How do you like the look? How do you expect to use it to promote your books?
Senin, 26 Desember 2011
Have a Holly Jolly New Facebook Year
My friends at the BBT Cafe, the social site for Blog Book Tours alumnae, are seeing different things on my new Facebook timeline. Here's a snip of that new two-column set-up:
How do you like the look? How do you expect to use it to promote your books?
How do you like the look? How do you expect to use it to promote your books?
Jumat, 23 September 2011
Keeping It Interesting
One of the fastest and best ways to create an interesting blog post is with an embedded video. Here's one from the latest publication at Little Pickle Press, showing the book weaving through the printing process. This is Snutt the Ift by UK author and artist, Helen Ward, working its way into the hands of American children.
Click on the link and watch. Doesn't that give you goosebumps? Does me.
Rabu, 21 September 2011
Hit Counters
There are programs that tell a blogger how well their online efforts are doing. Some people love, love, love full-blown analytics and others are much more comfortable with the basics. For me, as a teacher of very fundamental online book marketing skills, keeping comfort levels and enthusiasm high with my students is paramount. An empowered student is a good student. Many creatives, and that includes writers, don't like working with numbers, but a certain level of skill in measuring efforts is important, whether checking your royalty statements, your Amazon ranking, or how many reading fans you have.
A simple free site like StatCounter can show you what you've accomplished over the last few years of blogging.
If this were your blog, wouldn't it make you feel kind of good about what you've accomplished?
Check your blog visitor stats weekly to get a sense of how well your blog is bringing attention to your books. Are there any kinds of posts that draw more readers? Are you engaging with your fans? If you aren't in casual writing, does that translate to the success of your book sales? I'm guessing for most authors, it does.
What about you? What kind of analytics do you use to gauge the success of your blogging efforts? Is blog popularity (or any kind of popularity) important to gain book sales, do you think?
A simple free site like StatCounter can show you what you've accomplished over the last few years of blogging.
Check your blog visitor stats weekly to get a sense of how well your blog is bringing attention to your books. Are there any kinds of posts that draw more readers? Are you engaging with your fans? If you aren't in casual writing, does that translate to the success of your book sales? I'm guessing for most authors, it does.
What about you? What kind of analytics do you use to gauge the success of your blogging efforts? Is blog popularity (or any kind of popularity) important to gain book sales, do you think?
Rabu, 14 September 2011
Comment Tip
It's important for bloggers to visit other blogs, and leave the occasional comment, especially if they like the blog and see it as a potential host for a blog tour. It's also a good idea to leave a nice little clickable link back to your blog at the bottom of your comment post. You've seen those, right? How did the commenter do that, you may have wondered?
First type this:
But replace http://blogbooktours.blogspot.com with your blog URL.
Then replace Blog Book Tours with your name or your blog's name.
My link will look like this when I publish the comment:
Blog Book Tours
Even though I pasted in the entire string in the red box above. And it's clickable, isn't it?
Now copy and save this tip for future use. Paste the entire string as your signature in a comment window and you should get a live clickable link when it publishes.
Go try it in the comment section of your own blog to make sure it works for you! It may sound a bit confusing, but it's really not.
First type this:
But replace http://blogbooktours.blogspot.com with your blog URL.
Then replace Blog Book Tours with your name or your blog's name.
My link will look like this when I publish the comment:
Blog Book Tours
Even though I pasted in the entire string in the red box above. And it's clickable, isn't it?
Now copy and save this tip for future use. Paste the entire string as your signature in a comment window and you should get a live clickable link when it publishes.
Go try it in the comment section of your own blog to make sure it works for you! It may sound a bit confusing, but it's really not.
Senin, 12 September 2011
Elizabeth Zelvin Cyberschmoozes With Us
We're bumping up this excellent guest post by Liz Zelvin from several years ago for the benefit of the current Blog Book Tours class which is spending the month of September finding blog hosts for their own tours:
Welcome to Liz Zelvin, author of Death Can Get You Sober. She shares with us tips on developing friendships in the cyber-world to help promote our publications.
Cumulative Cyberschmoozing: The Secret of a Successful Virtual Book Tour
By Elizabeth Zelvin
My debut mystery, Death Will Get You Sober, hit bookstores on April 15 (2008). Since I want to give my novel the best possible shot, I am working hard on a variety of promotional activities. I set up a book tour, and I will be traveling across the country signing books, talking to readers, and most important, meeting individual booksellers face to face, from late April through all of May and June. A virtual tour has a different purpose: to reach and improve my visibility with the many readers who talk about and buy books online.
Setting up the virtual tour was time consuming. But I found it relatively easy to develop a list of blogs and websites that were willing to interview me or host a guest blog, others that offered opportunities to chat, record a podcast, or appear as a featured author.
How did I know where to go and whom to ask? I’ve been networking among mystery lovers for years, on e-lists like Guppies and DorothyL and web-based social networks like CrimeSpace. What gave me the time to build up not just contacts but friendships in the mystery community was how long it took me to find a publisher: more than five years from when I started sending the manuscript out. In retrospect, not a day of that agonizing time was wasted.
All this time, I’ve been schmoozing (a Yiddish word that a friend of mine insists means “to network shamelessly”) in cyberspace and also face to face at book launches, meetings of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, and mystery conferences and parties. It helps that I live in New York. It also helps that I make my living in cyberspace as an online therapist and therefore am very comfortable expressing myself in text. I’ve been lucky in having had the opportunity to blog with some terrific mystery writers on Poe’s Deadly Daughters. When I finally did get a publisher, it happened to be one that gives me enormous credibility with other writers.
But anyone can follow a few simple rules that, in retrospect, I think contributed to the effectiveness of my virtual tour.
1. Get out there on the Internet and make friends. Be generous. Post when you can contribute something, not just when you need something. If you like someone’s book, email that person one to one and tell them so. Post comments to the mystery blogs. Don’t just talk about yourself and your book or manuscript or blog. Be thoughtful, informative, and entertaining. These skills will come in handy when you’re ready to write your guest blogs, and they’ll convey that you’re someone it will be a pleasure to help.
2. Keep it fresh. Stockpile blog posts whenever you can. Blogging is like any other kind of writing: it often starts with a spark of creativity, and then you’ve got to do the work. Don’t just write about writing or blogging or promoting books. Write about whatever interests you. During your virtual tour, you’ll want to avoid redundancy—and since you’ll tour around the time your book is published, you won’t have time to write ten or twenty pieces at the last moment. Make sure you say something different or reveal a different aspect of yourself or your work each time. I even write my brief bios from scratch every time, so they won’t all sound the same.
