We CAN! promote our books

Does having a Facebook page and Twitter help your writing?

You bet it does!

In July I went to ICRS (The International Christian Retailing Show). At least two dozen times someone stopped me on the floor, "I'm your friend on Facebook" or "I'm following you on Twitter." From there we launched into great conversations. These were people I'd never met before. Some where salesmen working on one of my books. (I had no clue when I befriended them online.) Some were other people in the industry, from publishing houses I've never worked with ... yet we had a launch point with that comment, "I follow you."

Later that month I was back in my home town, Weed, California, for my 20th high school reunion. I hung out with old friends, some that I haven't seen for 20 years. I'm connected with a few of them on Facebook, and it was nice already feeling somewhat "in the know" about each others lives. We chatted and had fun because we'd connected online.

I was at the local carnival and a woman approached me. She was two years ahead of me in high school. I can't remember one conversation we had in high school, but she recently became a friend on Facebook. "Tricia, I love been connected with you. I follow all your posts. I'm the high school librarian now and I buy all your books and recommend them."

Yeah!

One more story. Last fall I connected with someone on Facebook. (She asked to be by friend.) We chatted about whatever. A month later I was invited to Focus on the Family to be on the radio. The person I'd been chatting with was a producer there. They'd been considering me, and she thought she'd connect. I again had no clue. We are still friends.

Another thing I've noticed is that a sort of Facebook "tribe" has formed. My friends talk with each other on my page. Sometimes about me, sometimes just with each other. One reader in Germany shared a recipe with one of my editors in Chicago ... on my page. (I was off on a cruise, but it didn't matter.) People talk about my books. They chat about stuff like reunions and Weed (the city). How cool is that?

I accept all friend invitations. I follow everyone who follows me. People have my trust until they lose it. I daily connect with old friends, readers, publishing folks, friends from church, new friends. No one gets better treatment. I think it pays off. I know it does.

If you'd like to connect:

www.facebook.com/tricia.goyer
www.twitter.com/triciagoyer

Just my .02!

Team Tricia

A few years ago I was feeling extremely overwhelmed with all I had to do. One Wednesday night at church I was chatting with a good friend about the books we were reading, and an idea struck ... she would make a great assistant! I asked Amy if she'd be interested in doing filing, mailings, and reading for me. She came over once a week or so, and I also emailed her articles, chapters, etc. for her to read/edit before I send them in to my in-house editor. Amy did such a great job I soon started passing other things off to her: updating my blog, creating my newsletters, setting up my schedule, etc.

TWITTERpated

Follow ME

My kids think I need to go to Twitter-therapy, but after "tweeting" for a year I've found great benefits:

Connections with writing friends.

Connections with readers.

Help (advice, experts) for writing projects.

Interview requests.

Book sales!

I've also had people tell me I've encouraged them to read their Bible, to go to church, to be a better mom. How cool is that?

Here are more benefits of what makes Twitter unique:

1) People DO enjoy hearing about everyday lives. This is the Reality TV Generation, remember?
2) 75% of the people I've connected with are those who I haven't connected with before. Score!
3) My Facebook account is also connected with Twitter. When I update the status of one, the other is updated.

Fact:
Personally, I follow 7,271 people on Twitter. NO I do not keep updated with this many people all day long. Rather, I have a select few that I follow via my cellphone. The rest (those I don't follow on my cellphone) I scan on the web 4-5 times a day and comment on their status as I feel led. The people I follow closely are writer friends and professionals in our industries, such as Michael Hyatt CEO of Thomas Nelson, Sheila Walsh, and Ed Stetzer CEO of Lifeway. And I can honestly say I know more about what's happening in the publishing industry today than I did a month ago.

I also follow a few "unfamous" people on my cellphone. One is Kristen a farm mom. Since I'm writing a series of books set on a farm. Free research!

I'm sure I'll include more thoughts later! I love Twitter!

Tricia Goyer
http://www.triciagoyer.com/

Mini-articles for media

The more I try to market my books, the more I understand that success comes when I make it EASY for the media. With the help of my publisher, I send interview questions, photos, blurbs about the book, endorsements ... anything that will make it easy for them to promote me.

Recently, I also learned the value of writing short articles to mail out as press releases. When writing them consider: 1. length (short), 2. advice (helpful), and 3. material (timely). Here's a sample of one I sent for Valentine's Day!

Making it Easy for People to Promote Your Book!

I've discovered that people enjoy helping people. I like assisting authors with their publicity, and I have an amazing group of people who assist me by getting the word out about my books. I appreciate these efforts, and I try to get information to them in a way that will help them most. This is what I send them, maybe it will give you a few ideas, too!

Radio Interview To-Dos ... and not To-Dos

Lately, I've been on the phone A LOT. I've actually been doing 2-3 radio interviews A DAY for my book Generation NeXt Marriage. It's been fun! Many of you who read the blog are published authors, so I'm including a list of dos and don'ts when it comes to YOUR radio interviews.

And for those who aren't published authors yet ... don't get freaked out. Radio interviews are fun. The interviewer calls your home and you get to chat about your book. And then lots of people hear about it and go buy it. How easy it that?!

Zazzle Me!

This year I wanted to WOW my editors, publicity people, and key contacts with fun Christmas gifts. I didn't wow them ... instead I Zazzled them. I created unique mugs that highlighted my books, and I got an awesome response.

Fun contest for book promotion!

Every day, it seems, I hear of another contest of someone who is giving away a free book. It's smart ... but I tried to do something a little different.

I created a video trailer conest. I'm giving away three iPODS as part of this deal ... a pretty solid investment. So ... you may want to know what I hope to gain out of it. Do I have an identifiable number of contacts I want to gain? Am I hoping to get 100 high school youth groups to get the book?

Special Guest: Lysa TerKeurst and her blog thoughts

Today I have special guest, Lysa TerKeurst from Proverbs 31 Ministrys chatting about blogs.

Lysa has some great insights on why she thinks her blog has become one of her greatest tools for ministry and how blogs have worked for her!

Thank you, Lysa, for your wisdom and helps!

Unexpected Rewards

Christmas season is here. A season of joy! I hope that each of us will have many unexpected rewards as we celebrate. Personally, I've had a reason to celebrate lately ... and it is due to some of the unexpected rewards I've received from promoting my books.