Author Autobahn

You recommend writing and posting articles to the “top three” article directory sites— EzineArticles, ArticleDashboard, AssociatedContent—to generate free web traffic.  How often should I write and post an article? 

You can write articles as much as you'd like, and they should be different than what you put on your blog.  If you feel like writing one article a month or one a week, that's fine. Sometimes I'll write 4 articles in one day then nothing for a month!  I just go with the flow with the articles.  Of course, the more articles you write and post, the more free traffic you’ll get since you’ll have more articles that will be seen.  There are only so many hours in a day so budget your time wisely.  If you’re constantly stressed about writing an article, you aren’t going to have the energy to promote your book in other places or write a new one.

How often should I update my blog and how long should my posts be?

The main thing is you want fresh content on your site.  So updating your blog at least once a week is optimal.  If you run out of things to talk about, you can post book reviews you've done, or just about anything else.  I know we sometimes come up blank, but if your book is nonfiction you could probably come up with related topics and write a blog post each week for the rest of your life and never run out of options!

You don’t have to write several thousand words on your blog to generate interest and keep your readers coming back.  A paragraph or two that answers a question, offers food for though, or solves a problem is all people usually want. 

I’m looking for a way to get my next book published without spending any money.  Where can I go?

You are so right to focus on places that don't charge a penny!  Two good places to look into are Create Space and Word Clay.  They don't charge at all.  All they do is take a percentage of the royalties.  Best of all, YOU decide how much to charge for your book.  Create Space is an Amazon company and they’ll list your book with them and ship it out at no charge to you.  I’d go that route for self-publishing. 

Of course, there are traditional publishers.  They’re more difficult to get into, and it’s time consuming waiting to hear back from them.  However, it does give you a bigger marketing wedge than a self-published author. 

A couple of things I recommend is to either buy the Writer's Market or sign up on their website.  Or, if you have more time on your hands, go to Predators and Editors.  They don't have it listed by subject, but you can see if a publisher is legit and what they publish. 

How often should I update my social profiles?  It’s such a pain always going from Twitter to Facebook to Myspace, etc. 

Updating social sites is a must if you want to keep yourself in the public eye.  The good news is you can have your Facebook, Myspace, and Blogger account automatically updated through Twitter.  Just log onto Twitter and go into your account then click on the “settings” tab.  Right after the 5th box that says “more info URL” you’ll see something that says, ‘you can also add Twitter to your site here.’  Just click on that link and follow the instructions.  Afterward, all you have to do is update Twitter and the rest are updated too!  And, frankly, "the big three" are the best sites to focus on.  (Twitter, Facebook, Myspace.) 

I know I’m supposed to “Tweet” at least once a day, but I have no idea how I’m going to come up with something to say every day and in less than 150 characters!

If you’re a nonfiction author, this is easier than you may think.  Even fiction authors can do this, but it will take more creativity.  Come up with a list of 50-100 facts or questions that relate to your book and post one each day.  When you get to the bottom, just start all over again.  Be sure to include your URL too!  If you don’t have enough space for the URL you can have it shortened easily by going to sites like Snipie, Bity It, or Tiny URL.

Why is it taking so long to get followers to my Twitter account?   

With Twitter you need to be proactive.  Take some time out at least once a week and seek out followers.  This gets the ball rolling.  For instance, go into Twitter and find someone very popular who has a book related to yours.  Let's say you wrote a natural health book.  Look up someone like Deepak Chopra.  Befriend him and all of his friends because these people will follow that type of author and that type of life path.  Do this for your other social profiles as well, focusing on “the big three.”   

One last thing, why am I not getting any comments on my site or social profiles?  I feel like I’m sending out messages but nobody cares. 

