Marketing Mondays: Blog Tours and Bling for Advertisements

Welcome to the last (for now) Marketing Mondays--that glorious day when we take the overwhelming ideas of marketing and try to make them a little less stressful. In case you missed it, we've already talked about author brands, Facebook, social media, blogging, online parties and giveaways, street teams, newsletters, and Goodreads, and websites and Amazon author pages. Today, we are wrapping things up with blog tours and advertisements. This involves coughing out some cash, which is a very important topic to discuss.

Blog Tours

We've already discussed hosting blog tours when discussing what kind of content to put on your blog, but now I want to take a really good look at the flip side of that coin--having a blog tour to promote your book. Blogs are a very useful tool for promoting your book, and you can do this a number of ways. You can generate buzz about your book before it releases with things like a Cover Reveal and teasers. After the release, you can schedule a release day blitz or a blog tour, or do both. Coordinating all of the above is pretty much the same, and we'll go over some of the basics. 

1. Coordinating a Tour
1. Do it yourself: If you have experience with hosting blog tours already and plenty of blogger friends, you can give coordinating it yourself a shot. After about a year or so of hosting tours myself, I was able to build up enough connections to fill up a month long tour for Heirs of War, so it is doable. I'll get to some tips on how to coordinate your tour on your own later, but for now we'll just list it as an option.
2. Let someone coordinate the tour for you: One of the benefits to having someone else organize your tour is that it is a heck of a lot less stressful for you. There are plenty of blog tour companies out there with reasonable prices if that is an option for you. Make sure you choose a company that fits your book, though. Some tour companies cover mainly romance or paranormal romance, and if you write mysteries, this tour company might not be the one for you. If you can do this, I say go for it. Prices range anywhere from $45-$175, depending on what you want your tour to include. It might be worth it just to have one less thing to worry about during release week. Because if you are releasing a book, your stress levels are probably already pretty high. 



Image from AndreRealizes

3. If you have a publisher, their marketing department might coordinate the tour for you. 
2. Dates
1. One day release blitz: One day for everyone to showcase your book. Generally done with just a promo post, but you can open it up to other options.
2. One week or two week blog tour: Usually the more affordable options if you are hiring a tour company, and a way to play it safe if you are coordinating on your own. You can also go with three weeks if you're feeling plucky.
3. One month blog tour: Usually more expensive if you are hiring a blog company, but this gives you a full month with your book and name spread across blogs. If you are coordinating yourself, it is something to think about for that reason, too. This also opens your dates up, obviously, but that might be more appealing to bloggers. 
3. Content
1. Promo post: I've also seen this referred to as a spotlight stop. This usually consists of the basics to promote your book: Banner (if you have one), cover, blurb, purchase links, Goodreads link, your bio, your author pic, your links, and maybe something like a book trailer or short teaser.
2. Guest post: This is where you take over someone else's blog by sending them an article that you write. For example, I could blog about my marketing experience with Heirs of War for a guest post. Other ideas are music playlists, dream cast, your road to publishing, your inspiration for the book or characters, editing...the list goes on and on. You can plan guest posts ahead of time and dole them out, or you can let hosts pick a topic that might fit their blog.
3. Excerpts: I was surprised by how many people requested excerpts for my first blog tour. You can give the same one or different ones. I recommend different ones since that allows you to showcase different characters or different aspects of your book. You can tease romance, or action, or humor. And if you have teaser images that accompany the excerpts, you can include them as well. Visuals are always a good thing!
4. Character interviews: These are so much fun! Sometimes bloggers have questions pre-planned, and sometimes they will do research to tailor the questions to your characters. Either way, getting a chance to explore your characters again is always fun.
5. Author interview: Oh, the dreaded author interview. I have several of those for my upcoming tour for Heirs of War, Crown of Flames. I both love them and hate them at the same time, mostly because I feel like an idiot with everything I say. But readers love them, so I do it and you should too. 
6. Open option: This is always a good idea in case bloggers have a weekly feature that might work for you. During the Heirs of War tour, Crystal Collier signed up for me to be featured during her Writerly Wednesdays feature that includes Two Truths and a Lie, which was awesome and a lot of fun. 

Like I said before, you can totally do this on your own!

Image from Congaaaa

Here are some easy steps to coordinating your own tour:

1. Create a Google form for people to sign up through. Standard form entries: Name, email address, blog url, post type, and date. I also include the option of reviewing an ARC. More reviews never hurt, right?
2. Email your contacts. If you have blogger friends, author friends, critique partners, street team members, etc--don't be afraid to ask them to help out. 
3. Post about it on social media. Put the call out their to your Facebook friends and Twitter followers. Post a polite request in groups that allow that kind of post (always check the rules for the groups you want to post to!). But, as with everything social media, don't spam. If you aren't getting any responses, check back through your old posts and see if there's a better time where your friends respond more. Then post during that time next week. 
4. Keep your posting options open to draw in more people. 
5. Stay on top of emails. I don't know about you, but I have a very bad habit of reading emails or texts and replying in my head, but never actually doing it. That's definitely a habit to break when organizing a blog tour or promotion.
6. Limit your guest posts. Interviews, excerpts, and promo posts aren't very time consuming, but guest posts can be. I had way too many during my Heirs of War tour, and they sucked up a lot of valuable time. They're great to do and a lot of bloggers request them, but I would limit how many you allow. 
7. Balance your time as best you can. If you won't have a lot of time to create posts, only run a week long tour, or two weeks. Don't over-commit to something you might not have time for. 
8. Make sure you stop by each blog and thank them for hosting, and then check back over the next few days to respond to any comments people leave. 

Advertisements

You've probably seen a lot of sites like Facebook and Goodreads offering advertisements. It looks like Twitter is even jumping on this bandwagon now. I've also seen websites and blogs that offer paid advertising slots. Some advertisements, like on a website or blog, might be a one time fee, while others, like Facebook and Goodreads offer daily budgets or pay per click options. Facebook allows you to set a daily budget as well, which can be helpful. You can also set up a target audience by selecting people within a certain age range and with specific interests to target with your ad. Just to give you an idea, I chose fantasy film, fantasy literature, magic (paranormal), witches pagans, fantasy movies, books, and e-books as my interests to target, and my potential reach is 52 million, which looks pretty good from the outside. There are plenty of articles out there to help you create ads and tell you why they are great, but I want to talk about something else that is very important and ties back to blog tours:

When do you spend your money?

Pretty good question, am I right? The thing is, if you are self-publishing, then chances (and hopes) are that you have hired an editor and a cover artist already. That means that you are in the red before your book is even published. You've already invested money into it. And then there's things like swag to giveaway as prizes for contests (which we've also covered) or to hand out at signings or just on the street. 

Point is, you can end up dropping a lot of money really fast. Could you end up making all of that back and then some? Sure. It happens. But you can't let yourself get too carried away. Cut costs where you can so that you can actually enjoy some of the money you make back or use it to invest into your next book so you aren't as in the red when it comes out. 

