Create Buzz by Connecting with Readers

Interview with Deborah Sloan of Deborah Sloan & Company, “A marketing and promotion firm for books and their creators.”

• ATTEND the Random Acts of Publicity event on Facebook.
• Read the FAQ.

1. One of the main services you offer to authors is Kids Buzz. Can you explain what it is?

   KidsBuzz is a program that lets children’s and teen authors’ voices shine in an affordable, and effective, way. KidsBuzz puts you directly in touch with readers, reading groups, booksellers, librarians and teachers allowing you to offer trailers and videos, excerpts, phone chats or visits, curriculum tie-ins, material for newsletters, info about contests and freebies, mentions of new reviews and awards — anything and everything you want to buzz directly to the people who buy, read and sell your books. This is YOU saying what you want to share with your readers.

   Readers want to hear from authors and illustrators — after all, you know your books better than anyone else, you have interesting behind-the-scenes stories that makes readers what to read — and buy. And once they’re interested, people talk — and others listen. Look at the power of Facebook: often we’re more influenced by what our friends have to say that the most seasoned critic (though we’ll take those positive reviews when we get them for sure!). We’ve run notes from bestselling authors as well as up-and-coming authors and illustrators. Many authors and publishers have had such good success, they’ve booked spots for their other titles (more than 60% of our KidsBuzzers have come back for more!).

2. Kids Buzz is a newsletter for librarians and readers (parents, grandparents, teachers, etc.), booksellers, reviewers, bloggers, publishing industry folk and more. Do you suggest that author maintain their own mailing list and send out newsletters?
   
   ABSOLUTELY! There are many readers who become author groupies and what to know anything and everything about their favorite authors and illustrators, what’s coming up, when new books will be published — and these fans are your ambassadors and e-newsletters are terrific ways to reach them. They will spread the buzz to their friends, family, colleagues and help that groundswell of interest every authors wants. Many authors have e-newsletters (that are run via sites like Constant Content and Mail Chimp, for example) which makes it easy to handle subscriptions) and sharing info with your readers when YOU feel it’s worthwhile, in YOUR voice, is a win-win.

   But how can you help your Friend? Make it personal:

   • In your enewsletter, share a Top 10 list of Recent Favorite Reads (use book covers, use author photos, share author videos); make this a regular feature (can be favorite picture books, favorite books on summer, favorite books from around-the-world, etc.). Put the spotlight on someone else and it’ll come to shine on you.
   • Offer giveaways of your friends’ books (I’m sure each would be happy to give you a copy for the promotion) via your enewsletter, social networking (perhaps each of the giveaways comes with a note from you as to WHY you love this book; put your personal stamp on it)
   • Create a 30 second video wrap-up for these favorite books? Impassioned video statements? Reach out to those authors/publishers by sharing the link — they’re likely to share it with their fans via their blogs, social media networks, etc.
   • Be a cheerleader (yes, you can summon up your inner rah-rah!): do a regular feature on one of your favorite authors, something full of WHY this author should be read.

   Whatever you do, make it sound like YOU. As the kids say, be real. It works.

3. On Kids Buzz, you offer:
   • Contests for readers
   • Free early reading copies
   • Free signed books
   • News about tours
   • New reviews
   • Giveaways
   • Essays & Excerpts
   • Book Group Speaking availability (in person or on the phone)

   I”m sure that all of these are important and useful for various books. But what is most popular and do you have a sense of why it’s popular?

   KidsBuzz authors report that the contest for free signed copies or early reading copies are hugely successful — I get emails from authors within minutes of KidsBuzz running saying that their in-boxes are full. But what’s key to remember about this is not just getting the emails, but responding to them. Not everyone who writes in is going to win a free book, but it provides you as chance to interact with your reader, tell them something else, ask them to join your enewsletter/Facebook page, etc. And readers love getting mail from authors! Imagine how excited you’d be if your favorite — or even just a new author — wrote directly to you?! These readers tell their friends (“I’m so excited, you’ll never believe that I got a personal email from author XX who wrote a book that’s just right for my 10 year old son — and I bet yours will like it too…” type stuff) and this is how sales are made. In the publishing industry, when booksellers recommend a book to customers, with a personal endorsement or just a great story-behind-the-story, we call it “handselling;” that’s what freebie offers or any type of special to the reader does… It helps to handsell the book to that customers — and subsequently, their friends.

