Judith Marshall » Book Promotion

The Power of Bookmarks

admin — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:26:12 +0000

While most in the publishing industry see these as passé, people still love them. I give a bookmark away with each book I sell. If you’re having a signing or guest appearance, you can do custom bookmarks with the date and time of your event. Nowadays it’s pretty easy to get these done cheaply. I use NextDayFlyers. Whether you’re having an event at a book store, mall or other type of shopping area, you might be able to drop off a supply of bookmarks in advance and ask if they’ll help promote the event.

Win a Copy of My Book

admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:13:25 +0000

Husbands May Come and Go but Friends are Forever is sponsoring this week’s Just Write Blog. See a summary and review of the book, and enter to win a copy here.

Another Resource for Book Promotion

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 17:41:41 +0000

If you’re into book promotion, I strongly suggest you sign up for HARO (“Help a Reporter Out”), especially if you write non-fiction. This is a free service that links journalists with sources, and a great way to uncover interview opportunities. But you must be very thoughtful in responding to queries and tailor your response so that your message stands out to increase your chances of being selected for an interview. For tips on the right way to respond, go to one of my favorite resources, Build Buzz.

How to Get Pre-Publication Quotes

admin — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 21:42:08 +0000

According to Roger C. Parker (a $32 million author) you should avoid information overload when soliciting quotes from published authors, readers, and experts. Instead of sending your entire manuscript, consider a brief statement of purpose and your table of contents for non-fiction, or a synopsis and your two best chapters for fiction. In your cover letter or email, however, offer to send the entire manuscript upon request. Some individuals will take you up on your offer, but many more will be happy with these pieces.

See more of Roger’s advice at www.publishedandprofitable.com

Have You Heard About Book Daily?

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:48:40 +0000

Book Daily is an email marketing company that sends free chapters of new books to readers. Every day, the company sends out 40,000 messages and the website gets 6,000 views. Those email messages contain the first chapter of a new book, a link to buy it on their site, and advertising. Do readers open the emails? Yes. Book Daily’s open rate is 20% which is above average.

This company offers authors lots of other free marketing tools as well.

I joined Book Daily, filled out my author profile, uploaded the first chapter of my novel, Husbands May Come and Go but Friends are Forever, and the YouTube video of my NBC interview, all in a matter of minutes. I’m anxious to see the results.

WNBA February Mixer

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:48:19 +0000

Linda Lee, owner of Askmepc-webdesign, Allegra Harris, Sales and Marketing Manager at North Atlantic Books, and Glenda Ewing, Poet and author of MIRROR OF MY SOUL, shared their knowledge of online marketing, book promotion, and computer skills at the East Bay Mixer. The next WNBA event will be “Speed-Dating” by the Bay, on March 27th, 9-12:30 p.m. at Sinbad’s Restaurant, Pier 2, San Francisco. If you live in the SF Bay Area, don’t miss this exciting event. I know I won’t.

The New Social Media Release

admin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:14:19 +0000

Ever since my new novel was released, I’ve been researching marketing/promotion ideas. One of the newest tools is the social media release (SMR) which has transformed the 100-year-old text-centric press release for the Web era. What I’m talking about is converting a press release into a blog post, with all of the relevant functionality: an ability to add multimedia, to aggregate external conversations, to host a dialogue with consumers in an appropriate forum (i.e., your own site vs. a newswire site), and to boost search engine visibility.

Done well, the SMR (in a social media newsroom) allows authors to significantly augment (or even bypass) the hidebound and limited promotional practices of their publishers. In addition to being the author of your book, you become the host of a conversation about your work. Quite an interesting concept. Take a look at this sample.

http://www.shiftcomm.com/Web20Releases/5232006.html.)

For authors with limited technology skills (like me), there are resources that can help create and distribute these media relations tools cost-effectively.

Check out Pitchengine.com or PRXBuilder.com

Use Twitter to Create Book Buzz

admin — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:55:43 +0000

Journalists use Twitter and other social networking sites and services to find resources for stories and segments. Once you’ve identified the media outlets that are important to your book publicity campaign’s success, look for journalists representing your target outlets on Twitter using these and other resources:

Read their tweets so that you not only learn more about them and their “beats,” but so that you uncover interview opportunities that will help you promote your book, too.