Have you written a great book that isn’t selling? You may be missing the key success ingredient. In this week’s guest post, book marketing pro, Don McCauley, talks strategy.

We have all heard the story. The one about that really great book. You know the one. It’s a really great book that did not make it in today’s marketplace. It was a great book that failed.

Conversely, we are all very aware of those poorly written books that, for some strange reason, continue to break sales records year after year. What is perhaps surprising is the fact that, in both cases, a single concept could be said to be the cause of both situations, good or bad.

Strategy.

Fact 1: A poor book can become wildly successful if there is a good marketing strategy behind it.

Fact 2: An absolutely wonderful book can fail miserably if the marketing strategy is poor. A well designed strategy is more than just important — it is of the utmost importance. However a strategy is not WHAT you do. A strategy is WHY you do what you do. Allow me to explain.

The Tool Is NOT The Strategy

Unfortunately, most well meaning authors believe that the tool IS the strategy. In my work with authors I hear many of the same statements over and over again:

“I know there are buyers for my book out there. I just need to find a way to tell them about it.”

“I know I need to have a website. But I cannot afford to hire a professional as they are quite expensive, so I will do it myself. I will do the best I can to optimize it for the search engines.”

“I use a blog because everyone says this will work.”

“I am on Twitter and I post every day.”

“I send out press releases to journalists frequently.”

“I belong to a bunch of social networking sites.”

“I use discussion groups to get the word out to my buyers.”

“Book signing events are a good idea.”

So, naturally, my first question is: “How are sales?

“Not as good as I hoped.”

This is how 99 percent of people attempt to market their books. This is fine and certainly there is nothing wrong here. But there is a very important point that must be considered here. Effort does not guarantee sales. As a matter of fact, effort, without a well planned strategy, will most likely just cause more frustration than sales. Frankly effort can be wasted without that strategy. All of the above methods mentioned above are just TOOLS. These are not the STRATEGY.

The Reality Of Book Marketing

Depending on the source you believe, there are roughly 400,000 – 500,000 new titles hitting the marketplace every year.

Now certainly nearly every single author has a web site. Nearly all of them are blogging. Many are all twittering, using press releases, social networking, using discussion groups and doing book signings. So the question becomes:

How can YOU possibly get any real attention for your book in a competitive environment such as this?

The simple answer is that you must develop a marketing and publicity strategy that will set you apart from that very, very large crowd…

Marketing Strategy 101

(Please note: This is not a full blown marketing strategy. This is an extremely simplistic example used to illustrate a few simple points).

To develop a strategy, you start by defining your market. Defining your market means you simply must do the research. The research will allow you to determine:

a. IF there is a market for your book
b. if so, HOW MANY people comprise that market
c. WHO comprises that market.
d. HOW those potential buyers prefer to receive their information
e. WHAT tools should be used to deliver a well developed branded message

What Does This Mean?

1. IS there a market for your product/service? If so, what verifiable sources can you cite? List them. Don’t fool yourself here or you may be setting yourself up for failure. It is not enough to say, “I think there are interested buyers out there!” If there is no interest in your subject matter, you will not sell many books.

2. HOW MANY people comprise that potential market? Cite the studies, surveys, verifiable
information sources. Be completely honest here. If there are only a few hundred potential buyers for your book, you will most likely not sell many books.

3. WHO comprises this market? You simply must know your potential purchasers. To get to know your potential buyers, you must create a buyer profile. That profile is developed by knowing:

• Gender
• Income Level
• Age
• Occupation
• Education Level
• Geographic region
• Lifestyle characteristics
• Purchasing characteristics
• Benefits sought by this profile

Example: Let us create a fictitious author named Joe Smith. Joe has written a book entitled Becoming A Scratch Golfer — For Retirees. Let us also suppose that Joe has determined, through his valid and documented research, that there are 1.5 million retired golfers in the United States alone. He knows he has 1.5 million potential buyers for his book. He also knows that his profile is very targeted. He manages to put together the following assumptions:

