Inspiration vs Newsjacking: Book Marketing without B.S. #6

Book Marketing without B.S. is a weekly publicity and marketing advice column for writers and other creators who prefer a realistic, clear, and no-nonsense approach. My goal is to help you cut through the bullshit with direct, understandable advice you won’t be embarrassed to follow. Send your questions to beverly@beverlybambury.com.


My client, writer Chris Irvin, did a blog post about the assassinated Mexican physician and politician Maria Santos Gorrostieta, which inspired his novella, Federales. He was concerned that the post might be interpreted as using a tragedy for his own marketing benefit. I advised that the post was just fine, and that the real problem were things such as the infamous Cairo tweet from Kenneth Cole. Sure, Kenneth Cole got a lot of attention; but, the majority of it was bad, and despite what you may have heard, bad publicity is not as good for your company as good publicity. 

It’s not hard to learn more about this concept of marketing tie-ins to tragedy or events. In general, this is often called “newsjacking”, a term coined by David Meerman Scott. Scott does not advocate the use of tragedy in this way; however, and even spoke out against marketers making light of Hurricane Sandy, which you can see in the comments of this controversial HubSpot blog post.

I admit I don’t see how newsjacking could ever be a positive term. I think appending “-jacking” onto something creates a negative connotation. So, what is good newsjacking, then? Why is it a thing? This blog post was a helpful run-down of positives and negatives to watch out for. Finally, if you’re interested, it may be useful to also read Danny Brown’s reply to the HubSpot post and its replies. .

Consensus is definitely on the side of staying empathetic, kind, ethical, and…. well… classy. Of course there still seem to be people who have no problem making light of tragedy with an eye to profit. I personally find things like that distasteful and certainly the person doing the newsjacking may create a negative association for the brand or individual in the eyes of many potential customers. It’s risky at best, and dangerous and cruel at worst.

So did Chris newsjack in a bad way with his post about Maria Santos Gorrostieta? No, not at all. For him–and for all artists–this served as inspiration to create a bigger story, to create art. This wasn’t a casual, off-the-cuff tweet intended to drive traffic to his web site. Indeed, I think painful or tragic incidents are often the inspiration for people to create, which is a healthy, humanist response. A callous marketing effort this was not, and so I feel comfortable saying that inspiration is not newsjacking. They’re totally different things, and respectful blog posts about one’s inspiration, such as what Chris wrote, is something you should feel completely free to do. If you’re ever worried about the tone, ask a trusted (and 100% honest) associate for his or her thoughts.

What do you think about newsjacking and using tragedy to inspire art? Is there a difference? What examples have you seen (of either) that have been particularly bad, or particularly good?


Keep those questions coming, and sign up to get my posts sent directly to your email by clicking here. Thank you once again for your continued support.

My SFContario 4 Schedule, Including Free, Open to the Public Workshop

Book Marketing without B.S. is taking a week off for U.S. Thanksgiving. Check back next week for #5. In the meantime, I will be at SFContario 4 this weekend (as will my husband. As you can see below, I am not the only Bambury out there!). Saturday is a busy day of panels for me, and Sunday I am running a free, open to the public workshop that will help you create a marketing and publicity plan for your creative work.

Take a look, and if you see me, please say hello! I promise I don’t bite. Talk a lot, maybe, but no biting.

Finally, don’t forget to check out my recent guest post by Effie Seiberg, all about doing conventions on the cheap.


A Hard Hobbit to Break, Ballroom BC, Sat. 9:00 AM
James Bambury (M), Colleen Hillerup, Beverly Bambury
Three movies? Does Peter Jackson’s approach work? Many fans were disappointed in the first film. Will they continue to watch? What was successful, and what failed, in Peter Jackson’s treatment? What are you looking forward to (and what do you fear) in part two, coming out next month? Come out for a lively discussion of all things Hobbit.

SFContario Idol, Courtyard, Sat. 5:00 PM
Debra Yeung, Sandra Kasturi, Hayden Trenholm, Beverly Bambury
Attendees bring in the first page of their manuscript. A presenter from SFContario will read out the manuscript (anonymously) until a majority of our panel of judges ‘buzz’ the story to a stop. Discussion ensues on why they stopped it, what didn’t work, and what did work. A great exercise in story openings that will provide immediate valuable feedback to the writers.

