Can you plan for success? 03/31/2012
“Failing to plan is planning to fail.” (Effie Jones) Have you made plans for success in your life? Sounds like a no brainer question; however, if you’re planning to pave the way for yourself down the road of success, you need a plan.  Of course there are no absolutes in life—except for death and taxes. Some may then say, what’s the use in making plans if there are no absolutes…well, those who plan, do increase their chances of success. Don’t you want to be counted in those statistics? I know I do. For an author, how can you plan for success? You first need to assess the current situation. What are your goals? What do you need in terms of marketing strategies? It doesn’t make sense to start planning your strategy if you don’t know exactly what you need in your own situation. For example, I have three books published and am working on my fourth. What is my present need in terms of planning and goals? I need to continually market my brand (name) and increase my readership base so that my platform increases—compared to where I was at last year and where I’ll be in the next few months. Are you a new author just starting out or a seasoned one with several books already published? You need to take your current situation into consideration before you make further plans. One point to interject here—if you don’t have a press kit, you should create one; having it available online is a good idea. I have mine available on my website. Especially with the advent of technology, interested parties (like reporters and agents and publishers etc.) want to have easy access to your pertinent information. If you need exposure to new marketing opportunities, have you tried to schedule yourself for guest appearances on other blogs and online magazines? You should also have a blog that is active and not stagnant. It’s good for you to post interesting articles pertinent to your field and expertise; however, you should also spice things up a bit by having guest authors visit your blog. You always want new traffic coming to your blog, but getting regular traffic from people revisiting your blog is also important. If you have repeat traffic, you know you are doing well in your promotion. If you want to seriously promote you and your work, you need to offer serious content on your blog as well. So, what are you doing to plan for success? Add Comment Are you of the mindset that a major marketing campaign when your new book is released works best to get the word out and increase sales? Or are you thinking more along the lines of a slow and steady approach?  I’m kind of on the fence with this issue. I believe that as soon as your new book is released, you should do as many interviews and get as much press as possible during that time so that you can get as many sales as possible to creep up the best sellers list. However, I do also believe that a slow and steady approach is good as well. Once your new book is out, do you stop marketing it after the first three months? Well, most reviewers won’t review books that have been out for more than three months. Which plays right into the point I’m trying to make, that it’s a generally accepted fact that the first several months your book is out are critical to generating the buzz. I like to think outside the box. I pay attention to conventional wisdom, but I also like to think creatively and figure out what works best for my specific situation. With regard to this issue, I believe that you can find a happy medium. When your book first comes out, do all the marketing you can to create the necessary buzz; however, don’t be afraid to continue marketing that book even after the initial three month time period is over. Of course, after those three months, your strategy will change, but you’ll still be marketing that book. You won’t be asking for reviews like you were during the pre-publication date and initial post-publication date, but don’t turn down that occasional review of your book and be sure to mention (when appropriate) about that book during interviews. One of the best ways to market your book is to market your name and you do that by continuing to write more books. Don’t get complacent or try not to get overwhelmed with writing and marketing, but find the best balance for your own life. Obviously, as the months go by and your book has been out longer, you won’t be highlighting it in all of your marketing as much as you would for your newest current release, but don’t forget about your previous releases. I’d like to put out there that it’s not just the first three months of a book’s life that are important. I think that the first year or even first two years are important. Just remember to think outside the box and always be creative in your marketing. Look at what works for other authors, but don’t be afraid to try something new to market your book. What are your thoughts on this issue? I’d love to hear from you. Are You Building a House of Cards? 01/22/2012