   One more thing though: all the special promos and offers are nothing compared to a strong note from the author. Readers still want the real story, they want to feel like they’ve shared a minute with their favorite author, and they want to tell that story to their friends. Provide your Friend with a way to connect with readers and you’ve done a Random Act of Publicity.

Win a One-Hour Consultation with Deborah Sloan

Deborah Sloan and Company has offered a free one-hour marketing consultation to one lucky person. This one-day opportunity ends at midnight on September 8.

Here are the rules:

• Winners will be selected on a random basis.
• You must put your friend’s name, book title and website (if they have one) in the comments below. Deadline: Midnight September 8, 2011.
• By entering your friend in this giveaway, you agree that you have the friend’s permission to do so.
• Phone consultations will be done at a mutually agreed upon time.

Random Acts of Publicity Week was created by Darcy Pattison (www.darcypattison.com), writing teacher and author of Prairie Storms (www.facebook.com/PrairieStorms) , as a way to help create an atmosphere of fun and collaboration in marketing books. It occurs each September, the four days following Labor Day.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Many Hands Make Light Work – or How Two Heads are Better than One

By Barbara Fisch and Sarah Shealy, friends who together run Blue Slip Media

• ATTEND the Random Acts of Publicity event on Facebook.
• Read the FAQ.

Barb & Sarah of Blue Slip Media

Barbara: On 20 Years of Collaboration

Sarah Shealy and I have worked together for over 20 years. We started out by job-sharing—dividing the work week in two and collaborating on publicity projects at Harcourt Children’s Books. We learned early on that openness and communication were key to making the job-share work. When an author called to find out when her interview was scheduled, we could easily find that information in our shared work basket. It was—and still is—imperative to shed any ego when working together, so we let go of any pride or possessiveness over any particular project. When you work in a marketing department, you learn quickly that it helps no one to be territorial—and in fact, it’s better to share ideas and be open to soliciting others.

A colleague of ours had a favorite saying, and she’d often muse aloud as she walked by the marketing area, “Many hands make light work.” And it was so true that it became our motto. If there was a publicity mailing that had to be done, everyone stopped and pitched in to help. If someone in the department needed ideas for an ad, everyone would contribute something. We found that collaborative attitude was an exercise in a new kind of math: one plus one was MUCH more than just two.

That kind of mindset can be enormously helpful when it comes to brainstorming ideas for book promotion with your friend. Think of ways that can you divide the work and conquer. Are there friends you know who can contribute a blurb, a connection to an influential librarian, a lead to an important media contact? Can you help with the practical things, such as packing or mailing books? Can you help pull together a list of folks who would attend a launch party?

Sarah: Practical Ideas for Random Acts of Publicity

As usual, I agree wholeheartedly with everything Barb has said! Her comment about the launch party has got me thinking . . . this is an area where a friend could really be of tremendous help. One thing that’s nice about being a publicist is that we get to brag about our clients and sing their praises to others— a job that is sometimes very awkward for the author to do him or herself.
How much better does this sound: “Have you read Jane’s new book? It’s fabulous! I love how complex her characters are!”

vs. this: “Have you read my new book? It’s fabulous! I love how complex my characters are!”

Tooting your own horn can be difficult and it’s hard to do it in a way that’s not off-putting. Third-party endorsements are always more desirable—that’s why we’re so focused on reviews in this industry!

