Facebook Parties (how they can help you meet readers)

copyright 2015 aplazar

 
Before I met my publicist, the amazing Aileen Aroma, I had no idea what Facebook “parties” were. I’d get “invitations” in the mail and scratch my head. Where am I supposed to “go” in this virtual world? How can I go to a party by sitting at my desk? I was so confused.

Then I hired Aileen to represent me, and she opened up the world by explaining this and a million other mysteries about Facebook. Yes, I really was behind the times before she took my hand and led me into the present day.

A party is officially called an “event” on Facebook.

Once you set up the party, it’s important to invite your Facebook friends and ask them to invite their friends. But you must be careful how many people you invite in a day (I limit it to fifteen per day) and in total. So be sure to schedule the event at least two weeks in advance, if not longer. NOTE: Don’t automatically invite all your friends, or Facebook will put you in Facebook jail and not let you invite people for a while. That happened to me, before I learned my lesson.

You will have to explain what a “party” is to your friends who haven’t heard about events like this. Tell them it’s sort of like a live chat on a special time and day. As an attendee, you don’t have to sit around for the whole timeframe if you’re busy, you can pop in and out of the event as you wish. As the host, you must prepare to be available and active the whole time.

You can have “book release” parties, “cover reveal” parties, or “special” parties to showcase a deal or freebie. I’ve been part of the first two many times, with Aileen Aroma hosting the event. She keeps it lively, posting pictures of beverages or delicious foods, adding music that matches the book’s theme, and basically keeping folks active if they slow down.

Your part, as author, is to be prepared with synopses, free excerpts, cover art, links to Amazon, etc. But that’s just the start. You want to engage these folks, get them to know you and (hopefully) love you, and maybe even check out your books.

I often post questions for folks to comment on, like “Did you go to Woodstock?” or “Who’s been to Cape Cod?” or “What do you like in your romantic male characters?” or “Who can find the cutest picture of a dog?” etc.

One of the most popular pieces of my events have been the giveaways. I give eBooks and audiobooks away like a madman. I post up to twenty “contests” during the event for prizes, and most of the time the question they have to answer has to do with my series. For example: “Prize Alert! A free copy of The Seacroft eBook to the first three people to name the series this book comes from.”

Folks will scurry around, look for your website (which you already should have given them, up front, of course), check out your Amazon Author Page, etc. Once the first three people answer correctly, your host (or you) will post a “contest closed” message so they’ll stop answering that question. And so on, and so on. Keep it going. And make sure you post the best prizes for the last half hour or so.

How long should the event be? I’ve seen them go for days or hours. Lately I’ve chosen to have mine from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, or something along those lines. You can also have evening events, where you might get more people who have day jobs to participate.

When it’s all said and done, you may give away over a dozen eBooks. Do it strategically, and if your fans or new readers fall for your book, then will likely want to read the next in your series. That’s what happened to me with plenty of my Facebook friends. I just love the energy and fun that surrounds such an event, and can’t wait for my next one!

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Aaron Paul Lazar is obsessed with writing. He's completed twenty-four books to date, and has earned nineteen literary book awards. He writes mysteries, suspense, love stories, and more. You'll usually find him writing his heart out in the early hours of the day - preferably in the dark, quiet hours when no one else is awake in his bustling household.         

“Addictive, award-winning fiction.” 

Lazarbooks.com

LEGARDE MYSTERIES

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12 Ways to Create a Mailing List that Will Sell Books

The following is a reprint from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com

We've all heard this: capture email addresses on your website so you can market to them again. So we capture email addresses and then we wonder what to do with them. What if you don't really have news? Do you mail the list anyway? How can I monetize my list and how much is too much?

We've had The Book Marketing Expert Newsletter for over eight years now and the newsletter, bursting in content, is one of the best promotional tools my company has. We've never done a single piece of advertisement for my firm, all of it has come from word of mouth, online, and our newsletter.

The key to a good newsletter list is simple really and the biggest piece of this is you've got to have something useful to say. While your friends and family might enjoy hearing about your latest book signing, people who happened onto your site and subscribed to your ezine might become bored with this information and unsubscribe. If you have a list or are considering starting one, consider these tips to get you going and help you maximize your newsletter.

1. Timing: How often you send the newsletter will really depend on your crowd but I don't recommend anything less than once a month. I know some people who send a quarterly newsletter and that's fine if you don't really have much to say, but if you're looking for content so you can send the newsletter more, then read on, I have some ideas and ways of maximizing the use of content for your newsletter.

