Get Known Before the Book Deal

Book Promotion Tips from the Pros: Featured Author Kenn Nesbitt

By Cindy Hudson

 

Kenn Nesbitt is the author of five collections of funny poetry for elementary-age kids, including his latest collection, My Hippo Has the Hiccups. Nesbitt has three books coming out in 2010 and he is the creator of the world's most popular children's poetry website poetry4kids.com. He lives in Spokane, Washington with his wife and two children.
 
Q. What can authors do before their publication date to make a book launch more successful?
 
A. A lot of the promotion should be handled by the publisher, of course, as they are more likely to have media contacts who can generate some buzz around your book, but the one thing I think more authors should be doing is permission marketing. In other words, I think authors should gather the e-mail addresses of their fans to let them know whenever a new book comes out.
 
Nine months before my last book was released, I put a simple sign-up form on my website, offering free weekly poems by e-mail to my readers. That is, in exchange for their e-mail address, I send them a funny poem once a week. This is all handled by an "auto-responder" (I use aweber.com, but Constant Contact or others should work as well) so that I don't need to manually send the e-mails.
 
By the time the book was available, I had over 2,500 e-mail addresses of kids, parents, and teachers who enjoyed my poetry. When my next book is published, I expect to be able to send an e-mail announcement to over 6,000 people.
 
Q. What do you like best about promoting your books? 
 
A. Mostly I do assembly programs and writing workshops in elementary schools to promote my books. This has the advantage of giving me direct contact with my readers. I can try out new material on kids and see what they react to. I can find out what works for kindergartners, third graders, sixth graders, etc.
 
Although traveling is hard work, doing assemblies for kids is very rewarding. And because most schools sell books for visiting authors, I typically sell 5,000+ books a year myself.
 
Q. What is one mistake you made promoting your first book that you would recommend others avoid?  
 
A. I think I might have done better with my first book had it been published by a larger house; one with the resources to provide more publicity for the book. Because it was my first book, and my first publisher, I didn't know that some publishers promote their books more than others. I thought it was normal that I had to do all of the promotion and publicity myself.
 
Although I don't think I should have waited for a different publisher, I probably should have tried to work with the publisher's publicity and marketing staff more, rather than trying to do everything on my own.
 
Q. Can you share your top three book promotion tips for first-time authors?
 
A. Network. Explore the online "kid lit" community on the Internet. Read the blogs and introduce yourself. Connect with the folks who are blogging and podcasting about children's books. Stay in touch via social networking such as Facebook and Twitter. If they like your book, they will help you spread the word.
 
Use permission marketing. Everywhere you go, collect the e-mail addresses of everyone who is interested in knowing about your book. If you can send an announcement to thousands of readers, you're going to sell more books.
 
Read to your audience. Unless you are an A-list author, you may not have anyone show up at bookstore signing events. Instead of waiting for a few readers to come to you, go where the people are. I perform my work at schools (including high schools and colleges), conferences, festivals, libraries (summer reading programs), and any place else where I can share my work with a large audience.
 
Q. Is there something you would say is never too late to do when promoting your book? 
 
A. It's never too late to create a video to promote your book. This year Eric Carle created a video for the 40th anniversary of his book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. More and more authors are using videos on YouTube and Amazon.com to make a connection with their readers. In fact, if you'll excuse me I think I'll go make a video to promote My Hippo Has the Hiccups.

 

Cindy Hudson is the author of Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs (Seal Press 2009). Her website, and its companion blog, feature reading lists, book reviews, author interviews, book giveaways and other book club resources. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Portland, Oregon, where she writes weekly for The Oregonian. Visit her online at MotherDaughterBookClub.com and CindyHudson.com.

I WOULD LOVE TO MEET YOU IN PERSON!

