Marketing/Indie Round up

In breaking news, Market My Words (my blog) was a Finalist/Honorary Mention in the Goodreads Independent Blogger Awards in the Publishing category 1 of approx. 1000 blogs entered).

Woot Woot!

Thanks to everyone who voted.


Heres some great articles I came across recently:

Indie

When and why does an author decide to turn (great article but I'm biased b/c I was mentioned :)

Can you self pub and still get an agent?  (yes you can but it's tricky)

Self Pubbing as a Marketing Tool? (Trust me, there are easier ways to market than doing a whole book)

Why some Indie authors are successful and some are not (interesting take.)

Ebook Pricing - what to charge? (the age old question)


Marketing

Promotional Burnout by LM preston (we all get it!)

Seth Godin on Marketing (Radio)

5 ways to market indie books on a budget (good tips)

Product Placement in Books - Hard sellers (interesting. Hey MoonPies - call me!)

Rethinking the Book Tour (aw but we all want one, don't we :)

Titles are key (yes and covers!)

25 things that make you look dumb on Twitter (call me dumb, ha!)


Happy Reading! :)

Marketing Round Up

A few housekeeping things:


1) I am looking for an un-paid internship for my marketing company! on the publishing side - I need someone to help me set up blog tours, blog guest posts, prepare book mailings, set up social media platforms, get mailings together, and more. (like *pinInterest, wattpad and tumblr) It may also encompass some a little for my marketing business, code calling etc.


It will be about 5 hours a week and can be remote with weekly phone call meetings.


I can offer a marketing/writing business reference (so if you want to get into publishing or marketing it would be good) and would also provide unlimited advice about marketing, the industry, self pubbing, and writing). If you are in school, I'm happy to talk to a professor about credit. I will need commitment through April - August so it should not interfere with school.


I was going to go to a local college/high school but wanted to give some writers/bloggers a chance to learn the book marketing process and some new social media.
Email me your resume at shelli@srjohannes.com if interested. I can also send a formal job description.


2) Yes, new blog design - I'm playing around so bear with me. The purple was starting to bug me :) What do you think - too boring?


3) The Indelibles are doing a weekly #indiechat, starting next Tuesday night at 9pm EST. It will be on Twitter using hashtag #indiechat. We will talk all things indie: indie books, indie presses, self publishing, ebooks and marketing. This is not just a self publishing forum as there is much more to indie publishing than that. It can encompass any genre really but it will mainly focus on MG/YA.


Marketing Round Up


My marketing round up is starting again.I can't promise it will always be on Fridays - but I think it's good to get this blog back to helping other people in marketing.


Because let's face it - the topic of me and my books will get old real fast. :)


So here are some great articles I ran across this week - 


A Blog that Matters


Joining an Online Group


PinInterest - The hottest new site


6 secrets to writing a killer author bio


Book Covers - are they important in the digital age?


Create a blog that matters


ebook pricing? how to price for readers


10 things to never do on Social Media


As always on these posts - I will take any questions you have about marketing books :)
So what's your question?

Marketing Round Up (7/23)

Here are my favs for the week:

Georgia Mcbride (from YA litchat) on Platform Building - Georgia has a background as a marketer and manager in the music industry, and has been a part of the launch of several teen and tween music brands including N'SYNC and Fall Out Boy. She's no stranger to promotion and branding, and her expertise can help both new and established authors refine their web presence.

Book Decisions, signings and endorsements - A writer needs to understand the entire decision-making process at most publishing houses.

Drawbacks to pushing a book to market - Wanting to rush publication is a common problem, but many authors don’t realize how detrimental rushing can be to the success of the book. Not taking into account quality issues, there is the issue of distribution.

Connecting Book groups to Community - Here are twenty ideas for connecting an upcoming book group to the community.

The Write and wrong ways to promote your books - Did you know that if you’re marketing your book to sell books, you may be marketing for all the wrong reasons?

Superpower book proposal secrets - One of the most essential components of your book proposal is your marketing plan.

What you don't know about Book scan can hurt you. Nielsen BookScan tells the naked truth about how many copies a book sells. It produces weekly tallies via electronic links to thousands of cash registers across the country.

