An Author's Blog

Getting Your Words Read Part 3

You and Facebook

Facebook is the most advanced relationally connected site on the web and a great way for others to find out what you are doing. When you connect with an existing friend on Facebook, you have the opportunity to connect with their entire network. You can invite them to be your friend, post articles or notes that are instantly read by those in your network, create photo albums, include your webpage(s), post video, “SuperPoke” people, create causes for others to join, just about whatever your mind can imagine. You can find my profile here and invite me as a friend: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=791064551

 

Getting Your Words Read

Part One of my talk at

The Unite Conference in Vancouver. Stay tuned for Part Two:

We live in a different age of publishing. Traditional methods of marketing don’t work in this digital age. Promoting your written words is a new kind of art form with a ton of potential for new authors. Let’s talk about how to get those words noticed in world that is constantly shrinking. Your most powerful tools are marketing in the midst of peer-to-peer networks and search engines on the world wide web.

Start a Blog

Personally, I prefer Typepad (www.typepad.com). Check out my blog for ideas, www.cthomasdavis.com and www.anauthorsblog.com. I’m able to post videos I’ve created, photo albums, YouTube or GodTube videos, books I’m reading, and books I’ve written. It’s also possible to make money from the books people order from your site that has a direct Amazon link. Other author sites to look at: Lisa Samson, (www.lisasamson.com), Claudia Mair Burney – Ragamuffin Diva, (http://ragamuffindiva.blogspot.com), Marilynn Griffith, http://marilynngriffith.typepad.com/rhythmsofgrace.

There are other great hosting sites including Blogger (www.blogger.com) and WordPress (www.wordpress.com). These sites are user friendly, organized, and either free or inexpensive. This will give you a place to post your poetry, writing, whims, and stories for your friends and the rest of the world to see. The best part about these sites is this: whatever you write will automatically be posted in major search engines like Google, Ask.com, etc. So if you write an article on “The Beauty of the Mountains,” people searching for things like, “Beauty” and “Mountains” will be directed to your site.

You can also choose a subscription service users can subscribe to that will send them an email when you create a new post. This can also tell you how others find you, where people live who are hitting your site, what pages they’re clicking on, etc. See www.feedburner.com for more information.

10 Steps to Marketing Your Book

1.         Research the market. Visit your local bookstores. Observe the section where your book would be shelved. Look for names of publishers who publish books similar to yours and might be a possible publisher for your book. Survey your competition. Note how these books are similar to or different from yours. Make sure that you understand WHY your book needs to be published.      

2.         Make a list of potential publishers. Read 2001 Writers Market; 2001 The Writers Handbook; The Literary Marketplace; Writers Guide to Book Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents -2001; or 2001Christian Writers Market Guide. Look up addresses of the publishers you've identified that have a line or imprint suitable for your book. Obtain the name of the appropriate editor to submit to. If you submit to nobody, it will go to nobody and land in the slush pile graveyard.      

3.         Get latest catalogs and submission guidelines. Request a current catalog and writer's guidelines for whatever type of book you want to submit (i.e. children's, academic, fiction, nonfiction, etc. Some publishers have separate writer's guidelines for each category, others have just one Guideline sheet. Send SASE. Never phone! Some guidelines are now available via the Internet.      

4.         Write a sizzling query letter. Initiate contact by sending a query letter (two pages maximum) describing your work and encouraging the editor to request it. This is your sales pitch, your door-opener. According to one agent, "In addition to the letter, its okay to include a resume/bio that highlights any writing credits or relevant professional credentials; a brief summary (2-3 pages) if the book is nonfiction, or a brief synopsis if it’s fiction; and promotional materials. Be careful: At this stage your aim is merely to whet the editor's appetite; you don't want to cause    information overload. "Less is more." If you have secured BIG NAME endorsements, Television or Radio Talk Show invitations, this is the time to mention them. (Writers Guide to Books Editors... 1998-1999, Herman, Prima)

Click here to read the next 6 steps.

Writer's Blog: Chris Anderson: Blogs Fantastic Aid for Authors

Chris Anderson, the author of The Long Tail and the editor in chief of Wired, told I Want Media in an interview that blogs are a "fantastic aid" for authors.

Anderson: I think it's a fantastic aid, especially under circumstances like mine. It had three advantages for me, as I was writing a non-fiction, research-heavy book that was based on an article already published.

By feeding the conversation, it allowed me to keep the momentum of the article going during the 22-month dead time between the publication of the article and the book. I gave away some of my research results and ideas, but got back many times that in comments, other people's blog posts and emails.

Hundreds of people applied The Long Tail to their own industries and experience and revealed resonances I never would have thought of, from The Long Tail of beer to travel to warfare. I tossed out half-baked ideas and phrasing, and my smart readers helped me bake them. Those thousands of readers have great word-of-mouth influence, which I imagine will help market the book when it comes out.

Chris Anderson's blog can be found here. A lot of authors are using blogs these days to help promote their books.  You can read more about author blogs in this article from The Internet Writing Journal. 
Find more writing scoop at the Writer's Blog.