Writing a book takes many skills

Prior to writing your book, did you underestimate the skills required? I did. Since my book is a narrative of my Camino adventure, I learned that, in addition to putting pen to paper, I had to become a translator, a photographer, a photo editor, a cartographer, and much more.

As I walked 500 miles across Spain, on the Camino de Santiago, I recorded conversations in English, French or Spanish with female hikers from all over the world. Upon my return, I translated the conversations. In addition, I included the English meaning of Spanish words related to the Camino.

Prior to this long walk, I took terrible pictures, often with heads chopped off. I had to learn to take pictures that were interesting, to place a figure in the foreground, to frame a scene, and how to use a digital camera. These skills are not innate; I have no artistic ability. My third grade teacher, Mrs Gaffney, destroyed my confidence in art when she took a black crayon and drew over my bird, saying, “That is not how you draw a bird.” Later, my biology teacher, after reviewing my drawing of an amoeba, wrote, “What is this supposed to be?” With limited artistic skills, I had a lot to learn.

Once I had the photos, I had to learn photo-editing. Fortunately, there is software that simplifies the process. With PhotoScape, I enhanced, cropped, and re-sized the pictures that I used in the book.

My editor suggested that I add maps to the book. Had she seen my drawing of the amoeba, she may not have asked me to do this. After many attempts, I created adequate representations of the route. Without her prodding, I would never have undertaken this task.

What skill did you have to learn as you wrote your book? Please comment.

Don’t drown in self-promotion

As you try to promote your book, do you feel as if you were drowning in work? Are you overwhelmed with all the various social media marketing tools?

When I started promoting my book online, I spent way too much time tweeting, blogging, and updating my status on Facebook. I was creating so much content that I no longer had time for writing. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t see this as a drudgery; I was having fun, my writing was getting more precise (thanks to the 140 character limitation on Twitter), and I was finding my voice and gaining confidence as a writer.

When the fun stopped and I felt pressure to produce, I started using tools like HootSuite to schedule my tweets and give me more time. After limiting the tweets to only four a day and using a shuffler function in Excel, I greatly reduced my workload. Yet, I still felt that I needed to keep my readers happy with more content. Upon the advice of other bloggers, I started guest posting more often and commenting on forums and various networks. Once I again, I was drowning in the social media sea.

When I left on a research adventure hiking and biking around Europe, I made a startling discovery. During the twelve-day transatlantic crossing, I had no contact with my readers. At first, I had withdrawals from lack of constant feedback. I never realized how addicted I was to social media. Not only was I missing the constant ego stroking, I was also concerned that I would lose my readers if I only posted or blogged sporadically. This really bothered me. For some reason, I felt I had to constantly be in their face or they would forget me. When I realized that I was just trying to placate my needy ego and that the need to constantly be using social media was self-imposed, it was as if I had been thrown a life-preserver.

Don’t ignore social media. Your readers and followers need to have contact with you; just not constantly. Make a commitment to provide them with good content on a regular basis and stick with the schedule. If you need to change the schedule, tell your readers that you are doing so. One blogger I follow changed his posting schedule from one per week to once every two weeks when he became a father. I did not unsubscribe to his blog because he was writing less. What was important is that he continued to write meaningful content.

Beware of those who tell you that you need to tweet so many times a day to get new followers. It is better to provide one interesting tweet than twelve that get ignored.

To keep from drowning in self-promotion

• Write interesting content on a regular basis. Define a schedule that works for you.
• Quality counts, not quantity; don’t overwhelm your readers.
• Don’t feel as if you have to do it all. Use only the sites that provide the best interaction with your readers.
• Some self-promoters suggest how often to contact your readers on various social media. Question if this is reasonable for you, and for your readers.
• Don’t become addicted to the allure of social media—it can be time suck.

While I am away, I will be posting bi-monthly. I will also be posting about my adventure on Woman on her way. I hope you will sign up for my new blog. Thank you.

