Sometimes, books die. They die because authors fail to promote them properly, or they don’t promote them long enough for the books to gain traction, and ultimately, more sales. Sometimes, they die because they are not the next book. As authors move on to their next story and the promotion behind that book before, during, and after publication, they may think their older works can do well on their own. And that’s not true. If you have older works, perform a promotional inventory. Brainstorm two questions: 1) what have you done in the past to promote older works? and 2) what can you do NOW to re-introduce these books to new readers? Books don't die. There is always a new reader to introduce them to. How do you continue to resurrect your older works to new readers? ----- Writing in 140 is my attempt to say something somewhat relevant about writing in 140 words or less. Creative Passionista  Shon Bacon is an author, editor, and educator whose biggest joys ar...

What exactly is a meme? Merriam-Webster Dictionary says: an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture . The term is often applied to those Facebook posters that get shared so much, and many are political. Recently, this one rolled across my Facebook page, and I thought it was a terrific idea to help authors promote their books. Why not pull a meaningful quotation out of your own writings, and spread it around Facebook? I think this meme would be more useful if the author had added her website URL. My Facebook BBT Cafe group began discussing this and turned it into a little project. We wondered what programs to use and suggestions included Paint and other graphics programs as well as PicMonkey , a free photo-editing service that makes graphics creation astoundingly easy, not to mention fun!  BBT Cafe members started experimenting and here are some of the results: I think adding a website URL is important. Did I say that alread...

Last week, I released my first novella, Saying No to the Big O [ Amazon | Smashwords ]. Instead of reading a book description, you can view the trailer for SN2BO below. As I began promoting Saying No to the Big O , I thought about how I would use Twitter in the promotions. I tweeted the obvious posts that brought people to my Website to read the novella's description, to watch the trailer, to read a sample, and to read commentaries I wrote on the novella, but I wanted to do something that was fun and intriguing and that would be a challenge for me. Back when I was promoting my mystery Into the Web , I pulled several lines from the story and tweeted them along with the link to purchase the novel. Tweeting lines from the story generated a lot of interest. Many people messaged me to talk about how much they enjoyed the tweets, many retweeted the lines, and others went directly to the purchase link to buy a copy of the novel. With the success of the tweets, I decided to do i...

By Dani Greer, Chief Red Pencil It hasn't been very long since the traditional publishing model meant printing a hardcover edition of a new book, then following that with a low-cost paperback edition, and maybe, if the publisher was really sharp, making an e-book available on the heels of print. In today's rapidly changing publishing environment, all three versions of the book are usually published simultaneously, or at least within very narrow time-frames. This gives readers all the options quickly, and multiplies the opportunities for sales. In the past year, a growing number of publishers have started printing new titles in only e-book version first, presumably capitalizing on the success of indie authors who have discovered the potential of feeding the e-reader market. Later, if e-book sales proved successful, the door might remain open for a print run, particularly if libraries and schools demanded the title for their shelves. But fast disappearing are the days of larg...

Less than a year ago, I appeared on this site and audaciously banged the drum for my debut novel, 600 Hours of Edward . It was the first stop of a hastily thrown-together blog book tour, and as I look back on it, I realize that “hastily thrown-together” is an apt descriptor for much of my promotional efforts in those early days of the novel’s emergence. So here I am, back in this cozy seat as I approach the January 2011 release of my second novel, The Summer Son . I’ve learned a lot about promotional work in the past several months – enough to know that I still have much more to learn. Here’s a short list of what I’m doing better this time around: 1. I have a much more robust, focused blog book tour planned: 10 stops instead of seven, at sites with established readerships that are good bets to be interested in my book. 2. I’m taking advantage of a slower rollout: Lining up blurbs, putting together mailing lists for ARCs, seeing if some buzz can be ignited. The current ...

Yesterday we looked at how to create a simple bookplate , either for your own library or to use as a promotional keepsake that your readers can download and print from your website. Today we're looking at printing on adhesive labels. Bookplate Setup You will need a box of labels of a size that will fit the smallest books for which you intend them. Check the website of the label manufacturer for pre-made Word templates for the specific labels you’ve purchased. (Avery is a brand available in many countries and their website features a range of templates.) Another option is to check Microsoft’s website by connecting through New Document, Templates, Templates on Office Online. Here is an example of a Microsoft pre-designed bookplate template . (Word 2007 users will probably find templates for most labels already available under the File, New... menu.) Using Tables to Set Up Your Labels If you’re unable to find a suitable blank template you can construct your own using tables ...

A bookplate is a label stuck in a book originally with the purpose of identifying the owner of the book. More recently bookplates have become an item for authors to autograph and send to fans who cannot attend a book signing in person. Designing and printing your own bookplates is fairly easy, but depends on your personal tastes and design skills and how elaborate you want your design to be. Bookplates for Autographing If you are an author you might want to design a bookplate that you can autograph and have available to hand out or post to fans who request one. Another option is to scan and convert your autograph to a digital image and offer a bookplate template on your website that your fans can download and print out themselves. Commonly such bookplates include an image of the book cover and might include either a scanned autograph or white space for your autograph and possibly space for a message or the recipient’s name. Designing Your Bookplate You can use a program suc...

A common question on author loops is how best to approach newspapers when you have an event coming up or news of a release or award. While a lot of promoting is now done on the Internet, there are still times that an author has a need to contact a print newspaper. Tomorrow we will have a guest to pass on some valuable tips for getting attention in local newspapers. Sunny Frazier has considerable experience on both sides of this promotional coin, both receiving and sending press releases. She has worked for newspapers and handled PR for libraries and her local Sisters In Crime chapter. The second post from Sunny will be a sample press release. In addition to the tips that Sunny will offer tomorrow, I want to offer something that has worked well for me in regard to press releases. For the small town papers I send a press release that is basically the story. I also include a headshot, picture of my cover, and a one-page sheet of info about me and the book. When I had my book launch and d...

My book was almost ready. How could I let people know about it? I needed to get my promo started. Choice One Publishing Co . needed an Internet home, not just a snail mail address. I fiddled with the idea of starting a new website other than my author site at Morgan Mandel.Com , but decided for the time being I'd try something else. I already had a personal blog , plus contributed to a number of group blogs, which were all Blogger/Google related. Why not try a new look to set me apart as a publisher? I decided to go with Word Press, picked out a template I liked, and paid a little extra for the .com option. That way, if people wanted to comment they could, but the site would basically be used for advertising Killer Career , with buy links to distributors, book descriptions, news about the book, and other salient information. Later I could use it for my other self-pubbed books, if I chose to continue in that vein. I bought stationary and envelopes with the publishing name on them an...

I received a review copy of Penny C. Sansevieri's revised Red Hot Internet Publicity: An Insider's Guide to Marketing Your Book on the Internet so I could review it on Bloogernews.net -- which I will be doing soon, honest. Penny Sansevieri is with Author Marketing Expert s and her book is chock full of good tips and advice , as well as giving links to Web sites with more good tips and advice. It is a wonderful resource for any writer, and I am already highlighting points to use when I start promoting my next book. The author uses bullets and lists, which makes it easy to pick out the points to highlight, and this list really caught my attention: Golden Rules of Social Media and Internet Marketing 1. Listen: listen and observe, see what's being said online and how you can participate. 2. Participate: join in, share stuff, be helpful. 3. Give first, ask later. The best rule of thumb is to give more than you take. 4. Dialog: communicate (don't j...