There's a reason I didn't go into a whole lot of detail with advertisements--I've never done one before. At all. I don't have any plans to do one in the future, not unless I see some major sales with Heirs of War, Crown of Flames. I'm already trying to cut back my swag addiction (I love giving out signed swag packs. Love it. In fact, I want to give one to you now...), so I don't really let myself spend any money beyond the necessities. Advertising is a necessity, of course, but not one I need to pay for right now. 

I'm not saying that you shouldn't purchase a Facebook ad--I'm just saying to keep a tight eye on your budget. I've heard a lot of people say that you should wait until you have more than one book out before you pay for advertisements because your other books help sell each other. And you should definitely be wary of what kind of advertisement you choose, particularly with Facebook. There's been some concern that running an advertisement for Facebook likes will only get you bogus likes, not actual people. And that can hurt your page instead of help it since Facebook algorithms dictate how many people see your posts based on how many people interact with your page. 

So the two key things to take away from this blog post? Balance your budget and time, and do your research before making any decisions that involve money, whether it involves ads or blog tours. 

Thank you for tuning in for Marketing Mondays! Don't be afraid to tell me what you think, or if I've missed anything. This has all been based on my personal experience, and I hope to return to this segment once I get even more experience under my belt. Even if that means contradicting things I've already said. =) 

Marketing Mondays: What's in a Website & Why Amazon Author Pages are Important

Image from arthurpendragonns

Goodbye, weekend! Hello, Marketing Mondays! That glorious day when we take the overwhelming ideas of marketing and try to make them a little less stressful. In case you missed it, we've already talked about author brands, Facebook, social media, blogging, online parties and giveaways, and street teams, newsletters, and Goodreads. As promised, today we are going to talk about websites and Amazon pages, and why they are important.

Websites are probably the easiest part of marketing, in my experience. With all of the Weebly-wobbly type designers out there, it is really easy to make your website as low maintenance or fancy as you want it to be. Heck, even Blogger is making it easier to turn your blog itself into a website by offering the option to create different pages beyond that of your blog. You don't have to know a lick of HTML to be able to get a website up and running. In fact, my subscription level for my website doesn't even allow me to access the base HTML or CSS codes (which is good, since I'm a novice with HTML and haven't the faintest clue about CSS).

Why you should have a website is probably a given: You need one place to keep all of your information, and Facebook doesn't count. Having a website, in my opinion, gives you a more professional appearance to those who might Google you. It's a way of letting everyone know that writing is your profession, not your hobby. But if you are here, you already know that. So instead, let's focus on the design and content you should include in your website.

Let's look at a few of the different kinds of websites to give you an idea of how you might want to design yours:

The Blog-Focused Site
Blogs are an excellent way of keeping your readers up to date with news and giving them more insight into you. It's a very personal approach, but you control how personal you get. Sharon Bayliss's website has her blog on the home page, and a column on the right to showcase her books and social media. It's really well balanced, which is very important for a website. You don't want it to look too busy, or the readers' eyes will be drawn to too many places. And she also has tabs for all of the other information you might be looking for on her--even one to take her quiz to see what kind of witch or wizard you would be in the world of The December People series. Vicki Keire has another great example of a blog-centric site powered by a Blogger template. The great thing about this design is that since you are going through Blogger, it is easy to maintain. No fancy HTML or CSS skills necessary. James Wymore does the same thing with Wordpress, but I'm less familiar with Wordpress than I probably should be at this point.

The Book-Focused Site
People are stopping by to get information about your books, right? So if you want to put that information front and center on your home page, it makes perfect sense. Eliza Tilton's site does a really good job doing this and looking sleek and professional. She has a great tagline in her header, and then directly shows the covers of her books. She still has a blog, which is in the main menu and easy to access. Terry Goodkind's website does this as well, usually featuring his next release (in this case, Severed Souls, which I am equal parts dreading and excited about reading). I'm not a big fan of the tiny Home button that takes you to his actual site and shows you everything else you want to see, but hey--he's making millions, so he can do whatever he wants. And he also looks intimidating as hell, so that might help. ;)

The News-Focused Site
Why not get straight to business and put your news on your front page? That's what I do on my site, which can be cool since you can tie it in with your newsletter (which we already talked about as a "must") and just copy everything over from it. If you run behind on updating your website, then your Home page with all the news can become pretty lengthy. Richelle Mead also has a news-centric site, and hers looks much slicker. She has a brief intro and then launches into what is going on, however much or little there might be (she did just give birth if I'm remembering right, so I think we can all understand a lack of appearances and such). With both of these designs, you can still have easy access to your books and create a personalized style.

The Sleek and Simple Site
Personally, I'm a big fan of this style, even though my website doesn't follow it. You are brought to a home page that has the very bare minimum, and then have a menu that takes you directly where you need to go--books, blog, about me, etc. A good example of this is Krystal Wade's website, which is very crisp and elegant, and her menu covers everything needed. The picture also makes you feel like you are being transported somewhere magical, and as an avid fantasy reader, this is something I am definitely drawn to. The only drawback to this is that it can create a very detached website, and as authors, I think giving it a personal touch is definitely the way to go since our goal is to connect with our readers. Krystal manages to avoid this drawback by having personalized messages or writing in first person, so she is directly addressing the reader.

There are other site styles, of course, but these are the most popular that I've seen. All of the above are easy to create and maintain, which is definitely a perk. If you have to dedicate the whole entire day to updating your website, you probably need to rethink how you are doing it. I'm guilty of spending a whole day redesigning mine (and probably about to do that again soon), but updating should only take an hour or so, depending on the amount of information you are updating.

Images from spaceshipmadeofwood

CONTENT IS KEY
Once you've decided how to design your website, you need to decide what to include. Here are my Do's and Don'ts from my experience with my site:

• Home Page: Pretty much a given, and we've already discussed the different ways you can design it. Whether you have your blog on the front page or just a menu, the biggest thing to keep in mind is to make it easy to read. Personally, I feel like mine has a bit too much text going on. Too much text makes a home page feel crowded, but with the most boring types of company you can imagine. At least for me, anyway. You want your website to be personal but still show that you take your career seriously. A sleek website does just that. As a reader, this gives me more confidence in the writer. I know I'm not about to spend my money on a rough draft, but something that the writer has put time and effort into. Here are some other things you might want to include on your home page--just make sure you don't overcrowd:
• Your books: You can do this with a simple Goodreads widget or just put the covers there on your own and make them clickable to the pages on your site or the Amazon pages. The Goodreads widget works, but I'm not a big fan of the layout options, personally.
• Social media: You can have buttons to link to your social media, or you can include social media feeds from sites like Twitter and Facebook to show your recent activities. 
• Newsletter or blog subscription: Make it easy for people to get email updates from you with a subscription option. MailChimp offers this widget for newsletters, and both Blogger and Wordpress offer it for blogs as well.
• Blog activities: This is especially easy with a blog-centric website, where you have the options of including keywords, recent activities, etc. 
• About Me: Don't neglect the bio, and don't make visitors have to dig for it. It doesn't have to be your life story. It can be as long or as short as you want it to be. After all, this is your website, so it should be tailored to you. I have one paragraph on my home page, but I'd really suggest having an About Me section, which I'm going to change to once I upgrade to get more pages. Your bio can be third person or first person. I've seen a lot of authors address readers directly, which I'm a big fan of. My bio is third person, but that's because everything I wrote first person sounded ridiculous in my head. Jessa Russo wrote hers in first person and isn't shy about getting personal with you, which really creates a connection with the readers. You get an absolute feel for who she is, which left me wanting to read her books even more. You don't have to leave your about me to just the bio, though. Here are some other ideas of what to include:
• News: If you don't have this on your front page, you can include it here. I used to have a News Archive on my About Me page, but I felt like it cluttered it too much, and like it was pointless. My blog has old news, and I don't update every week with new news and get rid of the old. But if you want an archive, I've seen it done well before. As long as you keep the "No Clutter" rule in mind with a website, you're fine with pretty much anything, I think. 
• Upcoming Appearances: This is one you might want to create a different page for, but also a good place if you don't. Whether you're hosting a Facebook party or doing a signing in person, your readers will want to know how they can connect with you!
• Past Interviews and Guest Blogs: If you have done a blog tour, then you have most likely done a guest post or an interview. Since this website is all about you, don't be shy about putting those links out there. 
• Social media: If you don't want to include your social media feeds on your front page, this is a good place to put them. The reason to have them at all is to give readers easy access to that sort of thing, and to maybe get them to follow you by seeing the clever things you post on Twitter. Especially if you are Anna Kendrick and always say clever things on Twitter. 