• Gender = PRIMARILY MALE
• Income Level = 50K to 100K plus
• Age = OVER 55 to 65
• Occupation = EXECUTIVE
• Education Level = COLLEGE
• Geographic region = ALL
• Lifestyle characteristics = HIGH INCOME, ENJOY GOLF
• Purchasing characteristics = TRADITIONAL, SOME INTERNET
• Benefits sought by this profile = IMPROVED GOLFING SKILLS

This profile tells Joe that his potential buyer will most often be spending time on the course. They will be hanging out at the club, listening to radio, watching television or listening to radio — certainly reading the newspaper and golfing magazines.

Now, let’s look at back at which tools might work for Joe, based on his newly developed profile:

A web site – Yes, in all cases, a well optimized website is an absolute necessity. The verbiage on the website must ’speak the language’ of the profile and it must be optimized for the search engines.

A blog – perhaps not necessary, though some retired golfing enthusiasts may be reading blogs in their spare time.

A Twitter account – most likely not necessary, for obvious reasons.

A press release campaign to the journalists – Absolutely. Retired golfers will get their information from traditional sources such as newspaper and television.

Social networking sites – Not likely, though possible.

Social discussion groups – Not likely, though possible.

Book signing events – Absolutely.

Result: In this case, Joe would want to concentrate on driving traffic to his site, approaching journalists, and doing book signings. Though they may produce a few sales, blogging, twittering and posting to groups would most likely be a waste of precious time. These are just the basics. We have not yet touched on the targeted branding strategy employed to set Joe’s book apart from all the other books out there.

Clearly defining your profile and then using the tools that will deliver a sharply honed message to the profile in the manner in which they prefer to receive that message is the easy way to market books.

Not having a sharply defined strategy will most certainly lead to an unsatisfactory number of sales.

Do listen to what works well for others. However, do not adopt tools that have worked well for others unless these tools can be used within the profiles you have created. Others do not have the same buyer profile as yourself. Using a tool that works well for others would be like using a screwdriver to drive a nail. If your goal is to drive nails, this will not work, as the tool is not designed to accomplish that particular goal.

About the Author: Don McCauley is a marketing strategist with over thirty years of experience. He helps individuals, small businesses, and professionals create low cost publicity and marketing campaigns to increase sales. He demonstrates how anyone can develop a massive marketing and publicity campaign for little or no money by utilizing cutting edge strategic marketing and publicity resources. The goal is always to produce bottom line results.

Don serves as facilitator of the Free Publicity Focus Group. He is an author and currently writes for regional and national print and electronic publications. He serves as host of The Authors Show radio program, a production of eBroadcastMedia.com. He is an Inbound Marketing Certified Professional and is Web CEO University Certified. He is the co-founder of Book Marketing, a Ning site for all things related to marketing books.

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In this week’s guest post, Irene Watson, managing editor of Reader Views, offers creative promotion strategies any author can use.

All authors want to promote their books, but their readers are not always the best at building buzz for them. An excellent way authors can find people to share their vision for marketing their books is to ally with other authors, become each others fans, and cross-promote.

No one understands the need and desire to promote your book like another author. Rather than see other authors as competition, authors can leverage each other by cross-promoting each other’s books. Doing so creates a win-win situation for both authors as well as for readers who will discover even more books they would like to read.

The ways authors can help each other to promote their books is countless, but here are a few ideas for starters.

Book Reviews. Trade books with fellow authors and then write book reviews for each other. Post the reviews on your blog, Amazon, and anywhere else you can.

Link Web Sites. Provide a link on your website to other great authors, especially ones writing in your genre. Ask them to link back to you. Create cross traffic for each other.

Host Authors as Guests. Do you have a blog, an Internet radio show, or even a newspaper column? Feature other authors as guests. Help them build buzz about their books and ask them to reciprocate. No only will you get promoted to a new audience, but your own audience will think you’re a nice guy to be promoting other people’s books rather than your own (which in turn only helps to promote your own books.)

