Nancy I. Sanders's Blog, page 89

Publicists: Author’s Questionnaire

The next section on my Author’s questionnaire that I was filling out for my publicist was a space to list my books published. There were 4 spaces.

Now, I know some of you who read my blog have published lots of books. So have I.

So in a spot like this, I picked the top 4 titles that I wanted my publicist to see that might help him during the launch of my new book, Frederick Douglass for Kids that will be released in June. (I had already attached my resume to the questionnaire which listed most of my other books.)

I wanted my publicist to know about these 4 key books for a variety of reasons:

#1 My book, 25 Read and Write Mini-Books that Teach Word Families is a bestselling book with Scholastic and many teachers are familiar with it. (See the picture above.) Since we want teachers to learn about Frederick Douglass for Kids and use it in their classroom, this was an important connection.

#2 My three other books on African American History already have a following, so the connection to these is also important any time my publicist might mention them to the contacts he is making. These titles included:

D is for Drinking Gourd: An African American Alphabet

A Kid’s Guide to African American History

America’s Black Founders

As you’re trying to create a buzz for your newest book with your publicist, it’s important to include the following you already have with your books that are already published that target a similar audience. So choose the top books to tell your publicist about that will help publicize your newest book the best.

Publicists: Author's Questionnaire

The next section on my Author's questionnaire that I was filling out for my publicist was a space to list my books published. There were 4 spaces.

Now, I know some of you who read my blog have published lots of books. So have I.

So in a spot like this, I picked the top 4 titles that I wanted my publicist to see that might help him during the launch of my new book, Frederick Douglass for Kids that will be released in June. (I had already attached my resume to the questionnaire which listed most of my other books.)

I wanted my publicist to know about these 4 key books for a variety of reasons:

#1 My book, 25 Read and Write Mini-Books that Teach Word Families is a bestselling book with Scholastic and many teachers are familiar with it. (See the picture above.) Since we want teachers to learn about Frederick Douglass for Kids and use it in their classroom, this was an important connection.

#2 My three other books on African American History already have a following, so the connection to these is also important any time my publicist might mention them to the contacts he is making. These titles included:

D is for Drinking Gourd: An African American Alphabet

A Kid's Guide to African American History

America's Black Founders

As you're trying to create a buzz for your newest book with your publicist, it's important to include the following you already have with your books that are already published that target a similar audience. So choose the top books to tell your publicist about that will help publicize your newest book the best.

Publicists: Author Questionnaire

As I mentioned in a previous post, my publisher asked me to fill out an Author Questionnaire to send to my publicist who would be working with me to help launch the release of my new book, Frederick Douglass for Kids.

First thing I needed to fill out on the form was my contact information.

The second thing the form requested was a resume or vitae.

If you don't have a resume or vitae prepared that reflects who you are as an author, it's important to prepare one and update it from time to time as you get new publishing credits. It's essential for using at times like this when a publisher asks you to fill out an Author's Questionnaire. I keep a resume in my files that I update from time to time. So with a click of a button, I was able to attach my resume to this form.

To create a resume or vitae, include information about any writing societies you are a member of such as SCBWI or the Working Writers Club. Also include information about any writing conferences you might teach at. Include your website and main blog site. If you have numerous sites in cyberspace, just pick one or two main ones to list and then on your actual site include all the links to these other sites.

If you have educational credits or a writing-related expertise (such as a scuba diving license if you wrote an underwater book) include a section for this, too.

Also be sure to include your published credits. This part can change as your writing career develops. At first, I listed the names of various magazines I was published in. Then as I began to get books published, I listed the names of these books along with the names of the publishers.

Your resume can be as short as a paragraph of information. That's okay! Publishers know we have to start somewhere. Just arrange it in a nice visual presentation with your contact info and website/blog URL and you're set to go.

If you don't have one already, I encourage you to make it your goal this week to prepare a resume. Then it's in your files and you can be updating it as you achieve your writing goals.