This is common, so don't feel too badly about it.  I don't get many comments on mine either!  People read but don’t often take the time to reply.  What I suggest is offering a "freebie." You want people to ultimately become members of your website and ultimately by your book.  What type of freebie to offer?  This can be a book excerpt from your book or a "free report" that you write up.  For instance, you can post an ad on your site that says, "Become a member and receive my FREE report on the top five foods for energy and longevity!"  Then Twitter it.  If you’ve hooked up your other social sites to your Twitter account you’ll get the message out to your other profiles as well. 

I hope this information helped.  We're all authors and in this together.  I want to help in any way I can.

Kelly

Think of your website as your online business card.  Any author who thinks they can get by without a website is mistaken.  These days, anyone who has a business, service, or goods to sell must have a website.  When you go online, don’t you seek out a company’s website?  You want to see how professional they are, what they have to offer, and other details before you make a purchase or appointment.  Everyone from restaurant owners to small town dentists have websites these days.

As an author you need and want a place for your fans, potential fans, book reviewers, agents and publishers to find you, get to know more about you, and buy your book!  What stops most authors from starting up their website is the cost and the fact that they have no idea where to start.  It’s not as difficult or as expensive as you may think!

One of the quickest, cheapest, and easiest ways to get a site up is through Webs.com although there are others such as GoDaddy.  We’re focusing on ease of use, the least expense, and the most professional look—so go with Webs.com.  (I have about 10 websites through them and won’t use anyone else!)

Approach setting up your website with enthusiasm and just take it slow.  Rome wasn’t built in a day!  When you sign on to Webs.com you can choose your user name, so be sure it’s either your own name or the title of your book.  The set-up is easy as they walk you through everything.  You’ll then have a choice of a free account that shows ads—definitely not professional!  Or a few other packages with various perks.  I’ve never had to go beyond their “no ads” package which is only $15 a year.  You can’t beat that! 

For those authors who are true starving artists and don’t have a dime to spare and/or don’t want to fool around with a website, you can set up your own author page on sites such as www.ManicReaders.com or www.AuthorTree.com They’re very professional, easy to use, you can list your book(s), and they get a good amount of traffic. 

Now, if you’ve decided to create a website, what exactly should you include?  This is actually the fun part.  As time goes on you’ll probably add more and more pages, but here are the bare bones basics.

Home—This page is just a short and simple welcome letting people know who you are and what your site is all about.  You can include any new information such as book release dates, upcoming interview dates and more so fans can find it quick. 

Bio—This page should have a photo of yourself, preferably a head shot.  It should also include both a short bio and longer bio telling readers about your background and writing history. Try not to be too formal and let your true self shine through with the longer version of your bio.  The short bio can be a paragraph written in the third person.  Why?  If someone wants to review your book, do an interview, or approach you to do a guest spot you’ll have this short and more polished bio handy.  The longer version bio on your website written in the first person helps your reader get to know you better and form a bond with you.

Publishing History—On this page you can include clips of articles you’ve written, blog posts to bigger sites, etc. Although you may feel that some of these things are “no big deal” getting credit for publishing something whether online or in a hometown newspaper or magazine is still something to brag about.

Book Releases—On this page you’ll want to give a short synopsis of the book or books you have published with a direct link to the sales page. Many authors simply post the blurb of the book then include some excerpts to get potential readers interested in buying and to show them your style of writing.  Include any positive reviews or awards your book has received.

Blog—Although Webs.com has a blog page, what you’ll want to do is list the link for your Blogger or Wordpress blog on this page.  Why not just post your blog here?  Blogger and Wordpress are huge and get a lot of traffic.  You want to be seen and having your own blog is a great way to drive traffic to your website and creates a back link to your site, which is important for getting listed in the search engines.

Contact Me—A simple page that many site owners leave out.  You want to give an agent, editor, publisher, and fans a way to get in touch with you.  Your name and an email address are fine.  Don’t put your home address or phone number where just anyone can get a hold of it.  If you have a PO box, you can include that since it’s pretty safe.

Media—On this page you’ll want to include any past and upcoming media appearances.  Whether you’re being interviewed on someone’s website or radio show, or doing an all-out virtual book tour, be sure to include the dates and links to any outside websites where you’ll be hosted.