Become comfortable with indie publishing, and then write

Since publishing my book about ten months ago, I have been busy learning the business of indie publishing. It was a struggle. There seemed to be too much to do in too few hours, and what I needed to do differed from one expert to another. It took me a while to learn the various author platform tools and decide which to adopt. All this research, learning, and testing left little time for writing. I started a book and stopped halfway as I spent time discovering what worked best for me in promoting my first book.

If you are struggling to learn the ropes and fit everything into a busy schedule, don’t give up. It gets easier. You too will find out what works best, reject what you don’t like to do, and find short cuts. Becoming good at indie publishing does not happen overnight. But when it all finally comes together, if frees you up to pursue other interests., like writing.

Life after indie publishing

I am writing this blog in my stateroom as I listen to the ocean and gulls. How cool is that! After all that struggling to learn the ins and outs of indie publishing, I am now able to do what I want to do–write. As long as I have access to the internet, I can publish my blog and reach out to my followers from anywhere in the world as I research my next book. Perhaps this freedom is one reason that there are so many authors.

My immediate plans evolve around hiking and biking through Europe. No longer bound by rigid office hours, I can set my schedule. I plan to walk or peddle four to six hours each day, leaving plenty of time to continue writing a weekly Camino Tip for my book’s blog, and a My Musings posting for this blog. I am also keeping a trail journal as well as a personal hand-written one. I will be busy writing books of my adventures, once I return.

It has taken me ten months to get to this point. I hope it takes you less. Tell me about your indie publishing venture. How long before you felt that your marketing efforts were in control and that you could get back to the business of writing. I’d love to hear your story.

Book promotion—does it really work?

This is the sixth and last  installment in the book promotion series. Other topics in the series are Getting noticed, Getting book reviews, Book trailers, Word of mouth, and The book cover.

Note: For the next six months as I hike and bicycle around Europe, I will publish only one post per week on this site. I hope you will continue to follow my musing on indie publishing and also follow my adventures on my trail journal.

If you are like me, you are probably wondering if the effort to promote your book is time well spent. Would you be better off writing your next book? While people with multiple books have a following and, consequently, sell more books, not promoting the first book may keep you from developing followers—and selling books. It’s sort of a chicken-egg conundrum.

Here is data from the  2012 Taliest Self-Publishing survey

• Only one in ten self-publishers are newbies.
• 60% of self-published authors have been writing for five years or more.
• Authors who get help (paid or unpaid) with story editing, copy editing, proofreading, and cover design make 34% more than the average.
• 10% of authors earn 75% of royalties.
• Romance writers average royalties are more than double those of their peers.
• Romance writers write 2,030 words/day…that’s is more words per day than average.

From this data, I conclude that if you are a newbie, you are competing with well-established indie authors who have several books and a following. Book promotion is the only way to get noticed and to build an audience. Even Amanda Hocking, the first self-published author to earn over two million dollars, did so by promoting her book. She also had more than one book. With the first book of the trilogy, she captured the readers’ attention, and then continued to satisfied their need with the rest of the series.

For me, being an author is similar to being a start-up entrepreneur: with limited funds, I am doing everything—the writing, the publishing, and the promoting. I have stretched beyond my comfort zone to learn the skills it takes to pursue my dream. I learned to create a web page, to blog, to tweet, and to talk about my book. I used all the tricks for promoting books: an attractive cover, a well-written book, a book trailer, book reviews internet marketing, and, hopefully, word-of-mouth. All this effort is paying off; I am selling hundreds of books each month.

I spent almost a year honing my book-promotions skills. Now it takes me only about an hour a day (aside from writing the blog) to market the book, leaving plenty of time to write. With several books, I could have a comfortable income. Since the majority of self-published authors have been writing for five years or more, I can only imagine where I will be in four more years, I dream about being in the top 10% of indie-earners; but, since I am not a romance writer, attaining that dream will be difficult.

From my experience, book promotion really does work, especially for newbie indie authors. The question for you is whether to self-promote or hire an agency to do this.

How do you promote your book? Are you book-promotion tactics working for you? Please comment.

Resources

• The Key to Marketing Your Book: Time Well Spent
• Why the 21st Century Author is an Internet Entrepreneur

Book promotion—the book cover

The book cover is the fifth installment in the series on book promotion. So far, the series includes Getting noticed, Getting book reviews, Book trailers, and Word of mouth.