Create an engaging bio page - Your bio page, however, is arguably the most important page of your site. It’s where you define and contextualize yourself to an audience of strangers.

Have a great weekend!

Friday Five/Marketing Round Up (6/25)

Winner of the Fixing Delilah Hanniford ARC is

Joyce Lansky!

congrads and email me your address (sjohannes@bilaninc.com)!

Now for my marketing favs for the week:

• Public Speaking Basics for Authors - Not all authors are natural speakers, but it is becoming more and more necessary for authors to develop their speaking skills.

• How To: Change Your Twitter Name Without Losing Followers - Little did I realize when I signed up for twitter that I was about to begin a whirlwind social media journey! So, after some research, here's what I came up with to change your twitter name without losing followers!

• On Tour With Best-Selling Suspense Writer M.J. Rose - After 11 novels and multiple book contracts, Rose still works tirelessly to promote her books.

• 7 powerful ways to find new blog readers - It’s one thing to have a blog, it’s quite another to get readers. Now, it’s just a question of finding readers and (of course) keeping them. Here are a few tips to get you started.

• Role of publisher in Social Media - What is a publisher’s role in the information age? Should publishers be engaging readers or authors? Should they be a resource, an educator, a publicity tool, or serve some other purpose beyond producing books?

• Planning All Year Long Publicity - Lead times can vary from a day to six months depending on the media you’re pitching.

• The Author Power Team - As an author, you are always on the lookout for new ways to improve your marketing strategy and grow your platform. One of the best ways to do this is by developing your power team.

• Quickest Blog Book Tour Guide - a virtual book tour or blog book tour not only saves money and travel expenses, it likely will reach a larger and more interested audience via the Internet.

• How to incorporate Twitter into an Event - Whether large or small, Twitter can enhance your event in a number of ways.

• The Real Secret about Twitter - Here are some key things to look at when measuring anyone's Twitter-success. It's not just about the # of Followers.

Today's giveaway is another Middle Grade Lot (MG needs some love!)

• ARC egalley of What Happened on Fox Street (Aug 2010)
• ARC of the new Judy Moody Girl Detective (Aug 2010)
• Arc of Clementine Friend of the Week (Aug 2010)

All you have to do is comment today with your email address. After all - it is Friday!

Coming Next week - Ally Condie will stop by with an ARC of Matched, Suzie Townsend's Agent Contest, Amy Brecount White Contest/Giveaway, and more!

Have a great weekend!

My first vlog and Friday's Roundup!

I announce the winner and the next giveaway in the video. Its my first one so please watch it so I don't feel totally stupid (yikes too late! :)

Win the ARC package mentioned in the vlog by commenting and telling me:

1)"What else should I vlog about?" or
2) Ask me a question that I can answer in a vlog!





Favorite marketing posts for the week:

Do I deserve as an author? Unless you are among the elite best-selling authors, your publisher will probably not have much of a marketing plan for you. If you rely on that, your three months to make a splash will come and go before your publisher moves to the next book. What do you deserve?

What works for you in book marketing? Authors, whether first timers or seasoned, share what they have found to be the most effective tool in their marketing plans?

10 steps to handselling your book Yes, your own efforts really can make an impact on your sales, one reader at a time. Here are 10 simple steps to word-of-mouth success.

How you can use social media - Does marketing via social media outlets really help sell more books? Writers are spending time on Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and other Internet sites with the hope of marketing their books. The question we all keep asking is this: Is the time cost-effective?

Maureen's Johnson's Manifesto - I am not a brand! Don't get carried away with marketing as an author. You are not a brand - you HAVE a brand.

Getting tweens to review ARCs - Some booksellers are getting tweens involved with their reviews.

A teen's take on social networks - While now that time is mostly spent on Facebook, back then I used different social games and another social network. Here's how I got from there to here..log.



Come back Monday to see who won The Agent Pitch Contest!

Friday Marketing Round Up (5/21)

I'm headed to BEA on Monday!

I can't wait and my time there will benefit all my blogging buddies too because when I get back - we'l have giveaways galore. If you want the minute by minute scoop - you can follow me on twitter. I'll get the scoop and bring it to you :) I also plan to try and blog about each event-filled day.