  

  Image from tyandcrystalhelp

• Books: This one is a given, but you do have some options as to how you do this. You can have individual pages for each of your books, individual pages for each of your series, or just one page where all of your books are showcased with clickable covers that take you to more information about the book itself. All of the author websites we've looked at so far have great examples of these options. Here are some other book related items you might include:
• Reviews: If your book has even three glowing reviews, don't be afraid to showcase them. I have a whole section for reviews and use the Goodreads widget to show them off. I also pull quotes from reviews from other sites like Amazon, review blogs, or Barnes & Noble. 
• Purchase links: Definitely a must. Make it easy for people to buy your book after you tell them why they want to, right?
• Goodreads link: Even if you aren't a fan of Goodreads or have never gone to the site, keep in mind that plenty of other people use it. 
• Pinterest boards: If you use Pinterest for inspiration, casting, or to get to know your characters better, let your readers see it too. Pinterest makes it easy to include a widget on your site, and it is as simple as copying and pasting the HTML code. 
• Music playlists: Whether you use YouTube or Spotify, if you have a music playlist that goes along with your series, show it to your readers.
• Book Trailers: You definitely want to include a book trailer if you have it. I have one for my Heirs of War series, and it is at the top of the series page. 
• Teaser images: Lots of authors create teaser images for upcoming releases to generate buzz. The book page is a great place to showcase these in an album or slideshow. I wouldn't recommend just pasting them everywhere on the page, because then it will get cluttered, but lots of design sites make it easy to create albums and use slideshows for that kind of thing.
• Definitions: If you have a fantasy series like me, it might be a good idea to use the series page or book page to define some of the things from your world. I create image cards for that kind of thing that I sometimes use on my site. 
• Character interviews: Another thing you might do for a blog tour is interview your characters or let someone else do it. It's lots of fun and lets the readers get more insight into their favorite characters, so it's a good idea to include links to content like that.
• Contests: If you have contests or giveaways for a particular book, make sure you include them on the relevant pages, even if you have them somewhere else. It's repetitive, sure, but also makes it easier for people to find them.
• Other Ideas: If you have extra content like quizzes or poetry, or even another hobby like music videos or art, you can definitely include a page for that. Reviews, services, awards, blog hops, travel blogs--the possibilities are endless. The key to having a website is to have all of your information in one place so that it is convenient for readers to find and then connect with you. If you keep busy, it might be a good idea for you to have a separate Events page to make it easy to find appearances. 

Amazon: Author Pages and Rankings

If you sell on Amazon, and you probably do since they have evolved into quite the giant in the book world, then you have access to Amazon Author Central, where you can do cool things like link social media, put in a profile, and even track sales. An even cooler thing that never occurred to me until recently is that you can also get likes for that page. I never even noticed the option because I don't pay attention to how many likes an author has on Amazon. But from what I am hearing, Amazon does. Amazon usually stays pretty mum about their numbers and formulas for rankings, but apparently the number of likes an author gets somehow ties in. There used to be an option to like individual books as well, but they got rid of that. Either that, or I'm blind and can't find it.

Either way, the Amazon author page is a convenient way to have all the relevant information a reader might look for from you in one place: Social media, bio, website, blog, other books, book trailers, etc. There's even a place for customers to start a discussion about you.

So how do you get ranked and what does it mean? Rankings are a reflection of how well your book is doing, which is a direct reflection of sales. I haven't been able to find an actual formula that Amazon uses, but people do have theories about how to get ranked. One tip: Don't visit your book page or have others visit it unless they are buying the book. If you want to get a look at your sales rank, use Amazon Author Central. Apparently, rumor has it that if your book has too many visits without correlating sales, it will lower your Amazon ranking. And a higher ranking is supposed to mean more visibility. I can say that since I stopped checking my page for rank or anything else (I used to use it for easily grabbing the blurb or copying the actual link to sell it--now I use my website for that), my rankings have gone up.

Once I started seeing my book on lists like Coming of Age, I started to see more steady sales as well. Since this is a self published title with a handful of reviews, that doesn't mean I'm raking in the dough. But still. I've seen an improvement.

Which brings me to another thing that possibly/probably has an impact on your ranking: Reviews. One of the worst things an author can hear from you is that you loved their book but never reviewed it. But one of the worst things you can do as an author is beg for reviews or bitch when you don't get them. I've given away over 100 free copies of Heirs of War since I published it a year ago and do you know how many reviews I have total? I have 10 on Amazon, 12 on Goodreads, 1 on Barnes & Noble, and 1 on Smashwords.

And yes, you read that right. I've given away over 100 copies of Heirs of War.

Image from runwithrockets

But seeing as how it is the first book in my series priced at 99 cents and there's an older version of it available for free on Wattpad, it really isn't hitting me hard.

I digress. So beyond selling books, you can up your Amazon rankings and get more visibility on Amazon by getting likes on your Amazon page, good keywords to accompany your books so that it can be put on lists (Amazon has a nice breakdown here), reviews, not visiting your page to check rankings constantly or any other reason, and by getting people to buy your book along with another. People who bought my book also bought books from Sharon Bayliss, so her books come up when you visit my book's page under the customer suggestions. Similarly, Shattered Secrets by Krystal Wade shows up as a suggestion when you look at Destruction's page. So if enough people buy the same book, like a best seller, and yours, then it gives you more visibility.

But what can you do about any of this, beyond staying off your book's Amazon page or encouraging others to visit it if they aren't going to buy your book?

