Source: http://www.10000articles.com/Poetry-Chapbooks-Ten-Tips-for-Promotion-37967.html

There are several ways of publishing your chapbook. You can do it yourself with a printer and a heavy duty stapler; you can submit a manuscript to a literary entitiy that publishes chapbooks; or you can try a self publishing company. It is fairly easy to get your poetry bound in a chapbook, but the real challenge is trying to promote it.

Since a poetry chapbook is usually fairly small, (between ten to fifty-something pages), distrubution of these books is not going to be a national or world wide endeavor. Many poets use their chapbooks as an introduction to their writings, but even then, a poet needs to get the word out about his/her book. With that in mind, here are ten ways to promote your poetry chapbook.

1. Contact small book stores in your local area to see if they will carry a few of your chapbooks on consignment.

2. Hold poetry readings at book stores and other literary events and keep several of your chapbooks on hand for people to purchase.

3. Create a website about the kind of writing you do and sell your chapbook on the site.

4. Submit your chapbook to contests which will allow for previously published chapbooks.

5. If you belong to a writing group, be sure to tell your fellow group mates about your recent success. Tell them how they can purchase a copy of your chapbook.

6. Send out press releases to local newspapers.

7. You can also donate your chapbooks to libraries and other organizations.

8. Create a signature at the bottom of your e-mails that points people to the URL where they can purchase a copy of your chapbook.

9. Also create signatures that have the chapbook URL at the bottom of any message your post in any forum.

10. Consider your chapbook, no matter how simple it was to publish, a true success. When you type up your bio for other writing endeavors, or for websites, be sure to say, Author of the chapbook name of chapbook.

Devrie Paradowski is an aviation weather forecaster and part time freelance writer. Her works have appeared in local venues, Adagio Verse Quarterly, Meeting of the Mind’s Journal, Poetry Renewal Magazine, Literaryescape.com, and throughout a dozen content sites. She is also the author of the chapbook Something In the Dirt, which can be found athttp://www.lulu.com/content/108560

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A recession-proof marketing strategy is characterized by the sustainability of the book marketing plan through these uncertain recession times and well into economic growth and betterment in the near future. The marketing strategy is not so much affected with the cumulative displacements of the predominantly difficult economic situation, as much as it adapts efficiently and functionally through it.

In simple terms, the marketing strategy should be clear, feasible and practical. Take a hint: a recession-proof book marketing strategy is something that is long lasting, something that will transcend the ongoing recession. Thus, a good book marketing strategy also makes the book publicist work smarter, not more.

Here are some recession-safe book marketing activities that are guaranteed to spare you from lots of promotional troubles caused by the far reaching consequences of the ongoing recession:

Market the book’s value rather than its price. In a time of economic recession, consumer spending behavior becomes prioritized and rather selective. For this, convince your readers why they should care at all in being engaged with your product, and for this purpose, you have to be an effective marketer without sounding too commercial.

Value your customers as you do prospects. No favoritism here, treat them equally because you are about to establish a crucial mass readership that you can rely, and who may just purchase your succeeding works as well.

Maintain an effective yet inexpensive web presence. The Internet provides authors and publicists with plenty of cost saving marketing tools that are just as effective as offline book marketing campaigns.  The online marketing techniques include advertising at free ad listing sites, blogging to genre relevant sites, registering at social networking sites, requesting and arranging for virtual book tours, uploading book “video-mercials” to video sharing sites, and sending online media releases.

Write and submit online articles with free reprint rights on a topic that is book genre relevant. This inexpensive marketing tool builds up, slowly but surely, an author’s credibility and expertise of the given subject matter. It also provides the author with a web marketing presence that both online researchers and book readers will appreciate.

Market your books to non-traditional sources to get closer to your target readers. Do a research on companies, clubs, associations, organizations, foundations and/or similar groups that are book genre specific and see if there is a gold mine somewhere for marketing. It is recession safe because you don’t have to spend a great deal of money promoting; what matters is for you to show to them the many benefits they will gain by purchasing your book.

Send emails with book excerpts to your relatives, friends, acquaintances, school alumni, and neighbors who have email addresses. Never underestimate the power of email to generate word-of-mouth marketing—even from among those whom you are already familiar with. From a marketing context, they are your “loyal audience”. Follow it up by asking them to please send related emails to people they know who could also be interested in your book. You see, building a marketing pyramid—but without the fraud—can start in this precise manner.

Consign your book to relevant local shopkeepers and retailers. For a minimal consignment fee, your book is prominently displayed and   instantly recognized. So you have a book about pet care? Your local pet shop is just around the corner. Have an illustrated book about flower varieties? The local florist may be more than willing to accommodate for a shelf display, a perfect compliment indeed for your book.

