Dec17
Written by Ascot Media Group. Posted in General
Your Blog
I know, I keep adding to your writing. But think about a blog. Research them first, follow several blogs and see where you can find your place. Check out the blogs of other authors; see how they have used the blog vehicle to spread the word about their book. Perhaps you could blog about the places or things that inspired your book. What about your travels while you are promoting your book? Keep the posts short and keep people interested. You can offer excerpts from your present book or the next one you are writing! Your first step could be a temporary blog at
www.blogger.com www.blogger.com . Use this as your practice for a few weeks, and then make it public. With a blog you should post every week. Frequent posts keep your readers interested. Remember the more you post the more you get noticed by the search engines. Keep people interested, they will enjoy your style and buy your book! Ask for comments on your blog. It might be best if you post these comments only after you review them. Remember you can add some simple artwork that relate to your posts. A picture of your location if you are travelling would be good, keep it simple.
Link to your blog from your website and to the website from your blog. Connect them and make it easy for your readers to follow the thread.
Now some simple points for a blog:
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Write in the first person
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Tell the truth
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A good headline, give your audience a reason to start reading, try and hook them with the first sentence! Then keep them reading and coming back for more
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Link to other blogs, or to your previous posts
Blogs are such a good vehicle to introduce you to the world, so get going!
While you are planning what to say in your blog, think about making one or two entries a v-log. A v-log is simply blogging using video. Your readers could satisfy their curiosity about you by watching you in action. Your potential readers would be able to actually “see” you talk about your book as opposed to the conventional blog. While you are still implementing the standard traditional ways of promoting yourself, the v-log would take it to the next level.
What do you need for a v-blog? A computer, a camera and a little preparation. Just like for the
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Radio interviews you need to
- Prepare your information in advance
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Think about your audience, what will hold their interest
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Dress in conservative clothing
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Pick any day but a “bad hair day”
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Speak to the camera, and stay focused.
Keep in mind, not all of your post need to be a v-log. Do them occasionally to keep people interested in your blog.
I know this seems like a lot to do, but remember if you market effectively you will sell your book to a lot of people, develop a following, and then be able to do more of what you love: Write another book!
Dec16
Written by Ascot Media Group. Posted in General
Steps to get your new book noticed!
You would think that after a book is published, the author’s responsibilities are over; he/she should be able to just sit back and enjoy the fruits of his/her labor. It couldn’t be farther from the truth, the work is just beginning. You can’t start that new book yet, because first you need to promote this one!
First, either you or your webmaster should create an attractive website. The web is the new eyes of the world. The average person wants to know something about the author. Have they written other books? What are they? Do you always write the same type of book (i.e. cookbook, inspirational fiction, mystery, comedy) is this your first book? Attempt to keep the site fairly simple; don’t make them dig for the information; keep it up front and easy to view. Not too many images, because you want it to load fast.
Second, find some professional reviewers to review your book. Pick only reviewers who review your genre, otherwise it’s a waste of time. Select carefully, some reviewers will only review established authors.
Third, enhance your web presence by writing articles for the Internet, newspapers, and magazines. If you publish articles you will be recognized as an author and it will also enhance your web presence. Remember the all important web! This type of exposure is very important for your success, it helps people to get to know you, and they remember you when they are purchasing books. Look at some of these websites: : American Chronicle, Article-hangout, Go Articles, Ezine Articles, Articles Base, Authors Den, Amazines, and Search Warp.
Why write articles on the internet? I want to publish books!
Check out Amazon. More books are sold on the web than anything else, so a good web presence is important. Get your name out there! Then when people search for you those articles will send you closer to the top of the search engines. Speak with your public relations expert, they can help guide you.
Where do I start?
The American Chronicle is a great one because it has twenty-one other chronicles that your articles will be published on. The first step is to send an article to the Chronicle. This is to give them evidence of your writing skills. They will e-mail you back and let you know if you have been accepted. The other article websites don’t ask for any samples. Just sign up and begin writing.
Remember that your goal is not to charge them for these articles, but to get your name out there so people will know who you are. Once they have read a few of your articles, they will become interested in knowing more about you and your book. If you have to begin writing articles free, then do it. Don’t forget, the goal in this is to get your name out to the public with a good byline.
A byline?
Along with your name, you can mention your book and provide contact information, such as your e-mail or website.
Remember that an author’s duties don’t stop when the book is written. It is just beginning. There are thousands of books published every year but you need to get out into the public’s eye and be recognized before your book will be noticed.