Do you have a solid plan for promotion of your books—one that is not building a house of cards, which can fall down with the slightest negative wind blowing—or one that is building a stone house with a solid foundation. You need something indestructible to the negativity that will surround your writing career. So let’s break it down into key steps you can take to build that solid foundation.  The first step is branding your name, not your books. Of course you need to promote each book you write—but your fans are not going to always be able to spout off the titles of all your books, but if they like your work and if you’ve become popular, they will remember your name. If they know your name, they can easily find you online or in the bookstores. When they find your website, then they can look up your books. When they go to the bookstores, they can find your specific titles.  A second huge step towards building a solid foundation is to blog and be the best blogger you can be. How do you do that? Content is KEY. If you don’t have good content, then you won’t have return visitors and you won’t attract new visitors to your blog. Make sure you have a great title which explains what your blog is about—what your purpose is. When you write your own blog posts, try to make the titles, questions rather than statements. You want to pull readers in and questions (especially good ones) usually beg to be answered. The other reason I use questions in the blog titles is because I used NetworkedBlogs and they get linked directly to Facebook and Twitter. For the purposes of Twitter, that works well because tweets are short and that question plus the link will really stand out and get people’s attention. If you don’t think that you have enough content to blog every day, invite guest authors to post or be interviewed for your blog. Post reviews of books that you review. Have blog parties. You can even connect with readers and encourage them to post guest blogs or be interviewed as well.  Social media has changed the way that authors are selling and promoting books. With the advent of Facebook and Twitter and before that, other sites like MySpace—authors have brand new opportunities opened to them. They can more easily communicate with readers now and “meet” new prospective readers online and have FREE ways to get their promotional information out there. My first book was published 8 years ago (not that long ago) and things were even drastically different then regarding using social media for marketing. For more information check out my post on Utilizing Twitter the Right Way.  Networking with other authors is highly effective. We should not think that going it alone in our journey is going to get us very far in our careers. Authors do need other authors in their lives. I’m a strong proponent of working together—especially if I want my blog to succeed—which helps promote my name—which will in turn increase my brand recognition—thus increasing book sales. Since I have always been open to having guest authors on my blog (which helped me with new content and helped them by giving exposure), it’s paid off. I have had many authors reciprocate and offer me guest spots on their blog.  Last but not least by any means, you need to get in touch with readers. Make yourself available to respond to all (or as many as possible) of the comments on your own blog posts which readers post. Also, when you guest on other blogs, keep to the same method of connecting with readers. As I mentioned earlier in this post, I have invited readers to guest on my blog and also be interviewed. What are your thoughts? What promotional methods have you found to be useful? “…an especially suitable place or position…” that’s one way Webster’s defines the word niche. Do you know the most suitable place or position where your writing and specific books fit?  If you don’t know that yet, and if you want to be successful in marketing your work, you need to figure out your niche. The complicated part starts now because you have to leave your preconceptions behind and take a look at your work with fresh eyes. When you started writing your book, you may have thought your work fit in one area, but now that you’ve completed it and signed a contract for publication and are starting to market, you’re not so certain if you are in the most suitable place. So how do you find that niche? You start at the beginning and reaffirm the genre where your book fits into. If you write mysteries, what kind…police procedural, amateur detective, hard boiled, cozies…you get the idea. If you write romance, what kind…inspirational, erotica, historical, regency, contemporary, suspense, fantasy / paranormal, time travel…you get the idea as well. When you know for sure that you have the correct genre for your work, now you need to figure out how your book fits into that suitable place with an audience. Who is your audience? Of course, anyone can read your book, but success really boils down to finding out who really will read your book and focusing most of your marketing attention on that specific audience. Try to really connect with your readers. Join online forums where your genre is discussed, not only because you are trying to promote your book, but because you are trying to discover the pulse of your specific readers. Always be available to your readers. That doesn’t mean that as you get more successful you’ll be able to respond to every email and fan mail you get, but be open and engaging in your blog posts and status updates in other social media networks so your readers feel that they know you. You also need to figure out what sets your book apart from the rest of the novels out there in your genre. What’s so special about your book? Why should someone read it? If you are hard pressed to give an answer to that, you will have trouble in marketing your work. You need to believe in your book and share your work with conviction to the world. Remember, as I always say, you are your biggest fan! If your work is from the historical romance genre, you need to dig deeper into the story and decide if there are any interesting correlations you can make between the time period and setting with the current day setting. Can you somehow connect with the locality of the setting of your book?  