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I’ve Got an Email List for Reviewers and You Should Join

beverly bambury publicity reviewer list

This list is for you whether you just want announcements from Beverly Bambury Publicity or whether you’re interested in receiving info on the books and authors I am working on, in case you might like a review copy.

Click to join the new list and stay up to date on what I’ve got available to read and review!

I expect this to be infrequent, no more than 2-3 emails per month. Since I am not going to segment by genre yet, you’ll get a mix of things (SFF, horror, crime, mystery, etc.).

This way you’ll see everything I am working on and you can choose what interests you. This list is for reviewers, bloggers, bookstagrammers and booktubers, etc.

Even if you can only review on Amazon and/or Goodreads, you can still sign up. Click the signup link here to get started if you haven’t done it already above: join right now!

To those of you who have been around for awhile, thanks for sticking with me over the years. To anyone just joining me, thank you! I can’t wait to work with you.

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The One Thing You Need to Know About Social Media

I have said this before:

“Social media is social.”

Despite how often this is said by me and other social media types, people continue to miss the point of networking via social media. In case you missed it, the point is that it’s social.

What does “social media is social” mean exactly?

To be social is to interact, to listen as well as talk, to get to know others as they get to know you.

I know the dance of socializing doesn’t come naturally to everyone. The beauty of online interaction is that if you really kind of hate people you can mask your natural distaste for human interaction. If you are a bit shy, it’s easy to put your best foot forward and make connections that would be harder to make face-to-face. If you’e extroverted and not the best listener, you can work on that in the digital realm as well.

The key takeaways about being social on social media are A, listen more than you talk; B, express interest in others’ lives and work; C, respond to people who talk to you first; and D, it means do NOT immediately shove what you’re selling or doing at people that you don’t know–and who don’t know you.

Social media networking basics

If you keep the above in mind as you handle your business and personal social accounts, you’ll do well. You might want something more concrete, though, and this section is here to deliver useful steps you can start taking today.

  1. Choose two or three people you want to try to get to know. Maybe they’re in your field. Maybe in a similar field. Maybe you admire them and want to be a little more like them.Be realistic in your picks. You aren’t going to be BFFs with the most famous people in the world because you tweeted them once or twice. You want to choose people who are active on the social media platform you’re using, who respond to people, and are willing to network.Follow them.
  2. Choose two or three people who may be potential customers or readers. These can be anyone expressing interest in the kinds of things you do. You can use searches on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to find people’s public posts about your topic.Follow them.
  3. With both cases, you’ll want to set aside time each day (even a few minutes if that’s all you have). With that time, you’ll read what those people have shared. If it’s appropriate, comment. If not, you can still throw a like their way. If you have a question that relates to the topic they are posting about, then ask in the comments/reply section.Be slow and gentle. See how things go. If you don’t get a response the first time, try again another day.People have to see your name multiple times before you’ll seem familiar to them, so don’t get discouraged. It can be a long process and given how busy and inundated some people are, it won’t always work.Don’t internalize this stuff. It is a big world out there and you’ll find success if you keep going. So keep going!

    On the other side of this coin, when they do reply, don’t gush or go nuts, either. One or two replies doesn’t mean you have made an intimate friendship.

    Beware the false sense of intimacy that can be fostered by social media. Be reserved and polite and give a person plenty of space and time to get to know you. Your interactions all add up to how people perceive you, also known as your “personal brand”.

  4. As you are comfortable, start the process over with  new people. Continue your efforts beyond the first few people you try it with.Growing an audience can be slow and tedious sometimes, but keep at it. There are more advanced moves for growing audience that I can discuss in another blog post, but this is a great way to get started. It will help you get a feel for networking and connecting online. Indeed, learning about networking and social interactions will help with your face-to-face interactions, too!
  5. If you feel a need to unfollow someone, please do. You don’t have to stay following the same people forever if the connection isn’t working out for you–for any reason.That said, don’t follow and unfollow people as a technique to grow your numbers. It’s against my own ethical code, and against the spirit of real networking. Techniques like those may work for short-term gains, but it will not grow you a loyal and lasting fan base/network.In a related vein, I talk more about why you shouldn’t buy followers here.
Those are the first steps as I see them. Have you ever tried this? Do you have any questions? Let me know in the comments or through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Still Kicking

If you look at the date of my previous blog post, you can see that I am not a blogger to emulate in your own blogging practice. I have things brewing, though, so I have hope that I may have a few things published now and again.