In spite of the adage, most people do judge a book by its cover. Admit it: it’s the book cover that first catches your eye when scanning bookstore shelves or shopping on line. It’s what causes you to pick up the book, read the synopsis, and look inside. A well-designed book cover intrigues the imagination, reveals a bit of the story, and begs for attention.

Designing an attractive book cover requires thought and skill. While a traditionally published author may not have much control over the cover design, having thought out the basics will allow the writer to provide input and be a basis for approving the proffered design. On the other hand, indies are entirely responsible for the design of their cover, whether they hire an artist or do it themselves. I think this is an advantage for the indie author. After spending months of writing and perfecting the book, the indie author can then design the perfect book cover, one that reflects the mood and tone of the book.

If you are creating a book (as opposed to an e-book), the first thing to do is to determine the size of the book. I chose a size that would fit in a USPS Priority Mail box. This might be a consideration for those planning on mailing, especially overseas. A larger size might be better for a coffee table book while a smaller one might be better for a children’s book. The size affects the front and back cover and the spine. Pick a size that will create a spine large enough to accommodate the title and your name—you want both visible when stacked vertically on a shelf.

If yours is an e-book, you still need to create a image of the front cover. Follow the same book cover basics as a traditional book.

Look at books in your genre. Go to a book store or library and check the books for color, font style, imagery, and layout. Is there a pattern among the books? If so, decide if you want your book cover to blend in with the style or if you want it to stand apart from the others. If you are writing a series, select a design that can be easily modified for future books while retaining the series identity.

Select colors that convey the feel of the book or that blends well with the imagery. Since I used a photo that I had taken, I selected colors that complemented the photo. An Amazon search for zombie and mystery books reveals lots of black and red; inspirational books have pastel colors; romance books do not seem to have a predominate color scheme; and primary colors work well for children and humorous books. To make the text stand out from the background, use contrasting light and dark colors. Limit the number of colors on the book cover to three or four coordinated hues. Select the predominant color to reflect the book’s general theme or mood, and then use the others as accent or for text.

Use the font size, style, and the layout of the characters to enhance the book’s message and attract readers. Size the book title to be 10 to 15% of the cover and make your author’s name as large as possible. Remember that these should be visible when the image is thumbnail size. Also, since many e-readers are black and white, look at the picture in black in white to see if the font displays as you would like it to.

Proofread the text, for spelling and grammar. You don’t want typos on the cover.

If you do not have your own photo, you can use an a creative commons (CC) image (one that does not have copyright restrictions). A good source for these is Flicker. When searching for photos on Flickr, make sure to check the three CC boxes in the advance search: • Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content • Find content to use commercially • Find content to modify, adapt, or build upon. (Note: always verify if there are limitations to your using the photo.) Another good source for photos is iStockphoto. You buy the right to use these images per a license agreement, so check that out before you purchase it.

Once you have your image and have decided on the book cover basics, it is easy to use the book design templates offered by indie publishes such as Createspace or Lulu to produce a great looking book with a properly sized spine, well laid out back cover matter and author’s picture, and barcode. Try various templates until you are happy with the book cover.

If you decide to create your own cover, use good graphic software. If you don’t have CorelDraw, Adobe Illustrator, or Corel, check out the 35 Free Graphics Programs.

If you don’t want to deal with designing your own book cover, you can hire an artist or graphic designer to do that for you. Having decided on the book cover basics will help you communicate your concepts and make it easier for the artist to create the eye-catching cover you want. When hiring an artist, be sure to get a contract that spells out everything, including who has the rights to the drawing and possible spin-offs.

Once you have the book cover designed, ask for feedback. I posted two possible covers on Facebook and asked my followers to select their favorite one. Ask writers and trusted friends for their opinion. Make adjustments as needed.

Determine if the design will also work on promotional materials and spin-offs. Can you reduce the cover cleanly for use on business cards, bookmarks, and thank-you notes. Can it be enlarged without graininess for a poster? Can you use it on a cup? Can you make a toy out of a child’s book cover character?

