Shelli R. Johannes's Blog, page 17

The interest of Pinterest in Marketing

Ah my new love!




I love Pinterest ! If you are on, come connect with me! I love learning about people from their boards! 




It's so fun, I'm also doing a pinning contest for those pinners who pin both Untraceable and Uncontrollable covers on their boards. :)




I also just created a Nature of Grace board with all my images of Mo and Wyn and things in the book. You can follow that board individually. Let me know what you think or send me some images you think should be there!




Pinterest is fun (wait did I say that already?) It's a huge bulletin board and gets rid of those pesky bookmarks on my browser that I hated so much.




Pinterest - what is it?




Pinterest
is the newest social networking site. It is more visual and image based that
Twitter or Facebook used by primarily women at this point. 




It encourages you to find and pin
everything dang cute things to your boards. It is kind of a modern way to bookmark stuff
you love or find interesting. On Pinterest I am the best dresser, the best cook, and the wisest person! 




Repinning, following, and organizing is fun and
easy. There's that word fun again. 




Besides being....fun...you can use it to build a platform.





Benefits of using Pinterest




·     
Find people
who like the same things as you.

·     
Gives
insights into people’s personal likes and dislikes.

·     
Creates easy
bookmarks to things you love.

·     
Helps you find
out what is trending and what is popular.

·     
It’s fun.




Tips for using Pinterest




·     
Always embed
links so people can go  to whatever you
are pinning.

·     
Be sure to
pin your own original stuff as well as repin others.

·     
Download the
pin icon to make it easy to pin wherever you are.

·     
Create boards
and use interesting titles to attract attention.

·     
Create a book
board for yourself.

·     
Tag friends
in posts to create community.

·     
Use keywords
in descriptions and hashtags.

·     
Make sure you
know what you are repinning.

·     
Make sure you
have descriptions.

·     
Try to space
out pins so you don’t bombard the boards with one topic.

·     
Use likes as
placeholders so you can find something again.

·    You can
follow people or individual boards. This helps you target  who and what you want to watch.

·     
Don’t forget
to categorize your boards.

·     
You have 500
characters in each description box. Use them.

·     
Highlight
text before pinning to add to description box.

·     
Link
Pinterest to other accounts.

·     
Pin coupons
for your book.

·     
Create group
boards with multiple contributors.

·     
Watch for
copyright issues.




Pinterest
pet peeves




·     
Populating
description with the actual post. Create summaries.

·     
Forget to
include links or descriptions.

·     
Not grouping
into boards.

·     
Pinning
everything.




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OTBS PW Review! (And The Marketing Benefits of Reviews)

This was a pleasant surprise this morning from Publisher's Weekly :)




"Johannes kicks off the Starling series with this fresh novel about an angel’s peripatetic path to earning her wings...A humorous addition to the angel story genre. "



=====================



On the Bright Side

S.R. Johannes



Coleman & Stott (www.colemanandstott.com), $8.99 trade paper (256p) ISBN 978-0-9847991-3-8

Johannes (Untraceable) kicks off the Starlings series with this fresh novel about an angel’s peripatetic path to earning her wings. Though the backstory is sad—14-year-old Gabby is killed by a drunk driver—humor prevails as Gabby grapples with the task assigned her in heaven: acting as guardian angel to Angela, who is dating Gabby’s former best friend and secret crush, Michael. Several chapters are named for the rules that Gabby, as a “Bright in Training,” breaks repeatedly and comically as she humiliates Angela in hopes of sabotaging her relationship with Michael. Along the way, Gabby risks banishment from heaven to return to Earth and set things right with Michael and Angela, and has a charged encounter with the devil and his henchmen. Gabby’s repartee with her celestial best friend and fellow BIT, Jessica, as well as with her cranky mentor, is studded with puns: at the angel induction ceremony, Gabby tells a “paparazzi dude” that she’s wearing Dolce & Nirvana, while her friend brags about her Vera Wing dress. A humorous addition to the angel story genre. Ages 12–up.




