ROBIN LEIGH MORGAN'S PROMOTIONAL/MARKETING IDEAS #18

Getting a review for a book you’ve written is great, however it’s really only useful if someone goes to Amazon; you really it to get those reviews out into internet world.

 

If someone you know happens to write a review for any book you’ve published, have them post a link to that review on their FaceBook or Twitter accounts, and a posting of it on GoodReads or Library Thing.

 

You can also publish links to those reviews on your site which you feel are really great.

Robin Leigh Morgan's Promotional/Marketing Idea # 17

All of us who are authors tend in write in a genre in which we feel the most comfortable, that's a given, and for me the genre is romance. However when we decided to do any promotions or marketing for a book we've written most of us tend to look for venues which would give us the biggest audience for whatever we're doing. While this might seem good in reality most of that audience might not be interested in what we've got to offer. The better solution is to seek out those ventures which offer an audience as close as to the audience our book[s] have been written for that we can get.

ROBIN LEIGH MORGAN'S PROMOTIONAL/MARKETING IDEA # 16

 

This is a useful idea, but only if you’re fortunate to have the necessary funds to do advertisements on the internet. One place to go is FaceBook. Although they might be somewhat overpriced, they can be wonderfully aimed towards a specific age group or gender, they can be geographically target [like the main location for your book. such as the South], they can be targeted for individuals who share a particular interest such as liking to read Paranormal romances, etc.

 

ROBIN LEIGH MORGAN'S MARKETING/PROMOTIONAL IDEA #15

Go to your local bookstore and offer to do a book signing event. Advice the owner that you’ll bring the copies of the books and that he doesn’t have to buy any prior to the event.


Work out a reasonable financial arrangement where you make a fair profit [remember you’ve bought copies of your at a greatly reduced price].


Remember to get their sales tax ID # as you need to report all income from the sales of your books on your tax return each year, including the sales tax you’re supposed to collect on each book sold. You don’t charge sales tax to books sold to retailer, point of final sale; which gets listed on the non-taxable sales when you pay the sales tax you’ve collected for the books you sole. Of course you’ll need to give the bookstore owner your tax id as well, but check with your local tax department to find out the official rules.


[see marketing idea #3 for more information on this topic]


At the end of the event ask the owner if they’d like to buy a few extra signed copies to keep on hand.
 

ROBIN LEIGH MORGAN'S MARKETING/PROMOTIONAL IDEA # 14

You can post entries from your blog posts or other items on Reddit.com.

Reddit is one of those sites you could get a lot of traffic from. However, in order for this to occur you need to keep two things in mind.

1 – Make sure you’re posting your entry for Reddit into the appropriate group, or what is called on their site a “SubReddit.”

2 – Never over-promote an item otherwise or you will hear it from other users of the Reddit community in quite negative terms.

ROBIN LEIGH MORGAN'S MARKETING/PROMOTIONAL IDEA # 13

Depending on your genre try giving book readings/book talks at schools, libraries, companies and local organizations, etc where individuals might benefit from what your book has to offer. Naturally, be sure to have copies of your book with you.

 

ROBIN LEIGH MORGAN'S MARKETING/PROMOTIONAL IDEA # 12

If you have the funds you can take out an ad for your book in a newspaper. Naturally big city newspapers will cost more than ones in a smaller local. You should remember ads which are placed on the internet usually get a better response since no one really wants to be bothered having to go on the internet and type in your book’s link[s]; all they need to is to click on the link in the on-line ad.  

ROBIN LEIGH MORGAN'S MARKETING/PROMOTIONAL IDEA # 11

Book clubs and similar entities can help you to sell several books a time. You can try using Meetup.com and other sites to find the book clubs in your area; once you do, I first would contact the group’s organizer so you can introduce yourself and naturally your book[s].

ROBIN LEIGH MORGAN'S MARKETING / PROMOTIONAL IDEA # 11

One way of attracting a more people for your book during a book signing event you might be planning is to get together with 8-10 other writers in your area. Tell them everyone could benefit from doing this since their collaboration for the event usually draws a larger audience of potential buyers, it might also get some media attention if they know about it in advance. During the event you might even consider cross-promoting each other’s book.

There’s a hidden advantage in doing a group event like this, it’s far less intimidating doing it as a team!

