For all of its intrinsic benefits, it remains a surprise that there are not more web sites for authors and publishers with online press kits. Mr. Obie Joe knows many of the visitors are from media or venues, and for those sources, a downloadable or accessible press kit is essential for making that first contact with an author.
At the very least, place a button for a visitor to download the press release in Word or PDF format. If you want to really spruce up your online press kit, try these features:
• jpegs of book cover, author photo. Make sure the resolution is extra good so either can be used in newspapers, magazines and TV.
• Podcast of an author, or someone else talented, reading a particularly good section of the book. Increasingly Mr. Obie Joe is finding that podcasts serve as press releases of another type, particularly with listeners willing to test drive a book by voice rather than by pick-up in a bookstore.
• "E-mail to a friend" button so others can immediately share the text with a friend.
• Hyperlink to your site, and more importantly, the e-mail address for immediate follow-up.
• Opt-in box. Though most sites place opt-in boxes on their landing or splash page, include one here, too. This asks visitors to leave their e-mail address to receive news of your next event, or musing.
Mr. Obie Joe is sure there are more features to try out...what ones would you suggest?
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Make your own little world
Loved, loved, LOVED reading about the publicist at Atria who's constructed his own little world for promoting books. David Brown started another place for authors to shout their book: Dr. Blogstein's Radio Happy Hour debuted on BlogTalkRadio last year.
As galleycat.com says:
"The weekly internet radio program airs live each Tuesday night at 9:00 pm Eastern featuring guests from the worlds of books, movies, current events and music. He even has his own theme song performed by the Long Island Beatles cover band, The Moptops (if you listen carefully, you'll recognize its Dr Robert sped up). With mentions in Page Six, Hardball with Chris Matthews, and the Star Ledger, Brown's alter ego Dr Blogstein is making the news. "This is what I set off to do," says Brown. "The bigger I could make my show, the better venue I would have for my authors. No sense in having a tiny radio show, I want to build it up as big as I can get so they can benefit from it." And with guests like Niki Taylor, Dick Van Patten, Evander Holyfield and Shirley MacLaine, he's doing just that."
Mr. Obie Joe had one client who put her podcasts on a very well-trafficked Second City neighborhood. There are authors who put podcasts of their appearances, or just musings on their myspace pages, or blogs.
But this -- a media outlet all your own? Very cool.
As galleycat.com says:
"The weekly internet radio program airs live each Tuesday night at 9:00 pm Eastern featuring guests from the worlds of books, movies, current events and music. He even has his own theme song performed by the Long Island Beatles cover band, The Moptops (if you listen carefully, you'll recognize its Dr Robert sped up). With mentions in Page Six, Hardball with Chris Matthews, and the Star Ledger, Brown's alter ego Dr Blogstein is making the news. "This is what I set off to do," says Brown. "The bigger I could make my show, the better venue I would have for my authors. No sense in having a tiny radio show, I want to build it up as big as I can get so they can benefit from it." And with guests like Niki Taylor, Dick Van Patten, Evander Holyfield and Shirley MacLaine, he's doing just that."
Mr. Obie Joe had one client who put her podcasts on a very well-trafficked Second City neighborhood. There are authors who put podcasts of their appearances, or just musings on their myspace pages, or blogs.
But this -- a media outlet all your own? Very cool.
Message from New Orleans
Why can't all bookstores be like Octavia Books in New Orleans (www.octaviabooks.com)? Last week's visit to promote a new book about politics and jazz reminded us of the many wonderful qualities an independent bookstore can hold for authors, particularly new authors. Here's why Mr. Obie Joe thinks everything of Tom Lowenburg and everyone at Octavia:
• They publish news of the event in their newsletter (e-mail and print), in-store placard and e-mails to niche audiences.
• They send calendar listings to all local media (and this is not a slight task: New Orleans has the most independent magazines and newspapers Mr. Obie Joe has ever seen).
• During the event, they serve wine and cheese. Free drinks works wonders for an audience's enthusiasm.
• To wrap it up, Octavia Books has an excellent inventory accounting.
Octavia, like The Regulator in Durham and the Mystery Lovers in Pittsburgh amaze Mr. Obie Joe with their ease in booking dozens of events each month. There's the management challenge of that task, but more than that, it's simply wonderful their commitment to matching more audiences to authors.
• They publish news of the event in their newsletter (e-mail and print), in-store placard and e-mails to niche audiences.
• They send calendar listings to all local media (and this is not a slight task: New Orleans has the most independent magazines and newspapers Mr. Obie Joe has ever seen).
• During the event, they serve wine and cheese. Free drinks works wonders for an audience's enthusiasm.
• To wrap it up, Octavia Books has an excellent inventory accounting.
