Get Known Before the Book Deal

Book Promotion Tips from the Pros: Featured Author: Marc Acito

By Cindy Hudson

Portland writer Marc Acito is known for his humorous columns, essays and novels. His first novel, How I Paid for College, won the Ken Kesey Award, and his second, Attack of the Theater People, was voted one of the Seattle Public Library's favorites of the year. For four years he wrote the humor column, "The Gospel According to Marc," which was syndicated in nineteen alternative newspapers. He is now a regular commentator for National Public Radio's "All Things Considered," and he blogs about his various obsessions at www.MarcAcito.com.

With his trademark humor, Acito shares his advice to authors about promoting their books.


Q. What can authors do before their publication date to make a book launch more successful?

A. Take the author questionnaire you receive from your publisher seriously. It is essentially your business plan. You need to think of yourself as a small business, and your book is your product. You believed in the story enough to write it, you need to believe in it enough to promote it. Once you're published, you have two jobs, writer and author, the latter having little to do with writing. Oh, and get a good haircut.


Q. What do you like best about promoting your books?

A. Since I spend so much time with my characters, I really appreciate the opportunity to connect with real, live people, be they readers, booksellers or the media. They're smart and interesting, the kind of people any lover of literature wants to be around.


Q. What is one mistake you made promoting your first book that you'd recommend others avoid?

A. I thought I was emotionally prepared for it, but I wasn't. The hardest thing to handle is the sense of helplessness. Your publisher will print however many thousands of copies, a fraction of which you personally will be able to push. The rest is out of your hands, but your success is based on the figure they've created for you. Two authors can each sell 15,000 books, but if one author has a print run of 10,000 and the other 30,000, the first author is a success and the second a disappointment. It's maddening.

I'm not sure what I would have done differently-learn Zen Buddhism, go into therapy, tattoo the serenity prayer on my wrist-but you need to know that it's a psychological minefield.


Q. Can you share your top three book promotion tips for first-time authors?

1. Develop your own network of media contacts. Build your own empire.
2. Find non-bookstore opportunities to speak and sell books. This means creating presentations related to your book, but not about your book. Through my accountant, I ended up on the Rotary circuit, giving a motivational speech about my journey from businessperson to author. And I'm certainly the least likely guy to speak at a Rotary club (each meeting begins with the pledge of allegiance, a prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ followed by me, the wacky gay guy). But I always sell a lot of books. Go figure.
3. Take part in the Stock Races. Every city I visit, whether I'm on tour or not, I go to every bookstore and inquire whether my books are in stock. Then I sign them. More importantly, it's a chance to give a quick pitch about my work, BRIEFLY telling the bookseller what he or she needs to know to hand sell the book. Be savvy about this. I usually look around first for the bookseller who most looks like my ideal reader. Sometimes they could care less, but I've also had experiences where we connect so well they put me on the staff recommended shelf without even reading it.

Q. Is there something that is never too late to do when promoting your book?

A. Simply put, it is never too late to do whatever it takes. For instance, I sent out an e-mail blast when I did a commentary on All Things Considered in December, but I forgot to tell my readers to click on the "recommend" button, which is super important. So I sucked it up and, with profuse apologies, sent out a second announcement. A couple of people complained and opted out but, at last count, there were 292 recommends. By way of comparison, the second closest was 50.

Cindy Hudson is currently writing Book After Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs (Seal Press 2010). Her website, and its companion blog, feature reading lists, book reviews, author interviews, book give-aways and other book club resources. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Portland, Oregon, where she writes weekly for The Oregonian and edits the monthly e-zine, Writers on the Rise. Visit her online at www.cindyhudson.com.

Fund Your Writing Projects: Featured Money Magnet, Cheryl Strayed

By Gigi Rosenberg

Cheryl Strayed, novelist and memoirist, has won, over the course of her career, 16 grants totaling more than $30,000 to support her work as a writer. The grants have bought her time to write but have also funded a research trip, childcare and travel expenses to attend a writing retreat and have partially paid to build her website.

How does she do it? "In my early days, I would take one day a month to research opportunities," said Strayed, who realized early in her career that research was key to winning grants. "Grant writing isn't hard when you find the right resources." 

She also took herself seriously from the beginning. "I grew up poor so grants made a difference to my ability to do the work. That was my way up: to take it seriously and not think these things will come to you." Strayed discovered the simple math of getting funded: the more times you apply, the greater your chances of winning, both because your applications keep improving and because your name is in the hat more often.

