Category Archives: Marketing

Yesterday, I talked about the print materials that I included with the press kit for the first book in my current series. If you want to make an indelible first impression, that’s only a starting point. I’m now going to take it one step further.

I mentioned that you shouldn’t provide a simple press release in a manila folder. That much should be obvious. But if not in a manila folder, what will you use to contain this grab-bag of awesomeness you have assembled? If it’s just paper, you could get some full-colour customized folders. This gets dicey if you’re going to include a physical copy of your book, which I strongly recommended yesterday. (I still strongly recommend it today!)

My needs set me toward finding a box.

1. The box. Not just any box old box. This will be the first thing your box recipient will see. There are places online where you can design and purchase all kinds of beautiful customs boxes, but unfortunately you may find that some of them break the bank. If I had unlimited resources, I would have gone with something like these. The possibilities are endless. My budget meant I had to rely on my wits. With the help of a close family member, I got my hands on thirty white medium-sized pizza boxes. We delicately refitted them so that they were the perfect size for the book, with room on each side for extra materials, opening and closing with a clasp.

This involved a fair bit of work, because the last thing I wanted was to present my press kit in a box that shouted “Cheapskate!” The end result was highly professional. (If you’re interested in exactly how we refitted pizza boxes to look classy, well, that’s a post for another day; let it simply be said, without explaining the mechanics, that it’s quite possible when done with a skilled hand.)

2. The box label. Don’t make the mistake of addressing your box to “Reviewer,” or something equally anonymous. This is not a form letter. Every news outlet is going to have a person (or a department of persons) responsible for deciding what goes on the air, or on the page. Find out who those people are and address the boxes to them personally. In some cases, it may be advantageous to address your kit directly to on-air talent, specific columnists, or people in the organization with whom you have a personal connection. This helps you to control the success of your press kit, so that it doesn’t languish on the front receptionist’s desk for a few days before being dumped in the trash. Make sure it gets in the right person’s hands. In my case, I printed a graphic on the front of the box which identified the recipient; the graphic I chose matched a graphic from the cover of my book, making sure that both the product itself and the box it came in looked like they belonged together.

3. Personal letter. Another personal touch I included was a short letter introducing the book and my marketing effort to the particular recipient. If I knew something about the box’s recipient, this was the place to take advantage of it. Each letter was slightly different from the next, due to its personalized nature. The contents of the letter was a little bit redundant with the press release, except much more intimately presented (no… not that kind of intimate). The letter was printed on a small narrow band of distressed paper, rolled up in a scroll, and tied with a short length of twine. Each was signed by hand. This was designed to be the first item of the kit which was handled by the recipient. It was the figurative opening handshake.

4. An invitation. I included an invitation to my launch, inside a hand-addressed envelope. These invitations were provided to me by the bookstore where my launch was held, saving me a bit of effort. The bookstore’s logo (a major retailer in my city) lent a further air of professionalism and credibility.

5. Goodies. We’re getting to the end now. I wanted to include a couple of extra trinkets, but I didn’t have much time or money. Ideally, your goodies should be a specific complement to your book. I didn’t have quite enough time to prepare something as cool and intricate as I would’ve liked, so I settled for customized pens and notepads. I designed and ordered these through a local printing company, and I got an excellent deal. The pen and notepad contained my book title, my series title, and my official website. I distributed these pens far and wide, and every once in a while I still see them out in the world when I go to the bank or visit a local restaurant. I also used these pens at my signing; for each book I signed, I used a unique pen, and then gave away the pen to the person buying the book.

Finally, a note about packaging: if you go this route, of preparing and filling a box, make sure it packs tightly. The last thing you want is for the contents of the box to be messy when it’s opened by its intended recipient. Pack it in such a way that it can be turned on its side and flipped around a few times without disturbing what’s inside.

I sent my finished kit to radio stations, newspapers, magazines, bloggers, libraries, and a few prominent local authors who I hoped might lend some support. The final result is that I received responses from just less than half of the people I sent it out to. Considering that I was a first-time author with virtually no platform or publishing history, I believe that was a really big success. I’m hoping that by repeating this effort, my response will improve with every release.

I hope my experience and advice has been helpful. All the best in preparing your own press kits, and if you have questions, leave them in the comments!