Book cover basics

• Size: Pick the best size to showcase your title, name, and graphic.
• Genre: Check out books in your genre to see if there are typical patterns or color choices.
• Series: Select a book cover design that you can easily adapt for additional books.
• Color: Limit the color selection to three or four complementary colors.
• Font: Choose a font that is easy to read from 8 to 10 feet away and when shrunk to a thumbnail for the Internet.
• Proofread the text.
• Artwork: Choose a photo or create an illustration.
• Assemble the book cover: Use a template or software to create the front, back, spine.
• Feedback: Ask people what they think of the cover.

Designing a good cover is as important as developing a good story. Take your time. Get help, if needed.

 References

• How to Design a New Book Cover
• Tips for Choosing Book Cover Colors
• 30 Beautifully Colorful Typographic Book Cover Designs
• Free Book Cover & Book Blog Image Resources on Flickr
• How to Find a Great Book Cover Designer, and the 7 Rules You Need to Know to Work Together (without Driving Anyone Crazy)

I designed my book cover using a Createspace template. The only thing I would change is the color and size of the author’s name on the front cover—it is too faint. How did you produce your book cover? What tricks would you like to share? Please comment.

Book promotion—word of mouth

Word of mouth is the fourth installment in the series on book promotion. So far, the series includes  Getting noticed,  Getting book reviews, and  Book trailers. 

If you are like most indie authors, you are probably using social media, book reviews, and book trailers to get your book noticed.  Yet, with all your efforts, there does not seem to be a lot of buzz about the book and you wonder how to get people to talk about it. How do you get people to promote your book via word of mouth?

“In a lot ways, the greatest marketing tool we have in publishing — and probably will never change — is word of mouth,” ~  Heather Fain, marketing director for the publisher Little, Brown and Co.

This might be so for a well-established author, but for a newbie, word of mouth results from using all the tools in the author’s platform.  It takes energy, time, and effort to develop your author’s reputation, credibility, and following. Don’t look at word of mouth as the primary way to promote your book, especially a first book. Look at it as a gauge for determining when you can turn your attention from marketing to other aspects of your writing career.

To get people talking about your book, you first need to write a good book. A dull, poorly written book will not create a word-of-mouth stir; to do that you need to write a book that is a fun read, exciting, compelling, comical, motivational, or inspirational—a real page-turner.  You have to give the reader a reason to talk about the book.

Once you have written the book, you need to promote it. You have to get the readers’ attention before they can spread the word. Use every tool in your author’s platform to make people aware of the book. Contact sites that promote books directly to readers, librarians, and book clubs for free. See Free Sites to Promote Your eBook.

You might consider purchasing advertising on sites such as Shelf-Awareness.com, DearReader.com, BookMovement.com, PublishersMarketplace.com, and KindleNationDaily.com. Or, you might hire a marketing company such as Author Buzz  to contact these promoters for you. Whether you contact the agencies directly or hire a firm to do so, you will be spending money—without assurances of increased word of mouth. Look at these sites; KindleNationDaily.com, for example, has 375 pages of book listings and ads. Ask yourself how a reader will find your ad on a site that is so saturated.

“Ads don’t really sell books. When you see the billboards for Dan Brown, they are just announcing to his existing fans that the book is out; they don’t aim to convert new readers.” ~ David Gaughran. There has to be a better way to get word of mouth.

Instead of spending money on an ad, you might spend the money on traveling to a conference to speak on a topic relevant to your book (and subsequently sell books). At the conference, you will have direct contact with your readers and an opportunity to ask them personally to tell their friends if they like the book. Most people will be glad to do so.

Network with other authors. Ask them to help promote your work, perhaps by exchanging guest post or honestly reviewing your book. Your guest post is an opportunity to attract and convert new readers who can then spread the word.

Continue to interact with your readers. Send thank you notes and respond to emails. Do book signings. Make yourself available via Skype or teleconferencing to book clubs and discussion groups. The more people you come into contact with, the more chances you have to increase your word of mouth. Consider offering a promotion to seed the market and get people talking about the book.