Strayed latest grant-writing success was winning an Oregon Arts Commission Fellowship for $3000 to buy her time to work on her latest project, Wild, a memoir. The book chronicles the years in her 20s beginning with her mother's early death from cancer and ending with her marriage when she was 30. Along the way, she hikes solo along the Pacific Crest Trail in California and Oregon. In fact, she moved to Portland after literally walking there from the Mojave Desert. The memoir was half-written when she applied for the grant and she is using the funds to buy her time to complete the book. 

One of Strayed's gifts as a grant writer is her ability to be both intimate and professional in her applications. "I aim to be both straightforward and personal," she said. "You don't want to be either too confessional or the opposite--so cold that you don't share anything. You want to present your work in an interesting, real way and not be cute." 

Strayed's list of Dos and Don'ts gleaned from her years as a successful grant writer include:

• Do take yourself seriously if you want funders to take you seriously.

• Do write in concise, clear, and concrete language.

• Do place your project within the context of your career and life.

• Don't be stodgy and convoluted.

• Don't always fill the page on the application form. Remember that more is not always better.

Strayed advises writers to apply for grants even if the competition is stiff. "Applying is good practice," she said. Strayed has applied for grants from the beginning of her career and of course there were many she didn't win. But all the grant writing she did "prepared me for the time when it was my turn." 

Strayed's novel Torch was published by Houghton Mifflin in 2006 and was selected by the Oregonian as one of the top ten books by Pacific Northwest authors. Her work has also appeared twice in Best American Essays and over a dozen magazines. For more information: www.cherylstrayed.com.

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.

Intro to Social Networking: Tag! You're It! (Part Two)

By Penny Sansevieri

Ok, here we go!

Simple steps to tagging:

Create a blog post: Just write your blog, don't worry about doing anything different.

Identify some keywords you'll want to use, as many as you want. Don't worry about getting too scientific with this, just be thorough.

Create your tags: Head on over to egmstrategy.com and generate a tag (this will be choice #1). Once you input the keywords make sure the default button is checked at Technorati. Then go to the bottom and click "generate code." This code will get posted right into your blog. It's that easy! (Tip: always post this code at the end of your blog.) When you're done you'll see code in your blog like this: http://www.redhotinternetpublicity.com/blog/?p=45

Social bookmarking: Tag each of your blog posts in one or all of the following social networking sites. The one slightly time consuming activity you need to do is to set up accounts for each of these. Once you do, however, it will only take you a minute or so per post to add a social bookmarking tag to each of them.

Here are some of the most popular social bookmarking sites to use: dig.com, del.icio.us, yahoo.com (this is still in beta but I recommend using it anyway), blinklist.com, spurl.com, reddit.com, furl.net, and stumbledupon.com.

Nuts and bolts: Each of these sites has a different set of criteria for bookmarking your blog post. If you're blogging everyday this might seem pretty tedious. If it's too much work to tag and bookmark each of your posts, handpick a few each week and focus on those. The idea is that you want to get these keywords out in cyberspace so folks can find you.

Ready for a final tip? If you want to impress customers with your endless list of resources why not share your del.icio.us page with your readers/customers. Del.icio.us gives each registered member their own page with all of their bookmarks. Ideally you'll want to include other resources besides your own blog but a link to this page could be a fantastic way to gain additional exposure not just for your blog, but to your wealth of resources as well. Here's my page: http://del.icio.us/bookmkr.

Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the innovative Internet book marketing campaigns. She is the author of five books including Red Hot Internet Publicity, which was just sold to Sourcebooks with a planned re-release in Fall 2009. To learn more about Penny's books or her promotional services, you can visit her web site at www.amarketingexpert.com.

Writerpreneur: Get Blogging

Get Blogging
By Gregory A. Kompes

Web logs, "blogs" for short, started out as online teenage diaries, a way for kids to express their experiences and voices online. Over the last ten years, these teenage rant pages have evolved. From the writer's perspective, a blog is now a respected way to form a personal connection between you and your readers. Writers with panache and personality can quickly build a readership; and a large blog readership will result in more sales of your books and services. Offered in a variety of easy-to-use styles, blogs are a great way to build your Writerpreneur brand.

