We CAN! promote our books

Preparing for a Successful Blog Tour

  

Cheri Cowell here.

There is much discussion in the writing world about the effectiveness of Blog Tours. I take the stance that the Blog Tour is one of a smorgesborg of marketing opportunities available to authors, but not if our goal is a direct link to increased sales because the jury is still out on those numbers. However, if our goal is to create buzz and connect with potential readers, then a Blog Tour is a great tool in a marketing bag. Here are a few steps I'm taking as I prepare for a June Blog Tour for my new bible study.

Social Media Stats: Why Authors Should Join the Bandwaggon

 
From Cheri Cowell's desk:

In preparing for a weekend retreat I'm hosting on Marketing for writers I came across these social media stats. If you need a push to join the social media bandwaggon, perhaps these social media stats will help you decide to jump on board.

Preparing a Media Campaign ~ The Little Engine that Could

Greetings from contemporary fiction author, Deborah Vogts.We all know the story of the little engine who didn't think he could make it up the giant hill. That's sometimes how I felt this past year when I considered everything involved in marketing my debut book release with Zondervan.

This month I want to go over the basics for preparing a media campaign. Again, while some publishing houses may take care of this for you, it's always good to combine your efforts as a team, even brainstorming ideas if possible.

 

This month I want to go over the basics for preparing a media campaign. Again, while some publishing houses may take care of this for you, it's always good to combine your efforts as a team, even brainstorming ideas if possible.

 

Co-Marketing-final segment

Aloha from Karen,

    I hope you all  had a great Thanksgiving. I took the week off.Yesterday (my normal to blog) I traveled to New York City to meet with some friends I met via a social network (rolemommies) and to be a guest on the Martha Stewart Show (Yes, I was able to give her a copy of one of my inspirational craft books for tween girls). A fun day and I really want to get to know the gals I met yesterday. I believe I did well by investing some time in getting to know others and seeing the Martha Stewart show (since i do write craft books).

    Now lets get back to what the Word Weavers have done with co-marketing their book,

    A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts. These six women have incorporated many different marketing stratergies in  mrketing the book. They have utilized media, socail netowkrs, the Internet,speaking, and blogs. That's a lot to do and much easier to do as a team than as one person.

Follow up Interview/Group Marketing

Aloha from Karen,

            I returned last night from two TV interviews and speaking as well as a side trip to visit grandchildren. I ended up with a second show when the station had a cancellation.I had sent more ideas than could be done in one show to let them know I could do more topics in the future.

  A few months ago I interviewed a group of women who co-authored a book and

  had great marketing plans. The group is called Word Quilters and the book is A

  Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts. Let's find out how the promotion is coming since

  the book's release in September.

 

Using time wisely with Press releases

 

Aloha from Karen,

                                    I took a few minutes to create a press release recently and already have interviews set up from it. I will need to invest some time in follow up calls to garner more interviews, but that usually pays off for me. Let’s chat about creating and using a press release.

I'm not a professional at writing press releases. I've read and studied several and then wrote this one:

 

PR interview part 2 (Jan Coates)

Aloha from Karen,
Today we'll hear more from Jan Coates who has an extensive bckground in marketing.

Interview with a PR pro: Jan Coates

Aloha from Karen

      

My friend  Jn Coates (a very special lady) will share with us today and next week. Jan has a background in marketing and sales. She is also an author  and speaker, so she knows PR from both the marketing side and the author's perspective. She wrote to reach out to hurting women overcoming abuse and understands that our hearts want to reach the hurting, but reality means we must market to help them find us. Check out my blog of Sept 30th for a chance to win a $200 gift basket and book.Click to find out how to enter the drawing

Welcome Jan!

Word Quilters Joint Marketing Efforts Part 2

Aloha from Karen,

   I'm home from ICRS and want to share the rest of the interview I began two weeks ago. This is an interview with a team of women who have worked together on a book and are now  teaming up on the marketing.

Here are the faces behind the book:

Co-author Marketing (team efforts)

Aloha from Karen

    I've shared marketing tips with others, traded networking, and belong to CAN, this amazing group of authors who teamed up together to help one another in marketing. Any teaming up can save time and help you reach out to more audiences. Today I want to chat with six ladies who wrote a book together (not quite out yet) and hear how about their plans to team up in marketing.

The Word Quilters will be releasing a book this fall, A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts. They have tons of marketing plans and have started implementing them. Let's find out more....