A launch party is a great way to develop grassroots support for a new book with a core audience. It’s important for an author (let’s stick with the hypothetical Jane) to build contacts in her local market, to connect with fans, and to establish herself as a local author. A great project to do for your author friend Jane is to throw a launch party for her around the pub date of her new book. It’s so much easier for you to contact your local bookstore, newspaper, library, area teachers, family, and friends on Jane’s behalf than it will be for Jane to do so on her own. Hold the party at a local bookstore or library. Create a craft or tasty treat that’s in keeping with the book’s theme. Invite everyone you know and everyone in Jane’s address book. Post it on your Facebook page. Tweet about it. Take photos of Jane at the event. Send them to your local newspaper with a little write up on the party and to Jane’s publicist (house or freelance) so she or he can submit them to Publishers Weekly (especially a photo of Jane with the bookseller/s).

What a lovely gift you’ve given your friend! And think of all the contacts you’ve made! When it’s time for your book to launch, I bet Jane will want to plan your launch party and you can just hand her the file. Ah, collaboration. It’s literally how Barb and I do business.

Win a 15-Minute Consultation with Blue Slip Media

Blue Slip Media has offered a free 15-minute marketing consultation to one lucky person. This one-day opportunity ends at midnight on September 7.

Here are the rules:

• Winners will be selected on a random basis.
• You must put your friend’s name, book title and website (if they have one) in the comments below. Deadline: Midnight September 7, 2011.
• By entering your friend in this giveaway, you agree that you have the friend’s permission to do so.
• Phone consultations will be done at a mutually agreed upon time.

Random Acts of Publicity Week was created by Darcy Pattison (www.darcypattison.com), writing teacher and author of Prairie Storms (www.facebook.com/PrairieStorms) , as a way to help create an atmosphere of fun and collaboration in marketing books. It occurs each September, the four days following Labor Day.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Brand Building Square One: Win a Marketing Consult for Your Friend!

by Susan Raab, Raab Associates

• ATTEND the Random Acts of Publicity event on Facebook.
• Read the FAQ.

Susan Raab of Raab Associates

Susan says that focusing your book marketing efforts is essential. To that end, she has designed a short list of questions to ask your Friend about her book. Take time to discuss the questions and help your Friend decide where s/he wants to focus his/her efforts. Be a Friend: listen and cheer. But if you want to do even more, read on!

Raab Associates is offering 15 FREE book marketing consultations

To qualify, please interview your friend and provide the answers to these branding questions. Then, if you send the answers to us along with your friend’s name, email address, website, title and publisher of their most recent or forthcoming book, they’ll have the chance to be one of our 15 winners.

Here are the rules:

• Winners will be selected on a random basis.
• You must put your friend’s name and book title in the comments below.
• By midnight on September 6th, you must send an email to info@raabassociates with the interview answers (See interview questions below). Use “Random Acts of Publicity” as the email’s subject line. Answers should be limited to a maximum of 300 words (less than one-single spaced page). Be brief! No attachments: Interview answers must be in the email itself.
• By entering your friend in this giveaway, you agree that you have the friend’s permission to do so.
• Consultations will be done at a mutually agreed upon time.

Interview Questions for Raab Associates Free Consultation

Friend’s Name:
Friend’s Email:
Friend’s Website:
Book Title & Publisher:

1. What’s your elevator pitch (quick, catchy description of your book & why it should matter to me)?
2. Who would be your ideal media interviewer and why?
3. If I were that person, what 3 things could you say to me to make me want to get you on my show or featured in my publication or site?
4. Is there an interesting back story to your book and/or your writing career that might be of particular interest to the press?
5. How good is your online and social media presence, and what could you do to make it better?

In thinking about your work in the context of the market, you need to determine what can differentiate you from other authors out there. At first glance, it may not seem like there’s anything so unique, but clearly your publisher saw something of particular value, and you felt you had something important to say. That’s why you wrote the book in the first place. So, think about your original objectives, your expertise, and your body of work as a whole. How would you like to be viewed in the marketplace – for your expertise, sense of humor, unique way of presenting the topic or story, or for something else? Then consider the best ways to showcase that across various platforms – on your website and your Facebook page; in the tone you use for your Twitter and email communications; and throughout the interviews and appearances you do. The more you, and your agent, publisher, publicist, and everyone involved are in concert with the marketing presentation and focus, the more effective you’ll be.

