A Call to My Lovely Lurkers

I see you!

I know you are out there. I can see when you stop by and then disappear into the blogosphere. Such a shame because I am a TOTAL sucker for new blogs and love to check other blogs out.

The top 10 reasons why you love to lurk (and my response):

10) You are lazy (So get in bed and comment then.)
9) You have carpal tunnel (I say no pain no gain!)
8) You are shy. (why do we all blog? Can you say introverts!)
7) You have nothing to say (great, b/c bloggers talk about nothing so you'll fit in just fine! Besides we're not looking for Oscar speeches here people!)
6) You are a spy. (If so, you better find out more about statcounter)
5) You always wanted to be a spy (me too! But I can't see you anyway.)
4) Your name is Tom (get it...peeping?)
3) You can't find the "post comment" button (I creatively call mine - shout outs)
2) You are just sooooooo busy (aren't we all?)
1) I'm not as funny as I think I am (I know hard to believe)

Well, Mother Reader and Lee Wind have come up with a way to get you lurkers out of the blogger closet.

The 2010 Comment Challenge to get you Starting Today (Friday, January 8), and running through Thursday, January 28, 2010. The goal is to comment on at least five kidlitosphere blogs a day. Keep track of your numbers, and report in on Fridays with Mother Reader or Lee.

A prize package will be involved, drawing from among the bloggers who reach the 100 Comment Mark (five comments a day for twenty-one days with one day free of comment charge).I hear some random door prizes might be available just for trying.

Every comment doesn’t have to be insightful and intellectual (trust me - my posts aren't!) It can be hard to think of something to say. But we don't care - just say "hi!" We die-hard bloggers love to meet new people. Also, when you make yourself heard, other bloggers may check out your blog. Can’t hurt your stats. Plus, you’ve made that blogger’s day a little bit brighter. Maybe you’ll make a new BFF — Blog Friend Forever.

I know, the whole thing sounds awesome. Ready to join us? Then sign up. And tell all your friends, because that’s kind of, like, the point.

To kick it off, whoever comments on this announcement will get thrown into (not literally) a drawing for an author marketing book! BTW - the only rule I have is only Followers can win. I reward my delurkers. :) Plus that means I can at least keep up with you after you go silent again in 21 days!!! :)

So talk away!

I look forward to meeting you all and making some new friends.

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!

What's Your opinion?

For 2010, I want to be sure my blog is really helping people. Therefore I'd like to get feedback from all my followers on how I can improve it for you.

• Do you like the weekly Marketing interviews?
• Do you like the Friday weekly Roundups?
• Do you have any suggestions of topics you'd like me to cover?
• Do you like the balance of personal blogs vs marketing blogs?
  
• Do you have any requests for certain interviewees you'd like to hear from?
• What other questions do you have about marketing?
• What marketing topics would you like to know more about?

I'm going to start giving some more giveaways. The first one being - as soon as I hit 500 followers, I will giveaway a huge basket of marketing goodies. :)

Please leave me a comment and let me know as I revamp for the new year. I'm open to new ideas and suggestions.

If you leave a comment today by midnight PT, I'll put you in a drawing for a secret marketing surprize!

Thanks again for following!

Marvelous Marketer: Nathan Bransford (Literary Agent)

Happy New Year everyone! Welcome back to the Monday Marvelous Marketer Series. The series will evolve with some new features this year. To provide your input, please take my poll on the side and give me your ideas on what you would like to see in the series this year.

We start the year off with the one and only Nathan Bransford. I'm sure we all follow his famous blog as he steers us through the publishing world. Today, he's here to share some of his Marketing knowledge.

Hi Nathan, thanks for joining us. As if you are not busy enough! Pretend that some people here don't know who you are and tell us about yourself.

Hi Shelli.

Curtis Brown Ltd. is a New York-based agency that has been representing authors since 1914, and over the years has represented an incredible array of legendary/bestselling authors. I was fortunate to have joined Curtis Brown out of college in 2002 as an assistant in the San Francisco office. I had grown up in a small town in Northern California (my parents are farmers), and living in San Francisco and working in publishing was a dream. I’ve been with Curtis Brown ever since, including a few years in the New York office, before I returned to San Francisco and began building my list in earnest.

I also recently wrote a middle grade novel called JACOB WONDERBAR AND THE COSMIC SPACE KAPOW, which will be published by Dial Books for Young Readers in 2011.

Nathan also runs a very popular blog - if you have not checked it out yet. It is a valuable resource! You can also follow him on Twitter and Facebook. It's OK he likes to be cyberstalked! ;)

Congrads on your book deal. Give me a corn dog and space any day! Thinking with both an author hat and agent hat, what do you think are the top 3 things authors should do to promote their book?

I actually only have one thing on the must do list, and that’s to have some sort of Google-able, professional web presence, whether it’s a blog, website, Facebook page… anything that is there on the Internet so that someone in publishing who hears about your work or is looking to contact you can do so easily.

Beyond that, I actually think the best marketing strategy is to recognize your strengths as a potential marketer and to spend your time where it would be best utilized. For instance, some people are really good at pounding the pavement and talking up bookstore owners and arranging appearances and signings. Some people are more introverted and would rather blog and build up their online presence. Others are very plugged in with the media and can utilize those connections to get attention for their book project.

There are many, many ways to promote a book. While I would encourage all authors to do everything they can to promote their work, I think it’s best when authors devote their time and energy where it would be most effective.

Well, you are definitely a great role model when it comes to a cool web presence (aka cool new site) and an extensive platform (aka over 1 million visitors last year). In your mind, what are the major marketing mistakes you see authors make?

• Failing to have a professional web presence – in this day and age it’s essential

• Forgetting the importance of always conducting oneself professionally online and in person. The Internet is always watching.
  

• Feeling like they have to blog or be on Facebook or do this or that just because they think it’s what’s expected. For example, if you don’t have a passion/talent for blogging it doesn’t really pay to blog just for the sake of blogging: a little-trafficked site isn’t going to sell books. Devote your energy to endeavors that will pay off.
  

As an agent, when evaluating whether to take on an author or book, I'm assuming you Google them. What do you look for?

I definitely Google authors to see what their web presence looks like, though I wouldn’t say it’s something that’s terribly important to me.

Having a great book is the most important thing, and a web presence can be developed down the line.

But I do like to get a sense of who I might be working with. That’s why it’s so important to have a very professional online presence and to be mindful of the way you “look” on the Internet – I don’t mean physical appearance, but rather the character of your web presence. Is it professional? Does it present the picture of someone who would be easy to work with? Etc. etc.

How have things changed with agencies promoting their author books? What things do agents/literary agencies do to help promote their author's books?

Traditionally it wasn’t really the agent’s job to promote books, but I think that may be changing somewhat with the times.

Personally I promote my clients’ books on my blog and through my personal online network, and I’m always looking for new ways to effectively market my clients’ works.

And actually, speaking of which, this week I’m having an exciting blog contest for Jennifer Hubbard’s incredible debut YA novel THE SECRET YEAR (Viking), so please stop on by!

Can't wait to see what the contest is for Jennifer! As an agent, what are you looking for in 2010?

I’m always on the lookout for fresh voices and compelling plots. I represent a little everything, so when in doubt please feel free to query me.

Thank you for taking time to stop by!

Thanks Shelli!