Creating Little Videos

I've been taking Katie Davis's Video Idiot Boot Camp and learning a ton of fun stuff about making videos. The lessons are comprehensive and I've only begun to scratch the surface, but here's my first little creation, made through an awesome app called Powtoon:

The plan is I'll put it somewhere on my website, perhaps as part of a larger piece. Stay tuned!! (Or Tooned......)

Publishing the E-Book: Ten Things to Think About If You Are Thinking About Going Independent

In the past three years we’ve all watched the e-book market move from non-existent to a significant percentage of sales. That revolution has resulted in a change in publishing that I would never have imagined when I started writing for children over ten years ago.

Authors are moving to independent electronic publishing with astonishing results.

No longer is independent publishing “self-publishing” or “vanity publishing” with negative connotations. It’s a little hard for a traditionally-pubbed author to feel superior to someone who sells 5000 e-book copies a month, reaches the Times bestseller lists, and/or makes over a million dollars a year.

Yes, I’ve met or corresponded with more than one of these successful authors.

After listening to any number of tales from trenches, I’ve got a few thoughts on the new world order. If you are considering taking the plunge into publishing your book electronically, here are some things to ponder.

1. Write a great story. Regardless of anything else I say, this is the only way to be truly successful. That means writing a story that captivates the reader with worthy characters and a strong plot, a story that doesn’t bewilder or bore, a story with an arc and a satisfying ending. And the writing needs to be grammatically correct and error-free.
2. Consider your readership. Some genres are more successful as e-books than others. Romance, in particular, has a vast audience of readers willing to read quickly and often, who are used to purchasing an inexpensive book every few days, and are loyal to authors and sub-genres. Mystery readers are right behind romance readers in appetite. Science fiction and fantasy for YA and older is good. Literary fiction? Middle grade? Not quite there yet. Resources: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5NRfjnOAu8
3. Hire an editor. Even if you think your book is perfect it pays to hire a freelance editor to give you holistic plot advice, and/or to copyedit your text for grammar, punctuation, etc. Resources: http://www.the-efa.org/ , http://www.free-expressions.com/service-overview/
4. Create a fabulous cover. Most of us are visual, and most readers choose their reads based in large part upon the cover. For your book to find an audience, it must have an attractive cover and one that translates to thumbnail size. If you’re not an artist, or are not facile with Photoshop, pay someone to make you the perfect cover. Resources: http://www.bookcoverpro.com/, http://www.earthlycharms.com/home.htm
5. Hire a formatter. For books to be uploaded onto Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or any of the other e-book vendors it must be formatted correctly. Yes, you can do it yourself, but unless you are gifted in formatting I suggest hiring someone to do that bit for you. Resources: https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=A2MB3WT2D0PTNK, http://mcwriting.com/MC/eBooks_ePubs.html
6. Consider these costs. Editing costs range from the hundreds to the thousands. If you are already a strong writer, you could hire a grad student from your regional college to copyedit. Cover costs run in the mid to high hundreds. Formatting costs in the few hundreds of dollars. The writers I’ve heard from have paid between $500 and $1000 to get their books ready to market. Resources: http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2013/05/the-real-costs-of-self-publishing-book (I do think the numbers in this article are on the high side, based on personal feedback I’ve had with successful authors.)
7. Tag for your audience. Metatags for your book should be correct and targeted. That’s the only way for readers to find your book among the millions of e-books. Consider genre, sub-genre, regional flavor, age range, and character hobbies among other things. Be truthful, or you’ll turn readers away. You should check your “subject keywords” as you upload content. Amazon only allows for two categories per book. Resources: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/help?ie=UTF8&topicID=201231280
8. Consider a low starting price. One best-selling author I’ve met launched her first e-book on Amazon for $0.99, with a royalty rate of 35%. Within a couple of months she was selling 5000 copies a month. A year later, when she launched her second book, she’d gained enough of an audience to give book two a $2.99 price point and still sell at the same rate. With an Amazon author royalty rate of 70% for books priced between $2.99 and $9.99, you do the math. Caveat: the vast majority of authors don’t even make back their expenses. Resources: http://www.authorems.com/money-matters/tracking-sale/  
9. Grow your audience. The best way to grow your audience is by writing your next book. The second-best way is to participate in social media. That means having a website, Facebook author page, and a Twitter account, at the very least. And keep it all current without driving yourself insane. http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2013/02/guy-kawasakis-10-social-media-tips-for-authors045
10. Keep up with changes. The publishing industry is experiencing a revolution. What I say today (except for the part about writing a great book!) won’t be relevant tomorrow. Be aware of industry developments. Join a group like Romance Writers of America, SCBWI, or Mystery Writers of America. 

If you decide to go for independent publishing, please share your experiences, and if I can I’ll feature you in a follow-up post.

