Her name is Siri.

(Sorry Toni!)

I know I’m really late to this party, but I just got an iPhone 5 last week and we are officially operating as one unit.

It’s the first thing I reach for when I wake up and the last thing I check before bed.

But enough about my and my obvious technological dependency issues (my therapist and I will have plenty of time to talk about that down the road, I’m sure).

What I really want to share with you is how much time I’ve been able to save with my marketing efforts by using a handful of awesome (and free) apps on my iPhone (don’t worry, they’re available for Droids, too).

In addition to sending texts, making calls, and setting alarms, that little computer we carry around with us can also maximize what little time we have to get our marketing swag on.

With help from the five apps I’m going to tell you about today (and which you should immediately download when we’re done here) you’ll be able to turn long waits at parent pick-up into two days’ worth of tweets, make a quick update to your Facebook fan page while cooking dinner, and make new friends on GoodReads while you’re in the checkout line at the grocery store.

And did I mention all of these apps have free versions available for your phone?

Okay, you’re hooked, I know, so let’s move on to these app-tastic apps.

1. Buffer

Y’all already know how I feel about Buffer.

It has completely changed my relationship with Twitter (for the better) and with the handy Buffer app it’s even easier to use.

What you can do with it:

Add and delete tweets on your pre-planned list in Buffer, shorten links, swap the order of your tweets, view your Twitter stats (clicks, retweets, and total views) and manage multiple Twitter or Facebook accounts.

How it helps:

Since I started using Buffer, I’ve run into just one problem with it.

I often surf Twitter on my phone, but if I see something I want to retweet I couldn’t add it to my Buffer stream. I tell myself I’ll remember to look for it again when I get on the computer, but that NEVER happens.

(Isn’t that the biggest lie we tell ourselves? Oh, I don’t need to write that down, I’ll remember it!)

But now I have solved that problem with a combination of two apps — Buffer and the next app-tastic add-on in the list…

2. TweetCaster

I’ll be honest — other than HootSuite, I’ve never ventured beyond the familiar comforts of the standard Twitter app.

But TweetCaster’s connection to Buffer makes it a worthwhile download.

What you can do with it:

In addition to posting new tweets, you can view your Twitter feed, mentions, replies, retweets, stats, and lists.

You can also add retweets to Buffer with two clicks, making it easy to keep your Buffer stream topped up on the go.

How it helps:

I follow about a thousand people on Twitter, so browsing my feed at any given time is barely organized chaos.

But with TweetCaster I’ve created three private lists (one for my author friends, one of my fan friends, and one for my local friends) so I can easily sift through tweets from one specific group at a time.

It not only keeps me from missing important tweets from important friends, it makes the little OCD person inside of me SUPER happy.

3. Facebook Fan Page App

In addition to the regular Facebook app (which I sometimes close, only to immediately re-open compulsively like crazy person), there is actually a separate app just for managing your fan pages.

What you can do with it:

You can easily add new posts to your fan page, switch between multiple fan pages (I’m juggling five right now!), message with your fans, upload photos, manage your settings, and view your insights.

(Technically, yes, you can do this from the regular Facebook app as well, but trust me when I tell you it’s much easier with the Facebook Fan Page App.)

How it helps:

Facebook is *really* picky about posting through third party apps.

You can do it, but your post won’t get circulated to as many of your fans if you auto-share from another service like Buffer, HootSuite or a WordPress plug-in that automatically posts your blogs.

That’s frustrating because it’s a lot easier for us to have these things scheduled in advance, right?

But at least with the fan page app, you can post directly to Facebook while you’re on-the-go.

It’s also much easier to share mobile photos and keep up with comments and messages this way!

4. GoodReads

By now we all have GoodReads accounts, right?

Though you unfortunately can’t manage your author account and promotions with this app, it’s still a great way to keep up with friends, manage your messages, and follow your groups.

What you can do with it:

Read and exchange messages, connect with new friends, update your list of books, edit your profile, join (and keep up with) different groups, and check upcoming literary events in your area.

How it helps:

I’m only a member of a handful of GoodReads groups, but I still seem to receive messages from them almost every day.

It’s much easier to keep up with those (especially the important messages about limited giveaways and nominations for the next month’s book read) on-the-go with the app.

You can also spend a few minutes stuck waiting in line to find new author and reader friends on GoodReads or catch up on recent blog posts from authors you follow.

