We want to thank Brenna Lyons for this information. Her experience as a senior editor, President of EPICauthors, and a 20 book (in print) published author is invaluable for our authors.
Book Marketing 101
By Brenna Lyons
http://www.brennalyons.com/ http://www.myspace.com/brennalyons
Note...these are the notes from my two e-marketing classes, my blurb class, and my one general marketing classes, at the moment.
I'd like to start with a polling, just to make a point. http://www.livejournal.com/poll/?id=1007999 This polling asked readers what had prompted them, even in part, to purchase a book.
The responses that did the worst? Contests run on author sites, postcards received in the mail for books, promo e-mails sent by authors, toys and other goody gimmicks. Notice that the high-priced items don't do well. The toys and goodies may stick around for a while, reminding the readers about the book and you, but they aren't selling books, according to readers. I'd counter that they help add to the dozen exposures you need to get a sale, but it's a costly way to get there. The truth is, these sorts of promos serve a purpose but obviously should not be the mainstay of your promotional/marketing attempts.
What ones did the best? Name recognition and recommendations from persons the readers trust. Okay...those things are largely out of the author's hands, though all marketing helps, in some respects.
Let's focus on the ones that ranged more than a 50% return. Author blog or web site, mention of the book on other authors' blogs and web sites, reading the first chapter online or in print, cover art, representative blurbs, reviews and author appearances (signings, readings and conventions). Aside from attending a convention, these are all marketing the author can do for a little elbow grease and little or no money.
The web page, your #1 priority in marketing- Web pages don't have to be made and updated by a professional service. They just have to reflect YOU and allow readers access to the writer and the books. You can make web pages in many web browsers (I suggest Mozilla Sea Monkey for a browser/composer) and WORD, but you can purchase a program like FrontPage or Dream Weaver, if you feel comfortable with it. There are free web page servers like Yahoo, but most online services (ISPs) offer free web space that you can use for your web page with each e-mail account you have. With Earthlink/Mindspring or Comcast, that means you could have eight web spaces assigned to you and use them for your web page.
It's not enough to have a web page. You have to let people know you have a web page. Put it in your tag line. If your publisher will, have them link to your page from your book pages. Put it on your promo gear. Get people to cross-link with you. Get your link on sites that list authors in a genre or with particular content. The web site is useless alone. You must entice people to it. More on that later.
How not to offend readers- Choose colors that are easy on the eyes. A light color with a dark color type is usually best, though light type on a dark page works, as well. If you use a dark background, make sure your type is not close in intensity. Even if it's a contrasting color, dark on dark or light on light is difficult on the eyes...and possibly impossible for colorblind people to see. Don't use bright colors like hot pink or fluorescent...anything! Make the page easy to load. Remember that not everyone has DSL or Cable modem. Use small pictures; not only will they load faster, but they won't eat up your data allowance as fast.
Keep the motion graphics to a minimum. Motion is distracting and hard on the eyes. Don't use sparkly or flashing cursors or pointers. Get a site that doesn't have pop-ups, or make a generic site and buy a domain name and redirect to that site WITH FRAMES to block the pop-ups. Keep your site updated! If it's wildly out of date, readers will stop checking back. Remember, if you annoy the reader with your site, they won't be coming back.
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