My current release is a contemporary, inspirational romance novel. The setting is suburban Philadelphia, as well as England, Ireland, Italy and France. Obviously, my characters did some traveling, but for the first part of the book, they remained in suburban Philadelphia, which is also my own local area. I need to get the wheels turning in my mind to see how I can make some connection between myself and that first setting and market my book to the local suburban Philadelphia area. If you’re not looking at the location, then do what it takes to find that especially suitable place or position that your book fits into, to make it stand apart from the rest and be successful. My book has a contemporary story line with a classic feel. I love the works of Jane Austen and I translated that devotion to the main character, Sophie. She is a huge Austen fan and gets a chance in the book to visit England and there are many aspects of the book that bring the reader into that classic romantic period. If your book has a similarly interesting twist on the old and the new, figure out a way to market that to both contemporary and classic literature fans as well. If your book discusses any current hot topics or events, even if it’s only a small part of the novel, milk it for all it’s worth. That is another way to get the attention of the media, thus you will be more in the public eye. So many books are published every year and with the advent of self-publishing and new authors being signed to publishing houses every day, the media doesn’t really care about your book, even if you dutifully send out press releases. Your contact with the media needs to make you stand out from the crowd. Find that connection between your book and current topics or events and you will be a step above the rest when it comes to media coverage. I like to always think outside the box and in order to make your book stand out from the crowd; you will need to think that way too. Find that uniquely special aspect to your book and make a concerted effort to draw that aspect out into the public eye to make a deeper connection with possible readers. Show them that your book is not just the run of the mill mystery or romance novel. There is something spectacular about your book and they just need to read it. You must create that intensity about your book. You have a product that is unlike any other, so market it with that mindset. Can You Plan for Success? 01/10/2012
“Failing to plan is planning to fail.” (Effie Jones) Have you made plans for success in your life? Sounds like a no brainer question; however, if you’re planning to pave the way for yourself down the road of success, you need a plan.  Of course there are no absolutes in life—except for death and taxes. Some may then say, what’s the use in making plans if there are no absolutes…well, those who plan, do increase their chances of success. Don’t you want to be counted in those statistics? I know I do. For an author, how can you plan for success? You first need to assess the current situation. What are your goals? What do you need in terms of marketing strategies? It doesn’t make sense to start planning your strategy if you don’t know exactly what you need in your own situation. For example, I have two books published already and my third book is due to be published in March or April of this year. What is my present need in terms of planning and goals? I -need to continually market my brand (name) and increase my readership base so that my platform increases—compared to where I was at last year and where I’ll be when my book is released in the next few months. Are you a new author just starting out or a seasoned one with several books already published? You need to take your current situation into consideration before you make further plans. One point to interject here—if you don’t have a press kit, you should create one; having it available online is a good idea. I have mine available on my website. Especially with the advent of technology, interested parties (like reporters and agents and publishers etc.) want to have easy access to your pertinent information. If you need exposure to new marketing opportunities, have you tried to schedule yourself for guest appearances on other blogs and online magazines? You should also have a blog that is active and not stagnant. It’s good for you to post interesting articles pertinent to your field and expertise; however, you should also spice things up a bit by having guest authors visit your blog. You always want new traffic coming to your blog, but getting regular traffic from people revisiting your blog is also important. If you have repeat traffic, you know you are doing well in your promotion. I like to save my personal information sharing with readers, for online resources like my facebook page and my twitter page. Yes, readers do want to find out information about you and your daily life and your thoughts—but, if you want to seriously promote you and your work, you need to offer serious content on your blog as well. So, what are you doing to plan for success? Brand your name, don’t promote your book 01/04/2012
