Tag Archives: Marketing

2014 Social Media Marketing (Yeah, for Books!) – What’s Your Plan?

Denny S. Bryce, Marketing, mermaids, Writing, , , , , , , ,

Denny (PortRoyale)This post has a bit of snark in it so be warned…

And yeah, another title for this post could be: How to Overwhelm and Entertain in 1000 words or less…anyway…:)

I hang out online an average of 90 minutes a day. And no, it’s not 90 minutes that I could have spent writing, or cleaning or doing something else. I am deliberately ‘hanging’ out because the source of information that is most readily attainable is online. It is NOT on TV (well, to me, I hate television news, cable o r network), it is not on the printed page (although, I do miss when back in the day, I’d spend an entire Sunday at a  cool brunch spot on the north side of Chicago, reading the Sunday New York Times and Chicago Tribute – it was so relaxing and so Zen of us:) – and its not only on Facebook (Internet, yes, but not the only source of information left on the planet).

So let me get to the point of this post. I’ve gathered a list of articles from the Internet you should read or at least skim if you intend to have a ghost’s chance in hell (watching way too much Supernatural) of effectively, consistently, and painlessly (or less painfully) using social media tools to sell/market your books and/or your brand.

And yes, if you write books to sell them, you must know and participate in the marketing of your books.

And oh, in case you stumble upon this article, and wonder who in the heck is spouting all of this information as if she knows something? Well, for the sake of credibility, in my other life, I have been a marketing professional for 25+ years – if that doesn’t work for you (I spend 90 minutes a day on the Internet, I’ve got to know something about something, right?)

Authors often look at other authors to get their perspective on what’s going on in the social media marketing arena – which is absolutely fine. We all know romance writers who are doing an exceptional job of marketing and using social media in a smart, straightforward, fresh way. And then there are those like me, marketing professionals who are writing popular fiction, romance or whatever and will be publishing or published by someone at some point, if they aren’t already off and running.social-media-marketing1

But in addition to gaining insights from authors who have great savvy about social media marketing or marketing pros who specialize in the publishing industry, I like to take a look at what the big boys in corporate marketing are doing as well.

Below are a few links. You don’t need to study every word of these articles (as if you would:), but take a moment, see what is being forecast and compare to your current social media marketing plan (and yes, you should have a plan, you don’t have time–hours in a day–to be haphazard). See if there’s something out there that’s new, or can be used differently, or more consistently, to deliver on your bottom line – which is (say it with me) – selling MORE books by finding new readers, and keeping the ones you have HAPPY. (And yes, the best way to do this is to write the best books you can write…but even that doesn’t always guarantee SALES, and/or readers, unfortunately.)

So here goes:

Social Media Marketing (Some links to take a peek at…)

http://www.brafton.com/blog/2013-social-media-marketing-trends

http://socialmediatoday.com/anitaloomba/2035211/top-digital-marketing-trends-2014

http://www.steamfeed.com/google-plus-vs-facebook-g-dominate-2014-marketing-strategy/

http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/2014-digital-marketing-trends_b53891

Okay, to recap…what’s going to be hot IMHO (or at least worth exploring):

  1. Google +
  2. Content continues to be KING (no joking)
  3. Content should include video or at least images (the eye likes a quick fix)

Big News in Publishing (or at least the most recent) and other Kick Ass Stories you May Have Missed!

http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/page.aspx/LYRICALPRESS (Why is it Big News? It marks a trend you will see repeated. It’s all about where the readers – and book buyers are – putting all of your eggs in one print basket isn’t the way publishing works anymore, and you’ll see this trend duplicated, again and again. That’s my predication:)…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/penny-c-sansevieri/book-marketing-prediction_b_4394295.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&ir=Books&src=sp&comm_ref=false

http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2014/01/5-key-trends-in-self-publishing-for-2014/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremygreenfield/2013/12/26/predictions-for-book-publishing-in-2014-cutting-room-floor-edition/

http://blog.smashwords.com/2013/12/smashwords-signs-distribution-agreement.html

That’s it friends…some food for thought:)!

Happy New Year!

Also, feel free to ask questions, or complain below:)…or let me know if you have a social media marketing plan, and whether you are published or pre-published, are you thinking about your brand, or if you don’t care about marketing, let me know, I’m just curious…:)

Getting What You Wish For

Marketing, Motivation, Writing, , , , , ,

Just in case you didn’t hear me shouting it from the rooftops . . .  I sold my first book!  Lori Wilde’s Indulgence line at Entangled Publishing will publish SOUTHERN COMFORT sometime in the near future (and you know I’ll let you know when!)

