BOOK PROMOTION ON A BUDGET: PART 5

BOOK PROMOTION ON A BUDGET: PART 5
Things I wish I’d known before I started out on the published authors trail.




REVIEWS:


Nothing looks better for an author, okay except for being on the best selling list, winning an award or having Disney contact you for film rites. And I’m still waiting for Disney to contact me to have my book “Across the Pond” made into the next High School Musical film (guess they’ve lost the phone number). For any author, the sight of a review about your book (hopefully positive) makes you feel that all the effort has been worth while.

There are numerous sources for reviews; the charge for this can vary greatly, in many cases just perhaps the cost of a book and the postage. Don’t for get those small blogs mentioned above.
There are others which while costing, are sometimes well worth that little extra for either the location or a more in depth review.

Many think that people who offer reviews should not charge, it’s almost like paying for somebody to write things about your book, in most cases I totally agree.
The reviewer will be compromised the minute they receive money, because it then becomes a business. You're not really getting a review, but a publicity blurb.

While there are groups and services that do not charge just need a copy of your book, other will ask for donations, or extra copies of your book, which basically is still charging. If you are going to pay for a review make sure it is a really notable site, and that they will allow you to use their review or even post a copy on Amazon and B&N themselves.

One that comes to mind on the paying side READERS SPOILS (http://www.readerspoils.com) here you can get reviews done by hundreds of people throughout the country for just a small amount. However what is even better about Readers Spoils is that you DO NOT have to send them a copy of your book, so no cost and no postage. They do the reviews from PDF or WORD documents.

Most of these services post their reviews on Amazon, Barnes and Noble or perhaps there own sites. It is always good to have links to these reviews (especially Amazon) on your web site so people can see what others are saying about your work.

Another way to get reviews is when you sell a book or give it to a friend, family member etc. Add a little note or book mark with the copy of the book, asking if they find they enjoy the read, and they have an account at Amazon would they be so kind as to leave a small review. Anybody who has an account on Amazon (who’s purchased something there) can post a review.



A FEW EXTRA THOUGHTS:

Search Engines:

There are plenty of companies that offer entries into search engines like Yahoo, Google, Exite, etc. Some charge a lot of money. However you can find quite a few locations that offer a free service all be it to a reduced number of Search Engines, but if it’s free why not use it.

TIP: Set up an email to just use for search engines, somewhere like mail.com or myway.com. You’ll need to be able to reply to a confirmation/ verification for the initial entry to a search engine. After that you can often get spammed a lot, so best to set up a dummy email rather than have your normal mail box flooded with information about you winning the Nigerian State lottery etc.

Why not spice up your blog/web page to make it stand out?

If you check my book web site at http://across-t-pond.com, you’ll be greeted by some cartoon characters. You can design the character yourself, the back ground even use your own voice, or have an electronically generated from your typing.

While this can cost a little each month a visit to SITEPAL (https://vhost.oddcast.com) can add that little extra to your site.

I know there is much more that could be said, guest books, counters, vaster maps even video blogs… perhaps another day.

Anyway I hope this document will help al authors and would be authors.


Finally Never Forget…

Marketing and Pr doesn’t sell books - it gets you exposure!

(Unless of course you appear on Oprah)


PART FIVE "REVIEWS AND A FEW TIPS
Things I wish I’d known before I started out on the published authors trail.




TOMORROW: BACK TO NORMAL BLOGS "



Author of Young Adult Romance/Fiction book
Across the Pond
http://acrossthepond-storyheart.blogspot.com/
http://across-t-pond.com

BOOK PROMOTION ON A BUDGET - Part 4

BOOK PROMOTION ON A BUDGET: PART 4
Things I wish I’d known before I started out on the published authors trail.





BLOGS AND BLOG RADIO:

USE OTHER BLOGS:

Another way to increase your presence and a personal favorite of mine is via all the thousands of what I call the “small bloggers” out there. There are hundreds of people who run book/readers blogs, many of these are only to keen to proved and then post a written interview with you.

These people especially in the Young Adult/Teen market are what I now call the “sham wow” if literature, the people who just soak up books. They read, review and live books and authors seven days a week. Their information and comments are passed to other readers who in turn might well have there own blogs where they to will comment.

