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BookPromo Guerrilla Style Archives Index
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BookPromo Guerrilla Style Ezine "The Ezine for Do-It-Yourself Successful Book Promotions" Past Issues Archives: http://archives.zinester.com/11698 Issue 20 Year 1 January 18, 2007 http://guerrilla.clarylopez.com *************************************************** On this issue: *************************************************** 1- From My Desk 2- Marketing Your Book With A Blog: 10 Tips To Attract More Buyers (You Do Have A Blog, Right?!) 3- Useful Resources 4- Tips For A Successful Email Blast About Your Book 5- Comments From A Book Reviewer 6- How to Make a Collective Blog Work 7- Letter to the Editor 8- Articles Submission *************************************************** From My Desk *************************************************** Blogs and e-mails, two of the most versatile and useful tools available to everyone who has an internet connection. Using these mediums that people are familiar with is the key to reach a big number of them in a short period of time. On this issue of BookPromo you’ll learn 10 tips to attract more buyers to you’re your blog. Then you’ll learn what an e-mail blast is all about and how to build one in your promotions. On How to make a Collective Blog Work you’ll learn how to team up with a small group of authors with a common goal to reach their readers and make it work. and finally, we hear from a book reviewer and what to expect from a professional in the field. Feel free to forward this ezine to your friends and associates. We are looking forward to serve the growing community of writers around the world. Looking forward to help, inform and empower authors. Clary Lopez Editor-in-Chief BookPromo Guerrilla Style Ezine Guerrilla Marketers’ Caf? http://guerrilla.clarylopez.com Blog http://guerrilla.clarylopez.com/blog/ You can contact us at: editor@clarylopez.com Subject: eZine *************************************************** Marketing Your Book With A Blog: 10 Tips To Attract More Buyers (You Do Have A Blog, Right?!) *************************************************** By Denise Wakeman Books and blogs seem to go together like butter and toast. It doesn’t matter whether you use your blog to develop content for your book, or you create the blog for marketing the already finished book. Some people have started calling this powerful combination “blooks,” books that are derived from blogs. But they only work well together when you implement these important tactics. 1. Use a domain name for your blog that relates to your book title so becomes known and “findable.” If your ideal domain is already taken, use a version of it such as “YourBookBlog.com,” or “YourBookOnline.com.” Forward that domain name to your blog so when people type in “YourBook.com” it goes to your blog site. 2. Continue the branding process for your book by creating a customized logo for the book and putting it in the header of your blog. The use of your customized branded header will mean your book gets instant recognition, and your blog will stand out from all the cookie-cutter look-alike blogs. 3. Participate in the blogosphere: Read and comment on other blogs in your field. This is a prime way to build readership of your blog. It is also a way of getting fresh content for both your blog and for your book Check out other blogs in your niche: use www.blogsearch.google.com, www.technorati.com, or www.google.com. 4. Submit your blog to the 170+ blog directories. You can do this manually (10-12 hours of time), or there is a service that will do it for you for $125: http://snipurl.com/Blog_Directory 5. Use your blog to collect names and email addresses of potential customers and clients. Make sure you have a subscription form on the upper corner of your blog, from a service like www.FeedBlitz.com . This service sends automatic email updates of your new blog posts to interested potential readers/customers. 6. Podcasting – create audio files easily by scheduling teleclasses and recording them. Some people like to get their information auditorily and at their convenience by downloading mp3 files to their iPods. Use a free teleconferencing bridge line like http://www.freeconference.com to host a call. Record your call, upload the audio file and then post to your blog or podcast using a service like www.audioblog.com. (As an added benefit, you can get these calls transcribed; then convert the word doc to a PDF file which you can either give away, or sell, in exchange for people’s email address.) www.CastingWords.com is a fast, affordable transcription service. 7. Use a newsletter to email to your list, and give readers regular updates about your book, your teleclasses, and your blog posts. You have to encourage them to visit your blog or they will forget you. You also have to educate them about your blog, and teach them to comment on it. A newsletter is an additional way to do this and complements your blog. 8. Sponsor a virtual blook tour, and participate in your own, by getting into a network of bloggers who will support you and your book. Bloggers are known for their link love, and their propensity for sharing other people’s information. When you do this for others, they reciprocate. 