Promote your book to school libraries. Regardless of your book genre, you can actually market to local or state level libraries, if you are able to determine which schools are regularly updating their catalogues with new book purchases and acquisitions. If there is favorable action to your proposal, offer a reciprocal arrangement for the book acquisition, like volunteering for free book reading sessions and creative writing discussions.

Be consistent with your marketing plan. To save precious time, money and effort, study what works for your book subject; know your target market well by determining what’s important to them and what influences them to make a purchase. Learn the success factors of fellow authors and analyze the recessional marketing trends to establish a well researched marketing plan. Decide early on whether your manuscript is promising enough for publishing houses to consider or you would rather self publish. Also, don’t do social networking publicity online unless you’re really motivated to do it. Don’t do marketing stuff just because you think you’re supposed to; you might end up  wasting hard earned money and resources in this manner.

Author’s Resource box:
Learn more about the dynamics of economical book marketing, inexpensive marketing techniques, book marketing strategies and many other useful tips about online book marketing.

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GREEN BAY, WI (03/12/12) – BookWhirl.com, one of the strongest pillars of the self-publishing industry launches the Book Trailer Service. After several months of finding the most creative and competent artists, BookWhirl.com has finally collaborated its team to produce the best book trailers.

The company intends to offer the most affordable and yet promising book trailers for self-published authors. Currently, BookWhirl.com houses a strong team of screenplay writers, graphic artists, video-editors, and sound engineers who are capable of producing book trailers that boasts with international quality.

The Book Trailer Service is available in three packages, namely: 30-seconder, 60-seconder, and 120-seconder.

“We have always been dedicated to provide affordable marketing services to self-published authors. It is not merely business, but passion. That’s why we have searched for the best of the best book trailer creators to serve our client authors. Take time to view our book trailer samples and you will know what I mean. Our technology has provided us numerous means to make our books come to life and this does not necessarily mean expensive. With the launching of our proudly competent Book Trailer Service, it is with our high hopes that self-published authors will now find it more convenient to intensify and magnify their marketing campaigns. We wish you the very best for the rest of the year. Let us continue to make the best,” said Johnny Chu, BookWhirlcom’s CEO.

To view samples of BookWhirl.com’s Book Trailer Service, log on to http://www.bookwhirl.com/Specialty-Marketing/Book-Trailer-Service.html

About BookWhirl.com

BookWhirl.com is an online book marketing services provider, specializing in providing low-cost, high-quality marketing services for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry books. Through its unique, inexpensive book marketing services, BookWhirl.com helps authors promote their published works more effectively and connect to readers in a more effective, more efficient system. BookWhirl.com employs an experienced team of online marketing strategists, ad copywriters, graphic artists, and web designers, whose combined talents ensure an effective online marketing campaign at easily affordable rates.

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Source: http://www.adzines.com/Book-Marketing-Articles/Media-Events-for-Book-Promotion/6439

“How do I set up a media event?” – As a publisher, that’s a good question to have an answer for.

Media events and public appearances can fall into any number of categories and include any number of venues (book stores, radio interviews, television interviews, writing group speeches, presentations, chat room interviews, online book tours, public forums, and more).

A good place to identify possible media event locations is through local bookstore. Most bookstores carry event calendars or maintain a list of contact people who hold that information.

Browse the calendar listings and see if a certain book promotion fits with their plans. Sometimes it might be necessary to tailor a planned event for a particular occasion or holiday. If there is contact information available, make a note of it so you can pitch the appropriate person about your event.

Follow-up with prospective contacts who have not confirmed dates. Selling yourself and your book is a numbers game, and as any salesperson will tell you, the amount of contact is directly proportional to the amount of sales.

Be persistent without being annoying. If, after three or four attempts with a particular media contact, you are still unsuccessful move on to another prospect.

Once you secure an event, prepare it thoroughly in advance. People who attend or listen to your events are participating because the advertisement or announcement struck a chord with them, so be sure to deliver what they came to see or hear. Don’t be shy about letting them know how to order your book. After all, that’s the reason you’re involved in the event in the first place.

Promote your media event aggressively. Invite your friends and family, and if it’s within the scope of your marketing budget, advertise in the local paper. Neighborhood papers may even promote your event for free within their “Events” pages. You may even be able to tie it into a book review.

The store is sponsoring the event to attract more customers; the station is sponsoring the event to attract more listeners or viewers. Whatever the venue, it is your responsibility to attract the crowd. The venue is just that – a venue.

Brent Sampson is the President & CEO of Outskirts Press Publishing at OutskirtsPress.com and author of Publishing Gems: Insider Information for the Self-Publishing Writer. Information at http://outskirtspress.com/publishinggems

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source: http://www.go-publish-yourself.com/archive/articles/book-marketing/poynterd3.php

By Dan Poynter

Publishing is changing—for the better. There is a New Model for book writing, producing, selling and promoting. One part of this revolutionary change is in book promoting.