Once you find one site, often you can find others of the same genera just be looking at who comments and who follows that blog.

DON’T FORGET…
You will need to have some spare books to send for people to review



BLOG RADIO

I read today a promotion from a company where for $45 you can get a 15minute interview and for $99 a full thirty minute interview. Along with this guest information was posted and the show is archived so it can be listened to months down the line.





While there are some very good radio shows out there, even TV shows if you live in the right area. Some of which might be worth a small donation or payment. There are many more available on BLOG TALK RADIO (http://www.blogtalkradio.com) and blog talk radio is FREE!

Check out the http://www.blogtalkradio.com. Find shows that you think you’d like to be a guest on and contact the host; normally they will be delighted to have you as a guest. Sometimes this might be a month or even two ahead as most radio shows already have a guest list.

You do not have to visit any recording studio, just dial into a number which the host will supply and chat for however long the show last. I have been on shows where I have read a chapter of my book for ten minutes; I have been on shows that have lasted an hour. My own twice a week show “A BOOK AND A CHAT” is a thirty minute show.

You can find radio shows all over the internet, I have even found hosts looking for guests on Craig’s List.


TIP: When you find a show check out when the last aired show was, if it’s not been for a month or two, it might be even though it shows on “Blog talk radio”, the people no longer broadcast.




TOMORROW: PART FIVE "REVIEWS AND A FEW TIPS"



Author of Young Adult Romance/Fiction book
Across the Pond
http://acrossthepond-storyheart.blogspot.com/
http://across-t-pond.com

BOOK PROMOTION ON A BUDGET - Part 3

BOOK PROMOTION ON A BUDGET: PART 3
Things I wish I’d known before I started out on the published authors trail.





YOUR BOOK IS PUBLISHED:

So now what?

EXPOSURE!!!!!

Twitter it, blog it, join groups, check Amazon Barnes and Noble etc, get your name and that of your book OUT THERE!

Try checking your book on something like http://www.fetchbook.info where you can put in your ISBN number and see all the locations online that are selling your book and the cost.

Another GREAT way to spread the word is a “VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR”

Normal book tours where you might go to a book shop, sit there all day and have four people come up to you, two to take a free book mark and perhaps one to purchase a copy of your book (unless big-name author who can bring in a big crowd and sell an impressive number of books). Virtual tours allow you to visit locations all over the world without leaving your desk. Normal tours, once your visit is over it’s over, virtual tours can go on promoting your book for months even years after your event. Unlike the few people in the book store, virtual tours allow you to reach thousand with each interview, each review and each stop along your tour.

I did a VBT back in February; it was a few days after coming out of hospital where I'd had major back surgery. Yet for the whole month I was on my virtual tour, I was able visited places all around the world while still in my sick bed.

Just think, you do a tour to a book store, you have to cart all your books etc along with you, perhaps even donate a few to the book shop itself. Unless you’re some huge star, if your lucky during the whole day you might manage to get ten people stop to chat. Three to ask questions, three to ask for directions and four to help themselves to the free bookmarks or whatever you might have to give away. Once your day is finished it’s over and you’re forgotten.

On a virtual tour, you can reach sites, blogs and even news papers that might have hundreds of thousands of visitors a month, and your interview/review does not disappear it’s there after for people to continue to read.

There are many offerings for Virtual Book Tours I have been quoted up to three thousand for some tours; others I have seen offering seven days tour for $149.

However the best one I have found and one I highly recommend is
PUMP UP YOUR BOOK PROMOTION
(http://www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com)

They offer three different levels for $399 they will set you up with a full months tour, blogs, interviews even radio show stops. As well as information about each stop along the way being shared at several major sites. These are a great group of people. I completed my tour with them and have stayed friends with ever since.

These tours take a month or two to plan so book up ahead of time, and be prepared to be part of the tour, what you put in you take out. Put in nothing and you’ll get nothing

You never know where one of your interviews might turn up. During my month I appeared in the Chicago Sunday Times and even the Wall Street Journal.