9. Run a contest from your blog, giving away something fun and coveted, like an iPod. While this may seem expensive, it is actually low-cost marketing, considering the number of new email addresses you will collect into your database. 10. This 10th tip isn’t about blogs, it’s about the best automated way to manage your database, your digital downloads, your newsletter broadcasting, your affiliate program, and your ad tracking, as well as sales. Get a Kick Start Cart system, which will manage all this for you. There is a learning curve involved in setting it up, but worth it as you will be able to control your marketing efforts with one system. http://snipurl.com/KickStartCart About the Author: Blogging experts Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman are The Blog Squad. They help professionals harness the power of blogs, newsletters, and ecommerce systems to make marketing tasks easier and more effective. They have 16 years of Internet know-how and write on 10 blogs. Get their free weekly ezine Savvy eBiz Tips at http://www.SavvyeBizTips.com Source: http://www.isnare.com *************************************************** Uselful Resources *************************************************** Build Free E-mail Forms http://www.mycontactform.com/index.php Online Media Relations – Useful resource site For when you are planning your book marketing plan. http://online-pr.com/ Contest Listings: Self-Published Book Awards – 15th Annual Writer’s Digest Competition, now with more than $15,000 in Prizes! Deadline May 1, 2007 Visit http://www.writersdigest.com/contests/ for details 2007 PNWA Literary Contest • $12,000 in prize money • Every entry receives two critiques • First-place winner invited to attend the Agents and Editors Reception Deadline for entry: February 20, 2007 Visit http://www.pnwa.org for details ************************************************** Tips For A Succesful Email Blast About Your Book ************************************************** By Michelle Dunn When I was coming out with the Second Edition of my first book I wrote a marketing plan and then had a breakdown of tasks to do for an email blast that would announce my new book. When I was writing this plan, I had to ask myself, who are my customers? I then made lists of who they were and came up with the people who had purchased the first edition, the members of my Credit & Collections Association, people who wanted to start a business, credit managers and collectors. I signed up with Constant Contact after using Word for years to manage my email lists. I made sure all the email addresses and names I had were valid and working, I then counted the number of press and media contacts that I wanted to notify so I would know how many press kits to create. I then wrote my press release announcing my new book. I sent the release to the contacts that I had decided would be interested and added my book to Amazon.com. When I sent out the press release by email to my media list I included the direct link to the page of my website that had my press kit available. This way they don’t have to request one, or wait for one in the mail, they can visit your website and look through your press kit immediately. Tips for a successful email blast: 1. Introduce your book a. Promote your website b. Make Sales c. Inform & educate 2. Who is your audience (example: book buyers, past customers, networking partners) 3. How will my audience benefit from my book? a. What information does my audience value? 4. Schedule your email blast. 5. Double check your campaign, spelling etc. 6. Look at other campaigns for ideas. 7. Remember when writing your text that less is more. 8. Include an image of your book. 9. Preview your campaign in “text only” and HTML format. 10. What is my call to action? 11. What are the benefits of buying my book? 12. Make sure the most important information is above the fold or in the top half of your campaign. 13. Use spell check! 14. Send yourself a sample of the campaign to check spelling, how it looks, if your images are distorted etc. Michelle Dunn, author of an award winning book is a writer, teacher, and consultant that has a contagious passion for her work. Michelle started, ran and successfully marketed M.A.D. Collection Agency for 8 years. Michelle has recently been named one of the Top 5 Women in Collections. This article is an excerpt from my book Mosquito Marketing for Authors. Please visit http://www.michelledunn.com for more information on my Mosquito Marketing Series and look for my Special Reports “How to make $10,000.00 Marketing & Selling your Books” and “How to make your Book Virtually Immune to Competition” that will help you be more successful! Together we can all be successful! Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michelle_Dunn http://EzineArticles.com/?Tips-For-A-Succesful-Email-Blast-About-Your-Book&id=413979 ************************************************** Visit our Blogs: Guerrilla Insight for Authors http://guerrilla.clarylopez.com/blog The Book’s Den http://booksden.wordpress.com ************************************************** Comments From A Book Reviewer *************************************************** By Norm Goldman For the past several years I have been reviewing books for my own site, Bookpleasures.com, as well as many other sites. I am also a regular contributor to the Canadian Book Review Annual. As editor of Bookpleasures.com, I would like to make a few comments about book reviewing and what to expect, particularly from Bookpleasures.com. Today, with the advent of the Internet, there has been a proliferation of book reviewers, whom I shall classify as the good, the bad and the ugly. Those falling within the last category are ones that you have to be particularly on the look out for, as their only interest is to receive complimentary books without bothering to review them, or if they do review them, their reviews are very short and without substance. On the other hand, there are many serious and excellent reviewers, who devote a great deal of their time and energy in reading and writing a review. Unfortunately for the authors, sometimes reviews are not exactly very complimentary. However, it is to be noted that it is not the objective of a reviewer to be a salesperson or a public relations representative for the author. If the criticism is constructive, a great deal can be learned from the review, particularly if the reviewer is also an author. From the point of view of a reviewer, what I find most annoying is receiving a book without first asking me if I would accept to review it. Bookpleasures receives on average about 20-30 email requests per week. These requests are forwarded to our reviewers, who communicate directly with the sender of the email. In all probability, there is a 20%-30% chance that a request to review will be accepted by a reviewer. The reason why a book is not accepted is wide and varied. Many of our reviewers have a backlog that they would like to clear before accepting new assignments, or the subject matter is not one that interests any of them. What I like to see in a request is not “hype” but rather a brief resum? of the contents of the book, who the author is, if the book is published by a main stream publisher or is it self-published, and if the book is available on Amazon. Bookpleasures also conducts e-interviews with some authors, and if the author is open to have himself or herself interviewed,please indicate. If you are a publicist or publisher, don’t be afraid to put Bookpleasures as well as other book reviewing sites on your emailing list. You never know when something catches our eyes. Sometimes you may be publicizing a particular book, and our reviewers will look to your site and see something else that interests them. As for the time frame, this all depends on the reviewer. Anywhere from one week to three months is the norm. You can ask the reviewer to give you some idea as to his or her time frame. You can also inquire as to his or her credentials. Bookpleasures does provide links to the reviewers’ site that should give you some idea as to their experience. I do hope this is of help to some of you. About the Author: Norm Goldman is a free lance book reviewer and travel writer. He is editor of Bookpleasures.com, a book reviewing site, and sketchandtravel.com, a travel site that melds words with art. Source: http://www.isnare.com *************************************************** How to Make a Collective Blog Work *************************************************** By Clary Lopez A collective blog is a great tool to expose our work and ideas to a specific group of people. The advantage of having a collective blog is that the postings don’t depend on one individual and provides variety. Once the theme of the blog is established and the contributors are in place, it is just a matter of organizing the posting schedule. As an administrator of the collective blog you are in charge of developing categories in which you think the blog entries will refer to regularly. By having categories the blog readers will find easily what they are looking for in your blog. You are also in charge of inviting authors dedicated to promote their books and willing to make a commitment to contribute on the blog regularly. You need to be a creative individual willing to inspire and motive others to succeed. In addition your job will be to promote the collective blog to reach its audience. As a contributor you are responsible to post entries related to the categories established on the blog. If you think there is another good category that needs to be implemented you should contact the administrator with your suggestion. Write your post in a casual conversational manner to attract your audience. Blog readers are people who like to get the information they are interested in but in a personal way. If you manage to have the reader identified with your writing topic and style, it will make a big difference on your self- promotion efforts. If you have information that you think your readers would be interested in reading more about, link keywords in your post that will direct them to other sites. Don’t be afraid that your reader will go somewhere else, if they like what you write about and you know the latest sources for your expertise they will come back for more. You want to establish yourself as an expert. And don’t forget to always include your