So! I am glad to announce that I am doing social media work and editing (among other things) for Bramptonist, a fantastic local news site. I have regular, continuing work with Hex Publishers and Not So Super Comics. I have many other individual clients as well, such as Maria Alexander (who just won a second Stoker award!) and Hank Early, with a debut Southern crime novel coming out in November.

Also, I will be at Ad Astra in Toronto this coming weekend, and Confluence in Pittsburgh in August, and then Bouchercon here in Toronto in October. I may get to another convention at some point during the year, but that’s the current plan taking everything into consideration like budget and time.

Anyway, this is just a little taste, there’s always lots going on here. Thanks for staying in touch, as always.

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Gerald M. Weinberg Book Giveaway, Week 3!

The month of Jerry Weinberg marches on!

We are waiting for the winner of Week 2 to confirm with us, but in the meantime, let’s forge ahead with Week 3!

Gerald M. Weinberg, or Jerry as he is often called, is a longtime and well-respected computer scientist and fiction author. Some of his books are perennial bestsellers and he still wins awards for his contributions to his field. Not only are testing, quality, and consulting topics about which Jerry writes, but he also creates smart, interesting genre fiction, too. Here’s how the contest works:

Use the form below to choose any or all of the four ways to enter. But first, make sure you’re cool with Jerry getting your email address for an occasional email. (He will NEVER sell your info. Not in a million years.)

If you win, you can choose one book from this list of Gerald M. Weinberg’s non-fiction and fiction works (note that when the Week 2 winner chooses a book, this list will be reduced to five books):

That’s it! It’s very easy, and easy to share, so I hope you will. We will announce the winner of this first round on Friday, then next Monday we’ll do it all over again, so keep checking back both here on this blog or on my Twitter (or Jerry’s Twitter)!

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Week 2 of the Gerald M. Weinberg Book Giveaway

The winner of week one was Jeff B, who chose Introduction to General Systems Thinking. He’s got a personalized, autographed copy on the way. Thanks, Jeff!

So on to another week! Gerald M. Weinberg, or Jerry as he is often called, is a longtime and well-respected computer scientist and fiction author. Some of his books are perennial bestsellers and he still wins awards for his contributions to his field. Not only are testing, quality, and consulting topics about which Jerry writes, but he also creates smart, interesting genre fiction, too. Here’s how the contest works:

Use the form below to choose any or all of the four ways to enter. But first, make sure you’re cool with Jerry getting your email address for an occasional email. (He will NEVER sell your info. Not in a million years.)

If you win, you can choose one book from this list of Gerald M. Weinberg’s non-fiction and fiction works:

That’s it! It’s very easy, and easy to share, so I hope you will. We will announce the winner of this first round on Friday, then next Monday we’ll do it all over again, so keep checking back both here on this blog or on my Twitter (or Jerry’s Twitter)!

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Announcing an A-Z and DIY Book Publicity Course — with Me!

Announcement

(Note: as of 15 January, the early interest form is closed. I expect to launch the course this week. If you are still interested in being part of the early interest group, however, email me and I’ll handle it.)

Hello again, friendly readers! I am pleased to announce that this winter I am launching a course on Udemy. It will be on DIY book publicity, which I often talk about, but it’s going to be a total package, an A-Z course on what I do for my clients, how I do it–and how you can do it, too. If you are interested in knowing when it launches, enter your info here. The people who tell me they are interested using this form will get first dibs and a discount code for the course if they join in the first month! Feel free to spread the word if you think you know someone else who might be interested. If you refer three or more people who enroll in the course, you’ll get something extra special just for you.

If you take the course you can look forward to knowing how to identify the best places to get publicity for your creative work, what to say when you contact them, and how to keep the whole thing organized. You’ll also get office hours where I’ll be available for Q&A, a message board just for fellow students in the course–and lots more. Sign up now to be among the first to know when it’s live, and get yourself that discount on tuition the process.

Goals and 2015 Wrap-Up

2015 was the year of nearly no blog posts for  me. While I don’t foresee ever being a particularly prolific blogger, I’d like to offer you more value this year.

See, the thing with my Book Marketing without BS brand is that if I have nothing to say, it seems silly to me to create a blog post to say nothing or to repeat myself. That said, I think I can do better than I have. I have retained some topic suggestions from the last time I asked people what was on their minds, but please let me know (in the comments or by email) what topics you’d like to see with regard to book publicity and marketing.

Those are my goals. What are yours? What do you look forward to this year? And don’t forget to tell me you’re interested in my course so you can reserve an earlybird discount code.