That’s a strong statement, I know, but I wanted to capture your attention. Stephen King, J. K. Rowling, Dean Koontz, Nora Roberts, Michael Crichton, James Patterson, Anne Rice, Mary Higgins Clark…we all know those names or at least a good portion of them. So what’s my point? Just that…we know their names; we don’t all remember the names of their books.  Your fans are not going to always be able to spout off the titles of all your books, but if they like your work and if you’ve become popular, they will remember your name. If they know your name, they can easily find you online or in the bookstores. When they find your website, then they can look up your books. When they go to the bookstores, they can find your specific titles. As an author, hopefully you will continually be writing more books. Your readers may not always know your current works, but they’ll keep track of what you’re working on and when your new releases come out. So, how do you (and me), as up and coming authors waiting for the day you’ll be on the best seller lists, brand your name and market yourselves as authors? That question being put out there, you still, of course, need to work hard on marketing each of your books, but the way to really become popular is to market your name. One of the best ways to brand yourself is to have a website. You always need to have an online presence; that includes branding yourself in the social media networks. Another good idea is that you should always try to write articles in your trade, and post them in free online writing networks. Usually, you just need to register and then you can begin posting articles; sometimes certain sites will need to review your articles first. These sites will allow readers to link to your profile, where they can follow a link to your website. Other online article posting sites allow you to list a byline with a direct link to your website. You must remember that you are your greatest fan and you need to take advantage of that fact and promote yourself wherever you go. Of course, some people may feel this is taking you down to ego-land, but there are ways to promote yourself and your work without seeming to be overbearing. I don’t usually like to be in the center of attention, but as my husband mentioned the other day, I’m an author now and I’d better get used to it. Join writers groups and other writing associations and always attach your byline in everything that you write and have your “elevator speech” prepared and ready to use at all times. So what’s an elevator speech? It’s a short pitch on something you’re trying to market and since you’re trying to market yourself, be prepared to tell people that you are an author and when your next book is going to be released. Be ready to hand out a business card or at least be able to give out your website. Blogging is another way to brand your name. You always want your readers, potential readers and the press to go to your website. You can do this by offering them something. How do you do that? You need to provide good content that is always updated. That’s why it’s good to have a blog directly on your website or if you have it through another online service, to at least have the blog link prominently displayed on your site. You can even create a newsletter. This will be a bit more time consuming than writing a daily or weekly blog, but it is something that you can think about as you get farther along in your writing career. Don’t forget to keep on promoting your name. You are your biggest fan! Make your marketing count! The Missing Link 10/27/2011
What’s the missing link that you need in order to succeed in your marketing mission for your work as an author—it’s a deep-seated need to succeed at all costs…it’s not giving up when things get tough…it’s believing in yourself even if no one else does…it’s keeping the end goal in sight.  So many times we lose sight of the end goal and get bogged down with the daily grind so we don’t focus on where we need to be but instead focus on where we are and get discouraged. Discouragement is normal, but allowing yourself to live there is not good and does not advance your plan towards success. Things don’t always go as planned—that’s a given in this life, but you need to learn to roll with the punches and reformulate your action plan as you go. Change is good, even though we don’t always want to embrace that change. If you are able to keep the end goal in sight even when change is happening, you’ll be better able to deal with the changing circumstances and move forward towards success. When things are going well, we sometimes slack off a bit and let go of the reigns—we need to continue riding forward no matter what the circumstances. In both good times and bad, it’s important to maintain a solid mental focus that reminds you that perseverance is needed and in order to succeed, you need to take chances. Not everyone is a risk taker. Now I’m not talking about parachuting out of planes type of risk-taking, but every now and then stepping outside your comfort zone and doing something for your marketing that you’ve never thought you’d ever do. For