Using Squidoo and HubPages to Promote Your Book

Squidoo and its rival site HubPages are ideal venues for publishing articles that promote your books. Squidoo is made up of "lenses" where each lens is a highly focused single page website covering, preferably, just one topic. On HubPages these are known as "hubs". Each lens or hub is built out of a number of boxes, into which you enter your content, called "modules" on Squidoo and "capsules" on HubPages.

The main Squidoo and HubPages platforms are great for those general interest articles you've created based on the research you've done for your books.

Along with your own written content, your lenses/hubs can include links to resource and reference sites, pictures, rss feeds, and video clips. Each of these is available as a module/capsule which you use to publish your content to your page. Use the bio field or the introduction to explain how or why you chose to research this particular topic for your book.

Amazon

Aside from the basic Text Module/Capsule, the module or capsule that you will probably want to use on your page if you have a book to promote is the Amazon affiliate feature. This allows you to plug in your ISBN and Amazon provides the cover image and link to purchase. (If you are anti-Amazon you can include links to other bookstores in a Link Module/Capsule.)

If you use the Amazon feature to offer your book for sale do make it clear that you wrote this book and how it is related to the topic. Amazon is used extensively across these platforms to generate affiliate income, so you want to stand out as the author and not just another affiliate.

The key is to personalise your page as much as possible; allow your readers to connect with you and meet the person behind the book.

Coming up, we'll be doing a series of posts focusing on Squidoo because of the various portals that Squidoo offers, with each a unique angle for promotion and a new way for readers to discover you.

Previously in this series:

- Book Promotion by Topic
- Writing For Your Online Platform
- Using Web 2.0 Content Sites to Expand Your Platform
- Building an Online Platform to Promote Your Books

---------------------------------------------
Elsa Neal was one of the early adopters of Squidoo after it came out of Beta and has been actively involved in the community as a Squid Angel and a Top 100 Giant Squid. She has more recently been experimenting with HubPages. She can also be found on her own website or sharing her writing insights at her Fictional Life Blog.