Self-Promotion – Page 2 – Beverly Bambury Publicity

December 14, 2013July 27, 2018

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.

December 5, 2013July 27, 2018

Review Copies, Ebooks, and Pirating: Book Marketing without B.S. #5

Want reviews? Of course you do! This means that you have to send review copies, and this can get expensive with numerous physical books to send. Many of you are paying for these directly or are with a small publisher whose budgets are as tight as your own. A few of you lucky devils will be with large publishers who furnish all review copies, whether physical or through NetGalley. In fact, this post may not be as useful for you if you’re on a major publisher. Check back next week!

Anyhow. I digress.

For the rest of you, this means you’re thinking about ebook review copies. For some writers this is a stressful idea, bringing on fears of piracy and the death of sales. First this post will look at how to prioritize physical vs. electronic review copies, and then I’ll discuss piracy fears and why you probably shouldn’t worry too much about it.

How should I prioritize who gets physical review copies and who gets ebook review copies? Generally it’s good to prioritize this with a simple cost/benefit analysis. If a site or publication is higher-traffic or is heavily influential, seriously consider a phsyical copy–if that’s their preference. Some actually will prefer an ebook. If it is a lower-traffic or a less influential site/publication, then it is most cost effective to see if they will accept an ebook version to review. This applies to comics as well as prose books. The final choice is between you, the reviewer, and your publisher; these ideas are simply decision-making tools.

You can determine priority by checking site traffic using a tool such as alexa.com to compare statistics among the places you want to review your book. A lower number is better (i.e. a higher rank), and if you can get sites better than a 500,000 rank, it’s a great start. I can’t suggest that you only decide with site statistics, however. You should be aware that some sites might have lower traffic ranking, but are influential. A good example of this is Weird Fiction Review. It’s a site with strong influence among many authors and readers in genre circles, but its Alexa ranking is so-so at over 1.8 million. Still, it would be a plum spot if you wrote the type of things that they like. Try your best to strike the balance between web traffic stats and less measurable aspects of influence. And, as always, take the time to read submission policies, reviews, and articles so that you get a good feel for what the site is looking for. It always benefits you to ensure that it’s a good fit for your work before you approach them.

One other note: if you send a physical review copy unsolicited, make sure it comes directly from you or your publisher, and includes a one-sheet. If you’ve corresponded with the person on the other end and they’re expecting it, it becomes solicited and this is when you can consider having it shipped right from the source (without the one-sheet) if you’re doing print-on-demand.

What about ebooks and piracy? First, let me be completely, unequivocally clear: I want creators to be paid for their work. If you don’t get paid, I don’t get paid. So read this with the understanding that I am firmly on the side of your intellectual property rights.

OK, all that out of the way, I want to say that piracy is not likely to be a big deal for a majority (though not all) writers and comic creators. Let me explain: chances are if you’re looking for marketing advice you are in need of audience growth. Audience growth will result from reaching more readers. Reaching more readers happens with word-of-mouth and well-placed advertisements. Ads are really expensive, so the majority of your marketing, especially early on, will be reviews by professional reviewers, and reviews by readers who share their thoughts on Amazon, Goodreads, and other similar sites.

Reviewers to whom you send an electronic review copy are nearly all good, ethical people who will not share the ebook with anyone. The few who may leak it can’t be helped. If the book gets out and gets read by people who then discuss it with others, some of those people will end up with a pirated version; but, some of them are going to buy your book. If you somehow are lucky enough to go viral on torrent sites, you’re going to get more sales and more fame even with people illegally downloading your work. This will ultimately translate into more money for you down the road. And really, the chances of your book going viral are quite slim anyway, so your lost revenue is negligible, if anything at all.

One of the best ways to get more readers for your work is to keep writing. The more you write, the more you tend to sell. So focus as much of your energy on writing and creating as you can, and over time it is most likely that you will get better sales.

One other thought about piracy is that it’s difficult to measure the impact. Are the people pirating your ebook the kinds of people who would have bought your book in the first place? It’s impossible to say, really. I suspect that in many cases they wouldn’t have bought it anyway. I know, I know. I don’t have evidence, but going on the principles of word-of-mouth marketing and the effectiveness of samples as a sales tool, I think it’s rational to conclude that over time a few pirated copies will ultimately benefit you.

So send review copies, ebook and paper, as you need. Don’t worry about it. Don’t fuss over DRM. (Unless, of course, you’re with a larger publisher and don’t have a choice. In that case you can use NetGalley, or send plenty of paper review copies that aren’t out of your own pocket. Lucky devils indeed.)

