INDEX OF ALL BOOK MARKETING FLOOZY ARTICLES

I began researching book marketing almost from the time I wrote the first word of my first novel. I read about using bookmarks as business cards and giveaways, sending out press releases, setting up booksignings, but I learned very little about marketing books on the internet. Many of the sites I went to for information about promoting a book free on the internet were simply ads for books about promoting free on the internet. This blog is intended to be a notebook detailing what I discover as I research the topic, including lists of sites for promoting books, articles about blogging, and tips on how to use social networking sites to promote without getting branded as a marketing floozy. Feel free to offer advice. 

1. Being a Successful Author — Magic or Work? by Sia McKye
2. Blog Radio by Aaron Paul Lazar
3. Blogging — Creating a Community for Your Book by Dog Ear Publishing
4. Book Marketing 101 by Bobby Ozuna
5. Book Marketing: Branding Yourself as an Author by John Marion Francis
6. Book Marketing on the Internet: Sites for Writers by A.F. Stewart
7. Book Marketing Tips From A.F. Stewart by A.F. Stewart
8. Book Marketing: Writing Book Reviews by Pat Bertram
9. Book Promotion: Blogging by Pat Bertram
10. Book Promotion: Establishing an Online Persona by Pat Bertram
11. The Book Promotion Puzzle by Pat Bertram
12. Book Publicity for Authors — Getting the Most From Your Publicity Campaign by Dog Ear Publishing
13. A Bookseller’s Perspective on How to Promote Your Book by Michelle Maycock
14. Book Stores and Book Signings by Shirley Kennett
15. Book Stores Are the Worst Place to Sell Your Books by Dog Ear Publishing
16. Books Don’t Sell Themselves by Sia McKye
17. A Cheapskate Guide to Creating a Publishing Company by Ken Coffman
18. Contacting Famous People by D.B. Pacini
19. Creating a Book Marketing Plan by Dog Ear Publishing
20. Creating a Teaser Trailer for Your Book by Suzette Vaughn
21. Different Ways of Marketing Your Book Online by Peter N. Jones
22. The End of the Book Marketing Business as We Know It? by Claire Collins
23. Getting Published: No Magic Wands or Treasure Maps by Sia McKye
24. Guerilla Book Marketing  by Dog Ear Publishing
25. Help Other Writers be More Visible by Anne Lyken-Garner
26. How I Did My Book Signing by Christine Husom
27. How Much Time Should an Author Spend Tweeting, Facebook-ing and MySpace-ing? by Cheryl Kaye Tardif
28. How to Advertise Yourself as an Author by A.F. Stewart
29. How to Deal With Well-Meaning Friends and Readers by Laurie Foston
30. How to Do a Blog Tour by Marshall Karp
31. How to Set Up a Blog Tour and Why You Should by Alan Baxter 
32. Making the Most of MySpace by Jordan Dane
33. The Magic of Social Networking by Pat Bertram
34. Marketing the Old-Fashioned Way by Sherrie Hansen
35. More Sites for Marketing Your Books Online by Pat Bertram
36. The Most Important Word in Book Marketing by Pat Bertram
37. Negative Reviews: Are They Really Negative? by Marshall Karp
38. Never Be Afraid to Ask by Ian O’Neill
39. Notes on Book Promotion by Pat Bertram
40. One Introvert’s Guide to Reading at Book Signings by Mairead Walpole
41. Promote Your Work? Why? by Edward Talbot
42. Radio Interviews and How to Get Asked Back by Chuck Collins
43. Selling Your Book to Readers — Part I by Dr. Seymour Garte
44. Selling Your Book to Readers — Part II by Dr. Seymour Garte
45. Setting Up Author Events and Book Signings by Dog Ear Publishing
46. So You Want to Become a Published Author by Roger Dean Kiser
47. Starting an E-Publishing Company by Joan De La Haye
48. Submitting to Literary Magazines 101: Professionalism by Vince Gotera
49. Think Outside the Book by Cheryl Kaye Tardif
50. TK Kenyon Talks About Book Marketing for the Introvert by TK Kenyon
51. Twitter: How to Use It To Promote You and Your Books by John Marion Francis
52. What Blogging Platform Should You Use? by Pat Bertram
53. What are You Doing to Promote Yourself? How Are you Creating Name Recognition? by Sia McKye
54. When Is the Best Time to Start Promoting Your Book? by Pat Bertram
55. Writer Cliff Burns Talks About Book Promotion by Cliff Burns and Pat Bertram
56. Writing Columns and Branding — An Interview with Aaron Paul Lazar
57. Writing Cover Copy and Book Bios by Dog Ear Publishing

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The Book Promotion Puzzle

Writing means many things to many people. It is like a mythic journey into self, other lands, other minds. It is like archeology, like exorcising demons, like channeling, like performance, like a faucet. It is like having an adventure. It is uniquely human, and it brings out the divine in us. It is breathing, a compulsion, a necessity, a reason for living, an obsession, a fun pastime. It is exhilarating and frustrating. It is liberating. And it is like comfort food, chocolate, and cherries. It is like magic.