In PW's Select program, you can purchase a spot to be listed in the PW catalog. It is a supplement bound into the issue that is distributed to many publishing and book industry professionals. PW selects a few of the books (about 20%) from each issue to actually review and OTBS got chosen!




Some may ask why these reviews are important. From a marketing standpoint - they can be critical.




In addition to rewarding and validating, reviews can help any author - especially if you are indie. It adds credibility in the hopes of helping to overcome the stigma of indie pubbing.




Some benefits:




Adds credibility

They can entice readers

Highlights a book that normally might go unseen

Boosts author's confidence (which we all need :)





Submitting for book reviews:




Hone in on the right ones for you

Make sure you read guidelines

Be professional in your submission

Do it in advance

Many small sites offer review. Don't be a reviewer snob.




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Cover Contest Time!

Summer is just heating up and before you know it Uncontrollable will be out to the hands of readers everywhere!



In anticipation for the release of Uncontrollable on Sept 24th , I am throwing a contest!



There are 2 ways to enter AND you can enter both contests!




1) Cover Love




a) Tweet, Blog or FB




You can post the cover on your blog, FB, or tweet it. 
When you do - fill out the rafflecopter below. 
You get one point per channel above (total of 3 points here)






b) Pinning on Pinterest (extra 2 points)


Sign up for Pinterest if you are not on it.
Create a “Nature of Grace” board
Pin BOTH Nature of Grace covers- Untraceable and Uncontrollable - on it
Pins must include a link to this contest (so the post you are reading right now) within the description 
You must fill out the rafflecopter below
If users have trouble entering by rafflecopter email kate@srjohannes.com with the appropriate links
Contest ends July 27th, 2012
Winners will be announced on the July 31st, 2012




Note: for every point - you get one entry!





COVER LOVE Prize: Contestants can win a signed paperback copy of Untraceable AND Uncontrollable 








a Rafflecopter giveaway










2) "Make your own Cover" Contest





Rules:


Join Pinterest (if you haven't already
Create a Nature of Grace board
Pin both covers
Create your own cover for either book
You must fill out the rafflecopter below
If users have trouble entering by rafflecopter email kate@srjohannes.com with the appropriate  links
Contest ends July 27th, 2012
Winners will be announced on the July 31st, 2012

"Make your own cover" Contest Prize: Contestants win a Nature of Grace prize pack! Untraceable, Unspeakable, Uncontrollable, a Moon pie t-shirt, box of Grace's favorite Moon pies, book swag, and a special survival kit. Winner will be interviewed on my blog and their cover will be promoted on all my social media outlets.






a Rafflecopter giveaway





What are you waiting for? Start pinning!






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Uncontrollable Cover Reveal!

Uncontrollable (Book 2 in The Nature of Grace series) is set for release on Sept 24th. 




To be honest, I wish it could have been sooner but I really can't seem to get books out as fast as others. I guess I personally need to take more time and sit with my stuff before feeling comfortable in releasing it. :)







Here is a teaser of the first chapter if you missed it.
Here is where you can add Uncontrollable to your Goodreads. (so you don't forget me)
Here is where you can sign up for blog tour or interview if you havent already.

Be sure to come back Monday for a Cover Contest that runs through July with tons of prizes! :)




Now for the summary for Uncontrollable:




As Grace recovers from tragedy, her science class is chosen by Agent Sweeney at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to help with research on the new "Red Wolf Reintroduction Program". 




While she’s excited about helping with the conservation of the endangered wolves, Grace knows this means being outdoors in the worst winter recorded, in a place she no longer feels comfortable. It also means working closely with Wyn (her ex) and his annoying girlfriend (Skyler), a girl whose idea of getting close to nature is picking silk plants and growing fake plants. 




After a couple of wolves show up dead, Grace almost quits. However, when a fellow project team member goes missing, Grace continues the assignment under a renewed suspicion that someone might be sabotaging the conservation program. She quietly begins to hunt for clues. 




Little does she know, she is being hunted too. 