starters, I did a radio interview several months ago and I was so nervous to do that, but it went well. I was offered the opportunity to do an interview on an internet TV station for the same radio company, but I’ve been too nervous to accept. I need to practice what I preach and get going on that opportunity. Make sure you stay true to yourself. No matter what marketing opportunities come into your life, only accept those that allow you to remain true to yourself. Stay true to yourself in your writing as well. Write from your heart and your readers will love what you want to share with them. If they know that you’re writing from their heart, they’ll come back for more of your work. If writing is a dream of yours and is your passion, then don’t give up. Those who give up will never succeed. True success is reserved for those who make a consistent effort and never let up. Are you of the mindset that a major marketing campaign when your new book is released works best to get the word out and increase sales? Or are you thinking more along the lines of a slow and steady approach?  I’m kind of on the fence with this issue. I believe that as soon as your new book is released, you should do as many interviews and get as much press as possible during that time so that you can get as many sales as possible to creep up the best sellers list. However, I do also believe that a slow and steady approach is good as well. Once your new book is out, do you stop marketing it after the first three months? Well, most reviewers won’t review books that have been out for more than three months. Which plays right into the point I’m trying to make, that it’s a generally accepted fact that the first several months your book is out are critical to generating the buzz.  I like to think outside the box. I pay attention to conventional wisdom, but I also like to think creatively and figure out what works best for my specific situation. With regard to this issue, I believe that you can find a happy medium.  When your book first comes out, do all the marketing you can to create the necessary buzz; however, don’t be afraid to continue marketing that book even after the initial three month time period is over. Of course, after those three months, your strategy will change, but you’ll still be marketing that book. You won’t be asking for reviews like you were during the pre-publication date and initial post-publication date, but don’t turn down that occasional review of your book and be sure to mention (when appropriate) about that book during interviews. One of the best ways to market your book is to market your name and you do that by continuing to write more books. Don’t get complacent or try not to get overwhelmed with writing and marketing, but find the best balance for your own life. Obviously, as the months go by and your book has been out longer, you won’t be highlighting it in all of your marketing as much as you would for your newest current release, but don’t forget about your previous releases. I’d like to put out there that it’s not just the first three months of a book’s life that are important. I think that the first year or even first two years are important. Just remember to think outside the box and always be creative in your marketing. Look at what works for other authors, but don’t be afraid to try something new to market your book. What are your thoughts on this issue? I’d love to hear from you. Standing out from the crowd 03/31/2011
With over 500,000 books published in 2010 alone, how do you and your books stand out from the crowded arena of other published authors? It’s enough to make your head spin and then maybe even run away and hide due to the overwhelming task of succeeding. Success goes to the person who persevered and never gave up. Success goes to the person who tried just one more time and said the dream was worth it.  With the advent of the internet and now the eBook, publishing and marketing books has been taken to a whole new level. The playing field is now equal and there is so much free publicity at your fingertips, you just need to know where to get started. One of the main things you need to do is stand out from the crowd. You need an online hub or place where people can readily find you and your books. This would be your website or blog. I have a website and my blog is one of the pages on my site. Your blog can be separate from your website, but you need to link both places together. Blogging is important and may seem tedious and like a thankless task with no rewards, but again—if you keep working at it, you will get blog followers and it is a way to keep drawing people to your website. That is what you want. If you only have a website that is static and never changes, why should people continue to flock to your site? It’s all about online content. People want to read new and fresh ideas and content online and if your blog offers that, you will keep your current followers and draw new readers. Join a blog alliance. It will be another way to draw people to your site. I am a current member of the Clash of the Titles Blog Alliance and Book Blogs (their buttons are on the sidebar of this blog). So what on earth do you blog about every day? If you get all caught up in that and thinking no one will even read what I have to say, then no one will. You need to believe in your blog before anyone else will. When I