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!

WTF Wednesday...

To celebrate LiLa's WTF Wednesday. I have some of my own to add:

• Sandra sites discord? Sandra Bullock is citing "discord and conflict of personality" as means for divorce. How about man from hell sleeps with scanky woman, lies, cries at Oscars, and then claims sex addiction. She's too nice. (oh yeah - and isnt her baby cute? :)

• A guy chases a shoplifter out of mall and gets fired? Really? So now we are being punished for being Good Samaritans. WTF.
  

• Homeless man dies on street and nobody notices? What is the world coming to? The poor guys saved some ladies life, got stabbed, she left the scene, and many people walked by and did nothing. What ever happened to watch out for your fellow man. WTF
  

• Amy Winehouse in hospital. Again? Who is paying the medical bills for this? Seems like she has a permanent bed in some facility with white walls and Ivs. And for bruising her ribs? WTF
  

• Pamela Andersen as a brunette? It doesn't work. My grandma has better wigs than that. DWS spends $1,000 on each person'a weekly spray tans but the show gets their wigs at a Halloween shop? WTF.

• Courtney Love - need I say more? Ok I will. What happened to your face? And how did you get on The View with that song? Oh yeah, and just in case you forgot - you don't cuss on The View either. Your whole interview was bleeped which didn't do much for your image either.
  

What about you? Come across an WTF honorable mentions this week? Share them with us all so we can enjoy them too!

Dear High School Self

For those of you who don't know - Sarah Mylnowski's new book Gimmee a Break has just been released.

This book's premise is awesome. Basically, right before Senior Prom, Devi drops her cell phone in a fountain. ItJust her luck's it's broken and only calls one number...her number.

At age fourteen, three years ago!

Now, she can tell herself all the right things to do because she's already done the wrong ones.

On Twitter, Sarah was asking people what they would tell their High School self.

Here are my top 10 pieces of advice:

1. When you and your friends want to see what it's like to drink beer and cheer... trust me when I say - it' not fun nor worth the backlash. Just say no!

2. Never ever perm naturally curly hair, crimped bangs don't look good, Sun-In is not good for your hair, and don't use baby oil on your skin in the sun (it is true, the sun causes wrinkles and it will matter later!)

3. Parachute pants, Jammers, fingerless gloves, leg warmers, jelly bracelets, swatches, shoulder pads, stirrup pants, bright blue mascara, yellow eyeshadow, & anything neon are NEVER...EVER cool!

4. Duran Duran will not be the next Rolling Stones. Ralph Macchio doesn't look as good through adult eyes. Appolonia is not as cool as you think she is. Prince forgets his name. Miami Vice dudes are not nearly as hot as you think. And, even Bon Jovi realizes his hair is too big.

5. CB is not the only guy you will ever love. But I think you should stay away from anyone else who comes along before the age of 21 (especially the guy in your 8th grade Home Ec class because that will be the biggest heartbreka of your life. Oh yeah, and it DOES NOT work out. Just know you will find the one and you will get married. Contrary to what yo believe, you will not be a spinster or alone FOREVER.

6. Pay attention in English lit. You do need vocabulary and grammar. However, you were right - you DO NOT NEED Algebra or Trig. (calculators will be available on phones)

7.Eat a cookie! You are not fat! Someday you will wish your were still the size you are now. Oh yeah, and keep all your journals and writing projects. You will want them later.

8. Don't give up guitar or singing for cheerleading. You wont be able to cheer after college and you will miss not signing with your guitar later in life.

9. Your family loves you and wants you to be happy. Try not to think they are ruining your life. In reality, they saved your some serious heartache and your brother will be one of your closest friends. Your parenst love you and you will not know how much until you have your two babies.

10. Life in high school is nearly as hard as life as an adult. Don't try to grow up too fast. Enjoy where you are. You will regret it later and wish you had more time.

More than anything - love life. It is precious!

In the end, all this would not matter. Because my HS self would never have listened anyway. :)

What about you? If you could talk to your high school self, would you> What would you tell your HS self if you could? Would you avoid any heart break? Would you do things differently?

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?