Publicity – Page 2 – Beverly Bambury Publicity

November 15, 2013July 27, 2018

Changing/Correcting Guest Posts or Interviews, and More Replying to Reviews: Book Marketing without B.S. #3

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.

Today there are two related questions. The first person asked “What if I want to change an interview or guest blog post reply after it’s already gone up?”

Naturally, if there is an error of some kind–whether factual or typographical–you should politely ask the journalist or blogger to make the change and explain why if it isn’t obvious.

I can’t think of any other reason you should ask to change something you’ve already vetted and has been published. It is possible you’ll be embarrassed by something you’ve written, or realize it might have been more clear stated another way; but, those aren’t good enough reasons to ask for a change.

If you’re worried this may happen, have one or two trusted friends read through what you have written and give feedback. At the very least, try to finish a day or two before deadline so you can sleep on it overnight and see if you still like it in the morning.

The next question was “What do you think about writers replying to their reviews?” Now, I have already written about this; but, I realized that I could add one more piece of advice.

If you see that the negative reviews have similar themes, there may be something you can learn from them, and it may be worth it to reply in the form of a blog post. Be very careful to not specifically address individuals if you do this. You can say something such as “I’ve noticed a trend in my 1- and 2-star reviews” and that covers it. You can always link to the book at an online store and people can look at all the reviews for themselves. Plus it’s the link where they can buy your book, so there’s that, too!

An essay will let you explore your thoughts on the topic without seeming confrontational. I still think the best option is not to address it publicly at all, but if you feel there is interpretation to share, or that you have something interesting to add to the conversation then go for it.

Finally, be careful about tone if you go this route. It’s still important to not look like a asshole or a whiner. You are your own branding online, and your choice of words makes a difference. So, as you would with your fictional writing, have trusted associates read through your post first and give their feedback serious consideration.

That’s all for this week. Keep those questions coming, and sign up to get my posts sent directly to your email by clicking here. Thanks for all the support!

November 1, 2013July 27, 2018

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!

Over 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.

One 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.

Another 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.

Though 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:

First, 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.

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

October 31, 2013July 27, 2018

Why You Shouldn’t Buy Followers: Book Marketing without B.S. #1

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.

The marketing and publicity worlds are important for understanding audience and customers, and getting the right word out to the right people; but, let’s be honest. There’s also a lot of bullshit. My goal is to help you cut through the B.S. with direct, understandable advice you won’t be embarrassed to follow.

Welcome to my inaugural Book Marketing withouth BS column. Today’s question was asked anonymously, and it’s about purchasing followers on Twitter (and by extension, purchasing likes/on other blogs and social media such as Facebook, Pinterest, etc.).

The short answer to this is “Don’t do it”. Below is the breakdown on why, but first, I should say that other people have written about this. Just Google “Should I buy Twitter followers” (without quotes) and you’ll find other discussion.

Here are more thoughts on the topic, and be sure to leave yours in the comments. I’ll share the best in my next post.

1 – It’s dishonest, and if you’re found out, people will think less of you. Remember what happened to President Obama and Mitt Romney in the recent election cycle?

1.1 – It’s also pretty corny. Honestly. See #2.

2 – It’s much more obvious than you think. If you’re not famous, but you have tens of thousands of followers (and you’re only following a small number yourself), no one is going to believe you’ve got that many followers. Really, really.

There are people I know and otherwise respect that I am certain have purchased followers. I feel bad for them in the way you feel bad for someone who buys a bad hair piece or who has a comb-over. They don’t seem to feel good enough as they actually are, and so they try covering it up. They don’t need to do it though–they’re already cool on their own. They’re just looking for an easy way to get a boost, not realizing that there’s no easy way with social media. More on this later.

One other note: Facebook’s analytics tell anyone where a page’s audience is, not just the page owner. One of the people I know had around 85% of his followers from a former Russian republic. It’s there for all to see, and it looks plain bad.

