Replaced by simple marketing savvy, the era of the undiscovered novelist is over. Most self-published books go unnoticed, allowing room for the outward facing best-selling novel published by Random House, Houghton Mifflin, or other major publishing houses. Though, every once in a while, a book goes from self-publishing disaster to publishing marvel.
For most people, those stories won’t happen, but those who market themselves well have a better chance of getting their book noticed than those who don’t. This means authors want to find their target audience, but first they need to know who their target audience consists of and how to connect with them.
To connect with your target audience, you’ll want to identify what authors your audience reads. And the best way to do that is to determine what authors you write like, using iwl.me.
Just take an excerpt of your writing, paste it into the box, click analyze, and iwl.me will tell you what author your writing is most similar to. Then, find out how and where those people connect with those authors, similar authors, and one another.
It might be tempting to use or overuse Twitter, Facebook, or Google+; but consider that you might find your audience on a niche social networking site for writers or the author’s personal social networking site.
For more book marketing tips, check out these blogs:
Over the last couple of years, SEO Bridges has served a two-fold purpose. To generate income and to be a marketing engine for myself and my writing. When I started writing my novel, an author friend suggested I begin marketing. I had wanted to start a business, and I figured starting a business that allowed me to focus on the needs of readers and writers would help me market myself and my writing.
Over that time, I have treated myself as I would any other client. Or at least that has been my goal. For the first year, @SEOBridges maintained a larger following than @ErickWrites. Then, my personal Twitter feed began to outgrow my business Twitter feed. I had adopted a new strategy. I started to focus more on conversations, rather than just dissemination of information.
Once I started doing that, I found more Twitter followers who Tweeted well and just liked to chat. Now, as I continue to chat, I am changing my Twitter strategy once again. I will continue to use Twitter to find conversationalists and get into conversations, but I will also use it for market research.
If you feel your Twitter strategy has become mundane repetition, you might want to consider changing your Twitter strategy. If your Twitter strategy is all about you and not about your followers, you might want to change your Twitter strategy.
Have you considered changing your Twitter strategy? How has your Twitter strategy changed? Is your Twitter strategy working for you? Do you have a Twitter strategy and what is it?
Last week, I read this blog. It inspired me to think about the value of social media, e-readers, and e-publishing. As writers and thinkers, we have a responsibility to the future. Or more accurately, we have a responsibility to preserve history. We must make published documents accessible for future generations.
Do you think they’ll use the same technology in 2511 we use now? Is publishing our most valuable information in such a way that is likened to thousands of authors 500 years ago writing a trillion documents on papyrus, shredding each document into 10,000 pieces, and strewing those documents across the earth the best way to preserve our history?
In that blog, the author jokingly theorized that perhaps future generations might study Kanye West’s tweets. Do you think civilizations 500 years from now will consider what he tweeted, in the midst of zillions of gigabytes of information, that valuable? I’d argue that in the 26th century Kanye West and Lady Gaga will be celebrated, if they are known, in the same way we celebrate minstrels. Do you consider lyrics of a minstrel from 500 years ago valuable? Do you know any?
I theorize ancient civilizations had better means to preserve their most valuable documents. Though, just as we publish in a way that is the most convenient and cost saving for us, perhaps they published in the same way.
What do you think? Is e-publishing likened to thousands of authors, writing trillions of documents, shredding each of those docs into ten thousand pieces, and strewing them across the earth? Or is e-publishing likened to the advent of the printing press? I’d love to know your thoughts.
Recently, I read an article that purported that studies showed social media did not increase traffic to websites. Of course, that was a generalization and is not true of all websites. Though, for the average website, I am not going to argue with it. The purpose of social media is not to increase traffic to websites. If people go to your website because of your social media campaign great, but that should not be your primary focus for delving into social media.
Think of your website like a Starbucks and your website traffic as the foot traffic. Now, lets say because you had a sign spinner or a giant banner or some other means of advertising your store, 1,000 people come into your store on a particular day. 450 of those people buy coffee, 350 come and sit with friends or just read, and 200 just get water or use the restroom.
Of course, you have your overhead, you need to pay your employees, and there are other expenses. Only those 450 people on that particular day paid for all of your expenses for that day. That banner or the guy spinning the sign or whatever other method you used to drive traffic to your site may have driven that traffic to your location, but those 450 who paid for something that day also paid for the 550 who bought nothing or used something without a cost.
Now, think about why you do or do not go back to a particular coffee house. Perhaps its because of good prices, good product, good service, ambience, convenience, you’ve developed a relationship with the baristas, or other. The bottom line is SEO, like that sign spinner or the banner, is about driving traffic; social media is about building relationships and developing loyalty.
Last week, Avinash Kaushik tweeted that some people don’t think before they Tweet, and that can lead to adverse consequences. I Replied, “It makes one consider that the freedom of speech has given rise and justification to the freedom of criticism.” I thought I’d write out a Social Media Marketing Rights version of U.S. citizens’ Miranda Rights:
“You have the right not to post or tweet everything you’re thinking or doing all the time. Anything you post or tweet can be used against you by anyone, anytime, anywhere for any reason at all. You have the right to maintain a social media presence separate from your everyday social and personal life, now and during future interactions with your friends, followers, and fans. You have the right to hire or consult a social media marketing agency, before you engage in social media. If you cannot afford to hire or consult a social media marketing agency, you’re on your own. If you must let everyone on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and other social media sites know what you’re doing and thinking all the time, all those free social media tools you use may cost you your job, privacy, and dignity.”