Share Book Signing Space. Book signings can be dull events if no one shows up, and nothing is worse than sitting in a bookstore by yourself waiting for someone to buy your book. The more authors at a book signing, the more people likely to attend. Ask the bookstore if you can sign with another author, especially if he or she has a new book out. Then if nothing else, you can visit with each other and share writing and marketing ideas while you wait for book buyers to come.

Split Show Costs. If you’re going to do book signings together, why not do book fairs and art and craft shows together? Split the cost of your booth, and then you’ll have someone to help set up and tear down and watch the booth when you need a break.

Cross Sell Each Others Books. Are there two book fairs on opposite sides of the state on the same day? You can’t go to both, or can you? You can go west and your author friend can go east;  you can bring her books with you and she can take yours east so you sell each other’s books.

Talk Each Other Up. Once you get your foot in the door at a few bookstores, tell them about your friend’s books and how great they are. Bookstores will appreciate your opinion in helping them to find other good books to stock.

Provide References for Each Other. Are you asked to give a talk at the library, but you have a conflicting engagement? Give your fellow author’s name as an alternative. Ask him to return the favor later.

Pass Out Each Others Promotional Materials. Get yourself a bumper sticker with your web site on it. Then give one to your author friends and put their bumper stickers on your car. When you sell one of your books, stick one of their bookmarkers in it to promote their books and have them do the same for you.

Share Knowledge and Build Friendships. The best part of allying yourself with other authors is the knowledge you will share and the friendships you will build. Two heads are better than one, and selling books is not easy. You can learn from each other’s mistakes and successes, have fun, and build buzz for your books at the same time.

Share Agents, Publishers, and PR. If you build a strong alliance with another author and he gets his book picked up by a major publisher or he finds a good literary agent, it can mean a foot in the door for you as well. Success is often connected to whom you know, and no alliance is a waste of time. Networking is really just about making friends. Help your friends and they’ll help you. And always be happy for them when they succeed.

I’m sure you can think of many more ways to help your fellow authors and to get them to help you. Have regular brainstorming sessions with your author friends. Start out by writing book reviews for each other to see who follows through—those authors who do are the ones with whom you want to build strong relationships. There are lots of authors out there willing to help each other promote their books, and you can never have too many friends in the publishing world.

About the Author: Irene Watson is the Managing Editor of Reader Views, where avid readers can find reviews of recently published books as well as read interviews with authors. Her team also provides author publicity and a variety of other services specific to writing and publishing books.

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This week’s guest post comes from Marketing Maven Carol White, and it covers great insights for getting and leveraging media attention in the months and weeks leading up to your book’s publication date. Enjoy!

I was out for my walk this morning enjoying NPR’s “Fresh Air” – a podcast of Terry Gross’s very popular show, this edition about Global Climate Change — and it dawned on me at the end of the podcast that this was a perfect example of pre-pub publicity done right.

The guest has an upcoming book this spring on climate change, which he plugged, but what was more interesting was how he got on NPR (a dream for all of us, right?). He did what I tell clients to do all the time – write articles about your SUBJECT, not your book, your subject, and get them into circulation well before your book comes out.

In this case, he wrote an article about global climate change that was picked up, in of all things, Rolling Stone magazine. Huh? Well, I guess they do articles on things other than pop culture and music. Terry Gross saw the article and invited him to her show. Now, of course, we can’t all get written up in Rolling Stone or on NPR, but we surely can get written up in journals, magazines, blogs, and web sites that relate to our content on some level.

So here is the progression of the pre-pub publicity that will undoubtedly sell many books for him due to this wonderful media coverage:

• Author writes book and sets pub date many months out.
• Author writes articles RELATED to the book’s content — hopefully several.
• Author gets articles published, either online or in print — this takes time too
• People see article and look for more information creating interest.
• Maybe even someone with a TV show, radio show, podcast, or film studio sees the article.
• Author gets invited to participate in TV, Radio, film — or maybe another print interview or article — or maybe several.
• Author gets to talk about his subject, and, oh by the way, his upcoming BOOK.
• The interview gets turned into additional content — podcasts, YouTube, video trailers, that more people see.