And possibly, by more than one person.




===================




PRAISES FOR UNTRACEABLE




"Grace is a spunky, independent, nature girl who doesn't need a boy to save her. With wilderness survival, a juicy love triangle, and more twists and turns than a roller coaster, this fast-paced novel had me holding my breath until the very last page—and still begging for more!" -Kimberly Derting, author of the The Body Finder series (Harper Teen) and The Pledge series (S&S)




"This thrilling story is a dramatic entanglement of mystery, deception and teen romance. The action flows like a brisk mountain stream interspersed with rapids, holding suspense to last page." - Kirkus Reviews




"Johannes has done a marvelous job of creating a suspense-filled mystery with surprises that keep you guessing all the way to the end. Untraceable is a thoroughly engrossing and riveting page-turner." - IndieReader




2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Quarterfinalist (under the original title of Grace Under Fire) - Judges Reviews:




"This story starts out with a bang...it reads like the young woman were narrating it to a friend, and had the ring of a young person's style and intensity. Grace sees authority people, or at least those she knows, as a bit bumbling, which is true to age. Authentic representation of youth in action also. Original in premise and style, and good use of background...Good story!" - Sue Grafton, author of bestselling Kinsey Milhone series




"This murder mystery features a teenaged heroine, but she has the self assurance of a woman twice her age. The prose is very descriptive...and the dialogue is genuine. The setting of small town North Carolina and the surrounding woods is appealing. The story moves along at a brisk clip, and it feels as if we already have some important clues. We look forward to seeing what's in the case file and what Grace and her motorbike, Luci, will be up to next." - Sue Monk Kidd, author of Secret Life of Bees




==============




Now for the cover :) ....







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Marketing ebook

First off, here is an interesting article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution about the success of ebooking (psst I might be quoted in it :)



Secondly, I wanted to talk about marketing.



Since I started this marketing blog, readers have been asking me/suggesting I do a marketing ebook for some time.



Well, now is the time.



In a few weeks - I will be publishing a marketing ebook. The book will encompasses ALL of the marketing articles I have written on my blog over the past 6 years, It will also include some exclusive ones (that will not be on the web site) on new topics such as self pubbing and pinterest to name a few.



In addition to the blog articles, the ebook will also encompass about 20-25 of the marvelous marketing interviews from top editors, outstanding agents, and bestselling authors who have all provided permission for me to use them. It will also include a section on resources with additional marketing resources including blogs, web sites, books, and more!



Now, just to be upfront and honest so you don't feel bamboozled (love that word) - you can find 75% of the ebook information on my blog for free! You just have to search for it.



I am pulling together this ebook mainly for my readers - to provide an easy reference guide that is convenient, organized by topic, and put together - so you don't have to search over 6 years in my blog to find anything on marketing plans or book trailers.



The ebook will be about 100 pages and sell for under 5$. However, it will be on sale for less the first week it is out which is planned for early August. It will be available in all formats so if you don't have an ereader - you will be able to get a pdf/doc so you can keep it on your computer for future reference. 



If you have any suggestions of additional articles you would like to see - feel free to leave them in the comments section and I will consider the topics as I finish my original articles.



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Ode to Graeme

Today my heart is heavy as I say goodbye to someone special.



My dear friend is moving to Eqypt and it suddenly feels like a million miles away. he might as well be moving to the sun (well except then he would burn from the intolerable heat).



Sometimes, someone very very special comes into your life when you least expect it. And somehow they touch you in a short amount of time, in a small way, that you can't really express or explain to anyone else.



It doesn't make any sense why I'm as upset as I am - because I have only known him a short time. And even Graeme was slightly surprised at my reaction when I hugged him for the last time (for at least 2 years.)



