Boost the Sales of Every Single Book - Christina Katz offers offers advice that she hopes will unite publishers, editors, agents, authors, sales people, and book sellers and remind us that we’re all on the same team when selling books.
The Real Deal About Viral Marketing and Promotion. Jen Bailey offers tips at the SCBWI NY Conference on what Paul Revere can teach us about viral marketing.
21 tips to driving traffic to your website or blog - Want more traffic? Do these simple steps.
14 mistakes many bloggers make - Study the list and then take a look at your blog. Are you making these mistakes?
How did Kate at KT Literary get the word out about her blog? The business of building a website — or any online presence, honestly — is a lot of hard work, but it can still be fun.
Getting the Most out of Twitter - Do you feel like you don't need any more Internet distractions to take you away from your writing? Have you been reluctant to sign up for Twitter because you don't want another time suck?
Nancy Ancowitz on Marketing for Introverts - Part 2 (Part 1 was listed in last week's round up.)
Facebook - Profile or Fan Page - Do you use Facebook profiles? Or fan pages? If you’re a book publicist, how much do you and how much does the author do?
Are blogs more effective than Press releases? If you had to choose one or the other, which would you choose: a blog or press releases?
Have a great weekend!
Friday, February 05, 2010
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Fabulous Follower Fiesta Day 4
Here are my winners for today! You can still follow me and be in the drawing for tomorrow's prizes!
Winner #1 - Mim North
Get Known before the book deal by Christina Katz and Line by Line - edit your own writing
Winner #2 - Wendy - All in a Days' Thoughts
Guerrilla Marketing for Writers and Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook
Thanks again to all my followers for getting me to 500!
Winner #1 - Mim North
Get Known before the book deal by Christina Katz and Line by Line - edit your own writing
Winner #2 - Wendy - All in a Days' Thoughts
Guerrilla Marketing for Writers and Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook
Thanks again to all my followers for getting me to 500!
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Fabulous Follower Fiesta/Lessons from the Bachelor
Here are today's winners! Thanks again to all my followers!
Winner #1: Ash Elizabeth (Warning)
You won Hardback of Wicket Lovely by Melissa Marr and The Novel Writers Toolkit. Please email me your address.
Winner #2: Robyn Campbell (Putting Pen To Paper)
You won a Hardback of Devils Kiss by Sarwat Chadda and The Writers Course
Congrads and thank you for following me :)
Lessons from The Bachelor when querying agents/editors
Yes i need to make some excuse for my addiction to reality tv!
1. Stand out - Make sure your premise/query letter has a good hook
2. Don't use gimmicks to get attention - be professional
3. Don't be the "crazy one" - do not keep emailing them. Wait the allotted time they list in their submissions before hounding them
4. Remember that chemistry is not something you can force - sometimes its that untouchable factor. Don't take every rejection personally.
5. Don't be the aggressor - don't appear desperate
6. Expect to cry at least once - Its OK to be upset about rejections. Give yourself 24 hrs and then move on. Especially at rejection.
7. There are at least 25 other good writers in line with you - Keep in mind agents get thousands of queries and editors get hundreds of manuscripts. Don't take the long wait personally.
8 First impressions are critical - watch the mispellings in your letter.
9. Know when to talk - don't blog about your rejections
10. Don't give up on "love" because you haven't found it yet - it only takes one to love your work.
11. Don't settle - if an agent offers you representation, be sure you connect. A bad agent is worse than no agent at all.
12. Make sure they love you as much as you love them - be sure when you get representation that you choose someone who loves your work and voice. Not just the premise or idea.
13. No one likes drama - their is no room for drama in publishing. Keep it in your books.
14. Be true to yourself. Stay true to your writing, no matter what but be willing to revise.
15. There are other fish in the sea - if you get one rejection, move onto the next.
16. Love is a battlefield - This business is not easy. It is so hard. Those who fight through the rejections will prevail.
17. Don't focus on the ring. It is important you enjoy the journey and not stress yourself out to get to published.Try to have fun along the way.
18. Have faith you will find "the one" - there is an agent for you. Have faith you will find them at the right time.
19. You will not ride off into the sunset - after reaching one horizon, there will be another.
20. Learn from your mistakes.
Here's to hoping you all find your "true love"! :)
Winner #1: Ash Elizabeth (Warning)
You won Hardback of Wicket Lovely by Melissa Marr and The Novel Writers Toolkit. Please email me your address.
Winner #2: Robyn Campbell (Putting Pen To Paper)
You won a Hardback of Devils Kiss by Sarwat Chadda and The Writers Course
Congrads and thank you for following me :)
Lessons from The Bachelor when querying agents/editors
Yes i need to make some excuse for my addiction to reality tv!
