For Make Believers – Book Tour in a Box: The Three B's
Happy New Year, Fam!
Two days into 2011 and I pray that your new year is going well. What am I saying — I pray that your new year is off to a fabulous start!
Well, as we begin a new decade, let me complete the task I began last November. If you have been following my blog — and I hope that you have 
— then you know I've been writing a series on the steps I personally took (am taking) to
build an author's brand from the ground up and how that made it possible for me to produce a successful book tour for my debut novel, Address: House of Corrections, on a shoestring (no string) budget.
Thus far, I've posted three blogs – Book Tour in a Box: Phase I, Book Tour in Box: Phase II and Book Tour in a Box: P.P.A. In them, I shared these seven tips:
1. Take your time to write, edit and publish the best book you possibly can. First.
2. Create and publish a blog.
3. Dive headfirst into social media.
4. Build a website.
5. Draft a press Release(s).
6. Don't sleep on traditional media.
7. Publicize. Promote. Advertise.
Whew! Even in bite size portions, that's a lot of information…O.K., you ready? Let's hit it!
THE THREE B'S
BOOK TOUR IN A BOX STEP EIGHT:
Submit your book to be reviewed. Notice I said "submit" and not "pay for."
There are two trains of thought on this. Many authors, unsure of how their books will be received, opt to pay a someone or a service to favorably review their books. The good news? You're sure to get a good review. The bad news? The world of publishing, especially self-publishing, is massive but small, and everyone will know that you paid for your phenomenal review.
So, in the end, I feel that it's best that you bite the bullet and submit your book to a person or organization/service that will give you a fair and honest review versus paying someone to say your book is the best thing since Gone with the Wind.
And thanks to the Internet, you have many choices to get your book reviewed. For me, The New York Times, Oprah Book Club and Essence Magazine are at the top of my review list. But while I was (am still) waiting for them to dig my book out from the bottom of the gargantuan submission pile, I fired up the engine of my most valuable tool – My Social Network.
My first stop – Bloggers. There are hundreds upon hundreds of blog book reviewers. Here are just a few….
101 Book Blogs You Need To Read
Most require that you mail a hard copy of your book to them with the caveat that you're willing to wait for a month or so turn around and they will post to a number of book sites, including Goodreads.com and LibraryThing.com. The bloggers I connected with tended to fall into two categories — They wouldn't review my book if they didn't like it or they would post an honest review or my book whether they liked it or not.
I'm not going to lie to you. Reputable or not, you're taking a chance when you mail your book out to a stranger. I didn't have much money, so I only mailed out two books to reviewers. My results were 50-50. One reviewer loved my book. The other? I haven't heard from. Maybe she still hasn't read it or hated it? I don't know….
A little gun-shy to mail out books I didn't have, I took the advice of ?, and reached out to folks (mostly friends, at first,) who had read the book, and asked them to post their thoughts on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com. The more customer reviews you receive on Amazon, the higher your rank rises. Also, I've found that folks sometimes respond even better to customer reviews – especially when posted on Facebook or Twitter – because it comes from someone just like them. It's a thumbs up from someone they identify with and can be more valuable than an "official" review.
Pursue Official Book Blurbs.
Alright. I realize I just said that "official" reviews can be trumped by reviews from the people. But I gotta back track. A book blurb from an "official" can work wonders in the validation department. I know what you're thinking – Isn't a book blurb something that you pursue to grace your front or back book cover before it's published? Yes, it is. I, in fact, was blessed to receive glowing book blurbs from New York Time Bestsellers, Tavis Smiley, Dr. Cornel West and Lyah Beth LeFlore.
But who's to say that once you've published your book, you can't still get an "official" person to give you a glowing book blurb review? In fact, it might even be easier to receive, once you're published. Send him/her your book with a nice,concise letter, and resist the urge to become a nuisance. What do you have to lose?
Introduce Yourself to Book Clubs
Become a book club favorite, my friends, and you've struck gold! Now, it's easier said than done. When I first published my novel, last year, I was honored to be chosen by Diva Dialogue in my hometown, Detroit, as one of their book club choices. We had a ball discussing the book over the phone and they also took a photo with my novel. Here's a link — photos – Ain't it cool?
I enjoyed the experience so much, I wanted to repeat it across the world and beyond! So I got a hold of a list of book clubs, which included their location and/or e-mails and phone numbers. I reached out to the entire list and unfortunately, many of the e-mails were old and bounced back. And the others – excluding three or so — didn't bother to respond. Why? Because it's a crap shoot.
As a new author, the main thing pushing against me was my unknownness. I guarantee next time around, that won't be the case.
Despite my less than stellar results the first time around, I suggest that you hit up as many book clubs as you can. It's only an e-mail. A free e-mail. Carve out a little time and get to it! Here's a list to get you started. (Note: Some of the e-mail addresses may be outdated, but at least, you're not wasting postage, right?;)
Good info, huh? Not a waste of time or space? I'm glad.
Now. speaking of wasting, I'm about to waste away if I don't get some food in me soon. Happy New Year, Fam, and talk with you again soon. Hmmmm….Why have I ended my last three blogs with food references? LOL!
Hope this helps.
living by my pen,
monice
* For individual coaching, click below – http://addresshouseofcorrections.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/living_by_my_pen_ad.jpg