Even after having days to process the amazing moment of getting the call (described in detail on my blog) I still crack a crazy grin whenever I think about it. But, I quickly realized that I now had some work to do.

And, don’t get me wrong – I love every minute of the “next step” tasks. But, they did make me sit down and seriously reorganize and plan to maximize every opportunity I worked, hoped, and dreamed about.

Obviously, I need to prepare to hunker down and complete my edits when they arrive.  Turning in a quality book which will wow my readers is the number one priority. In addition, I need to complete the sequel, SOUTHERN NIGHTS.  Second only to making sure SC is the best it can be is the desire to sell the next book . . . and the next . . . and the next. I’m in this for the long haul.  This will required me to step up my dedication to my 2k per day word count and keep to my schedule.  I work full-time. I’m married and have two small children. I can’t waste a minute of writing time.

In the end it’s all about the writing. Period.

Next, I need to focus on and put into action my marketing plans.  I’ve read tons of books on the topic of marketing and branding and my favorite is “We Are Not Alone” by Kristen Lamb.  When I first read it, I knew that I wasn’t at the point where I needed to spend the money on getting a website designer and researching marketing tools and giveaways, but now I am.

So, I’ve embarked on that part of the journey. My attorney filed my incorporation papers last week for the creation of “Burning Up The Sheets, LLC” (I’m a lawyer and needed to do this for my peace of mind due to liability concerns) and I’ve chosen a website designer and just need to give him the go-ahead.  I’m updating my biography and filling out paperwork for my publisher and setting up an author page on Facebook (stop by and “like” me!)

It’s all good. It’s all fun. It’s exciting and terrifying and the most wonderful thing all at the same time.

So, be careful what you wish for . . . you just might get it. And, I hope you do.

Robin

Why I HATE Marketing Journal Entry #2: My Website and Jetlag

Marketing, mermaids, ,

This morning I don’t hate marketing as much as I hate jetlag, but that’s a story for another post…

I got back from Hawaii Tuesday night around 11 p.m. after several months, okay, I meant to write weeks, but I’m letting the slip-up stay because it provides an accurate take on how well my brain is functioning this morning. But yeah, Hawaii was fantastic, and I’ve got photos galore and stories to tell, and maybe even a book or two out of the experience, but what does my vacation have to do with marketing outside of the fact that mentioning it makes me happy?

Well, while I was away, my website designer (the good folks at Limb Design in particular Mr. Corey Chow) was busy working on my website. So I wanted to share a few things you might find useful.

The first question though might be do you even need a website and what does an author’s website look like these days? Well, most of them are built with the blog approach. So, when I say website, think blog with extra pages:). For those of you (and you know who you are) who don’t have a blog or website, but want to create a blog/site, or are looking to make changes to an existing site, you may find some tips here you can use. Especially if you’re looking to get it done quickly, while controlling cost and quality. Also, many of you may have ‘marketing’ on your New Year’s resolutions list. Except it might read something like ‘learn to tweet’ or ‘post more regularly on my blog’ or ‘I’ve got to get a Facebook account’. And if you’ve got good news to share like you have a new book release, or a first book sale, or a new branding look to introduce, you need marketing.

I’m going to plug WordPress now, but I think it’s okay since the Waterworld Mermaids’ blog was created right here in WordPress – land (Thank you Mermaid Alethea and that’s Alethea Kontis, by the way, who has a great website using WordPress!)! And yes, I’m building my site in Wordpress, too. And duh, I didn’t know until a few months ago that WordPress had templates for websites but Corey, my designer, suggested it as a cost effective approach to launching my new author’s site.

Although I’ve been working on websites in my day job for years, I learned recently that there are companies (lots of them) who have created affordable website templates and per my designer, WordPress is the BEST right now for offering variety, ease-of-use and flexibility, especially when on a limited budget. How limited? The layout I’m using for my new site cost me $35 (see link below).

http://www.mojo-themes.com/item/melee-minimalistic-wordpress-theme/demo/

And it was one of 9 pages of website templates at mojo themes that can be customized any number of ways…see link below:

http://www.mojo-themes.com/categories/wordpress/

If you’d like to give me some feedback on the graphics that have been created by Corey for my new site, please stop by my blog today and let me know what you think.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering why I want a website since I’m still unpublished. Easy. I’m an optimist, and today’s marketplace is demanding that authors have a brand identity in place (and a following doesn’t hurt either, especially for first novels).

Now don’t be shy, ask questions, scoff, or share what you’ve learned about creating your blog and/or website. Yes, you’ve got to write the best book you can write and then get an editor, agent or self-publish, but the bottom line is you’ve still got to market it. So what do you think about blogs and/or websites for published and/or unpublished authors?

(And also, Happy New Year!)