Press Kit Case Study, Part One

October 22, 2013

Evan Braun

Evan Braun Giveaways Marketing Publishing 2 Comments

Marketing doesn’t come easily or naturally to me. It surprises me that there are any writers out there who enjoy hawking their books. I accept that it must be true; I just can’t in any way, shape, or form relate to such people. I just want to write. I want to finish a book, then immediately start the next with nary a further thought.

Sadly, this is not the way the world works—especially not for indie writers, who can’t depend on publishers to get the word out. The truth is that even traditionally published authors can’t depend on their publishers these days, unless they happen to be so utterly famous that they hardly need the big push.

A year and a half ago, I released the first novel in my ongoing series (Amazon, Kobo), and was faced with the conundrum of what kind of marketing efforts to undertake. I planned a book launch (which was extremely successful), made various appearances, did a signing or two, and in general did everything I could to connect with readers. But I was faced with the dilemma of having to market not just the book, but the launch. I had to get people’s attention, and the most obvious way of doing that is going through the media.

Fortunately, I have a communications degree in which I studied journalism, advertising, and public relations. (And yet I hate most of those things, go figure.) I knew I had to assemble a press kit that contained more than a standard press release stuffed in a manila folder. I had to turn it into an event.

Today, I’m going to begin by writing about the press kit’s printed materials. I included glossy prints of the following (all with full-color letterheads and photos, which were color-coordinated to match the book’s cover):

1. The press release. This is obvious, but crucially important. Like most written forms, there is a stylistic expectation that comes with a press release, so conduct some research on what a press release looks like. It’s the only way to ensure that you come off professionally. Most media outlets receive dozens of press releases a day, however, so a slavish submission to form can be counterintuitive. There are ways to thread the needle between meeting expectations and raising eyebrows. (If I could tell you how to accomplish this for your unique project, it wouldn’t be unique.) I also signed each release by hand—a personal touch to signal that this wasn’t a form letter. This was just one of many personal touches, which I will go into a bit later.

2. Book information. On a separate sheet, I included the back cover copy, along with the ISBN number, the page size, the page length, and the release date.

3. Author bio. This page included a high-res, professionally-taken headshot. It’s impossible to stress how important it is to get a professional to take the picture. My photographer even went to the trouble of digitally removing some skin blemishes and whitening my teeth. The author bio should be pretty self-explanatory, and again I strove to find a balance between professionalism and light-heartedness. I explained my career, my background, and my interests; combined, these served to provide some qualifications for the kind of book I’d set out to write.

4. Interview questions. The goal of a press kit is to get… you know, press. But your local radio personality, newspaper columnist, or blogger may not have the time to read your 400-page book on a week’s notice to get the word out about your launch. The people writing articles about you, or conducting in-person interviews, will likely not have read your book. That’s just how it is. They won’t want to sound ignorant, so either they will (a) not bother giving you coverage at all, or (b) need some help deciding what kind of coverage to provide. You can give them that help. Provide some interview questions, a starting point from which you can address the FAQs of your book. Also include your answers, of course! I included eight questions—and yes, some of them were used. This practice also provides some comfort to you, in advance of a media interview, to know some of the questions you will be asked. Finally, don’t forget to include (both here and in several places elsewhere in the press kit), clear contact information for scheduling interviews.

5. Character sketches. The above are all expected parts of the press kit, but I wanted to include a few extra touches. I included a page of character sketches in which I teased each of the book’s three main characters and their roles in the story.

6. Further extras. It doesn’t hurt to go still further above and beyond. In the case of my first book, I had started a blog just prior to the release of the book. The blog was written from the point of view of one of the main characters. I provided information about this blog, explained its purpose and content, then included the first two entries as written samples. I ended up getting a request from a major news outlet to reprint these samples on their website, which I was only too happy to oblige, as they provided excellent teases.

And, oh yeah, in case it wasn’t already obvious:

7. Give them a free, promotional copy of the book. Not every indie author has an in-print paperback version of their book to give away, but don’t be stingy if you have them. Probably the biggest advantage of having a physical book, for marketing purposes, is that it provides you with the perfect billboard of your book. The book itself is the poster. Don’t ask a media outlet to review your book or give you coverage without actually giving them a copy. Thus, the first thing someone will see when they open your press kit is the book itself, its glossy cover staring up at them in all its glory.