New Philosophies for Science Fiction, Solarium, Sat. 8:00 PM
Karl Schroeder (M), Tamara Vardomskaya, Beverly Bambury
Looking at the values of the past, it is unrealistic to think that people in the future would think the same way we do and hold our values, yet looking at old SF it’s exactly what you do see. How do we get beyond that and come up with new ways for people to think about their new worlds?

Don’t Blink, Solarium, Sat. 9:00 PM
James Bambury (M), Debra Yeung, Colleen Hillerup, Beverly Bambury
Do Daleks keep you up at night, checking under the bed? Do the Weeping Angels haunt your dreams? Or are you more likely to cower from The Silence or Cybermen? Are you my mummy? Our panelists discuss which of the Doctor’s monsters or arch-enemies scare them the most.

WORKSHOP- Self-Planning for Self-Promotion, Solarium, Sun. 1:00 PM (90 minutes)
Beverly Bambury
Are you a published author being left adrift by your publisher? Are you a self-published author with only yourself to rely on? A plan will help you decide timelines and create an automatic list of things to do and when to do them. In this interactive lecture you will learn how to create a plan for promoting your book, and learn some research tips and tricks to help you along the way. By the end of the program participants will have initial concepts for their marketing plans as well as an outline of what to do next.This workshop is open to the public!

Social Media for the Misanthropic and the Anti-Social: Book Marketing without B.S. #2

Book Marketing without B.S. is a weekly publicity and marketing advice column for writers and other creators who prefer a realistic, clear, and no-nonsense approach. My goal is to help you cut through the bullshit with direct, understandable advice you won’t be embarrassed to follow. Send your questions to beverly@beverlybambury.com.


One of the best things about being a publicist, is that I get to do all the social, extrovert, asking-for-things work that my clients usually don’t want to do. I get to give them more time to create, and take away the stress of putting themselves directly out there. Also, given that my clients are overwhelmingly writers of dark fiction of some kind or another, they’re frequently put off by other social media tone and content. It’s too perky and bubbly. It doesn’t feel genuine.

In last week’s column about why you shouldn’t purchase followers, I looked briefly at the question of “So how do I build audience?” and the imagined comment of “But, I’m dark and serious and not that social. Plus I don’t sell glasses. This advice sucks!” I get into the topic a little there, and in this post I offer you a few examples of people whose social media skills I admire.

Note that for this article I am only focusing on Twitter. The reason I am not discussing Facebook more is that Facebook’s brand pages consistently decrease in direct benefit, and it’s a topic for another day. That said, the general ideas still apply for Facebook or anywhere else. If you have questions, leave a comment and I’ll reply to it as soon as I can.


There are a number of people whose technique I admire, but I am going to have you take a look at three specific people: Chuck Wendig, Caitlin Kittredge, and Sam Sykes. All three of these writers share common characteristics that have served them well on Twitter.

1 – They don’t focus completely on their own work. They do sometimes post about their work or ask us to buy their books. That’s perfectly fine and to be expected. Notice though, that it’s overall uncommon. Every tweet or every other tweet, or even every tenth tweet doesn’t contain promotional language. As I’ve said before (and based on what I see on twitter every day, I have to keep saying it over again!) you should focus on being an integrated, complete person on social media. This is our new town square. Do you really want to talk to someone or hang out with someone that says the same thing over and over again? You do? Well, you’re in the minority, ya big weirdo.

2 – They are highly responsive. They don’t reply to everyone who tweets at them, and really, given the amount of stuff coming at them every day there’s no way that they could; but, they do respond often. They interact. They are social. If you ignore every tweet that comes at you and you just broadcast and don’t use social media for its intended purpose of interaction, you’re missing out. Note: sometimes if you’re really famous already you can get away without bothering to reply. Many brands and many celebrities can post announcement-only and that works for them; but they were already famous. You can’t do that. You’re not famous. (Unless you are, in which case, thanks for reading this far, famous person!)

3 – They use their own voices. They swear, they grumble, they don’t use bubbly, insincere language. Once again, they are complete, integrated human beings who sometimes talk about their personal lives, sometimes what they’re reading, what they’re watching, what they’re doing, sometimes about community issues, and sometimes about other people’s work. (See #4.)