5. Google Drive

Imagine this scenario: You’re out and about, away from your computer, when a big-time book promoter contacts you looking to fill a last-minute spot with a free promotion for your book.

Only they need your cover images, media kit, and sample chapter right now.

If you’re using Google Drive to connect your computer hard drive and iPhone (or Droid) this is no problem.

What you can do with it:

View and edit your documents (applies only to certain file types), email documents, create new documents and share them with other Google users, and transfer files from your computer to your phone (especially easy for .doc and .jpeg files).

How it helps:

Without having to actually take up storage space on your phone (a limited commodity, especially if you have the Backstreet Boys’ entire anthology on your iPhone like I do) you can still access important files on the go.

Just make sure you’ve also installed Google Drive on your computer or uploaded files through your Google account at docs.google.com.

Questions? Extra tips?

If you’ve got a favorite app that helps you keep up with your marketing on the fly, by all means — share with the class!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get back to my friend Siri — she’s going to tell me a joke.

I think my husband is a little bit weird.

I don’t think I’m the only partner to think this way about her significant other (am I right?), but it wasn’t until very recently that I  started to figure out what makes him so (adorably) socially awkward.

Back when I was in college, I spent my Tuesday nights taking advantage of Domino’s Two for Tuesday deal and watching American Idol in my dorm room.

When Michael was in college, on the other hand, he spent Tuesday nights at the computer science lab, working diligently on his current coding assignment and studying his butt off to stay ahead of the game.

You see, from the time he was a little kid, all Michael wanted was to be a computer programmer. And he knew he would have to work his butt off to get there. So, while other college students were checking out parties (and each other), he worked.

And studied. And read. And sacrificed.

So, when I quote an obscure movie from 2003, and he’s never heard of it…maybe I should cut him a little bit of slack.

How about You?

We get emails from authors every day who are confused, overwhelmed, fed up and tired of being jerked around on the Wild Wheel of Publishing Success. The complaints themselves really boil down to this one, simple truth: your writing career isn’t where you want it to be.

But, to me, the really interesting question is: Why?

Why aren’t you achieving the success you want?

What’s holding you back? Sometimes, it’s a force out of your control…

…but, other times, it’s you.

Are you committed 100% to achieving your writing goals?

Look, I know this topic is a bit of a departure from the norm here at Duolit, as we certainly love us some boundless positivity. But, every now and then, it’s incredibly important to ask yourself the hard questions and marinate on the answers.

Part 1: The ‘How Bad Do You Want It?’ Author Success Test

How bad do you want it?
How bad do you need it?
Are you eating, sleeping, dreaming
With that one thing on your mind?
Cause if you want it all
You’ve got to lay it all out on the line…

Ah yes, wise words (if not grammatically correct) from the American county artist Mr. Faith Hill (ahem, that’s Tim McGraw, for you non-Southerners).

Those words, simple as they might be, are also incredibly true, especially when it comes to publishing success.  Successful indie authors, in particular, know this better than most. While some may argue that, in traditional publishing, some success is given rather than earned (although I would disagree with that statement in 99% of cases), indie authors cannot take success for granted.

Take an honest look at where you are in your writing career!

Before you start the simple quiz below, promise to be 100% honest in your responses. No one else will be checking your responses, and being less than truthful only hurts yourself.

Here’s how the quiz works: Rate each statement below on a scale of 1-10 depending on how much you agree with it (1 being not at all, 10 being completely):

1. I make time in my schedule to work on writing and book promotion, even if it comes at the expense of my leisure time.

This answer reveals your Attitude toward your writing career. Are you willing to sacrifice geeking out at the premiere of Iron Man 3 or catching up over coffee with a long-lost friend to finish that blog post or email those readers?

We recently worked with an amazing author who was battling a shift job, an infant, his writing career and CANCER simultaneously — if he can make time to write and promote his work, you can too!

2. I spend idle time (standing in line, driving, riding public transit, breaks at work, sitting in a waiting room) planning/thinking about my writing/promotional efforts.

This answer reveals the Creativity you put forth in working on your writing career. When you don’t have a bunch of extra time (which, let’s face it, many of us don’t), being creative and carving time out of your schedule wherever you can becomes extremely important.

