Tips for Self Promotion, Sales, and Advertising discussion
Self Promotion Tips
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I'm seeking a professional resource for this
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Michael
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Feb 27, 2010 09:21AM
In addition to my own promotion (blog, networking etc.), I am looking to hire a person for a marketing/promo blitz in advance of May/June graduations. Has anyone used a professional resource and would you recommend them?
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I haven't used a personal PR-person but I'd be very careful. After self-publishing and "literary agents", PR-promotion is the greatest ripoff area for authors.With a little help from my publisher's publicist (and I do mean a little) I did my own 3 month 14 state book tour.
I coordinated print and broadcast media in every major population area I visited. It was a lot of fun, more work and a learning experience.
For a few years I gave workshops at writing conferences on book promotion based on my experiences and wrote "The Author's Self-Promotion Manual: How TO Get "Your Book Into Bookstores And Off The Shelves."
I'm using the same system to promote my book coming out in the Fall 2010.
I sell them for $15 but and am now posting it (little by little) on a blog
http://authorself-promotion.blogspot.com
Good luck.
Robert Mykle
http://www.RobertMykle.com
Thanks. I am actually in the PR business, but don't do books. I have other things that keep me too busy to do this on my own, so I need qualified help. The challenge is finding the right person who knows what i know but also has the contacts I don't have.Robert wrote: "I haven't used a personal PR-person but I'd be very careful. After self-publishing and "literary agents", PR-promotion is the greatest ripoff area for authors.
With a little help from my publishe..."
Robert wrote: "I haven't used a personal PR-person but I'd be very careful. After self-publishing and "literary agents", PR-promotion is the greatest ripoff area for authors.
With a little help from my publishe..."
Hi, Thanks, this is good info. I will follow your blog Robert. I have invested over 3,000 into my book so far with a self publisher. I have been doing social networking on several different sites and have succeeded in making people angry. I haven't sold any books. It is obviously NOT working. I am very interested in what you have to teach me about promoting my book. My only consolation is this...bad publicity is after all...publicity! Marilyn
Marilyn,I appreciate the vote of confidence. The Florida Writers Association (FWA) was founded by 4 women who were ripped off by self-publishers and did not want anyone else to have the same experience.
Many POD and Self-pubs claim they will promote your book, few do unless you pay. An example, Authorhouse, a respected and much used Self-pub offered "their" authors a signing opportunity at the Miami Book Fair International for a fee of thousands. The FWA offers three full days at their booth for $75.
Go figure.
I published through Xlibris. I was so inexperienced. I paid for a social media campaign that I now know, I could have done myself for free! It includes accounts with Facebook, Twitter,MySpace etc. Posting on these sights is angering people who want to socialize and talk about daycare without being sold something! I found a group of uppity daycare providers who were offended by my self promotion. I have always been a down to earth realist and these providers were "stuffy" to say the least. Hey, that's life! Also Xlibris wanted to show my book at the London Book Fair for hundreds of dollars. I chose the social media marketing campaign instead!! Live and learn!
Hi Marilyn, I believe Xlibris is owned by Author Solutions who also owns AuthorHouse and iUniverse. Anyway, I published with Authorhouse 2006, and paid too much for advertising through them. Anyway, the funny part was, my promotional person told me about the Miami Book Fair for thousands of dollars that Robert mentioned above, I told her I could fly to Cali from Orlando, be at the LA Times book fair at UCLA for cheaper! (I did the research) She was livid and told me she found it hard to believe... oh well. Smiles.p.s. Robert's book on self promotion is great. I got a lot of truly useful information from it.
Marilyn, Guido, et.al.,I was not surprised to read about your catch 22 in regard to social networking on various sites. Here we are told to get our books out there in front of the public on the internet ... I think it is called "exposure" ... and after we do so, we get called for "marketing" and get kicked off sites because it is "spamming." Give me a break!
So we are very careful to "market" but not look like we're "marketing." If we're lucky and get a lot of fans and/or followers, we think we are successful after spending hours and hours doing social networking. Then we get our sales reports and find out that only a trickle of fans/followers may have bought a book or two.