2. Distribution: How will you send your newsletter? If your plan is to email it forget it unless you have less than 100 subscribers. Anything over that and you should consider using a service like Aweber or Constant Contact. These places will handle your subscribed and unsubscribes for you. If you start mailing to a list larger than 50 from your email service, you run the risk of getting shut down for spam.

3. Easy Opt In: Make it easy for people to sign up. Make sure there's a sign up on your website, preferably the home page and then a mention of it again on your most popular page which, for most of us, is our blog. The opt-in will take new subscribers to your welcome page (which we'll talk about in a minute) and handle sending your new readers right into the mailing list.

4. Ethical Bribe: So what will you give readers to get their email? It might not be enough just to tout that you have this fabulous newsletter, in fact often it isn't. Having something that they'll want, a key item, e-book, tip sheet whatever will entice readers to sign up for your newsletter. Here's a hint: give them something they'll have to keep referring to again and again so that your name and book stays in front of them.

5. Free: There are some folks in the industry who try to charge for their newsletter. Listen, I get it. A newsletter is a lot of work but if done properly, it is a key promotional tool and therefore, should be free. Magazines can charge for subscriptions, you can't. Make it free. Don't even put a value on it. I know folks who do this too. I think the value of the newsletter should be evident in its content, not in the price you chose to put on it.

6. Welcome pages: After someone signs up for your newsletter, what will they see? A simple thank you page on your website is a waste of an opportunity. Make sure there is a welcome page that shares their freebie (the ethical bribe) and tells them about one or two of your products. It's also a great idea to offer a special on this welcome page as a "thank you" for signing up to your mailing list.

7. Check your facts: The quickest way to lose subscribers is to publish a newsletter full of factual mistakes. Do your fact and link checking prior to it going out. Seriously. It's important not just to the credibility of your newsletter, but to you as well. I mean who wants to buy something from someone who can't even be bothered to check their facts? Also, please get your newsletter edited. I've seen some newsletter with a disclaimer that they are unedited. If you aren't an editor and can't afford one, see if you can get it done for free and then blurb the person in your newsletter as a way to reciprocate. Remember, everything is your resume. Would you send a CV to a potential employer that was full of typos. I didn't think so.

8. Promote: This is key because once you decide to do a newsletter you'll want to promote it. You can do so by adding it to your signature line in email (sign up for my newsletter and get something), you should also never go to a book event without a signup sheet, and add your newsletter info to the byline of any article you write that gets syndicated online.

9. Collaborate: If you're strapped for content and time, why not open up your newsletter to other collaborators? Our newsletter, The Book Marketing Expert, is a collaboration of a lot of voices. We have publishing tips, web site tips, social media tips, and the main article. It's a great way to let others have a voice in your newsletter which helps to promote them and the best part of this is that if you have a collaborative newsletter you can all promote it to the different people you touch in your travels. This will help increase your sign up exponentially because you're hitting that many more people. Your collaborators should be in the industry, but specializing in different areas. This will give your newsletter the flavor and interest it needs. Don't worry about sharing your newsletter space with others, we've done it this way for years and it's a great way to build lots of useful content.

10. Be generous: Give lots of good information. By giving away good information people will want to read it, when they read it you will build a readership and loyal following, not just for your newsletter but your books and products as well.

11. Balance: The key to a good newsletter that will not only get read, but passed along is balance. By this I mean balance giving with selling. My general rule of thumb is 95% helpful information and 5% selling, while that number may seem low trust me, this is a great balance and yes, you can offer specials, and offers to your readers but that's the 5%.

12. Content creation: While it may seem daunting to have to write content for a newsletter every month or every two weeks, you can use and reuse this content because not everyone will find you in the same place. What I mean by this is that some folks will find you on your blog, others might find you on Twitter and still others will find you by searching online and happen on an article you've syndicated. Once I create content for The Book Marketing Expert Newsletter that content is then redistributed and reused in places like our blog, my Twitter account (@bookgal) our Facebook Fan Page http://www.facebook.com/bookmarketingame?ref=ts  or on my page at The Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/penny-c-sansevieri.  Use and reuse your content, though not too much. I generally will use my articles in one or two other places and that's it, but the point is they can be used again.

The idea behind a good newsletter is one that not only brings your readers in but keeps them in. It's the marketing funnel we marketing people love to talk about so much, once you get someone to sign up, stay on their radar screen with helpful content. Once you do, you'll find not only loyal readers, but loyal buyers as well.

