What works and what doesn't with marketing books

 The re-release cover of my cozy mystery novel, Starke Naked Dead!

Best thing about this new publishing world: No longer do authors have their books pulled from the shelves after a measly 3 to 6 months. All the marketing authors do online stays online and continues to market.

Worst thing about this new publishing world: No longer do authors only have to worry about a book's release for the three months before and after the release date. Books remain published and available for years and the pressure is on to promote each title all the time they are available. Plus, authors are always grinding out "content" for all the social media and other online sites, while reading the arguments pro and con for this site or that strategy, on and on. When do we write?

So what's an author to do? Relax, there's help for us all! I've found a secret through the marketing maze. And it's simple, if three different steps.

First step is to do what you enjoy. Okay, I can hear you all saying, "Yeah, right." But there are numerous social media sites that all provide a different approach and will get your name out there. You can't do them all, trust me, I've tried. If you choose one that you enjoy, you're much more likely to visit, post, comment, whatever more often and get more followers, views, whatever. For example, I adore Pinterest and so visit it daily. Daily I repin and pin (it's like having hundreds of great teapots, all for free and none that need washed, ever!). As a result I have 1300 followers and more people follow me all the time.

Second step is to provide content that is pertinent to your interests (see teapots above) and not only around writing or selling product. Yes, I have writing boards on Pinterest, but most of my boards are about my interests, jewelry and jewelry making, recipes, fitness and of course teapots. Some of these are tangential to my novels, I have a main character who is a jeweler, for example, but not most. This avoids the dreaded "Buy my book!" syndrome as well. People will "discover" you as an author instead of being annoyed by endless pitching.

That brings me to the third step, which is think outside the promo box. It's a different world because of eBooks, so don't be trapped inside of "you must belong to Facebook and Twitter and Google+ and post daily, etc. etc." My example? I love writing reviews, all kinds. I have over 80 reviews on TripAdvisor. So what, you ask? So I've had 19,000+ people read my reviews. Since I've placed one of my book covers on TripAdvisor as my profile photo, that's 19,000+ people who've seen my name and cover. If only a tiny portion of them register this ...

What do you think, dear readers? Useful ideas? Or?

Multimedia is Necessary, What's an Author to Do? Write!

 My new "teaser" video for my new release THE MALL FAIRIES: EXILE

It's hard to keep up, I know. Or even figure out what there is to keep up on. But more and more, it seems authors need to go multimedia all the way. And one way to go is book trailers. Why? Because it's a way to cross market a lot. It's a way to appeal to a larger audience--people love to watch, and if a trailer catches their attention... A book trailer can be put on your Amazon author page and might be the tiny push for a buy.

Now, I'm fortunate in that I'm a film editor, so making book trailers is easy and fun for me. But it's also easy and fun for everyone. How to make one? Well, if you can't take my workshop Book Trailers Sell, April 28th in Meridian, Idaho, you can Google book trailers and there's a wealth of info out there. Most computers now possess a video editing program. Take a look at mine and you can see how easy they can be to do. It's all in the writing. Write a great script for a book trailer, have a great trailer.

Which is one reason why the Idaho Writers & Readers Rendezvous Conference, May 3-5, has two well known and successful screenwriters, Dave Trottier and Daniel Manus, doing great workshops on screenwriting. I now believe that every writer should learn about script writing, and not to just write book trailer. We have become a visual and action oriented society and writing scripts teaches how to write with great visuals, action and of course dialog.

What do you think? Is it necessary or even wanted to do all this social media? Do you think one form of social media wins out? (And shouldn't we all concentrate on the writing first and foremost?)

The Magic Formula for a Best Seller.

This past Saturday I attended an excellent workshop by Dennis J. Smith on social media. There are new ways to self promote on the Internet every day, it seems. And since I've jumped into the eBook world with my entire cyber body and soul, with quite a bit of success, I've been following other writers' journeys and thinking about the whole "How to sell? What should I be doing to become a best seller? Do I HAVE to do every social network? Do I need to go to every conference? Do I--" You know the drill.Then there's the whole "this person did nothing and sold millions" and "this person did everything and sold tons" and then "I'm driving myself crazy trying to do everything and selling nothing."

The problem is that there is no magic formula for selling. There are far too many variables to say with certainty "if you do so and so you'll sell X amount." Now granted, my mom was right and "If you don't tell people, they won't know." And Dennis is correct that the other writers are doing social media, you bet. So no promotion is a mistake. Social media is a wonderful tool. But there's no way to tell if being on Google+ will sell more books or less than being on Facebook. Or if being on both will sell more of your title.