Getting ready for the Pitch Contest

Came across a few articles to help prepare you for the pitch contest.

How to write a one sentence pitch or one paragraph pitch

The importance of a pitch


Here are my favs for the week:

Why I dumped MySpace - As much as I don't like the site, I had several qualms about deleting that account.

Public speaking for introverts - How can introverts get into the zone more quickly when giving a talk?

10 Magic questions to Hook the Media - The next time a journalist is interviewing you, or a blogger is interested in an idea you’re pitching, ask this question: “Do you need other sources?

To blog or not to blog - I’m intrigued by people who blog. Who are they? What makes what they have to say so important that other people return to their blogs over and over again? More importantly, what part, if any, do blogs play in book sales for an author?

Are you blogging too much? Social media advice from an author.

Tips for Domain Transfers - Here are some tips based on my personal experience with domain transfers. Whether you transfer or not, be sure your domain is set to auto-renew and that your credit card information is accurate.

How do I make my blog posts popular? First of all your article will not go popular automatically once you submit it on Digg.com.

The Real Secret to Twitter - The thing is, you can buy followers (no, I’m not kidding) sort of like buying mailing lists. How effective is buying followers?

The new Like vs the old Fan in Facebook - Last week, Facebook changed their Fan Page setting from becoming a Fan of the Page to choosing to Like the Page. Why?

Facebook - an intregal part of marketing - Facebook, specifically, and social networking, in general, have become integral components of book promotion campaigns. Publishers tell all their authors to build up their base of friends, fans, and followers,

Friday Round Up

June is a powerful month here - Mark your calendars.

Awesome ARC Giveaways - June 1 - June 4: As you all know I'm lucky enough to be going to BEA. That's right - that means ARCS galore. I'm going to sharing the ARC Love and giving away some ARCS of hot books not out yet.

New agent, Brianne Ogden from Martin Literary Management is having a query pitch contest on my blog. Details and date to be announced.

Also agent, Mary Kole with Andrea Brown Literary Agency will be stopping by for an interview and a giving away a query critique!

There are a couple other surprise events so stay tuned!

Here are my favs for the week:

Questions to ask your publicist - Many authors are choosing to hire a book publicist to help connect with readers and potential audience members. Before you hire a publicist, it is important to ask a few basic questions.

Effective vs Efficient - If you want an easier way to memorize the difference, remember this sentence: “Being effective is about doing the right things, while being efficient is about doing the things in the right manner.”

Internet Marketing is driving me crazy - Tips on how to not go crazy when marketing online.

Kathleen Duey takes center stage - Kathleen, author of Skin Hunger, leaves most of us gasping at her drive and full frontal embrace of social media.

Fiction writer's topics for blogging - Fiction writers often struggle with what to write about at their blogs. Help is on the way. Here are 19 topics to get you started.

How to retweet effectively - You may have no real concept of retweeting (commonly seen as RT) or what that can mean for your success and fun on Twitter.

Have you seen any great marketing articles. If so leave the link here and Ill add it.

Have a great weekend.

Any fun plans?

Friday Marketing Round Up (5/6)

Here are my favs for the week:

Hilary Wagner talks about The Art of Blogging - Being an active blogger, Hilary noticed lately that many writers seem to feel bogged down by their blog. They were so excited to start their blog, eager to show themselves off to the world, only to find it’s become an anchor around their neck. Here are some tips on how to get back on the blog.

WIBIJ - Some writers have found a way to make a great game out of a blog. WIBIJ is designed to be a resource first and a game second. These writers want to spread the love and let you to know about the best blogs out there.

What? Me Market? Adventures of a First Time Author - Part 1 and Part 2. Short story writer Robin Black shares how she managed to get an agent and secure a deal for her collection of short stories, which as many of us know, "do not sell" — and then how she approached marketing.

Avoid managing multiple identities online - Here's how to handle the question of pen names and maintaining different identities if you write different genres.

Best Tweets of the week in the Industry

Get your own domain name - Many people still ask why , so let’s talk about the three main reasons why having and hosting your own domain is important.

