Develop your author platform and extend your reach

by D’vorah Lansky

I’d like to thank Sandra for hosting me in celebration of the launch of my newest book, 21 Ways to Launch a Successful Virtual Book Tour. In this article I’ll be talking about the importance of developing your online author platform. An author platform is a place where people can come to connect with you. It is where you share your message and it refers to the size of your following/readership and your presence on the Internet. It is essential for an author to have an author platform as your platform raises your visibility and allows people to get acquainted with you.

Here are a few things that you can do to develop your online author platform:

• Set your blog up so that it makes a positive statement about you as an author. If you have any intentions of speaking, you are going to need a website which actually shows people who you are and what you speak about.
• Have a media page or speaker sheet that can be easily accessed on your website. Include images of both you and your book cover.
• Include a page on your site where you can feature endorsements or testimonials. This will provide a powerful way for people to get to know you through third-party endorsement.
• Make sure that you have a professional presence on the social media networks. Social networks provide you with the ability to reach a large number of people easily, develop your presence, share your expertise, and impart the message of your book.

Whether you are beginning with a well-established website and large audience, or you are just setting up your website and beginning to grow your audience, there is much you can do to develop and promote your online platform.

The fastest way to develop your platform is to make sure you have an attractive looking blog or website where people can come to find out more about you and your book. Develop a daily writing schedule and post articles to your site several times a week. Interact on the social networking sites and invite your target audience to enjoy reading the articles you’ve posted to your site. You will soon come to be seen as an expert in your field and you will develop relationships and friendships with your readers.

Top social networks for authors

As authors, social networking is an important aspect of our marketing plan. In addition to the big four social networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube) there are dozens of social networks that are designed specifically for authors. Following are some of my favorite social networks for authors. Take time to explore these sites and pick one or two to join. Set up your profile page, add information about your book, and begin networking with authors, readers, and publishers.

Author Central on Amazon – Author Central is a free service that Amazon offers so that authors can gain more exposure and promote their books. At Author Central, you can share with your readers the most current information about yourself, your events, and your work. In addition, you can view and edit your bibliography, add a photo and biography to a personal profile, upload book cover images and videos, track your book sales, and pull in the RSS feed from you blog as a way to connect with readers. Here’s my Author Central page if you’d like to connect: www.DvorahOnAmazon.com.

Authors Den – AuthorsDen is one of the largest and most vibrant online literary communities for both authors and potential readers. Nearly 1.5 million readers a month visit this website and have the opportunity to review books while interacting with others.

GoodReads – GoodReads claims to be “the largest social network for readers in the world.” GoodReads members recommend books, compare what they are reading, keep track of what they’ve read and would like to read, form book clubs, and interact with others. GoodReads authors can create an author profile, add their books, create events, and interact with readers.

Shelfari – Shelfari is known as a gathering place for authors, aspiring authors, publishers, and readers. They have numerous features to enable these groups to connect in an enjoyable way.

What kind of networking about your book and topic do you do online? Tell us about your favorite social networks and how these networks have helped you to promote your book and your message.

Relph interviewed me for the article (make sure you read it — I chimed in on mistakes # 3, 5, 7, and 8), but it’s clear that she had enough material from her own experiences and didn’t need help from me.

Let me just add a few other no-nos to the list so you’re even better grounded in what not to do:

1. Don’t send a link to an article you’ve written and say “pull something from this.” You can do better than that. I know you can. Either do an interview or don’t — but don’t suggest that somebody who writes for a living should copy from an article or blog post on your website and call that a direct quote.
2. Don’t ask if you can review the article before it runs. It ain’t gonna’ happen. The best you’ll get is a chance to see your contribution to the piece — not the whole piece — but even that isn’t likely.
3. Don’t keep e-mailing the reporter to ask if the story has run yet. Use The Google.
4. Respond to e-mail messages or phone calls from journalists immediately. If they don’t hear from you right away, they’ll move on to another source. Don’t miss an opportunity to get priceless book publicity because you “wanted to think about it first.” Think quickly, then write or call.

Naturally, you haven’t made any of these mistakes or those in Relph’s article. Maybe you’ve seen others make mistakes though.

What other mistakes would you add to this list?

Does quality matter in self-publishing?