Octavia, like The Regulator in Durham and the Mystery Lovers in Pittsburgh amaze Mr. Obie Joe with their ease in booking dozens of events each month. There's the management challenge of that task, but more than that, it's simply wonderful their commitment to matching more audiences to authors.
How to send out the invites to the party
So you're heading for a new town, ready to invite one and all to your book signing, lecture, appearance. If you're an online savvy author, you've been collecting e-mail addresses from friends and family, work colleagues, and fans. Now you're ready to send an e-mail blast.
There are several formats:
• Constant Contact: Preferable if you already use this for your monthly newsletter. Plus CC manages your e-mail lists wonderfully, making it easy to segregate by geography for an appearance. The templates can be a bit limiting to spice up, though.
• Evite: One of Mr. Obie Joe's favs for ease of use, Evite is great for one-time use. Which can be a problem, because Evite does not save your e-mail lists; how many times do you want to type in e-mail addresses?
• Word PDF: Make your own invite! Using a Word file, type in the particulars, add a .jpeg or two, and then save the file as one of two formats: 1) Mail PDF (under the Print function) or a regular Word document that you will cut and paste to a regular e-mail. Then use AddressBook to import the relevant e-mail list needed for the invite.
There are several formats:
• Constant Contact: Preferable if you already use this for your monthly newsletter. Plus CC manages your e-mail lists wonderfully, making it easy to segregate by geography for an appearance. The templates can be a bit limiting to spice up, though.
• Evite: One of Mr. Obie Joe's favs for ease of use, Evite is great for one-time use. Which can be a problem, because Evite does not save your e-mail lists; how many times do you want to type in e-mail addresses?
• Word PDF: Make your own invite! Using a Word file, type in the particulars, add a .jpeg or two, and then save the file as one of two formats: 1) Mail PDF (under the Print function) or a regular Word document that you will cut and paste to a regular e-mail. Then use AddressBook to import the relevant e-mail list needed for the invite.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
A blog's no one home
As authors are increasingly encouraged to use blogs for book reviews, interviews and other coverage on their book tours, there is the question of what to do when no one is home on the blog.
The more popular the blog, the less likely there is an e-mail address for an author to send a pitch. Even more challenging are the blogs that only allow episodic, if at all, comments (i.e., www.dooce.com).
There are ways to send a message. First, for the blogs with no e-mail address, send comments. Get known by the community of this blog. Often, the comments can have the same resonance and readership as an essay or review, so make your comment well done.
But for the blog with closed comments, google the name of the blog and author for other places where his or her address can be discerned.
The more popular the blog, the less likely there is an e-mail address for an author to send a pitch. Even more challenging are the blogs that only allow episodic, if at all, comments (i.e., www.dooce.com).
There are ways to send a message. First, for the blogs with no e-mail address, send comments. Get known by the community of this blog. Often, the comments can have the same resonance and readership as an essay or review, so make your comment well done.
But for the blog with closed comments, google the name of the blog and author for other places where his or her address can be discerned.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Codes, passwords
Mr. Obie Joe is willing to bet that many publicists are well on the vanguard of fighting Alzheimer's Disease. If remembering sets of numbers and letters, repeatedly, yet without connection, is a memory booster, than any publicist even lightly enmeshed in online publicity is covered.
Just this week Mr. Obie Joe and the missus calculated the number of usernames and passwords for our clients needed for sites like Amazon; Shelfari; MySpace; FaceBook; B&N; and the numerous other author blogs and web sites.
About 45. Is it any wonder why the password of "abc123" is so popular?
Just this week Mr. Obie Joe and the missus calculated the number of usernames and passwords for our clients needed for sites like Amazon; Shelfari; MySpace; FaceBook; B&N; and the numerous other author blogs and web sites.
About 45. Is it any wonder why the password of "abc123" is so popular?
Taking a bit of your fans home with you
Before heading out for your book reading/signing/performance/panel discussion or whatever, make sure to pack your Sign-In Sheet.
What's a Sign-In Sheet you say? Whether it's a clipboard with a single sheet, a spiral bound notebook, or an Leeds officially sanctioned and ruled ledger, the Sign-In Sheet asks audience participants to leave their name and e-mail address. Some authors also ask for mailing addresses, but most have found that to be unnecessary. The e-mail addresses are what you want, as you send out news of your next appearance, essay or project to people who already like you. And who already are interesting in forwarding the e-mail to their friends to tell them about you.
There's some controversy as to where to place the Sign-In Sheet at an event. Some authors discreetly place it at the back of the room, with the hopes audience members will take the hint. Other authors place it on the signing table, as the author signs your book, you're told to sign your name, too. Possibly the most aggressive method witnessed by Mr. Obie Joe included a publicist walking up and down the aisle getting people's names.