Title Z - A key strategy in any marketing program is to know your competition and successful authors will research competitors before investing time in writing, editing, re-writing, and publishing. How many others have written on the same topic? Ask Title Z.

Road Rash - Lessons learned about Radio Interviews - If you’re a bit of geek, radio interviews are exciting! You get to visit the studio and see all the equipment. Or, even if you’re just interviewed by phone, you get to overhear all the “backstage” chatter. Here’s what to do to make your radio interviews increase your book sales.

Do The Write Thing For Nashville - Don't forget to bid and help Nashville Flood victims!! There are some GREAT auction items including my marketing package :)

Anyone doing anything exciting this weekend? Tell me so I can live vicariously through you! :)

Friday Marketing Round Up (4/30)

The New "Market Your Words" Newsletter

I have decided at the prompting of readers and friends to do a monthly marketing newsletter that will have tips and articles about how to market yourself before you get a book deal as well as after. I will also be running quarterly contests for various free marketing stuff.

If you would like to be included in my first one that will go out in May, please either email me your email address or leave it in the comments. You can also directly sign up on the left hand side.

Thanks for your support.

National No Phone Zone

Today is the first ever National No Phone Zone day.

If you have a cell phone, please don't text and drive! A text is not worth a life. This is becoming a serious issue in this country. If you need to talk, use a headphone/handsfree. It is so much safer. Whenever I am about to do one of these things, I just look in the back seat at my kids and realize its not worth it.

You can get a bumper sticker and proceeds go to charity. Stick the No Phone Zone bumper sticker on your car and help spread the word to stop texting, emailing and talking on the phone while driving. Remind your ones you love to take the No Phone Pledge (along with 300,000$ other people) to be a safe driver and save lives!

Here are my favorite marketing posts of the week:

Getting into libraries - The reality is that if you have a good book, you can get into the library system. Here’s how.

Use blogging as an interactive tool - 8 ways for using blogging in social and interactive ways.

When do you begin your marketing? In order to most effectively promote a book, when do you begin setting up social networking profiles / blogs / websites?

Generating the all important buzz - How do you ensure that, when it comes time to promote your book, your friends—particularly ones with blogs, websites, and a huge list of social media contacts—will help with promotion.

Publicize your book with courage - Getting your book onto a show is like getting that child of yours into the right college and beyond. Here are a few things you need to know about sending your "babies" out into the world.

The Author Questionnaire - One way editors get authors involved in the process is through the use of a questionnaire. Here are a few of the questions they might ask.

Using social media to connect with young readers - A few social-media-savvy experts and successful YA authors point you towards time saving social media tools that have worked for them in reaching teens.

10 things every blogger needs to do. Here is a list of things every bloggers might want to do.

So - how was your week? Any news? Meet any milestones. I'd really like to know!

Friday Marketing Round Up (4/2)

Here are my favs for the week:

The importance of a pitch - Nathan Bransford tells us why it is important to know the premise of our books.

Deliver a winning pitch - A great pitch is often the first encounter in a successful publishing relationship.

The zen of blogging - Whether you are struggling with trying to decide whether or not to start your own blog, or not sure what to do with the one you've got, we think you'll find some helpful information.

The good, bad and ugly side of publishing - Discussing fiction factories (a relatively new phrase in publishing) and what, if any, is their value both to the reader and the writer.

Top 5 tips to keeping fans to your writing - Publishers have become increasingly aware of the power of a writer’s online fan base. It has now become common place for a publisher to factor in a writer’s online presence when weighing up whether to offer a book deal or not. Here’s the five best ways to find and keep fans of your work.

Who are you writing for? Before your book can get into the hands of casual or even very experienced readers like the friends in your critique group, it has to get through the gates of PROFESSIONAL readers.

The hunt for the elusive influencer - We hunt the elusive influencer because we think they need to find and convince or brainwash that one influencer that spreads the word to success.

Have a great, sunny weekend :)

Friday Five/Marketing Round Up (3/26)

The Magic of Books

My daughter had her first book signing this week. Mary Pope Osborne was in town and my daughter just started reading them in Kindergarden this year.

She was so excited and Mary was funny getting all the kids engaged. Over 500 people showed up in a VERY small bookstore.