Here are several ways to use new technology to promote your book faster, easier and cheaper.

Broadcast email, done properly, is not spam. Book announcements should only be sent to existing customers, potential customers on opt-in lists and targeted members of the press. Most of these people are in your personal address book. Match your offer to those who have already expressed an interest in this type of information.

Make your publishing company Web-site centric. Put your book and all your basic promotion documents on your site and print from the site when you need hard copies. Don’t maintain a stock of dealer bulletins and news releases in your office. Keep the masters in your cyber pressroom and retrieve them when required. For an example of a pressroom, see http://parapub.com/getpage.cfm?file=pressroom/pressroom.html

If you speak on the subject of your book, set up a speaking sub-site with all the information on what you can do. Post your speech descriptions, client list, fee schedule, facilities forms, speaking calendar, audio/video clips, etc. Replace your press kits; avoid printing and mailing. For an example of a speaking sub-site, see http://parapub.com/getpage.cfm?file=/speaking/index.html

Help the information-seeking potential customer to make a buying decision. Give enough information on the book. Provide the same shopping experience they have in a store. If you are publishing fiction, put the first chapter on your site as a free read. The first chapter in a creative work will give the reader a taste and is designed to keep the buyer reading. If your work is nonfiction, provide the first page or so of each chapter to give the browser an idea of what is in the book. If you need help setting up your web site on this model, contact Mary Westheimer at http://www.BookZone.com. BookZone hosts the websites for some 3,500 book publishers.

For the media, put the entire book in a unique address section (URL) along with your promotional materials. Email a pitch letter to the editors and reviewers and invite them to your web site to see your book, and media kit: bio, testimonials, news releases, etc. Tell them what is in the “media kit” and remind them they will save time because they do not have to retype the material. Let them read the book free online. Capture the reviewer’s address when they log on. Add the reviewer to your list and notify them directly when you are promoting your next book. The mission is to design an online media kit that is so useful, the reviewers will flock to use it. And, self-service will save you a lot of time and money.

Publishers Weekly and USA Today recently reviewed their first eGalleys. Invite reviewers to your site and offer to send an eGalley. Promotion @ the speed of email is the wave of the future.

Do the reviewers want eGalleys? PW, for example, receives over 100 galleys each day. They select a handful and the rest go to a holding room. Periodically, someone comes to clean out the room. EGalleys avoid this solid-waste disposal challenge.

Subsidiary rights. Send an email to editors of newsletters, magazines and ezines and offer them the opportunity to excerpt parts of your book free. Ask them to include source, copyright and ordering information at the end of the excerpt.

To find the email addresses for magazines and newsletters, see http://parapub.com/getpage.cfm?file=/bookprom.html and http://www.opinion-pages.org

Email promotions can result in slightly fewer responses than traditional mailings and follow-up telephone calls. But the costs in time and money are far less and the responses begin immediately.

Foreign Rights. Use email to ask foreign publishers if they would like to buy subsidiary rights and translate your book into their language. Send publishers directly to a rights section on your Website. That section will provide a complete book, author bio, testimonials, cover image, news releases, back cover sales copy and other promotional materials. Capture their address when they log on. Then follow up with email.

For foreign publisher email addresses, see International Literary Market Place. It lists publishers outside North America by country. Start with the major language groups: Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Japan. Select publishers that publish in your subject area. If you can’t find many, email the national publishing association for that particular country, describe your book and ask for suggested matching publishers.

See the RightsCenter at http://www.rightscenter.com and PMA’s Foreign Rights Virtual Book Fair at http://pma-online.org/pmafair/index.cfm .

Use every means possible to send people to your site. List your URL in ads, your .sig, and anywhere you might ordinarily leave your telephone number.

Replace expensive four-color brochures with less expensive business cards. Your card should have a photograph of the book’s cover, your usual contact information and a list of all the resources that can be found on your Website. Use the cards to drive traffic to your web site. For great prices on cards, see http://www.MWMdexter.com

Related Web Sites. Surf the Web for sites related to the subject of your book. When you find one that matches, contact the owner and suggest a dealership. Get as many outlets as possible to sell your book.

Newsgroups. Take part in newsgroups related to your book’s subject. Answer questions and become known as an expert on your subject. For a list of newsgroups, see Groups at http://www.excite.com, http://www.YahooGroups.com and http://www.deja.com.

Promotion services. Do not hire the spammers who flood your email box with offers to promote your site or product. Doing so will cost you a lot of money, incur the wrath of potential customers and will encourage more spam.

