Need Some PR For Your Book?

Even though I'm light years away from having a book deal or even an agent, I like to think ahead. There's a general consensus in the publishing world that authors need to take on the lion's share of the marketing for their books, so I'm checking out my options early. In addition to following the blogs of literary agents and published authors, I'm researching marketing and PR-based blogs as well. When I do get that prized book deal, I want to hit the ground running before the ink on my contract dries.

The Book Publicity Blog is one of my favorites. It's mainly geared toward book publicists and other publishing professionals, but there are a lot of nice tidbits for aspiring authors as well. Today's post is a prime example of that. Yen put together a fantastic list of freelance book publicists, including each one's website, experience and specialty by genre. Be sure to also read her earlier post about how to hire a freelance book publicist as well.

If you've ever thought about hiring a publicist for your book, you'll want to refer to these posts. If you're even remotely close to securing a book deal or know someone who is, they're must-reads. Take a look-see and let me know what you think. Would you consider hiring a book publicist in the future? Why or why not?

Book Trailers... Yea or Nay?

Lisa McMann, author of the New York Times bestselling novel WAKE, gave a nice shout-out on her blog today to A.S. King, author of the much-anticipated book, THE DUST OF 100 DOGS. McMann encouraged her readers to buy King's new book--most likely due to the fact that she wrote a blurb for it--and included the trailer for it on the blog. Naturally, I checked it out, and I found it quite intriguing. I'm sure I'll add it to my ever-growing list of books to be read this year.

This brings up some interesting questions: How successful are book trailers in promoting new and established authors? Do you think they're more helpful for the newbies who are trying to launch a book for the first time, or the veterans who have already built a name for themselves? As a reader, how does the quality of the trailer affect your decision to buy a book?

I feel shallow for saying this, but I'm influenced by the quality of a book trailer even above its content. This trailer I saw for WAKE is what peaked my interest in Lisa McMann in the first place:

If the trailer isn't edited well or looks like a cheap knockoff of The Blair Witch Project, I stop watching, regardless of whether or not the story seems good. At the same time, if I've already heard good things about a particular book, seeing a lousy trailer won't keep me from buying it. It doesn't have the same power with me that a movie trailer does. It just gives me that extra push to buy a book that I'm already leaning toward anyway.

For anyone interested in reading more about the process of creating a book trailer, award-winning romance author Brenda Coulter has a wonderful post on her blog that outlines it in great detail. It's an old post since the blog hasn't been updated in a while, but much of the advice still applies. I'm fascinated by this stuff myself, especially since Coulter makes it all sound very doable. If you've bought a computer in the past five years, you probably have all the software you need to make a basic book trailer yourself.

I'd love to hear some opinions about this topic. As writers, we're expected to market ourselves now more than ever. The good news is that we have a mountain of resources at our disposal to do just that, if only we'll take advantage of them.

I Have Been Officially Been "Twitterfied"

It's finally happened; at last, I've succumbed to the latest social networking phenomenon, at least as far as I know. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's true: I've been "Twitterfied," and no one is more astounded by the event than yours truly. For months I ridiculed the entire concept of Twitter as being "the most pointless activity ever," and yet here I am, jumping my happy behind on the bandwagon with my own cutesy pink profile.

Let the madness commence.

Peg Corwin, a SCORE Chicago volunteer, put together a comprehensive list of posts that can help people get the best out of Twitter (which I found courtesy of Personal Branding Pro Meg Guiseppi). Also, SEO Marketing Consultant Jennifer Slegg wrote an excellent post back in March of last year about how to market your blog without spamming your followers. Interesting stuff, that. Me and my newbie self didn't even realize something like that would be a problem, but the implication there is that it's pretty widespread. I'm guessing it's just as widespread now, if not more so, since Twitter's popularity has grown so much since the post was written.

Most of you have probably heard about this already, but in case you haven't and you're also new to the Twittering scene, be sure to read this article about a nasty phishing scam going around on the site. Can't say I'm surprised; the "Koobface" virus has been floating through Facebook space since at least December.

Well, I suppose at the end of the day, what's most important is that we have more ways to communicate/stalk one another today than ever before. And if you're a budding author trying to make a name for yourself, it's probably best to take advantage of as many of them as possible. Does twittering really translate into book sales later on down the line? Let's hope so!

Oh, one more thing: Does anyone know how to add a Twitter feed to your blog page? Just curious...