4 – They build community by sharing the work of others. These people also tweet about other people’s work. They understand that a strong community and strong sense of teamwork are their own important mental and social benefit. They also understand that it helps sell more books than isolating themselves and acting like they’re the only game in town. Remember (and this may be the most important takeaway) word of mouth has to come from other people. If it comes from you, it’s as good as useless. So keep sharing the work of others, keep being a member of a community, lead by helping others up and not by cutting them down.

So what can you, personally, do? I really like lists, so let’s have another list.

1 – Listen.

2 – Reply to people when it’s relevant, and about what they’re into. If you reply to push your work you’ve already failed.

3 – Listen.

4 – Share an appropriate amount. Aside from replies, you shouldn’t tweet so much that people’s feeds are overwhelmed. And anyway, what do you have to say that’s so important? Don’t be afraid to be quiet on the original Twitter content if you’re interacting frequently with others. Naturally, if you think of something interesting, fun, or relevant to say, then by all means, say it!

5 – Follow others, even if they do not follow you back. Yes. Read that again. You can follow people even if they don’t follow you back. Sometimes you may want to tidy your list, and that’s cool. I unfollow people if it’s just not working for me; but, if you like what someone is saying, or you like their work, just keep following even if they don’t follow you back. Of the people I list in this article, only one follows me back, and that’s just fine. I like what they have to say and they don’t owe it to me to follow back. If you’re really there to meet people and grow audience, being relaxed about this sort of thing is a good start. After all, if you only follow people who follow you back, what quality is your audience, anyway?

6 – Listen.

7 – Like I said in #5, quality over quantity. When you get a new follower that might be interested in reading your book, make sure you check out their feed and reply to something of theirs. Don’t tell them about your book in this tweet. Why? Because it’s already in your profile and probably one or two of your tweets. It’s completely unnecessary and redundant, and makes you look desperate. Also see the link in #8.

8 – DO NOT FOR ALL THAT IS GOOD AND HOLY USE DIRECT MESSAGES TO PROMOTE TO YOUR NEW FOLLOWERS. Read this. (And yes, this relates to that point in #7.)

9 – Share different types of content. You can share pictures, you can share links (and try to say why you think they’re interesting if you have characters with which to do so,) you can share other people’s work you think is good. And yes, sometimes share your work, too.

10 – Social skills and listening: I maaaaay have said something about listening already (maybe), but I want to reiterate, read what people are saying. Reply. Don’t make this all about you. It may seem like a paradox to say that getting people to like you is not about you, but in many ways it isn’t. Social skills may not come naturally to you, but they can definitely be learned, and if you need to do your own marketing and promotion, it’s worth your investment to really stop and look at your behaviour honestly.

So, like I said last time: you won’t have a million followers. Respect the ones you have. Cultivate them. Give them the kind of experience you want when you follow people on Twitter.


Thanks for joining me once again. Let me know what you think, and you have my deep appreciation for reading this far. I hope you come back again, and if you’re forgetful like me, you can sign up by email.

Guest Blog: Small Press Tips & Lessons from the Booksburgh Book Store Hop

Today’s guest blog is by Jennifer Barnes, of small publisher Raw Dog Screaming Press (RDSP). She organizes social media and events, and today she’s come by to share her experience organizing a madcap day in which RDSP took over Pittsburgh, doing a reading/signing each hour for five hours, at five different locations. Even if you aren’t a publisher, you may find some of these hints useful in organizing events with your writing group or other writer friends. Enjoy!

Heidi Ruby MillerOver the years RDSP has done all kinds of events from gigantic book fairs like BEA to readings in a decommissioned lunatic asylum. It takes a lot of planning to get the most out of events and you can learn from each one. We recently did something we hadn’t done before which was a 5 author bookstore tour of Pittsburgh. It was a bit hectic but lots of fun and a great experience. I think a one-city tour is something that could be duplicated by others to good effect so I thought I’d share some tips. 
First I’ll give a brief description of how it worked. Five reading/signings were set up at different bookstores, each was scheduled for an hour and they were back-to-back beginning at 1pm and going through 6pm. Each store hosted one of the participating authors so every author got a chance to do a short reading and answer audience questions. You can see the photos we took from the event here.
Stephanie WytovichOne thing that worked well was that most of the authors hopped to each location and were on hand to sign their books. This meant a lot of cross-exposure between authors. I noticed that at each location there were people who clearly came for the featured author; but at the same time they often became interested in one of the other authors.