Like your Miranda Rights (If you’re a U.S. citizen), which are meant to remind you that you don’t have to incriminate yourself under police interrogation or in a court of law, your Social Media Marketing Rights should remind you that when engaging with your friends, fans, and followers on social media sites, there are just some things better left unsaid because not leaving those things unsaid could spell trouble.
No matter whether you’re a social media novice, aficionado, or expert, there is bound to be something in this book you can glean from. It’s a great resource for teachers and students, and it covers all of the basis from blogging to the importance of a social media plan.
If you’ve read this book, let me know your thoughts. I’d love to glean from you, and learn what has and has not worked. If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, you can buy it below.
This last Friday, I went to Los Angeles with a friend. He had called me the evening before and asked if I wanted to go to a screen writers conference. He had written a movie that was released in theatres in early 2010, so he was asked to speak on a panel.
Along with three others, including a husband/wife writing team, my friend told about his movie, shared insight about writing movies, answered questions, and shook hands. Throughout the 90 minute panel, my friend said one word that summed up his drive to make movies: “Movement.”
My friend’s movie, a low budget movie, didn’t make him an overnight sensation. And I’m pretty confident it didn’t make him millions or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. He continues to work at the same job he worked at before his movie, and he continues to raise funds to make his next movie.
Although I’m sure my friend would like to see his movies gross more than Tyler Perry’s movies, he is not interested in money. Knowing him, he would continue at his same job for as long as he could, working with youth, while he wrote movies on the side. My friend is not interested in moving to Hollywood, driving a Lamborghini, and wearing a Rolex. My friend is interested in starting a “movement.”
Now, with all of the technology and ways for us to connect through social media, I wonder how the “American Dream” became about making money, instead of starting a “movement”?
Everyday, I connect with people all over the world, and everyday we only see images of one another. The truth is I hate suits, and I don’t always have a big, toothy grin.
Perhaps, you spend your mornings running around your house in your bathrobe and slippers, chasing your kids. Maybe you make business calls before your morning shower or tweet from your smart phone while lying in bed. But the truth is, just like me, you don’t wake up as beautiful as your picture suggests.
Last night, I volunteered for a homeless ministry in Temecula, CA called Project Touch. The dinner wasn’t served at a shelter; it was served in a church parking lot. And once a week, as a way to give back, the “clients,” as they’re called, maintain the church grounds.
After dinner, many of the “clients” find solace in transitional housing in nearby apartments or a local motel. And every morning they look for employment. A few of them, who continue to need help with housing, have jobs. And all of them, whether employed or not, are expected to give a little financially each month.
The “clients” of Project Touch are not self-serving. They are not looking for hand-outs. They are not “bums” or “whinos.” They want jobs. They want their homes back. They want their lives back. They are productive members of society, who refuse to allow society to cast them aside.
If we allow social media to become about maintaining images of ourselves, and not as a way to make this a better world, we’ve lost our humanity and allowed the machines to win.
If you don’t have a Google Plus profile, here are links to profiles of three notables I think use Google Plus well. Many notables haven’t delved too far into Google’s latest social networking site, and many more have scaled back their enthusiasm.
Mashable News – Mashable shares the most popular stories on Mashable, several channels where you can follow them, and articles they plus one-d.
Brian Solis – He shares news about Google Plus. He also did something interesting, in that he share the link to his Wikipedia page.
Sergey Brin – He shares his life in photos. Check out his Wikipedia page. The guy deserves a little fun.
People with Google Buzz accounts can get a head start on their Google Plus profiles. Whether or not you have a Google Plus account, you can follow people with Google Pus accounts. Once you have your Google Plus account, if you want to just follow people you can, or you will be able to add them as friends. Google’s new social networking site also integrates Twitter, so whatever you share on Twitter shows up in your Google Plus account in the Buzz tab.
Once you set up your Google Plus account, you will be able to choose if you want to restrict information you share to other just users, allow it to appear on mobile devices, or make it public for everyone to see on the Web. You will also be able to share your circles with other people or restrict visibility. And you will also be able to share articles people have posted to their Google Plus page.
If you’ve ever arrived at a store at 1:30 AM to try to make it to a 4 AM Black Friday sale, only to find a few hundred other people in front of you, chances are you encountered disappointment. Companies build hype by creating a need and giving consumers the illusion that a certain product will fulfill that need. Then, they only send the store five of that product, so as to create a sense of disappointment and jealousy when thousands of consumers aren’t able to fulfill that need. Google is building hype for Google Plus by rolling out invites to the chosen few.
Another thing Google is doing right is using a minimalist design, much like the Google homepage, to make it easier for people to navigate the site. Do you remember the first time you logged onto Facebook? Do you remember the sense of relief that you didn’t have to spend hours, feeling like a high school kid, trying to create the coolest Myspace profile with awesome graphics? Have you ever gotten frustrated at Facebook because you scroll through thousands of friends suggestions on an endless page, only to find just a few people you want to reconnect with?
Facebook may not have annoying graphics like Myspace, but it offers numerous pointless ways for people to waste time, and people are getting tired of feeling like they are mice in a the maze of Facebook.
Right now, Google Plus is The Fighter, analyzing Facebook’s footwork, along with its weaknesses and strengths, and strategizing how to deliver the blow-out punch. I think it just might send Facebook to the mat. Check out this video by LA Times tech reporter, Nathan Olivarez-Giles, on Google Plus and let me know your thoughts.