3. Ask your hosts if they’ll interview you rather than host a guest blog. I found every interviewer had a distinctive style and approach. Answering questions allowed me to keep it fresh without having to come up with a different angle every time myself. A bonus: license to talk about myself until the cows came home. I admit I had a grand time doing it. And some of the questions were definitely wild and unexpected. We all had fun, and I think it came across to readers.
4. Keep careful track of the logistics of your tour. A lot of the work, besides contacting hosts and writing the material, was record keeping. I had a master file that included the date of every virtual gig, the host blog or newsletter or website name, what kind of event it was (eg guest blog, interview, profile, podcast, live chat, Q&A), the url I’d need to create a link for the schedule on my website, the contact person’s name and email address, and—most important—the status of the material. Some I wrote and sent months in advance, and the host took on the task of remembering to post it at the right time. Others asked me to send it—or remind them—at a particular time nearer to the event date. All undone tasks appeared in my master file in red, and I duplicated the “Send” and “Remind” dates as notes on two different calendars. Then I posted all the events to the Virtual Tour page on my own website, with active links to the host sites or blogs—a small enough return for their generosity in hosting me.
5. Do it in advance. Get it done. It took me all of February to get my virtual tour schedule set and write the material, with a lot of emailing back and forth to my various hosts. But now it’s done. Unlike a real-life tour, except for the occasional live chat or podcast, when you’ve done the preparation, the work is finished. One or two blog hosts asked me to check in several times on the day my guest blog ran in order to respond to reader comments. And if I hadn’t heard recently from a host I’d set up a date with months ago, I might email to reconfirm as the date approached—or check to see that my blog or interview got posted as scheduled. But basically, once finalized, the virtual tour will run itself.
Elizabeth Zelvin’s debut mystery is Death Will Get You Sober (St. Martin’s, April 2008). Library Journal calls it “a remarkable and strongly recommended first novel.” Her related short story, “Death Will Clean Your Closet,” has been nominated for an Agatha award for Best Short Story. More about Liz, including her Virtual Tour schedule, appears on her website.
And you can keep up with what Liz has to say by regularly visiting her at the Poe's Deadly Daughters blog.
Welcome to Liz Zelvin, author of Death Can Get You Sober. She shares with us tips on developing friendships in the cyber-world to help promote our publications. Cumulative Cyberschmoozing: The Secret of a Successful Virtual Book Tour
By Elizabeth Zelvin
My debut mystery, Death Will Get You Sober, hit bookstores on April 15 (2008). Since I want to give my novel the best possible shot, I am working hard on a variety of promotional activities. I set up a book tour, and I will be traveling across the country signing books, talking to readers, and most important, meeting individual booksellers face to face, from late April through all of May and June. A virtual tour has a different purpose: to reach and improve my visibility with the many readers who talk about and buy books online.
Setting up the virtual tour was time consuming. But I found it relatively easy to develop a list of blogs and websites that were willing to interview me or host a guest blog, others that offered opportunities to chat, record a podcast, or appear as a featured author.
How did I know where to go and whom to ask? I’ve been networking among mystery lovers for years, on e-lists like Guppies and DorothyL and web-based social networks like CrimeSpace. What gave me the time to build up not just contacts but friendships in the mystery community was how long it took me to find a publisher: more than five years from when I started sending the manuscript out. In retrospect, not a day of that agonizing time was wasted.
All this time, I’ve been schmoozing (a Yiddish word that a friend of mine insists means “to network shamelessly”) in cyberspace and also face to face at book launches, meetings of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, and mystery conferences and parties. It helps that I live in New York. It also helps that I make my living in cyberspace as an online therapist and therefore am very comfortable expressing myself in text. I’ve been lucky in having had the opportunity to blog with some terrific mystery writers on Poe’s Deadly Daughters. When I finally did get a publisher, it happened to be one that gives me enormous credibility with other writers.
But anyone can follow a few simple rules that, in retrospect, I think contributed to the effectiveness of my virtual tour.
1. Get out there on the Internet and make friends. Be generous. Post when you can contribute something, not just when you need something. If you like someone’s book, email that person one to one and tell them so. Post comments to the mystery blogs. Don’t just talk about yourself and your book or manuscript or blog. Be thoughtful, informative, and entertaining. These skills will come in handy when you’re ready to write your guest blogs, and they’ll convey that you’re someone it will be a pleasure to help.
2. Keep it fresh. Stockpile blog posts whenever you can. Blogging is like any other kind of writing: it often starts with a spark of creativity, and then you’ve got to do the work. Don’t just write about writing or blogging or promoting books. Write about whatever interests you. During your virtual tour, you’ll want to avoid redundancy—and since you’ll tour around the time your book is published, you won’t have time to write ten or twenty pieces at the last moment. Make sure you say something different or reveal a different aspect of yourself or your work each time. I even write my brief bios from scratch every time, so they won’t all sound the same.
3. Ask your hosts if they’ll interview you rather than host a guest blog. I found every interviewer had a distinctive style and approach. Answering questions allowed me to keep it fresh without having to come up with a different angle every time myself. A bonus: license to talk about myself until the cows came home. I admit I had a grand time doing it. And some of the questions were definitely wild and unexpected. We all had fun, and I think it came across to readers.
4. Keep careful track of the logistics of your tour. A lot of the work, besides contacting hosts and writing the material, was record keeping. I had a master file that included the date of every virtual gig, the host blog or newsletter or website name, what kind of event it was (eg guest blog, interview, profile, podcast, live chat, Q&A), the url I’d need to create a link for the schedule on my website, the contact person’s name and email address, and—most important—the status of the material. Some I wrote and sent months in advance, and the host took on the task of remembering to post it at the right time. Others asked me to send it—or remind them—at a particular time nearer to the event date. All undone tasks appeared in my master file in red, and I duplicated the “Send” and “Remind” dates as notes on two different calendars. Then I posted all the events to the Virtual Tour page on my own website, with active links to the host sites or blogs—a small enough return for their generosity in hosting me.
5. Do it in advance. Get it done. It took me all of February to get my virtual tour schedule set and write the material, with a lot of emailing back and forth to my various hosts. But now it’s done. Unlike a real-life tour, except for the occasional live chat or podcast, when you’ve done the preparation, the work is finished. One or two blog hosts asked me to check in several times on the day my guest blog ran in order to respond to reader comments. And if I hadn’t heard recently from a host I’d set up a date with months ago, I might email to reconfirm as the date approached—or check to see that my blog or interview got posted as scheduled. But basically, once finalized, the virtual tour will run itself.