For me, this means never sitting idle when I could be productive: I carry a notebook everywhere I go to capture my latest Duolit post idea or Coffee Date inspiration. For less than $5 (the cost of a notebook and never-fail pen), I can easily steal time to work wherever I am!

3. I’m willing to invest in professional cover design, editing and marketing services to give my book the best shot at success.

This statement reveals your publishing Business Sense. Authorpreneurs (LOVE that word), understand that their book is an investment and know that having a quality finished product is the first step on the road to success.

Don’t want sticker shock after you’ve finished writing? Seek out quotes during the writing process and start saving up! If you have more time than money, seek creative ways to bring down the cost: find college students willing to do the work in exchange for a portfolio piece or, if you have another skill, consider bartering with a service provider.

4. If I’m unsure how to do something, I’ll spend at least 15 minutes Googling/trying to figure it out myself before  giving up.

Your answer here shows your level of Independence. We bootstrapping (read: poor) authors are willing to take the time and learn how to install a sidebar widget in WordPress, create an email template or figure out the inner workings of GIMP (ick).

It’s true: Almost every question that pops into your brain can likely be answered by a quick Google search, but we hear from many authors who give up before even trying this simple tactic. Next time a question pops up, give it a shot!

5. I understand that there is no guarantee of success for any author; I must work hard to create demand for my book and achieve publishing success.

This statement reveals your Dedication to your writing career. Is this a fly-by-night hobby you want to use to make a little extra cash or is it a lifelong passion that you’d love to turn into a career?

The competition for eyeballs nowadays is FIERCE, and if you’re not willing to work to build your fanbase and create demand for your work, your sales will reflect this.

6. I know that success doesn’t happen overnight; I’m willing to roll with the ups and downs and work on writing/building my fanbase for at least six months before seeing results.

Truly successful indie authors have high amounts of Perseverance. You kinda have to to survive in this business, right?

Part 2: Interpreting the Results

Add up your answers for each question and use the chart below to figure out where you stand:

• 0-30 points: Ask yourself: is being a successful indie author something you really, really want? If so, choose one of the questions you scored low on and work over the next month to bring up that score. Next month, choose another!
• 30-48 points: You definitely have your head in the game, but there are likely one or two areas you could work on to bring up your score. Choose one and, for the next month, focus on ways to increase that score. You can do it!
• 49-60 points: Rock on! You have the perfect mindset for publishing success and we’re excited to watch your career progress. We’d love to hang out with you on a Coffee Date to set some goals for the next three months!

Talk Back

Give it to me straight: how badly do YOU want success in your author career? Did you score better (or worse) than you thought you would on the quiz? What traits will you work to improve? What advice do you have for other indies? Let’s chat in the comments!

Layout is for the birds.

As a self-published author, one of the hardest parts of getting my book to print was converting my manuscript into a fully formatted book. I came to find that laying out a self-published book correctly is one of those jobs that seems simple at first, but can take an incredible amount of time.

Getting all of the pagination right, finding the right copyright information, and just making sure your finished book is easy to read has left many an author reaching for a bottle of Aleve. It’s time consuming, frustrating and in the end, many of us are disappointed that our books don’t look as high quality as the ones sitting on the bookstore shelf.

In other words, doing DIY layout sucks even for experienced Word ninjas.

DIY vs. Hiring Out

For years, self-published authors have had two main ways to get their book or eBook formatted and ready for market.

The expensive route of hiring a book designer to do it for you almost always yields a great looking book. The designer knows what pages go where and how to set the type just right to make your book look like all of the others on the shelf, but unique in its own way.

Unfortunately, the services aren’t cheap, and the expense is often a deal breaker, especially when working on non-fiction projects.

Those us on a budget fire up Microsoft word and hammer out something that looks close enough to a book interior to pass muster, and hope that no one dings us too hard for the mistakes. Though there are tons of resources out there for trying to figure it all out, the process of proper layout and pagination is pretty time consuming and has a steep learning curve, especially the first time doing it. Some authors spend weeks on their book formatting and still can’t figure out how to make Word work for them and give up.

The DIY approach often becomes an exercise in frustration and even when complete, still doesn’t look right.

With pricey book designers on one end, and aggravated DIYer’s on the other, there just hasn’t been much middle ground for laying out your book right on a budget.

Enter the Template!