Try to update your website at least once a week, if not daily.  You don’t have to knock yourself out with long articles or posts.  Some simple things you can do is to hold contests where you give away a copy of your book or some other goodies.  You can also post quotes, jokes, articles you find on sites such as EzineArticles.com or book reviews (or your book or other authors books.)  If you wrote a fiction novel, think about the main theme or characters in your book.  You could post information that would tie in with this.  For example, if your main character has a gourmet coffee shop, you could post articles about coffee and recipes using coffee.  Be creative!

Starting and keeping up a website doesn’t have to be difficult, expensive, or time consuming.  If you spend an hour or two on it each day you’ll have everything running smoothly and readers stopping by your site in no time.

Here's a short list of the absolute must-haves when it comes to marketing and promoting your book.  They're cheap, and most are free. 

A website with no ads--you want to look professional!  I recommend webs.com it's $15 a year for a no ad website and it's very easy to use.

A domain in your name or title of your book--I recommend Yahoo Domains since it's easy to use and once you  purchase the name and you just point it to your website.

An online presence on the top three social networking sites: Twitter, Facebook and Myspace.  The good thing about Twitter is that you can go into your profile settings so that it updates your Facebook and Myspace automatically every time you leave a post. 

Author pages on Shelfari, Manic Readers, etc.

Articles (about the craft of writing or anything else related to writing or marketing) submit to places like EzineArticles, and include the link to your site. 

Also, try to become a writer for Examiner.com .  It's great promotion for you and your book and you get paid for each person who reads your posts.

Google Alerts (you would post blog comments and this gets you listed online all over the place!)  There's a detailed article on how to use Google Alerts below. 

Radio Shows.  Go onto Blog Talk Radio and look around for some shows that might be a good fit for you and your book.  Contact these hosts and ask if they might like to have you on their show.  This is one of the best ways to promote yourself and your book.

Reviews are like word of mouth advertising and you can include the best ones on your website to build book buzz..  Simply look through our lengthy list of reviewers and seek some out online yourself.  Contact them and ask if they'd be interested in reading your book and posting a review.  We have a detailed article on how to do this below.

Keep writing!  Don't let this one book be your last.  If you want to make real money and gain some fame you need to promote the heck out of your curren book(s) and write new ones. 

This doesn't even touch the tip of the iceberg, but it's a good start and all are musts if you want to sell books. 

Kelly

Founder of Author Autobahn

Times have changed in many ways, and especially where the publication, marketing, and sales of books are concerned.  Years ago you simply would have submitted your typewritten manuscript to a very long list of publishers and hope someone would offer a contract.  Seeing your book in one of the big book store chains would certainly lead to brisk sales, and if you were lucky enough to make it on Oprah—a goal of many writers still—you were destined to be a best seller.  Those are just some of the myths that most authors are still believing.  Let’s go over the top ones and I’ll show you why they are indeed myths and how you can rise head and shoulders above the large sea of new and seasoned authors by looking at book promotion and marketing a bit differently.

You have to get your book into the big chain bookstores

Anyone who’s been in a Barnes and Noble, Borders, Books-a-Million, or other big chain bookstore has probably noticed that they have a lot of books.  A WHOLE LOT!  Unless your book can sing and tap dance right off the shelves and into customers’ hands, how much of a chance do you really think you have of selling many books through these places? 

Some facts about these chains that many authors aren’t aware of is that in order for your book to occupy a few glorious inches on their shelves your book must be returnable to your publisher.  No big deal, you say?  Well, suppose one of these chains puts in an order for five thousand books.  Wow!  That sounds pretty great, doesn’t it?  Not when you look deeper.  That doesn’t mean you’ve sold these five thousand books!  What it means is that it’s available, right along side millions of other books, if and when someone happens to pick it up, like it, and buy it. 