Elizabeth Zelvin’s debut mystery is Death Will Get You Sober (St. Martin’s, April 2008). Library Journal calls it “a remarkable and strongly recommended first novel.” Her related short story, “Death Will Clean Your Closet,” has been nominated for an Agatha award for Best Short Story. More about Liz, including her Virtual Tour schedule, appears on her website.
And you can keep up with what Liz has to say by regularly visiting her at the Poe's Deadly Daughters blog.
Minggu, 04 September 2011
Last Chance
Today, September 4, 2011 is the last day to sign up for the blog book tours class which starts tomorrow, September 5th. If you are an author, have a blog and know how to use it, have at the very least rudimentary skills in social networking (Facebook and Twitter), you will benefit from this four-week course. There is no charge. If I offer it again (and that's a big IF), it won't be until this time next year. Here's what we'll cover:
Week One: Elements of a good blog, how to rate a blog, and critiques of some so
you can practice
Week Two: Learning to cyber-schmooze with potential hosts, ranking other blogs,
and collecting a pool of blog book tour hosts
Week Three: Social networking on Facebook and Twitter and how to use them to
find blog book tour hosts
Week Four: Crafting your tour based on the above-mentioned host pool, contacting
hosts, planning your stops, and writing your posts
Week Five: Questions, answers, brainstorming, and moving over to the BBT Cafe,
our social site
You must show up for class! Don't sign up if you don't plan to participate and work hard along with the rest of us!
Week One: Elements of a good blog, how to rate a blog, and critiques of some so
you can practice
Week Two: Learning to cyber-schmooze with potential hosts, ranking other blogs,
and collecting a pool of blog book tour hosts
Week Three: Social networking on Facebook and Twitter and how to use them to
find blog book tour hosts
Week Four: Crafting your tour based on the above-mentioned host pool, contacting
hosts, planning your stops, and writing your posts
Week Five: Questions, answers, brainstorming, and moving over to the BBT Cafe,
our social site
You must show up for class! Don't sign up if you don't plan to participate and work hard along with the rest of us!
Sabtu, 06 Agustus 2011
September 2011 Blog Book Tours Class
You must have a blog and know how to use it. We don't actually teach you the ins and outs of blogging. There are plenty of how-tos online for the different blogging platforms. Just Google. We will critique a few blogs and rearrange and add elements to make your blogs more use-friendly. Once you know what a good blog looks like, you'll be prepared to find good blogs to host tour stops. Makes sense, right?
Okay, go sign up! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blogbooktours
Read the Quickest Blog Book Tour Guide Ever if you don't know why you should be doing this.
Start doing push-ups, too, and you may as well set the alarm an hour early to get into shape.
Selasa, 14 Juni 2011
Daily Blog Book Tour Tip
Your blog book tour is in full swing, and you're wondering why your daily stops aren't getting more comments. Even the sign-ups for drawings seem weak. Here's a tip for you: post your host's permalink for that day everywhere you ordinarily go to do your social networking. Don't expect your fans to check your tour schedule to connect. Everyone is busy, and you must remind them. Do not act bashful! Promote at least three times a day during a tour. Updates on Facebook and Twitter disappear very quickly, so repeat performances are a must.
Don't be shy when promoting your new book!
Don't be shy when promoting your new book!
Rabu, 01 Juni 2011
Little Mountain with Bob Sanchez
Today we're happy to help kick off a blog book tour for Bob Sanchez's novel, Little Mountain.
~~~~~~~~
And we’re off!
Thanks for hosting the kickoff of my Little Mountain tour, Dani, and for all you do encouraging others on their tours.
As much as I love to write humor, some books leave no place for it. Little Mountain has no humor and barely even has a mountain. It does have a Cambodian who becomes an American homicide cop and has to solve a crime that brings back haunting memories.
I used to live near the scene of the crime: Lowell, Massachusetts, where thousands of Cambodian refugees settled beginning in late 1979. My wife and I sponsored such a family and became well acquainted with some of the issues they and their host city faced. My first-ever and never-to-be-published novel, Freedom Country, was about a young Cambodian girl surviving the Khmer Rouge horrors and coming to the United States. I did all the research I knew how to do, short of traveling to Cambodia myself. Not having seen the country and my being a tyro at writing fiction pretty well sunk that ship. But what came out of Freedom Country was a better understanding of Cambodians’ plight and much-improved writing skills, thanks to many workshops and critique groups.
Little Mountain was the next novel I wrote, although it’s the third I’ve published. Humorous, wise-guy fiction exerts a strong pull on me as well, hence When Pigs Fly and Getting Lucky. The owner of Fjord Press phoned me one Saturday with glowing comments about Little Mountain and saying that he wanted to publish it. He even provided me with some free line edits, which were excellent.
Then he went out of business, and Little Mountain languished on my hard drive while I pursued other projects. Recently I decided to bring it to life, so I found one more great critiquer, hired an artist to design a cover, fixed nits in the writing until I thought my eyes would fall out, and published it.
I sent one of the first copies to my brother Steve. He soon called me and asked if Sam (the hero) could also change water into wine, which puzzled me. Then he explained that Sam gets a cup of tea in one paragraph and finishes his coffee in the next. (Nice trick, huh?) Well, say what you will about self-publishing, I was able to upload a correction in just a few minutes. Try doing that at Random House!
I hope you’ll visit all the fine blogs on my tour. Please post a comment for a chance to win an ebook or signed paperback copy of one of my novels. And thanks for visiting!
Bob’s tour schedule
Bob’s Blog
More background on Little Mountain
Purchase Little Mountain
~~~~~~~~
Thanks for hosting the kickoff of my Little Mountain tour, Dani, and for all you do encouraging others on their tours.
As much as I love to write humor, some books leave no place for it. Little Mountain has no humor and barely even has a mountain. It does have a Cambodian who becomes an American homicide cop and has to solve a crime that brings back haunting memories.
I used to live near the scene of the crime: Lowell, Massachusetts, where thousands of Cambodian refugees settled beginning in late 1979. My wife and I sponsored such a family and became well acquainted with some of the issues they and their host city faced. My first-ever and never-to-be-published novel, Freedom Country, was about a young Cambodian girl surviving the Khmer Rouge horrors and coming to the United States. I did all the research I knew how to do, short of traveling to Cambodia myself. Not having seen the country and my being a tyro at writing fiction pretty well sunk that ship. But what came out of Freedom Country was a better understanding of Cambodians’ plight and much-improved writing skills, thanks to many workshops and critique groups.