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Winter Fun for Computer Science and Fiction Readers Alike: Gerald M. Weinberg Giveaway

Here’s a different kind of contest. Gerald M. Weinberg, or Jerry as he is often called, is a longtime and well-respected computer scientist and fiction author. Some of his books are perennial bestsellers and he still wins awards for his contributions to his field. Not only are testing, quality, and consulting topics about which Jerry writes, but he also creates smart, interesting genre fiction, too. So here’s how the contest works:

Use the form below to choose any or all of the four ways to enter. But first, make sure you’re cool with Jerry getting your email address for an occasional email. (He will NEVER sell your info. Not in a million years.)

If you win, you can choose one book from this list of Gerald M. Weinberg’s non-fiction and fiction works:

That’s it! It’s very easy, and easy to share, so I hope you will. We will announce the winner of this first round on Friday, then next Monday we’ll do it all over again, so keep checking back both here on this blog or on my Twitter (or Jerry’s Twitter)!
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Fall Workshops: First Lead-Up Exercise for Twitter

Hello again, everyone! I have two social media for authors workshops coming in September, one in Pickering and one in Brampton. In preparation I have exercises participants can work on over the summer. They will then bring the results with them to the workshop on the day they attend.

Since I am doing this in conjunction with BeNovel Marketing Services, the exercise is hosted on its site. Go take a look, and if you are in or have friends in the GTA, please share this with writers you think may be interested. Early-bird pricing has a few weeks to go and you won’t want to miss out on the hefty discount for getting in on it early!

Register here (scroll down, the registration is right on the page), and view the Twitter Challenge exercise here.

Coming soon: tips for editing comic book scripts.

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Ad Astra Schedule and Other Updates

Since it’s been a while, here are a few updates!

I spoke last week at the Waterloo-Wellington branch of the Canadian Authors Association (CAA). We talked about handling your own blog tour from planning to execution, and we talked briefly about social media skills. It was my first official non-convention speaking engagement, so it was pretty exciting.

There were about ten people, so it was small, but everyone had excellent questions and it was a pleasure to know that I was helping some people get promotion activities off on the right foot.

The week before, I was on Daytime with Susan Cook-Scheerer on the local Rogers station in Kitchener to promote the event along with author, client, and president of the CAA branch Vanessa Ricci-Thode. Unfortunately I don’t have any video of the appearance; however, I have a lovely snapshot thanks to Daytime’s social media. No, Vanessa and I were not aware we would blend in with the furniture. 😉

In other news, I have been working with a gorgeous and well-written publication called Dirge Magazine. It’s all about dark culture, dark entertainment, and powerful real-life stuff, too. Indeed, I had an essay published with them yesterday about a deeply troubling experience finding out a friend of mine was actually a predator: “The Unsettling Case of Andrew Barber“.

I still work with authors and publishers of course, but I am expanding my services into working with small local businesses, too, and one of them is culinary nutritionist Andria Barrett. She does classes, one-on-one work, and personal training, and she’s a friendly dynamo of a woman. If you want help with diabetes education or fibroids, she’s the one to call. OK. I am a little biased.

Finally, I will be at Ad Astra, as I have been every year since 2009. I have a very busy schedule this year! If you want to chat I will likely be around at parties in the evenings, but you may also find me in the bar meeting with clients. Feel free to say hello any time and we’ll see if we can make some time to visit. Below please find my panel schedule, but I’ll also make stops at the Can*Con sweets party, the Bundoran launch, the EDGE SF&F launch, the late-night slash readings, and lots more.

No programming Friday

Sat 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM : Remembering Leonard Nimoy
Sat 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM : High Quality Self-Publishing
Sat 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM : Hannibal: Horror and Monsterous Beauty

Sun 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM : Publicity Campaign Workshop
Sun 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM : Protecting your Intellectual Property in the Age of the Repost

That’s all the news fit to print for now. I hope to see you this weekend at Ad Astra if you’re local. Keep an eye out for more updates in the near future!

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nEvermore, a New Kind of Anthology. Edgar Allan Poe Time!

One other post today. This time it’s all about an Indigogo campaign for an Edgar Allan Poe-themed anthology called nEvermore that celebrates both mystery and horror: the two things Poe did so well. Please click the raven below and take a look. It’s edited by the esteemed Nancy Kilpatrick and Caro Soles, and it will be published by well-respected Canadian publisher, EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing. I am working with them to get the word out about the campaign, so I would (and we all would) be deeply grateful if you contributed and helped us spread the word.

And hey! Writers! It will also mean calls for submission for you writers, so there may be something in it for you down the road! So yes. Click the Raven. You won’t be sorry.