There’s a lot more to this press kit business, and so far I’ve only explained the initial printed materials. This only accounts for half the kit’s contents. Come back tomorrow to read about what other goodies I included.

Social Networking Sites and You

October 21, 2013

fictorians

Guest Posts Marketing The Writing Life 3 Comments

A guest post by Heidi Berthiaume.

Some writers feel a rising tide of panic when they think about how much time they think (or are told) they need to spend online in various social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, etc., when what they really want to do is just write.

The thing to remember about social networking sites that being social is the key – it’s about relationships, not pushing a product. So it’s important that where ever you spend your social media time, you have fun. If you consider tweeting a chore, you’re not going to do it enough or engage with other people on Twitter for it to be of any benefit to you or your writing.

In order to help you find a social media home (if you want one), I’m going to go all metaphorical and give examples of what a few social media sites would be like in the real world.

Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/) – short to long posts throughout the day, pictures and videos show up on the page. Think of Facebook as a large dinner party. Some people are talking outside the house (public pages), but most of the conversations happen inside, so you
have to sign up. If you walk in without knowing anyone, you might feel lonely. Once you find some Friends, you’ll engage in conversations with them, to meet their Friends, and keep up on what other people are doing. Some celebrities also come to this party (or their representatives and fans do). You’ll have a running list of other folks’ posts on your Wall which you can Like, Share, and comment on whenever you want. Your involvement can be real time or delayed – comment three seconds after someone posts or nine hours later, doesn’t really matter. Conversations can be picked up and dropped at any time.

Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/) – 140 characters or less, links out to pictures and videos, can use a hashtag (#) to identify your tweet with a theme/concept/cause/etc. Think of Twitter as a really crowded bar – lots of conversations happening in real time, really fast. You can walk by and overhear a few conversations (public tweets), but you have to sign up in order to join in. As with Facebook, if you walk in without knowing anyone, it can be lonely – you’ll just be sitting at the bar talking to yourself. As soon as you Follow some people and they Follow you back and you guys start talking, the social part is on. And it stays on as long as you are logged in and tweeting. With only 140 characters to use, and some of them getting used up if you directly reference another person (@theirname), there’s not a lot of room for discussion, so commenting on a tweet from yesterday, or even a few hours ago loses context very quickly.

LiveJournal (http://www.livejournal.com/) – long blog-like posts, can join or create Communities of like-minded folks, fun with User Pics. If you have a blog on your website, it’s kind of out there on its own, a little lemonade stand on the Information Superhighway. If you have a blog on LiveJournal, it’s like having a lemonade stand in a small town where you get to know the neighbors and can have some great conversations.

LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/) – mostly business and career based. Think of LinkedIn as a job fair where you go with business card and resume in hand. Good place to show off your day job skills and connect with people in the industry you want to be hired. Also a good way to keep up with old and potential co-workers. Recruiters may contact you for a position based on your Profile, and other people can endorse you for specific skills.

Tumblr (http://www.tumblr.com/) – all about sharing images, animated GIFs, and hashtags. Tumblr can be pretty fandom orientated, so think of a convention with a huge bulletin board where people put up pics of their favorite shows or celebrities or artists, and often these pics have something added to them (captions, Photoshopped effects, etc.), thereby creating a new cool thing. You can see a few posts through the window of the convention center, but to participate, you have to sign up. Comments can be text or an image – there are some funny, amazing comment threads that happen on Tumblr, often with multiple in jokes of the fandom that is doing the talking. Just by posting pics of stuff you like with a hashtag (#DoctorWho), you can connect with like-minded people fairly quickly.

Pinterest (http://www.pinterest.com/) – all about sharing images (mostly still) and videos, but with more structure than Tumblr in that each image/video/Pin is associated with a Board. Think of Pinterest as a lot of people sitting around sharing photo albums. Lots of Boards are public and you sign up to Re-pin or upload your own Pins on as many Boards as you want to create.

Google+ (http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/) – standard text/pics/video sharing with the feature of video Hangouts and the ability to create Circles. Think of G+ as a bunch of old-time party lines – you decide who is in each Circle, so when you post to that Circle, only those people will see it. Facebook has Lists, but supposedly it’s way easier to partition people in G+ (I don’t know, I haven’t used it).