ROBIN LEIGH MORGAN'S MARKETING/PROMOTIONAL IDEA #10

Here’s a relatively simple idea, one which you probably totally forgot. I know I did until I received it in the mail since the last idea I posted here.

What is it?

Why, it’s the college alumni newsletter/magazine you get from time to time in the mail. If you didn’t go to college it might be your high school; that’s provided they had an alumni association and you’ve joined it.

Alumni associations love to hear about what you’ve been up to, especially if you’ve achieved doing something vital or interesting. Don’t you think having a book published would be considered to be one of these things?

Your fellow alumni might buy a copy of what you’ve written, simply because your one of them.

The best thing about this I idea is that the only cost involved is the time you’ll spend contacting them; and then working with them if they choose to write about you and your book[s].

And if by chance, you’re active in a union they would likewise be interested in what a brother/sister member is what to. If your union has a retiree association, join it and let them know.

This can also apply to anyone who works or had worked for a large company with an employee newsletter/magazine.

My union’s retirees association just had their annual luncheon this past week which I went to, sans my dear OH. There they announced if you’re doing anything interesting to let them know.

I’m definitely doing both of these items in the coming week.

So why don’t you consider doing them as well?

ROBIN LEIGH MORGAN'S MARKETING/PROMOTIONAL IDEA # 9

If you’re the type of person who loves to or doesn’t mind speaking in front of people, unfortunately I’m not; you can offer to speak to organizations which deal with the topic of your book.

You can also try to contact your local radio or cable station to see if they would be interested in interviewing you. This is great for people like myself who like actually speaking in front of an audience; but like myself, will still know there’s hundreds of people listening to us in the back of our minds.

ROBIN LEIGH MORGAN'S MARKETING/PROMOTIONAL IDEA # 8

One way of getting some exposure for yourself and your writing endeavors is to simply enter writing contests or do a submission for an anthology or magazine. I’ve done both.

I had entered the SFWG [Short Fiction Writer’s Guild] 2014 Flash Fiction Contest and won THIRD PLACE.

https://shortfictionwritersguild.wordpress.com/2015/01/15/sfwg-2014-flash-fiction-contest-results/

If you click on my name you’re directed to Amazon and the two books I’ve written.  I’m trying to a link so you can read my winning entry.

I also did a submission for the premiere issue of The Greenwich Village Literary Review and it got accepted for publication. You can read my submission here:

http://tinyurl.com/pvkxyu7

Scroll down to Page 61

While the first item I’ve listed above produced no results, I noticed a slight uptick in the sales of my MG/YA Paranormal romance “I Kissed a Ghost” shortly afterwards.

While neither one of these items had cost me any money or paid me any money, there are some that do. The choice of whether or not to pay any money is up to you. You’ll need to decide for yourself whether or not it be would worth the cost.

ROBIN LEIGH MORGAN'S MARKETING/PROMOTIONAL IDEA # 7

In my last Marketing/Promotional tip I had spoken about how you might be able to get yourself exposure to a new audience of potential readers; by getting interview on other sites.

Practically all of us should be familiar with

ACTS 20:35  It’s better to give than receive.

And

LUKE 6:38 NIV Give, and it will be given to you.

MATTHEW 7:12 NIV Do to others what you would have them do to you.

For all practical purposes these two quotes can easily be applied to this subject matter. I saying this because I’ve found it many cases this has been proven to be true.

Depending on how adept you are in doing what it takes to produce a decent interview and presentation of the interview it might take a bit of time. And although you weren’t asked about it a nice gesture would be to offer the individual who had interviewed you a interview in return. This can also be applied when you’ve been given an opportunity to do a guest blog post or having a book you’ve written being profiled/spotlighted.

If you’re going to do an interview you’ll want to create one where those reading it will get to know something about the author, a book they’ve written, and a few things about their writing.

In my last status report I mention that I’m planning to return in about in two weeks to something I used to do and had enjoyed doing it; which is interviewing authors on my blog here and on WordPress.

I found/updated the list of questions I’ll using when I start interviewing authors again.  Here’s the list and if you’re interested in starting to interview authors yourself you’re free to use this list; and feel free to make any changes so the list will be something you’ll feel comfortable in using.

Please introduce yourself.

Tell us about your latest published novel.

Can you give us an excerpt from one of your favorite scenes in your latest novel?

In your latest novel, who’s your favorite character male/female? Tell us why.

What was the inspiration for your latest novel?

How did you decide on the title for the book?