So how to have a best seller? Here's the secret, here's the magic formula: The writing always comes first. Let me repeat that. The writing is first, always. ALWAYS. The more you write, the better writer you become. The more you write, the more and better product you have to sell. The more you sell, the more you can cross promote. Etc. This doesn't guarantee a best seller. But the wonderful magic is: you'll be writing. You'll be doing what you love first. And wouldn't that be best?

How do you, dear reader, balance the need to promote with the need to write? Are you sometimes completely unbalanced like me? Any suggestions for what might be most effective for promotion? Or do you run screaming at any hint of that word?

Film Cautionary Tale

Photos of Bruce and me at the recent shoot for my short film ENCORE. These were taken by Kathy McIntosh of Well Placed Words, thanks Kathy!

Recent shoot? On February 20?! And there lies the crux of this post. When I say "short film" I mean a page and a half of script, two characters, one location and silent--no dialog. A simple, easy, really short film. We even kept the cast and crew to a bare necessary minimum. So I kept a running tab of how long it will take start to finish for this film.

Around a 100 hours.

What?! How could that be possible? Why would it take that long? Simple. The process of making a film is long and complicated, with many different elements and myriad details. All of which take time and effort.

What's the cautionary part of this tale? My realization that this time sink is true of all creative projects, whether filming or art or writing or jewelry making or...And my realization that all creative people always underestimate the time it takes to create, start to finish. Why? Because it's so much fun! We're doing what we love to do!

The caution: remember it will take more time, effort and energy to create. Don't beat yourself up about it, just recognize it and try (try) to put a little wriggle room in your projects.

Do any of my readers not have this problem? Do any of my readers have some solutions to this problem?

The Revolution is OVER

What revolution am I talking about? Why, the one important to writers, the e-Revolution! What made me realize that the revolution was over? Simple.

Back in the nineties, the dinosaur age of the Internet, I used to work for a little, independent bookstore. I was also published in anthologies and magazines during this time. Fast forward to now, when I'm again being published in anthologies. And it's totally different.

How? Well, did I, while I worked for the bookstore, promote all the other authors in the anthologies I was in? Or the publisher who bought my short stories for the anthologies? Or even the publishers or their magazines? Of course not! Why would I? To what purpose? I might have signings for the anthologies, might mention to friends and family and that's it. Nobody even considered promoting another author or publisher.

NOW: Every time an author in An Eclectic Collage talks/mentions/sells the book it promotes me. Every blogger who blogs about Dreamspell Nightmares is also blogging about me. Instead of just me alone telling my friends and family about my writing, I've got all the authors promoting. And promoting authors of the publishing company that published my e-book story Changing Woman Ways, promotes my name. Why? The Internet. Connections are quick and easy to make and the more presence on the 'net the better.

Why do you think, my dear readers? And those of you who are writers, am I right? Or all 'net wet?

BSP is hard to do

Above are a couple of examples of BSP. The first is a recipe card that is a teaser or taste (pun intended) for the second, a signing for the upcoming release of the compendium, "An Eclectic Collage." The recipe cards I make by cutting and pasting onto Avery White Quarter Fold Greeting Cards Avery 3266. I copy and paste till each section is filled and then I have 4 cards per sheet.Then the cards promote the book at the signing.

I've had the good fortune to be published several times lately and have an upcoming release, a couple of things in "An Eclectic Collage." So I've been attempting to promote my work. And finding it a bit difficult. Oh, not in opportunities to promote, but rather in the feeling that BSP is somehow a four letter word. Perhaps it's the word, "blatant," does anybody want to be blaring an accomplishment? Doesn't that seem egotistical? Then I remember what my mom always said, "If you don't tell people, they won't know." She repeated this often because my dad was an artist and, a very shy man, he hated gallery openings, media interviews, etc.He just wanted to go do his art. I think that may be true of many creative people.

So when I worry about mentioning something and I'm procrastinating about promoting I tell myself, "Maybe some people might want to know about this."

How about you, dear reader? Do you enjoy promotion? Hate it? Don't care? Care too much?

Merry Christmas from Puck the Puppy!

A Video Christmas Card, my first!

Here's hoping that all my friends out there in the net world have a fabulous and fantastic holiday! Everyone relax and enjoy and take a well-deserved break. I'll be baking a virtual pie for everyone.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!