1. Stand out - Make sure your premise/query letter has a good hook
2. Don't use gimmicks to get attention - be professional
3. Don't be the "crazy one" - do not keep emailing them. Wait the allotted time they list in their submissions before hounding them
4. Remember that chemistry is not something you can force - sometimes its that untouchable factor. Don't take every rejection personally.
5. Don't be the aggressor - don't appear desperate
6. Expect to cry at least once - Its OK to be upset about rejections. Give yourself 24 hrs and then move on. Especially at rejection.
7. There are at least 25 other good writers in line with you - Keep in mind agents get thousands of queries and editors get hundreds of manuscripts. Don't take the long wait personally.
8 First impressions are critical - watch the mispellings in your letter.
9. Know when to talk - don't blog about your rejections
10. Don't give up on "love" because you haven't found it yet - it only takes one to love your work.
11. Don't settle - if an agent offers you representation, be sure you connect. A bad agent is worse than no agent at all.
12. Make sure they love you as much as you love them - be sure when you get representation that you choose someone who loves your work and voice. Not just the premise or idea.
13. No one likes drama - their is no room for drama in publishing. Keep it in your books.
14. Be true to yourself. Stay true to your writing, no matter what but be willing to revise.
15. There are other fish in the sea - if you get one rejection, move onto the next.
16. Love is a battlefield - This business is not easy. It is so hard. Those who fight through the rejections will prevail.
17. Don't focus on the ring. It is important you enjoy the journey and not stress yourself out to get to published.Try to have fun along the way.
18. Have faith you will find "the one" - there is an agent for you. Have faith you will find them at the right time.
19. You will not ride off into the sunset - after reaching one horizon, there will be another.
20. Learn from your mistakes.
Here's to hoping you all find your "true love"! :)
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Fabulous Follower Fiesta/Social Networking in 15 Minutes
Fabulous Follower Fiesta
Here are today's winners! Thanks again to all my followers.
Winner #1: Katie Ganshert
You won Wish by Alexandra Bullen and Get Known Before The Book Deal by Christina Katz. Please email me your address.
Winner #2: V.S.
You won The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint and 30 steps to becoming a writer and getting published. Please email me your address.
Congrads and thank you for following me :)
Today's Guest Post is by the awesome WordServe Literary agent/avid blogger, Rachelle Gardner at Rants and Ramblings. Social Networking in 15 Minutes a Day
Here are today's winners! Thanks again to all my followers.
Winner #1: Katie Ganshert
You won Wish by Alexandra Bullen and Get Known Before The Book Deal by Christina Katz. Please email me your address.
Winner #2: V.S.
You won The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint and 30 steps to becoming a writer and getting published. Please email me your address.
Congrads and thank you for following me :)
Today's Guest Post is by the awesome WordServe Literary agent/avid blogger, Rachelle Gardner at Rants and Ramblings.
Social Networking in 15 Minutes a Day
A lot of people wonder how they can do all the online networking they're "supposed" to do without it completely draining all their time and energy. Well, I don't have all the answers, but I've developed a strategy that works for me, so I thought I'd share it with you.
Blog
1. I write my blog posts for the week in one or two sittings, usually on the weekend.
2. I schedule my blog to post automatically each day so I don't have to think about my blog all week unless I want to.
3. I'm flexible so that if a timely idea hits me mid-week, I can go ahead and write a blog post and schedule it for whenever I want.
4. All the blog comments go directly to a separate email box. Whenever I get comments that give me an idea for another blog post, I divert those emails to a separate folder called "Save for Blog."
5. I also keep a Word doc with ongoing ideas for blog posts, which I jot down whenever they strike me. When I need to write a post and get stuck, I have both my Word doc and my email "Save for Blog" file for ideas.
6. Some of my posts require almost no effort on my part. I strategically use guest posts and Q4Us, to maintain consistent postings without having to write so much.
Twitter
1. I use TweetDeck to keep my tweets organized on my desktop, but there are many other Twitter apps you can use. Just don't rely on the Twitter website itself - it's extremely inefficient.
2. I don't keep TweetDeck open while I'm working! I take breaks from working and open TweetDeck, or sometimes I actually keep it open on a different computer so I can check it when I take quick periodic breaks.
3. I generally give myself about a two-minute limit on Twitter during work hours, which includes tweeting, reading, and responding.
4. I use TweetLater and often schedule the day's worth of tweets in the morning before I begin my work day. Then as I'm checking Twitter later in the day, I don't have to think of new tweets, I simply respond to others, and read people's responses to mine.
5. In my "leisure" time (nights and weekends) I typically don't limit myself. I sometimes tweet a lot and get into conversations with people, but I don't look at it as a waste of time. It's fun and it can also be valuable networking.