I am only happy that I didn't get sucked in by the POD's sales pitches. I didn't spend zillions of dollars to show my book at festivals and fairs.
My most successful marketing has been at face-to-face appearances at book clubs, book stores, social groups, local fairs, etc. Meeting the author in person may not sell hundreds or thousands of books, but it sells many more than the internet does.
I think, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that we are warned about going anywhere near xLibris, iUniverse and Authorhouse by the site Preditors and Editors. There are lots of other publishers who operate similar scams.
I am such a novice! I just spent 2,400 dollars on a social media marketing campaign. Are my losses tax deductable?
I don't have a problem with the quality of my novels that I've published with AuthorHouse. I truly believe they are only in it for themselves when it comes to their publicity packages. They "offered" to do a book trailor for their authors for thousands of dollars... I've seen some wonderful trailors created for hundreds. Fortunately, the POD publicity packages are optional, and I learned after only investing $450. that I would opt out! But, like I said, I'm satisfied with the quality of the product. I wanted to self publish from the beginning, and still feel that is the best way for me. I don't know about the Tax question Marilyn.
Kathy
http://www.kgcummings.com/Home_Page.html
Thank! I am awaiting my trailer LOL! Then I am not investing another penny into this.
Alice wrote: "Marilyn, Guido, et.al.,I was not surprised to read about your catch 22 in regard to social networking on various sites. Here we are told to get our books out there in front of the public on the..."
Alice there are two terms that come to mind about all these costly businesses that want your business and they are "Hyena' and "Camp followers". That is not to say that some are not worthy, it is just hard to separate the wheat from the chaff.
There are many worthy places to post your book for free and some of these are the same places you can pay to have someone do it for you. One of the best places, and it takes time, are the web pages of other authors who don't mind and are working hard to get people to look at their own advertising page. That is called networking, good luck. Dr M
I welcome authors to network all of my pages, it goes both ways.
Don't get involved with AuthorHouse. They used to be known as 1stBooks Library, and have supposedly "cleaned" up their act; yet they continue to screw the writers, and are now facing legal problems. To get the lowdown on this and other companies like it, check out "The Fine Print of Self-Publishing," by Mark Levine.
Better still, look up a site on the web known as "Preditors and Editors," which will let you know which sites to stay away from.
Vicki, that is a most beautiful trailer! I don't pass out compliments like that loosely. I've given a lot of thought to creating my own, but haven't had the time to devote to what it would take to create something that I'd be proud to place on youtube. $450 seemed like a small price to pay after what AuthorHouse wanted!!!Getting back to yours, kudos my friend, it is outstanding.
I have a friend who loves doing videos, and I'm very grateful to have the use of her talents. We use windows moviemaker. Between photos, video, stockart & stock music & some stock footage, I've gotten a better product than I would have gotten for hundreds of dollars. I've done a few myself, but she's better than I am. They're up at: http://www.youtube.com/user/Mpaxautho...She did the story trailers. I did the commercial & video poem.
If you want her help, she's listed in the credits. TrueRaven@lycos.com.
I have a new service through Premium Promotional - Services where *You Write - We Promote* called VIRTUAL BOOK BLAST. Similar to BOOK TOURS except BETTER...:).YOU will be featured on the highest traffic MEDIA SOCIAL MEDIA SITES plus a blog tour...and a heck of a lot cheaper for you.
Check it out and pass this around. The main link is: http://virtualbookblast.blogspot.com/
I am learning so much from this thread. I am so glad that I chose to promote my book. Now on to making trailers...I did not consider that strategy, but I shall do so.
Marilyn wrote: "I am such a novice! I just spent 2,400 dollars on a social media marketing campaign. Are my losses tax deductable?"Sorry, I saw that only now. Yes, you can write off your media campaign as advertising costs.
Although we've completely gone off-topic by now, let me ask you this...I have a video trailer, which can be found here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrj7H7...
I also have it as part of my official website, but my question is. How can I effectively use my trailer to promote my titles? Has anyone had any great successes by posting their trailer in certain places?
Thank you!Alice wrote: "Marilyn, Guido, et.al.,
I was not surprised to read about your catch 22 in regard to social networking on various sites. Here we are told to get our books out there in front of the public on the i..."