What happens then?  Well, after a period of time your unsold books get sent back to the publisher, usually in pretty bad shape since they’ve been thumbed through or kicked around for awhile.  How could you or your publisher resell these?  The truth is, you probably couldn’t give away these battered books. 

Another problem?  Big chains get your book for 40% or less of the cover price.  If and when you get your small royalty which is usually around 5%-10% on print books, you’re getting it off this price, not the original cover price.  Of course, some publishers may work differently, but this is very much the norm.

A better idea.  Get your book into smaller independent bookstores, even smaller chain stores, that specialize in your type of book.  There are Christian bookstores, Metaphysical bookstores, bookstores that specialize only in sci-fi, romances, and so on.  By getting your local area bookstores that specialize in your topic to sell your book you have a much greater chance of it getting into the hands of people who are interested in your type of book. 

Don’t stop with bookstores though.  Think of any place that could be interested in your book.  Say you wrote a book on teaching old dogs new tricks.  You could talk to owners of pet stores, veterinarians, and groomers.   

Real publishers offer advances

This is the 21^st Century and there are now more books being published every year than they used to publish in an entire decade!  With ebook publishers and small print publishers sprouting up every day, and new authors beating down their virtual doors to be published, there’s no possible way every publisher can offer an advance.  In fact, even some of the big publishing houses no longer offer first time authors advances. 

But let’s say you somehow got in with a bigger place and you were offered the typical $5,000 advance that many new authors receive from these places.  Guess what?  That might be the only money you’ll EVER see out of your book.  The truth is that the vast majority of books never sell anywhere near what the author was given as an advance.  This is one reason why publishers simply have stopped offering advances.  They can’t afford to take a chance on losing money.  It’s more and more common for publishers to offer bigger royalties in lieu of an advance.  In one way this is good since it gives the author more incentive to work at promoting their book.

Getting on Oprah is the only way to be a best seller

Although it’s true that just about every book featured on Oprah’s show has skyrocketed to the best-seller list, it’s not the only way to sell books.  Of course, every author wants to shoot for a spot on her show, but take a look at the type of books she usually focuses on.  Is that the type of book you wrote?  If not, next time you do decide to write a book and if it’s your life’s dream to see your tome featured on Ms. Winfrey’s show, plan accordingly.  Ask yourself what type of book would Oprah read?  What would help her or touch her heart?  Then go from there.

For the rest of you who haven’t written an Oprah-type book, rest assured that she isn’t the only way to the best seller list.  True, the media is a great way to get the name of your book out into the world.  So what should you do?  Start focusing on quantity then work your way up to quality.  Get onto every radio who or website you can that will interview you or do a review.   Jack Canfield of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series made it a goal to do at least one radio or TV interview per day! 

Keep active, keep your name and the title of your book fresh in the minds of the public.  That’s the way to slowly but surely sell more books and potentially reach best seller status.

Remember that the success of your book promotion depends on you.  It’s the sum total of your passion, energy, creativity, and never-give-up attitude.  Don’t be afraid to try new ways of marketing and promoting your book. 

By writing articles and posting them to various top article directories you have the potential to be seen by millions of potential book buyers.  Best of all, it’s completely free.  All it takes is some time to write a few quality articles and you’re in business. 

Where to submit your articles

The top 5 article directory sites according to Alexa are www.EzineArticles.com, www.GoArticles.com, www.ArticleDashboard.com, www.SearchWarp.com and www.ArticleBase.com.  When you submit your articles to these directories you have the possibility of being seen by thousands upon thousands of readers every day.  Each of your articles will have a link to your site.  Also, once you post articles to these directories, other website owners may enjoy your content so much that they post your article to their own site—using your name and web URL.  Talk about massive exposure for very little work!

What should you write about? 

If you’ve writing a nonfiction book, you should focus on the subject of your book.  Even if your book is fiction, you can write about a job one of your character’s has, articles on the life of a writer, how you got published, or any tips, hints, or pitfalls you want to warn other budding authors about.   Perhaps you wrote a paranormal romance, you could write articles on romance tips, or delving into the paranormal field.  Top-ten lists always do well, so do how-to articles.  Topics are only limited by your imagination.