Do you have any current writing endeavors? What are they?

Do you consider yourself to be a plotter or a pantser?

What made you decide to become an author?

Do you have a schedule for the amount of time to write, write/answer emails, and market/promote your book[s]?

Do you read books outside the genre you write in? What are they?

What must you have around you when you write; food, drink, music, etc?

When you were an aspiring author you needed advice, what advice would you give to an aspiring author in those shoes today?

If there’s anything else you’d like to briefly tell us about your book, your writing, or yourself.

GENERAL_INFORMATION

Where can we find your book?

Where can we find you on:

BLOG:

FACEBOOK:
GOODREADS:
TWITTER:

Are there any other internet sites would you like to tell us about?

As separate attachments please include the cover for your book, and a photo you would everyone to identify you with?

THANKS for your time in allowing me to interview you.

I won’t be advertising my return to interviewing for two weeks so as one of my followers if you’re interested in interviewing me I’ll be happy to return the gesture with a choice between an interview, book spotlight/profile or a guest blog post.

ROBIN LEIGH MORGAN'S MARKETING/PROMOTIONAL IDEA # 6

I’ve so much wanted to do these posts on a weekly basis, but with things being the way they are, this didn’t come to pass. From this point going forwards I’m still going to post them but on a somewhat irregular basis.

One way to get additional exposure is to make yourself available for author interviews, guest posts of something you’ve written on a topic regarding something related to writing of the marketing/promotion of books.

If you’ve gotten accepted to be interviewed be prepared to answer questions which dwell into your background, books you’ve published, current projects, etc.  Don’t be afraid to answer questions honestly as the followers for the blog you’re being interviewed for are eager to learn more about you and the other individuals being interviewed.

Many times those doing the interview will give you a set of questions and then allow you to selection a certain number of them to answer; in addition, they might allow you to ask a question and then answer it yourself.

Since many of the questions being asked in interviews are asked over and over again, the best thing to do is to have these answers in a WORD Document and then copy/paste them any time that question has been asked.

You should also have available a copy of your book’s cover and a headshot readily available so they can be pasted into your interview. In addition, try to have a document file which lists all of the links to your sites you’d like to have others contact you.

While I do have a listing of my links, I’m also on a site where I have all the information I want others to have about me consolidated in one place, which I can easily update. If you’re interested in seeing my site for this, you’re welcomed to check out:

http://www.about.me/rlmorgan51

If anyone is interesting in interviewing me or would like me to do a guest blog regarding my transition from writing non-fiction commentaries for a community newspaper to the writing of my first novel, a MG/YA Paranormal romance novel entitled “I Kissed a Ghost,” please feel free to contact me, and I’ll response as soon as I can [within 24 hours].

ROBIN LEIGH MORGAN'S THURSDAY MARKETING/PROMOTION IDEA # 5

You’re interested in getting the word out to a MASSIVE AMOUNT of individuals all at the same time. Despite how proficient you might be it’s a monumental task which will take an equal amount of time, more time than you’d want to take, especially if you’re interested in reaching a new audience.

These days we’re in luck THANKS to http://www.thunderclap.it/en.

At THUNDERCLAP.it you tell people about yourself, your project [ie promoting your book] and other information all in attempt to garner enough support so your message will be sent out. If you fail to reach your goal of 100, 250, or 500 supporters, you’re message doesn’t get sent out.  If you’re successful it will be sent out to everyone               who is following your supports on: FaceBook, Twittter, and Tumbler.

To see what a Thunderclap campaign looks like after you’ve set it up and it gets approved, I would appreciate your kind support in the one I currently have running

https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/40478-got-3-wips-waiting-to-be-born

 

Remember:  Knowledge is USELESS unless it is SHARED !!!

 

Until next time have a GREAT WEEKEND with your family and a GREAT WEEK with whatever you do !!!  :-) :-) :-)

ROBIN LEIGH MORGAN'S THURSDAY MARKETING/PROMOTION IDEA # 4

As you give so shall you receive; powerful words and quite true when it comes to promoting your book[s]. That is why I want to expand at what I had given as an idea last time. Seek out a 501c3 charity where you can offer to do a book signing and would be giving them a dollar for each book you sell. And depending on your generosity you can say that you’ll also be giving them a portion of your royalties that you receive for the month of _____. 