More Facebook Hints For Authors

Note: this information pertains to professional author pages, not to personal Facebook profiles. To set up a pro author page, see this post for some basic tips. Again, I want to acknowledge the Romance Writers of America community for sharing their finds and clever ideas.

1.     On using real names versus pen names: if you want your Facebook fan page to show up under your pen name, you must create it through your personal profile (Facebook does not like it when you set up an independent page under an assumed name, and may remove such a page.) On your personal profile page, go to the flywheel on the upper right, and select “Account Settings.” At the bottom of that page, click the “Create Page” link. You can set that page up under any name, including the titles of your books.

2.     Have a big announcement? Want a post to show up like a banner, across the entire page width? Hover over the top portion of the post (where your name shows up) and you’ll see two things emerge – an edit pencil and a “highlight” star. Clicking the star turns the post into a banner that spans the width. You can convert that post back to the standard single column width by clicking the star again.

Above you can see the banner I posted announcing my blog tour. In a few days, I'll return it to normal width.

3.     To increase your reach: Facebook likes it best if you create original material, right there. Rather than link to external material, post your own pictures, videos, or original content. Of course, sometimes it’s essential to link out from Facebook, but you’ll notice fewer page views on those posts.

4.     As with all social media, balance informative material about your writing/your books with informative material of general interest. Think of yourself as an “expert” in some aspect of your interests and be an educator, not a broadcaster/sales person. To that end, one great way to engage interest in your page is to pose questions that are not necessarily about your writing, but perhaps about the writing life, creative work, craft. Questions engage reader interest. Note: always reply to readers. Remember, this is "social" media.

5.     You can add apps to your professional page, including apps about your books. Just under your banner you’ll see a line of small windows: “photos,” “likes,” “videos,” and so on. Click the number button to the right and you’ll open all the windows you have (assuming you have more than four) and one with a +. You can add apps to the + window by clicking on the +, and then “add more apps.” The picture below shows my windows open to the second row.

I've opened the apps to show everything I have added currently. Soon I'll be adding more!

Now, I've discovered that finding the right apps can be a challenge from within Facebook; I found the Bookpulse app, which I use as you can see above, and am very happy with, after hearing a recommendation. In a future post, I’ll try and give you a list of interesting apps you might consider. For the moment, if you do nothing else, add a video app and link to or upload your book trailers, etc., as videos attract more attention in search engines.

More soon!!

Some Facebook Hints For Authors

In the past couple of weeks I've been on a steep learning curve regarding my Facebook Author Page. If you're an author, and you're confused about using Facebook...you are not alone.

First let me say that if you are an author, I can recommend that you create an Author Page separate from your personal Facebook account. Here's why: you can only friend 5000 people in your personal account. Yeah, yeah, I know. You don't think you'll ever have 5000 friends. But you really don't want to bore family and friends with writing stuff, and you really don't want to reveal personal stuff to your fans, even if you never reach the 5000 mark. It just makes sense to separate the personal from the professional. Plus, we can always dream.

So step one: create an Author Page. Go to Account Settings (upper right corner, the flywheel) and at the bottom of the page that opens next is a link to "Create Page." That will get you started.

Step two: name your page. I used "AuthorJanetFox." That was good, but I do wish I'd chosen "JanetFoxAuthor." Why? Because usually people don't search for me as "author." And why not just "JanetFox"? Because that's my personal account name. So "JanetFoxAuthor" would be perfect. Wish I'd known!

Step three: you'll need a profile picture (a small avatar, like you have on your personal page). I recently found by accident that using a different profile pic for personal and professional pages allows you to see more easily which page you are working from (more on that in a minute.)

Step four: you'll need a banner or cover photo, just like on your personal page. Now here's where I must acknowledge C.J. Ellisson, a member of RWA (Romance Writers of America), who has been extremely giving of her expertise. Among many other hints she pointed out that most people who look at an author page click on the banner and that's it. So your banner should speak to who you are and what you write (duh!!) That's my new banner above. It shows my books, reflects the images on my website, and includes my fox logo. And if you click on it, it now references my website and what I write.

Step five: know how to toggle between your personal profile and your professional page. For the longest time I thought that if I went to the menu at the left of my personal page and selected my author page I was moving into that format. Nope. You have to go to the flywheel at the upper right and select "Use Facebook As" and then your Author page.

This is important because only "pages" can like "pages" so when you like a professional page as your professional page you are keeping business with business.

Are you with me? On the screen shot above you can see that I've selected the flywheel and what drops down allows me to toggle back and forth between my author page and my personal profile. (You'll also see that at one time I created a FORGIVEN page, but I find that I have enough to manage between personal and professional, and that FORGIVEN page lies mostly idle.) You can also maybe make out that my little profile pic is different. Now I know which page I'm working from as I scan Facebook because these pics are different from personal to professional. Believe me, it's not always obvious, which you will see as you play with this.