Little Mountain was the next novel I wrote, although it’s the third I’ve published. Humorous, wise-guy fiction exerts a strong pull on me as well, hence When Pigs Fly and Getting Lucky. The owner of Fjord Press phoned me one Saturday with glowing comments about Little Mountain and saying that he wanted to publish it. He even provided me with some free line edits, which were excellent.
Then he went out of business, and Little Mountain languished on my hard drive while I pursued other projects. Recently I decided to bring it to life, so I found one more great critiquer, hired an artist to design a cover, fixed nits in the writing until I thought my eyes would fall out, and published it.
I sent one of the first copies to my brother Steve. He soon called me and asked if Sam (the hero) could also change water into wine, which puzzled me. Then he explained that Sam gets a cup of tea in one paragraph and finishes his coffee in the next. (Nice trick, huh?) Well, say what you will about self-publishing, I was able to upload a correction in just a few minutes. Try doing that at Random House!
Bob’s tour schedule
Bob’s Blog
More background on Little Mountain
Purchase Little Mountain
Kamis, 21 April 2011
R is for Rules
Going right along with the Quiet Rule, is the Golden Rule - do unto others as you would have them do onto you. The following embellishes a bit. From a children's store called Recess, where the owner and Mom has this list of rules sitting by the cash register:
Rule #1: Never give up.
I love this rule. I say this to my daughter all of the time. If we are feeling like the world is getting us down and things are getting difficult we can think about this simple rule. Don’t give up! Just keep reaching. Life is not easy.
Rule #2: Be nice to one another.
How profound! This is such an easy rule and so easily forgotten. To simply be nice to someone can truly make their day. Treat others as you would like to be treated and most likely someone will do the same for you.
Rule #3: Think good thoughts.
Another great one. Why waste time being negative? Be positive and feel better all around. Think the best thoughts possible about people and difficult situations. Take a moment and picture yourself doing something you love. It is a great stress reliever.
Rule #4: Try to do better.
A favorite of mine because I am an over-achiever! Do your best and then some. The effort is usually well worth it. Try to improve yourself in small ways and see what the outcome is. Try new things and don’t fear failure. Just do your best!
Rule #5: Say please and thank you.
It brings a smile to my face when I get the chance to interact with a polite child (or adult!) Everyone is in such a rush these days, but take the time for a simple please or thank you. It will be well received.
It’s like I said. This is a simple list with basic concepts. It brings me back to the purity of childhood. Obviously we want to teach our children these simple rules, but what a great reminder to use them daily as adults. Keep these rules in mind during your busy week and see how often it helps you through!
I agree!
Rule #1: Never give up.
I love this rule. I say this to my daughter all of the time. If we are feeling like the world is getting us down and things are getting difficult we can think about this simple rule. Don’t give up! Just keep reaching. Life is not easy.
Rule #2: Be nice to one another.
How profound! This is such an easy rule and so easily forgotten. To simply be nice to someone can truly make their day. Treat others as you would like to be treated and most likely someone will do the same for you.
Rule #3: Think good thoughts.
Another great one. Why waste time being negative? Be positive and feel better all around. Think the best thoughts possible about people and difficult situations. Take a moment and picture yourself doing something you love. It is a great stress reliever.
Rule #4: Try to do better.
A favorite of mine because I am an over-achiever! Do your best and then some. The effort is usually well worth it. Try to improve yourself in small ways and see what the outcome is. Try new things and don’t fear failure. Just do your best!
Rule #5: Say please and thank you.
It brings a smile to my face when I get the chance to interact with a polite child (or adult!) Everyone is in such a rush these days, but take the time for a simple please or thank you. It will be well received.
It’s like I said. This is a simple list with basic concepts. It brings me back to the purity of childhood. Obviously we want to teach our children these simple rules, but what a great reminder to use them daily as adults. Keep these rules in mind during your busy week and see how often it helps you through!
I agree!
Q is for Quiet
I DON'T KNOW WHAT PEOPLE HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT BY NOW THAT TYPING IN ALL CAPS MEANS YOU'RE YELLING!
Be quiet. It applies to life online as well as for real. Don't yell. It's impolite.
Selasa, 19 April 2011
P is for Promotion
Today at the Blood-Red Pencil, Maryann Miller and I discuss how difficult BSP is for authors and how the rest of us can help. It's all about liking each other. Go read what I'm talking about.
Rana DiOrio at Little Pickle Press has another effective tactic for promoting her blog. When LPP writes about other people, they not only include links to mentioned sites, but after the blog publishes, Rana emails the mentionees and asks them to stop by the blog and leave a comment. Here are examples of emails she sent for today's blog post:
Rana DiOrio at Little Pickle Press has another effective tactic for promoting her blog. When LPP writes about other people, they not only include links to mentioned sites, but after the blog publishes, Rana emails the mentionees and asks them to stop by the blog and leave a comment. Here are examples of emails she sent for today's blog post:
Good Morning!We feature you today in our blog post about the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival:Please stop by and leave a comment!Thank you,Rana
***
Good Morning:We just wanted you to know that we have a very favorable mention of your business in our blog today:Please stop by and leave a comment.Thanks so much,Rana
***
It takes only a few moments to send these reminders, but the benefits in the way of traffic and comments to the blog can be great. Don't miss an opportunity to gently encourage someone to read your post about them!Good Morning:Just thought you'd like to know that we extol your organization today in our blog post about the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival:Please stop by and leave a comment!Thanks so much,Rana
Senin, 18 April 2011
O is for Oops
It's also for, "oh, dang, I don't have a blog post for the A-Z Challenge and I'm out of town."
So here's a picture of an orchid I have in bloom right now.
Talk about pulling something out of an orifice!
So here's a picture of an orchid I have in bloom right now.
Talk about pulling something out of an orifice!
Sabtu, 16 April 2011
N is for News
There are two kinds of news that come to mind: personal news about you, and what’s happening in the world. Both are great things to write about.
If you’re an author or a publisher, the public can’t get enough information about what you’re doing from day-to-day. Readers want to know what your word count is, what other novels your moodling, what conference you’ll be attending next. The same goes for publishers, and recaps of recent events with photos are always a boon to blog traffic. Don’t forget to share information about yourself on your blog!World news works a little differently, because when you write about a current event, not only do you share your opinions but you also tap into a huge and sticky web of similar posts on the Internet. Linking to outside news sources is a great way to increase the notice-ability of your blog. If you’re writing about an earthquake, for example, Google the word and see what news articles are first in your search results. Then mention the keyword and link to that article in your post. Also try to add the keyword to your blog post title and label. When it comes to news and blogging, relevance and timing are important to factor into your scheme, so don’t hesitate mentioning important world events when possible.
