How about an awesome Cyber Monday deal? Yeah, I thought you’d like that. So how about this:
Book any length of blog tour, and get it HALF PRICE!
That’s right – a one week blog tour will set you back just £10, two weeks £20, and so on.
And yes, you can book and pay now, and save the tour until later.
So, what are you waiting for? Go here to see prices and options, and book your blog tour. I’ll send you an email within a couple of days with the next steps.
This offer is open until 10am GMT on the 3rd December, so be quick!
Tag Archives: promotion
Increasing Reach on your Facebook Page
Here’s a handy tip for increasing reach on your Facebook page. “Reach” is Facebook’s word for how many people have seen your posts in their timelines. And I’m talking “fan” pages here, not profiles.
Normally, if you’re promoting book buy links, blog posts, etc, you’d type your message and the link into the box, then hit “post.” It’ll then go out and a percentage of the people that like your page will see it. To increase that number, give this a try:
Instead of posting the link in the same box as your text, try writing your text, then saying you’ll include the link in the comments. Post it, then post your link as a comment on that particular post. See screengrab:
Click to enlarge
I’ve tried this myself, and in the statistics of my page, it’s roughly tripling the number of people that see my posts. So it may take a few seconds more, but it’s worth it for that many more users to see what you’re posting.
I’m not 100% sure why Facebook do this, but I suspect it’s a) because they don’t want people linking out of Facebook, taking traffic away and b) because they want you to pay to use that “boost post” button. Can’t blame them for wanting to make sure cash out of page users, I suppose, but it’s pretty annoying as that’s the only way users are supposed to promote things, as opposed to on their personal profiles.
Give it a try. I hope it helps!
Two Years and Another New Site
Writer Marketing had its second birthday on the 1st February – I can hardly believe it! Two years as a self-employed writer, publicist and web designer – it’s gone so fast. It’s also been fantastic, and I’m looking forward to many more years doing this.
The latest project (as well as several blog tours and ongoing publicity for regular authors and publishers) I completed was a website for award-winning erotic romance writer, Avril Ashton. She wanted to move her existing blog and website into WordPress, and we worked together over the course of two or three weeks to make this happen. The full details are in my portfolio, and I’m looking forward to working on more websites – I have several in the pipeline.
Many thanks to everyone that’s supported through the last two years – it’s very much appreciated!
Using Twitterfeed to Promote Blog Posts
Do you spend ages Tweeting, Facebooking in LinkedIn-ing (think I just made up a new word there) your blog posts? Perhaps you contribute to several other blogs, as well as your own, and all that social networking takes up too much time. Time you could be using to plot, write or edit your next book!
Never fear, Twitterfeed is here. In a few simple steps, you can be letting Twitterfeed do all the hard work for you.
1. Go to Twitterfeed.com and sign up for an account.
2. Add your first feed by clicking ‘create new feed.’
3. Add the feed name and the URL, then click ‘test rss feed’ to make sure it works.
4. Click ‘advanced settings.’ Check each of the settings to make sure they’re what you want. The most useful I found, particularly if you contribute to a group blog, is ‘post prefix.’ That way you can add text to show that it’s from a blog you contribute to, but not necessarily your post. For example, I prefix with ‘From BlogName.’
5. Continue to step two. You now have three available services; Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Follow the steps to add the Twitter account you’d like to feed the blog posts to. Then repeat the same steps for Facebook and LinkedIn. Pay particular attention to the Facebook settings, as you have the option to post to your regular wall, or you can post to a page, instead.
6. When you’ve selected all the services you want to post to, click ‘All Done!’ and you’ll receive confirmation that your feed is set up and ready to post automatically.
7. Click to go to your dashboard, and you’ll see the feed you just set up, ready and raring to go. Simply repeat from number 2 on this post to add more feeds.
And there you have it! Effort free blog post promotion for yourself and your fellow bloggers!
Testimonial from Liia Ann White
I just received this fab testimonial from Liia Ann White – who booked a blog tour for her latest release through WMS.