Direct Contact Media Services will send out your news release to carefully selected media via fax and email. Paul Krupin will rewrite your news release to make it more useful to the media. He will send the announcement to 1,500 to 2,500 targeted print, radio and TV outlets. 1500 one-page releases cost $300. Contact him at dircon@owt.com and see http://www.book-publicity.com .

For more ideas on promoting books online, see U-Publish.com by Dan Poynter and Danny O. Snow. See http://www.u-publish.com .

New computer programs, new printing processes and the Web are transforming the writing, producing, disseminating and promoting of information. Books will never be the same. The winners are author, publishers and readers.

In the future, nonfiction book publishing will see minimized inventories and maximized relationships between authors and customers (readers). Publishing will become customer-centric and “books” will thrive on uniqueness, customization and variety. Book writing, publishing, selling
and promoting are changing—for the better.

Writing periodicals:

Dan Poynter does not want you to die with a book still inside you. You have the ingredients and he has your recipe. Dan has written more than 100 books since 1969 including Writing Nonfiction and The Self- Publishing Manual. For more help on book writing, see http://ParaPub.com. © 2003

or

Book Publishing periodicals:

Dan Poynter, the Voice of Self-Publishing, has written more than 100 books since 1969 including Writing Nonfiction and The Self-Publishing Manual. Dan is a past vice-president of the Publishers Marketing Association. For more help on book publishing and promoting, see http://ParaPub.com. © 2003

or

Professional Speaking periodicals:

Dan Poynter has written more than 100 books since 1969 including Writing Nonfiction and The Self-Publishing Manual. He is past-chair of NSA’s Writer-Publisher PEG and the founder of the PEG newsletter. For more help on book writing, publishing and promoting, see http://ParaPublishing.com. © 2003

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source: http://www.authorinsider.com/article.php?subaction=showfull&id=1158957291&archive=&start_from=&ucat=7&

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Source: http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/50-simple-ways-to-build-your-platform-in-5-minutes-a-day

Written by: ChristinaKatz

Writing rules. Self-promotion drools. Isn’t this how most writers think?

But as long as you view your writing as art and your self-promotion efforts as the furthest thing from art, your chances of ramping up a successful 21st-century writing career are going to remain slim to none.
These days, there’s an art to writing and an art to self-promotion. From the moment you start putting words to the page, it’s never too early to start thinking about how you’re going to share them. And once you begin to see your writing and promotional efforts as equally artful, something wonderful starts to happen: You find readers.

Books aren’t written overnight—they’re developed one day at a time. And it’s the same with our platforms, which comprise all the ways we make ourselves visible to our readers. The idea that you need a platform might seem overwhelming at first. But if you consistently take small steps to put yourself out there, before you know it, you’ll have built a strong, sturdy foundation for your work.

So, if you’re the kind of writer who prefers being read to being unknown (who doesn’t?), here are 50 quick, simple ways to launch your platform into action. Think of each small step as a giant leap toward finding readers—and a fun, rewarding opportunity to share your hard-wrought words with others.

Listen & Learn

1. Find Your Keepers. Clarify the kinds of readers you want to connect with now, and you’ll be glad you did later. First, jot down a quick list of all the types of readers you’ve ever had. Now, decide which groups you want to stay connected with for the long haul, and make them your keepers.

2. Start Surveillance. Google Alerts (google.com/alerts) can help you become practically omnipresent in only a few clicks. Take five to set up alerts to notify you when your name, articles, book(s), Twitter handle, site URL and/or specialty topics pop up online. When you’re alerted to people promoting your name, supporting your work or sharing your ideas, stick out your virtual hand and say, “Hey, thanks! I appreciate that.”

3. Poll for Solutions. Ask questions. You’ll get answers. If you’re wondering which online photo hosting service to use, or if others are having the same server problems that you are, try posting the question on Facebook and Twitter. I do this often, and love coming back and reading what others have said. If it’s a decision you’re making, share which advice you followed.

4. Show Respect. On social networks, follow and friend folks in your field whom you admire. Steer clear of anyone shifty, clingy or shilling stuff all the time. A good rule of thumb: Don’t promote or forward the causes of anyone online who you wouldn’t in regular life. It takes time to get to know people, but it’s worth it when your reputation is on the line.

5. Study the Competition. Jump on a search engine and type in the keywords that describe what you write about. See who pops up on your radar. Don’t be afraid of the competition; study your competitors. What are they doing better than you? Add what you learn to your to-do list.

Create Context

6. Introduce Yourself. Take a few minutes to write a brief bio you can use wherever your name appears online. Include your URL, relevant professional credentials, recent publications (online or off), significant self-published efforts and professional partnerships.