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

Tonight don’t forget to join #GenreLitChat with John Mantooth, Nathan Ballingrud, and Heidi Ruby Miller. Tomorrow is Calls for Submission #2.

November 28, 2013July 27, 2018

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!

November 22, 2013July 27, 2018

How Far in Advance to Hire a Publicist and a Book Marketing Plan Timeline: Book Marketing without B.S. #4

Today brings another pair of related questions. The first is “How long before my book comes out should I hire a publicist?”

It depends to a certain degree what you’re looking for and on how in-demand the publicist is. My business is relatively young, so six months is plenty of lead time for me, and I can absolutely work with much less if required. I’ve even done emergency publicity!

Ideally, for prose novels, pre-work work for publicity should start anywhere from 4-6 months before release (for long lead-time review spots such as Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Library Journal). It is helpful to give your publicist plenty of time before that to plan and, if necessary, work with your publisher. Graphic novels and comics can work with a bit less lead time.

While this represents the ideal, it’s possible to do good work with much less time, too. Just bear in mind that for the biggest and busiest review spots that if you don’t give them at least a few months you aren’t likely to get reviewed. Other than that, 1-3 months is plenty for most reviewers and for setting up a lot of your publicity.

What if you try it yourself and suddenly realize, right before (or right after) release that you want some help after all? You can get help at the last minute, too, but it’s important to understand that many major spots won’t accept books that are either close to or post-release. Many excellent reviewers and sites will; however, so all is not lost. Just realize that you’re not going to get The New York Times from a book that is already released. Not even John Scalzi’s Big Idea, for that matter.

So for you TL;DR types: the best time to contact a publicist (at least for this publicist) is 5-6 months before release, but anything can work (even post-release books) as long as what you expect from your results is realistic.

The next question is “What timeline should I use to plan my book marketing?”

As I mentioned above, if your book is eligible to be reviewed by Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Book Slut, and other long lead-time publications., then send those review copies/galleys out 4-6 months before release date. Send these with a one-sheet, which is important to include with mailed copies.

For the rest, you’ll query. (Unless they say it is OK to send a book, of course, then you send the book with a one-sheet or via email/NetGalley, depending on the reviewer’s preferences.) A query is just seeing if a blogger or reviewer wants to look at the book and of course an offer to send one. As far as the timing, my assumption is that you’ve read other websites’ and publications’ and bloggers’ review and publicity submission guidelines. If you have, you’ll know how to stagger the rest of the schedule. Some will need to go out 3-5 months, some 1-3 months, some 5-6 weeks. This is one of the more time-consuming things: finding the right targets and making sure that you have them scheduled correctly. Don’t be shy about writing these down in order or using an electronic calendar to keep track.

Make sure that as you query–particularly blogs and media you know accept guest posts and do interviews–ask for what you want from that site. Something along the lines of “If you like the idea or the book enough, I’d love the chance to do a guest blog post for you. I can do it on (sample topic 1) or (sample topic 2), or if you have something you’d like to hear about, I’ll gladly write that instead.”

2-4 months before release: if you want to set up book signings or readings, now is the time. Note that very popular reading series, such as KGB, may require 6-7 months of lead time.

3 weeks to release date: handle your correspondence and write guest blog posts as required. If you have an interview or need to finalize any in-person events, make sure you have what you need. If you do book signings/talks, then you’ll want a poster of some kind to take with you.

What about those queries? Once it’s been 2-3 weeks, it is OK to follow up with people to whom you have sent QUERIES. If you’ve already sent an actual book (often those long lead time publications from above,) then don’t follow up. While we’re at it, if you ever send a press release (and usually you do not send those for books,) don’t follow up on those, either. Anyway, queries you can follow up, but they should be super polite and low pressure.

At release time and after: make sure you’re meeting your deadlines and following through on commitments. If you get a good review or a guest blog or an interview, share it. Share when your book is released, too. Anything like that is fine. A bit more often on Twitter than on Facebook. Don’t forget though: if all you do is push your books, people will stop listening to you.

You may also find it helpful to revisit 5 No-BS Twitter Tips for Authors and 5 Steps to a Quality Blog Tour.

Anyhow: this is a very rough and basic guideline. Each project will have to be planned based on its own requirements and based the resources of you and your publisher. As always, let me know if you have any questions about your situation.

That’s all for this week. Keep an eye out for the first of the semi-regular calls for submission columns.

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 15, 2013July 27, 2018

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

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 7, 2013July 27, 2018

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

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.

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.

October 23, 2013July 27, 2018

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.

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.