3 years ago, I met Graeme Stone in LA at SCBWI. We hit it off immediately and hung out the whole time we were there. There was a spiritual connection and we just clicked on many levels - we laugh at the same things, we observe the world in a similar (strange) way, and he is a wonderful thriller writer. I don't meet many true thriller writers so that was a total bonus for me. Especially someone who knows more movie, TV, and mystery book references than I do. (I met my match)



A year later, I looked forward to seeing Graeme again. Once again we clicked, laughed, and talked thrillers and mysteries and disasters even more.



Even though we had fun, it really wasn't until Graeme moved to Atlanta last fall that we grew close. It wasn't until then, that I began to recognize how special he really is.



As I was crying on hubby's shoulder today, Hubby asked a simple question: "Why is Graeme so special to you?"



I could not answer him.



 You see, I can't really put into words or express why Graeme is so special to me.






But somehow in just a year, I've grown attached to him. Since he came here, we've met up several times a month for coffee, talks, lunch, dinner -  and had deep talks about self pubbing, writing, thrillers, movies, successes, failures. But more importantly - life in general. We recently spent a week together writing in the mountains. 24 hours, 7 days of laughing, writing, and plotting. When we weren't writing or hanging out with Kristin Tubb and Jennifer Jabaley - we talked about writing and thrillers and our past. Our dreams, our future, our regrets. We cooked dinners together and laughed.



That's one awesome thing about having a gay male friend - is hanging out with a man without the weird undertones. Just a male friend. A male perspective. It's refreshing.



I don't connect with people easily. I'm socially awkward, kinda shy, slightly weird, an over-achiever, snarky, and very few people get my strange sense of humor. Graeme gets me in a way no one else does. Yes, he gets my writing, he gets my jokes, he gets my movie  references, he gets my snark. I could look at something and by the time I look over at Graeme - we say the same thing about the same observation. We see things the same. We find the humor in the same things. Sometimes we discuss how that could play into a book but sometimes we just laugh without saying anything.






Now don't get me wrong, a lot of my special friends "get me" and of course my hubby "gets me" the most. But Graeme gets that tiny special place inside me - the small strange place where my writing comes from. I can't explain it but maybe you understand. It's a place that may not seem important to most people and i don't need to show it to many - but it's the .001% that most people don't even though is there or ever get to see. 





In addition to that, there is something very special about Graeme. He just that one of a kind person. Irreplaceable. Unduplicatable.






On the surface, Graeme is silly, dorky, gay, sarcastic, and wonky with a touch of insanity. But underneath his crazy sayings, his silly faces, and his slightly sick sense of humor - Graeme has one of the most beautiful souls I've ever met. The way he sees the world is eye-opening. The way he REALLY listens is unique. The way he cares about others so deeply and isn't afraid to show it is refreshing. 




Underneath the cool, funny, quirky guy - is someone so smart and conscious in life - you just want to be around him. He is one of the smartest people I have ever met. Knows something about everything. I bet he has remembered everything he has ever learned - like a big walking spongy encyclopedia of weird and strange facts.



Anyway, enough about Graeme (he is probably loving this right now since he's all me me me ;)



Today, I was left saying goodbye to someone I know I can never replace.



I am so happy for my dear friend as he embarks on an amazing life-altering journey to Egypt. He's had many tough years and has struggled - now he gets to take a fresh step on his path to discovering his true purpose. He's brave and fearless and I admire him deeply. There are not many people who would move to Egypt for 2 years - away from everything they know. Family, friends, and the total comforts of home - with just 2 bags and a smile.



But I am also very sad today. For me and what I am losing.



Sure Graeme and I will always be friends. And we will Skype and we will email and we will still laugh and plot together.



But it won't be the same.



And since Graeme is irreplaceable - that means there is now a tiny space in my heart will always be empty.



If you want to follow Graeme's insightful and hilarious blog as he travels to Eqypt, gets a master in linguistics, and learns to live in a society so different from ours, go follow his blog where he will be keeping a journal.



Trust me, you won't regret it!



And you'll get to see a small slice of what I adore about Graeme. ;0)
















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Bookanistas: Cover contest for THE 13TH SIGN

Below is the hot-off-the-presses cover for THE 13TH
SIGN by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb (January 8, 2013 from Feiwel & Friends):









And the jacket copy:




What if there was a 13th
zodiac sign? 