7. Show Yourself in Action. I’m willing to bet you have a whole bunch of photos of yourself out and about doing what you do. If some are shots of you writing, great. But even better if you have some decent-quality photos of you speaking, teaching a workshop, signing books or the like. Collect them, and use them to accompany your posts online.

8. Post Ads and Affiliate Links. You need to make money to invest money in your platform, so why not make the most of the resources and tools you already like? You won’t get rich from affiliate revenue, but it can add up over the course of a year and cover some of your ongoing platform expenses. It takes minutes to post an ad or affiliate link on your website or blog.

9. Hold an Event. Have an event with a time limit (like one week only, or 30 days). Create whatever type of environment is appropriate for what you write—perhaps an activity where something has to be completed in a certain amount of time so there is a ticking-clock factor (think NaNoWriMo). Create an environment that draws your tribe in, helps people interact and get to know one another, and converts folks into loyal fans who will keep coming back for more. Dream something up.

10 Grade Yourself. HubSpot makes free graders (grader.com) that can gauge the effectiveness of your website, blog, Google Alerts, Facebook page, Twitter account and more. Each grader takes less than five minutes to run. Do so periodically, and add its suggestions to your to-do list.

Contribute Content

11. Give It Away. Spread the word across your social networks for everyone to come and get whatever you can give for free. If you already wrote an article that you don’t plan to sell, why not give it away? Maybe you created something inspirational or uplifting. Give it away. People love free.

12. Brainstorm 20 Ideas. If you don’t constantly ask yourself what new ideas you have, half of them will get away. And then you’ll have to read your idea on someone else’s blog, or in a magazine or newspaper with someone else’s byline. That’s how the zeitgeist works. So get in the habit of writing down your ideas, perhaps in a special idea journal. Drain your brain into it five minutes at a time.

13. Put Your Best Forward. Make sure people who are just discovering your offerings can go straight to some of your best online writing that has passed the test of time. Otherwise it’s just going to get buried under your latest efforts. Most blogs have widgets that will do the rounding up for you. Create a way to send fans and followers straight to your best posts.

14. Recycle. Take a few minutes to pitch content you’ve already written to a new outlet. Can you find a blog, forum or association newsletter that might be interested in your topic? Put some of your old writing to work all over again for fresh eyes.

15. Review Worthy Writers. Inquiring readers want to know what books you like and why. Briefly review books as you read them and post your insights on review sites (like GoodReads, Amazon.com and Red Room). For good karma, sing the praises of your all-time favorites, too.

Cultivate Community

16. Prompt a Response. A prompt is a suggestive word or theme that cues an interactive response from others. It can be as simple as a photo, symbol or word, or as complicated as a riddle. When hosting an annual book giveaway, I asked a question each day for a month, and everyone who answered was entered in the drawing. Participants loved the prompt more than the free books. It’s a fun way
to interact with your growing online community.

17. Take Five to Interact. Reply to commenters on your blog. Thank people who used your free content. Think of three people to appreciate for any reason at all. Spend a little bit of time with those who’ve gone out of their way to care about you.

18. Make an Engaging Offer. If you’re working on a project and you need people to get involved, offer something—say, a discount or kickback—to the first 50 who express interest. Create excitement for those who are willing to work with you.

19. Form Strategic Partnerships. Who do you want to partner with? Being friendly and helpful should have no strings attached—but true partnerships are mutually beneficial, formal agreements in which each party is hoping to gain something specific. List three likely partners and reach out to them.

20. Create a Quickie Blogroll. Make a quick list of writers you admire. Then search for links to their blogs or sites to create your blogroll. Position your blog as an inspiring resource by going for quality, not quantity.

Be Authentic

21. Be Yourself. Advice that tells authors to act like brands encourages us to forget to act like regular people. But social media is made for people, not robots. The fact that you’re a writer and a parent or an uncle and a Packers fan or a vegetarian makes you interesting. Your readers and fans want you to be personable, not a one-topic ever-plugging broken record. Spend five minutes making a profile more you.

22. Put Passion Into Action. Let’s say you write literary fiction. Isn’t that harder to build a platform around? Nope. Take your passion online and put it to work. Don’t assume no one cares. Assume there are a million people out there like you, and start connecting with them. Take five to write a quickie mission statement about why you’re on fire about your topic. Reread it every time you get online. It will help focus your efforts.

23. Get Together. Let folks know that you’ll be speaking or signing or teaching (or whatever else you do) near them when you travel. Make yourself accessible.

24. Spark Conversations. Other people are just as passionate about your topic as you are. So get on Google, do a Twitter search, visit forums where your topic is trending and spend five minutes participating in a chat. If nothing is happening, strike up your own conversation.