Once word of mouth becomes evident and the book starts to sell itself with little effort on your part, reduce the time you spend on promoting it. Don’t ignore your following, just shift your efforts elsewhere, perhaps to increasing your following or to writing your next book. Readers who have read and enjoyed your first book will most like purchase a second one from you. And the cycle begins anew, but with more leverage.

Word-of-mouth strategies

• Write a good book that is well-formatted and edited.
• Ask your readers to tell their friends about the book.
• Consider offering a promotion
• Ask writer friends to help you spread the word.
• Promote the book upon release, then only occasionally, once word of mouth is working its magic.

Resources

• How Word-of-Mouth Marketing Produces Greatest Results in Book Sales
• Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking 

The best way to convert new readers is through word of mouth. People trust personal recommendations, especially if they share tastes. As more people read your book, the word of mouth should create a buzz that should grow exponentially. Do you have a tactic for increasing word of mouth that I did not mention? Please comment.

Book promotion—book trailers

 Book trailers is the third installment in the series on book promotion. The first in this series is Getting noticed and the second is Getting book reviews.

A good way to create interest in your book is by creating a book trailer, a video advertisement for your book similar to a movie trailer. Many are short (30 seconds) while others are considerably longer. My book trailer started out as a three-minute tribute to the women I met on the Camino de Santiago and who are featured in the book. After I had about 600 views on YouTube, I turned it into a book trailer, and the viewer counter reset to zero. I regret not initially making the tribute a book trailer. I also regret using the words, “upcoming book” in the voice over; now that the book is released, I have to decide whether to remove the words and, consequently, reset the counter, or leave it as it is. With experience and better planning, I could have avoided these mistakes.

Indie author, K1YPP created an approximately nine minute video on how to start a fire by rubbing sticks. As an after thought, he added a link to his book Three Hundred Zeroes about his hike of the Appalachian Trail. His YouTube video has had 83,695 views and he attributes a good portion of his sales to the video. As you can see, creating a video that goes viral can create a lot of buzz for your book.

Creating a book trailer requires forethought. You want to develop a curiosity about your book, hint at your style as a writer, and be compelling—you want viewers to buy the book. Don’t be formulaic; there are too many boring trailers, with fields of blowing grass, soft music, and a voice-over. Make your book trailers as suspenseful, funny, or thought-provoking as your book is. Give the viewer a reason to rush to the online bookstore to make a purchase. Jordan Dane’s debut mystery suspense series book trailer uses music, imagery and questions to capture the reader’s imagination and create the mystery. Seth Greenland uses humor in his book trailers. Joanna Penn creates a dream and possibilities in her book trailer for a non-fiction book, How to Enjoy your job. Whatever the genre, you can create a book trailer that sells books.

You can make your own book trailer or hire a video crew. Prices for professional work depends on the amount of work, the length of the video, and the additional services, such as distribution, that you select. Contact local colleges to see if students can develop the video for you as part of their course. If you make your own video, make sure to use only uncopyrighted images or music, or pay a small fee for the rights to use them (creative commons for images and www.musicbakery.com for music). I have had my book trailer shut down three times by companies who believed I had violated their copyrights. Once I showed YouTube my license from The Music Bakery,  the video was restored.

Promote your book trailer. Sites such as Book Trailers lists book trailers for free; Book trailers for all tweets and announces new trailers on their Facebook page. Of course, there are paid services such as Book and Trailer Showcase. To help promote your book trailer on YouTube, consider using keywords, video ads or AdWords or promote it using your social media. Add the link to your video to your email signature, business cards, etc.

Creating a book trailer

• Just as with your book, create a plot or storyboard for the book trailer.
• Build a hook, to capture the reader’s interest. Be compelling and professional.
• Use your own material or get a license to use copyrighted material.
• Promote your trailer: use keywords to make your book trailer go viral

Resources

• How To Create A Book Trailer by Joanna Penn
• 10 Ways to Promote Your YouTube Video and Make Money
• How To Go VIRAL – The ultimate guide to YouTube video promotion!
• YouTube Success: How to Promote Your Videos Properly

Book promotion—getting book reviews

Getting book reviews is the second in a series on book promotion. The first in this series is getting noticed.