• One thing you can do is try to time any sales you might have with new releases that are similar to your book. No guarantees, but worth a shot and telling readers that if they are a fan of the new book coming out, they can enjoy yours too for a special price is a bit enticing. Worth a shot. 
• Encourage readers to visit your Amazon author page and give it a like, then share it on social media. Like I said, I haven't found any actual data to back up the claim that more likes gets you a higher ranking, but if Amazon is tracking it, then it is worth doing. I've seen a lot of authors at Facebook parties recently having party goers like their Amazon page and give the number in order to enter a contest. This got me up to 15 likes from the pitiful one I had before (though number one was awesome for doing it on her own!). 
• Encourage readers to post reviews, but never bargain with them to get it done. Offering prizes or other incentives is a good way to get that review deleted. Amazon can be pretty annoying with deleting reviews. I haven't had it happen, personally, but I've seen other authors have theirs deleted because they happened to also give a gift card to that reviewer from their same account, even if the timing didn't match up as a bribe sort of thing. Amazon doesn't want you paying for reviews, so just keep that in mind with whatever you do. 

Above all, keep in mind that your ranking on Amazon isn't the end of the world, and isn't something you need to work on every day. I've never broken the top 100 on the overall sales list, and I'm okay. This is a long road we tread, and expecting immediate results is only bound to get you disappointment. Patience, young grasshoppers. 

We only have one more week of Marketing Mondays left. Next week we will wrap things up with blog tours and advertisements. Think there is something I've missed? Let me know! Mondays always come back to haunt us, which means Marketing Mondays can always return with more to discuss and different ways to drive your book sales!

Marketing Mondays: Street Teams, Newsletters, and Goodreads, OH MY!

General marketing tip: Don't plan a weekly segment on your blog when you are going to be out of town for three weeks.

I missed last week, but this week we are back with Marketing Mondays! That glorious day when we take the overwhelming ideas of marketing and try to make them a little less stressful. In case you missed it, we've already talked about author brands, Facebook, social media, blogging, and online parties and giveaways. Today we are going to talk about using Street Teams, Newsletters, and Goodreads to spread the word about your books.

Street Teams

1. A street team is a term used in marketing to describe a group of people who 'hit the streets' promoting an event or a product. -Wikipedia

That's a pretty clear definition, right?

Image from Tinalicious

Not for me, anyway. But I've learned that every Street Team is different. I've heard people gripe about Street Teams that demand way too much of the members--and where the author might even chew them out for not doing what they ask. This is an obvious No. Don't be rude to your fans. Especially not to ones loyal enough to join a Street Team.

So what should you ask a Street Team to do? I treat it as a sort of VIP group for my books. I have a Facebook group for them and give them exclusive access to news when I have it (before it hits my website or newsletter) and give them stuff. For example: If my Street Team members have read AND reviewed Heirs of War, they get an ARC of Heirs of War, Crown of Flames. I'll probably also do contests for them to give them a chance to win other cool prizes like exclusive swag or signed copies of the books.

Mine is still new and small, so it is easy to do stuff like that. But what happens if it grows to like 50 people? I can't exactly give out copies of my books to every member. If it gets that big, I would probably do random drawings for things like ARCs instead of my review it and get the next book policy. That would be a downfall to having it grow. But an upside? It would be much easier to keep 50 people engaged rather than 10. And I think that is a big thing with Street Teams--don't let them collect dust. These are your most avid fans, so keep connecting with them. You don't have to interact daily, but I think weekly is good goal to have. If you don't have news or contests, ask them about the kinds of books they've read lately. And encourage them to spread the word about your books, but certainly don't require it. Requiring readers to post about your book really sucks the fun right out of it for them. And trust me--they will do it anyway. Most of all, trust them and show them how much you appreciate their enthusiasm by giving them a little bit of your time.

Newsletters
Newsletters are pretty self explanatory, I suppose. Have news, create nifty newsletter, and then send to subscribers. I use MailChimp to collect my subscribers and to create the newsletter itself. Their design template is easy to use and makes for pretties, and you send 12,000 emails to 2000 subscribers for free. If you get more members than that, you'll need to crack open your wallet. But since I only have about 10 subscribers right now, I'm not very worried about it for the near future. ;)

My biggest dilemma with newsletters was the question of how often I should send them out. As a self-published author first, I don't have tons of news to share. Do I have to come up with something to say every month? What if I never have any real news?!

Image from Erin the Librarian

Luckily, I listened to the wisdom of author Susan Kaye Quinn when she discussed this topic during #NALitChat on Twitter one night. She stressed that newsletters are a must for authors, but that you shouldn't worry about getting tons of subscribers at first or having something to say all the time. Use it to spread news when you have it and to connect with your readers during dry spells. And when I thought about it that way, I realized that newsletters aren't the big deal I was making them out to be. I don't have to send them out every week or even every month. In fact, I still haven't sent one out yet, but I've been waiting for one piece of really BIG news that I hope to be getting soon.

I let people know that they can sign up for my newsletter through my website, Facebook, and other social media. MailChimp is great about giving you those options, even with the free package. I don't stress it too much, though. Spamming about the same topics over and over again is still not a good plan. Gentle reminders. =)

Goodreads
Ah, that devil Goodreads. Not really. I know Goodreads gets a bad rep for the trolls that lurk there, but if you have a laid back attitude about it, then it really isn't that bad. Yes, there will be people to give your book a low rating even if it hasn't come out yet. But just ignore it. As with all things social media: Don't feed the trolls. You're Goodreads experience is bound to be much better if you don't.

With Goodreads, you can be as active or quiet as you want and still have a bit of a presence there, which is nice. I've dabbled in the book clubs there and used some of them to try to get reviews for Heirs of War. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I've found that it is pretty hit or miss. I would definitely recommend trying them out. Find one that fits your book and start participating in the forums or the joint reading for that month. As with anything, the more active you are, the better your reception is going to be when the time comes to get reviewers for your books. I attribute my Goodreads apathy to the reason I haven't had much success in getting reviews. I pick and choose which social sites to be involved in, and Goodreads never really pulled me in. But...I also don't have time to read the same books that the book clubs feature since I sign up to review or critique way too many books as it is. If you have time, this is a great way to get engaged with readers and to engage yourself AS a reader, which is always a good thing for an author.

Goodreads also has other features, like Ask the Author, widgets for your website and social media sites, linking your blog to your Goodreads page, and giveaways. Connecting your website and social media sites to Goodreads is always a good idea. Make it convenient for readers to find you on the sites they prefer. Same with your blog--it can only help you get more visibility, so totally worth it. Ask the Author is a great new feature that you can turn on or off and allows readers to ask you questions. Goodreads even prompts you with questions of its own first.

Giveaways are great, but you can only giveaway signed physical copies of your book through your giveaway. It is an awesome way to get you more visibility on Goodreads and get more people to add your book to their lists, which also helps to get you more visibility. That being said, don't break the bank doing this. I only do giveaways for US residents since I don't want to pay more to ship internationally right now. Not until I start making enough money to really cover it. So choose the details of your giveaways wisely, and then make sure you promote them yourself as well.

Like other social media sites, you can like author pages ("fan" them) and add friends, which keeps you connected. If you want to learn more about Goodreads as an author, check out their tutorial, which covers all the bases and will definitely help to get you started. Oh, and if you are self-published, this all applies to you as well. If your book isn't in their database, you can still add it. But! You can't delete it. So make sure you are ready before you dive in.

We only have two more weeks of Marketing Mondays left. Next week we will cover websites and Amazon, and we'll wrap things up with blog tours and advertisements. Think there is something I've missed? Let me know! Mondays always come back to haunt us, which means Marketing Mondays can always return with more to discuss and different ways to drive your book sales!

