Self Marketing by Mike Hartner

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici, FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Congrats! You’re published. In today’s world, in many cases, it won’t matter whether you are self-published, or published by one of the Big Six. You will need marketing.

Marketing. Yes, that ugly word. What, you mean my book doesn’t sell itself? Nope. Sorry to disappoint, but you are one of nearly a million people who have self-published this past year. Finding your book, for any but the most diligent (read: friends and relatives) is going to be a crapshoot. So how do you make your odds better?

1. Blog tours. Orangeberry.com has them. Pumpupyourbook.com has them. And there are others out there. They schedule you on blogs that work with them, and then send you a list of material they want. Some material that they like to use includes: Chapters, for chapter reveals; character interviews, to get a better feel for the characters; author interviews, in which you answer questions about yourself and your book and your publishing journey; top ten lists by you; and a plethora of other information. Blog tours are the 21st century equivalent to book store tours. Except you are doing them in cyber-space. And they can be fun. So go out and enjoy them.

2. Reviews. This falls into several time frames. To do this properly, there are things you need to be setting up PRIOR to the release of the book.

• Netgalley.com - $350 set up. Six months. It gives newspapers, book sellers, etc... a chance to look at your book before they decide to stock or review it. Sometimes it can lead to reviews.

• Newspapers - ARCs of the book should be given to media 3-4 months in advance of the release to give them a chance to read it and respond. Remember, they have busy lives too.

• Internet book reviewers (book bloggers) - There are lists out there. They are genre specific, and will definitely help you contact reviewers who will look at your book. Like newspaper columnists, though, they are VERY busy. Many of them need to be booked four months in advance. Not all. But, if you give them four months, they are guaranteed to appreciate your efforts even more, regardless of whether they agree to help you.

• Amazon book reviewers - Amazon has lists that include their top ten reviewers. And if you pick through these one at a time, and contact them, then some will help and others will not. But give them a time frame.... the more leeway the better. They, too, are busy.

3. Contests/Awards. You can enter all sorts of contests for your book. Make sure that you’re in the right genre, though.

• Chanticleer Book Reviews - This site has a contest for every genre.

• IBPA (Independent Book Publishers Association) has the Ben Franklin Awards.

• Other independent book contests are out there. Google them.

• Local book awards - Every state and province has book awards for local authors. You can’t win if you don’t play.

4. Associations. There are many associations, including Independent Book Publishers Association. Membership in them will give you discounts for participation in some of the contests and services like: Netgalley, LightningSource, trade shows, etc... I HIGHLY recommend IBPA. But, look around. If they’re not right for you, some one else will be.

5. Trade Shows. Throughout the year, there are trade shows all over the world:

• London Book Show -- April
• BookExpoAmerica (BEA) - May
• Beijing (usually September)
• Frankfurt (October)
• There are others in your state or province.
• American Library Association (ALA)
• National Educators Association (NEA)
• NewYork State Library Association
• California State Library Association...
• This list is endless.

Two points about trade shows. 

• They are OPTIONAL. They get exposure to your book out there, but don’t stress if you can’t afford to go to every one of them. 

• Pick your conventions wisely. You may decide to go to the ALA without going to the NEA. That’s okay. There’s some member overlap, but not a lot.

6. Free Sites. IF you join Kindle Direct Program (KDP) they will allow you to have free days -- up to five across three months -- as promotion days. There are hundreds of spots around the internet that advertise to kindle users, e-readers, etc.. that will help you to publicize FREE days, provided you give them reasonable notice. By reasonable, I think minimum two weeks.

7. Social media. Put up a Facebook author’s page, a Twitter feed, your own website, Pinterest pictures, etc. Look into badredheadmedia.com to find Rachel Thompson (@RachelintheOC), a social media guru, who can help you grow your brand.

8. Google Adwords. Theadwordsguy.com and JP help you to use Google Adwords and landing sites to generate interest. You pay per click, but it helps to show you which genres and keywords resonate interest with your book.

9. Reader websites. Goodkindle.net is one example. These are websites dedicated to individuals who read e-books. There are plenty of them, and for a small fee, you can be a part of their book list on their site.


This list is by no means comprehensive, but it describes most of the areas that I have delved into to help promote my book. You don’t have to do them all at once. Pick and choose according to your whims. But get out there and try something to improve your exposure to the massive number of readers out there. Now go out there and market!

Also, don’t forget that "FRONTLIST sells backlist." In short, the best way to sell this book... is to write the next one. So don’t get hung up in the promotions area for too long.

And, if you’re getting overwhelmed with it all, ask for help from an author’s assistant like Kate Tilton.

About the Author:

Mike Hartner was born in Miami in 1965. He’s traveled much of the continental United States. He has several years post secondary education, and experience teaching and tutoring young adults. Hartner has owned and run a computer firm for more than twenty-five years. He now lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with his wife and child. They share the neighborhood and their son with his maternal grandparents. You can visit Mike at his website.

The interest of Pinterest in Marketing

Ah my new love!

I love Pinterest ! If you are on, come connect with me! I love learning about people from their boards! 

It's so fun, I'm also doing a pinning contest for those pinners who pin both Untraceable and Uncontrollable covers on their boards. :)

I also just created a Nature of Grace board with all my images of Mo and Wyn and things in the book. You can follow that board individually. Let me know what you think or send me some images you think should be there!

Pinterest is fun (wait did I say that already?) It's a huge bulletin board and gets rid of those pesky bookmarks on my browser that I hated so much.

Pinterest - what is it?

Pinterest is the newest social networking site. It is more visual and image based that Twitter or Facebook used by primarily women at this point. 