Here's a list of 2010 events where we can connect in-person:

Digital Book World
New York, NY
January 26 - 27
Panelist: "Get Noticed! Earn Attention for Every Book"
More info


Private Workshop: Power Up Your Platform for the Internet Age
January 31st
Location: TBA
Time: 1 - 4 p.m.
3-hour workshop
Increase your visibility and influence based on your personal strengths and balancing offline and online strategies.
Info coming soon...


The Associated Writing Programs Conference
April 7 - 10
Denver, Colorado
The Colorado Convention Center
More info


The American Society of Journalists & Authors Writer's Conference
April 24-25
NYC, NY
Info coming soon...


Oklahoma Writers Federation Conference
April 29 - May 1
Embassy Suites Hotel
Oklahoma City, OK
Info coming soon...

Intro to Social Networking: Twitter Your Way to the Hearts and Minds of Publishers, Fans, and Agents

By Meryl K. Evans

Many writers flock to Twitter, a colossal virtual water cooler where you can tweet thoughts in 140 characters or less. Some find the microblogging website eases the loneliness that comes with the writerly life. Others find it hones their writing because of the short character count. Others rely on it as a vital marketing tool.
 
Does the thought of marketing paralyze you? Marketing on Twitter doesn't mean the hard sell, pushing to sell your books and writings. Instead, look to Twitter as an opportunity to build relationships with readers, publishers, writers, and others in the writing business or in your topic's industry.
 
Five Ways to Tweet
 
Thinking "relationship building" compels you to write meaningful tweets that others will value. You can do that by writing five types of tweets.
 
1. Share links: Don't just share links to insightful articles and blog entries, but also explain what's behind them, add your thoughts or say what makes them a great read. Limit linking to your own content. Once or twice a day is a good rule of thumb as long as it's not the only thing you tweet.
 
2. Retweet (RT): Retweet means repeating what someone else said and giving full credit. Here's an example beginning with the original tweet and following with a RT:
 
wendyburt Q7: Don't think your work is done when you finish writing. You have to promote yourself. You are your biggest fan. And Mom. #platformchat   
 
merylkevans RT @wendyburt  Q7 Don't think work is done when u finish writing. U have to promote yourself. U r your biggest fan. & Mom. #platformchat 
 
The RT has a few edits because copying an original tweet in full sometimes goes over the 140-character limit.
 
3. Reply to other tweets: Replying to another person's tweet turns it into a conversation. Someone asks a question. You answer. Someone posts a statement. You debate it (nicely) or share an opinion. Someone inspires you. You recommend others to follow that person and explain why.
 
4. Post original thoughts: Share what you're working on, give advice on how to do something, critique a book you read, ask questions, anything goes within reason.
 
5. Participate in a group chat: Get Known Groove's own Christina Katz (@thewritermama) moderates a chat known as #platformchat. The chat welcomes two guest authors who leverage their strengths and expertise to build a strong platform. Katz interviews the authors who share their experiences and then lets participants ask questions for the remainder of the chat.
 
People who focus on getting lots of followers rather than on content won't benefit from Twitter. High quality contacts and conversations take time to happen.  Twitter first timers: dig in and have fun.
 
Get over 50 writer uses for Twitter.

 

 
Meryl K. Evans is the author of Brilliant Outlook Pocketbook, co-author of Adapting to Web Standards: CSS and Ajax for Big Sites and contributor to many others. The long-time blogger and gamer has written and edited for a bunch of places online and off. A native Texan, she lives a heartbeat north of Dallas in Plano, Texas with her husband and three kiddos. Though born in silence, she tries to show that deaf people are just like everyone else. Follow Meryl on Twitter at @merylkevans.

Fund Your Writing Projects: Featured Money Magnet Mary Szybist

By Gigi Rosenberg

 

When poet Mary Szybist received the call that she'd won $25,000 from the National Endowment from the Arts, "it was a gift of validation and helped me restore faith in my own work," she said from her home base in Portland, Oregon.
 