full name and a link to your author’s site or blog at the end of each blog entry, if the reader wants to find you they should know where to go. Readers don’t like shameless self-promotion pieces in which they get nothing out of, instead try to expand on a topic your book covers and at the end of the post make a note to that effect. By getting an idea of what your book is about and by reading your writing they might be interested enough to check your book. Always provide at the end of your posting your name, website or book URL. e.g. John Doe, Author http://johndoe.com When you have book signings, workshops and presentations tell your readers about it. Offer them something special if they show up and mention that they are readers of the collective blog. You might want to post a secret code on the blog before your event so only real readers will ask for the gift. You can have custom made shirts, calendars, pencils, or something related to your book and give to them in a small pretty bag. If you have a big fan base you might want to limit the gift offer to the first 5 or 10 readers who show up at the event. I remember reading about an author who wrote a novel on a beach setting that offered their readers a small bag with sample sunscreen, sunglasses, a bookmark and a gift certificate from a local beachwear merchant. The best way to go about a gift giving idea is by finding merchants that relate to your book, and then invite them to sponsor your event with some special gift for your readers. Any merchant would love to have new clients at their store even if they have to offer them a small discount on their products or services. The sky is the limit with these kinds of gift giveaways. You can also offer freebies to those who sign up on your mailing list. Have a sheet made up with your mailing list information and a place for them to include their name and e- mail address. If you write an ezine or newsletter have one print out for them to see, you can place it in a clear picture frame and display it next to the sign up sheet. Make sure you have an extra package for a special drawing before the end of the event. Remember to have someone taking pictures as you do the giveaway, sign books or have your readers holding your book to be signed to post on your blog. If your readers want they can submit their names and blogs addresses to be included on your entry that will trigger links back to your blog. By participating on a collective blog you not only get to meet other authors in the same or different genres, but you can also partake of the traffic other authors bring to the blog. It is a win-win situation to all those involved and a great networking tool. If at least 30 authors participate you will have to do only one entry a month plus any other special entries you might want to do in order to let your readers know about new book releases, tours, presentations or contests. ## Clary Lopez is the CEO/Founder of Guerrilla Marketers’ Caf?, free book promotion site. She is the editor of BookPromo Guerrilla Style, an ezine for the Do-It-Yourself Successful Book Promotions. She is also an author and the moderator of various authors and readers forums. To find out more about collective blogs visit her author’s collective blog at http://booksden.wordpress.com or her websites at http://guerrilla.clarylopez.com and http://clarylopez.com e-mail prdept@clarylopez.com *************************************************** Letter to the Editor *************************************************** Let us know how we are doing and what you would like to read about, so send us your comments and suggestions to be included on this section. editor@clarylopez.com Subject: Letter to the Editor Do you have an idea for a topic on this eZine? Send it to editor@clarylopez.com Subject: Ezine idea *************************************************** Articles Submission *************************************************** If you would like to write an article for this Ezine please send your request to: editor@clarylopez.com Subject: Article Submission *************************************************** BookPromo Guerrilla Style Ezine Copyright 2006, Clary Lopez All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Clary Lopez will not be held liable for any direct or indirect losses or damages originating from the use of any information listed on our website, newsletters or eZine. By using this site and ezine you agree to indemnify and hold all owners and representatives parties of Clary Lopez/Guerrilla Marketers' Cafe harmless from any claim or demand originating out of your use of Clary Lopez/Guerrilla Marketers' Cafe website and/ newsletters or eZine. Use of our website, Newsletter and eZine is and indication of your complete understanding and acceptance of these Terms of Service. Articles can be reproduced on websites or ezines as long as the article and bylines are included without any alterations. No part of the website can't be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means including information storage or retrieval systems without the written permission from the publisher/owner. -------------------------------------------------------------- |
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