Jumat, 15 April 2011
M is for Murder
Right about now, most of the A-Z Challengers are probably thinking this project is murder! About halfway through a blog challenge is when the going gets tough. It’s easier than usual for me having a narrow focus, that is, using letters of the alphabet throughout the contest. So today is M, and originally I’d planned to host a tour stop for Susan Wittig Albert’s new mystery novel, Mourning Gloria. But the tour has been pushed to later since the author is still on a live tour. I’ll talk about Murder Must Advertise instead.MMA is a Yahoo!Group for mystery authors to share promotion ideas of any and every kind, and there’s no better place to find creativity and kindred spirits. I encourage you to join the group, even if you don’t write mysteries. Their discussions and suggestions apply to all writers, including (and maybe especially) self-published authors. Don’t waste a moment joining the group. It is a moderated forum, and each comment must pass muster by the list owner, so no worries about any wild and off-topic discussions. This is about marketing your book, and that’s what you’ll read about. But you’ll also meet a great group of people. Kudos to award-winning writer, Jeffrey Marks, for starting the group twelve years ago. Tell them Dani at Blog Book Tours sent you over when you join!
Kamis, 14 April 2011
L is for Length and Other Lessons
How long should a blog post be? 350 words is probably optimum for an average post. 500 words is getting too long and probably should be split into two consecutive posts. I also try to mix it up during the course of a week. It’s better to have five posts day-after-day, rather than two long posts during one week. So think about this when planning your weekly posts. Are you driving your readers away because it takes too long to read what you have to say?
The average length of time a visitor will stay at your blog is 1 ½ minutes. That’s your window of opportunity so grab them and impart your message. Or lose your reader. It’s not a lesson you need to learn the hard way.
The average length of time a visitor will stay at your blog is 1 ½ minutes. That’s your window of opportunity so grab them and impart your message. Or lose your reader. It’s not a lesson you need to learn the hard way.
Rabu, 13 April 2011
K is for Knowledge
What brings people to this blog is information about blog book tours. So that narrows my readership to authors who want to promote their new titles on the Internet.
In the past five years, I’ve become something of a sage (I hesitate to say "authority figure" as it sounds so unfriendly) about blog book tours, and it all started as research for my own book promotion. I didn't invent the idea by any means (it goes back at least 20 years to author, M.J. Rose). After many years of promoting a business with related traveling, hotel conferences, and other “face-time”, I knew I didn’t want to do any of that to promote my own book. It was too expensive, too time-consuming, too strenuous at my age, and an environmental nightmare. It was this last issue that decided my interest in online promotion, and it was a short jump to the blogging platform and it’s obvious potential, that led me to researching and planning online tours.
Five years later, I still think blogs, blog book tours, and other Internet platforms like YouTube and podcasting, are powerful book promotion tools, which have changed the publishing game, and tilted it in favor of the author. If you’re interested in a quick how-to be sure to read my Quickest Blog Book Tour Guide Ever and then consider taking a class to plan your own tour. Not only will you pay less out-of-pocket to plan your own tour, you’ll have a better one. Because nobody knows your book as well as you do, and nobody cares more about its success. Sign up for the next class here, and acquire the knowledge you need to build your own blog book tour.
Selasa, 12 April 2011
J is for Jumpstarting
One of the most frustrating things in the early days of a blog is getting daily readers. Even bloggers who post every day don’t always get the results they want very quickly. This is where a group effort comes in handy to jumpstart results.
In the blog book tours classes, we usually have a blog-a-day challenge for one month. This serves several purposes.
- It develops a good habit in the blogger, because infrequent blogging is the death knell of even the most attractive blog.
- It increases traffic to a blog through visits from team members, and consequently makes the blog more noticeable to search engines.
Both of these elements are vital for jumpstarting a blog. Projects like the current A-Z Challenge, the basis of the blogs you are currently reading, are even more powerful. (Click on the link at the top of the page.) Almost 1,200 bloggers are teaming up in the same project, egging each other on, visiting member blogs, back-linking to each other. The Google ‘bots must be going crazy. Which, of course, has us all jumping for joy!
Senin, 11 April 2011
I is for Improvement
There was a time that WordPress was touted as the professional blogging platform, but Blogger has added so many features and improvements over the last year, that they are almost as powerful in a business environment. The most notable improvement is a new and flexible Designer feature, which not only includes countless templates to personalize the blog, but also a myriad of fonts, page elements, and colors. As well, gadgets that include statistics and email subscription sign-ups have been added, and with the upgrading of the spam feature, there’s really not a lot more to change for the average blogger. It amazes me to see blogs out there still using the old, original Blogger templates.
All these improvements are great tools to help create an attractive and entertaining blog, and you’ll want to use them to bring people back. Increasing traffic should be one of your goals, and with steady work, you should be able to regularly get 100 visitors a day within a year. In that time, you should also gain the Google ranking we mentioned a few days ago.
Why is this important? The more visitors to your blog, the more influence you have, whether promoting your opinions, teaching a lesson, or promoting your book. You become an authority via your blog. So think about that other “I” word – Influence – and how much of it you can develop on the Internet through your written word. Let’s review these interesting concepts:
Improve your blog
Increase traffic
Influence more readers
Internet is the road to achievement and success
Sabtu, 09 April 2011
H is for Help
I often have folks sign up for my classes thinking they'll learn to blog. You have to know how before you sign up - the point of the class is to learn about blog BOOK TOURS. So you need to be fairly adept at blogging to sign up. The best way to learn how to blog is to simply Google "how to blog". Then see what comes up. Here's one example to try on YouTube, and you might have to search around for updated links since last year's Blogger upgrade, but the information is at your disposal. Seek and ye shall find.
Hit counters:
Everyone needs one and two favorites are Statcounter.com and Sitemeter.com. I prefer Sitemeter, and like to show actual hit count since a good high number makes the blog more attractive to readers.
Holiday blogging prompts:
Last week, I found a really great site that lists all those crazy holidays we're always hearing about like National Naked Rat Day and National Black Licorice Week. This site lists hundreds of those holidays by month, and what great writing prompts for your blog! Go here for more and be sure to bookmark this site.
Hurdles like word verification:
I've noticed during this month's A-Z Challenge that quite a few of the blogs have word verification and moderated status activated. I would definitely get rid of the word verification, as I and many people, don't return to blogs that create comment hurdles like that. I've even turned it off on this blog, despite having the blog shut down for six months by Blogger for excess spam visits. Bloggers new spam filter is really quite adequate for the job. If you're still not sure, then moderate comments, but even this is a mental hurdle for your fans. You'll lose too many to make it worth the bother. Remember, you WANT comments, because it makes your blog stickier to the search engines.