25. Share the Journey. I bet you have a lot going on right now. Surely some of it is interesting. Or perhaps you have a fresh take on what you have on your plate that others would find humorous or refreshing. Update others on what’s happening right now. Don’t try to keep your ups and downs a secret. Curious fans love to be treated like insiders.

Synergize Connections

26. Friend and Follow Media Pros. Track down media folks related to your career thrust, and friend and follow them on social networks. Never come on too strong. Just be laid-back and friendly. And if you have social-media clout, don’t be surprised if they’re looking for you, too. Influential people will come to you when your passionate action makes you stand out.

27. Say Thanks. In five minutes you could crank out a handwritten thank-you note, stick a coffee or book gift card in there, address and stamp it. Why not do this at least once a month?

28. Articulate Your Allies. Who supports your work? Whose work do you champion? Identify someone you have mutually compatible goals with, and see how you can help each other. Suggest ways to cheer each other on.

29. Generate a Q&A. Create a series of questions on a topic you find fascinating, and then get interesting people in your genre or area of expertise to answer them in any format: a video chat, a written Q&A or an audio chat. It makes compelling content.

30. Shake Things Up. Don’t be one-note. Stop agreeing with everyone about everything and take five minutes to form a rebuttal (without turning it into a rant). Take a dull topic and make it interesting by putting a new spin on it or taking a contrarian stance. Get people engaged in the conversation.

Produce Yourself

31. Capture E-mail Addresses. Use a newsletter service or RSS feed service to create a place front and center on your site where folks can sign up to receive correspondence from you or to have your blog posts delivered to their inbox.

32. Go Multimedia. Bring old content to life using fresh media. Spend five minutes practicing reading something you’ve written out loud into your smartphone. Or boil down a chapter or article into five tips off the cuff and record them unscripted. Let your words riff. Don’t try to make it perfect.

33. Ask for Feedback. To learn to do what you do better, get your audience involved. Create a five-minute feedback form and send it out.

34. Outsource Something. Take five to consider all the hats you wear: the creative, the closer, the perpetual student, the accountant, the publicist, etc. Identify a weakness that someone can help you with now. Then hire or solicit the support you need.

35. Share More. One common mistake we make is slaving over our content to make it perfect, thinking that if we do, readers will come to us. But too often, no one comes! Work hard to maximize everything you write. I’ve counted 49 ways you can use the “Share This” button to buzz content you want to champion. Get this button for your blog and browser now.

Publicize Yourself

36. Hunt and Answer. Don’t forget the traditional media. Answer media requests at Help a Reporter Out (helpareporter.com). In five minutes you can find and respond to at least one appropriate media request. Make a game of how fast you can weigh in. Every post is another way to get your name out there.

37. Grow Your List. Wherever you go, whatever you do, bring along your e-mail sign-up sheet on a clipboard. Even better if you can offer a benefit for signing up, such as a free story, checklist or special report. Never sell or share contact information.

38. Think Ahead. What do you have coming up? Keep a list of any future events and publications on your blog, in your newsletter, on social media and in your e-mail signature. Update it often.

39. Compartmentalize. Segment your e-mail lists by what folks need from you, not what you need from them. I wouldn’t send attendees of my Northwest Author Series the same correspondence that I send my former students or my e-zine subscribers. Each e-mail group gets its own type of correspondence. Reorganize your e-mail groupings.

40. Master the 5-Minute Release. Zoom in on the latest happenings, holidays and story hooks and tie your career news in with what else is going on in the world. Write five-minute mini press releases and send them out at least monthly. Short is good.

Pay it Forward

41. Round Up Resources. Round up books, websites and other resources on topics related to yours and then add them to your home page. Be helpful to others, and they’ll send people to you.

42. Boost Others. Help a fellow author or a first-timer buzz his outstanding new book, class, service or conference. If you’re a believer, become an evangelist. And if you really mean it, offer a testimonial.
Why not?

43. Offer Your Services. According to Gary Vaynerchuk’s book Crush It!, the best question you can ever ask on social media is, “What can I do for you?” Such a simple idea, yet so profoundly intelligent. Put it to work for you on a regular basis.

44. Be a Good Guest. Ask yourself the hard-hitting questions others don’t dare ask (but are dying to know). Now you have a compelling guest post to share on your “Freebies” page.

45. Hit the Highlights. You don’t have to give the play-by-play after you attend an event. But why not share the best of what you noticed or learned? You can even go multimedia with your coverage. Have your camera, audio recorder and video recorder ready to grab snippets of live action to share with others who wish they could’ve been there.

Strut your Stuff

46. Count Down to Every Launch. Do you have a book coming out? A new class? A new article in print? Make a big to-do about whatever you’ve got that’s new. Announce each launch without pressuring anyone to spend. The place where your service connects with your audience is the place where you create the synergy that fuels your future projects.