I used Lucy’s Writer Marketing Services for a blog tour and was instantly left wondering why I hadn’t used her earlier. I’ve used other promotional companies to organise blog tours and appearances, but none of them compare to Lucy. Within hours of emailing her regarding the tour, she responded – not an easy feat with the time difference between the two of us – and she had great spots booked up within days. The entire process ran smoothly and I couldn’t have been happier.
The tour was a great success and Lucy promoted my guest spots on both her personal Twitter and Erotica For All accounts.
I plan on using Writer Marketing Services again and again and again.
K D Grace Case Study
It the one year anniversary of Writer Marketing Services – yay! As part of the celebration, I’ve written up a case study of one of my clients who’s been with me from the start. I give you… the super K D Grace.
I have been working as K D Grace’s publicist for a year now, and am pleased to say that we still have a good thing going! I work for K D on an ongoing basis – that is, I do what needs to be done at any given time. That means that round the times when K D has a new release, I’m very busy sending her books out for review, securing interviews, guest blog spots, updating her website and social networks and much more. In between those times, though, we still work together on various projects, including K D’s newsletter, publicising reviews she’s received, co-ordinating advertising and keeping K D and her books in the public eye.
Here are a few of the things that I’ve worked on for K D in the past year:
- Her website: http://kdgrace.co.uk (which I continue to maintain and update)
- Her Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/KDGraceAuthor (including tutorials and updates)
- Her Twitter account: http://www.twitter.com/kd_grace (including tutorials, background customisation and updates)
- The creation of, and updates on, her Amazon Author Central accounts in the UK (http://www.amazon.co.uk/K.-D.-Grace/e/B004M3DMB0/ref=sr_tc_ep?qid=1327949559) and US (http://www.amazon.com/K.-D.-Grace/e/B004M3DMB0/ref=sr_tc_ep?qid=1327949579).
- The creation of, and updates on, her GoodReads account (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2791969.K_D_Grace).
- Three books to date (with more coming – she keeps me busy!): The Initiation of Ms Holly, The Pet Shop and Lakeland Heatwave Book 1: Body Temperature and Rising. This includes sending the titles out for review, organising advertising, getting K D blog posts and interviews at relevant sites, posting review quotes on her website and much more.
- Getting K D and her work involved in special online events to help promote her and her books.
- The launch of her newsletter (http://eepurl.com/hrXKI).
K D Grace says: Lucy Felthouse is one of the best things that has happened to my writing career. With her on board, I know the marketing and PR for my novels and my brand are in good hands. For me, that means a lot less stress and a lot more success. And best of all, it means I get to concentrate on the part I love best, writing the story.
What You Need To Know About Blog Tours
- What is a blog tour?
A blog tour is a way to publicise you and your book. You write guest blog posts or answer interviews which are then posted on carefully chosen host blogs on a set date.
- What are the advantages?
It’s great publicity which boosts sales! As you’ll be appearing on a different blog each day you have the chance to gain yourself new readers, let existing readers know about your new releases and get your work added to those all important to be read lists! You are given the opportunity to speak to readers and engage with them, increasing your chances of them checking out your books.
- What is a guest blog post?
A guest blog post is where you write something that will be of interest to readers, whether it’s about your writing process, your characters, your inspiration, etc. These are then posted on a host blog along with your book cover and buy links to make readers aware of you and your work.
- What should I write about?
See How To Write Guest Blog Posts for more information on this.
- Should I write something new for each stop on the tour?
You don’t have to, though it’s highly recommended. Some tour hosts will insist that your content is unique as sending the same thing out to more than one blog has several drawbacks: the search engines penalise for duplicate content, meaning your post is less likely to be ranked highly; it looks like you can’t be bothered to write new content; there may be people following you on each stop of your tour and they won’t be happy to see the same posts appearing and with each new discussion you have more chance of drawing in different readers as you’re giving them a new ‘hook’ and making them interested in you and your work.