One thing I will state again is…

Marketing and Pr doesn’t sell books - it gets you exposure!

There are always those who expect every stop along the way to mean they will sell another hundred books. Don’t forget the formula

Publicity=exposure
Exposure=name recognition
Name recognition MAY equal book sales



PART FOUR "BLOGS AND BLOG RADIO" TOMORROW



Author of Young Adult Romance/Fiction book
Across the Pond
http://acrossthepond-storyheart.blogspot.com/
http://across-t-pond.com

BOOK PROMOTION ON A BUDGET: PART 2

BOOK PROMOTION ON A BUDGET: PART 2
Things I wish I’d known before I started out on the published authors trail.





WEB PAGE:

Every author “MUST” have a web page.

If I type an author’s name into Google and don’t see a website, I can’t easily find more information on the book they are selling.

Authors need to realize that the book buying community is just as busy as everyone else. If I can’t find what I am looking for on the Internet in under five minutes—and I’m being generous here because I won’t even give it that long—then I’m moving on to something else. Some authors use blogs as websites, but they really aren’t set up to provide all the information that a website does.

Publicists, blog hosts, interviewers, readers, radio hosts or anybody who wants information, the first place they look for information is “the authors’ web page”.

There many companies that offer a service of setting up your web page offering services such as the purchase of your own domain (.com name), page design for your book even your own email addresses.

Again I have seen costs for this “one of set up” going into four figures, and not always starting with a one. After that there is often charge for continued support and any changes required.



Let’s take a look at this…

One of the top locations for “web hosting” these days is http://godaddy.com
While they are always producing special offers and mixing and matching what they have to offer here is a basic break down on what it might cost you to create your web site.

To purchase your own domain, “.com” “.net” or whatever you want it will cost you “under $10 a year” this can offer also supply you all sorts of other add-ons, freebies etc, but for now I’m going to show you the worst costs.
Now you have your domain/site name, you need to set up where you web site will be of “hosted/located”. For the majority of cases just a basic economy plan will do you.

This will cost you under “$5 a month” and for that you will get:

10gb (giga-byte) of space, email accounts, email forwarding, some free software and free advertising on the likes of Google and Facebook.

There is even an option for a blog set up, and something called “Web Site tonight” which provides templates for you web pages some especially for authors, with book, bio, author pages etc.

While this sounds complicated and you might not want to get involved in setting up such a thing, it really is not that hard. I could for instance set up an author’s web site, with mail, blog, five pages about them and their book even advertise it on the internet for $299 and that includes a few dollars for my time.

A fraction of the thousand or so you see being charged.



PART THREE "YOUR BOOK IS PUBLISHED" TOMORROW



Author of Young Adult Romance/Fiction book
Across the Pond
http://acrossthepond-storyheart.blogspot.com/
http://across-t-pond.com

"HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR BOOK ON A BUDGET" - PART ONE

BOOK PROMOTION ON A BUDGET: PART 1

Things I wish I’d known before I started out on the published authors trail.

As all writers know there are many places on the web the offer you various services to help you become the “next best selling author”, and while many are there to help you, some other are just there to make as much money as possible from any unsuspecting author.

Plenty of places are out there, plenty of emails, and contacts come your way however before you jump on the sometime costly bandwagon, just see what is there for perhaps less money or with a better service.

See what the best “BANG FOR YOU BUCK” might be.

BEFORE YOU START:

Before you go anywhere remember these words….

Marketing and Pr doesn’t sell books - it gets you exposure!

As one of my fellow bloggers and radio hosts put it today…

Publicity=exposure
Exposure=name recognition
Name recognition MAY equal book sales

Don’t think that just because you have your book being published you will be the next J.K Rowling. There are not that many authors out there who actually make a living from their books. So in other words:

“Dream of the day… but don’t lose touch with reality”

SO YOUR BOOK IS BEING PUBLISHED:

Before the ink is out of the bottle, let alone dry on the pages of your book you should have some items to aid your book promotion already set up.

You should look to set up the following:

Facebook Page
My Space Page
Blog
Book Email
Twitter Account
Web Site

There are plenty of places out there which will offer services for such things sometimes charging over $1000. So let’s break these items down and see what there is on offer.