By Kristen Eckstein

I’ve heard it from dozens of authors, “I just can’t seem to understand why my book isn’t selling. It sold well at first, but after the first 100 copies sales just… stopped. What can I do to market my book?”

Let me be frank. Marketing will only take your book so far if you’re lacking a quality product. Think about Amazon reviews for products people rave about (5 stars) vs. similar products in the same category people complain about (1 star). Most of those one-star reviews are complaining about the quality of the product.

If you cut corners in quality, you open the big fat door to failure after your family and friends all have copies of your book. The average self-published book only sells 75 copies. Average. Honestly, at first I didn’t believe that statistic since most authors I’ve worked with sell way more than that. And after seeing many poor quality self-published books, now I know why.

Benefits of quality

A high quality book reaps great benefits:

1. More sales—Books that look good and feel good make people look at them longer. You have seven seconds to convince someone to look further at your book after they see your cover. Make the most of that time!
2. More credibility—If you hope to get leads and new clients with your book, don’t cut corners. Cutting corners attracts the crowd who like to cut corners themselves. To attract higher-end clients, you have to show them a higher-end product. Think about the types of people who shop at Lexus vs. Kia. Lexus markets themselves as having a high quality product and Kia markets themselves as cheap. Who do you want to be?
3. More marketability—You can market a horrible book until the cows come home and sell a few copies. Or you can market a great book until the cows come home and become a New York Times Best Seller. The choice is yours.

If you’re on a tight budget and can only hire a professional, here are three things to make sure you outsource:

1. Editing—At bare minimum, hire a copy editor to look at your manuscript. Every book needs another set of eyes.
2. Cover design—People do judge a book by its cover. Studies have been done that prove this fact! Hire an experienced professional who specializes in book cover design and you won’t regret it!
3. Interior layout—MS Word is not a page layout program. This is one of the primary reasons self-published books get poor reviews or fail to sell, because books formatted in MS Word scream, “Look at me! I’m self-published!” Get yourself a professional book interior layout designer and give your readers a memorable experience.

Your book is your dream. It deserves to be treated with the highest respect and given the chance at a long and successful life, so give it that chance and watch your reputation and reach expand to new horizons and open doors to new possibilities!

Do you agree with Kristen? Why or why not?

Author Kevin Daum started with a tattoo.

I had dinner with Daum and several other writers last week while in New York City for the American Society of Journalists and Authors annual conference for writers. I was glad to have an opportunity to meet Daum in person after reviewing his book, Video Marketing for Dummies, here on the blog.

He mentioned that when he wrote an earlier book, Roar! Get Heard in the Sales and Marketing Jungle: A Business Fable, his goal was to make it a New York Times best seller. To make sure he didn’t forget — and to make sure he worked toward that goal every day – Daum tattooed “New York Times best seller” backwards on his chest.

Why backwards? So that he’d be able to read it in the mirror every morning.

Here’s my picture of it. Let it be an inspiration to anyone who wants to achieve the same goal — or any high goal, for that matter.

“New York Times best seller”

(Did it make the list? Nope.)

What would you do to make your book a best seller?

7 ways to conduct a successful crowdfunding campaign

By Justine Schofield

In the age of the Internet and social media, crowdfunding is becoming an increasingly popular means of mitigating financial risk for creative projects. Crowdfunding platforms offer a wonderful opportunity for artists to raise funds and awareness for their projects, but since crowdfunding is still a relatively new concept, it can be difficult to run a successful campaign.

So, here are a few tips that will help you run a more effective and successful crowdfunding campaign.