It was also helpful for someone to briefly introduce all the authors at each stop. Often the featured author who would introduce the others. Having multiple authors is the key to drawing in a larger audience.

We had several attendees who hopped with us to each location. This gave the whole event a party-like atmosphere. We were lucky because our event was planned by a local (thanks Diane Turnshek!) and was sponsored by an organization that supports Science Fiction (PARSEC) in Pittsburgh. These connections were important for getting locals to attend. The authors were from nearby but none lived in the city itself.
K. Ceres Wright, Al WendlandAnother thing that worked well was that all of the stores were very different from each other. One was a University bookstore, one a co-op, another primarily dealt in magazines. We also hopped to a mall store and a traditional used bookshop. This gave us exposure to all sorts of shopping venues.

It’s important to be flexible with your sales arrangements to accommodate each venue. We had two stores that ordered in advance; one paid upfront, one was invoiced. The co-op let us sell our
own books while the mall store required signed paperwork. 

Matt BettsThough the stores were very different they were all in fairly close proximity. Even so, it was a little hectic trying to get to each store in time. The author who is being hosted should be prepared to leave the previous event well in advance to be sure to be on time.

This kind of event is best suited for a mid-sized city with a lot of bookstores, like Pittsburgh. However, I could see it working well with spots like coffee shops and bars if your city doesn’t have enough stores in close proximity. If the distance and travel time between the locations is too great that could cause problems. We did have a few people getting lost between stops. It’s not necessary to have 5 stops though, a 3- or 4-stop author tour might actually work better.

Perhaps the most important tip I can give about bookstore events is to think of them as advertising not sales events. When/if you sell copies that is just the icing on the cake. What you are really doing is advertising your book. You get to do that in three ways:

Jason Jack MillerFirst, when you promote the event you obviously mention that you’ll be signing and reading. It gives you a chance to mention your books without begging people to buy them. Next, if possible arrange with the stores in advance to have some kind of book display and signage advertising the event. The even itself is an advertisement because as you travel to each location you get to describe your book to whoever attends. And finally, you should do a post-event wrap up for every event you attend. Share pictures (you must take LOTS of pictures) on social media, blog about your experience, publicly thank the stores who supported you. 

These are all ways to advertise your book without actually mentioning it. Compare this kind of advertising to a print ad and you’ll see you get way more bang for your buck. What you’ve invested is mostly time and gas money with the potential to make very strong personal connections with a few people as well as impress a larger number online. Print ads cost hundreds of dollars but never result in a personal connection, only appear once and are easily forgotten.
all authors' books available

A note about turnout: hope for the best but expect the worst. It’s hard to get people to come out of their houses. Things like scheduling conflicts and weather are unpredictable and can prevent people from showing up. This is not a fail and happens to famous authors too! Try to make sure you have at least one close friend or family member that’s guaranteed to show, enjoy spending time with the other authors and have fun. If the turnout is low you don’t need to mention it in your post-event press. People will see how much fun you had and vow to make it to your next event.


Jennifer Barnes, Chris StoutJennifer Barnes is managing editor of Raw Dog Screaming Press which is currently celebrating its 10th year publishing “fiction that foams at the mouth.”

The Secret to Contacting Traditional Media for Book Publicity

I haven’t contacted as many traditional media outlets as I have websites and bloggers for publicity–if for no other reason than traditional media is on a decline or integrating with online media–but, as it turns out, the secret is that there isn’t much of a secret. It still remains connections, politeness, reading directions, and being an all-around good human being.

I go into some of this in my earlier article 5 Steps to a Quality Blog Tour, but here is more info with an eye toward bigger sites/traditional media publicity queries.

Connections
The main difference I’ve found with my work is that personal connections and networking count for even more with bigger publications, print, television, or otherwise. It’s not impossible to get into a major spot without connections; but it’s much, much harder. I had a campaign recently that didn’t go as well as I’d have liked, because it was outside of my usual industry and I had almost no connections. I got some traction, but it wasn’t even close to my usual success rate.

