Authors can use content marketing to develop PDF versions of select chapters from their current work, or even upcoming and in progress pieces, and make them available on their website for fans to download. Using available social media strategies like Twitter, forums and other platforms, authors can promote the availability of new content.

Beyond promoting their current books, authors can also develop content that can be positioned as a resource for other struggling novelists and writers. If you’re an author that has had great success in getting your book published my a major firm you might consider putting together an e-book that passes on your knowledge and experience to other writers. You’ll position yourself as someone who’s willing to help and who has hands-on experience. People value and respect both of these characteristics.

As an author, try to keep your content marketing efforts sincere. In other words, don’t get caught up in sounding too much like someone with a sales pitch. Sincerity will take you much further if you introduce your content as something that you feel could actually benefit others.

When you begin creating your content, think about putting it together in much the same way that you would write a book. Get organized, create a plan and begin assembling. Make your content shareable, show that it value, optimize it with keywords and don’t forget to set-up analytics so that you can track how many people are downloading what you’re giving them.

Authors may find that building good content might take some time, but the end-result is well-worth it.

Technorati Tags: author, authors, Book Marketing

Google Alerts

This is an excellent (and easy) way to track specific keywords that relate to you and your brand. For instance, as an author, you could designate the name of your book and your own name as search terms for Google. Each day, you’ll receive an email notification with a summary of mentions. Google Alerts makes it very easy to identify who’s talking and sharing information about you. It’s free and effective.

Bit.ly

As most tweeters know, Twitter has a 140 character limitation which includes URLs. The Bit.ly shortener allows users to condense long links into compact versions. Optimizing URLs through Bit.ly also gives users an opportunity to track how many times people are clicking on your shared links. This provides you with a number of impressions so you can gauge what content links are performing better than others and make adjustments as needed.

Xinureturns

This is a very hand all-in-one tool that gives you an overview of PageRank, backlinks, quantity of indexed pages and much more. Simply type in any URL that you wish to see stats on and they instantly appear. Xinureturns is a quick way to look at how your multi-metric performance. The only drawback with Xinureturns is that there is a slight discrepancy with the data that it pulls. Check carefully to insure that what you’re seeing is current.

There are many free tools available. Hunt around and you’re certain to find some freebies that will make analyzing and measuring much easier.

Technorati Tags: authors, Social Media

1.  Build a cyber sales channel.

Blogs are actually quite flexible in terms of content and functionality. For example, you can integrate e-commerce so that blog readers can purchase books directly from your site. You can tie-in your blog sales outreach to services like Clickbank and even Amazon.

2.  Connect with your audience.

You audience is much broader than just readers and fans. Through a blog you can meet publishers, literary agents and other authors to exchange information and build a social network to support your book.

3.  Boost book sales.

As an author you have the advantage of never running out of great ideas for blog posts. You can use our book to generate hundreds of topics for posts. Try using an excerpt from you book and expanding upon it, touch on something unique about one of your characters, discuss plot or print out a teaser page to encourage sales. Endless opportunities exist for blogging authors.

4.  Become search engine friendly.

The primary search engines, Google, Yahoo! and Bing, continually crawl the web looking for new content that is regularly updated. Every time you submit a post a search engine bot will come along and index it on the internet. That makes you more searchable and increases your exposure. People will have an easier time finding you and connecting with the material that you’re producing.

5.  Develop conversations with readers.

Blogs aren’t a one-way street. Commenting systems enable readers to share feedback and thoughts and regardless of whether they’re positive or negative, participating in a dialogue is an excellent way to learn how to improve and expand on things that are disliked or favored.

If you don’t have a blog, there’s no time like the present to start one today. Give your fingers a run for the money and start typing.

Technorati Tags: author, authors, blogging, blogs, book promotion, book sales

FiledBy. Hands down this is the most comprehensive online marketing platform for authors. It provides simple to use tools that can be used to link, host and organize marketing activities and  connect to online booksellers. The service is free to use and authors can claim their site immediately. Additional features are available through affordably priced premium services and include, additional links, multimedia uploads, blogging, customized graphics, event calendars and much more. Whether you have an author website or not, FiledBy can help expand your social media presence and is absolutely worth joining to claim a name for a basic site set-up.

Red Room. This is a social hub that focuses on writers and book lovers. It’s a full-service site that allows authors to express themselves, promote their writing and connect with other like-minded people. Well-known and undiscovered talent utilize this site to network with publishing agents, interact with literary icons and showcase samples of your work. Membership is free, but if you’re an author you’ll need a Premium Membership to market and sell your books. Current price plan is listed at $30 per month or $250 per year.

Goodreads. This is a great site that promotes book-sharing, reviewing and other various ways to showcase your book. Goodreads claims to be the largest site with 1.8 million members who have added 41 million books. Authors enjoy having their own profile pages that feature a short biography, background, pages for your books, review and interview links, comments and other social media aspects. What make the site unique? It has an online advertising program for authors who are interested in ramping up their marketing efforts.

LibraryThing. Geared more toward the reader, the site does allow authors to become members and highlights them as such. A total of 35 million books have been cataloged by 600,000 readers so why not add yours to the list. As a LibraryThing author, you can promote readings, events and participate in author chats, provide review copies and include photos and other information on your author profile page.