How to get started. A basic blog is easy to create. Visit Wordpress.org, download the free software, and upload that software to your domain hosting service. The software comes with a basic template, but a little searching on the Internet will reveal thousands of free templates. Just upload the files to your host and change the design for your site. The WordPress dashboard is where you'll find all the tools you need to manage your posts, comments, pages, designs and widgets (add on tools for fun and interactive blogs).

What to post. The main reason to create a blog is to connect with and build your audience. Frequent posts-one or more a week-will keep your readers coming back. An ongoing, niche-topic commentary increases your credibility as an expert in your niche. This will build your readership and result in more book and service sales. Blogs are also the perfect place to announce events like book signings, speaking engagements and new book and product release information.

Benefits of blogging. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction , copy or technical, your blog, if updated regularly, is a source for current information and ideas. Regular contact with your audience builds trust. Blogs aren't one sided; your readers can also share their comments and opinions with you. This will help you better understand your readers, which can make you a better niche writer. Having a strong Web presence increases the likelihood that new readers of your topic will quickly find you through search engines, because most blog sites automatically handle all the Search Engine Optimization of your posts. (If you don't know yet what that is, trust me, it's a good thing.)

It's possible to earn income directly from your blog, too. Beyond selling your own books and services, many bloggers take advantage of ad placement, click advertising, partnerships, and affiliate programs. Before you jump in, make sure your blogging platform allows for what you need. And then why not get blogging?

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.

Know Thy Self, Know Thy Audience: Your Positioning and Objectives

Your Positioning and Objectives
By Sage Cohen

Last month you articulated the services your book provides and the problems it solves in today's market. This month, we're going to consider how this offering compares to similar books that yours will be selling against. You can evaluate how competitive your book will be in the marketplace by considering these three questions:

1. What books are competing with your books?
2. What are these books' strengths and weaknesses?
3. What makes your book stand out from the competition?

For example, following are my answers to these questions for my book, Writing the Life Poetic:

1. After spending some time doing research online and perusing the shelves of several bookstores, I compiled a list of the top five books competing with mine.
2. The craft of poetry has been well documented in a variety of books that offer a valuable service to serious writers striving to become competent poets. However, most of these books read like textbooks and do not feel friendly and inviting to the newcomer.
   
3. It's time for a poetry book that does more than lecture from the front of the classroom. Writing the Life Poetic was written to be a contagiously fun adventure in writing. Through an entertaining mix of insights, exercises, expert guidance and encouragement, I intend to get readers excited about the possibilities of poetry--and engaged in a creative practice.

Your turn! I recommend that you take your time with this assignment and really get familiar with the range of books available in your subject area. You'll know you're headed in the right direction if you find at least a few books similar to yours available today. (This means that there is already an established market for your topic.) And if you're able to clearly articulate how yours will fill a need that the others don't address, it's likely that you've chosen a topic that will sell.

Sage Cohen is the author of Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry, forthcoming from Writer's Digest Books, and the poetry collection Like the Heart, the World. Her poetry and essays appear in journals and anthologies including Cup of Comfort for Writers, Oregon Literary Review, Greater Good and VoiceCatcher. Sage holds an MA in creative writing from New York University and teaches the email class Poetry for the People. For more than a decade, she has run the marketing communications firm Sage Communications.

Podcasting 101: Your Podcast Needs a Logo

By Kati Neville

Podcast logos promote and reinforce show identity and individuality. Some people call them badges. Others refer to them as artwork. Whatever the term, a good logo is worth the investment.

Your logo is the public face of your podcast. Think of your logo as a book cover, because it is the first experience prospective listeners have with your show. It will advertise and market your podcast. Always remember that it will accompany your feed and be prominently displayed on podcast directories. Take a trip over to blubrry or PodcastPickle to see what I mean.

Now think about how some books use graphics to separate individual chapters. Sometimes editors repeat the cover graphic at the beginning of each chapter. Other times, they apply unique artwork throughout.

The same is true of podcasts. Your podcast feed needs a "cover" logo, as we have discussed. But each individual episode can also carry other images. These graphics can be the same as the cover logo, like my podcast, or altogether different.

Always attach, or "embed," an image to every podcast. Use standalone tag editing software programs, if your recording and editing program doesn't allow images. When a graphic is embedded with other relevant information about each show (like, file type and size, description, and author) it cannot be separated. The audio portion of your show becomes married to that graphic. This is important because it causes the image to appear on that tiny screen on the front panel of many portable media players.

Smart design is crucial. Here are a few more tips to consider:

Avoid complex graphics. There is a time and place for intricate artwork. Unfortunately, 200x200 dpi isn't it. Keep it simple.