Marketing Mondays: Facebook and Twitter Parties, and Why You Should Give Away Stuff

Week 5 of Marketing Mondays is here! We've covered author brands, Facebook, social media, and blogging. It's all about parties and free stuff today as we talk about the benefits of holding parties on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ and giving away stuff during these events and blog tours. Because who doesn't like a party, right? Especially one where pants are optional and it isn't that kind of party.

Image from Democratic Underground

To state the obvious: Facebook parties are virtual parties that happen on Facebook. You know how you get invited to Facebook events all the time? Well, if you click on that invite then it will take you to the event page, which is where the party goes down. Sometimes the party has a host, and sometimes there are several guest hosts. The host(s) create interactive posts like games and discussions. During the Souls of Indie party a few months ago, there were discussions topics related to new adult paranormal stories since that was the genre being celebrated in the release of the box set. We talked about television shows like Bitten and Beauty and the Beast, and mystical creatures. Contests varied depending on the host. For Krystal Wade's release party for Shattered Secrets, one of the games we played was to cast the main characters of the book. Guest hosts for parties can come in randomly or host for half hour or hour slots and host their own discussions and games.

Twitter parties are pretty much the same, only they work with a specific hashtag, much like the Twitter chats we talked about with social media. Sometimes Twitter parties happen alongside a Facebook party (the Souls of Indie celebration did this with the hashtag #SoulsofIndie). So if you open a tab with Twitter and run a search for the specific hashtag involved with the party (and then click All at the top of the feed so you see all of the tweets), you'll see the party tweets as they happen. Twitter can be overwhelming with something like this if there is a lot of activity, but keep in mind that you can read the tweets at your own pace and respond as you come across things you want to respond to. Don't feel like you have to comment on every tweet, and don't feel bad if it takes you a few minutes to narrow down your response to 140 characters or less (unless you want to split your response into parts, which I always forget you can do).

Google Hangouts is another great way to have a party. I haven't joined one yet, but I'm really looking forward to trying it out. From what I've seen on the How Hangouts Work page, it looks a lot like one giant instant messenger chat. You also have audio and video options, which can work alongside a Facebook or Twitter party. For #NALitChat, they usually have audio to accompany the chat, which is where the special guests talk about the particular topics for that week. So you can have a party with audio or video. But keep in mind that if you use video, people will be able to see your pantsless dance.

Image from Vulture

Now, I seriously doubt that I need to explain why you should have a virtual party, attend one, or guest host one. But I will anyway, just in case you are on the fence. How will having a party help your book sales? The same way social media will. Hanging out with potential readers is a great way to turn them into actual readers and even fans. I guest hosted for the Souls of Indie party I mentioned earlier, and not only was it a blast, but I gained some of the most loyal and excited readers yet from the experience. So you can have fun, meet people, build connections, and find readers at these parties. What's not to love?

So now that we've talked about the why, let's talk about the how. First, let me advise you not to be intimidated if you've never done one before. You have to start somewhere, right? If you're worried about it, attend one before hosting. If you haven't been invited to one, just ask an author friend (like me) to pass along any invites they've received. I can tell you from experience that attendance and activity can go either way. I've guest hosted for parties that were insanely busy, and ones where I swear virtual crickets should have popped up onto my screen. So if you decide to host for a party or throw one of your own, don't be discouraged if activity comes and goes. It might not have anything to do with you or the party, but more to do with the hour, the invites, and the day of the party.

Hosting is a blast! I'd definitely suggest coming up with posts before the party, even if you are only booked for a half an hour slot. There are several different things you can do. If you have the time, mix it up a little. Start some discussions related to your book. Is it a tear-jerker? Ask who has seen The Fault in Our Stars. A zombie book? The Walking Dead has a pretty big and rabid fanbase. Same for fantasy and Game of Thrones. But you aren't just limited to topics that are related to your books. Mine have nothing to do with time travel, but I'm not shy about bringing up the fact that I am a Whovian.

Games are another way to engage partiers. You can play a caption game, where you post a random funny picture and have people caption it, then choose a random winner, or choose the best caption. If you are going random, then random.org is a great way to pick one. If you want to play games related to your books, you can have partiers cast your main characters (always be sure to link to the Goodreads page for your book and give a brief description of the characters) and pick your favorite. You can talk about the love interests in your book and run a game for book crushes. You can do the same thing for quotes or anything else that comes to mind. Always try to tie the game back to your books though, to draw in interest without rubbing it in their faces. You can also give them tasks for games, like sharing a status about the book, sharing an image, or following you on social media. Technically, Facebook warns against sharing things on personal pages for games. It happens all the time, but be warned that it is against the rules of Facebook.

Don't be afraid to be creative with your games, or to do research to see what other people have done. As for how often you post, the key thing to keep in mind is that you don't want there to be too much time in between activities because that might bring on a lull. But you also don't want to overwhelm partiers with your posts, either. I recommend timing it around 15-20 minutes in between posts. I usually start with an introduction and pair it with a game to like my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter. I ask participants to post that they did so, and I try to ask a question too, just to keep them engaged and keep interacting with them. Then I'll either move to another game or a discussion post. I usually try to sandwich discussions between games.

Of course, if you are playing games, you are giving things away. So keep that in mind with planning how many games you play during the party. You can give away signed books or swag, gift cards, and e-books. I tend to give swag and e-books away since print books cost to send. I also give gift cards away, but I keep it around $5. I like to give stuff away, but I also keep it cost-effective. E-books are a great way to get more readers without breaking bank. I use Smashwords to give away e-books. You can create a coupon code there to pass along to winners, and they can use it to get whatever format they want.

If you decide to plan a party, don't be shy about asking for guest authors or donations for giveaways. Authors love promoting their books, so you'll probably be surprised by how many people sign up to help in one way or another. Heck, if you are looking for a party to get involved with, let me know. I've got a couple that I am planning this year. ;) The biggest thing to take away from this post is that virtual parties are a great way to have fun while promoting.

Image from Debra Kristi's Blog

Marketing Mondays: What's in a Blog?

Marketing Mondays is here again! For those of you just tuning in, we've covered author brands, Facebook, and the rest of the social media world. Today I'm going to blog about blogging. Mind blowing, right?

So what's in a blog? Well, that depends on who you are and what you want to write about. You don't always have to write about writing. Sure, you can write about that. But I'm sure there's more to you than being a writer. Maybe you like to get crafty or love to workout. Are you aiming to be on the next Top Chef or just like to cook like you might? Maybe you're a super fangirl and want to squee about the latest episode of Teen Wolf or shake your fist about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

WHEDON!!!
Image from DNAIndia

Whatever you choose to write about, let it be something that means something to you. I'm writing about marketing right now because it is a very big part of what I'm doing with my books right now, and something I am thrilled to still be learning about and expanding on. But I'm also writing about my journey to become physically fit, and I post blog tour stops and book reviews. Sometimes I participate in blog hops too, but we'll get to those later.