You’re no longer Sagittarius, but Ophiuchus, the
healer, the 13th sign. 



Your personality has changed.

So has your mom’s and your
best friend’s. 



What about the rest of the world? 



What if you were the one who accidentally
unlocked the 13th sign, causing this world-altering change—and infuriating the
other 12 signs?  



Jalen did it, and now she must use every ounce of
her strength and cunning to send the signs back where they belong.

Lives, including her own, depend on it.




To celebrate, Kristin is hosting a COVER REVEAL CONTEST!
Here’s how it works:




1.    
Search the cover above for THREE zodiac symbols.
Got them? Good! Then…
2.    
Email your answers directly to Kristin at ktubb@comcast.net by June 30 to…
3.    
Be entered into a drawing! The following will be
doled out randomly to three folks who send in correct answers:
-a $50 IndieBound gift card!
-a signed hardcover of SELLING HOPE
plus a signed paperback of AUTUMN WINIFRED OLIVER DOES THINGS DIFFERENT!
-a book “basket” including three middle
grade books: BRIDGE TO TIME by Lewis Buzbee, THE STRANGE CASE OF ORIGAMI YODA by
Tom Angleberger, and THE GIRL WHO CIRCUMNAVIGATED FAIRYLAND IN A SHIP OF HER
OWN MAKING by Catherynne M. Valente



4.   BONUS! Anyone who includes a FOUTH zodiac
symbol in their answers will    get
double entries for the above drawing!




And that’s it!  Start
searching and emailing! (Please remember to email answers rather than post them
in the comments! Thanks!)




P.S. If you’d like to preorder THE 13TH SIGN, you
can do so here  (Amazon) or here (Indiebound)!
You’ll be automatically be eligible for the upcoming THE 13TH SIGN
Preorder Contest!






For more Bookanista recommendations, visit







Elana Johnson can't get enough of See You At Harry's

Shannon Messenger shares some YA cover lust 

Shelli Johannes-Wells talks about the cover for The 13th Sign--with a contest!

Stasia Ward Kehoe and Nikki Katz gush about Surrender

Jessica Love has feelings for The List

Katy Upperman lays it on the line for The Book Thief









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Winners

Hey guys just a quick post to announce the winners from the last two giveaways :)

the ebook of The Forever Girl goes to...
C.M. Brown
a copy of both Elana's books, Possession and Surrender goes to...
Jolene and Family
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Cutting Through the Mist-ery of Cover Design (Alicia Kat Dillman, author of Daemons in the Mist)

Author and illustrator Alicia Kat Dillman as part of her blog tour for Daemons in the Mist is here today to talk about cover designs, yay! Here is a little bit about the indie author and her first book!




About Alicia Kat Dillman

Indie
author & illustrator Alicia Kat Dillman is a lifelong resident of the San
Francisco Bay Area. Kat illustrates and designs book covers & computer game
art by day and writes teen fiction by night. The owner of two very crazy studio
cats and nine overfull bookcases, Kat can usually be found performing, watching
anime or hanging out in twitter chats when not playing in the imaginary worlds
within her head. 




Daemons in the Mist

Seventeen
year old Patrick Connolly has been hopelessly infatuated with Nualla for years
but he is all but invisible to her. Until, that is, he rescues her from a
confrontation with her ex. Little does Patrick know he’s just set off a
dangerous chain reaction that will thrust him into a world of life altering
secrets and things that shouldn’t exist, because the fog and mist of San
Francisco is concealing more than just buildings.







Here she is...




============================================




There are
bad covers out there; we have all seen them. The ones with the glaring,
eye-searing colors, painful design, and horrid photoshopping that should be a crime
against humanity. I could go on for days about the horrors I have seen lurking
in the dark corners of bookshops, but I’m sure you’d all rather I talk about
what makes a good cover.




I’m going
to use the cover I designed for my debut novel Daemons in the Mist as
an example.