Watching her made me smile.

What about you? Do you remember your first signing?


Marketing Favs

Marketing for a good cause - Christy's Critter. Sometimes doing something for a good cause helps you feel better about yourself and extends your platform.

Eight steps to marketing yourself online - There are a few things that need to be considered before jumping headlong into an online campaign.

Agent Uses YouTube to Get a Book Deal - The agent included links to a five-minute clip posted on MySpace and YouTube in the final pitch to nail a bg deal.

Literary Promotion Campaigns - The generosity with review copies of books leads to the literary publicity opportunities you want and need.

Why Amazon Rankings can be misleading - For most books, it does not take many orders to increase rankings.

Ideas for marketing your books - an ebook that discusses creating an online media kit, blogging tips, getting traffic to your site, virtual book tours, social media and networking, using video for book promotion, getting author interviews, and the benefits of podcasting.

Have a great weekend!

Surprise/Friday's Marketing RoundUp (3/19)

OK, I'm a slacker.

Since the week of prizes, I've spent all my time mailing out prizes.

I'm so sorry.

To make it up to you all, I have a surprise (bribe) so you forgive my Slackitude.

At midnight Sunday night (EST), I will draw a name and offer a free query critique.

As some of you know, a query critique is a marketing tool. How you market your book to agents or editors. So it's right up my alley.

A query needs to be gripping, summarize the story, and show voice. It must be one page.

Now, here are my favorite posts for the week:

Promoting others - Some work hard to promote the books of other authors because it's the right thing to do.

Book Promotion Tips from the Pros - Allison Winn Scotch has had two novels on the New York Times Bestseller's List

Kody Keplinger's ARC cover design for The Duff (yay Kody!)

Literary Twitter Census - GalleyCat has compiled a year-end census of the literaryTwittersphere.

The Blahgs of Blogging - The feeling you get when you lack the desire to keep on blogging.

10 Things I want to see in TweetDeck - While TweetDeck is a great tool that does so many things so well (the Love), it doesn’t do everything we want or need.

How to Market and Sell Your book - A unique business-oriented webinar for authors who have self-published books out, authors who have traditional published books out, and authors who have books coming out soon.

Don't forget to come back Monday for our first Teen Panel discussion!

Friday Five/Marketing Round Up (3/12)

Hi guys!

Here are my favorite marketing posts for the week:

Audience Development - Many people say focus on your craft first. This view can set up writers for disappointment and failure if/when they do get published. Here are some myths to consider.

Sell Ideas - Why should you learn how to sell ideas? Can’t you just write and let the ideas sell themselves? It’d be nice, but in most cases you can’t.

Marketing Your Writing series - Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Marketing your writing is essential if you want your work to be read by a wide audience.

The Texas Sweethearts - P.J., Jessica, and Jo are reporting in with Shrinking Violet readers on their newest venture, a group blog.

Connecting to Young Readers in Social Media - Since 93 percent of teens are accessing the Internet, getting the word out online is key to obtaining bestselling readership numbers. There’s only one problem: unless you’re already a well-known YA author, teens aren’t going to come to you.

7 Reasons why writers need to use video - Here’s why you should seriously consider getting your face, and your books on screen.

Have great weekend :)

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.

Fabulous Follower Fiesta Wrap Up/Friday Roundup

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's Marketing Round Up

Sorry I have been sorta MIA this week. I've definitely missed you guys. My son had throat surgery last Friday and it's been a long, hard week. *sigh*

I am almost at 500 followers and a big surprise comes when I hit 500. a prize only for followers so jump aboard.

Also in Feb - I start some new posts on marketing and some special events and contests.

This includes things like Melissa Marr stopping by to discuss her Smart Chicks tour. Elizabeth Bird helping us decide the best way to market to librarians and a Teen Panel answering questions on how to best reach teens.

Oh yeah - and Feb 15th kicks off the super duper contest Elana and I are doing together. Prizes include query critiques, marketing surprises, and a query/3 chapter read and critique from my agent, Alyssa Henkin at Trident Media. (who rocks BTW!)