This is the power of pre-publication publicity that gets your book off to a great start and the buzz started before it is available. All of these same tactics are worthy and available post-pub too, but they have special buzz-creating properties when utilized before the book is available.

About the Author: Reprinted with Permission. Carol White is an author, speaker, writer, and book marketing coach.  In addition to co-authoring the best selling, award-winning book, Live Your Road Trip Dream (www.roadtripdream.com). She is also a published writer for a variety of magazines and websites, and has spoken about publishing to groups including IBPA’s Publishing University, the Northwest Association of Book Publishers and the Bay Area Independent Publisher’s Assn. She has an active book marketing consulting practice that includes both domestic and international clients. www.carolwhitemarketing.com

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Everyone likes free stuff, and for authors, there’s nothing like complimentary book marketing resources! Dana Lynn Smith, The Savvy Book Marketer, has been kind enough to share these resources–all of which are excellent and information-packed!

Check them out!

Savvy Book Marketer Newsletter: www.BookMarketingNewsletter.com

Savvy Book Marketer Blog:  www.TheSavvyBookMarketer.com

Savvy Book Marketer Guides: www.SavvyBookMarketer.com

Know of any additional free book marketing resources? Share them here…

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One of the best ways to get free publicity for your book and build expertise is to garner media attention. Although it takes time and work to get noticed by reporters, the foundation of a good publicity campaign is the press release. If you want build a relationship with media professionals, many times a press release is your way in.

However, not all press releases are created equal, and most of them wind up in the trash. If you want members of the media to call you about stories you pitch, or the stories they are already working on, you have to send the right message in your press releases. To make sure your media savvy is communicated effectively, consider the following five elements that every solid press release should contain.

1. The Foundation – Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How
Facts are the foundation of every news story, and when reporters need fundamental, factual information they often turn to press releases first. This is why who, what, when, where, why, and how is so important when you’re creating your press releases. So, before you start writing, take a few minutes to organize the facts about the news you hope to communicate in your release. This information will be the foundation for the entire document, and you will reiterate it in the opening paragraph of your release so reporters don’t have to read more than a few lines to get the gist of your message.

2. A Catchy, but Brief Headline
News headlines communicate to readers what the story is about, they capture attention, and they do it in ten words or less. If you want your news release to capture attention, then you need a title that works the same way the front page headlines sell papers – you have to entice your audience to read more.

In the case of a press release, your readers are reporters and editors, so your headline has to give them a reason to keep reading your release by presenting your news in a catchy and informative manner. For example, “New Book Reveals the Secrets to Weight Loss Success.” This example grabs attention, informs the reader, and does so in ten words or less, which is exactly what busy reporters and editors need to see.

3. A Hook
Once you’ve gotten your readers’ attention with a catchy and informative headline, you need to hook them with…well, a hook. In writing, a hook is something that excites your reader and compels them to keep reading, such as a startling fact or statistic, a compelling question, or a common problem.

Recall the examples presented above – if you’re writing your release to announce your new book on weight loss, then you might open your release with an interesting fact or statistic about weight. For example, “Over half of Americans will diet this year, and less than five percent of them will succeed at losing weight and keeping it off.” You will obviously have to be able to back that up with research, but this hook communicates a common problem and a startling statistic all in one.

4. A Usable Quote or Two
As you go into more detail about the who, what, when, where, why, and how of your news, providing as much detail as you can in as few words as possible, you will start to craft the body of your press release. In doing so, you should also provide quotes that the reporter can pull directly from your release to use in his or her story. Reporters love to get information directly from sources. By providing a quote or two in your release you make the reporter’s job that much easier, and better your chances of getting mentioned in the paper.

5. A Call to Action
Once you’ve wrapped up all your main points, you have to close your press release with a call to action. If you want reporters to call you for an interview, that should be your call to action. If you want them to cover your book signing, then you have to say so.