Politeness
I am sad I even have to say this, but horror stories I hear time and time again show me it’s still necessary. Say please. Say thank you. Don’t be a jerk. Related to politeness:

Empathy
You’re hoping for the best, naturally. You may even feel a lot of stress because you put so much of yourself (time and money) into your project. Those are all real and valid things and it’s OK to feel them. What you mustn’t lose sight of is that each of the people you’re querying are also human beings with lives, hectic jobs–and often more than one of those. They are really busy, and you are not even close to the only person querying, so be patient and remember that everyone else’s world doesn’t revolve around you and your creation, even when you wish it were so.

RTFM
If you don’t know what RTFM is, go to Google. I’ll wait. For those of us who do know, though, you’ll get it. Most places have submission or query guidelines, or at least a note about whether they are even open to hearing from you. Please follow the instructions. If you can’t find instructions, they have enough content and aren’t specifically looking for more. This is where your connections and networking come in.

Following Up Appropriately
Following up is a tricky one. I see conflicting info out there, but I think it’s safe to say that if you send one query and you don’t hear back for two to three weeks, it’s OK to send a very brief follow-up, but don’t send any more if you don’t hear back.

An example of a brief follow up might be just asking if a (solicited or accepted post-query!) review copy was received. Don’t ask when the review is happening, or if it’s happening. That’s up to them, not you.

Note: if you send a press release or an unsolicited review copy, don’t follow up. With the advice above, I am only talking about emailed queries asking for publicity or asking permission to send a review copy.


Creators/authors: any experiences or tips that you want to share?

Journalists/bloggers: any thoughts on the way you prefer to be approached–especially with regard to following up?

I’d love to hear from you. You can post in the comments or contact me.


Also, coming soon, my new column about marketing your book, comic, movie, and (of course) yourself.

A Hard Line Against Twitter DMs for Promotion and Marketing

Stop using Twitter DMs for marketing or publicizing your stuff. Just. Stop. (You’re going to like this one. It’s short to read and I am telling you to do less.)

Here’s why:

A minimum of 90% of the DMs I receive parrot the exact same stuff/links that is already on the sender’s Twitter profile or in a bunch of their tweets. If someone’s already looked at your profile and decided to add you, you don’t need to repeat yourself in a DM.

“But I’ve got free stuff to share with followers! I need to make sure they don’t miss it!” Tweet it instead. Twitter is for tweeting. You can add it to your profile, too. It won’t be that hard to find. Honest.

And really, if you’re tweeting it AND DMing it AND it’s also on your profile, how do you think you look to people? Not like a real person interested in connecting or being social on social media. You come off as spammy to most people. (Really. See my survey results from last year about this topic.)

Remember that a DM is a personal contact, and when you use it for advertising, it’s completely impersonal and it’s broadcasting instead of being social/communicating.

So what’s the theme here? Once again it comes down to using social media to be social. Share your business stuff/creative stuff, sure. I do it, too. But you should also talk to people, meet people, share other people’s stuff you think is cool, occasionally talk about your spouse or kids, etc. Be real. Be genuine. Be an integrated human being. Be social.

TL;DR: Stop DMing your promo stuff. There’s almost never a good reason for it. Send your promos in your tweets or in your profile info. Not in DMs. Or any other private message for that matter. You are not special and different. Trust me.

Self-Promotion on Social Media – Survey Results

(Originally published at http://www.elsewords.com in July 2012.)

Good evening! It’s been another overly-full week, but last weekend at Polaris and the monthly Chiaroscuro Reading Series event were well worth cramming in everything else. More on those events later. Right now I’d like to share some of the results of Beverly’s Unscientific Survey of Social Media Preference. I have the survey questions and results discussion after the break. Also, be sure to see the comments section, which has some great comments.