Facebook
1. I adopted the philosophy that we each use social networking for our own purposes, and we get to choose how we use each platform.
2. Therefore I've decided to use Facebook only for my family members across the country, and people with whom I'm actually acquainted in real life.
3. I update Facebook approximately once a day, sometimes less. My Facebook friends are a different group than my Twitter friends. People were getting annoyed at so many updates, so I've cut it way down.
4. I've noticed that Facebook tends to swallow much more time (if you let it). The conversations are interesting and can really suck you in! For that reason, I typically only open up Facebook once a day, and it's usually not during the hours I'm working.
Visiting Other Blogs
I forgot to mention scheduling time to read and comment on other blogs. If you're actively trying to build your own blog traffic, this is a necessary and valuable use of your time. Try to plan on an extra 15 minutes a day for this, and visit/comment on several blogs each day.
When my blogs were new, I spent a lot of time commenting on other blogs. Now I don't need to as much, since Twitter seems to be the most effective way to drive people back to my blog. However, I read about 20 other blogs regularly, and it's almost always on my Blackberry when I'm away from home: sitting in the kids' carpool line or hanging out at their various activities. In fact, whenever I have brief moments of waiting, even 5 minutes or less, I automatically pull out my Blackberry and read blogs. I keep up very effectively this way.
These are my strategies to make sure social networking works FOR me without taking up all my time. What are your strategies?
Check out Rachelle's informative and very popular blog for more insight. You can also follow her on Twitter for her minute-by-minute agent updates!
Blog
1. I write my blog posts for the week in one or two sittings, usually on the weekend.
2. I schedule my blog to post automatically each day so I don't have to think about my blog all week unless I want to.
3. I'm flexible so that if a timely idea hits me mid-week, I can go ahead and write a blog post and schedule it for whenever I want.
4. All the blog comments go directly to a separate email box. Whenever I get comments that give me an idea for another blog post, I divert those emails to a separate folder called "Save for Blog."
5. I also keep a Word doc with ongoing ideas for blog posts, which I jot down whenever they strike me. When I need to write a post and get stuck, I have both my Word doc and my email "Save for Blog" file for ideas.
6. Some of my posts require almost no effort on my part. I strategically use guest posts and Q4Us, to maintain consistent postings without having to write so much.
1. I use TweetDeck to keep my tweets organized on my desktop, but there are many other Twitter apps you can use. Just don't rely on the Twitter website itself - it's extremely inefficient.
2. I don't keep TweetDeck open while I'm working! I take breaks from working and open TweetDeck, or sometimes I actually keep it open on a different computer so I can check it when I take quick periodic breaks.
3. I generally give myself about a two-minute limit on Twitter during work hours, which includes tweeting, reading, and responding.
4. I use TweetLater and often schedule the day's worth of tweets in the morning before I begin my work day. Then as I'm checking Twitter later in the day, I don't have to think of new tweets, I simply respond to others, and read people's responses to mine.
5. In my "leisure" time (nights and weekends) I typically don't limit myself. I sometimes tweet a lot and get into conversations with people, but I don't look at it as a waste of time. It's fun and it can also be valuable networking.
1. I adopted the philosophy that we each use social networking for our own purposes, and we get to choose how we use each platform.
2. Therefore I've decided to use Facebook only for my family members across the country, and people with whom I'm actually acquainted in real life.
3. I update Facebook approximately once a day, sometimes less. My Facebook friends are a different group than my Twitter friends. People were getting annoyed at so many updates, so I've cut it way down.
4. I've noticed that Facebook tends to swallow much more time (if you let it). The conversations are interesting and can really suck you in! For that reason, I typically only open up Facebook once a day, and it's usually not during the hours I'm working.
Visiting Other Blogs
I forgot to mention scheduling time to read and comment on other blogs. If you're actively trying to build your own blog traffic, this is a necessary and valuable use of your time. Try to plan on an extra 15 minutes a day for this, and visit/comment on several blogs each day.
When my blogs were new, I spent a lot of time commenting on other blogs. Now I don't need to as much, since Twitter seems to be the most effective way to drive people back to my blog. However, I read about 20 other blogs regularly, and it's almost always on my Blackberry when I'm away from home: sitting in the kids' carpool line or hanging out at their various activities. In fact, whenever I have brief moments of waiting, even 5 minutes or less, I automatically pull out my Blackberry and read blogs. I keep up very effectively this way.
These are my strategies to make sure social networking works FOR me without taking up all my time. What are your strategies?
Check out Rachelle's informative and very popular blog for more insight. You can also follow her on Twitter for her minute-by-minute agent updates!
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