How long does it take?

At first it may take you an hour or so to write one 300-700 word article then it must be edited and submitted to the top directories.  It may seem time consuming in the beginning, but as time goes on you’ll become much faster at it.  Some authors choose to write just five or ten articles, post those then forget about article writing.  This can be a mistake!  After all, where else can you get this type of online exposure for no money at all?  Think about it, if you write just one article per week, within a year you’ll have 52 articles circulating online around the world, advertising for you, bringing in new fans, and potential book sales!  Article writing also helps you to become known as an authority in your field.  Writing is what an author does anyway, so why not add article writing to your list of accomplishments?

Come back again for our post on Writing Articles That Get Attention!

Getting your book reviewed is a very inexpensive yet excellent way to get publicity. Finding a reviewer to do a book review will take a bit of work, but it’s well worth the effort. Here are some tips on getting your book reviewed:

Friends and family

The quickest and easiest way to get book reviews is to ask family, friends, and fellow authors to write a review for your book and post it to their blogs. Most of us know at least a handful of people who have an online blog or journal page.

Once you’ve asked everyone you know to do a review, you’ll want to approach professional review sites and bloggers.

Do your research

Get on Google or Yahoo and type in "Book Reviewers" or "Book Review Blogs." Check out the sites and see if your book would be suitable for submission. You want to be certain that the reviewer is interested in your type of book and its style. Don’t send out copies of your book cold. You’ll want to contact these people first.

Read their rules

If they take only romances and you wrote a nonfiction book, you'll obviously want to find another reviewer. Also, pay attention to whether they want your book in PDF or a physical book, who you should contact, and how. Many authors waste valuable time and money by not doing their homework and send their books off to the wrong places or wrong people.

A friendly approach

When approaching a reviewer, keep your email or letter to them brief, informative, and friendly. Most people enjoy a personal touch so mention something you like about their site or previous reviews and let them know this is why you’re seeking their service. Be sure to include the blurb of your book and any endorsements you’ve had.

Prove your worth

Since reviewers are bombarded with books each and every day, you need to rise above the crowd and be noticed. One thing you can do to prove that your book is worth her/his time and effort is to include previous reviews in your initial email or letter. If others took the time to review your book it lets the reviewer know that you have something worth reading.

The waiting game

Try not to contact the reviewer daily, asking if they’ve read your book yet. This can result in no review at all or a negative review. If you send a physical copy of your book, you can get delivery confirmation from the post office when you first send it out, that way you’ll know it arrived safely.

It’s usually acceptable to send a brief yet friendly email touching bases and asking if they intend to review your book and if so what sort of time frame you can expect. The typical range is from a few weeks to a few months.

Thank the reviewer

Whether sending an electronic or physical copy of your book, be certain to send a friendly cover letter thanking the reviewer in advance for taking the time to read your book. People like to be appreciated. And, always be sure to send a thank you email or letter if they did indeed review your book. When you write your next book you’ll be able to approach these reviewers again and will have an easier and quicker time of getting reviewed.

Still no word?

Sometimes it can take months before a reviewer gets to your book and posts it to their site. A good rule of thumb is to type your name and book title into the major search engines and check to see what reviews come up. You can also look up the review sites you sent your book to and check out the latest reviews. Many authors who never knew their books were reviewed found out this way. Reviewers are overwhelmed with work and may not contact you to let you know your review was posted.

What if you got a bad review?

This happens to just about every author from time to time. If you receive a negative book review, you can handle it a few ways. One would be to just ignore it. You can’t please everyone. Another thing you can do is to take only the most positive words or sentences from the review and post that to your website, press kit, etc.