Random Acts of Publicity Week was created by Darcy Pattison (www.darcypattison.com), writing teacher and author of Prairie Storms (www.facebook.com/PrairieStorms) , as a way to help create an atmosphere of fun and collaboration in marketing books. It occurs each September, the four days following Labor Day.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

2011 Random Acts of Publicity FAQ

• ATTEND the Random Acts of Publicity event on Facebook.
• Read the FAQ.

1. Who can participate?
   Anyone who wants to help a book get noticed by readers. We are focusing on helping a Friend’s book get noticed, but you can also choose to help your favorite book get noticed.
2. What do I do?
   BLLuRT or Post. Or both.
   • BLLuRT (http://bit.ly/RAoP2011). The basic tasks for book marketing online remain the same, BLLuRT! Do one of these each day for your Friend’s book or for your favorite book.
     1. B is for Blog. Blog about a book, the author or anything related.
     2. L is for Link. (http://bit.ly/RAP-Link) Link to something about the book, the author’s page, the book selling page, anything.
     3. L is for LIKE. (http://bit.ly/RAP-Like ) LIKE the book’s Facebook page, the author’s page. Or Add them to your Google+.
     4. R is for Review. (http://bit.ly/RAP-R ) Review a book. Some experts suggest that books tend to break out when they get over 25 reviews on Amazon, GoodReads or other booksites.
     5. T is for Tell or Talk. (http://bit.ly/RAP-T )Tell someone about a book. Your friend, a teacher, a librarian, anyone. Talk about the book—why did you like it? What excited you about this book? Why should I read it?
   • POST. It’s also a great week to post something about book marketing, perhaps a personal experience, a tutorial, a tips sheet or a case study of book marketing. Put the URL of your post in the Random Acts of Publicity Facebook page for others to read
3. What books should I talk about this week?
   Your Friend’s book or your favorite book. We are focusing especially on new books or less well-known books. Focus on a great book that not many readers know about.
4. Can Publishers participate?
   Yes, you can BLLuRT about books, too. We ask that you focus on mid-list or new authors, those who could benefit from a boost during Random Acts of Publicity week. We know it’s your job to BLLuRT about the front-list, that and much more; as an individual working in book publishing, though, we are asking that you champion a dark horse during Random Acts of Publicity Week.

Random Acts of Publicity Week was created by Darcy Pattison (www.darcypattison.com), writing teacher and author of Prairie Storms (www.facebook.com/PrairieStorms) , as a way to help create an atmosphere of fun and collaboration in marketing books. It occurs each September, the four days following Labor Day.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

RANDOM ACTS OF PUBLICITY WEEK

September 6-9, 2011
Facebook Event Page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=247495138609650

It’s all about your Friend’s book.

The 3rd Annual Random Acts of Publicity, September 6-8, 2011 is a week to celebrate your Friend’s book, or your favorite book, by doing a Random Act of Publicity: Blog, link, Like, review, or talk about the book . (BLLuRT it Out!)

Daily posts here on Fiction Notes (www.darcypattison.com) will offer tips, wisdom and Prizes for your Friend!
Twitter: Use #RAP2011

September 6: Guest Susan Raab

“Brand Building Square One” by Susan Raab, President of Raab Associates, www.raabassociates.com.
One-day chance for you to enter your Friend to win one of 15 FREE Giveaways of a 15-minute book marketing consultation provided by Raab Associates.

September 7: Guests Barbara Fisch and Sarah Shealy

Many Hands Make Light Work – or How Two Heads are Better than One by Barbara Fisch and Sarah Shealy, Blue Slip Media, www.blueslipmedia.com
One-day chance for you to enter your Friend to win a 15-minute book marketing consultation provided by Blue Slip Media.

