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Author Marketing Tip: You Tube

January 6th, 2009

As an author, you’re a master of the written word . So it may sound a bit odd to see an author marketing tip which instructs you to use the social networking online video site You Tube to promote – of all things – your BOOK! However, that’s exactly what Jen Lancaster has done in promoting her latest book : Such a Pretty Fat. Go ahead – type in the words “such a pretty fat” into Google and see what comes up. The YouTube video below is among the top results.

This video has been viewed more 50,000 times. Remember, author book marketing is a numbers game pure a simple. The more “target customers” you can expose to the existence of your book – the better your chances of selling more than a handful of copies.

The YouTube video is just one piece in the book marketing mix – but it’s been done extremely well. To begin with, the video is “tagged” properly – thus the fact that it comes up when you search the book’s title in Google. Had the BookVideos TV named the video “Jen Lancaster’s Fat Ass”, only her truly devoted fans would have found the video because Google wouldn’t have helped.

Remember, YouTube is among the top 5 sites on the internet. Create a YouTube video – tag it properly and you’ll find a piece of your book marketing materials gaining a page one placement with Google no matter HOW competitive the keywords are.

Many traditional publishing houses are just now beginning to discover the power of YouTube for book marketing. Even if you’re not signed with a major publishing house, there’s nothing to prevent you from using YouTube to promote YOUR book.

The blog Truemors reports that online video viewing is up 34%. Shouldn’t you have a video on YouTube to reach that growing audience?

If you have a face “made for radio” – then enlist the help of a video production company. Short on funds? Find an aspiring film student – or an aspiring animator. There are many wonderfully talented college students with time on their hands who are loaded with talent AND have a need to build a portfolio of work. I’m not saying you should ask them to work for free – but I am saying that it’s worth the time to find one of these “diamonds in the rough” to help you create your OWN YouTube author marketing tool!

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Posted in Amazon and POD publishers, Blog Basics, Easy Author Book Marketing, For the Writer, Selling Books, Successful Marketing Tactic, Web Site Basics for Authors, Writing as a Business

Tags: author marketing author marketing and you tube author marketing tip

Book Marketing: The Book Cover

August 6th, 2008

Yes Virginia, people DO judge a book by it’s cover. A great cover stops a book browser in his or her tracks during a lap around the local book superstore and makes the book browser want to learn more.

That is why one of the most difficult aspects of book marketing lies in the cover design. An effective book cover will stop a book browser in his or her tracks and then, through color, images and typography, entice the book browser to pick up the book and, dare we hope, buy the book. That’s a LOT to ask of a single image, but it’s what your book cover designer MUST be able achieve!

Over at Smashing Magazine, in the post Excellent Book Covers and Paperbacks

Book covers are hard to design and nice to look at. An effective book cover manages to catch human’s eye and convey the idea behind the book on one single page. However, it’s getting even harder: to make a book really hard to forget, designers need to design the cover in a unique, creative and striking way. That’s not that different from Web where it’s important to build a sound information architecture upon a rather restricted design layout.

The post includes a lot of “old school” book covers of best selling books from the past.

Charlie Johnson over at the Graphic Design Blog also has a great post on 12 Remarkable Book Covers – They Will Make You Grab the Book.

When I can’t say it better, I quote…. he writes:

An expressive cover page does not let the reader forget a book. Attractive book covers play an important part in making a person choose a book, while wandering in a bookstore looking for an interesting book.

It won’t be wrong to say that majority of people judge a book from its cover. These covers help the readers guess about the storyline of the book, so it needs to be attractive and revealing.

He then goes on to display 12 FANTASTIC book covers that would stop any book browser in his/her tracks.

If there’s anywhere in the book publishing process to try to save a buck or two, it isn’t in designing the cover!

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Posted in Easy Author Book Marketing, Marketing Basics for Authors, Selling Books, Successful Marketing Tactic

Tags: book covers book marketing covers great book covers

Promoting Your Book By Commenting on Blogs

May 7th, 2008

There are several experts in the area of author marketing who are advising authors to promote their work by leaving comments on other author’s blogs.

Leaving comments on other people’s blogs is a GREAT marketing tactic for authors. I call it “leaving a breadcrumb trail” back to your website because the goal is for the other person’s blog’s readers to see your pithy comment and want to learn MORE about you and your writing. So, the visitor clicks on your name in the comment, which if you filled out the URL box when you left the comment will leave to your website.

The question is… what will those visitors see when they get to YOUR website.

Going out and promoting your website is exactly what you should be doing as an author… the question is, what will visitors find when they get to your website?

Will those new potential book buyers find fresh, relevant content when they arrive at your website?

Will those people who found your blog comments interesting find your website equally engaging?

People really do judge a book by its cover… and before they even SEE your book’s cover, they may be seeing your website. It goes to follow that those visitors will judge your book by your website.

So before you go out and start promoting your book by posting comments on other people’s blogs… make sure your website is ready for company. Is the content current? Does it look professional? Do all the links work?

Promoting your book by commenting on other people’s blogs is a GREAT marketing tactic… just make sure that the website you’re using to sell your book is ready to do its job.