Outside all that fun, here are my marketing favs for the week:

You're Selling Yourself - Here we are, throwing our words out into the blogosphere. You read my blog. I read yours. Have you ever stopped to wonder why? The Truth: as an author (pre-published or published) you're selling yourself.

Skyping with 6th Graders - Kate Messner loves the way Skype allows her to have time for a virtual author visit with kids halfway across the country before she makes dinner?

On Writing, Marketing and Being who you are. It takes courage to be who you are. Michelle Zink spent months trying to emulate other authors in their online approach. But the truth is, none of that was really her.

Add the word "free to your Marketing Dictionary - So, how can you make money by giving away your ebook for free? Here are some interesting action plans.

Are book trailers silly? - Are book trailers a silly waste of time for those who want to promote books?

How to launch a viral marketing campaign - But the good news is that social media is increasingly becoming an effective marketing tool that is accessible to everyone.

Nancy Ancowitz 0n marketing for introverts - >She believes there are ways we can learn to promote ourselves that aren’t as excruciating as we initially believe them to be.

How to piss off your Twitter followers - Your Twitter followers really do matter. They’ve invested themselves into mini-relationships with you on that platform. Here are some of the easiest ways you can piss off your Twitter followers.

Brown Faces don't sell books? - Go on over and cast your vote at Mitali's blog. Do white kids really avoid books with brown, black, or Asian faces on the cover?

10 traits of a great cover - A blogger is not afraid to admit that she judges a book by its cover and reveals the top 10 things she looks for in a book cover. Do you agree?

Have a great weekend!

Friday Round Up

First Things First

Whoa! I am almost to 500 followers, And you know what that means. A big surprise! Thank you so much for all your support - I love reading your blogs too!

Also don"t forget the BIG...HUGE...Blog contest coming Feb 15th. agent critiques and marketing prizes. Be sure you are a follower and keep checking back for more details.

Ash Elizabeth gave me The Lovely Blog award. Thank you so much! I'd like to award it to Danyelle. Her blog has so much heart and I love how touching her posts are.

Rebecca Knight gave me the Silver Lining Award. Such a sweet award! I am going to award this to 5 of my Delurkers/new followers/new BFFs who have been great commenters:

Alissa at Slightly More than Dirt
V.S. (Victoria S.)
Patti Nielson
Catherine Denton - Winged Writer
Kristi at Sisters in Scribe

Marketing Round Up

My favs for the week:

Kidlitosphere Immersion Week Are you a children's book author, illustrator or reviewer? Interested in social media but don't know where to start? Find out how you can participate in the social media for the children's book world in this week-long online workshop!

Lessons learned at a book launch - Irene Latham, author of Leaving Gee's Bend, discusses the do and don'ts of book launches.

Make time to promote your book - As a book author, how much time should you devote to promoting your book and yourself each week?

How to make a book trailer - Book trailers are all the rage these days, but it can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars to have one professionally made. Most writers are also applicable to creating an effective video.

An interview with Jen Nadol's The Mark's cover designer - Danielle Delaney, who designed not one, but two beautiful covers for The Mark, graciously agreed to answer a bunch of my questions about her work

Hooks that snag great book deals - Be sure to sell your book with your hook - those critical initial sentences of a query letter or book proposal — are the first and most important words that agents and editors read.

Authors need to act like entrepreneurs - The majority of authors are unsuccessful because they fail to realize that their book is a product and that authorship is a business.

Book Alert - Self Promotion for Introverts by Nancy Ancowitz. Offers a solid dose of practical advice - alongside humorous anecdotes - for introverts to assert themselves by using their inherent tendencies in the most effective ways.

Have a great weekend!

Friday's Marketing Round up (1/15)

Couple Reminders

We have some exciting stuff starting up in February. Not only will Marketing Mondays be more topic specific (twitter, blog tours, etc). But we will be having a few special events:

1) Teen panels discussing how to best market to teens.
2) Smart Chick Kick it Tour gals (Melissa Marr, Kelley Armstrong and Alyson Noel) stop by to discuss their combined tour.
3) Many marketing experts stopping by: Daisy Whitney (New Media Guru), Carolyn Howard-Johnson (Frugal Book Promoter), The Amanda Project, and Elizabeth Bird (NYPL).