Or, you can actually use a bad review to generate buzz about your book. Like the saying goes, "Any publicity is good publicity." You can post something like, "Find out why (name of review site) trashed my book (name of book.)" You’d be surprised at how many books this method actually sells! Of course, you’ll want to be careful about using this last tactic. Please use your own discretion in posting negative reviews.

Author Autobahn offers a professional book review service.  For more information see our Book Review page.

Using Google Alerts is an excellent way to spread the word about your book, meet new people, make connections, and attract new fans.  Every author should give this free promotional tool a try.

To set up your Google Alerts, go to www.google.com/alerts

When you arrive at this page you’ll see that you have a few options for the type of search you can perform.  I suggest choosing the “comprehensive” search so you can get the most alerts sent to you.

Common search terms to use are:

1. Your own URL(s) (to your blog, website, book sales page, etc.)
2. Your full name (usually in quotes)
3. Keywords you’re targeting (such as the subject and genre of your book)

Those are the alerts that every author should have set up, but let me go over this in more depth:

1. What’s A Blog? A blog is sort of like an online journal where people write about their opinions, passions, or products.  It's more intimate and less formal than a website.  Some of the most popular blog sites are Blogger.com and Wordpress.org.
2. What Keywords Should You Choose?  Say you wrote a book on zombies.  Add some keywords to your Google Alerts like "zombies" "undead" "brain eaters" and what have you.  Be sure to put quotes around your phrases so you don’t get unrelated results.  Any time someone posts something new about these subjects, you'll get a Google Alert right to your email.  You can choose to have alerts sent daily or weekly.  As you read over the Google Alert email there will be links that you click on to go to the site that mentioned your keywords. 
3. How Many Keywords Should You Use?  Choose at least 5-10 keywords that describe your book, not just your name and the book title.  Like, what type of book is it?  Is there a main message?  Is there a theme?  Is there a certain state, city, country where it takes place?  Choosing good keywords is really hit and miss.  Again, think about the subject of your book, the careers your main characters have, the time period or city/country it takes place in, etc.  These can all be good keywords.
4. How Popular Are Your Keywords? Say you wrote a book on "handmade box kites.”  When you type it into Google Alerts, you can immediately see the value in a search like this because it will let you know who else is writing about that particular phrase. The more people are writing about this subject, the more Google Alerts you’ll get, and the more you’ll be able to comment on other peoples’ websites and blogs! (Which means more links back to your book page!)
5. Another tip--most popular bloggers have Google alerts set up for their website and name. If you start linking out to some famous bloggers (in other words, add their URL to your blog or web page) you can get good traffic back to your site.  In most cases you will see that the person you linked to will check out your blog within 24 hours.  It’s a great way to introduce yourself to people you want to connect with. You can build a solid reputation for yourself in a short amount of time by linking out to other blogs that interest you.
6. What To Do When You Get An Alert? When you get alerts back you can click on the link and look them over to see if they actually pertain to your book and if you can leave a comment (some blogs don’t allow this.)  Make your comment short but thoughtful and try not to make it look like a hard sell.  At the end of your entry, include your name and the link to your blog, website, or book sales page. 
7. Sound Confusing? Trust me, it gets easier and faster over time.  You'll meet interesting people, get the word out about your book, and it will feel more like socializing rather than work!  Google Alerts isn’t for everyone, but if you dedicate yourself to commenting on 100 blogs, over time this means your name and book title are listed 100 times on the major search engines.  Best of all, this is free!
8. Online Promotion Not For You?  Even if online promotional tactics may not be your cup of tea, give it a shot.  I’ve had many emails from authors who never thought Google Alerts would be right for them, but they soon discover that they actually enjoy it and have met many interesting people, made new contacts, and attracted new fans.
9. Another Tip:  If you haven't read this book yet, you may want to: "1001 Ways To Market Your Book."  You can probably find it on Amazon pretty cheap.  The book is huge!  There are so many ideas that you're sure to find some things in there that are right up your alley!

If you have any questions, let me know.  Good luck!

Kelly