47. Spiff Up What’s Old. Offer some kind of promotion to entice folks to your evergreen offerings. I offer a scholarship for two of my classes, and this always pulls in fresh interest in what I teach. A scholarship, a discount, two for one, refer-a-friend—any strategy that makes something old new again is a good one.

48. Make Merchandise. Don’t try to make money with every single thing you offer. Instead, let some of your offerings create buzz for your name using services like CafePress or Zazzle. A fan who likes what you do enough to wear your name on a product becomes a salesperson for your work. Create promotional offerings and put links to them on all the pages of your website. Why not?

49. Sustain Yourself. Being active online calls for balance and patience. Clarify how and where you want to spend your energy, and filter out the rest until you can ride the net without too many wipeouts. Take five and describe exactly what you hope to accomplish in the future time you invest.

50. Break Out of Your Box. Ask yourself, “What would I create if I let myself create anything I wanted?” Let go of any old labels such as novelist, poet or journalist. What would you really get a kick out of writing, right now? Spend five minutes jotting down the truth—the whole truth and nothing but what really sounds fun. Your ability to break out of your own box will inspire others, so go for it!

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source: http://www.bookbuzzr.com/blog/book-marketing/the-gamification-of-book-marketing-and-promotion/

By: Vikram Narayan

As part of my volunteering activities to serve the community, I teach public speaking to 14 year old school children at a local school on Saturday mornings. Sometime ago, one of the challenges I noticed was that students would not applaud and cheer when one of their peers completed a speech on stage. Worse, many of them would speak to each other and be distracted while one of their classmates was speaking. As you can imagine, this was demotivating for the young speakers, many of whom were giving a speech for the first time in their lives.

Then, I introduced a simple idea which has changed the atmosphere of these sessions considerably. With the help of a few “student officers”, we divided the class into four “houses” (groups) that competed against each other in a friendly manner. Next, we started giving points to the group that was the most enthusiastic audience. Overnight, we had a class full of hyper-interested students that were willing to listen carefully to their classmates’ speeches and cheer their progress.

The human brain is wired to play games. Competition, evaluating and managing risks, teamwork, chasing goals while overcoming obstacles and staying within boundaries (rules) and keeping score are part of what make us human.

What is a Game?
Jesse Schell, author of the excellent book – ‘The Art of Game Design’ offers this definition for a game:
“A game is a problem-solving activity, approached with a playful attitude.”

Now, what if we phrased the problem of marketing and promoting books using the “lens” of games? Then the game can be defined for readers in the broadest possible manner as:
“A game where you solve the problem of discovering new books and evangelizing them while having fun”

Now, maybe you’re thinking that this will never work. People are busy. They are serious. They don’t have time to play games. If this is your thought, then I ask you to reconsider … after thinking about the following examples:

1. The stock market – The stock market is a game. There are rules. There are goals (make as much money as possible while managing your risks.) And it can often be fun (especially if you make money!)

2. Discount sales – Have you ever been to a Labor Day sale at your local fashion store? Have you felt the rush of excitement as you get your hands on your favourite brand at 50% off? Here again, there is a problem (get a good product at a lower than normal price), there is competition and it is mostly fun.

3. The Wii – For most people, exercise can be boring. Then the Wii came along with the WiiFit and became a leader in the category of games called Exergaming. Overnight, many children who were glued to playing computer games started living more healthful lives by playing these games.

As can be seen from the above examples, even boring activities can be made exciting by bringing in some of the concepts of game design. At BookBuzzr, we’ve been hard at work trying to incorporate principles of game design into the book marketing and promotion process. For example, we’ve created a Hangman word game which allows authors to market their books in a unique format. In the example below, the author is attempting to capture the interest of those people who hate their bosses. All you have to do is to guess the ‘colourful’ name. As you can see this game would appeal to those who have had a bad boss. While they guess the words, they are likely to get interested in the author’s book.

Vikram Narayan is the founder of BookBuzzr Book Marketing Technologies. (Twitter – @bookbuzzrCEO ) Vikram is a graduate from Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to starting BookBuzzr, Vikram founded another software company that has been successfully serving clients from all over the world since 2001. When he is not dreaming up ways to help authors accelerate their earnings and book sales, Vikram spends his time playing the guitar, practicing Aikido and spending time with his family.

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Source: http://www.bookbuzzr.com/blog/book-marketing/have-a-holly-jolly-promotion-season-for-your-book/

Or How to Jazz Up a Writing Career with Holiday Promotions
Expert: Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Have you heard of The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans?

It was originally self-published. Evans believed in himself (and his book) when big publishers didn’t. When it did well, “lo and behold,” as they say in the Christmas stories. Someone saw the light.