Several months ago, veteran book designer Joel Friedlander made a post on his blog about several techniques that writers can use to layout books.

As a professional techie and self-published author who had gone through the DIY layout process, it struck a chord. I commented on Joel’s article that it was a shame that authors couldn’t use Microsoft Word to meet their needs for book layout. Since most of us already own a copy of Word and use it to write, it just seemed to make sense.

Apparently, Joel had been thinking along those same lines and wrote back to discuss my experiences.

Within a few days, we started collaborating on adapting Word to fill in the gaps between professional layout and the DIY approach.  Several months of hard work later, we had created a line of professionally designed book templates that you can use in Microsoft Word to build a better book, without all of the hassle. BookDesignTemplates.com was born.

So What Do the Word Templates Do?

The short answer is simple. One of our templates will allow an author to paste in their manuscript to a custom Word file, apply a few styles, and output a book or eBook that looks like it was produced for a retail shelf in a short period of time.

The long answer isn’t that much more complicated. After you paste in your manuscript and finalize the formatting with the built in tools, you end up with a book that has the correct page layout for a print-on-demand service like CreateSpace or Lulu, or an eBook that is ready for Kindle to accept.

With print, the running heads and page numbering are on the correct verso and recto pages automatically. You get layout that was hand-designed by Joel that is paired with designer fonts to make your print book look grade-A.

With the eBook version, everything you need to format a great eBook is included in the template to get great results on everything from Kindle to iPad. Better yet, there are several template styles for fiction and non-fiction to choose from, so you book will have an appropriate look and feel.

In other words, BookDesignTemplates.com offers the total package for laying out a book interior in MS Word, all with easy to follow instructions for an affordable price.

Note: Be sure to use the discount code template46 through April 30th to receive 46% off the template of your choice!

 Tracy R. Atkins has been a career technology aficionado since he was young. At the age of eighteen, he played a critical role in an internet startup, cutting his tech-teeth during the dot-com boom. He is also a passionate writer whose stories intertwine technology with exploration of the human condition. Tracy is the self-published author of the novel Aeternum Ray and the co-founder of BookDesignTemplates.com.

 Note: This post contains affiliate links, but we would never share word of something we wouldn’t use ourselves!

You see, wacky dreams are kind of my thing, but they (luckily) usually keep to the neutral/non-scary end of things. Every once in awhile, though, I’ll have one like this:

[Harp-y Dream Sequence Sound Effect]

I’m laying in bed, watching a bit of TV before bed.

The next thing I know, I’m in my bedroom closet, hiding from the Daleks, these Doctor Who villains who attack you with weapons that look like a whisk and a plunger (I know).

Anywho, they’re barging into my house yelling “EXTERMINATE!” and, suddenly, I decide to stop hiding and fight them (because, apparently, now I AM the Doctor).

I race into the hallway…and come face-to-face with one of the cold-blooded creatures.

I freeze. Like I’m super-glued in place, I can’t move or speak. The Dalek moves closer…

…and, luckily, I wake up.

Have You Ever Felt Paralyzed?

After my heart rate returned to normal, I started thinking about other situations where we feel stuck — and I was reminded of a common occurrence among our author friends: book marketing paralysis.

Whether you’re new to fanbase-building or have been at it for awhile, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with all of the book marketing tasks that you need to/have to/want to do as an author that you do! Eventually, you do end up making a choice…

The choice to do nothing at all.

If you remember nothing else from this post, let it be this: doing nothing will get you nowhere. I know that sounds obvious, but I think we all (me included) could use that reminder now and then.

When things get hectic, it’s VERY easy to throw your hands up in the air and give up, but will doing that mean fans will magically find and buy your book? Sadly, I don’t think so.

Book marketing requires consistency, not intensity.

Some folks are able to throw their all into writing and promoting their work 40 hours a week, and having that amount of time makes the whole getting-started gig MUCH more manageable.

…but what about the rest of us? When you’ve only got an hour or two a week to spare for book promotion, how do you know where to start?

Heck, a site like ours has over 300 posts about self-publishing and marketing – how do you decide which task to focus on right now?

Choose Your Book Marketing Adventure in Just 5 Minutes

In this 5-Minute Book Marketing Jumpstart, I’m going to help you narrow down all of your possible book promotion tasks into a single focus for (up to) the next six weeks. Let’s get started!