Publicists: Good Reads

Okay, just one more thing I've got to share with you before I get back to talking about filling in the Author's Questionairre…

)

My marketing manager, Mary, also asked me to sign up for GoodReads.

So of course, I did! (And if you sign up or are already a member there, friend me! I have to figure out how to do that, too, and I'll friend you back.)

And even more exciting for us as authors is that GoodReads has a special Author's Program. Check it out!!!

And when I mentioned GoodReads to the marketing google group I belong to that my agent has organized, other authors in our group highly recommended it as a place to network with READERS and get the word out about your book.

Now, I've had connections with other writers (like all you great writer friends here!) but I have been lacking connections with people who aren't writers but who love to read. So I am jazzed now to be part of the GoodReads community and plan on spending some time there each week as we're preparing to launch my book in order to get some great connections with readers and hopefully generate some interest in my new book, Frederick Douglass for Kids, that will be available in June.

One word of caution from my agent's marketing group, though…be a GOOD member of GoodReads and only post good comments about good books you love. Negative feedback or response tends to snowball and not in a nice way.

This is a good point to remember for every writer. Writing is our job and we want to be professional in everything we do and in every group we join.

Now…next post (I promise!) I'll get back to what my publicist needs to see in the author's questionairre I filled out…so you can know what to expect when your new book launches!

Publicists: Signature

My marketing manager, Mary, asked me to help get the word out to media professionals who might want to review my forthcoming book, Frederick Douglass for Kids. (See previous post.)

One of the suggestions she made was for me to include a signature with my e-mails that had a link embedded within it so that with every e-mail I send out, people can click on the link and see NetGalley's link to request a digital copy of my book.

Just one problemo!

I know how to put a signature in my e-mails.

But I didn't know how to embed a link within it.

Yikes!

But then suddenly, I had an idea…maybe…just maybe it might work. So I tried it…and it did!

So of course I have to share this with you so you can learn how to embed a link in your signature, too (or other text in an e-mail).

Here's what to do:

(I did this on my WordPress blog, but hopefully you can do this in blogger or other platform as well.)

1. I created a new page on my blog. (Go to Dashboard, Pages, Add New).

2. On the right for VISIBILITY, make sure you click "Edit" and choose "Private."

3. Now, you can use this page to create links to use in your e-mail signatures, etc. and nobody else can see it.

4. Type in the message you want to use in your signature. Here's what I wanted to use:

Booksellers, librarians, reviewers, and media professionals can now request a digital galley of Frederick Douglass for Kids from NetGalley.

5. Now go to the site and copy the URL that you want people to link to.

6. Come back to your new page. Paste this URL into the link feature it has.

7. When done, be sure you're working now in this step in "Visual" tab. (Before it didn't matter if you were in "Visual" or "HTML.")

8. Copy and paste this new text with its embedded link and put it in your signature or other e-mail or anywhere else you want to use it. Here's what it should look like:

Booksellers, librarians, reviewers, and media professionals can now request a digital galley of Frederick Douglass for Kids from NetGalley.

There! Now be sure to "Publish" your page (remember, it will stay hidden.)

And if you ever need that text/link again, just come back to your dashboard, click on Pages, then "All pages" and you'll see it sitting there.

Have fun!

Publicists: Review Copies

I'm interrupting my posts about filling in the Author Questionairre because I got interrupted…and I want to be giving you an inside peek at what's going on behind the scenes right now as my publisher is getting ready to launch my new book…so I wanted to share about this instead today.

While my publicist has been busy sending out actual galleys of the book (paper copies of the book but not in final book form because it's still at the printer) I just heard from my marketing manager, Mary, who is also working hard to create a buzz for my book.

She sent me an e-mail on Friday saying that they are using a service called NetGalley to give digital copies of the book to book reviewers and other similar venues. Here's the scoop on what she sent to me:

From NetGalley's website:

"NetGalley delivers secure, digital galleys to professional readers. If you are a reviewer, blogger, journalist, librarian, bookseller, educator, or in the media, you can use NetGalley for FREE to read and request titles before they are published."