We recommend a combination: at the reading's conclusion, tell people to please sign the Sheet at the back of the room, or on the table.
Because a connection this magical should never end with just one evening.
What's a Sign-In Sheet you say? Whether it's a clipboard with a single sheet, a spiral bound notebook, or an Leeds officially sanctioned and ruled ledger, the Sign-In Sheet asks audience participants to leave their name and e-mail address. Some authors also ask for mailing addresses, but most have found that to be unnecessary. The e-mail addresses are what you want, as you send out news of your next appearance, essay or project to people who already like you. And who already are interesting in forwarding the e-mail to their friends to tell them about you.
There's some controversy as to where to place the Sign-In Sheet at an event. Some authors discreetly place it at the back of the room, with the hopes audience members will take the hint. Other authors place it on the signing table, as the author signs your book, you're told to sign your name, too. Possibly the most aggressive method witnessed by Mr. Obie Joe included a publicist walking up and down the aisle getting people's names.
We recommend a combination: at the reading's conclusion, tell people to please sign the Sheet at the back of the room, or on the table.
Because a connection this magical should never end with just one evening.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Hate/Love Book Trailers
Mr. Obie Joe collectively, for he/she is more than one, have a hate/love relationship with book trailers. Most of them -- as in the majority -- are forgettable because:
• The production values are hideous. If it's not bad lighting or jittery editing, the music is muzak and the featured author uncoached.
• The story being told -- usually of why this author wrote the book -- lacks drama.
• There's no real point to it; the trailer introduces the author, talks about the book, and that's it.
Plus, if we see one more book trailer with shots of the author writing and thinking, well...
Then we saw this new trailer: www.chipkidd.com Chip, wonder man, we want you. We want you to design, write, promote a book for us anytime.
Now, note his book trailer says nothing really of relevance to the book or the man, but damn, if it doesn't make you want to buy the man. Uh, the book. Totally, the book.
• The production values are hideous. If it's not bad lighting or jittery editing, the music is muzak and the featured author uncoached.
• The story being told -- usually of why this author wrote the book -- lacks drama.
• There's no real point to it; the trailer introduces the author, talks about the book, and that's it.
Plus, if we see one more book trailer with shots of the author writing and thinking, well...
Then we saw this new trailer: www.chipkidd.com Chip, wonder man, we want you. We want you to design, write, promote a book for us anytime.
Now, note his book trailer says nothing really of relevance to the book or the man, but damn, if it doesn't make you want to buy the man. Uh, the book. Totally, the book.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Serious conversation about serious black lit
A book is about an idea. Sometimes about one person's idea, but more often, a book contains ideas derived from conversations from dozens.
For black-identified literature -- meaning, books inspired by the black experience -- Mr. Obie Joe has sought to participate in more conversations. Frankly, it's been a tough going; there's not enough of it, and much of it feels confined to arch categories.
That's one reason the Mr. Joe is very happy to hear of the ringShout blog. The kick-off party was just a few weeks ago. Led by novelist Martha Southgate, the group of book sellers, writers and publishers hope to move the conversation in many ways, including a booklist, reviews, and tool kit for authors. (Thanks to fellow Baltimorean Felicia Pride for the tip).
The content is a bit light right now, so just bookmark the site and check back: www.ringshout.blogspot.com
For black-identified literature -- meaning, books inspired by the black experience -- Mr. Obie Joe has sought to participate in more conversations. Frankly, it's been a tough going; there's not enough of it, and much of it feels confined to arch categories.
That's one reason the Mr. Joe is very happy to hear of the ringShout blog. The kick-off party was just a few weeks ago. Led by novelist Martha Southgate, the group of book sellers, writers and publishers hope to move the conversation in many ways, including a booklist, reviews, and tool kit for authors. (Thanks to fellow Baltimorean Felicia Pride for the tip).
The content is a bit light right now, so just bookmark the site and check back: www.ringshout.blogspot.com
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Who knows your book better?
Of course, a decent book publicist reads a client's book. Preferably before signing the employment contract...
So, if you, as the author, ask your publicist to pick out the best quotes or excerpts from your book, you might expect a bit of hesitation. Sure, a publicist knows your book, and what the market wants, particularly for matching an excerpt to the publication.
But, really, who knows your book better than you? Why would you want the task of picking the quotes and/or excerpts to go to anyone else but the person who wrote it?
So, if you, as the author, ask your publicist to pick out the best quotes or excerpts from your book, you might expect a bit of hesitation. Sure, a publicist knows your book, and what the market wants, particularly for matching an excerpt to the publication.
But, really, who knows your book better than you? Why would you want the task of picking the quotes and/or excerpts to go to anyone else but the person who wrote it?
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