As I discussed in my post Busting the almighty book review myth, I believe that book reviews help readers decide whether to read the book or not.  On that post, I offered 7 ways to get book reviews. In this post, I will provide you with additional information on how to get book reviews and a way to manage the reviews.

First, let us acknowledge that there are different types of book reviewers. Since, as Peter Strothard commented, “not everyone’s opinion is worth the same,” you may value one type of reviewer over another for a particular purpose.

• Reader reviews are common on Amazon, Goodreads, Shelfari, and other online bookstores; these give the author an indication of how well or unfavorably the book is received by the general reader. The comments are more gut reaction—did the reader like the story or not. Since they are based on personal taste, it is up to the author to determine whether to continue writing in the same vein or to change for increased likability.
• Celebrity reviewers If you are lucky, adding a quote or review from a celebrity can augment sales drastically. I don’t know much about this, but if you are star-crazed, the book  “How to Get Celebrity Attention and Maximize Your Press Exposure”! may offer you some help.
• Professional book reviews are usually based on published criteria. Since they are often based on readability, technical correctness, and, at times, omissions, the author can get insights on ways to improve the book.
• Paid reviews. I have mix feelings about the ethics of these, especially if they provide only four- or  five-star reviews. Before hiring someone for an honest review, determine if they will publish an unfavorable review; some paid reviewers will not publish anything below three stars.
• Award or contest are reviews that are either based on published criteria or on readers’ favorite choices. The latter may account for the plethora of “award winning” authors—those most effective in using social media win. There are agencies such as Awesome Indies that award for quality ” as determined by publishing professionals.” To me, having a medallion from them means more than one from a reader’s favorite choice. As a writer, developing a well-crafted story is paramount and being acknowledge by my peers is just about the coolest thing that could happen.
• Promoters who review books and offer links to online book sellers. You get a review and publicity, they get the affiliates fees. Some publish reviews submitted by the community. Ask David  proclaims to only publish reviews which can’t be found elsewhere on the web.
• Literary critics which provide an academic evaluation and interpretation of a book. When I think of these, I am reminded of college literature classes and my eyes immediate gloss over. For this reason, I am merely acknowledging this type of review and will not spend any more time on them.

How to get book reviews

Determine what type of review you want; each requires a different tactic. Make a plan, and then follow through. Use a tracking system. (I use this excel spread sheet that you can download.) This will help you remember whom you have contacted and trigger further action. Review your status at least monthly, and then follow up as needed.

To get reader reviews, you have to sell books (See my suggestions on Busting the almighty book review myth.) To sell books, you need to be in contact with the readers, face-to-face or through social media. Develop a following on Goodreads, and then blog or have conversations with your followers. Join book clubs and groups on Facebook and have a presence there. Don’t try to sell your book (poor etiquette and not very effective). Instead, be interesting and add value to the discussion. If people are interested, they will follow you.

Getting a free professional book review may be difficult for a first time indie author. For a price, organizations such as Your First Review not only provide an unbiased professional book review but also identify the strengths and weaknesses of your book. This might be helpful prior to release, when there is time to revise the manuscript or quote on the cover or front matter. Other professional book reviewers such as Kirkus offer editing and marketing services…it all depends on what you want to pay.

Paid reviewers. Looking online, I found reviewers who, for $25.00 will write a “witty, insightful and grammatically correct 300-word review.” Some even promise to write a four- or five-star review. If your purpose is to flood the market with nothing but praise, beware; today’s readers are savvy and may find you out. Some writers use these reviewers to “seed” the reviewers when the book is released, just so it will not be without a review. Whether you think this is ethical is up to you.

There are contests for most genres.  Winning The National Indie Excellence Awards indicates overall excellence, including design and promotional text. Winning this award provides valuable publicity and recognition for your book. If you want to enter a contest, check out the entry fees, the credibility of the organization (Royal Dragonfly Book Contest are sponsored by Five Star Publications, an award-winning company with close to 25 years of publishing expertise), and check the fine print to see whether, as winner, you must relinquish your rights to the book. Of course, there are the popularity contests (the reader’s choice awards) where readers vote for “the best” in a category.