Each request is sent to CRP and those who are requesting the titles are required to provide more information about themselves–if they're a reviewer, where they review; the library or bookstore they work for; or their connection to the media. We have the ability to approve or deny any request, or to request more information. The electronic file that is downloaded expires after a certain amount of time and is is protected so the files can't end up on torrent sites or printed out and shared.

So, if you're a bookseller, librarian, reviewer, or media professional, from now through April you can request a digital galley of Frederick Douglass for Kids at NetGalley.

I'd love to have you review my book! So if you qualify, check it out.

Publicists: An Author Questionnaire

The first thing the publisher asked me to do to connect with my new publicist was to fill out an Author Questionnaire.

First and foremost, the questionnaire wanted basic information about me such as:

Contact info

My preferences in the order I wished to be contacted (e-mail, cell phone, etc.)

The best times of day to be contacted for media interviews

And the form also asked me to provide a current photograph of myself.

I filled out the info and got out my digital camera.

And while I was at it, I am trying to take lots of photos of myself that include:

headshots

candid photos of me writing

photos of me with interesting backgrounds

When you're getting ready to release a new book, the more photos you can have on hand the better. I'm creating a folder of my favorite photos and am labeling them "Promotional Photos."

These are the ones I can have handy to send to different blogs or media interviews so that not everyone has the same one. Especially during a Virtual Book Tour, people don't want to see the same picture over and over again.

And when I get my new book in the mail (oh happy day!) I'm planning on taking lots of pictures of it with different props and in different backgrounds and with me holding it in different poses as well.

That's it for the basics…in my next post I'll list more info that was needed on my Author Questionnaire.

Working With a Publicist

Ever wonder how you as an author can help promote your book and get it out there?

Have you ever thought about working with a publicist?

Well, I've had the luxury of working with various publicists over my career.

And the even more amazing thing is that these publicists have all been provided for free to me by various of my publishers. I have been doubly blessed!

Right now I'm working with a brand new publicist who has been assigned to me for the launch of my brand new book that will be released in June, Frederick Douglass for Kids. Josh is doing a great job helping make connections and create a buzz for the launch of my book.

In looking back, I realize that when I first worked with a publicist, I just sat back and waited for her to do all the work. Little did I realize that the publicist was working on a tight timeframe and that as soon as she helped launch my book, she'd be off working for a different author instead.

Now I know that there is a specific amount of time I have to tap into the great energy, expertise, and resources that a publicist offers. For example, my timeframe to work with my current publicist is from now through the summer.

So I'm going to really focus on doing things I can do to help maximize our time working together and benefit sales of my book for quite awhile.

I thought you'd like to come along with me in the days and weeks ahead and learn practical tips on what you can do as an author when you're working with a publicist. Plus, I thought you'd like to see exactly what kinds of things a publicist does to help promote a book.

So come on and join our new adventure!!! Hopefully you'll learn tips on how to help promote your own book, too.

Virtual Book Tour: Thanks for Joining Me!

Thanks, everyone, for joining me on my Virtual Book Tour!

And to listen to an interview about my book and my life as an author, listen to the recorded audio from last week's interview on Blog Talk Radio with Book Bites for Kids. Click on the link below:

Virtual Book Tour: And the Winner Is…!

Thank you so much for joining in on my Virtual Book Tour last week where we celebrated my book, D is for Drinking Gourd: An African American Alphabet. It was great to have you help spread the word about this book to your friends and online connections. Great big thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

And as you know, we held a contest last week. Each time you followed the steps and posted or e-mailed me your comment, I put your name in a hat. Then on Saturday, I picked a name out of the hat.

And the winner of the $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble is:

Drumroll, please…

Annalisa!!!!

Congratulations!!!!! Let's do a happy dance together!

So, Annalisa, just send me your street address at jeffandnancys@gmail.com and I'll pop that baby in the mail and send it your way. Hip hip hooray!