3 – Most importantly: it won’t deliver results. There may be a few little metrics here and there that will boost, but mostly it won’t work. Why? Well, if you’re paying for followers, and the vast majority of them are fake/inactive, you are not expanding your audience at all. You’re only buying a bigger number and nothing more.

The 30,000 followers you bought? None of them are going to buy your graphic novel. They aren’t going to share your book with anyone. If they do–by some crazy chance–they’re sharing it with other fakes. It’s a waste of your time and money, and you don’t have enough of either, right?

It’s possible a few people who stumble across you will be impressed with your numbers, but you know what? If you’re posting useful, relevant stuff already, they’d have followed you when they stumbled across you with or without high numbers. Also, the more savvy people get about fake followers, the more likely it is to be a turnoff. Once again, I refer you to #2.

In all my research I saw no one, even anonymously, saying that they were thrilled with their results (aside from a few stray blog comments that were so awkward and ham-handed that they were obviously from people who sell the fake followers). Surely someone out there would boost them if they were effective, but I don’t see that. Have you seen a trustworthy source ever say it was a good idea? I personally have not.

I also interviewed three people who have bought followers or likes, some on Twitter, some on Facebook. (And yes, I know this is not a scientific sample. I just wanted some directly shared anecdotes!) All three of them say they saw no tangible results. Two of them are specifically unhappy and regretful and one has neutral emotions about it. One said that some of the Facebook “likes” occasionally interact with his page, but that there’s been no boost in sales. That person also wonders whether it might have made more sense for his business if he’d waited. I concede that it is possible that this purchaser might appear a bit more often as a suggested page on Facebook because of the likes; however, I still think it won’t likely boost sales since the purchased followers have zero emotional connection/interest with you or your product/service.

The main thing to remember is that it’s really tempting to buy followers for many reasons. Some of that is what I mentioned above: feeling unsure, desperate, insecure, worried. Some people are more mercenary and genuinely think that they’re going to improve their standing on social media and they see it as legitimate. I can understand all of those reasons and more. You want to look good. I get it, but this isn’t the way.

“So how do I build audience?”, you ask. It’s actually not too difficult. The problem is it takes time and effort, and that’s why it’s hard. Time is short. We’re all tired and hoping for a shortcut. The only good way is to interact with people. Share other people’s content and ideas. Share about your dog, your wife, your kids–and also your books and creations. Try not to let all of (or even the vast majority of) your tweets be “BUY MY BOOK” stuff or “READ THIS EXCERPT NOW!” stuff. Some rules of thumb say 10% of your stuff should be about your stuff. I think that may be about right. Some weeks it will be more, some weeks it will be less. Mainly remember that (and yes, I am repeating myself) social media is social. Be a real, integrated human being who sometimes shares his or her work, and you will build a following.

Will you ever have a million followers? Almost certainly not. The followers you have, though? They’re actually interested in YOU. Respect them. Cultivate them.

Check out Zenni Optical on Twitter. Whomever does their social media is skilled at building loyalty and feelings of community. They tweet back to people who mention them. They ask about what the potential customer is interested in. Not only are they building followers with genuine interest and interactivity, but they’re offering a good, high-touch customer experience and that’s going to garner a healthy percentage of followers who are likely to spend money. Not only that, but Zenni is getting real data from consumers about what they like and don’t like, and what products are popular. This is incredibly valuable information.

“But, I’m dark and serious and not that social. Plus I don’t sell glasses. This advice sucks!” you say. OK, I’ll grant you that. It’s not the same thing, selling glasses and selling dark fiction or surreal graphic novels. And, well, yeah, that overly happy voice isn’t a good fit for everyone, but that isn’t the point. The point is that they are social. They interact. They participate with potential customers instead of broadcast, so despite that perkiness that may not appeal to you, those principles are the same, and I’ll cover them more specifically (along with examples that you may find more relevant) in next week’s column.

Thanks for joining me for the inaugural Book Marketing without BS. 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.

Have a questions you’d like to see answered? Email them to beverly@beverlybambury.com.