SOCIAL NETWORKING:

Facebook, My Space and Twitter etc are what come under “Social Networking”.

I recently read and that a major publisher is now proud to offer a “Social Media Setup Service” that will help an author into “the world of social media”

You Got:
A blog on the popular and easy to use WordPress platform
A Facebook profile for your identity as an author
A Facebook page for your book
A MySpace page for your book

This was available at a “Special Introductory Price of $999”

I also received information from a “Marketing and Promotion” company, which offers many such items, their charge for setting you up with these services was $149



Setting up these Social Networking options and locations costs “$0.00… Nothing… Zero”. Any person who has access to a computer can go on the internet, create exactly what these companies offer for nothing, and achieve the same results in under an hour.

One of the other things I noticed with some interest is that the blog offered was on WordPress, which though very good quite often might require you to have some knowledge of HTML coding to change certain formats and styles. For a person who perhaps does not have such skills I would recommend a person uses “BLOGGER” (www.blogger.com) is a far easier platform, similar to writing something in “Word”
It is equally as good for getting your information out on the web, and like WordPress “IT’S FREE”

Twitter while the flavor of the moment, only gives you 140 characters to pass on your news, links or whatever.

There are many other “free” ways of passing on news VOX, XANGA, LIVE JOURNAL, MSN, AOL to name a few. You can even use the likes of http://ping.fm (again FREE) where from one location you can post your news to many locations.

Many writers/readers groups such a SCBWI have their own blog sections.

One other thing that is very important is to be author must be aware of how much time you can dedicate to social media. If you sign up for 50 sites, but never update them, then they’re useless.

While ping.fm helps you update multiple sites at a time, it is still limited in what it can work with, so authors really need to decide how much time they have and only sign up for the sites you can commit to.

Don’t forget, the more you’re out there… the more exposure, name recognition and “possibly” sales.

PART TWO "WEB PAGE" TOMORROW



Author of Young Adult Romance/Fiction book
Across the Pond
http://acrossthepond-storyheart.blogspot.com/
http://across-t-pond.com

Book Promotion on a Budget and "no shows"

Today on my book radio show "A BOOK AND A CHAT" my guest did not show. While I'm sure there must be a good reason, I was not as prepared as perhaps I should have been as I did receive confirmation from my guests agent.

So what do you do?

After a brief outline of the guest and her book, hoping that she would dial in eventually, I went through the guests and events over the last two weeks, as well as some sporting items that have been going on today and mentioning my UK Sunday blog which tomorrow will be about "BIG BEN". To tourists this is the clock tower which is part of the "House of Parliament" as well as being one of the best known landmarks of London. However.. you are wrong... that is not Big Ben. Read tomorrows Sunday blog to find out all the details.

Okay so that was ten minutes of the show, so what did I talk about for the other twenty?

The answer is what I intend to blog all next week.

"BOOK PROMOTION ON A BUDGET"

Each day next week I will be talking about various ways you can save while helping your book promotion. I wrote this document earlier in the week working on all the various items I have found since my book has come out. It was suggested I make it into an E Book, perhaps to make some money, but to me that went against the whole idea of why I was writing the document.

So starting Next Monday each day through the week I will be trying to offer help for any author, writer or reader as to ways of promoting your book without spending a fortune.

needless to say I got quite into it on the radio show and you can here some of what will be shared on today's "BOOK AND A CHAT with Storyheart"

PLEASE... if you are a writer, reader, author, story teller etc PASS THE WORD about next weeks blog, it is all to help people by items I have learned and I will tell it as it is. No flowery words, in a language that people can understand.

So FOLLOW NEXT WEEKS BLOG - BOOK PROMOTION ON A BUDGET

SUNDAYS UK BLOG - BIG BEN





Author of Young Adult Romance/Fiction book
"Across the Pond"

Book Site:http://across-t-pond.com
Follow my daily blog at: http://acrossthepond-storyheart.blogspot.com
Follow my Blog Talk Radio Show at :http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Across-the-Pond
Amazon Reviews: http://tinyurl.com/o7sokpGuardian