Press Release Success
Media mentions are like free advertising for your book, so everyone should issue press releases on a regular basis. Even if you don’t get written up in a feature-length story after your first few tries, media professionals will at least keep your contact information on file for the times when they do need your expertise. And by keeping your name in front of them will better your chances of getting noticed. When you use these tips for creating and improving your press releases, you better your chances of getting into the paper without buying expensive ad space.

Comments?

About the Author: Melinda Copp helps aspiring self-help, business, and nonfiction authors get their books done, so they establish expertise, achieve their goals, and share their message in a powerful way. Get a free copy of her Jumpstart Your Book E-course when you sign up for her weekly e-zine.

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Want yours to be the next book everyone is talking about? In this week’s guest post, marketing expert Brian Jud shares tips for stimulating word-of-mouth (read: FREE) advertising for your book.

What if there were a way to make your title known to every potential buyer–for free? There is, and it is called word-of-mouth advertising–people talking to people–the most inexpensive and productive way to spread the word about your new titles. Fortunately, there are ways you can stimulate word-of-mouth communication that will build your sales, reduce your costs and increase your profits.

People singing your praises removes the aura of commercialism and instills a sense of objectivity about their recommendations. However, you lose control over what they are saying because, through exaggeration or misunderstanding, people may distort your intended message. Since word-of-mouth conversations can be either positive or negative, you must make sure people are talking about your titles constructively. You can do this by stimulating word-of-mouth advertising through the copy on your book’s cover, your publicity, and communicating on the Internet.

Stimulate Word-of-Mouth Advertising with Your Cover Copy
Use your cover copy to establish kinship with your readers. Jay Saffarzadeh did this when he changed the subtitle on his book Introduction to E-mail and the Internet from “For those of you who are inexperienced . . .” to “For those of us . . .” By changing you to us he affiliated with the reader.

Testimonials on your rear cover can also work in your favor, and there are several groups of people can start people talking better than others. One such group is commercial authorities, people (i.e., the author) who have demonstrated greater knowledge on a topic than the average consumer. In addition, celebrities have proven to stimulate positive feedback because their influence is attributed to prominence in another field. Connoisseurs have excellent credibility because of their authentic but nonprofessional opinion of the title or topic. These influential people serve particularly well with topics involving individual taste, such as cooking or art.

Similarly, the sharer of interest brings similar, credible significance to the topic. An expectant mother singing the praises of your book about pregnancy or the criminal investigator endorsing your murder mystery fit in this category. They are not experts, but are everyday people who have read the book and deem it interesting and informative.

Stimulate Word-of-Mouth Discussions through Your Press Releases
Publicity is an inexpensive and productive way to spread the word about your titles. And you have some control over how your story is told because in many cases the media use the copy in your releases verbatim for their articles.

One way to stimulate positive communication in your press releases is to give proof through your words and actions that you have your customers’ best interests in mind. For example, avoid the sense of urgency in your publicity. Shun terms such as, “buy now or lose this offer forever.” In addition, make your message exciting, helpful and informative. In fact, understating your sales points may enhance the communication and instill a sense of kinship with the reader.

In addition, use the shock-of-difference approach, describing your title from a different, more compelling angle. Utilize this technique by offering a challenge (Can You Pass This Memory Test?). Or, make your story take an unexpected turn of events. For example, many press releases urge some form of positive, immediate action. Your headline advising the reader not to buy something (Don’t Buy Car Insurance Until You Have Read All These Facts) is an effective way to motivate personal communication. Finally, involve the reader by using verbal play. Use a sequence of words or sounds that provoke repetition through its rhythm or alliteration.

Stimulate Mord-of-Mouse Advertising on the Internet
Perhaps the fastest way to stimulate word-of-mouth communication is over the Internet. First, actively participate on a listserve, but remember that most moderated groups frown upon tactless commercialism. Instead, simply steer the discussion to your topic, reply to every question related to your topic and include a descriptive signature with your reply.