What should I write?
For now, let's focus on what you can write about and how often you should do it. I'd suggest making a list of the things you are interested in and deciding what you'd like to write about from there. Keep in mind that your posts don't have to be long, and try to be yourself as much as possible. In my opinion, the whole point of blogging as a writer is for people to get to know you and your voice. So don't be afraid to let the snark out, and if you think something is clever, then say it. Even if you think you're the only one snarfing at your jokes, make them. Because why not? It's your blog. Be you!

Just like with social media, you have to strike a balance. You don't need to blog every day or even every week. Writing up a blog can take time, and for a lot of authors, time to write is precious and you might not want to spend all of it blogging. I have two weekly features on my blog--my fitness challenge and Marketing Mondays. But that's because those two topics work well for a weekly blog. If you are blogging about new knitting designs you are working on, it might be more of a once a month or once every other month (Can you tell I don't knit anything more complicated than scarves?) kind of topic. New recipe? That could be every week, every other week, every month--whatever you choose. Don't let it get overwhelming and don't try juggling too many topics per week. I actually had to cut down on the amount of blog tours I host for this reason. Blogging was taking up too much time, and none of it was personal. Balance in all things, right?

Which brings me to the topic of blog tours and book reviews. First, let me say that I love hosting blog tours and reviewing books. I love it so much that I have a really hard time saying no when asked (please don't test this). I'm a lot more choosy now with books that I review or blog tours that I host stops for simply because I don't want my blog getting overrun by blog tours and because there aren't enough hours in the day for me to get through my To Be Read list as it is.

So many books, so little time...
Image from Drugs Called Books

What about blog tours?
First, you might be asking what a blog tour even is. When I first started out in the writerly world, I had no clue. The basic gist of a blog tour is that it is essentially a virtual book tour, where an author goes from blog to blog promoting their books and their work. There are different kinds of posts for tours, like author interviews, character interviews, guest posts where the author discusses a topic of their choosing or yours, review stops, excerpts, and promotional stops that simply have the cover, blurb, purchase links, and author info. Tours can last anywhere from a week to a month. I've never seen one longer than a month, but I guess it's possible. AToMR book tours actually has a great post about what blog tours are, and you can check that out here.

So how do you get involved with blog tours? Some tour companies might have criteria such as having a certain number of followers first, but others don't. Your best bet is to run a search for blog tours or blog tour companies and go through the list, picking out ones that seem like a good fit. You don't exactly want to sign up for a romance blog tour company if romance isn't even a genre that you read (Yes, I did that). I host for Bewitching Book Tours, and I can vouch for how excellent Roxanne is at running things. I've hosted for other companies before and it's been a bit chaotic, but Roxanne is very organized and gets everything to you in a timely manner. If Bewitching Book Tours doesn't look like a good fit for you, there are lots of others you can check out. I already mentioned AToMR, but there's also Xpresso Book Tours, Book Sniffer Review Tours, and New Adult Blog Tours just to name a few.

What's a blog hop?
Blog hops are themed blog posts, essentially. A group of bloggers all write about the same topic and link to the other bloggers posting about the same thing. It can be something like My Writing Process, Introduce Your Main Character, or What's Up Wednesdays, where you post about what you've been up to that week. I've also seen blog hops in the form of blog awards like The Next Big Thing and the Liebster Award, which are set up to have the blogger answer the same questions, thus giving the readers some insight into who the writer is.

So basically...
When deciding what you want to blog about, don't overbook yourself. If you want to do What's Up Wednesdays, don't feel like you have to join in every Wednesday. Especially if you don't have anything new to catch your readers up on. If you want to have a weekly feature, like a blog promotion or specific topic (like talking about marketing every Monday even if you feel like you've barely scratched the surface of what's out there...*ahem*), don't book blog tour stops for every other day of the week. And keep in mind that just because you want to blog about a topic doesn't mean it needs to be a weekly or monthly feature. It can just be a one-off type thing, or something you do when the topic comes up again (like new recipes). Having a feature is a great way to get people coming back to your blog to look for content, but it isn't a sure-fire way to gain followers, and it certainly isn't the only way either. In fact, I'd recommend that you don't even pay attention to how many followers you have because that's a good way to add pressure to something that should be easy and stress-free.

There are many things that you can do with your blog--some things you can do might not have even occurred to me. Get creative. Have fun with it. The point of a blog is to get to know you. And not to overwhelm you, which is the most important thing to keep in mind with all of these marketing tips and tools. They are just that--tools meant to help you, not to hurt you.

Next week is the cover reveal for Soulless by Crystal Collier, and then we'll be back for Marketing Mondays to talk about Facebook and Twitter parties and giveaways.

Marketing Mondays: Using Social Media Effectively Without Getting Overwhelmed

Welcome back to Marketing Mondays! So far we've covered Author Brands and that big old social media giant called Facebook. Today I'd like to move beyond Facebook to discover every other version of social media there is. 

Image from business2community

Brace yourselves--there are enough social media platforms out there to eat up your entire day if you let them. But we aren't going to let them! I'm going to share my experiences with each one, and then talk about how to use them without getting overwhelmed. And for the record, we're not going to be looking at every form of social media. There are way too many (and if you don't believe me, check out this list on Wikipedia) for me to try each one. 

Twitter

You've most likely heard of this one. And if you aren't very active in the social media world, then you might have gone running and screaming from the fast moving feed and 140 character limit. I sure did. I would only get on Twitter when I had something short to say, like announcing something to do with my books or a link to a blog post or something. 

I've recently changed my tune with Twitter, and I'm glad I did. This is a great place to hang out with other writers. Oh, and celebs are funny. It's a great place to get involved in writing sprints and literature chats. I've been involved with #NALitChat on Thursday nights for a while now, and it's been a great resource and a great way to build connections. The 140 character limit can be a pain, but once you get the hang on Twitter speak, it isn't that bad. 

Google+

Google Plus started off pretty weak, and most people didn't see much of a point to it (myself included). 

Not exactly accurate anymore, but still funny.
Image from tech.digesttouch

But it is quickly growing into one of the better social media platforms, especially with the new addition of Communities. Communities allow you to join up with other groups of people who have common interests, like fans of a particular television show or book clubs. 

There are also some major perks to posting on Google+ that have to do with search engines, but I'm not entirely sure I understand it all. I do know that if you have me in your circles and search for something I've recently posted about (like Boy Meets World) in Google, my post will show up in your search results. That's pretty cool! 

Tumblr

My experience on Tumblr is very limited, but can be summed up to this:

Image from Erin

Fangirls! Fangirls everywhere! Which means I fit in all too well. It's not a site I visit often, and not just because I can seriously waste a lot of time there. And I'm not even a Supernatural fan (but pretty sure everyone who is a fan of the show hangs out there). There are memes, gifs, videos...You can create a page about your books and post stuff there, or just join with other fans to post fun stuff about your favorite fandoms. It's fun!

Pinterest

Talk about a place where you can get lost for hours...Pinterest is definitely a site you have to be careful with. If you like DIY stuff, baking, fashion, or ANYTHING at all, you can spend lots of time on Pinterest. It's not exactly a place I've found to be very social, but it is a great place to find things you are interested in and...pin them. It's also a useful tool for authors to create boards about their books. I've got one for character inspirations ("casting" actors), scene inspirations, and even a board that was "created" by the main character Madeline in my book Altar of Reality. This is a great way for readers to further connect with your books. 