Minute 1-2: Brainstorm.

1. Take out a clean sheet of paper, some sort of clock/timekeeping device and a writing utensil that won’t crap out on you after 30 seconds (Bic standard pen, I’m looking at you).
2. Make a list, using two columns if you’re very fast/have lots of ideas, of every book marketing task that comes to mind. These tasks could be things you want to do, need to do, might maybe someday want to do — don’t toss out any ideas or leave anything out.

Note: Don’t just stick to online tasks (social media, blogging, mailing lists), either. Think about things you can do offline to expand your audience and earn new fans!

Minute 3: Narrow Down the List

1. Scan the list of marketing ideas you’ve compiled once to refresh your memory.
2. Circle 5 of the ideas which sound the most promising. While you’re doing this, keep in mind:
   • Variety rocks. If you choose 5 tasks that all have to do with Twitter, things will be pretty boring (but perhaps easier!) come decision time. Pick a motley crew of marketing tasks, just to make things a bit more fun!
   • Your personal “order of operations.” No worries, no math here! When choosing your top 5 tasks, don’t choose a task that has some prerequisite you haven’t completed yet (for instance, updating your blog when you don’t yet have one…you get the idea)
   • Your schedule. Some tasks take more time than others, so only circle tasks you can reasonably complete in (no more than) six weeks.

Minute 4: Choose the Finalists

Oh snap, we’re getting close to choosing a winner! In minute 4, look over the 5 marketing tasks you circled and narrow them down to the two ideas which sound the most promising. Consider:

• The fun factor. Let’s face it, hanging out on social media is way more fun than working on your website. If you choose a task that sounds dull as dirt, the odds of you completing it are slim. We’re looking for easy wins here!
• Return on investment. Even if you’re not monetarily investing in the task, think about how much time it will take you to complete. To get the most bang for your time buck, choose a task that will give you the most exposure to new readers in the shortest amount of time.

Minute 5: Choose the winner.

Finally, the! big! moment! is here.

1. Choose the winner of the exercise from the 2 finalists. I don’t have any pointers for you here — the choice you make is yours alone!
2. Grab another fresh sheet of paper and write the winning task on top. You’ll need it for the next steps!

Note: Don’t throw away that list of ideas, it will come in handy down the line!

Next Steps

Now that you’ve chosen a fanbase-building focus, let’s make a plan to complete the task. On that new sheet of paper, outline how you’ll tackle everything about the task, including:

• Steps. What steps do you need to take to complete the task?
• Time. How much time will the task take you? When will you work on completing the task?
• Resources. Do you know everything you need to do to complete the task, or is there some stuff you need to look up?
• Dates. When will you start working? When will you complete the task?

The best part about this exercise is, when you finish this first task, you can re-do the 5-Minute Jumpstart to figure out what to do next. Pretty cool, right? You’ll never worry about that doggone book marketing paralysis again!

Want Some Help?

If you’re ready to end your case of book marketing paralysis, but would rather have some guidance as you tackle the 5-Minute Jumpstart, download the totes-free PDF worksheet I whipped up to help you out.

Remember, if you’d like some one-on-one help figuring out how to complete your book marketing task or guidance about where you should start, you can always schedule a coffee chat with us!

Talk Back

Have you suffered from book marketing paralysis? What did you do to beat it? Share your tips in the comments!

Teach us, oh master.

Seriously.

For those of you under-the-rock-dwellers, Mr. Timberlake recently released his third album, the 20/20 Experience, and sold 968,000 copies in the first week.

That’s a lot. Even for Justin.

Most of the agencies that project numbers for these sorts of things estimated Justin’s third album in seven years would move about 500,000 copies at best, given the market for music these days. (How many people still buy whole albums when you can grab a single on iTunes?)

So what made the 468,000 copy difference?

Justin Timberlake ROCKED the heck out of his product launch.

What can we learn from the master?

A ton.

I poured over this detailed outline of events leading up to Justin’s launch on March 19, 2013, and used that to put together these 7 ideas we can take and apply to our next book launch.

1. Start early

What Justin did:

After finishing his album in July 2012, Justin got together with his team to begin planning his launch in September 2012 (six months before his release date). By November he had advertising partners lined up for the big event.

What you should do:

Six months might be a little far in advance to plan your launch, but three months is the minimum amount of time I would set aside to get your ducks in a row.