Secondly, motivate word-of-mouse advertising through the design of your web site. Create a site that is educational, simply designed, fast to load, and easy to use. Provide better service, more timely information and advice so visitors can find answers to their questions or improve their circumstances in some way. Give visitors inside information–something new and unique–and tell them to pass it on to others. Also, suggest that people bookmark your site so they form the habit of returning to it.

Word-of-mouth communication can help you sell more books by urging people to tell others about them. And it is free! Stimulate people to spread the word positively and frequently by using your cover copy, press releases, and Internet activity strategically.

About the Author: Brian Jud is the author of How to Make Real Money Selling Books and now offers commission-only sales of nonfiction, fiction, children’s titles, and remainders to buyers in special markets. For more information contact Brian at P. O. Box 715, Avon, CT 06001; (860) 675-1344; Fax (860) 270-0343; brianjud@bookmarketing.com; or go to www.premiumbookcompany.com.

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Today’s guest post comes from Carma Spence-Pothitt, author of Home Sweet Home Page; The 5 Deadly Mistakes Authors, Speakers, and Coaches Make with Their Website’s Home Page and How to Fix Them! Building a list is one of the most important ways to market to potential readers online, and she’s got some great tips!

Why would someone what to opt-in to your list? Do you have a compelling reason for them to do so? The beauty of opt-in list building is that you can grow very targeted lists… if you know how to entice members of your target market correctly.

Step One: Understand your ideal prospect.

What makes your ideal client tick? What keeps him or her up at night? What is the big question he or she is combing the Internet looking for an answer to?

Step Two: Determine the best way you can answer your ideal prospect’s big question.

There may be many possible answers to your ideal client’s big question, but the one you want is the one that is uniquely relevant to your business. You see, your opt-in bonus is a bridge between you and your ideal prospects. It is something that not only attracts them, but also introduces them to what you have to offer.

Step 3: Develop your opt-in presentation strategy.

There are several things you need to do to entice the right people to join your list.

1. You need to create an free gift to offer them.

2. You need to develop a compelling way to present this gift.

3. You need to communicate the benefits of registering for the gift.

In steps one and two, you laid the ground work for creating the free gift. Basically, your opt-in bonus will be an answer to your prospect’s big question. Now you need to create eye-catching virtual packing for it and then write copy that will “sell” it.

All this will go into your landing or squeeze page where you present your offer and collect your prospects names and e-mail addresses.

Remember, you want to entice, lure, draw in your ideal prospects. So you need to understand what they will find attractive enough to give you permission to e-mail them. Think like a fisherman and use the right bait, so you’ll have list-building success.

Not having a compelling opt-in incentive is the fourth deadly mistake of home page design. If you would like to know what all five deadly mistakes are, grab a copy of Carma Spence-Pothitt’s book, Home Sweet Home Page: The 5 Deadly Mistakes Authors, Speakers and Coaches Make with Their Website’s Home Page and How To Fix Them! at http://www.homesweethomepagebook.com. You’ll find links to more articles on this topic and more there, as well.

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In today’s guest post, book marketing expert, Dana Lynn Smith, talks money, with tips for creating your book marketing budget.

While it’s possible to promote your book on a shoestring budget, especially if you focus on online book marketing, you will still need a marketing budget.

The amount you should budget depends on your book marketing plan. Here are some expense categories to consider and some money-saving tips:

Blog/Web Site: Web site design and hosting fees. If you build your web site on a blogging platform like WordPress or TypePad, you’ll minimize the costs for online book marketing. See this page for blogging resources for authors.

Graphics: Design of web site header and graphics, design of printed materials, purchase of stock images for blog/web site, and a photo shoot for your author photo.

Printing: Business cards, bookmarks, postcards, flyers, and posters for personal appearances. In addition to local printers, check prices for online printers such as Printing for Less.

Copywriting and Editing: You may want to hire a professional copywriter to help you write effective sales copy for your sales flyer, web site, and other online book marketing materials. It’s also a good idea to have an editor or proofreader review your web site and other marketing materials.