1. Offer enticing rewards. Although people generally don’t support crowdfunding campaigns for the rewards, it’s still important to put a lot of thought behind the reward levels you create for your campaign. The effort you put in will determine the success of your campaign. It’s important to remember that some of the most enticing rewards are the fun and creative ones that don’t necessarily cost the author very much money. For example, an author crowdfunding for a book can promise to name a character after the person who donates $500+.  This costs the author nothing, but is a fun incentive.
2. Do pre-campaign research. The biggest don’t of crowdfunding is starting your campaign before you’re ready. Time is a big factor in crowdfunding campaigns (most campaigns run for 30-60 days), so don’t put your project up and then try to figure out your strategy. Also, it’s very important you research your costs up front so you can create appropriate reward levels. The goal is to make money, so obviously your reward levels will be proportionate to the amount donated. To be successful, you will need to determine how much money you’ll need to raise to complete your project and fulfill the incentive levels. Tip: don’t forget about shipping costs.
3. Know your audience. No matter what your crowdfunding project is, there is a specific audience that will be more inclined to be interested in and support your campaign. Knowing who your audience is—age, gender, occupation, etc.—will help you maximize your time and efforts.
4. Target your audience. Once you know your audience, your focus should be to reach out to that particular group of people. Learn where these people are, both on the Internet and in your community, and reach out through the appropriate platforms. For example, finding blogs your audience would read and reaching out through that platform would be much more effective than yourself blindly blogging to the vast Internet as a whole.
5. Don’t be timid. Here’s the most important tip when it comes to crowdfunding: It’s a lot of work. Your success is directly connected to the time and effort you put into your campaign. The funds aren’t going to raise themselves (wouldn’t that be nice, though?), so put yourself out there and ask people to support your campaign. The worst they can say is no.
6. Be personal and make it easy. While asking for support, it’s always more effective to do so on a personal level. Sending out a generic tweet or Facebook message won’t feel as genuine to your audience. Reach out to your close network via a personal e-mail or message with the link to your campaign. Also, provide them with an e-mail they can send out to their own network as well. Make it as easy for them as possible to support you.
7. Keep your supporters updated. Once you get someone to support your campaign, don’t just let them fall by the wayside. Keep them in the loop by sending out a newsletter or e-mail updates throughout your campaign and post-campaign. Make sure they know their support is appreciated.

Have you use a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for your book? How successful were you?

TV interviews are definitely different. They are usually shorter and more focused than newspaper or magazine interviews. In addition, your appearance is more important than with any other media interview.

A little knowledge will banish a lot of anxiety. Here are nine suggestions for helping you prep for your big first moment in front of the camera:

1. Study the show. 

This will put your interview in context, help you familiarize yourself with the host, and guide your clothing selection. The more you know about the show’s format and tone, the more comfortable you’ll be during the interview.

2. Know what you want to communicate.

You’ll have an opportunity to communicate one or two key messages. Know the points you want to make before you arrive at the studio — and practice saying them in advance.

3. Don’t get comfortable. 

Sit up straight on the edge of your chair. If you lean back or worse, slouch, you will be far less dynamic and definitely a less interesting guest to watch (which means people will change the channel).

4. Pump it up.  

Cameras drain your energy, so you have to be more animated than usual when you speak. You might feel silly, but it looks natural on TV.

5. Use your hands when you talk.

Free them up by holding them loosely on your lap and use them naturally – but use them. They will make you more  interesting to watch than someone who sits with his hands locked together on his lap.

6. Smile as often as possible. 

As viewers, we become more engaged with smilers than we do with frowners. Sometimes a frown is appropriate, and a smile doesn’t always fit the subject matter, but in general, viewers want to look at people with pleasant expressions.

7. Ignore the camera. 

Unless you’re answering questions from viewers phoning in to the show, look at the interviewer, not the camera. You’re having a conversation with the host — focus on that, and don’t worry about the cameras.

8. Wear something you like.  

But wear something that’s appropriate for the show and for the type of work you do. A landscaper or a chef would look silly in a suit just as a CEO would look funny in overalls. Watch several episodes of the show to see what people are wearing.

9. Practice, practice, practice.

Ask a friend to role play the interview with you. Videotape your practice interviews to see what works and what doesn’t and to identify any distracting behaviors.

Finally, study the behavior of  other authors you see on the network morning shows because most have had media training. While many won’t be as slick as celebrity guests or experts who appear regularly,  they will be more polished than “ordinary” people who appear on the show because something extraordinary has just happened to them.

What has been your most exciting book promotion moment so far? Please tell us in a comment!

Book publishing and marketing are both changing so much so quickly that you have to work constantly to stay up-to-date on trends, techniques, and tactics.

I try to attend two in-person conferences a year, but I also learn from virtual programs — conferences, teleseminars, and webinars — from my office all year.