There are bunches more social networking sites out there like Reddit and MySpace and DeviantArt, and each has their own personality and way of interacting with its kind of community.

I started out on LiveJournal because I wanted to connect with a few authors I met at a convention. Tried Twitter for a while, again to keep up with folks I had met, and decided it was too real time for me (I also have a cheap, pay-by-the-minute phone so being online all the time wasn’t feasible). Occasionally I’ll post to Pinterest, but mostly I go there to browse for art inspiration and DIY craft ideas. I have found my current social network home on Facebook – I like the balance of text and images and have some great friends I like to keep up with at whatever time I want to log in and look.

So try out a few social networking sites. Find your kind of folks. See which model best fits how you want to spend your time and energy, because ultimately being part of a social networking site should be fun. Seriously.

Guest Writer Bio:
Heidi Berthiaume is a side character in an epic story who writes, makes art, edits fan music videos, and has almost figured out what her own adventure will be. You can find out more on her website (http://www.heidi2524.com/) and on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/heidi2524).

The Written Word in a Digital World: The Value of Social Media to Your Writing Career

October 18, 2013

fictorians

Guest Posts Marketing The Writing Life 3 Comments

A guest post by Holly Dawn Hewlett.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last decade, you have some knowledge of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram. The question is, do you understand the value of Social Media to your success? I don’t care what genre, what topic, what country, what age you are…if you want your work seen, and checks in your bank account…then you need to embrace Social Media. And why not? IT’S FREE!!!

So, I want you to Google yourself…now check those entries…are they really you?

Now I want you to Google, Holly Dawn Hewlett, Winchester, Va. Yes, ALL of those entries on the first THREE pages are me! What does that mean? When someone is looking for me, I have 3x the chance of them finding me than you. Why is this important? Because the way to get on the first page of Google is to have good quality content. The way to have good quality content is to have work on every channel you can in the digital world.

I can hear you now, here comes what I call “The Writers’ Soliloquy”

I don’t have time

I have family, friends and a community to buy my work

I write serious prose/poetry and I am not going to peddle it on Social Media

Shakespeare, King, Koontz, and Sandberg didn’t need Social Media!

All of the above statements are true…and false. The reason you don’t have time is you have not learned to leverage your time. You run around trying to catch every opportunity to show your work. Marketing studies show that the average person actually knows about 420-450 people and is acquainted with 2200-2500 people. On a good day only 30-40% of those will actually buy your work. I don’t care if you write the greatest novel that has ever been written, if no one sees it then no one buys it and you are a talented, broke writer. Speaking of Shakespeare, he is THE most downloaded author in the world, to the tune of 2-4 Billion dollars a year….Yes, that is BILLIONS………..

Still think you don’t need Social Media?

Lets’ look at how Social Media can help you. First, some hard learned lessons:

The Digital World is fast, furious and forever. Keep your personal life and writer life separate. The digital world is not secure, you have to use common sense. I keep a note book with all my accounts and passwords separate so that if someone gets into one of my accounts, they can’t get into my personal life, ie: my bank account. Yes, your fans will want to know all there is to know about you, which is a blessing. Establish boundaries now so you are not in danger later. Even as good as I am, I have made mistakes. You’re at an event and hand out your personal # or email…when those people contact me, I redirect them to my public info. If they continue to use my private info…I block them. Don’t fall for the crap that you have to be accessible to all people. Stephen King and Anne Rice have had long lucrative careers being private people.

Now to nuts and bolts.

Social Media is NOT a retail store, it takes time to build a reputation. You need to be engaging and patient. The days of sending out sales emails and ads are gone. Today’s customer is engaged, educated, and discerning. They still want fast service, but they will have googled you before you ever hear from them.

A basic Social Media set up for an author is: LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, a blog, a YouTube Channel and Twitter.

The Golden Rule: Good Content, Good Content, Good Content!! Post at least once a week on some of your sites. Connect with the people in your field who are seen as experts. Comment on others’ content. If you are referencing anything…make sure you say so!! It is a digital world, but lawsuits are very real!!! Be real, Be you!