Because of this mystic connection to their words, other writers don’t seem to understand why I can stop writing to promote my newly published books. For me, writing is like the world’s longest crossword puzzle, one that takes a year to complete. I like playing with words, finding their rhythm, and getting them to behave the way I want. I like being able to take those words and create ideas, characters, and emotions. Amazing when you think about it, how we can juggle twenty-six symbols in different ways to create words, sentences, paragraphs, worlds. And what one person writes, another can read.

The puzzle of promotion is every bit as intriguing to me as the puzzle of putting a novel together. We are told that to promote ourselves we need to blog, to social network, to participate in discussion forums, to create a presence on the Internet. But these things don’t work. At least not by themselves. How do I know this? If they worked, most authors would be successful enough to quit their day jobs, yet very few writers ever reach that pinnacle. Sure, some authors don’t promote because they prefer to spend their time writing, some are satisfied with what they have achieved, a few are lazy, but most authors are out there promoting themselves every single day with varying results.

I am successful enough at creating my online persona that, moving from site to site, I meet people who recognize my name. I am not subtle about promoting myself, nor am I annoying (at least I hope not). I don’t force my books down people’s throats — I want readers to feel as if they discovered my books, because that will give them a stake in their success.

Despite all my efforts, I feel as if I am missing an important piece of the puzzle, the key piece that makes sense of the whole. What should I/could I be doing that will translate name familiarity (meager though it might be) into sales? How can I go from where I am to where I need to be?

All things take time to come to fruition, so perhaps time is the missing key to the puzzle. Unfortunately, time is one puzzle no one has ever figured out. Which brings me back to that missing piece.

I do know that promotion is as personal as writing. We need to write the book that only we can write. We need to promote in a way that only we can promote. So, how do we find that? I don’t know. Some people are lucky enough to find the key at the beginning. Others are smart enough or knowledgeable enough to figure it out. Me? I will have to find the missing piece the same way I fill holes in my stories: experimentation. Try everything I can and hope I can stumble upon the solution.

(This article was originally published on Vince Gotera’s blog, The Man With the Blue Guitar.

Book Promotion: Establishing an Online Persona

Your online persona is simply how the world perceives you. In real life, the first thing people see is your physical person. Online, the first thing people see is your writing — in comments, blogs, blurbs. Sometimes they see your icon first. Either way, that first impression is in your hands.

What image do you want to portray? Witty, wise, intelligent, forward thinking, funny? Down-to-earth, optimistic, casual, youthful, enthusiastic? Helpful, creative, disciplined, worldly, romantic?

This is one time and place where you can be the person you always wanted to be. Even better, in acting as if you are that person, you become it. This online persona is not a fabrication, it is the better part of you. Do you want your readers to know how much you whine and complain? Do you want them to know you’re a lazy slob? Do you want them to know you tend to be narrow-minded? Only if it will help you sell more books. And you do want to sell books, don’t you?

In the online world, the moving finger does not always move on after having writ. You can change what you have written to reflect the person you want to be. Before you post a comment, make sure it fits with your online persona and that it says what you want to say. Check for grammar and spelling. Some toolbars, like Google, have a spell check that works great for comments. Some sites let you delete comments. Other sites let you edit your comments, so you can rework those already submitted. And you can rewrite your blog posts.

Did you publish an article whining about how much your mother-in-law drives you nuts? Rewrite it. Turn it into a humorous piece, one that reflects your online persona. Do publish political rants? It’s better to take a milder stance, unless you don’t mind alienating half of your potential readers. You do want readers, don’t you?

Do you regularly use IM-speak in your comments or blogs? i m sr u only want readers to see such abbreviations if you are appealing to a young audience. Otherwise, it’s best to write clearly. You are planning on making a career of writing, aren’t you? Think of the future. There is no past on the Internet. The words you say in the real world dissipate into outer space; the words you write online remain in cyberspace forever.

Make sure your icon reflects your persona. Using a sexy avatar such as one showing naked buttocks might work if you write soft porn, but if you wish to establish yourself as a serious writer, use something else. Your book cover is often a good choice.

Always remember, you are an author, both of your book and of yourself.