Also a SECRET CONTEST will be announced in Feb. I can't say too much yet, but I'll mention a couple clues to get you interested. Query expert, Elana Johnson, a week of Marketing Gurus, free agent query critiques, a HUGE Prize from my agent, Alyssa Henkin (for unagented authors) and Massive Marketing Prize (for agented/published writers.)

Of course you will have to be a follower of my blog and Elana's to win.

The next steps will be announced later. :) It will be fun and you will win a lot of cool stuff.


Marketing Roundup

Here are my favs for this week - it was a busy week in Marketing.

Daisy's Digital Do's and Don'ts - LILA interviews Daisy Whitney and picks her brilliant brain on the best way to do Vlogs. (BTW follow LILA - they will make you laugh!)

Twitter from an author's perspective - Lisa Schroeder, author of I Heart You, You Haunt Me, just released her third book and discusses how Twitter has helped her market her books.

Market Yourself. Or Not. Elana Roth's reiteration of today's conventional wisdom about Internet marketing and becoming an influencer.

Free advice on Publicity for your Novels - Having a personal publicist won't necessarily make the difficulty go away.

You're not spending a lot of money marketing - If you’re willing to put the time in yourself, you can do almost all of your book marketing for free.

Market Yourself, Market Your books - If you have not already ventured onto online reading communities and other sites that can help authors spread their work, there is no better time than now!

How to find your Audience - Here's how readers find you and how you can find them. Part 2 continues the discussion with advice form authors.

Discussion of Sell Through - Sell-through is something that most first-time authors don’t know much about. It's not always about the sales numbers.

Reaching Your Target Audience Online - Greg Pincus wants you to think strategically about who you’re going to reach online and how you’re going to do it.

Marketing Lessons I learned in Kindergarten - We can do more by working together than working alone. When we interact publicly, or with the public, we need to be nice.

Broaden your concept of conferences - Almost every industry--even every sub industry--has a conference each year. Your job is to find the one that attracts people who would be interested in your book.

Have a great week!

Friday Marketing Round Up

So we are all stuck home on a snow day. They cancelled school last night as soon as one flake fell. We've declared it movie day. Lazy I know but what else can you do with a 2 year old and 5 year old.

Exciting changes

Thank you so, so much for all your feedback! It was so helpful. To answer you back, here are a few changes that will begin to happen on my blog starting in Feb.

1) I am going to start adding back in the daily Marketing Muse. Even if I have a personal post. I used to do this and it sounds like from the feedback it was helpful.

2) I will have special days where I answer marketing questions commenters post.

3) I will do a blog a week that dives into various marketing topics. But I will need your help on identifying the topics important to you. Please leave me comments on some marketing or publicity topics you are interested in hearing more about.

4) I've got some special events scheduled with Melissa Marr, The Amanda Project, and Becca Fitzgerald so we can see what they've done to be so successful.

5) I'm going to keep the Friday Marketing Round Ups. But may choose them based on marketing topics.

6) I'm going to shake things up on the Marketing Mondays so stay tuned. It will probably include some SKYPE interviews, twitter chats, as well as some Vlogs on various marketing topics.

7) To reward you guys for hanging out with me, I will start offering monthly contests to my followers - that will include some type of marketing package that could be a random drawing for an ARC, a marketing resource, a free consultation, or maybe even some type of marketing collateral like template for Twitter, Blogs, or business cards. Stay Tuned. It will be on the last week of every month.

8) Lastly, I'm thinking of creating some type of marketing book that can help authors walk through the steps of starting their own marketing plan, platform, and reach teen audiences. Please take my poll on the side and let me know what you think.

Round Up

Covers: The good, the bad, and the ugly - When it comes to cover art, people are shockingly opinionated. Maybe you can’t judge a book by its cover, but you can still judge the cover.

Platform Resolutions for 2010 - Advice on how to slowly and steadily establish a lasting platform.

30 tips for Blog Tour hosts - You can be a Virtual host. Here are some tips on how to host a blog tour successfully.

A look ahead - Anticipating and predicting what's ahead in the world of teen marketing.

A Writers Calling Card - A writer needs to have a good business card to present at networking events and conferences. This editor keeps all the cards that meet these requirements.

