Tom Blubaugh's Blog, page 7

Building Your Own Website Is Probably A Mistake!

Building and managing a website is a huge process. It is much more than building beautiful  pages. In fact beautiful pages, in and of themselves, do not necessarily attract viewers.  Beautiful pages don’t cause a viewer to take action–­­calls to action do. Here is a little test–­­what do you know about these topics? Average load ...

What Fuels Your Fire?

By Whitney McKendree Moore –Guest author. ONE ANSWER: GOODREADS! When literary strategist, Tom Blubaugh, suggested joining Goodreads Dot Com, I was reluctant. The last thing I felt I needed was yet another learning curve on yet another website. I was already feeling somewhat overwhelmed by all the social networks in which I was participating. Today, I ...

Are Book Signings Passé?

The answer to this million dollar question has often been shadowed by e-book sales that, until recently, were the preferred method of reading a book. As long as we have libraries, coffee shops, and bookstores, there will always be book signings. Authors, just have to change their marketing strategy to be competitive in the current marketplace. Here are ...

Using Video to Establish Your Author’s Platform

  Approximately 30 years ago, most people would never consider using video to communicate with potential clients or customers. It was too expensive and print media was the only way to go. In the 21st Century that is no longer the case. With the introduction of the Smart Phone and the revolutionary evolution of the video camera, anyone ...

Guest Blogging as a Marketing Tool

  Blogging can be a valuable marketing tool for up and coming authors. Perhaps you may have a book idea that you would like to test in the literary marketplace. Or you may want to build a readership for your next best-selling novel, then blogging is an excellent place to get started. Shop around in cyberspace for ...

What Does Crowdfunding Have to Do With Marketing My Book?

“Crowdfunding is the new black.” ― Rowena Wiseman Imagine having a great idea and wanting to share it with the world. Once that idea peeks into your consciousness, you wake up every morning with it percolating in your head. It starts there and then it travels to your heart, slowly consuming you until it has every fiber ...

Positioning Yourself as an Expert

Are you a firmly established brand in your industry? I added the word “firmly” because the life of an author is full of ups and downs. Sometimes you’ll be required to hold on tight to your manuscript while you’re in the process of positioning yourself for expert status. It is your mission as an author to become as ...

Book Marketing Versus Book Promotion, Is There a Difference?

Imagine a first-time author desiring to market a book, seeking online assistance. On an initial search on Google, they pull up over 5 million answers to a very simple question, “How do I market my book?” To complicate things further, there are a lot of entries that talk about book promoting. The million dollar question is: ...

How To Develop A Marketing Strategy Part V

The Internet is a huge virtual mall with thousands of doors. Inside are millions of stores. A visitor comes in looking for a book. She doesn’t know what book she is looking for—just a book—she is browsing. If she were looking for a fiction book then she would be looking for an author she recognizes. ...

How To Develop A Book Marketing Strategy Part IV

How important is your website? It’s your cyberspace brick and mortar store. It’s the hub of your business. It’s the place where you want to drive your traffic. On the Internet—you rarely get a second chance to make a good first impression. • There are nearly 1 billion websites. • You have only 7 seconds to ...