I got 80 replies to the following questions:


1. How often do you use Twitter?

  • Daily
  • 2-3 times per week
  • Once per week
  • 2-3 times per month
  • Once per month
  • Less frequently than once per month
2. In the last month have you re-shared someone else’s tweet on Twitter, Facebook or any other social media platform? (i.e. retweet, share, RT, MT, QT, etc.)
  • Yes
  • No
  • Not Sure
3. Have you ever followed someone on Twitter and received an automated reply, whether by direct message (DM) or by an @ message?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Not Sure
4. If you received an automated message, what was your emotional reaction?
  • Happy
  • Pleased
  • Amused
  • Indifferent
  • Irritated
  • Angry
  • N/A
  • Other (Please Specify)
5. Did you take any action as a result of the automated response?
  • Replied to message
  • Read message but took no action
  • Ignored message
  • Deleted message
  • Unfollowed the sender of the message
  • N/A
  • Other (please specify)
6. What is your impression of Twitter users that use automated/robot replies? (This does not include personal messages, only automated ones.) Choose the best one even if you agree with more than one.
  • Professional
  • Savvy
  • Smart
  • Cool
  • Interesting
  • Nice
  • Reasonable
  • Rude
  • Uneducated
  • Uninteresting
  • Lacking etiquette
  • Unprofessional
  • N/A
  • Other (please specify)
7. Do you follow or like any pages in Facebook or Google Plus? Pages here being defined as brand pages, author pages, movie pages, blog pages – *not* a personal profile.
  • Yes
  • No
  • Not sure
8. If you do like or follow a page on Facebook or Google+, what kind of information do you *best* like to receive from that page? (Please choose only the best one, even if you agree with more than one.)
  • News about the company
  • News about the product (including books, blog posts and movies)
  • News about an *unrelated* company, author, movie, etc.
  • General news items (like current events)
  • Fun visual items (funny or clever pictures, animations, videos, etc.)
  • Fun written items (jokes, clever blog posts, sayings, quotes, etc.)
  • Surveys
  • Games
  • N/A
  • Other (please specify)
9. Have you ever unfollowed or un-liked a page on *any one or more* of Twitter, Facebook or Google+?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Not sure
10. If you have unfollowed or un-liked a page on *any one or more* of Twitter, Facebook or Google+, choose the best reason below, even if you agree with more than one.
  • Too much content about the brand or product (including blogs, books, movies, etc.)
  • Too little content about the brand or product (including blogs, books, movies, etc.)
  • Not enough useful content about the brand or product (including blogs, books, movies, etc.)
  • Too much content about *unrelated* brands or products (including blogs, books, movies, etc.)
  • Too many fun/silly posts
  • Not enough fun/silly posts
  • Too many games
  • Too many surveys
  • Too much content in general (i.e. clogs stream)
  • N/A
  • Other (please specify)
As far as survey design. I’ve never done it before, and I see several flaws in the way I worded and structured the survey. I could have made better use of my limited survey questions for sure. I also think I have too many areas for free text. Free text replies often fit quite neatly into something I’d already set forth as a category, though I definitely like having some free text. Context can mean a lot, and some of the replies were insightful or funny – or both.
Anyhow, here are the important results. I think questions like “how often do you use Twitter” for example turned out to be pretty useless, so I don’t include things like that here. The pie charts are from the presentation I gave at Polaris on this topic, “Self-Promotion on Social Media: Tips, Tricks and Cautionary Tales“.
Here is the breakdown for “In the last month have you retweeted or re-shared?”
This is important because it shows that most users are sharing content that they find on social media. 
The next one is about the emotions that resulted from receiving an automated/robot DM. I focused this question on Twitter since it is most prevalent there, but I wish I’d asked it about all platforms.
This was an interesting one because not only were there results here that showed fully half or people responding to this question were indifferent, but that a large minority were irritated. There were also some interesting text replies for this one. Here’s a sample (emphasis mine): 

Negative association. It’s impersonal, and frequently common to users who are marketing rather than communicating

Meh. I dislike them. Usually used to push a service which makes me want to go unfollow them immediately. I believe it can be done well, but usually isn’t.