LinkedIn…is your professional page. This is the place you act your best. Yes, you can express your opinion, but always think of yourself sitting in a board room. Linked In is where all the powerful and successful people of your field are. As you establish yourself, you will find some of the experts of your field will wind up connecting with you. This is the place for intellectual discussions. Be studious about who you connect to, you never know who knows who.

Facebook…You will have a personal page which is connected to a Fan Page. Your Fan Page is the place to casually engage your audience. This is the place for all the events of your public life, to have fun, within reason. Remember…the digital world is forever. Find something that you are passionate about that is relevant to your work. I am an Eco Warrior, so my fan page is all about eco living around the world, from schools that are using public space to grow gardens to the latest technological advancements in solar, wind, and geothermal.

Pinterest or Instagram…These are visual based sites. Depending on your personality, the one you choose is up to your taste or engagement. Instagram is like Twitter in that you can send something out to all your followers. Pinterest is like having a limitless portfolio. Visual is the largest growing segment of interaction in the world. The trick with these sites is a conversation. Think: “How do I show people what my work is about” If you visit my Pinterest page, I post how my life is affected by what I do. I post ALL my videos and all the things I am passionate about.

Your Blog…Why have a blog? Well, all those Social Media sites have rules, regulations, and space limits. A blog is the place that you are free to just be who you are. The value of a blog is that YOU control it. It is a place where your most loyal customers will come to have a more intimate conversation with you. It is also the place where you will make money in the future from those loyal customers!! I have a blog on Empower Network, full disclosure…this is another revenue source for me, so yes, I will make a commission if you set up your blog through my link. Go check it out: http://unapologeticjourney.empowernetwork.com/

YouTube…If you have a gmail account, You have a YouTube Channel! As a writer, you will be asked to do readings. A great way to interact with your audience is through videos!! YouTube has a very easy download and edit template that is sweet! Make sure you go through ALL the tabs on your first few videos so it becomes second nature. You will thank me! Finally, ALWAYS MONETIZE YOUR VIDEOS!! Monetizing a video means that you give YouTube the permission to run those ads you see across videos you already watch. There is no sense in turning down free money! How much money? In 2012, YouTube made 2.4 Billion!! 40% of that went to all the people who monetized their videos. Part of monetizing your videos is to make sure you put true and informative titles. AND, if you cuss like I do, you always put that in the description!!

Twitter…This is the place you interact with your audience in real time with 140 character sentences, which are called tweets. Twitter is the place to do media blasts that let folks know you have a new book or an appearance somewhere. This is a great place to have short sweet fast interactions with your fans. Learn the lingo and you will be a twitter master!!

At this point, you are probably feeling overwhelmed, remember what I said about leveraging your time? Take a breath! I got you covered.

The final steps:

Continuity!! Pick a name and use it for ALL of these accounts! If you have not gone to someplace like GoDaddy and registered your “Domain” name, then go do that. Use your whole name, this sets you apart. If you want to be creative, think before you pick a name. Make sure it is relevant! Nothing worse than hearing about how your whole online image does not match what the customer sees when they see your name…..forever.

Set up one or two accounts at a time, do not try to set up everything all at once, you will fry your brain. Take your time! I am telling you to set up in this order because Google owns YouTube, so as you build more sites, google already knows you exist! LinkedIn and Facebook are two of the largest, most trusted sources for content, so google will grab this content easily.

Set up your accounts in this order: Gmail and YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest/Instagram, and Your Blog.

As you set up your accounts, you will be asked to “connect” them…DO IT…this is the trick!! When you connect your account, whatever you post to one site will then post to all your other sites! Don’t be lazy, visit all your sites at least once a week and post from them. The more different original content points you use the quicker you will rise to the top of Google.

After you get all your accounts set up, tell everyone you know about them!! Now that you are being Social, find me and connect @

Holly Dawn Hewlett on

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube, and my blog, UnapologeticJourney

Guest Writer Bio:
Holly Dawn Hewlett is a published poet, Slivers of My Soul on Amazon.com. Her passions are print media, Pitbulls, and Reduce Reuse and Recycle!! She is an Energy Consultant for Ambit Energy, working to save people money on their electricity and natural gas bills, check out www.Killthemeter.energy526.com