Daemons
in the Mist is
very atmospheric, almost like the environment is a real breathing creature
itself, and my characters embody their environments. I wanted to convey this on
the cover so I chose one main character and one location in the city that
reflected a part of the city and the character at the same time.




I wanted
Nualla, one of Daemons in the Mist’s main characters, to look
like she was standing across the street from you, her hair caught up in the
gust of wind from a passing car. Placing her firmly in our world but at the
same time pulling you into something hidden; something extraordinary. She is as
much inviting you, the reader, into her world as she invites Patrick into her
life in the story. And I wanted a bridge, in this case the Bay Bridge. Why did
I chose the Bay Bridge instead of the Golden Gate Bridge for the cover of Daemons
in the Mist? Because really the Golden Gate Bridge is for tourists, most of
the locals, the commuters and students, use the Bay Bridge to come into the
city. The story is about people who live in the city each day and most of the
books are set there so I wanted the readers to get a taste of the city the way
I see it. But why a bridge in the first place? In the story Patrick makes a
journey from the human world into the world of daemons, much like a bridge
carries us into a new place. Parts of the bridge are obscured by fog conveying
to the viewer that not everything is what it seems.




With
these illustrative elements in place, it’s time to take a look at the text. I
read somewhere that a book cover should never have more than three fonts or
font colors. Publisher logos and fonts are, of course, excluded from this.
Think of your fonts as a kind of branding for your book. You want them to stand
out and mesh well together. For Daemons in the Mist I chose
hard sharp-edged fonts to contrast with the curving and soft edges of Nualla
and the bridge lights.




But book
cover design isn’t simply stacking the right elements on a page, it goes deeper
than that. It’s not simply pretty on accident, it’sdesigned to be
pleasing and striking. Nualla’s face was placed on the upper third/third
square, an artistic design element employed to make the image instantly more
dynamic. The deep rich black of her hair contrasts dramatically with the pale
soft completion of her face, and is left simple and detail free to make her
eyes stand out. Nualla’s hair sweeps the eye downward leading us right into the
title. The visual elements of the cover are right-heavy so the title was place
over to the left to balance out the design. The text has a slight glow to it to
appear as if it is being viewed through a foggy night. It is all these elements
working together that create good design.




Look at
some of your favorite covers and analyze why you like them, why they caught
your eye. Why they said, “buy me, I’m awesome!”




Okay, so
now you know what to do and you have a fab cover design ready, but how does it
look shrunk down to under two inches? Though we would love everyone to bask in
the glory that is our high resolution cover the first time they see it, the
truth is they will most likely see it as an inch tall, slightly blurry graphic
in a sea of other potential reads. So how do you design for this? Make sure you
have large eye-catching elements mixed in with your small secondary reads and
fonts that are clear and easy to read even at a small size.  If you look
at the Daemons in the Mistcover right now on a search of Amazon,
Nualla is striking even at such a small size and you can even read the title
and author name; well, you can on my screen anyways. As you design your cover,
keep checking a small, on-screen version of it. There are a variety of ways to
do this depending on your program and system of choice.




If all
the analysis that goes into one of my covers makes your head hurt, don’t worry.
I’m a trained professional, it’s my job to do this. As a writer, you don’t have
to be able to pull off a stellar cover design, you just need to know enough to
know who to hire to create one for you.




======================




Thank you for stopping by Alicia!







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Marketing on a Budget (Elana Johnson, author of Possession and Surrender)

Elana Johnson's Surrender released last week and let me tell you - it is as good - if not better - than Possession.




Since I have a special place in my heart for Elana, comment on today's post and I enter you in a drawing for a copy of both Elana's books, Possession and Surrender. I know awesome right? :) I will buy them and ship them straight to your front door.




Forbidden love, intoxicating power, and the terror of control…

Raine has always been a good girl. She lives by the rules in Freedom. After all, they are her father’s rules: He’s the Director. It’s because of him that Raine is willing to use her talent—a power so dangerous, no one else is allowed to know about it. Not even her roommate, Vi.