September 8: Guest Deborah Sloan

Create Buzz by Connecting with Readers by Deborah Sloan of Deborah Sloan & Company. www.deborahsloanandcompany.com
One-day chance for you to enter your Friend to win a one-hour book marketing consultation provided by Deborah Sloan & Company.

September 9: Guest Dana Lynn Smith

How to Get Your Book Reviewed by Dana Lynn Smith of The Savvy Book Marketer. www.thesavvybookmarketer.com
One-day chance for you to enter your Friend to win a FREE copy of How to Get Your Book Reviewed by Dana Lynn Smith

ALL WEEK: The Book Trailer Manual

Post your Friend’s name/book title on the Facebook page for Random Acts of Publicity to be entered to win a FREE The Book Trailer Manual by Darcy Pattison. One ebook given away daily; must post Friend’s name that day to be eligible and you can post it each day if you like.

NOTE: You may not enter your own name in any of these prize giveaways. By posting a person’s name you acknowledge that you have asked their permission and the post is with their knowledge. Please note carefully WHERE to comment for each giveaway. They all require you to comment on the POST at Fiction Notes (www.darcypattison.com). The EXCEPTION is the ongoing drawing for The Book Trailer Manual; for this giveaway and this one only, please post on the Random Acts of Publicity Facebook page.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who can participate?
   Anyone who wants to help a book get noticed by readers. We are focusing on helping a Friend’s book get noticed, but you can also choose to help your favorite book get noticed.
2. What do I do?
   BLLuRT or Post. Or both.
   1. BLLuRT (http://bit.ly/RAoP2011). The basic tasks for book marketing online remain the same, BLLuRT! Do one of these each day for your Friend’s book or for your favorite book.
      • B is for Blog. Blog about a book, the author or anything related.
      • L is for Link. (http://bit.ly/RAP-Link) Link to something about the book, the author’s page, the book selling page, anything.
      • L is for LIKE. (http://bit.ly/RAP-Like ) LIKE the book’s Facebook page, the author’s page. Or Add them to your Google+.
      • R is for Review. (http://bit.ly/RAP-R ) Review a book. Some experts suggest that books tend to break out when they get over 25 reviews on Amazon, GoodReads or other booksites.
      • T is for Tell or Talk. (http://bit.ly/RAP-T )Tell someone about a book. Your friend, a teacher, a librarian, anyone. Talk about the book—why did you like it? What excited you about this book? Why should I read it?
   2. Post. It’s also a great week to post something about book marketing, perhaps a personal experience, a tutorial, a tips sheet. Put the URL of your post in the Random Acts of Publicity Facebook Event Page for others to read.
3. What books should I talk about this week?
   Your Friend’s book or your favorite book. We are focusing especially on new books or less well-known books. Focus on a great book that not many readers know about.
4. Can Publishers participate?
   Yes, you can BLLuRT about books, too. We ask that you focus on mid-list or new authors, those who could benefit from a boost during Random Acts of Publicity week. We know it’s your job to BLLuRT about the front-list, that and much more; as an individual working in book publishing, though, we are asking that you champion a dark horse during Random Acts of Publicity Week.

–

Random Acts of Publicity Week was created by Darcy Pattison (www.darcypattison.com), writing teacher and author of Prairie Storms (www.facebook.com/PrairieStorms) , as a way to help create an atmosphere of fun and collaboration in marketing books. It occurs each September, the four days following Labor Day.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Random Acts of Publicity: September 6-9, 2011

Save the date!

For the last two years, I’ve encouraged writers to perform Random Acts of Publicity during the week after Labor Day. The Random Acts will return this year on September 6-9. If you have great ideas for this event, please email me. I’d love to do interviews on how you’ve done publicity this year, easy ideas for helping your friends do publicity or any other ideas!

Here’s what we did last year!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

For more information on the Random Acts of Publicity Week, see this post or the Facebook Event page.