It encourages you to find and pin everything dang cute things to your boards. It is kind of a modern way to bookmark stuff you love or find interesting. On Pinterest I am the best dresser, the best cook, and the wisest person! 

Repinning, following, and organizing is fun and easy. There's that word fun again. 

Besides being....fun...you can use it to build a platform.

Benefits of using Pinterest

·      Find people who like the same things as you.

·      Gives insights into people’s personal likes and dislikes.

·      Creates easy bookmarks to things you love.

·      Helps you find out what is trending and what is popular.

·      It’s fun.

Tips for using Pinterest

·      Always embed links so people can go  to whatever you are pinning.

·      Be sure to pin your own original stuff as well as repin others.

·      Download the pin icon to make it easy to pin wherever you are.

·      Create boards and use interesting titles to attract attention.

·      Create a book board for yourself.

·      Tag friends in posts to create community.

·      Use keywords in descriptions and hashtags.

·      Make sure you know what you are repinning.

·      Make sure you have descriptions.

·      Try to space out pins so you don’t bombard the boards with one topic.

·      Use likes as placeholders so you can find something again.

·    You can follow people or individual boards. This helps you target  who and what you want to watch.

·      Don’t forget to categorize your boards.

·      You have 500 characters in each description box. Use them.

·      Highlight text before pinning to add to description box.

·      Link Pinterest to other accounts.

·      Pin coupons for your book.

·      Create group boards with multiple contributors.

·      Watch for copyright issues.

Pinterest pet peeves

·      Populating description with the actual post. Create summaries.

·      Forget to include links or descriptions.

·      Not grouping into boards.

·      Pinning everything.

sign up here

Skype Book Tours: Guest Post by Kate Messner (author of The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z)

KateMessner is the author of THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. and SUGAR AND ICE (Walker/Bloomsbury, Dec. 2010), the MARTY MCGUIRE series with Scholastic (Spring 2011), and two forthcoming picture books with Chronicle Books.

"The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z" - Gianna Zales is a star runner with one more hurdle to jump before she goes to cross-country sectionals – a monster leaf collection project. To get it done, she’ll have to survive a rival who desperately wants to take her place at sectionals, a grandmother who leaves her false teeth in the refrigerator, and a best friend whose feelings about her are changing like the leaves. Gianna Z needs a stroke of brilliance to make it work!

========================

Hi Shelli, thanks for having me!

You asked me to talk a little about Skype tours and why I find them useful use.

When my middle grade novel THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. came out in September, one of my goals was to make a personal connection with as many teachers, librarians, and young readers as possible. In addition to writing for kids, though, I’m also a middle school English teacher, and spending too much time out of my classroom at the beginning of the school year was out of the question. Thankfully, technology came to the rescue!

If you’re part of the online children’s literature world, you’ve probably already heard a thing or two about Skype author visits – a low-cost or no-cost way for classrooms, libraries, and book clubs to connect kids and authors. As someone who wears two hats – both author and teacher – I’m a huge fan of this new kind of author visit for a few reasons.

1. Flexibility. Though I love visiting schools in person, I spend a limited number of days out of my own classroom each year and get more requests than I’m able to accommodate. Skyping with some schools allows me to connect with kids, librarians, and teachers I would have missed otherwise. I can Skype with a classroom on the other side of the world during my 40-minute lunch hour or after school, and hang up in time to teach my afternoon class or make dinner.
2. Cost. While traditional author visits are amazing opportunities, they are cost prohibitive for many schools. If you know an educator, you probably know that many schools are facing dire financial situations right now – the worst they’ve seen in years. Enrichment activities like author visits are often the first thing to be cut in a budget crisis, and virtual visits offer an alternative that still allows for those connections.
3. Far-reaching. While an in-person author visit requires many months of planning and the cooperation of a whole school community, a single dedicated teacher or librarian can often arrange a Skype visit in just a few weeks. The potential to connect with more readers – readers whose schools may never be able to host an in-person visit – is a huge benefit.
4. Fun! Skype author visits are fun.

If they sound fun to you, too, you may want to take some of the following steps before diving in:

• If you have a computer with a microphone, camera, and Internet connection, you already have the equipment you’ll need. Just download Skype (www.skype.com), register with a username, and try it out with a friend.

• Make sure you like the background and lighting in the shot. Practice looking into the camera so that the person on the other end of the connection sees you looking right at them.

• There are some how-to-Skype features available online that you may want to read, including this technology feature I wrote for School Library Journal.

• You’ll also need to decide what kind of Skype visits you’d like to offer. Some authors only do paid visits, while others offer a couple different options. For example, I offer free 20-minute Q and A sessions with groups that have read one of my books in addition to paid Skype visits that are longer and include an emailed PowerPoint presentation that the teacher runs on a second computer.

• Once you’re comfortable with Skype, it’s time to let teachers and librarians know that you’re available for Skype author visits. You can register with the terrific Skype-An-Author network.

• The SLJ Skype feature has a list, as well as a link to my blog, where I keep an updated list of traditionally published authors who offer free 20-minute Skype visits to classes & book clubs that have read their books. Just leave a comment with your name and website if you’d like to be added.

• When teachers and librarians begin to contact you about Skype visits, many will be looking for guidance about how it all works. The SLJ feature includes a how-to list that may be helpful for you to share with those who request Skype visits.

If you’d like to know more about Skype author visits, she'll be presenting on this topic at both the New England SCBWI Conference in May and at the International Reading Association Conference in Chicago later on this month.

Tell me what you guys think about Skype Tours! Do you think you would utilize them or do you prefer signings in person? Do you have any questions about Skype Tours?