Blog book promoters offer visibility and help promote your book. Often times you complete an online interview, upload a book blurb, and offer your book for review. Depending on the blogger, you may submit an ebook or mail in a traditional book. For names, check out my twitter list members for promoters and reviewers.

Book reviews can help get you and your book noticed. Finding the right type of reviewer for your book can be challenging. Hopefully the rewards (selling more books) is worth the effort and possible cost. Have you found someone special to review your book? If so, how did you go about it?

Resources

• To Chase a Crooked Shadow: Questioning the Ethics of Paid Book Reviews
• The Ethics of Book Reviews, Part 1
• The Ethics of Book Reviews, Part 2
• Authors Gone Wild: Book Review Ethics
• What is literary criticism, and why would anyone want to write or read it?
• Professional Book Reviews vs. Amazon Book Reviews
• Are professional book reviewers better than amateurs?

Book promotion—getting noticed

Getting noticed is the first in a series on book promotion. Other topics will include getting book reviews and creating a following.

Is your book promotion strategy working for you or is getting the publicity for your book a challenge?  Have you sent out press releases, asked for radio interviews, contacted organizations for speaking opportunities and bookstores for book signings, and then waited and waited for responses? Do you wonder what you could differently to get noticed?

To get noticed, offer your services—don’t sell your book. Become an authority and promote your expertise. See your book promotion as a spin-off of your self promotion. When promoting the self,  don’t promote your own interest or profile; promote your expertise and the solution you provide. This might be easier for non-fiction writers, but, with some thought, fiction writers can do this too. While non-fiction writers can speak about their topic or experience, non-fiction writers can speak on writing, book promotion and marketing, indie publishing, or the research done for the book. Both can collaborate with other authors to offer a panel discussion, training session, or collaborative book signing event. In short, you have to provide value to the radio or TV host , library, or organization. It is this value, that will get you noticed.

Be relevant.  Try to tie in your expertise with current events or special days. Check out On This Day in History to find dates to speak on a topic, and then pitch that association with the people or organizations with whom you are trying to connect.

Become a good interviewee and guest speaker. If needed, join a Toastmasters International club to learn public speaking skills and how to ad-lib. Always provide an introduction that includes “Author of [Book Name].” Provide the host with potential questions, but be prepared to speak on topics that the host introduces. Put links on your webpage to other interviews: radio and TV hosts like to know that you can speak to the audience. Likewise, record the interview; don’t count on the station or the host to do it for you.

If possible, use press releases and social media to promote the interview or speaking engagement, always mentioning the host, program, or organization; it is to your advantage to do your own publicity. If there is a rise in listeners, viewers, or a packed house, you increase the chances of being invited back. It also gives you leverage when discussing engagements with other organizations—everyone loves a success.

When requesting the interview or speaking engagement, provide information about yourself and your book in a format that is easy to read. Attach a handout with all the necessary information. (Click here to download my handout, then use it as a template to create your own.) Use this handout as a promotional tool at book signings, in your speaker’s packet, or training handouts.

Always dress well or in character, even for a radio interview. Dressing the part not only establishes your authority, it helps you mentally prepare for the event.

Following the interview, send a hand-written thank you to the host. I created note cards with the cover of my book and these seem to be well-accepted and sets you above the norm.

How to get noticed

• Promote yourself, not the book
• Offer value, become an expert
• Be relevant
• Become a good interviewee / speaker
• Make it easy for others to introduce you and your topic
• Dress for the part
• Promote the event, make it a success
• Write a personal thank you to the host or hosting organization

What do you do to get noticed? Do you have secrets you want to share? Please comment.

Simple steps for creating an author brand—Part 1

This is the first of a two-part series on creating your brand.  It is meant for those who are just starting to think about brand and what it means. The steps outlined are simple, but ones that can make a difference in how your readers see you and in the future development of your brand. In this post, I will speak about branding yourself, the author. In Part 2, I talk about branding your books and website.

Have you been thinking about building a brand for yourself, and wondering how to go about it? I have. Even though I have taken several steps towards that end, especially on this website,  I am just starting to figure it all out. As I research, I find that there are many little things that one can do to develop a brand that cost nearly nothing and yet can make a big difference.