YouTube

YouTube didn't used to be a form of social media in my book, but with all the vlogging going on, it has to be included. I might even give vlogging a shot myself at some point. YouTube has beyond making fan music videos (guilty) to reviewing books, movies, and TV show episodes. Like this brilliant fan reaction moment to a certain Oliver and Felicity moment from the season 2 finale: 

People can comment on YouTube videos, which creates the social part of social media. And as you can tell from the options I mentioned above, you can do creative things with your channel beyond vlogs. I created a playlist for each of my book series with music videos from the soundtracks, and I also have my book trailer up on there.

Goodreads

If you are an author, you need to at least establish a presence on Goodreads. You can get involved with the groups there, which can get your book more visibility and more reviews. The groups are essentially book clubs in the form of message boards. There are Read It and Review It programs in a lot of them, where authors offer up free copies of their books for members to review. Similarly, book groups choose books to read and review each month as a group, which opens up a lot of discussions. I've seen Q&A's from authors too, though I've never done one. I've offered up Heirs of War for Read It & Review It programs with mixed experience, but I think they are worth a try. 

Image from MuddyWall

I know Goodreads has a bit of a reputation for being the place where bullies or flamers hang out, but I think you risk that with any form of social media. And as long as you have a strict "Don't feed the trolls" policy, you'll probably be okay. I've had random one star or three star ratings for a book that hasn't even come out yet, but I just ignore it.

Wattpad

I've already discussed my Wattpad experience, so I won't go into heavy detail with it here. But I can tell you that I think this is the absolute best social media platform for authors to connect with readers. You post chapters from your books and readers, well, read them, of course. But there's more to it than that. They can post comments, giving you their thoughts on what you wrote or even specific lines that they can highlight. If they follow you, you can post updates to your profile letting them know what is going on. I use mine to let my followers know about things like Facebook parties and giveaways. Oh, and you can also link your profile to your Twitter and Facebook accounts so that whatever updates you post on Wattpad are posted on there as well.

Instagram and LinkedIn are two other popular social media sites, but I'm not involved with either one. As I understand it, LinkedIn is more of a business connections sort of place. Instagram is all about pictures (I think) but I've heard you can post things like memes there too instead of just tons of selfies and pictures of your food. People can like and comment on your photos, which makes it a bit more than just pictures. And again, you can link your Instagram to Twitter (possibly Facebook? I dunno). Now that I am doing things like book signings (EGAD), I think I'll hop on Instagram as well. 

How To Balance Them All

You might think that as a writer, you need to use every form of social media to promote your books and build your author platform. 

Image from business2community

But you really don't. My solution is simple, really. Pick the ones that work for you. I don't get on Tumblr or Goodreads a lot. I'm trying to spend more time on Google+ but it's not an every day thing. I use Pinterest and YouTube when I have a purpose. And I balance that out by spending way too much time on Twitter and Facebook. 

The biggest thing to keep in mind with social media is not to let it get out of hand. Don't spam, and remember that the kind of posts you make are important. Content is key. Your followers don't need to know every time you go to the gym or what your every meal is, but they should probably know a bit more about you than "I has book." If you are writing more words for social media than your books, you should probably rectify that.

With the possible exception of blogging, which is what we will talk about next Monday! 

Marketing Mondays: Connecting to Readers on Facebook

I've already talked about Wattpad and Author Brands as a marketing tools, but now it is time to talk about the massive giant of social media that is Facebook. Let's talk about the good, the bad, and the downright ugly parts of Facebook pages and profiles as an author.

The first and most obvious perk of Facebook is how it allows us to stay connected to our friends, family, and our readers, all without ever having to put any pants on leave the house.

Image from WiffleGif

But when you are using Facebook as a marketing tool, it gets a little tricky to navigate those murky waters. Most of the tips and tricks of the trade on social media have stated that you should have a fan page separate from your Facebook profile for a number of reasons. Let's go over a few:

1. Facebook does have a cap on how many friends you can have, but there is no limit on how many people can like your page.
2. You don't necessarily want to share every aspect of your life with complete strangers. 
3. You want one place for people to be able to go on Facebook to find out about you as an author.
4. You can advertise your products on your page, but not your profile.

All of these reasons are still relevant. There are ways around them, which I'll get into in a minute. But what is the deal with fan pages, and why can you never see what they post anymore?

1. With Facebook's new algorithms, it is harder and harder to get your posts seen. What does that mean? It means that if you have 500 followers, your posts might only reach 5. It isn't impossible to be seen (check out this great post on how to improve your page), and it does keep those annoying people who post every five minutes out of your feed, but it has made things significantly harder. 
2. If you want your posts seen, more people have to like it or comment on it. So if your post reaches only 5 followers who aren't very active on Facebook, or liked you because of some Rafflecopter contest and really have no idea who you are and nothing to say to you, then your only other option for visibility is paying to boost it. And who wants to do that when your post might just be reaching out to your followers to see how their day was?
3. Photos and videos are more likely to be seen than links or text posts. Don't believe me? Check out this post on Facebook statistics on fan pages. Again, not necessarily a bad thing. But if you are trying to post a link to a blog post you just wrote about social media (*ahem*) then it probably isn't going to be seen by many. Google+ will love it, but we'll get into that later. 

Basically, there are flaws with using either your Facebook profile or you fan page to engage readers. That being said, it still is a GREAT way to engage readers. Let's talk about the pros and cons I've already pointed out. 

Facebook has a cap on how many friends you can have.

Since Facebook now allows people to subscribe to your page, this isn't an issue anymore. As far as I know, there isn't a cap on subscribers, and you should still be able to adjust your privacy settings to where friends can see certain posts (like ones of your family) and specify which specific posts you want the public to see--like ones about your books or general activities. Which brings us to...

Privacy

You can still have a Facebook profile and have privacy. And you don't have to have two profiles to do it. I can tell you from experience that it isn't worth the hassle to have two Facebooks, and let's not forget that Facebook actually frowns on that kinda thing. Last time I checked, you can get banned for it. Not sure how you would get busted, but still. Not worth it anyway. You can adjust your privacy settings on your profile to keep your personal data and photos safe while still being able to share content with the world. The easiest way to do this is to adjust your privacy settings so that all of your posts are set to be viewed only by friends (or people on a certain list), and then when you go to post something you want everyone to be able to see, set that particular post to Public by clicking on the little icon on the bottom right corner of the status dialogue box. 

Easy-peasy. So privacy is no longer an issue as long as you have your default settings set to private. Even if that means creating a list that only has the family and friends you want to view every post and having that as your default. 

You want one place for people to be able to find relevant information about you as an author on Facebook.

Having a profile is okay for this, but having a Facebook page is still probably the best way. You don't want your profile to turn into too much of a marketing tool. The reason why Facebook is a marketing tool is because it helps you connect directly with people who want your product and lets them spread it via word of mouth. And as an author, that is still your bread and butter. So even if you don't post tons on your Facebook page, having it is still a good idea. To me, personally, it is more professional as well. I'm more likely to like an author's page rather than add them as a friend just because everyone has boundaries and you have no idea what the next person's boundaries are going to be. I welcome it, but I don't have kids and I use a pen name. 