What's publicity and marketing anyway? A (very simplified) definition of what book publicity and marketing actually is.

How to work with your publicist. How can you as an author work effectively with your publicist instead of shooting yourself in the foot.

I am always open to suggestions so please send them to me as they come to you!

Have a great weekend!

Blog awards and Friday Roundup

Blog Awards!

I'm embarrassed to say I am waaaaaayyyyy behind on thanking those who have given me awards. So here goes....

Rules for all awards: Put the logo on your blog/post. Link to blogs that deserve the awards. Let nominees know that they have been nominated by commenting on their blog. Remember to link to the person from whom you received your award.

Thanks to Jeanine for the "Heartfelt" award - The Heartfelt Award is all about a blog that give you a warm fuzzy feeling when you visit them.

• I am awarding this to Mrs J, LILA and Kimberly Derting because they all speak from the heart and do not hold back. I love that about these gals!
  

Thanks to Dawn for the "Best Blog" award.

• I am awarding this to to Kiersten Writes because she cracks me up. I never leave there without laughing out loud. I wish she could be my friend just so I can laugh all the time.

Thank to Mary Ann for the "You're the Sweetest - The Icing on the Cake award." (and the Lovely Blog award).

• I am awarding this to Katie and SF at Plot This because they are just so dang southern sweet!

Thanks to Lynnette and Jennifer for the "Helpful Blogger" award. This one makes me especially happy because that is the whole reason I started this blog! In addition to rules above, share one thing that no one knows about you & quote a sentence from your favorite book.

• I am awarding this to Elana (for her Query advice) and Casey McCormick (for her awesome agent spotlights)

Thanks to Al for the "Over the Top" Award - Give to other bloggers and fill out these questions: Copy and paste this quiz and change the answers, ONE word only. (yeah right!)

• This award goes to all my Blog Followers because all of you are awesome and over the top to me. So if you are a reader (and obviously you are if you are reading this) - you get an award so answer these question on your blog and give an award away on your blog.
  

• My answers
  1. Where is your cell phone? who knows. I just wait for it to ring
  2. Your hair? naturally curly
  3. Your mother? best friend
  4. Your father? tough
  5. Your favorite food? cheese dip
  6. Your dream last night? about my book being subbed to publishers
  7. Your favorite drink? dirty martini
  8. Your dream/goal? bestseller
  9. What room are you in? living room watching tv
  10. Your hobby? writing and yoga
  11. Your fear? losing my kids
  12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy
  13. Where were you last night? Home
  14. Something that you aren't? hypocrit
  15. Muffins? cranberry orange
  16. Wish list item? kindle or thin mac
  17. Where did you grow up? georgia
  18. Last thing you did? Blog (sad i know!)
  19. What are you wearing? jeans
  20. Your TV? love it!
  21. Your pets? old
  22. Friends? mean alot to me
  23. Your life? perfect
  24. Your mood? happy
  25. Missing someone? my best friend in Denver
  26. Vehicle? jeep Commander
  27. Something you're not wearing? shoes
  28. Your favorite store? bookstore
  29. Your favorite color? Blue
  30. When was the last time you laughed? about 5 min ago.
  31. Last time you cried? about 6 min ago
  32. Your best friend? hubby
  33. One place that I go to over and over? bed
  34. One person who emails me regularly? katie
  35. Favorite place to eat? beach
  

Friday's Marketing Round Up

I am behind on these due to the holiday so I included last week's too.

• ARCs what you need to know - three publishers share their thoughts on Arc manners

• Does a platform really help unpublished authors? - platform is all of the ways we're attempting to build our readership. Nowadays, writers are encouraged to begin their platform even before they're published. Does it help?

• How to market your book with a video? Quite simply, whatever video you make should be germane and specific to your book.

• How to plan a blog tour - blog tours are low cost and get the word out (buzz) about you and your book, and that’s never a bad thing. Here's how to get the word out.

• The author platform - How to blog for your platform

• How to plan a successful book launch - The nuts and bolts behind planning a book launch. A successful book launch doesn’t just happen all by itself. It takes a significant amount of planning, organization, and coordination