Hint-of-the-Day:
Collapse your archive in the sidebar. It's ugly, takes up too much space, and nobody uses it anyway. Make it a nice tidy little box like mine in the sidebar. See it? Now compare it to yours. Which is better?
Finally H is for Happy blogging!
Jumat, 08 April 2011
G is for Google
Google ranking is one important gauge of how popular or influential a blog is, and you should know your ranking, as well as any potential blog book tour host's. If you're planning a blog book tour, try to find blogs that have a Google ranking of 3 or 4. Blogs don't often rank higher than 5. To get your ranking, visit PR Checker and follow the easy directions.
You should also set-up Google Alerts for your book title, your name, and perhaps some key words associated with your brand or book. This allows you to monitor what's going on on the web related to your interests. Setting up Google Alerts is as easy as checking your ranking, and you automatically get daily or weekly updates in your mailbox.
Was that useful information? Do you already do these things? Leave a comment and share what your blog's ranking is. I have a widget in the sidebar letting all visitors know I'm a Google 4, which makes me a prime host for blog book tours. I'll be doing more of that starting in May, and will feature children's literature and cozy mysteries, as well as non-fiction related to organic and sustainability topics. Be sure to add me to your blogroll for future reference!
Kamis, 07 April 2011
F is for Friends
F is also for Facebook and Followers on Twitter. At the BBT Cafe, which is the social site for graduates of the blog book tours classes, we are friends in the true sense of the word, and continue to support each other in book marketing endeavors long after the classes end. It wasn't by design - this just evolved over time. So here's what you can expect on the weekly collaborative promotion menu:
Monday: We support each other on Facebook by posting our link and reminder at the Cafe site. Then we go to each other's Facebook pages, click the Like button on a status update we really do like, leave a comment, and most importantly, click on the Share button so that the link publishes on our own Facebook pages, and increases the readership of that author's post. Needless to say, most of us create status updates that are informative and easy for our friends to share. Something relevant. Something other authors would find interesting. Something that won't embarrass the rest of us.
Wednesday: We visit each other blogs and leave comments so that Google will notice how Fantastic we are.
Friday: We leave #FF (Follow Friday) suggestions at the Cafe and link over to Twitter to post fellow tweeter @ links so others can follow them, too. We also let people know why they should do this. Here's an example:
Be sure to #FF @Blogbooktours for great posts about blogging and promoting books. #books
The # is called a "hashtag" and if you go to Twitter and search #FF, you'll get everyone who is playing the follow Friday game - and you'll likely find some good folks to add to your own Twitter list.
It all sounds confusing, but it only takes a few weeks to get the hang of all this social networking stuff. If you don't understand, you have friends who will help you.
Yep. You got to have friends. Sing it loud and strong!
Monday: We support each other on Facebook by posting our link and reminder at the Cafe site. Then we go to each other's Facebook pages, click the Like button on a status update we really do like, leave a comment, and most importantly, click on the Share button so that the link publishes on our own Facebook pages, and increases the readership of that author's post. Needless to say, most of us create status updates that are informative and easy for our friends to share. Something relevant. Something other authors would find interesting. Something that won't embarrass the rest of us.
Wednesday: We visit each other blogs and leave comments so that Google will notice how Fantastic we are.
Friday: We leave #FF (Follow Friday) suggestions at the Cafe and link over to Twitter to post fellow tweeter @ links so others can follow them, too. We also let people know why they should do this. Here's an example:
Be sure to #FF @Blogbooktours for great posts about blogging and promoting books. #books
The # is called a "hashtag" and if you go to Twitter and search #FF, you'll get everyone who is playing the follow Friday game - and you'll likely find some good folks to add to your own Twitter list.
It all sounds confusing, but it only takes a few weeks to get the hang of all this social networking stuff. If you don't understand, you have friends who will help you.
Yep. You got to have friends. Sing it loud and strong!
Rabu, 06 April 2011
E is for Elements of a Good Blog
Our class members spend a good deal of time adding elements to their blogs for reader convenience and to make the blog more "sticky" with search engines. Arrange your sidebar elements in an order that's most useful to the viewer. I promised yesterday I would bump this post up, so here's the information I use over and over.
Let's take a look at the sidebar on this blog.
Let's take a look at the sidebar on this blog.
1. We start with a short description of what this blog is about - it's a quick profile.
2. Because the blog is the public newsletter for our blog book tour classes, many of the posts are useful to others interested in our topic, and so we have a share/bookmark button right beneath the profile. This is so readers can click and easily send the information on this blog to their friends on Facebook or any of a number of other online communities they might participate in. Click on the button, and you'll see the drop-down menu. This is an AddThis button which happens to be the neatest and most effective. There's a reason it's rated #1. A later addition is via Blogger at the bottom of each post.
3. Next we make sure it's easy for our readers to engage with us on Facebook and Twitter. Those are basic links to our sites there, but you can also find pretty third-party widgets which add sparkle to the blog. I just haven't decided which one I like best yet. Always have your assorted links and sites cross-referenced on all your sites. Everyone is trying to connect at many levels these days.
4. Then make sure you have a few "subscribe" links for readers who use aggregators to keep track of their favorite blog updates. See the ugly RSS feed buttons in the sidebar? I'm looking for a nicer one like this. This symbol is almost as recognizable as the golden arches.5. Google Friend Connect essentially works in a similar albeit limited way (and also has a certain psychological pull when many people follow the blog). Networked Blogs is another way to get a notice when someone updates a blog - it feeds through to Facebook and Twitter automatically.
Start with a few of these basics up high in the sidebar of your blog, and then add more as you see features you like on other blogs you visit. Why up high? Sometimes your readers are in a hurry and will only read the first post, so make it easy for them to share or stay connected by putting the handiest tools at their disposal. Don't make them search all over your blog. They'll appreciate you for it, and come back for a visit.
Even if you're not really sure what all these widgets, gadgets, and buttons are about, place them on your blog anyway. Many of your readers know how to use them, and what we're talking about is service and convenience to them.
The rest of the way down the sidebar? Lots of blogrolls - clickable links to sites that you like and that support your blog focus.
You might have an archive link which you'll want to collapse into a neat and tidy button. Intersperse other information and links as you wish lower down the sidebar.