The best time to do this is when they’re having some sort of event where a book signing would fit in. Depending on the circumstances the organization might post something about your donation on their web site. If you’re lucky the event might have some media coverage and if they interview you, mention your royalty donation. And then who knows what might happen next. The portion of your royalties doesn’t have to be a lot, even 5% I feel would be acceptable. You might consider rounding up the percentage to round off your donation. Remember to keep your documentation as the donation might be used as a business expense and therefore deductible

ROBIN LEIGH MORGAN'S THURSDAY MARKETING/PROMOTION IDEA # 3

One way of getting some attention regarding your book is to get something written about yourself in a newspaper. It is here where those of you who live in a town, especially a small town, have an advantage of us city dwellers. Small town newspapers tend to love to write about their residents, and even more so when it comes to revealing a neighbor has published a book.

The downside of this is usually the why didn’t you tell me about your publishing a book before, I thought we were friends. Most times, I believe, this would have been caused by the other individual’s sheer jealousy, so be prepared.

One of the best ways to get this done is to have this infoation released in conjunction with you doing a book signing at the town’s public library where you’ll be donating a portion of each sale to the library.

If your book has been published by a publishing house contact them to see if they would be interested in working with you on this endeavor. Otherwise, skip the book signing and just allow your local newspaper to write an article about you.

If you’re self-published, like most of us are set-up your own timetable.  Contact your library, and if they agree to your book signing, tell them not to say anything until you’re ready to do it. This will allow you time to order your books.

Remember, if you’re selling copies of your book, you’ll need to collect sales tax on each sale.  To make it easier on yourself, and to avoid having to handle coins, raise the price to the next whole dollar and divide by your tax rate. Now sell the book at this new price and add back in the sales tax

Example:

List Price: $ 9.95

Whole Dollar: $ 10.00
Divide by Tax Rate: 7.50 %  [$10.00/1.0750] = $ 9.30

Selling Price: $9.30

Sales Tax 7.50 %  = $ 0.6975
Total:  $ 9.9975  or $ 10.00

NOTE :

You’ll need to check with your state’s tax laws regarding this matter before proceeding.

If you’re self-published like I am, then you’ve already learned writing the book was the easy part. Now you’ve got to promote/market it, and you’ll have a lot of hurdles you’ll have to jump to over and to make sure you’re doing it right; which is why I’ve decided to share some maketing/promotional ideas I’ve picked up along the way.

 

 

ROBIN LEIGH MORGAN'S THURSDAY MARKETING/PROMOTION IDEA # 2

I know today’s not Thursday but if you’ve read my recent STATUS REPORT you’ll know and can understand why.

Regardless of what your religion might be we’ve all heard of “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

This, I feel, is especially for those of us who are authors. We’re usually, if not always, looking for ways to get the word out that our book[s] exist. We’d love to have others help us in this quest, but how many of us are willing to do the same for others.

In my quest to do this I searched the internet to find individuals who share this similar desire. I found a wonderful site [Rave Reviews by Nonnie Jules] just over two years ago. Prior to what’s been happening in my life since last March I had been quite active on this site. But as my participation diminished because of this, I noticed a reciprocal decline in getting the existence of my books disseminated out into the world.

When I originally joined this site it was free. Now there’s a charge of $25 for author-members, and $10 for readers. Here’s the link to this site so you can check it out for yourselves to see if this is something you might be interested in. If you do decide to join please mention my name, Robin Leigh Morgan [as if you didn’t know it already]

https://ravereviewsbynonniejules.wordpress.com/join-here

 

ROBIN LEIGH MORGAN'S THURSDAY MARKETING/PROMOTION IDEA # 1

Hi Guys

If everything really beginning to settle down in my life, especially when it concerns my dear OH I’ve decided to share my knowledge of marketing ideas with my blog followers.

Practically everyone knows about the two accounts you can have on FaceBook, one is the regular one and the second is Fan based.

And there’s even more individuals who use Twitter to transmit brief messages regarding something they feel is important.

One of the most important things I feel we as authors [this also applies to anyone else] are always interested in doing is to let others know something about who we are in a quick and concise manner; and also be able to update it quickly and easily.

In order to accomplish this I added About.me to my Twitter account. You need to set up your About.me account before you can have it linked to your Twitter account.

If you’re interested in knowing what I’m talking about you’re invited to check out my Twitter account:

http://www.twitter.com/mypennameonly

The link is located on the left right below my location.