- What happens after the post is made live?
The post will be publicised on social networks as outlined in the Blog Tour Packages information, but you will also need to publicise this yourself. Send emails to your friends, post something on your own blog and send out links via your own social networks. The more visitors you have, the better. Also, you must check back periodically to see if there have been any comments on your piece and answer them and any questions where applicable.
- How long does a blog tour last?
That’s up to you. Packages range from one week to four. For more information, visit the Blog Tour Packages page.
- What do I need to supply for a blog tour?
See Blog Tour Requirements for a list.
- Your prices are all in GBP – does that mean you only work for UK authors?
No, though I’m in the UK so you’ll need to pay me in GBP. Use a free currency converter to find out the rough cost in your currency. Then you can use PayPal to send funds to me in GBP.
- I want in. How do I go about booking a blog tour?
Visit the Blog Tour Calendar & Sign Up Page to find out what dates are available and send me your information.
Getting Started with Amazon Author Central
Amazon Author Central is a great free tool to help you promote your books. Once it’s all configured and all your books are added, a link to ‘More About the Author’ will be included on each of your book pages. This means readers can easily find out what other books you’ve written/appeared in, more about you, see a link to your website, find out about upcoming events, and more.
Once it’s set up you just have to make sure it’s kept up to date, i.e. when you have new releases or arrange signings/events.
What many people don’t realise is you need SEPARATE accounts for the UK and US versions of Amazon. If you want to make the most of it, setting up just one account won’t do. It’s a nuisance, but you’ll have to do everything twice, and be aware that the two versions vary slightly.
Amazon Author Central UK: http://authorcentral.amazon.co.uk
Amazon Author Central US: http://authorcentral.amazon.com
Just sign up for free accounts on both sites and follow the instructions to set up your page.
Here’s an outline of what you can do:
- Add an author photo (and additional photos)
- Add your books (if you’re listed as the author, this should be straightforward. If, however, you’ve contributed to anthologies, you may find you’ll have to contact Amazon and have them manually add the book to your page.)
- Add a biography (make sure to update this accordingly)
- Add a blog RSS feed (a great way to get your blog in front of new people and encourage them to follow you – currently only on US version)
- List events
- Add videos (great if you have trailers for your books)
- Add your Twitter handle so people can see your latest Tweet and easily follow you
- See sales information for your titles
- See customer reviews for your titles
- Amend and add to product pages (a great way of adding great editorial reviews you’ve had for your books to your product pages – though unfortunately this is only currently available on the US version of the site)
Make sure to take full advantage of everything offered here – it’s free promotion, and a great way to make people aware of you as a writer and hopefully buy more than one of your titles!
All of the features are self-explanatory and easy to use, so get signed up today and make Amazon work for you!
Here are my author pages on both sites so you can see what’s possible:
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lucy-Felthouse/e/B003ZA5I5E/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Lucy-Felthouse/e/B003ZA5I5E/ref=sr_tc_ep?qid=1316187928
**ALSO**
You can also do the same on the French and German Amazon sites now. Your books will be listed under English-language titles, unless of course you’ve had books translated and sold in those languages.
Use your browser’s translate function or have one of the English language sites open in another tab to help guide you through the process on these two sites, as the layout is identical.
Two New Websites & A Blog Tour
Well, I have been busy of late! I’ve completed two new websites, both for creative types. One was for Maggie Hatchard, a Staffordshire based artist, who specialises in flowers and architecture. The other was for Slave Nano, an erotic writer whose naughty stories are definitely not for the faint hearted! You can see both websites in my Portfolio and follow the links if you want to check out their sites.
I also ran a week-long blog tour for Tabitha Rayne to help promote her new release, Mia’s Books. It went very well and Tabitha was so pleased with the service that she wrote me a lovely testimonial, which you can see here, along with Slave Nano’s newly added testimonial.
I’m now busy working on another website, as well as some promotion for existing clients and also a non-fiction title. It’s all go!