You can also add a gadget on Blogger that magically makes all your most popular blog posts appear. See it at right? I also have links to related information like the Quickest Blog Book Tour Guide Ever.
The last item on your list should be a hit counter and I prefer being able to see the visitor count. There can be any number of other items, but these are the very essential ones in that order.
And don't forget a contact link - if you don't want your email address on the front page, then consider adding a contact page under your header that readers must open for additional information about how to reach you. It can be most frustrating for a reader seeking more information about you and your books (or services or other products), to not find a way to reach you.
And remember that you have lots of options for additional information categorized under Pages underneath your header. I've even included the A-Z Challenger participants under their own tab!
This post was last published on July 17, 2010. I'm now going to change the date so it appears on April 6, 2011. Because I can, and so can you.
Selasa, 05 April 2011
D is for Dates
What I mean is the date you might find on a letter... or on a blog post like this one. Do you notice anything? I have a day of the week above right and a time at the bottom of this post. But no actual date. Why? Because many of the posts are timeless, and apply to many situations or from one blog book tours class to the next. There is no need for me to rewrite the post. Often I bump a post up by going into Post Options and changing the date so the blog post reappears at the top of the blog. Clever, no?
You can do the same thing. An added advantage is that the blog never looks stale to a newcomer, who might wonder why I haven't posted anything since last month, if the month stamp could be seen.
Tomorrow, I'll bump a prior post I use often that explains the Elements of a good blog. Stay tuned.
Senin, 04 April 2011
C is for Copyright
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| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobsters |
© 2008-2011 Blood-Red Pencil Authors
The contents of these pages, including text and images, are the sole property of the authors and may not be used, reproduced, or reposted in any manner without written consent. All rights reserved.
What I'd really like to say is more akin to this:
You steal my text or pictures, I'll have my attorney send you a bill. I don't run cheap. If you don't pay up, I'll send Guido to take care of the problem. Get my drift?
But that brings up another C-word. Civility. Be glad I have manners.
Sabtu, 02 April 2011
Blogging for Books at the BBT Cafe
Today, I still think blogs and all the social networking sites available to us, are the best and certainly most affordable ways to promote books. My passion is also environmental. It takes a whole lot less petroleum to go on a blog book tour than drive or fly around the country using up petroleum. I became so vested in this idea, I learned everything I could about the process until I ended up teaching classes to other authors and hosting blog book tour stops on my own blogs. I now even chaperone tours for others for a fee, although I limit that service to only books I love and read. Children's literature and cozy mysteries are my favorites.
When you're thinking about promoting an up-and-coming title, be sure to sign up for a blog book tours class and really prepare yourself to market this way. Many of the people in the A-Z Challenge can tell you what a difference it makes. I'll hope to see you at the classroom sometime soon! Oh, and feel free to join the BBT Cafe anytime, for ongoing chats about blog book tours, writing, publishing, and anything else we feel like discussing. It's a great group of supportive writing friends, and we always welcome newcomers.
Jumat, 01 April 2011
A-A-A-pril Fools!
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| I need another drink quick! |
Special thanks to the pals from the BBT Cafe (our blog book tours alum and social spot) for organizing the A-Z Challenge. Alex J. Cavanaugh and Stephen Tremp, you guys are nuts! I have no idea how I'm going to interact with
Please click on the A-Z Challenge tab above to see all the great bloggers playing the game this month. My goal? To make this blog a little stickier with the search engines, possibly set the stage for a Google 5 ranking, and be poised to start hosting authors I like when they have their blog book tours, something I haven't done much up to know. Leave me a message if you have a new book coming out this year. And be sure to follow the blog by clicking at right, friend me on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter. The more fools, the merrier!
Sabtu, 26 Maret 2011
If These Walls Could Talk
When it comes to Facebook, your walls actually can talk, and that's why it's important to visit them on a regular basis. Here's a good example why:
The Heartless Contessa Refuses Make-a-Wish Request
I have no idea if this story is true, but when it comes to social networking, it doesn't matter. The Barefoot Contessa, a popular cooking icon, has a fan page that is littered with comment after comment condemning the woman for being the ogre in this story. She has over 50,000 fans and the story is going viral on Facebook. This is not a good thing.
Clearly, nobody is monitoring her Facebook wall, which brings me to the point of this post: go to your profile page daily and clean up house. I even remove posts that are no longer relevant within a week of posting and which have no comments. Also, thank yous from people for friending them. This makes it easier for new friends to scroll through your first few pages to get a sense of what you're about reading posts of relevance.
I felt compelled to leave a positive comment for the Contessa, and left this message on her FB wall:
The Heartless Contessa Refuses Make-a-Wish Request
I have no idea if this story is true, but when it comes to social networking, it doesn't matter. The Barefoot Contessa, a popular cooking icon, has a fan page that is littered with comment after comment condemning the woman for being the ogre in this story. She has over 50,000 fans and the story is going viral on Facebook. This is not a good thing.
Clearly, nobody is monitoring her Facebook wall, which brings me to the point of this post: go to your profile page daily and clean up house. I even remove posts that are no longer relevant within a week of posting and which have no comments. Also, thank yous from people for friending them. This makes it easier for new friends to scroll through your first few pages to get a sense of what you're about reading posts of relevance.
I felt compelled to leave a positive comment for the Contessa, and left this message on her FB wall:
Kamis, 10 Maret 2011
Hot Tip of the Day
Also, if you have requirements for the reader like following your blog to get some benefit, make sure the follow link is clear and up high next to your post where the viewer can easily see it. Don't make them work for the benefit you are offering. It will only drive them away, and worse, it could irritate them to the point they never come back to your blog.
You have seconds, seconds, to make your case. Make friends and customers the first chance you get. It will often be the only chance.
Senin, 14 Februari 2011
Collapsing
I've been reading and commenting on a lot of blogs lately, and if there's one tip I could give just about everyone, it's Collapse.Your. Archive. You would have so much more sidebar room for blogrolls, book covers, and other interesting information, if your archive didn't drop down into a series of staggered clickable links that none of your readers ever use. See how nice and neat mine is at right. I don't usually place it that high either - it can live down lower on the sidebar below more important topics.
Collapse this. It's more information and clutter than anyone needs to see on your blog. Look how much room it hogs.
If you are using Blogger, click Design top right. Scroll down to the gadget that says Blog Archive and click on Edit. From there, you should see your other options. Then be sure to Save, and you should be all set.
Collapse this. It's more information and clutter than anyone needs to see on your blog. Look how much room it hogs.
If you are using Blogger, click Design top right. Scroll down to the gadget that says Blog Archive and click on Edit. From there, you should see your other options. Then be sure to Save, and you should be all set.