E-mail Marketing: You will pay a monthly or per mailing fee to the company that manages your opt-in mailing list. Some services, like Mail Chimp, waive their fees until your list gets to a certain size.

Review Copies: Printing, packaging, and postage for review copies sent through the mail.

Publicity: There are a number of free online press release services, such as PRLog and Free Press Release. To get wider distribution for your most important releases, you will need to use a paid service like PRWeb.

Learning: Lots of blogs and newsletters offer helpful book marketing information. But don’t forget to budget funds for books, teleclasses, and other opportunities to get a more in-depth education about publishing and book marketing, and for dues to writing and publishing organizations. You’ll be more effective at promoting your book if you know how to do it properly.

Professional Services: You may need help in implementing your book marketing plan, especially if you have a day job. There are a number of virtual assistants who specialize in working with authors. You may also want to invest in consulting services from a book marketing coach to help you develop your book marketing strategy.

Other Expenses: Additional expenses may include travel, book fairs, book award entry fees, advertising, and administrative expenses such as postage.

The best way to develop a budget is to assign a projected cost to each element in your book marketing plan. Then you can break down your expenses by month, to arrive at a monthly budget.

Dana Lynn Smith is a book marketing coach and author of the Savvy Book Marketer Guides. For more tips, follow @BookMarketer on Twitter, visit Dana’s blog at www.TheSavvyBookMarketer.com, and get a copy of the Top Book Marketing Tips ebook when you sign up for her free newsletter.

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Social media marketing without a blog is like a fish without water, or a dog without a bone. Without it, things just aren’t right. Authors who want to use social media sites, like Twitter and Facebook, to market their books should use a blog as the centerpiece. Not only are blogs easier to find online because search engines love them, they are more casual and engaging than a regular web site and they naturally lend themselves to conversations, which is what social media is all about.

The casual, conversational feel of a blog helps build relationships with people in a way that a regular web site can’t. Plus, readers perceive blogs differently than web sites. While web sites are less personal and often sales-oriented, blogs are casual and more focused on cementing those relationships with helpful, interesting content. They allow you to be more than just a guy or gal with a book to sell. This means you can talk about your book without people seeing it as pushy or overly self-promotional.

To get your blog up and running, use the following tips.

Where and When to Start
Because it takes time to build up content and a community of readers, most experts suggest starting to blog at least six months before your book is released. Starting sooner rather than later means you can start growing your following and establishing important contacts before your book is done. If your book has already been published and your blog hasn’t, what are you waiting for? Get going as soon as you can.

Most blogging platforms offer free and paid options. The free ones are hosted by the blogging company, like Wordpress or Blogger. The paid ones require outside hosting, which is often less than $5 a month. I recommend paying for outside hosting, which will give you more flexibility and freedom to promote your book. Either way, you’ll get step-by-step instructions for getting everything set up. This process will involve choosing a domain name. If possible, choose your name or your book title.

Writing Your Blog
Once you get your site up, you need to start blogging. So what should you write? Just like writing a book, a good blog post is engaging, informative, unique, and entertaining. You can break news, share your thoughts and opinions, or teach your readers something they want to know.

Don’t be afraid to be personal and more casual than you may have been in your book. You don’t have to share all the details of your personal life–what you ate for breakfast, whether or not you went to the gym (unless that relates to your book topic, of course)–but you should share your thoughts on the topics you post about.

Get Traffic with Social Media
As I mentioned before, because a blog works so well as a relationship builder, it’s the perfect centerpiece of your social media marketing efforts. And you can set your blog up to automatically update your Twitter and Facebook accounts every time you update it.

So, for example, every time you publish a new blog post, you can post the link on Twitter, which will bring new readers and keep them coming back. As you’re building this audience of readers, you can make your blog the hub of all your book marketing activities, including social media, book signings, speaking engagements, publicity, and anything else you do.

