I’m delighted to announce that I will be speaking at this year’s Smut by the Sea event, which takes place on the 14th June in Scarborough, England.
I’ll be giving a talk on promotion and marketing from 1pm – 1.50pm. Come along to receive hints, tips and advice on how to handle the dark art of selling your books once you’ve written.
There’s lots more going on, too, including talks and workshops on inspiration, writing better erotica and an erotic reading and poetry slam. There will also be a bookstall, a craft stall and an erotic tombola.
So, what are you waiting for? If you’re up for some smut by the sea, then come to Smut by the Sea! Tickets and full details are available at http://smutbythesea.co.uk
Tag Archives: marketing
Writer Marketing Services is Three!
Wow – I can’t believe it. Can’t believe that I’ve been self-employed for three years, running Writer Marketing Services. I’ve loved every minute, so I thought it was fitting to have a bit of a celebration, and a toast to many more years of doing PR, marketing, blog tours, release blitzes, websites and much more for writers and small businesses.
So, here goes… a giveaway! Yes, that’s right – the chance to get something for FREE!
Just fill in the Rafflecopter below for your chance to win your choice of either a FREE release blitz or one week blog tour. And don’t forget to tell all your friends.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Another Satisfied Customer
Jane Jackson contacted me to help her out with getting her books onto relevant Goodreads lists in order to increase her exposure on the popular book networking site. Having finished the project (for now), Jane kindly sent me a testimonial to put on the site. Here it is:
It was through posts between two authors on a writer’s loop that I learned of Lucy Felthouse’s Writer Marketing Services. Having little technical know-how I was in desperate need of help to get my list of published books onto Goodreads lists. I emailed Lucy and told her what I needed. She said ‘fine’, we agreed a fee, she requested cover images which I sent, then I left her to work her magic. She completed a demanding job in a remarkably short time, and did it brilliantly. With four more titles due out between January and May 2014 I will be calling on Lucy’s expert skills again. If you need help to market your book/s, she’s your woman. I’m delighted to recommend her.
Cyber Monday Deal!
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!
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!
Springing Ahead!
Well, spring is upon us, and I’m pleased to report that I’m springing ahead with projects, and have recently completed three websites, amongst lots of other PR work for both contract and ongoing clients.
Sites for Midlands Pest Control, Maxim Jakubowski and Adriana Kraft are all now live on the web, for your viewing enjoyment. Maxim and Adriana also kindly took the time to write up glowing recommendations of my work:
“Lucy Felthouse not only organised a wonderful blog tour for the publication of my latest novel, but she also then set up a website for me; this was something I should have done years ago but never got round to as it seemed too complex for my luddite technological skills. Her explanations, suggestions and ideas made it easy and then her hard work made this a reality. Thank you.” – Maxim Jakubowski
“I just finished a total website overhaul created by Lucy Felthouse of Writer Marketing Services. I heartily endorse both the product and the process. Lucy was able to take my half-formed concepts and flesh them out with her experience and her eye for what will work best on the page. At every step of the way, she was patient and taught me what I need to know to be able to maintain the site myself and make future changes. Thank you, Lucy!” – Adriana Kraft
I’m also busily running and booking blog tours, as well as preparing for several new projects, including some that were picked up as a result of my talk at the recent Eroticon conference. Myself and colleague and friend Victoria Blisse did a session on blog tours, which much to our delight (we were up against some tough competition) was really well attended and sparked lots of interest and discussion. You can’t ask for any more than that!
So, if you’re looking for a new website, a blog tour, a review submission package or something more bespoke, let me know as soon as you can, and I can get your project planned in. I look forward to hearing from you.
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.
Lucy Felthouse Confirmed Speaker at Eroticon 2012
Lucy Felthouse will be helping sex bloggers and erotica writers write sex right at Eroticon 2012.
Lucy Felthouse is on the speaker line up for the UK’s very first sex blogger and erotica writer’s conference, Eroticon 2012. The conference, on March 3rd in Bristol, will be helping experienced and aspiring writers to right sex write with discussions, workshops and inspiration sessions.
The schedule is packed with inspirational sessions and speakers, including writing and photography workshops, a publishers’ question time panel, tech sessions and discussion panels on sex in the media and identity and ethics.
Lucy Felthouse, who will be a part of the marketing your work session and publishers’ panel says;
“I was really excited when Ruby asked me to be a part of the first Eroticon. We don’t have enough events like this in the UK and many of us can’t keep skipping over to the US all the time, so it’s brilliant to have something in the UK for sex bloggers and erotic writers. I’m looking forward to it.”
The conference is the brain child of erotica author Ruby Kiddell, who explains;
“Having attended other blogging and writing conferences this year I felt there was a need for a safe and inspiring event wherein sex bloggers and erotica writers could meet, learn and talk about their genre and all to do with it.”
Speakers and sessions confirmed so far include:
- Maxim Jakubowski : Writing workshop, Publishers’ panel
- Zoe Margolis : Identity, ethics and sex blogging panel, Sex and the media panel
- Hazel Cushion of Xcite books : Publishers’ panel
- Lucy Felthouse : Marketing your work, publishers’ panel
- John Tisbury : Photography workshop
The conference will close with a cocktail party which promises to be an evening of sublime sauciness with readings from the UK’s most exciting emerging writers.
With such a fantastic line up Eroticon will be 2012’s must attend event for aspiring and experienced erotica writers and sex bloggers.
To find out more about Lucy Felthouse please visit http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk.
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.