Author’s Den. Your book is bound and ready to for reading, now what? The first step is finding an audience. At the Author’s Den, readers and authors are brought together through book reviews, blogs, news, events and more. More than 1.4 million readers each month have access to 62 literary categories. Not only is site is free to join, but it’s evolving. Coming soon is a market place that will permit authors to go a step beyond the site’s current features, including public relations, marketing and publishing.

Other author websites worth taking a peek at:

Shelfari. An Amazon.com owned site that has become very popular among Facebook users. A great way to tap into your social media audience.

Nothing Binding. Directed toward emerging writers and authors.

Scribd. Known as the ‘YouTube for documents’, authors can upload excerpts, pages, reviews and other material to share with people to view.

Technorati Tags: authors, Book Marketing, social media marketing

Despite all the information, resources and data available on the Internet today, there are instances when you just can’t seem to find what you’re looking for. This is especially true for people who are are trying to connect exclusively with other like-minded individuals. In our case, this would be authors and writers.

Fortunately, some amazingly tech-savvy person recognized this and created a brilliant social media tool called Ning. Ning is a free social platform that lets you socialize your brand, amplify a cause that you’re passionate about or create a hub for people to gather with common interests. It allows users to develop and design their own customized social pages with rich-feature capabilities, such as personal blogs, chats and forums.

Similar to the information super-highway, Ning has a tremendous amount of social networks and millions of active members on each of them. The nice thing about Ning is that whatever you can’t find, you can build yourself. For example, if you’re someone who enjoys building styrofoam pink bunnies out or recyclable materials and setting them on fire whenever there’s a full moon and you want to meet other people just like you – you can set-up your own Ning network for that specific purpose.

Because it’s always nice to meet other writers and exchange successes, challenges and knowledge, we looked at what Ning had to offer in author/writer genre and discovered that there are some great Ning networks available for to join.

Writer’s Digest Community (WDC). Hands down, this is one of the most comprehensive Ning networks available for authors and writers alike. Presently, it’s 4,011 members strong and growing. The WDC features online events and competitions to get your creative writing juices flowing, a guide to literary agents, an online store and a WDC badge to proudly display to show your support on your website’s home page.

Independent Writer’s Network (IWN). This Ning destination is a place that describes itself as being a place where writers can promote their works, share ideas and encourage others. Through this network, members can build their own sub-network page or create their own sub-groups. What makes IWN a stand-out is that content is fresh and relevant to the network’s focus. Definitely worth checking out.

The Writer’s Network (TWN) (affiliated with OnceWritten.com). On TWN you’ll find a wealth of information relating to all things author and writer. Members and OnceWritten.com have compiled a plethora of excellent tips, how-tos and resources that make starting out for a newbie or enhancing what you’ve got for the seasoned pro a complete breeze. Well-supported and updated hourly to daily, TWN is an excellent Ning network.

Other mention-worthy Ning networks include:

The Writer’s Box

The Written Word

World Poets & Writers Registry

Book Marketing Network

Take a moment to explore Ning on your own and you’ll find that there are many niche writing networks, including crime, horror, afro-punk and countless others. There’s truly something for everyone.

Technorati Tags: authors, Book Marketing, Ning, Social Media

1. Single page. Unfortunate, but true, we live in a world of sound bytes and ‘want-it-yesterdays’. Publishers and media contacts are busy people who have little time to comb through hundreds of multiple page press releases. Limit your press release to one page to gain a better chance of it being read.
2. Catchy headline. All press releases have a headline that sums up the entire release in a few well chosen words. This is an opportunity to shine and show off your creative side. Think about headlines that you see in newspapers and make your headline count. Get their attention and they’ll want to read more and know more.
3. No first person. Your press release needs to read as if it came from an objective third-party. Write in in the present tense and stay away from jargon and slang.
4. Dynamic first paragraph. Here’s where the magic happens. Hook your reader’s attention by highlighting what the book is about in a sentence or two and including a few chapter titles. This is the paragraph that readers will use to determine whether they’re interested in pursuing you and your book and giving you the coverage that you want.
5. Author’s bio. This is where having a short and sweet bio come in handy. If you’ve created a book jacket bio for yourself, this is an ideal place for you to use it. In fact, you may need to apply additional edits to keep it no longer than a paragraph. It’s extremely important to include your phone number and email address in this section for contact information. This is how you’ll be reached schedule interviews or for clarification of your press release.

Don’t forget to follow-up with your contacts a few days after you deliver the press release to ensure that they’ve received it. Using these press release tips will help you construct a newsworthy piece that is concise, relevant and ready for media coverage.

Technorati Tags: authors, book publicity, public relations

A few highlights:

He started with a self published book and gained such a wide audience using social media, that a publisher picked up his book. He now has a mass paperback deal.

His book won a gold medal. Learn what specific steps he took to ensure that his book would be considered.

He shares his tips for authors who are also using social media for book marketing.

Technorati Tags: author, authors, Book Marketing, book publicity, Social Media, writer

Technorati Tags: authors, Social Media, social media marketing

Technorati Tags: authors, social media marketing