The motto here, for writers, is “Seasonal material sells.” Especially things that can be given reasonably inexpensively during gift-giving seasons. Seems that books fit the bill. They’re generally $15 dollars or less. They lend themselves to the inspirational (always high on the list of gifts people like to give). And they lend themselves to great cover and book design including religious, whimsical, cartoons, and on and on. Oh, and books are easily and inexpensively mailed or e-mailed!

So, are you using the seasons to build your writing career?

There are all kinds of ways to do it. Magdalena Ball and I are seasonal poetry partners. That is, we have written the Celebration Series of chapbooks. She contributes half the poems, I the other half. And we also share publishing and marketing skills. Blooming Red: Christmas Poems for the Rational is the Christmas entry for that series. We also have entries for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day and even one with a feminist theme to celebrate women for—maybe their birthdays?

Gordon Kirkland is a humorist (Canadian, bless his little soul!). He has written a couple of very funny (and extremely giftable!) books including Holly Jolly Frivolity and The Plight Before Christmas. I met him when we both spoke at a writers’ conference and I know he believes in marketing almost as much as he loves writing.

And that brings me to using seasons to market any of your work. Here are some ideas for doing that, even if you don’t have an entry in the seasonal category (Yet!)

• Write articles (like this one?), using your own themes related to your books or whatever else strikes you. They can be used as guest posts on others’ blogs or on your own blog or Website.
• Offer a discount on a book to be used as a greeting card or casual gift. See how Magdalena and I did it for Blooming Red.
• Cross promote with a fellow author on a book in your genre. People who read cozy mysteries likely read more than one a year. And they often love to give them as gifts. Both authors’ contact lists should be full of people who read cozy mysteries so offer them all a two-for one special—a new one for themselves and another for a gift.
• Share a list of holiday (or Easter or Valentine’s) gift book ideas. Post it on your blog. Put it in your newsletter. As an example see Karen Cioffi Ventrice’s list. A list like this is Zen. Help yourself. Help other writers. There is even a way to make this idea into a seasonal catalog and produce it as an income-producing venture in the new edition of my award-winning Frugal Book Promoter on page 340 (but also check the index for other ideas for using catalogs). It is also a way to benefit the publishing industry.
• Write a little seasonal poem, story, or article to include with your holiday letter or greeting card.

Do you have ideas of your own? Please leave a comment (with your e-mail address) and I’ll add them to this article to use next season, to promote my books—and yours.

Have you heard of Charles Dickens? Do you know Scrooge—in person or as a character in A Christmas Carol? If so, how can you argue with what writing for the season can do for you?

Carolyn Howard-Johnson has several decades experience in journalism, retailing (authors are retailers, too!), in publicity, and as a marketer of her own fiction and poetry. She is also author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books—one series for writers and one for retailers. Learn more about all her books and services at http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com.

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GREEN BAY, WI (12/06/11) – BookWhirl.com, one of the leading frontiers of the self-publishing industry embraces the month of December with raging discounts for the Christmas Marketing Holiday. Due to insistent public demand, BookWhirl.com has decided to kick off another generous promo to celebrate the last four weeks of the year 2011. The Christmas Marketing Holiday offers 10% discount on BookWhirl.com’s advertising and publicity packages.

BookWhirl.com’s Christmas Marketing Holiday is applicable on the following services: Author Marketing Tools ServicePak, Author book Publicity ServicePak, Kirkus Book Review Bundle, and BlueInk Book Review Combo.

“The year 2011 was great for BookWhirl.com. This year, we have rolled out more than seven new products and services and have become successful in all aspects of our business. We have proven that we are a significant player in the self-publishing industry. We are serious in our vision of becoming every self-published author’s lifetime partner. For 2012, we have bigger dreams. We hope that you will continue to look forward for a bigger and brighter future”, announced Johnny Chu, CEO and President, BookWhirl.com

Through the BookWhirl.com’s Christmas Marketing Holiday, self-published authors are given the opportunity to gear up for next year’s book marketing campaign even on a small budget. With the current promo, client authors who are interested with launching bigger marketing campaigns can save thousands of dollars.

For more information, please visit http://www.bookwhirl.com/Christmas-Marketing-Holiday.html or call 1 (877) 207 1679.

About BookWhirl.com

BookWhirl.com is an online book marketing service company, specializing in providing low-cost, high-quality marketing services for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry books. Through its unique, inexpensive book marketing services, BookWhirl.com helps authors promote their published works more effectively and connect to readers in a more effective, more efficient system. BookWhirl.com employs an experienced team of online marketing strategists, ad copywriters, graphic artists, and web designers, whose combined talents ensure an effective online marketing campaign at easily affordable rates.

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