started my blog back in August 2010, I wrote short posts about my day or the status of my writing projects, but it didn’t even seem interesting to me and I knew it wasn’t interesting to anyone else. I’m a new author; who cares anyway? That’s why I needed to make the blog interesting. On Mondays, I post author interviews on my blog. Tuesdays are days that I post info for blog alliances. Wednesdays are open for author inspirational writing journey spots or book features / reviews. That leaves Thursdays and Fridays for me to post blogs. Of course, not every Wednesday or Tuesday always fill up so I may have to think of something to write those days too, but my Monday schedule has taken off and I’m booked until August. Social networking is very important. Start your own personal facebook page and then a fan page. Open a twitter account. I have my blog linked to post to twitter and also my facebook personal and fan page through Networked blogs and it posts to my book blogs page; this is a great way to get multiple avenues of exposure from one posting. Try to do as many online author interviews or guest blogs that you can do and post links on your social networking pages. Have reviews done on your books. Look into doing radio interviews. Think about doing book giveaways of your books on your own blog or when you are a guest on another person’s blog.  Another big part of succeeding in the publishing world is to market your name, not your book. Yes you need to market each book you write, but your name recognition is what will pave the way to continued sales. If a reader likes one of your books, he or she will look into your backlist to see what else you’ve written. You also need to continue writing books. Don’t stop. After you publish one book, go back to the drawing board and get started on a new book. There are so many avenues for success, you just need to keep your eyes open and be willing to think outside the box. What works for one author may not work for you. Be open to that fact and to find what does work for you. Be open to change and trying new ideas. Not everything you try will always work, but never give up. If you give up, you won’t ever find what could have happened if you stayed with it and kept persevering. For anyone who comments today and tomorrow on my blog posts, you will be entered into a drawing to win a copy of my eBook, Mr. Shipley’s Governess. Thank you for stopping by! Why you need to read my book 01/05/2011
I’ve been preparing for a radio interview and I just completed the second part of interview questions. One of the main questions that stuck out in my mind was why should people read my book? Throughout the process of writing my book and finding a publisher, then signing a contract and having it published, somewhere in the middle there, I created my own marketing plan. However, after answering the questions asked by the radio station about my branding statement and why should people read my book I’ve come to the conclusion, that marketing your book is really a work in progress, especially for a writer who would rather be writing than marketing. So, I tossed around some ideas for a branding statement and came up with Joanne Troppello, writing contemporary romance with a classic feel. I’m not certain that’s a keeper, but for now it’ll have to do…at least as an answer for the radio station questions. Another question asked if I knew my target audience and how was I trying to reach them. A great question that made me once again reevaluate what I was doing to reach this target market. All of the book marketing articles, books, blogs and info from experts that I’ve read has brought me to the conclusion that I am headed in the right direction, doing what needs to be done for marketing my book. I have a website and write a blog. I am active on the social networks. I have done direct emails and utilized word of mouth marketing. I’ve done online interviews and have sent my review copies out to reviewers. I post author interviews on my blog and host guest authors. So why doesn’t it always look like my marketing efforts are working? They really are, but just not as quickly as I’d like…and I’ve come to realize that this slower process is okay. I need to continually focus on branding my name, not just marketing my books and I need to persevere. As my husband said the other day, the ones that give up won’t succeed. Thanks, my DH, for being my biggest fan. I will take those words to heart and never give up and just keep on writing and sharing about my books. | Click photo to view Blog Trailer
 BLOG BUTTON CODE is listed at the bottom of the blog sidebar  Mystery & Inspirational Romance Author Joanne Troppello, hard at work on her next novel Want to Guest on my blog or do an interview?
Please feel free to contact me. I enjoy having guest bloggers and interviewing authors.  Here are Books I reviewed. Click the cover to read the review and find more info on the book.
  
 ArchivesMay 2012 CategoriesAll DISCLAIMER: Book Reviews In accordance with FTC Guidelines for blogging & endorsements, I want to post this disclaimer. From time to time, I do purchase and review some novels. However, most of the novels I review are given to me as a complimentary review copy by the author or publisher. I do not receive monetary compensation for the reviews I complete.  |
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