A brand is a consistent presence or message that is uniquely yours. It is your look, your feel, your tone, your message that is uniform across your platform. (A platform is a tool comprising of various activities that you the author use to get readers to notice you and your work.) The more consistent you are in feel, tone, and message, the easier it is for your readers to identify you.

First, I realized, I started thinking about branding too late. I should have started before releasing the book, and before creating my blog and other parts of my platform. Since a brand is woven in all aspects of the author’s platform, changes that I make now will be harder than if I had implemented a well thought-out plan from the get go. Though it would have been simpler to start earlier, it is not too late to make the necessary changes now, just more difficult and time consuming. What is that adage about doing it right the first time?

Early on, I identified three aspects of my presence: author, public speaker, and blogger; and then I created webpages and social media accounts for each of those presences. I created this blog and the one for my book (without thinking through what I would do with future books). Each has a distinctive look and feel, each has a different avatar or profile picture. At the time, I thought I was creating a “brand” for my blog and one for the book. Now, I realize, I should have created a brand that crossed over all aspects of my presence (and perhaps designed one webpage to encompass everything). Back then, I thought I was simplifying things; what I actually did was the opposite.

I just recently combined my Twitter book and professional accounts. I was getting a lot of the same followers in each, and it was taking a lot of time. I still have two Facebook Fan pages and two blogs. I think I will keep them that way, at least until I get another book, and then I will have to decide how to proceed. If I combine or change the Facebook fan page I may lose the following on my current page. I wish I had thought all this out better before now; as a new writer, I had not seen the ramifications of having more than one book.

As I thought about how I would brand myself, I looked at many Twitter bios, Facebook “About” descriptions, and blurbs on various other social media. They are all over the place. Some people describe themselves as a parent, a hobbyist, a cat lover, or —whatever—before stating they are an author. Others state author of book name or book series name and nothing else. Many listed “author” first, and then added something personal that relates to the book or their field of expertise. It seems to me that if you are promoting yourself as a writer, that the word “writer” or “author” should come first. I don’t think it’s a matter of setting priorities, but of separating the professional from the personal. To keep the two distinguishable and to develop your brand, I recommend setting up separate accounts.

So, if I were to start all over what would I do differently? I would first identify what I want for my overall look, feel, tone, and message. Then, I would determine how can I differentiate myself from others and how can I get the reader to remember me. I was not ready to do this eight months ago. It has taken me all this time to find my voice and the courage to use it. As I work on this, I am discovering that my voice is starting to seep not only into this blog but also into other aspects of my writing; I am developing a consistent feel and tone.  At last, I am starting to develop my brand.

Five steps for creating an author brand

• You are an author. Claim it: separate your personal self from your author persona.
• Determine what you want to promote about you, the author, the professional. Do you want to be seen as friendly, mysterious, an expert, or a sci-fi buff? Once you determine this, pick two or three memorable words that describe you and use those words across all parts of your platform: blog, Amazon, Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, email—everywhere.
• Be consistent. Use the same author’s bio throughout your platform. Create a short and a long version. Create one in first person, for use where you want to create a rapport with the reader; create another in third person for sending to the press, interviewers, and people who will be introducing you.
• Put your best face forward. Use the same photo in all your profiles. Pick one that shows your face. Do you have an inviting smile? A thoughtful demeanor? A more comic appearance. Choose a photo consistent with the way you describe yourself and with your message.
• Make all social media links findable. Make it easy for a reader to connect with you on Twitter or other social media.

I am still working on developing my brand, perhaps because, as a new author, I am still feeling my way. But I believe the changes I have made or am in the process of making are the beginnings of my brand. I just have to flesh it out a little more.

Where you fortunate enough to start with a brand? If not, what mistakes did you make and how did you correct them? Please tell us about how you developed your brand.

References

• Author Branding: The You That Is Everywhere
• Creating an Author Brand to Boost Your Platform
• How To Discover and Build Your Author Brand
• Building an Author Brand by Ali Cross
• How to go from Best Kept Secret to #1 In Your Field