This was the second time Szybist, an assistant professor at Lewis and Clark College, had applied for the fellowship, which supports the creation of new work in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.
 
Szybist will use her fellowship to finish her second book of poetry tentatively titled Incarnadine. Poems in this collection investigate the idea of "incarnation" in its many forms. For some of the work, she is finding inspiration in painters like Fra Angelico, who painted scenes of the Annunciation. The money from the grant pays for expenses like research and travel, including a trip to New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art.
 
To be eligible for an NEA fellowship, applicants must have published a book of poetry or have other publishing credits. Details on eligibility, deadlines, and application guidelines can be found at the National Endowment for the Arts website. 
 
Does Szybist have any advice for others applying for the NEA fellowship? "You cannot start this application the night before because the NEA application is very labor-intensive," she said. Also, because the application must be submitted electronically, she recommends getting technical help, which she received from a colleague, as you prepare your submission.
 
Did Szybist do anything differently on her second time through the application process? The application only asks for a 2-3 sentence description of your proposed project and Szybist said she honed those few sentences until her description was straightforward, distinctive, and detailed. She said she wanted to make clear what her project was and explain in fresh language what set her work apart.
 
I wondered how Szybist felt about having to describe the idea behind her poetry. Does she feel that detracts from her work? "I have a love/hate relationship with being forced to articulate what I'm doing," she said. "Poems have to have space to take on lives of their own. The danger of articulating is that it can lead to being over-determined and take the life out of the work."
 
"As loathe as I am to admit it, this can also be helpful. There can be something very generative about being forced to articulate a theme or an idea," she said. For example, having to put the idea into words can encourage a poet to decide on a theme to place at the center of a collection of poetry, a creative decision that can actually benefit the work. "You're being asked for your framework and that's fair," she said.
 
Szybist's first book of poetry, Granted, was a finalist for the National Book Circle Critic's Award in Poetry in 2003. In 2009, also was selected for the Witter Bynner Fellowship in Poetry from the Library of Congress. To hear Szybist read her poems, go to the Lewis and Clark College website.

 

Gigi Rosenberg's essays and how-to articles have appeared in the Seal Press anthology The Maternal is Political, Parenting, Writer's Digest, The Writer and on Oregon Public Radio. She receives rave reviews for the grant writing workshops she leads at NYC's Foundation Center and Chicago's Self Employment in the Arts. She has performed her monologues throughout the Pacific Northwest and now coaches writers how to give stellar public readings and write winning grant applications.

ORDER MY FORMER STUDENTS' BOOKS FRESH OFF THE PRESSES!

 

  

MORE BOOKS BY FORMER STUDENTS COMING SOON!

Writerpreneur: Build Your Platform with...Products!

By Gregory A. Kompes

Freelance writers rarely earn enough cash from a single source to finance their lives. We require multiple income streams. Creating multiple writing gigs is one way to accomplish that. Another way to add a stream, while building your writer's brand, is developing a product line. Journals, greeting cards, mugs, playing cards, and T-shirts are all popular options.
 
Having a product line serves two purposes. The first is to generate income. When I speak at conferences, high schools, and speaker associations, in addition to having my books for sale, I also offer my products. The second is to help build brand awareness.
 
You can start simply by putting your logo or Website URL on giveaway items like pens, mugs, or mouse pads. That's one way to keep your brand and contact information at client's fingertips. Or, consider something like this. I love taking pictures. I take them when I travel and when I interview people for articles and books. I snap away around town, too. I took advantage of this side interest by creating a line of art cards and gifts featuring my own photos. I use my photo journals, cards, and other products as giveaways, prizes, and for back of room (BOR) sales when I speak.
 
A company that can help you easily get started with your own product line is CafePress. CP is a print on demand (POD) product company so there's no initial investment, no overhead, and no warehousing of products. And using the service is simple. Just create a free account, upload an image or photo, choose the products you'd like to sell, add the uploaded picture, and set the price.
 