Shared by:
Marta Stephens writes crime mystery/suspense. Her books are available online at familiar shops such as all the Amazons, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books-a-Million, and Powells. Other locations include, but are not limited to those listed on her website.

THE DEVIL CAN WAIT (2008), Bronze Medal Finalist, 2009 IPPY Awards, Top Ten, 2008 Preditors and Editors Reader Poll (mystery).
ISBN: 978-1-905202-886-7
Tradebook: $15.99
E-book: $9.00 from Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7821
  
SILENCED CRY (2007) Honorable Mention, 2008 New York Book Festival, Top Ten, 2007 Preditors and Editors Reader Poll (mystery).
ISBN: 798-1-905202-72-0
Tradebook: $15.50
E-book: $9.00 from Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7812


Personal site: www.martastephens-author.com
Personal blog: http://mstephens-musings.blogspot.com 

"Life's too Uncertain, Eat your Dessert First"

Book Promotion on a Budget

Things I wish I’d known before I started out on the published author's trail, by Barry Eva

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As all writers know there are many places on the web that offer you various services to help you become the “next best-selling author”, and while many are there to help you, some are just there to make as much money as possible from any unsuspecting author.

Plenty of places are out there, plenty of emails, and contacts come your way. However, before you jump on the sometime costly bandwagon, just see what is there for perhaps less money or with a better service.

See what the best “BANG FOR YOUR BUCK” might be.

BEFORE YOU START:

Before you go anywhere remember these words….

Marketing and Pr doesn’t sell books - it gets you exposure!

As one of my fellow bloggers and radio hosts put it today…

Publicity=exposure
Exposure=name recognition
Name recognition MAY equal book sales

Don’t think that just because you have your book being published you will be the next J.K Rowling. There are not that many authors out there who actually make a living from their books. So in other words:

“Dream of the day… but don’t lose touch with reality”

SO YOUR BOOK IS BEING PUBLISHED:

Before the ink is out of the bottle, let alone dry on the pages of your book you should have some items to aid your book promotion already set up.

You should look to set up the following:

Facebook Page
My Space Page
Blog
Book Email
Twitter Account
Web Site

There are plenty of places out there offering services for such things, sometimes charging over $1000. So let’s break these items down and see what there is on offer.

SOCIAL NETWORKING:


Facebook, My Space and Twitter etc. are what come under “Social Networking”.

I recently read a major publisher is now proud to offer a “Social Media Setup Service” that will help an author into “the world of social media”

You Got:
A blog on the popular and easy to use WordPress platform
A Facebook profile for your identity as an author
A Facebook page for your book
A MySpace page for your book

This was available at a “Special Introductory Price of $999”

I also received information from a “Marketing and Promotion” company, which offers many such items and their charge for setting you up with these services was $149

Setting up these Social Networking options and locations costs “$0.00… Nothing… Zero”. Any person who has access to a computer can go on the Internet, create exactly what these companies offer for nothing, and achieve the same results in under an hour.

One of the other things I noticed with some interest is that the blog being offered was on WordPress, which though very good, quite often might require you to have some knowledge of HTML coding to change certain formats and styles. For a person who perhaps does not have such skills, I would recommend a person uses “BLOGGER” (www.blogger.com) as it is a far easier platform, similar to writing something in “Word”. It is equally as good for getting your information out on the web, and like WordPress “IT’S FREE”.

Twitter while the flavor of the moment, only gives you 140 characters to pass on your news, links or whatever.

There are many other “free” ways of passing on news VOX, XANGA, LIVE JOURNAL, MSN, AOL to name a few. You can even use the likes of http://ping.fm (again FREE) where from one location you can post your news to many locations.

Many writers/readers groups such as SCBWI have their own blog sections.

One other thing that is very important is to be aware of how much time you can dedicate to social media. If you sign up for 50 sites, but never update them, then they’re useless.

While PING.FM helps you update multiple sites at a time, it is still limited in what it can work with, so authors really need to decide how much time they have and only sign up for the sites you can commit to.

Don’t forget, the more you’re out there… the more exposure, name recognition and “possibly” sales.

This is the first part of Barry’s 5 day document on book promotion on a budget. You can read the whole series at http://acrossthepond-storyheart.blogspot.com

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Barry Eva (Storyheart)
Author of "Across the Pond"
Book Site:http://across-t-pond.com
Follow my daily blog at: http://acrossthepond-storyheart.blogspot.com
Follow my Blog Talk Radio Show at :http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Across-the-Pond
Amazon Reviews: http://tinyurl.com/o7sokp