Blatant advertising

This is a tricky one. I know Facebook frowns on advertising products or contests from your profile (or they used to, anyway), but you still see it happen. All. The. Time. I also see contests where you have to share links on your Timeline or a friend's Timeline to enter, and that is supposed to be a no-no too. This is what Facebook says about promotions from Pages:

3. Promotions may be administered on Pages or within apps on Facebook. Personal Timelines must not be used to administer promotions (ex: “share on your Timeline to enter” or “share on your friend's Timeline to get additional entries” is not permitted).

That being said, I didn't find anything in the Community Standards that says you can't advertise a product on your Facebook profile. It would probably be way too much of a pain to police anyway. I ran a Google search too, but came up empty. However, I before you do anything like that, I suggest going over the rules yourself. 

So can you advertise on your Facebook profile? Pretty much. But do you want to do that all the time? Probably not. Don't be a spammer. That's a great way to get people to delete you or hide you.

Now let's talk Facebook pages and those pesky algorithms. 

I have been just as likely as the next person to bitch about these. I had my Tumblr linked to bond over fangirl stuff, but I realized those posts weren't being seen. Same thing with Twitter. So I linked stuff that I thought was cool, but those weren't being seen either. Then I read that text based posts were more likely to be seen than links or anything else, so I tried that. But those weren't being seen either. 

Image from PhotoBucket

I've since learned that images and videos are the most likely to show up in someone's newsfeed. Facebook gives those priority. So if you are great with graphics, you can really just post an image saying what you want. I suddenly understand why I've been seeing so many authors using memes to make announcements about their books, too. Clever tricks, and I'm glad to know that now. You still have to jump through the hoops of getting people to like or comment on the image or video, but it's a start. (And as a side note: I've since been trying this and though my posts are being seen by more than 5 people now, I still haven't even reached 10% of those who have liked my page.)

Other tips and tricks to get your posts seen without paying to boost them:

Obviously, having your Twitter linked to your page is a bad idea. Keep the random posts to a minimum and instead post quality content. Don't post every fun link you come across or every funny picture. Engaging your readers doesn't mean spamming them, and the more you spam your Facebook feed, the less likely your posts are to be seen. So keep your posts to a minimum while still trying to engage daily. I've read that liking or saying congratulations will boost a post according to the algorithms, but I haven't seen any data on that. And it feels silly (yes, I tried it). Can't hurt to like your own posts, though. But also make sure you are redirecting your readers there. Let them know you just posted news and get them to go look and like it. Maybe even hold a contest and randomly choose a winner from those who like the post in a 24 hour period. 

The Bottom Line

As you can tell, there's a lot of back and forth in this post about using your profile to connect with readers or just keeping it to a Facebook page. Obviously, you have to find what works for you. But keep this in mind before you let me talk you out of getting a Facebook page: While some readers will want to connect with you directly and talk to you about whatever else you might have in common (for me, it is fangirling over various things), some readers simply want a place where they can go to see your updates. And while it is possible to keep your private life private on a Facebook profile, it might not be your ideal way to reach readers. Test the waters. Do what works for you. Just don't let a lack of interaction on your Facebook page leave you feeling like you are failing at Facebook and give up on it completely. Having a presence there, even if it is small, will still help. 

What are you thoughts on the changes with Facebook? Have you found different data than me on Facebook's policies or algorithms? Tell me I'm wrong! I'm on the fence about Facebook, so I'd love to have someone win me back over to loving it again. =D

Check back next Monday when we talk about other social media platforms and how to utilize them to your benefit without getting overloaded.

Marketing Mondays: What the Heck is an Author Brand?

I've been at this author thing for almost a year now, and while there's still a lot for me to learn, I have found myself in the position of giving some pretty sound advice lately. Thus breeds a new blog topic for the coming weeks: Marketing Mondays. Marketing is a big part of being an author. It might sound like a no-brainer, but these can be very difficult waters to wade through if you're new or even looking to expand your writing brand.

First of all, lets talk about what an author brand or platform is. This question had me beating my head against my keyboard for the longest time. A brand is a simple enough term in marketing, and we see it all the time with companies like State Farm being your magical genie of a neighbor, always there for you, and Starbucks with its coffee cup on every corner because in society today some of us can't walk a block without a caffeine fix (guilty). But what does it mean for an author?

In simple terms: It's you.

Image from QuickMeme

I know. It's so simple, it can't be true. And also so vague. And also leads to existential questions of "But wait...who am I?"

That's really the question you need to answer as far as author branding goes. When I first started out, I thought I needed to go crazy with the answer. I wrote fantasy, so I should wear fantastical costumes! Or I could create a cloud of mystery around myself, hiding behind my pen name and never to be seen by the general public!

Image from PandaWhale

If that's the way you want to go, then, well, go for it. But I quickly decided those options weren't me, and definitely weren't even a "me" I wanted to put forward to readers. The thing is, I'm a geek and a fangirl, and that is how I relate to my readers. They become more than my readers when we talk about other fandoms. They become friends, and that's the type of author brand I want to put forth. I want to be accessible and approachable, someone they can let their geek flags fly high and proud when talking to, which means I am pretty involved in social media (a pretty big topic I'll be covering with Marketing Mondays).

This also means I am a big advocate of social media as a marketing tool--if it is used correctly. I probably don't need to explain to you why word of mouth is essential for authors, but I will. Just in case their are newbies who, like me over a year ago, had no idea what that truly meant. As a reader, I love talking to my favorite authors about their books. Like I said--I'm a big fangirl and quite proud of it, so if you get me hooked on your book, chances are I am going to tell people about it. And if you actually take the time to talk to me while I gush and ask you questions? I'm going to be all the more excited. I mean, I practically hyperventilate whenever I'm in the same room as Kalayna Price. I tried getting Sharon Bayliss drunk enough to spill secrets on the December People series, and her sly hints (curse you, Sharon, for being so good at being evil and tempting) have left me wanting to read the next book all the more. My friendship with Krystal Wade started with her taking the time to discuss things about the publishing business with me, and now there isn't a single thing I wouldn't do to help her market her amazing books.

Do you see a pattern here? When you get a fangirl excited over something, it pays off. We are a passionate bunch and willing to go above and beyond for the things we love and the people we believe in. And having been on the receiving end of that passion from my dear HeirHeads, I can tell you that it rocks both ways.

But there's much more to marketing than hopping on Twitter or Facebook and chatting with your readers. While that helps, there's more to it than that and marketing your books takes not only a lot of work but a fine balance as well. You don't want to get too spammy, and you certainly don't want to drop a lot of money on advertisements.

So that's what we'll be doing here every Monday. We're going to talk about social media platforms, but we're also going to talk about giveaways, advertisements, reviews, blog tours... the list goes on and on. (Seriously, it does. I'm still learning and I've already got topics for every Monday through August)

Next week, we'll start with that big social media giant Facebook, and then we'll go on to talk about Twitter, G+, Tumblr, and all the rest. Until then, tell me what you first thought of the term author brand and what you decided yours to be! Did you put much thought into it, or did you just do what came naturally?