Include show title. Be sure the title of your podcast is visible on your logo.

Stick with basic colors. Remember, the teeny screens on portable media players and other small devices do not render as many colors as your computer monitor.

Use authentic, recognizable symbols. My podcast is about saving money and time in the kitchen. The central image on my logo is an apron. I chose it because it's common work wear for everyday cooks. Plus, aprons evoke the frugal sensibility of days gone by. Pick symbols that reinforce your theme.

Ensure scalability. Plan to use your logo in marketing materials, your blog, in e-mail, and online. The logo must look sharp when small and large. Set clear expectations with your designer and request several sizes of the final product.

Kati Neville is coauthor of the best selling cookbook, Fix, Freeze, Feast. She is a contributing editor for The Saver's Kitchen podcast and regularly blogs on The Forklift. Kati teaches cooking classes in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. When not online or teaching, Kati enjoys writing and tasting new recipes in her kitchen.

Get Known Now: Is it time to volunteer?

By Christina Katz

My philosophy on volunteering is not approved by the church, the state or any other official organizations. I'm practical, so it goes like this: if not much is happening in your writing career and you wish something was happening, then maybe it's time to volunteer.

Here's why. Volunteering is a simple, effective way to get...

• Out of the house and into the mix where things are happening.

• Better known. Because let's face it, you remember the folks you meet in person better than the folks you meet in cyberspace.

• Into action. By volunteering you can make a contribution and become familiar with how good that feels.

• Rich in experience. It's experience that makes us rich, not just money. Experience also teaches us what we are good at and where we can stand improvement.

• Paid. Sometimes volunteer opportunities actually pay.

• In the proximity of influential others. In Get Known, I tell a story of how volunteering made all the difference for award-winning young adult author Susan Fletcher's career.

• To learn detachment. If you can suit up and show up and pitch in without getting sucked into an organization's politics, you win! If you can't, better not volunteer.

• Inspired. When you rub up against other folks who are united in the spirit of making good things happen, you will become energized by your participation. Yes!

So what do you think? Is it time to volunteer? If so, simply contact your local writing organization. Most have lots of things going on and can always use more able bodies. You'll notice, once you begin to volunteer, that good things start to happen in your writing career. And who wouldn't want that?

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.

Dear Get Known Groovers (March Issue Begins):

Here's something we don't hear often enough about becoming an author: you have to be almost tireless to succeed.

But shhhh. Don't tell anyone. Because apparently it's a secret.

At the same time, you must stave off exhaustion, so you can hold steady on the writing and book promotion path.

I don't think most people realize the enormous amount of energy that authors put into getting their books out in the world. We make the Energizer Bunny look like a slacker!

So when I read James Patterson's interview by Diana Page Jordan in the latest issue of Writer's Digest and he talked about teamwork being a really important part of his success, I got it. Oh, how I got it. And I want you, dear reader, to get it too.

For example, this e-zine would not exist without the dedicated team of seven (count 'em) contributors and the administrative hand and editorial eye of Gigi Rosenberg.

But don't merely take my word for it. You can read all about "We-Power" in Cindy Hudson's interview with Marc Acito, one of the most energizing authors I know.

Then check out Gigi Rosenberg's account of how author Cheryl Strayed has racked up 30,000 dollars in writing grants. Partnering with granting agencies sure sounds like We-Power to me.

Then once you are good and inspired, you might want to take in Gregory Kompes' advice and get blogging and adopt some of Penny Sansevieri's tips on getting more traffic to your blog. Blogging is all about We-Power, after all.

Good strong partnerships with people you respect and trust is the key to accomplishing more, maintaining high standards of quality, and being better than you ever could become all by yourself.

Make good things happen!

Christina Katz
Publisher & Editor

Book Promotion Tips from the Pros: Featured Author: Elizabeth Rusch

By Cindy Hudson

Elizabeth Rusch was busy celebrating the publication of four books for children in 2007: Will It Blow?: Become a Volcano Detective at Mount St. Helens (Sasquatch), A Day with No Crayons (Rising Moon), The Planet Hunter: The Story Behind What Happened to Pluto (Rising Moon), and Girl's Tennis: Conquering the Court (Capstone Press). Along with her first book for children, Generation Fix: Young Ideas for a Better World (Beyond Words Publishing 2002), her books have provided lots of opportunities for her to become promotion savvy.