You need plenty of time to set-up a blog tour (your version of Justin’s pre-launch ad blitz) and plan a steady release of exciting content leading up to the big event.

You can still be in final edits with your manuscript during those three months, but by about four to six weeks out you should have a well edited version to send out to your last group of beta readers and reviewers.

2. Set the tone

What Justin did:

In early January 2013, Justin posted a short video to his website announcing his return to the studio. Days later, he released the title of the new project and shared a very earnest letter with fans.

(Take a moment to go and read the letter, I’ll wait!)

That letter is a PERFECTLY crafted piece of marketing copy.

It’s sincere, builds anticipation, but remains vague in any details (notice he did not give any dates or other specifics).

Still, he made his fans feel like he was in their living room, sitting next to them on the couch, making an exciting personal announcement and asking (without asking) you to be happy for him and be a part of the magic to come.

What you should do:

Begin building anticipation with your fans via a direct, sincere message.

Tell them honestly how much work–how much heart and soul–you’ve put into your new novel. Tell them how excited you are to share it and how much you’re looking forward to enveloping them in the fun.

This will set the tone for what’s to come–it’s an exciting, special, unique, original, authentic, and passionate project. It’s not just a book, it’s a piece of work you have carefully crafted just for them (that’s not to sound overdone, but honestly we all put a lot of hard work into our books and it’s okay to say that sometimes).

3. Give them a taste

What Justin did:

A week after sharing his letter, Justin released his first single from the new album.

The timing here is critical. He kept the excitement rolling week-to-week from that letter straight through the launch of his new CD.

In this case, people were still buzzing about his return to the studio when they suddenly got a taste of what Justin had in store.

What you should do:

A single is to an album what an excerpt is to a novel.

(Did you just have a PTSD flashback to your last SAT test?)

Pick an exciting excerpt from your book (it doesn’t have to be the prologue or first chapter) to share with your fans.

This should get their taste buds tingling with anticipation. You want them to be eagerly checking back with your website or social media accounts to find out when there will be more to indulge in.

4. Keep the ball rolling

What Justin did:

Mr. Timberlake spent the entire month of February acting like the sample guy at the grocery store.

(You know you get excited on sample day at the market. Do I want a free, hot tasty cookie? Why yes, yes I do!)

He popped up every few days with a new little cup of goodies for fans to try out — the official release date of his album, the cover artwork and tracklist, a concert tour announcement, and a video to go with his first single.

This kept the momentum going as the big date approached, without beating people over the head with it or releasing a deluge of information that would just overwhelm his fans.

What you should do:

Maintain a level of excitement with your fans by releasing sample tastings of your own in the month leading up to your big release.

You can share your cover art, summary, reviews (if you have any in advance), character profiles, research/inspiration, blog tour dates/sites, and of course the official release date of your forthcoming novel.

These should be spaced out about a week apart in separate blog posts (which you should be sure to share on social media as well).

5. Get your feet wet

What Justin did:

At the same time he was sharing samples with fans, Justin made a few select appearances to perform material from his new album.

He played a small concert for a group of VIPs before the Super Bowl, performed at the Grammy’s, and made an appearance at SXSW.

These performances were not only a sampling of his new music, they were a warm-up for Justin as he prepared to take over the world prior to his album release date.

What you should do:

Outside of your pre-launch blog tour, plan a few events in the month before your release to get in front of an audience and break the ice.

You can do a guest post, a Skype session with a book club, or a Twitter chat with some fans. Anything that will get you talking about your book.

This will give you a chance to fine tune your message and figure out exactly what your fans get most excited about with the new book.

Plus, you’ll begin to build your street team of excited fans who will go forth and conquer–or at least tell all their friends about an awesome author with a new book they just heard about!

6. Flood the market

What Justin did:

About two weeks before the release of his album, Justin Timberlake was everywhere.

He was in commercials, hosting SNL, and making an entire week of appearances on Jimmy Fallon’s late night show. You turned on the TV and he was there. You turned on the radio and he was there.

That is–if you were between the ages of say, 25 and 35.

Justin did a very good job in this stage of not just getting himself out there, but getting himself out there through the right channels for *his* fans.

Here are Justin’s partnerships from the launch in a nutshell: SNL, SXSW, Jimmy Fallon, Bud Light Premium, and Target.