Selasa, 25 Januari 2011
Class Starts Soon
Class cancelled due to lack of enrollment - we must have 20 students. Next class is in April and sign-up is at the classroom link below.
Our next blog book tours class begins on February 1, 2011 and costs $20, minimum of 20 students or the class cancels, maximum of 50 students. The course runs four weeks and daily participation is important, for you and for the entire group. Much of the learning occurs through interaction between blogs, and learning to "cyber-schmooze". Plan to spend one hour per day. Now is the time to sign up!
Click on the link to join the group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blogbooktours
Please share with your author friends as well as publishers.
Our next blog book tours class begins on February 1, 2011 and costs $20, minimum of 20 students or the class cancels, maximum of 50 students. The course runs four weeks and daily participation is important, for you and for the entire group. Much of the learning occurs through interaction between blogs, and learning to "cyber-schmooze". Plan to spend one hour per day. Now is the time to sign up!
Click on the link to join the group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blogbooktours
Please share with your author friends as well as publishers.
Kamis, 20 Januari 2011
When to learn about blog book tours
It's a lot of added work to plan a blog book tour. What you don't want to do is learn how to plan a tour right in the midst of all your other promotional efforts. What I suggest is learning how to plan the tour early on, doing all the preparation you can in advance (which includes getting to know potential blog hosts), and then launching a blog book tour on the heels of the book release.
Don't have a blog book tour while you're engaged in live public appearances. You won't be able to do your blog book tour justice. We cover these points and more in our blog book tours class which begins February 1 and lasts all month. If you have a book coming out in Spring or Summer, you might want to do your learning and start preparations now. Click here for more information and sign-up.
Rabu, 19 Januari 2011
Blog Book Tours Class Begins Soon
- Critiquing and improving your own blog (you must have a blog to join this class)
- Finding good and relevant blog hosts
- Responsibilities to your blog host
- What to expect from your host - and what you don't have to put up with
- Using social networking to promote your blog book tour
- Crafting your blog stops
- Wrapping up the tour
Sabtu, 15 Januari 2011
Permalink Habits
I nag the BBT students about this incessantly - every day of your tour, change the host blog link to the permalink of that unique post. Do it before the day is over and tomorrow's post supercedes it. This is a habit that many authors don't develop early on - but if you don't do it, you'll be sorry when someone asks for the link later, or you want to reference some magnificent quote that fell from your pen in the interview. Here's what I'm talking about. Today's stop on the Your Fantastic Elastic Brain is here:
http://straightfromhel.blogspot.com
But the direct link to that post is here:
http://straightfromhel.blogspot.com/2011/01/creating-book.html
See how Blogger tacks on the date and post title?
I always go to bit.ly to create a shortened URL like this:
http://bit.ly/fqaloJ
I can use this shortened link more easily when promoting at various social networks where a long URL is a bad thing (like Twitter where you're limited to 140 characters), and often I even customize it, though bit.ly has been a bit cantankerous the past two days. I would have liked http://bit.ly/BBTHel to make the link more memorable, but no luck.
Now here's the complete tour schedule and you can see by clicking all the links over at the blog (not here), that each one goes to it's exact post, not just the blog host's main page. It's a good idea to have a separate tab on your blog that shows your tour schedules like this. Here's a snip from Little Pickle Press.
Make sense?
Don't forget the next blog book tours class starts February 1. Cost is $20 each for up to 50 students with special rates for publishers with more than ten authors. Sign-up is here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blogbooktours
You'll learn lots more than this from the resident drill sergeant - for one whole month of book camp. You can do it!
http://straightfromhel.blogspot.com
But the direct link to that post is here:
http://straightfromhel.blogspot.com/2011/01/creating-book.html
See how Blogger tacks on the date and post title?
I always go to bit.ly to create a shortened URL like this:
http://bit.ly/fqaloJ
I can use this shortened link more easily when promoting at various social networks where a long URL is a bad thing (like Twitter where you're limited to 140 characters), and often I even customize it, though bit.ly has been a bit cantankerous the past two days. I would have liked http://bit.ly/BBTHel to make the link more memorable, but no luck.
Now here's the complete tour schedule and you can see by clicking all the links over at the blog (not here), that each one goes to it's exact post, not just the blog host's main page. It's a good idea to have a separate tab on your blog that shows your tour schedules like this. Here's a snip from Little Pickle Press.
Don't forget the next blog book tours class starts February 1. Cost is $20 each for up to 50 students with special rates for publishers with more than ten authors. Sign-up is here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blogbooktours
You'll learn lots more than this from the resident drill sergeant - for one whole month of book camp. You can do it!
Rabu, 12 Januari 2011
Typing Tip of the Day
Gee, what a brilliant idea straight from MY fantastic elastic brain to yours. See the post below to understand what I'm babbling about. Then go shorten your own blog URL.
Senin, 10 Januari 2011
The Blog Book Tour Daily Routine
Little Pickle Press has a corresponding blog post that directs people back to the host blog. It also has it's own grand prize drawing and readers have to leave a comment to be eligible. I'll leave a comment, as will other members of the LPP team, as this makes the blog and post more sticky to search engines.
With both of these blogs, I'll go to bit.ly and create shortened URLs that I can use on other social networks.
Next I go to Facebook and post a blurb and link to send my friends to the host blog.
Then I go to Twitter and do the same.
I also share on the Yahoo!Groups I belong to if it's allowed.
I now have the basic social networking for this tour stop in place. I'll promote the above links throughout the day, especially on Facebook and Twitter.
Also important is to ask your friends to promote. The easiest way to do this is have them Like and Share your status on Facebook, and to retweet on Twitter. If you don't know what any of that means, you don't have to do it. :) If you do, try it out by going to my Facebook page and my Twitter account. See how easy and painless that was? If only ten people do this, you have incrementally increased your book and blog exposure by thousands of readers.
You can help all your friends promote their books with this simple and easy method! It takes only a couple of minutes once the routine becomes habit.
Jumat, 07 Januari 2011
In With the New... Class!
This course runs one month and I'm a drill sergeant. Daily attendance is mandatory simply because experience tells me a strong group participation enhances the experience and learning for everyone. You know how that was in school. What made your classes most interesting? I'll bet lively participation was a big part of it, and so I insist we have it.
Maximum number of students is 50 - about 35 is best. Get over there and sign up now! You MUST have a blog and know how to use it to participate - we do not teach blogging rudiments - we teach how to use your blog and host blogs to organize a good blog book tour.
Blog Book Tours Class Sign-up
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