I use what I learn for my own business, but I try to share as much as possible with other authors here on the blog, in my free newsletter, in my courses, and when I present at conferences. I’m speaking at several in-person and virtual events in coming weeks. If you’re participating in any of these, please make sure you say “Hi!”

eBook Publishing Boot Camp — My friend D’vorah Lansky’s amazing virtual conference (I’ve attended before!) takes place between  April 16 and 25, 2013 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Each day’s sessions are available on-demand beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern. It’s an impressive line-up of experts talking about everything from how to kill it with Kindle in 30 minutes a day to how to launch a book. My workshop is “How to Build Buzz for Your E-book” on Tuesday, April 23. Because I’m an instructor, I can offer you a 20% discount coupon on registration. Use SANDRA20 when you register. Learn more at the boot camp headquarters.

American  Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) “Fire Up Your Writing Career” conference – I attend this event every year, taking advantage of the member discount and the excellent members-only programming the day before the conference opens to the public. This year’s conference April 25-27, 2013 focuses on helping writers learn new ways to make money as writers. I’m speaking on the April 26 panel, “So You Want to . . . Create and Market Profitable Information Products” and moderating the April 27 session, “Leverage Your Writing into Freelance Spokesperson Gigs.” Learn more and register online at the conference site.

Nonfiction Writers Conference — Don’t miss Guy Kawasaki’s APE (author, publisher, entrepreneur) presentation at Stephanie Chandler’s jam-packed online conference May 8-10, 2013. Learn about blogging, SEO, video marketing, self-publishing and other topics from Stephanie and other industry greats, including Mark Coker, Dan Poynter, Joanna Penn, and Dana Lynn Smith. My session on “DIY Publicity” is Thursday, May 9. Don’t miss the early bird discount — it expires April 21, 2013. To get the 30% discount off any registration option, use coupon code NFWC30 (enter it in your shopping cart and then click “Update Cart”). You can’t get the discount after April 21, though, so register now (click here to view more details).

BlogPaws — I’ll be speaking in-person at this annual conference for pet bloggers who, believe it or not, attend with their pets. I’m looking forward to making a few furry friends! It’s May16-18, 2013 in Tysons Corner, Va. I’m co-presenting with Amy Shojai; she’ll talk about producing e-books and I’ll address how to promote them. Join us on Friday, May 17. Check out the lineup online.

I hope you’ll join me at one of these events. Make sure you say “hi” if you do!

Before you write it off, ask yourself if you’re using it to its full potential. It’s a resource for:

• Learning when you follow people you admire and read what they share
• Connecting when you use it to develop relationships with people you can learn from or who are in your book’s target audience
• Getting the word out about your book when you use it properly (meaning, don’t constantly tweet “buy my book” messages)

That should be enough, right? But Twitter is the social networking site that keeps on giving to authors in unexpected ways.

Here are two more valuable ways that Twitter supports your work as an author.

1. Agent pitch contests

Writers are connecting with agents through Twitter pitch fests with agents. Young adult author Brenda Drake hosts regular ”Pitch Madness” events with the #PitMad hashtag (requires registration on her blog). The challenge is to pitch your idea in 140 characters or less. Pitches that made it through are listed online; use them for inspiration before you participate in one of these events.

Entranced Publishing is also hosting #FridayFrenzy Twitter Pitch fests during Fridays in April. Learn more and start the process at the Bende Books blog.

2. Twitter book clubs

Laura Moser shared her experience with Twitter book clubs in a weekend Wall Street Journal article, “Tweet Any Good Books Lately?” Moser explains what she was looking for in a Twitter club and offers helpful tips to Twitter book club participants.

She refers to three clubs:

• @PenguinUSA Twitter book club
• JBC/Jewcy Twitter book club
• The Atlantic‘s 1book140

I’ll add a few more:

• The book club
• The Guardian book club
• Huffington Post book club

Instead of viewing Twitter book clubs as an opportunity to get your book selected for a discussion (they are probably very competitive), use them, instead, as opportunities to gain insights into what readers do and don’t like about the work of others. Naturally, you’ll want to pay particular attention to books in your genre.

Do you participate in any Twitter pitch fests for authors and agents, or in Twitter book clubs? Have they been helpful? Please share links to them here.