Here’s an alternative line-up of appearances/ad partners he *could* have had: American Idol, Warped Tour, Jay Leno, Coors Light, and Wal-Mart.

But Justin knows his fans. He knows who they are and where they hang out and what they think is cool and what they think is NOT cool.

He knows his most passionate fans are 20 and 30 somethings (myself included) who fancy themselves just a little bit hipster (enough so that they disdain today’s pop music and its primary production factory, American Idol), are still young enough (or single enough) to get their laughs from late night TV (but not those stodgy old guys their parents like–sorry Leno and Letterman) and would never admit to shopping at Wal-Mart (but know Target is the cool place to be).

What you should do:

This is where your reader profile and target market worksheets really come in handy. Your blog tour (an author’s equivalent to Justin’s all out pre-launch media blitz) should be carefully planned around the places your fans would hang out.

You need about 8 – 10 stops around the Internet planned for your launch (more is better if you can handle it, and keep in mind if you ask 10 – 12 blogs to be a stop on your tour, you can hope for about 6-8 “yes” responses).

But unlike Justin’s pre-sale blitz, you should plan your blog tour to start on the day of your book release and run through the next week or two.

Why?

Because you want fans to have the opportunity for instant gratification. As soon as they decide they like you and your book, you want them to immediately go to Amazon and make a purchase.

Asking them to remember to go back to Amazon in a week and make a purchase is dicey, at best. You’ll lose momentum. So it’s better to have the option available at the time of your tour.

You should also mix-up your stops, offering giveaways, excerpts, interviews, and guest posts so even if you’re sharing the same information, the different formats won’t make people who follow the entire tour feel like it’s all redundant.

The second most important part of this step (after tailoring it *your* fans) is this: You have to make it EXCITING.

Listen, I’ve been a fan of Justin Timberlake since the days of *NSYNC (note the proper asterisk placement and spelling denoting my TRUE devotion here) but even I was not excited of my own accord about Justin’s new album. I’m not that into pop music these days and though I love Justin, I had my doubts about what he could do after a seven year absence from the music industry.

But all the activity leading up to his release got me REALLY excited.

It is YOUR job to get the fans excited. You have to make your book launch into A BIG EVENT so your fans will feel the anticipation and want to be part of the big release (instead of waiting a few months to buy it whenever they feel like it).

7. Kick it up a notch

What Justin did:

On the same day he released his album, Justin also released an exclusive “deluxe” version (featuring two additional tracks) available *only* in Target stores.

I honestly could not tell you when I last bought an actual CD from a store. Like most people these days, I get my music from iTunes, delivered straight to my iPhone.

But moved by the perfect wave of Justin’s promotions, I took my butt to Target (after the gym, in my sweaty clothes, during rush hour traffic on a Friday for pete’s sake) and bought the exclusive deluxe album.

It was the same price as the regular album (for a limited time) but I would have paid more for it without blinking.

What you should do:

Create a limited edition set for your novel release featuring some special bonuses that will *only* be offered as part of this exclusive offer.

You can include a special bookmark, a hand-written thank you note, some sort of book-related trinket, and (of course) an autographed copy of the book.

These limited copies would be sold directly through your website (you can use PayPal for the transactions) and should cost more than the book by itself.

But your reader will be getting a special value above and beyond *just* a book.

Even if you only have 10 – 25 of these, it’s something really special and fans will want a *real* piece of the history you are making.

The ends justify the means

Yes, you’re probably reading this and thinking — “Good Lord, Shannon. That sounds like a lot of work! Have you forgotten that I also have a full time job and dinner to cook and kids to take to soccer practice and other hobbies I enjoy?”

Make no mistake, a *good* book launch does take a lot of work.

But the payoff is SO worth it.

Your book launch will set the tone for everything to come. It’s your best chance to build the kind of momentum that will spiral into steady monthly sales and therefore get you closer to your goals of doing this writing thing full-time.

People doubted Justin and he proved them wrong, nearly doubling their projected numbers for his first week of sales and breaking all sorts of records in the process.

So now it’s your turn to prove people wrong.

Show us what you got!

P.S. – In the middle of his album release hoopla, Justin confirmed a “leak” (totally planted, come on) that he will have a SECOND album out later this year. Just saying, if you want to announce a sequel…Justin wrote the book on doing that, too.