Today’s task for Random Acts of Publicity: Write something online and link to your friend’s website, blog, book page, Facebook page, etc.

Why are we spending an entire day on links? Because of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)!

Getting Your Site Found Online

Everyone has a webpage these days, but how many people visit your blog or website? How do you get more traffic?

Here’s the problem: the internet is large and complex that it’s hard to find anything. What makes it work is search engines which operate on mathematical algorithms to make sure they give you the information you need. It’s not enough to just put up a website any longer; you must now make sure that the site can be found by a search engine. Of course, you’ll be the first site (I hope!) for your name and maybe even the title of your book. But if you have a book about George Washington, will you be found when someone searches for “George Washington”?

You must make certain that you ARE found for that term. Or else the website does you little good.

Fortunately, SEO is easy to accomplish. I won’t go into a full tutorial here. You can read Google’s basic tutorial here.

Links Help You Get Found

For today, the main thing is that Google loves sites with lots of links! Writing something online and linking to a friend’s blog, website or book page is very helpful.

Importance of Text Link. The text you use for the link is important. For example, most links to my blog are for “Fiction Notes” or “Darcy Pattison.” Those are great! However, search engines like it even better (you score higher in their algorithms) if the link text itself is something like “Random Acts of Publicity.” That link text tells search engines more about the content of the site you’ve linked to, which helps the site rank higher in the search engine results. A site with 1000 links will have a higher ranking than a site with 100.

Here are some great link texts:

• award winning author
• children’s book author
• novelist
• mystery novel set in Egypt
• middle grade novel
• teen novel
• environmental non-fiction
• biography

In other words, use specific language in your link. Google and all other search engines are just computer programs which depend on algorithms to give certain output. Make sure it get the input that will help your friend’s book! Link!

Today’s task for Random Acts of Publicity: Write something online and link to your friend’s website, blog, book page, Facebook page, etc.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

For more information on the Random Acts of Publicity Week, see this post or the Facebook Event page.

Today’s task for Random Acts of Publicity: Post a review of a book somewhere. Your blog, GoodReads, Amazon, a school newsletter, a bulletin board. Anywhere.

Amazon Reviews

Are you like many authors, always intending to post a review on Amazon, but haven’t taken the leap yet? Here’s something to think about.

2x: Experts are twice as likely to share information. Why should you, an author (or aspiring author), review a book for someone else? Because as an author, you’re an expert on literature. Studies of word-of-mouth promotions say that experts usually tell twice as many people about something they liked. You are more likely to talk up a book than the normal Amazon shopper simply because you are an expert.

What to Put in an Amazon Review

OK. But what do you write about in a review?
Your honest opinion about the book! That’s it.

Short 50-300 word reviews will work best, something short enough to scan easily. Usually people reading the reviews want a quick glance at what others are saying.

You can also post videos, reviewing a book. Tape yourself talking about the book and upload it, following their instructions.

How to Post an Amazon Review

I suggest you write your review before you go to visit Amazon. That way, you can revise and edit until it’s right. Once you get to Amazon, you can just cut and paste.

• If you don’t have an account with Amazon, you’ll have to create one. There should be a link for this on the front page.
• To post a review, go to the page for the book you want to review and scroll down to the reviews. On the right hand side just above the other reviews, you’ll see a button that says, “Create Your Own Review.” Click on that.
• It will ask you to confirm that you are over 13, to rate the title, and give your review a title.
• Below these questions is a box for you to either write in, or to cut and paste your review.
• Notice a couple things.
  • Product Links. You can use the insert a product link to link to other books/products if you want. That means you can add links to other titles by the author, if you want to.
  • Tags. The Tags are important to fill out, too because they help the book get found by Amazon’s search by topics. The more times reviewers agree that this book is appropriate for this topic, the more likely it is to be in the top search entries.
  • Video Reviews. Also, notice that they accept video reviews! Haven’t done that myself yet, but I want to on a couple books.
• Preview the Review. If all looks well – click to post it!
• If needed, you can come back at any point to edit the review.