All of that changes when Raine falls for Gunner. Raine’s got every reason in the world to stay away from Gunn, but she just can’t. Especially when she discovers his connection to Vi’s boyfriend, Zenn. Raine has never known anyone as heavily brainwashed as Vi. Raine’s father expects her to spy on Vi and report back to him. But Raine is beginning to wonder what Vi knows that her father is so anxious to keep hidden, and what might happen if she helps Vi remember it. She’s even starting to suspect Vi’s secrets might involve Freedom’s newest prisoner, the rebel Jag Barque




As part of her Surrender blog tour, she stopped by to talk to us about her marketing tips.




Here she is....




===========================





Okay, so I
have two books out now! Woot. POSSESSION came out last year, and SURRENDER came
out last week.




Marketing a
book is something akin to building an ark before a flood. Okay, I haven’t
actually done that, but I have planned some marketing strategies for my books.
On top of that, I’m a schoolteacher, so I don’t have money coming out my ears,
and today I’m here to tell you that you can market your book to the best of
your ability with very little money. Okay, no money.




I believe
that a large part of why people buy books is because of the author—especially
in the online community, which is where a lot of our marketing efforts are
focused. As a midlist author with a medium-tier marketing plan, most of what I
can do personally has to happen online.




I imagine
that most of you reading this today are in the same situation, asking
yourselves “How can I market my books better online?”




I believe the
answer is this: You don’t market your books, you market yourself.




1.    
Be
you. Just you. Don’t try to be someone else, with their sense of humor or their
tics. People want to get a feel for the real you, and you can do it without
naming your children and putting up pictures. It’s all about selecting
information you don’t mind if everyone knows about you (like how many of you
know what my favorite breakfast food is? Whose picture did I take to my stylist
and say, “Cut my hair like this.”?) and play to those things.



When people feel like they know you, and they like you, they’ll buy your book.





2.    
Be
available. If people tweet you or email you, tweet and email back. Sure, it can
take you a couple of days, but act grateful that they contacted you and be
positive in your response.



As someone who gets hate mail about my books, I know it can be easy to either
not respond or to respond negatively. Don’t let yourself fall into that trap.
Remember that people will remember you the next time you have a book coming
out.





3.    
Be
kind. This sort of goes with how you respond. But be kind. Be promotional of
others and their work. Put on your happy pants before you get online.





4.    
Be
helpful. A lot of my fans are fellow authors, either published or aspiring.
I’ve been a participant in online forums and blogs for over four years. Every
time you help someone, that’s another contact. They’ll remember your kindness
and helpfulness when it comes time for your book to be released.



For me, I get a lot of email and fandom from those who’ve downloaded and read
my query e-book. I’ve read and critiqued hundreds of queries. I can’t guarantee
that all of those people will buy my books—or that they liked my critique!—but
I can say with certainty that because I’ve been helpful for years, more people
buy my book.





5.   Be
a participant. A large part of the online community is the participation of
those in it. It’s so easy to let this slide, especially when deadlines come due
and you have forty thousand things to do on your plate. The blogging community
is very forgiving, but they’re also very forgetful. One of the best things you
can do for your marketing plan is participate in the online community.




And that’s
it! Everyone can market their books simply by taking a few more minutes each
day to tweet and email those that tweet and email them. Be happy and be
authentic. Remember that before anyone sees or hears about your book, they see
and hear YOU.




Any other tips to market yourself/your
books online? Lay ‘em on me!




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This week, as part of the SURRENDER blog tour, you can win
one of three $15 Barnes & Noble gift cards and become a winner winner,
chicken dinner! All you have to do is fill out this a Rafflecopter giveaway widget with
what you’ve done. NOTE: One of the options is to blog about a time you didn’t
surrender. Go here
for full details on this, including how to sign up for your free swag package!



You can find Elana hanging out online at twitter and her awesome blog of 411.http://feeds.feedburner.com/Faerialit...