CP also allows you to purchase your own products below sales price so you can sell them BOR when you speak and present. For sample CaféPress shops, visit Writers on the Rise Online Store and my own shop of art cards and gifts. If you choose to create a CP shop, you'll help out Writers on the Rise if you use "writersontherise" as your referrer!
 
For a larger personal investment, you can create logo and promotional products even cheaper by using one of the many imprint companies around the world. My favorites are 4Imprint and Queensboro Shirt Company.
 
As you build your writer brand, adding promotion and logo products will keep you and your company in the minds of existing and potential clients.
 
 

Gregory A. Kompes, The Writerpreneur, is an Internet self-promotion expert. Gregory is the author of the bestselling 50 Fabulous Gay-Friendly Places to Live and the Writer's eBook Series that includes Endorsement Quest, Should You Write an eBook, and Your Online Media Kit. He is co-founder of the Patchwork Path anthology series, Presenters & Programs, the Writer's Pen & Grill, and Laudably Tarnished: A Poetry Workshop. Gregory is editor of The Fabulist Flash, an informative newsletter for writers, and the award winning Eighteen Questions, a Q&A series that collects and shares the experiences of published authors.

I WOULD LOVE TO MEET YOU IN PERSON!

Here's a list of 2010 events where we can connect in-person:

Digital Book World
New York, NY
January 26 - 27
Panelist: "Get Noticed! Earn Attention for Every Book"
More info


Private Workshop: Power Up Your Platform for the Internet Age
January 31st
Location: TBA
Time: 1 - 4 p.m.
3-hour workshop
Increase your visibility and influence based on your personal strengths and balancing offline and online strategies.
Info coming soon...


The Associated Writing Programs Conference
April 7 - 10
Denver, Colorado
The Colorado Convention Center
More info


The American Society of Journalists & Authors Writer's Conference
April 24-25
NYC, NY
Info coming soon...


Oklahoma Writers Federation Conference
April 29 - May 1
Embassy Suites Hotel
Oklahoma City, OK
Info coming soon...

Know Thy Self, Know Thy Audience: Test Your Market

By Sage Cohen

 

You've worked hard this year at defining the objectives and value of your book concept. You know who your audience is (and sub-audiences are), what they need, and how your book meets those needs exceptionally well. Now you even have a book blurb and proof points that explain exactly how and why your book is the right solution for the people who are seeking what you're offering.
 
It's time to get your blurb in front of potential readers and see how it lands.
 
Refer back to the list of audiences you outlined in May, and your goal for each type. As a reminder, my list was:
 
Writing the Life Poetic offers the following for each reader:
 
People already writing poetry: Fresh inspiration, new perspectives, and a wide selection of wisdom, prompts, and process tips to keep their muse infused with fun.
 
People who want to write poetry: A friendly, accessible welcome to the realm of poetry that lets them dive right into the enjoyment of reading and writing.
 
Teachers of writing: A valuable, easy-to-use guide that they can use to share the joy of poetry with their students.
 
Active creatives: A reminder that they need only translate what they already know to the delight of creating poems.
 
Individuals using the book on their own: a comprehensive, inviting companion for their poetry journey; one that encourages like a friend.
 
Students of all ages: a reference book that doesn't lecture from the front of the classroom but has fun right along with them.
 
Your turn!
 
Find three-to-five people in each of your defined audience segments and ask them to read your book blurb. When they're finished reading, ask them to write down answers to these four questions -- as candidly as possible:
 
1.   What is appealing to you about this book?
2.   What do you expect you'd learn or accomplish by reading it?
3.   How is this book like or unlike other books on this topic that  you've already read?
4.   Why would you choose or not choose to read this book?
 
Gather the results and make note of how the feedback matches or diverges from your own expectations and research.
 
Be grateful for all feedback, even when you don't get the affirmation you were hoping for. This is a great time to be learning about how your book idea sits with potential readers -- before writing it. You only stand to gain by any surprises that come your way at this stage.
 