Today’s task for Random Acts of Publicity: Post a review of a book somewhere. Your blog, GoodReads, Amazon, a school newsletter, a bulletin board. Anywhere.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Random Acts of Publicity: Social Media

We’ve all heard about the social media and many are experimenting with doing book publicity via these channels. What is really possible?

Lots! At least for authors. There are Facebook Fan pages or Event pages and the equivalent on MySpace or other spaces; there are Twitter updates and YouTube videos. In fact, an author can get overwhelmed doing all of this. But it does no good at all, if someone isn’t watching and participating.

Join Anything You’re Invited to Join – and Then Participate

Getting engaged in a friend’s promotional efforts means to do something, to join an event or fan page. Attend a virtual book signing. (What if YOU gave a party and no one showed up?) Helping with these promotional efforts won’t be as fast or as easy as those listed earlier this week, but they might make a huge difference.

View a Book Trailer, Podcast

Watch a book trailer. Use the word-of-mouth or linking techniques from earlier this week to tell others about the trailer. As a related post, Lisa Gottfried of DigitalWeavers discusses 6 Criteria for a Great Book Trailer. And a video trailer for my Novel Revision Retreat is unveiled here today.

Another new trailer out is Arthur Slade’s The Hunchback Assignments, website and book trailer for his new steam-punk fantasy.

Volunteer Your Expertise

This is another of those extra-mile assignments: if you know how to edit video, volunteer to make a book trailer or podcast for a friend. Or just walk him/her through setting up a fan page for your book. Help him/her brainstorm jokes when s/he makes a special game designed for Facebook. Really – ASK what would be helpful! (WOW, what an awesome thing that would be!)

There are many, many social media sites. This isn’t a how-to on those sites, but an encouragment to celebrate what your friend does on those sites!

Your Random Act of Publicity Daily Task: Participate

Your task: Join. View. Comment. Participate. Just once.

Please post what you did today.
What are some of your favorite social media sites for books?
Any final comments on supporting your friend’s book?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Random Acts of Publicity: Links

Why should you care about linking to a friend’s book? Google. And other search engines. Ever wondered how to get your page to show up on the #1 position on a Google search query?

Link to Specific Webpages with Specific Terms

Google takes a number of factors into account when it ranks webpages and how those webpages come up as search results. The top three results for any particular search term garner the most clicks by far. At the very least, you want a webpage to be in the top 30 results, or your chances of clicks are virtually zero.

Think about how someone might search for your friend’s book. Yes, by his/her name; possibly by the title. But what about “teen vampire love story”? (Surprisingly, Twilight does NOT come up first on this search query!)

My friend, Carla McClafferty’s most recent book is In Defiance of Hitler: The Secret Mission of Varian Fry.

It’s a story about a Harvard-educator American journalist who goes to Nazi-occupied France and helps a thousand Jews escape. If I want to link to her book, the most helpful thing would be to use something like this: Holocaust Rescuer, including Marc Chagall.

In other words, the links help in and of themselves. But if you use descriptive words as the text for the link, it helps even more. She doesn’t need help in getting her book found by the title or by her name: she needs help getting it found by someone interested in Holocaust rescuers.

Add links to your friend’s book whenever, where ever you can; use keywords as the link text for extra credit.

Wikipedia Links

Wikipedia is the internet encyclopedia,which is edited by, well, by you. Put up a Wikipedia page for your friend. Wikipedia won’t allow you to put up one for yourself, but you can put up one for a friend. Be sure to read Wikipedia’s guidelines before doing this, as they are specific about how to add pages.

NONFICTION AUTHORS: Or, add your friend’s NF book as a reference for a Wikipedia page, but only if appropriate. (Again, please read Wikipedia’s guidelines carefully.)

Your Random Act of Publicity Task for Today

Link to a friend’s webpage or bookstore listing with specific keywords.

Please post what you’ve done today.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win