It’s answers like these that helped me solidify my opinion that social media are first and foremost social, which implies give and take, back and forth. Communication is no longer a linear process, after all. 
This chart is of the answers to “Did you take any action as a result of the automated response?”
This one shows that only one person out of all of the possible choices, actually replied. Most effectively ignored the message (“ignored message” and “read but took no action”) but a few deleted them and the same number of people unfollowed. One of the text replies fit into the “unfollow” category as well. I thought this was very important, because it shows the cost of pushy communication. One reply for indifference and actual loss of audience. 
This chart is one of the most important in the survey results. It is the breakdown of people’s impressions of users who use automated direct messages/replies on Twitter.
This one is especially interesting because I gave a large range of options, equally distributed over positive qualities and negative qualities. The list on the left shows all the choices that no one chose. Note that they are all the “nice” qualities. A few kind replies among the responses, two saying “savvy”, three saying “reasonable” but the rest were all the negative qualities listed, with the winner being “lacking etiquette”. Think a few people are missing from this pie chart? You may be right. This answer had a heavy free text reply result. Here are all of the text replies, in a few cases condensed where people’s answers were similar: 

Lazy and indifferent/Lazy
Conceited and stupid
Spam/Spammy/Endless Spamming
Impersonal
I believe it can be done well, but usually isn’t.
Dude, you just don’t get it, do you?
Unless you’re George Takei, it’s rarely necessary
It depends on the nature of the auto reply
Naive
Convinced of their own celebrity

All of the replies are valuable, but as before I’ve emphasized replies I thought were of particular interest. Once again we see that a push or broadcast isn’t well-received. 

This is the last chart, and it’s for the “why did you unfollow/unsubscribe” question:


This is another question where I wish I’d worded the replies differently. I ended up grouping most of the “too much” responses together into one, because ultimately they were. The text replies showed me that I’d worded the question badly, which is why I chose to combine them in the visual examination here. The lesson? You really don’t need to tweet all day or post on Facebook frequently. Twitter is ephemeral, sure, but three or four times a day for one message is enough in almost all cases. Facebook? Post it once. Facebook and Google+ posts live a bit longer in people’s streams, so there’s less need for repetition. 

My conclusion is that social media functions as a conversation. If you’re just blathering on and not listening or reacting or sharing with others, you’re missing the point and turning off potential customers/readers/viewers/listeners. It’s OK if growth is a bit slower than you like. The number of followers and subscribers and likes isn’t really as important as engaging the audience you already have and being social and conversational in the process of finding new ones. 

So is social media free? I don’t think we should think of it as free at all. The time investment can be costly and should be figured into the process. If you don’t have time for a conversation, now may not be the time for you to use social media for your promotional purposes.

There was a lot more to my presentation last weekend, but I have an upcoming podcast where I get into more detail, so keep an eye out for that if you want more. I look forward to reading your thoughts and opinions in the comment section.

5 Steps to a Quality Blog Tour

I recently had a correspondence with an author that asked about my publicity services. When we determined that the fit wasn’t quite right, she asked me for a few tips on running a blog tour for her book’s publicity. I agreed to share some tips and after giving it some thought, I distilled my best practices into these five tips for running a better blog tour for your book, comic, or web series. Or CD. Or many other creative enterprises, for that matter.


Step One: Quality Means Research
The most important thing to take away from this article is that–if you’re doing it right–preparation for a blog tour is time-consuming work. So if you only have limited time, it’s far better for you to contact five or ten quality targets than it is to send 100 ill-fitting queries.


Indeed, sending out queries scatter-shot is ineffective and a waste of your time. It is likely it will even make you look bad. For example, if you send a romance blogger your military fantasy or a kids’ book blog your erotica, you’re going to get a reputation as someone who can’t read directions and doesn’t care about anyone else’s time or effort. 

So, ask yourself which bloggers are going to like your book or film, and then only contact those bloggers/media outlets.

Once you think you’ve found a blog or newspaper or magazine that seems to be a good fit, take the time to read a few of their reviews to get an idea of what they say about books, or the kinds of guest posts they host. Then you must read the “about”, “policies”, and “contact” pages (or anything similarly named) that outlines, usually quite specifically: 
  • What he or she likes to read
  • His or her name
  • Whether he or she accepts the kind of book you’re offering (some don’t accept ebooks, some only accept ebooks, that kind of thing)
  • Most importantly, whether he or she is even accepting queries and review copies at all–or even accepts guest blog requests. Some don’t. 

You will make no friends among book bloggers if you go against stated policies and preferences. And you want them to like you… right?


Logistics Note: I also advise making a note of your findings about the blogger or publication’s tastes and preferences in what ever way works best for you. I use a Google Drive spreadsheet because I like the ability to easily edit from whichever device I am using at the moment, but if Excel, Open Office, or paper work better for you, then use them. Whatever you do, do it consistently and clearly so you stay organized.