What’s the Downside?
Well, a blog does take some work. Setting it up is pretty easy, even if you aren’t technology savvy, but the work comes in posts and maintenance. You need to update your blog regularly to get traffic and keep your readers interested. The posts don’t need to be long, and there are ways to simplify the process, but it still takes time.

However if you think about how powerful a blog can be for your book, writing a 250-word post a few times a week is definitely worth it. And as I mentioned before, it can be the hub of everything you do to promote your book–a place where you can promote everything you do. Plus the blog itself can lead to publicity, speaking engagements, and other really exciting opportunities for selling more books. So if you’ve got a book to market, you can’t go wrong with a blog.

Your Book Blog
Social media sites are too big for any author to ignore, and without a blog, you might as well be a fish on a bicycle. So even if your book isn’t quite finished (or if it’s been in print for months), get your blog going and start attracting readers and followers. You’ll be amazed at how quickly this one piece of your marketing strategy will become the most critical part of your author platform.

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About the Author: Melinda Copp helps aspiring self-help, business, and nonfiction authors write and publish books that establish expertise, achieve their goals, and share their message in a meaningful way. Get a free copy of her Write Your Book Quick-Start Mini E-course when you sign up for her weekly e-zine.

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Millions of people visit Facebook every day, making it one of the best viral marketing opportunities for authors online. It’s easy to set up and maintain pages specifically for your book, you can find lots of traffic for your blog or web site, and it’s free, at least for now. (I’ve heard they’re thinking about charging.) Plus, Facebook pages get ranked in search engine results, making it an ideal tool to add to your book marketing strategy.

Consider the following tips to establish your book’s Facebook presence.

1. Complete Your Profile Page
If you already have a personal profile on Facebook, you can create a fan page just for your book. (If you don’t already have a profile, you’ll need to create one to get the page.) Why the fan page? Facebook limits the number of friends you can have to 5,000. But you can have an unlimited number of fans. Plus, you can use an image of your book cover, write a blurb about the book, track visitors, and add other features that you might not want to do on a personal profile. You can extra tabs and add testimonials from readers, links to sales pages on Amazon and other online bookstores, and even offer your fans a free downloadable sample of your book. Make sure you take advantage of everything the fan page has to offer.

2. Get Some Fans
Once your fan page is set up, you need to get fans. Unlike the personal profile page, you can’t just search for people and ask them to become your fan. But you can ask your friends from your personal page to become a fan and ask them to help you get the word out by suggesting their friends become fans as well. You’ll also want to promote your fan page as much as possible, adding a link to your e-mail signature, putting a badge on your blog and web site, and placing a link on all your book-marketing pieces. One other way to get fans is with Facebook ads. These are the small ads that show up on the right-hand side of the site, and although they aren’t free, you only have to pay when someone clicks.

3. Use Your Fan Page to Promote Book Signings, Readings, and Events
Facebook can help you find fans across the globe, but it’s also a great way to promote book signings, readings, speaking engagements, and any other events that you’re holding in your local area. Within your fan page administration panel, you can create events and invite all your fans. Then when they reply that they’re attending, all their friends will see it, which means viral exposure for your events.

4. Start Conversations
The beauty of social media is the ability to interact, and Facebook is no different. It makes you more accessible and allows your readers to connect with you on a personal level. So in addition to promoting your book and events, start conversations, show your readers what you’re really like, and give them information that interests them. And make sure you respond to comments and wall posts from fans. They’ll love hearing from you just as much as you’ll love hearing from them.

Your Facebook
Facebook is a powerful marketing tool for authors, and it’s a lot of fun. So if you haven’t already, give it a try. Put up a page for your book, and start attracting readers!

Comments? Have you had book-marketing success on Facebook?

About the Author: Melinda Copp helps aspiring self-help, business, and nonfiction authors write and publish books that establish expertise, achieve their goals, and share their message in a meaningful way. Get a free copy of her Write Your Book Quick-Start Mini E-course when you sign up for her weekly e-zine.

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