Here Liz shares tips for promoting your book.

Q. What can authors do before their publication date to make a book launch more successful?

A. Ask your publicist for the best way to give her information and ideas on marketing and publicizing the book. Often this will be through an author questionnaire that you should answer as thoroughly as possible.

You could also pretend YOU are the publicist for the book and think about how you might promote it. Think overlooked, narrow niche markets rather than getting on Oprah. Also think of all the people and organizations you know that might help you get word out about your book, and send that list to your publicist.

Another tactic is to think of articles related to the topic of your book and query magazines and newspapers offering to write pieces for them. Magazines need at least 6 months lead time, so do this a full half year before your book is to hit stores.

Consider hiring a publicist to help promote the book. This can be pricey, but worth it. Also, send postcards or e-mails to friends and family when the book is released. Word of mouth starts at home!

Q. What do you like best about promoting your books?

A. I've met some terrific people through bookstore signings and other speaking engagements. The best is when you are at a signing and someone comes up to you who has read one of your books and liked it, and they are buying your next one. It feels great to meet your readers!

Q. What is one mistake you made promoting your first book that you'd recommend others avoid?

A. Expecting the publisher to do too much. We authors have to really think through marketing and promotional work we can do. We can make post cards, do mailings, visit local bookstores, set up signings.

Q. Can you share your top three book promotion tips for first-time authors?

1. Don't get discouraged; little things you do add up. Even if you do a signing and NO ONE shows up, you can still meet and chat with the bookstore staff. They may love your book and hand-sell it or keep an eye out for your next book.

2. Think about promotion as building relationships instead of just selling books. When I talk to people I describe or pitch the book, but I also talk about it in the context of my life and career as a writer, what I'm trying to do or say, what I want my work overall to offer the world. Likewise, it's important to listen to what the person you are pitching is interested in. Try to have two-way conversations--they are richer and more fun and they will help you develop relationships that may be important later in your career.

3. Don't get so overwhelmed promoting your book that you get distracted from writing your next one! Set aside time for promotion and for writing, so you are moving your published books into the public eye as you are creating your new ones.

Q. Is there something that is never too late to do when promoting your book?

A. There are always audiences for your book that you may not have thought of at first. So even if your book has been out for a while, if you think of a great audience, try to contact them.

Cindy Hudson is currently writing Bonding Through Books: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs (Seal Press 2010). Her website, and its companion blog, feature reading lists, book reviews, author interviews, book give-aways and other book club resources. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Portland, Oregon, where she writes weekly for The Oregonian and edits the monthly e-zine, Writers on the Rise. Visit her online at www.cindyhudson.com.

Intro to Social Networking: Tag! You're It! (Part One)

By Penny Sansevieri

One of the biggest questions I get from authors is: "I have a blog but how do I get people to it?" First off, keep blogging, but there are other things you can do too and we'll discuss two of the most powerful ones here.

If you've spent any time online you've probably heard the terms: tag or social bookmarking. But what exactly do these terms mean?
 
If you think of the term "tagging" like you would a name tag at a party or networking event it will start to make much more sense. Generally when you post a blog, it's recommended that you "tag" it with various terms appropriate to the message of the blog. The Wikipedia definition of "tag" is: A tag is a keyword which acts like a subject or category. This keyword is used to organize web pages, subjects, and objects on the Internet.

What you're really doing is organizing each of your blog posts so that folks can find and search them. By tagging each of them with specific keywords you'll come up faster when someone searches those keywords than if you left your blog blank. Make sense? Okay, then let's get started learning how to tag. (I promise, it's very easy.)

When creating tags, there are two types that you can create. You can imbed your blog with tags using services like Technorati (more on that in a minute) or you can go to social networking sites and tag your blog as well. I recommend a combination of both.

Social bookmarking is a way of "bookmarking" favorite sites (i.e. yours) so you can easily share them (via tags) with the Internet community especially folks searching for your search term. I'll explain how to get your site bookmarked but for now take a look at sites like www.digg.com and www.del.icio.us.com. These are the top two social bookmarking sites you'll want to use.

There are others and we'll discuss those in next month's part two of two.

Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the innovative Internet book marketing campaigns. She is the author of five books including Red Hot Internet Publicity, which was just sold to Sourcebooks with a planned re-release in Fall 2009. To learn more about Penny's books or her promotional services, you can visit her web site at www.amarketingexpert.com.