Step Two: Send Good Queries

Now you’ve got your targets and you know what they like, write each person a personalized and very brief email. Here are some components of a good query letter:
  • The subject line should contain the book/work’s name, author/creator’s name, and date of release. If you have space, you can also add “Blog Tour Query”, but be mindful of a ridiculously long subject line.
  • Address it to the blogger by name.
  • The body should be polite, humble, and brief. The reader gets to decide whether your book is the best thing ever, not you, and not even your publisher.
  • Did I mention brief? Bloggers and columnists and entertainment editors get a lot of email. If you ramble, you’ve lost them. Use a clear and active voice, and don’t use ten words where you can use two. 
  • In the opening paragraph mention something that confirms you read their guidelines and preferences (and make sure you are actually following them).
  • Give a brief (there’s that word again) synopsis of your book or project. You can just include the cover copy if you like. Make sure you say it is the cover copy if you do this though, since you want to generally avoid a sales type voice and cover copy can verge into that territory pretty easily.
  • It’s OK to include a personal touch. Is the blogger from your hometown? Did you both like the same book? Do you have a favourite track on the CD or a favourite episode of the web series? It is OK to say why, but again–brevity. Don’t spend more than a sentence on this.
  • It is best to ask for what you want. If you are hoping for a review, say so. If you are hoping for a guest blog, say that, too; but, be polite and considerate. If the blogger isn’t interested, though, then leave it at that. Never ask “why not?” or ask for exceptions.
I also suggest that when sending these queries you not follow up too much. I often don’t follow up at all when it is a completely cold contact at a larger publication, since I know how busy they are and that they didn’t ask for me to contact them. If it is someone I know or to whom I was directly introduced by a mutual acquaintance, I will follow up on the initial query at that point. If you do follow up, stick to the same general rules above about brevity and manners. Don’t email a third time unless specifically asked to do so.

The entire blog tour process is a delicate balance of research, copy writing  and interpersonal skills. Never discount those interpersonal skills in this process.

Step Three: Writing, Proofreading, Editing

Once you have a reply and you decide on a mutually beneficial posting date with the blogger, then you can answer your interview questions or compose your blog post. Make sure the content you are writing is interesting. Don’t just talk about your book, find a topic and give it a little effort. If you just write “buy my book, buy my book, buy my book” the audience will get bored with you. It’s great to tie it into the topic once or twice, but the topic at hand should carry the blog post. 
When you finish writing, have a trusted reader look it over and offer suggestions. If you don’t have someone who can help with proofreading and editing, save the file and walk away for a while. When you return with fresh eyes you are more likely to catch errors or unclear ideas. This writing deserves your effort. These blogs or media outlets are giving you publicity and you aren’t paying for it. Respect what they’re doing for you.
Be sure to include anything that will be helpful. Do they usually post websites, excerpts, and social media links and an author photo? Include those. Always include a very brief biography for use in the blog post. Here is some helpful information about composing a biography from Rachelle Gardner.

Step Four: Deadlines

Typically you’ll want to get your blog post or interview to the blogger/publication two to three full days before the posting date. So, for example, if you have a posting date of June 1st, then you should have your copy turned in by May 29th. Confirm with each outlet what their preferences are. Some want the post a full week in advance. 
This is where the keeping careful notes I mentioned in Step One comes in handy. Be sure you have your due dates on a calendar or in some other format that will help you remember and stick to them. Again, I like to use electronic tools, because I can set up alerts at varying intervals to make sure I don’t forget a commitment. 
If for some reason you will be late, email your contact immediately. As I said in Step Three, respect what they’re doing for you, and respect their time and their editorial schedules.

Step Five: Manners and Consideration at All Times
Don’t forget all the things I have shared with you about deadlines, respecting the outlet/blogger, politeness, humility (i.e. not using a sales voice and being realistic). I also like what Chuck Wendig said about this topic. His was in reference to asking for blurbs, but all of these things apply here. What you put out in the world becomes your brand. Make sure you manage your brand like the professional you are.

Questions? Leave them in the comments, or if you prefer to ask privately, contact me
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My inaugural blog post is cross-posted from my personal blog, elsewords.com. While you’re here, have a look around, and thank you for your interest.