September 18, 2013July 27, 2018

Just a Litte More: Author/Creator Comments on Reviews

In light of recent discussions I thought I’d clarify my thoughts on the authors (and other creators) commenting on reviews issue. I’ve said in the past “just don’t do it, ever”, but I think the time has come for me to expand that thought into more than just the idea of authors behaving badly.

My updated advice to creators is that they should pretty much never comment on negative reviews. If you want to thank someone for a good review, please do; but, don’t say much beyond a gracious “Thank you”. Especially if you have any negative or irritated feelings inside you. The reason I say this is because people can tell, and—at least from the publicist’s perspective—you don’t want people thinking of you as an author behaving badly. And that includes authors behaving in a passive aggressive manner. Or a whiny or entitled manner.

“But I have a right to talk to people online. They have comment functionality turned on, and that’s what it’s for!” Yes, that’s true. You certainly have that right and privilege. But stop and ask yourself whether is it wise from a public relations perspective. If you are a wise person, you’ll realize that the answer is most likely going to be “no, I shouldn’t”. It’s similar to the adage about not emailing angry.

Think about what you want your name to be as a brand, because your behaviour feeds right into that idea of the personal branding, and for creators on the internet, word gets around fast. Negative feelings about you will affect fans’ perceptions of your work, whether or not you want to believe that’s true.

Not only that, the stuff you post on line can’t ever really be removed. People take screen shots, aggregators aggregate. So if you want to get on that train to interactivity, then feel free, just make sure you’re doing it for reasons that further your goals and cultivate the online image you want to have. Or you know, if you actually like and get along with people and are just socializing. Which is way different from commenting on reviews/criticism.

Anyhow, here’s a final piece of free advice: when in doubt, don’t.

August 5, 2013July 27, 2018

Your Thoughts on Publicity and Creative Support Services

Please take this is a one-question survey about the kinds of services you’d like to see from me in the future. It should take a minute or less! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TML37YG

June 10, 2013July 27, 2018

Closed for Queries on 2013 Release Dates

The response to Beverly Bambury Publicity has been overwhelming, and so it is with gratitude and pleasure that I annouce that I am no longer accepting queries for 2013 releases. (Well, maybe a little sadness, too, since it means I won’t get to work with so many of you!)

The one exception: if you and I have a prior relationship, please do contact me even with 2013 releases. I don’t have much space left, but it’s much less time consuming to work with someone whose work I already know, so I may be able to squeeze something into the schedule.

If you have a 2014 release please contact me soon; I’ll gladly make tentative arrangements that we can solidify closer to your release.

June 9, 2013July 27, 2018

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.

May 25, 2013July 27, 2018

The Real Costs of Self-Publishing a Book

If you missed PBS Mediashift’s piece on the costs of professional quality self-publishing, it’s a real eye-opener. Read it here: http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2013/05/the-real-costs-of-self-publishing-book. Go on. I’ll wait.

So what did you think? I am sure the high end prices were a little frightening, but notice that there are lower end prices, too. If you think you can’t afford an editor, don’t go without. Consider paying a student a lower rate. It allows him or her to get experience, and at the same time you get affordable editing assistance. You have to understand in this case that you are not getting a highly experienced editor, though, so keep expectations appropriate for what you’re paying for.

The same goes for cover art and marketing services. Don’t go without these things, either, especially the cover art. A bad cover will lose sales, hands down. Pay lot of money for years of experience, or smaller amounts for those new in the field. (Or a hybrid, such as my basic versus premium services).

The main takeaway for me is that while self-publishing may be easy to do, it’s not necessarily easy to do right. Tell me about your book. Did you hire an editor and an artist? Any regrets?

May 22, 2013July 27, 2018

Schedule Fall 2013 Publicity Work Now

Just a brief note to say that I have a little room left for an August release, but not much space left until November after that. So if you have a book coming out in August, contact me right away, and don’t wait long for late fall books, either. It is always best to give at least a few months’ notice.

You can use my Contact page, or you can email me from here.