Then sharpen your pencils and get ready to polish that blurb next month into the rock-solid foundation on which your proposal will be written.

  

Sage Cohen is the author of Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry (Writers Digest Books, 2009) and the poetry collection Like the Heart, the World. An award-winning poet, she writes three monthly columns about the craft and business of writing and serves as Poetry Editor for VoiceCatcher 4. Her poetry and essays appear in journals and anthologies including Cup of Comfort for Writers, The Oregonian, Oregon Literary Review, Greater Good and VoiceCatcher. Sage holds an MA in creative writing from New York University, co-hosts a monthly reading series at Barnes & Noble and teaches the online class Poetry for the People. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and awarded a Soapstone residency. To learn more, visit www.writingthelifepoetic.com.

For Your Book Shelf

  

Get Known Now! Nine Things to Clarify About Your Platform (Part One)

By Christina Katz

Like most professionals, I spend quite a bit of time online these days. Perhaps this explains why I have less spare time than ever. The more time we spend spreading our "real" life out into our online life, the more important it becomes for writers to communicate concisely and precisely who we are and what we are all about.
 
If you strive, in all of your online communications, to save folks time, then they can learn all they need to know about you as they go clicking by. You might even gain someone's respect, admiration or strike up a conversation, by keeping what you need to get across short and to the point.
 
But if you your communications online are muddled, scattered (a little bit of info here and another little bit way over there with no links in between), and poorly composed, then you will repel folks rather than attract them. I can't tell you how many times I have become curious about someone online and then tried to follow their trail of links to learn a bit more...only to end up clicking and clicking and clicking without learning any of the key pieces of information I'm looking for.
 
In my book, Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow Your Author Platform (Writer's Digest 2008), I outline what every writer needs to clarify in order to make smart choices about what to communicate and how.
 
Your Name
Let's say, because it's such a popular name, that you name is Jennifer. This means that you have one of the most common names around (It's true, I can vouch that the most popular name of moms who take my classes is indeed Jennifer.) Are you going to go by Jennifer, Jen, Jenny, Jenni, or something else? You might think this is a minor consideration but not according to search engines like Google, who will find you a lot faster and more accurately if you pick one name as your "writer name," make it as original as possible (use a middle initial if necessary), and stick with it over time.
 
Your Identity
Remember that song by The Who: "Who are you? Who? Who? Who? Who?" I always think of that while I'm clicking links trying to figure out who the heck somebody is. And guess what? If I can't figure it out in just a few clicks, then I don't care anymore! What these mystery folks really need is an identity that they can spread around the Internet making it easy for someone like me to figure out quickly who they are and what they are all about.
 
Now some people like to substitute the word "branding" for identity, but I'm not partial to the former. Are you a writer or a pharmaceutical company? Are you a writer or a can of soda? Are you a writer...you get the idea. Be who YOU are and spread the word in a professional manner. This takes more thought than you might expect because it's part of the story that precedes you, goes with you, and lingers behind you, everywhere you go. For more on this topic, start reading on page 175 and don't stop until you figure out your Otherwise Known As.
 
Your Tagline
My tagline is: Make the most of what you have...to author! A tagline's job is to communicate in one short line what you offer. As you can see, my tagline is even a play on the word "offer." Instead of the common phrase, "Make the most of what you have to offer," I use author instead. The substitution is intended to get your attention and spark your thinking about what you might author. Does it work?
 
[Continued next month...]

 

   
Christina Katz is the author of Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Build an Author Platform and Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids (both for Writer's Digest Books). A platform development coach and consultant, she teaches writing career development, hosts the Northwest Author Series, and is the publisher of several e-zines including Writers on the Rise. Christina blogs at The Writer Mama Riffs and Get Known Before the Book Deal, and speaks at MFA programs, literary events, and conferences around the country.