Online publicity tools are the new lottery tickets for many authors and publishers.
At least that's what Mr. Obie Joe hears. According to a new survey -- www.publishingtrends.com/Publicity_Survey.html -- the majority of publicity efforts are going towards online. Blogs, web sites, podcasts, IM'ing, book trailers, widgets, e-mail campaigns, obsessive social networking, and so on and on. And on.
We've been fascinated with the scatter-shot approach people take to online promotion. Instead, try to saturate yourself on one format, or tool, and let a natural evolution take you to the next online tool. For example, get the blog going, generating copy regularly, and from there, see where else the content takes you. Perhaps to syndication. Then to the development of an e-mail list. Add tools specific to the blog: flickr for photos, vox for podcasts/songs, etc.
Mr. Obie Joe has seen too many online campaigns that flame bright, and go out quick because of the lack of coordination, the demands of the complex tools, or because the lack of response.
Doing any promotion online provides no guarantees or lottery pay-offs. Online promotion is like any other promotional tool: it takes finesse, attention and heavy lifting.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Are you ready for the gold rush?
In a recent accounting of online book sales, it was noted that, while Amazon continues to be the beast in online book sales, other sectors are catching up. Online book sales are increasing on publisher web sites, and on individual author web site (these books are not under the classification of self-published). According to a survey by Fairfield Research, the percentage of books bought online jumped from 23% to 30% last year.
Most of the new sales to publisher web sites were inspired by deep discounts. For author sites, purchases were made because the visitor came as a fan, and then decided to buy once reminded at, and after, the visit.
Interestingly, online sales were not found to cut into sales at independent bookstores, proving once again, that the independents make their sales not necessarily on price, but on relationships.
So this is all a reminder for Mr. Obie Joe to remind the authors: online sales are going to only increase, and it would be wise for authors and publishers to include their online in their promotion and marketing. And, no, we're not just talking about a flatlined web site, but a vibrant, updated regularly web site; blog participation on yours or theirs, and subject network searching.
Most of the new sales to publisher web sites were inspired by deep discounts. For author sites, purchases were made because the visitor came as a fan, and then decided to buy once reminded at, and after, the visit.
Interestingly, online sales were not found to cut into sales at independent bookstores, proving once again, that the independents make their sales not necessarily on price, but on relationships.
So this is all a reminder for Mr. Obie Joe to remind the authors: online sales are going to only increase, and it would be wise for authors and publishers to include their online in their promotion and marketing. And, no, we're not just talking about a flatlined web site, but a vibrant, updated regularly web site; blog participation on yours or theirs, and subject network searching.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Debbie's list
You know those annoying boxes that float across the screen when you first access a web site? Before you even get comfortable with becoming a regular fan of the site, or the author’s newsletters, you’re swatting away the chance.
Among publishers, author Debbie Macomber is a phenomenon. Yes, Macomber’s sales are to be reckoned with -- 150 titles and counting, a total in print more than 60 million -- Macomber’s fans for her books are loyal and numerous.
Equally legendary, though, is Macomber’s e-mail list. Its size is truly magnificent; last year, Macomber estimated the number of subscribers to her quarterly newsletters at over 100,000. Macomber treats the list as one of her most precious assets, and gifts a targeted version of the list to bookstores soon to feature her appearance.
Mr. Obie Joe invites you to take a look at www.debbiemacomber.com web site. See if you find the floating opt-in box. Or the flashing box. Nope. Instead, Macomber quietly places the sign-up in her Guestbook. And the sign-up questionnaire is quite extensive, all the better to take advantage of a reader’s particular interest.
One other thing? In one year, the sign-ups for debbiemacomber.com doubled. From 50K to 100K. Tell a friend, indeed.
Among publishers, author Debbie Macomber is a phenomenon. Yes, Macomber’s sales are to be reckoned with -- 150 titles and counting, a total in print more than 60 million -- Macomber’s fans for her books are loyal and numerous.
Equally legendary, though, is Macomber’s e-mail list. Its size is truly magnificent; last year, Macomber estimated the number of subscribers to her quarterly newsletters at over 100,000. Macomber treats the list as one of her most precious assets, and gifts a targeted version of the list to bookstores soon to feature her appearance.
Mr. Obie Joe invites you to take a look at www.debbiemacomber.com web site. See if you find the floating opt-in box. Or the flashing box. Nope. Instead, Macomber quietly places the sign-up in her Guestbook. And the sign-up questionnaire is quite extensive, all the better to take advantage of a reader’s particular interest.
One other thing? In one year, the sign-ups for debbiemacomber.com doubled. From 50K to 100K. Tell a friend, indeed.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Online press kits: the basics and more
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?
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?
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.
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