There are other tips I'm learning I'll leave them for next week.

Interview with Michele Corriel, Mid-Grade Author

One of my 2k10 classmates has not one but two books out or coming in the next few months! 

Michele Corriel has been a friend for years. We first met when we were both unpublished and Regional Advisors for SCBWI and attending the annual New York conference. She lives in Montana, and at the time my hubby and I were dreaming of living here year round, so naturally we were drawn together. I'm delighted to be here now and have a chance to see her often, and even more thrilled by her success. I invited Michele to talk about her most recent novel, the middle grade TRUE LIES.

Hi Michele! Congrats on the publication of your second middle grade novel, TRUE LIES. Can you give us a synopsis?

Thomas [from the first book in the series] is back with his newspaper crew trying to get the scoop on news at Fairview Middle School. This time they get involved in a jewel heist! There’s also a new character, who I find exquisitely funny and charming. :)

This is the second book in your series beginning with FAIRVIEW FELINES. Do you envision more to come?

The publisher, Ambush Books, asked me to write a short story that will help readers get to know the Newspaper Mystery series. So that’s the first order of business. After that, we’ll see. But I do have an idea for a third book!

What do you like best about series work?

I think the format is very versatile. Newspapers are great vehicles for solving mysteries. And Thomas is so much fun to write, he really jumps off the page.

You’ve had a topsy-turvy road to publishing these stories. Would you share your journey?

Of course. After my first middle-grade came out in 2010 with Blooming Tree Press, I thought I was on the road to success! Then Blooming Tree Press closed its doors in 2011. They’d already asked for a second book and I’d sent it to them. What was I going to do with a second book of a series that had met an untimely demise?

I read about an ebook company looking for out of print YA and MG books. I thought, hey, that’s me! 

So I sent them a letter and a query. They were very interested and even asked if I had a second book in the series. Which, of course, I did. :) Both of these came out together in July. Needless to say, I’m thrilled that Thomas and his pals get another chance!

I love your new covers! How did they come about?

I’m afraid I had nothing to do with them! The publisher had it all done by their in-house design team. But I do love them. They’re very modern and sleek but still get the idea across. I love the cut up words scrambled across the tops and bottoms. Makes me think of kidnapping!

What’s up next for you?

My book Weird Rocks will be out in January from Mountain Press. This is a non-fiction picture book about … well, rocks! I can’t wait.

How can readers find out more about you and where can they find your books?

Everyone is welcome to visit my website at www.michelecorriel.com and the ebooks are available at amazon.com as well as bn.com. There’s a link on my website, too.

Thanks, Michele!

Marketing & Publicity for Authors: Part 5

In this last (for now) post in my marketing and publicity series I’d like to address the little things that your “street team” can do to help you.

First, what is a street team?

Your street team members are your dedicated readers: family, close friends, fellow authors, bloggers who have supported your work, readers who can’t wait to get their hands on your next book.

A couple of recent articles (here’s one) have pointed to research that suggests that “word of mouth” (aka, personal recommendations, whether from friends, librarians, or booksellers) is the number one way that popularity of a book spreads. Publishers can enhance a book’s profile through advertising and promotion; but midlist, debut, or little-known authors can use positive street cred to help with promotion. This is where your street team comes in.

What can your team do to help you? Here are ways – and all but one take only minutes and cost nothing. And none of these are dishonorable (as in, falsifying reviews. Don’t do that. Ever.)

1.     If they sincerely want to purchase a copy of your book, point them towards pre-ordering as soon as your book is posted for pre-order. Publishers base first print run numbers on pre-orders. You want as many books pre-sold as possible to increase your chances of publisher support and word-of-mouth. (This is the only task that costs your street team members money!)

2.     Ask your street team if they would be willing to visit their local indie and talk with the owner about your book. Outfit them with bookmarks and/or postcards to leave with the bookseller.

3.     Ask them to add your book to their Goodreads “want to read” list. Many bloggers/readers begin dedicated Goodreads’ lists every year: i.e., “favorite YA reads;” “historical fiction for 2012.” Your team members can like your book on those lists, too.

4.     Ask them to go to the Amazon page for your book and “like” the book.

5.     Ask them to add tags to your book on its Amazon page. Tagging a book helps it to appear on appropriate suggested lists, so that when readers search for a new book, yours might appear on the suggested list.

None of these suggestions will help a poorly written book – so your first job is to write as brilliantly as possible. Write from your heart; polish and revise. There’s a lot of competition in the marketplace and only when you craft a book readers can’t put down and can’t wait to recommend, only then will you break out. But a little honest support from your street team doesn’t hurt. 


Best of luck - and please share any and all ideas that have worked for you!

Marketing & Publicity for Authors: Part 4

I want to devote another post to marketing/publicity ideas but first: since my last post on this subject I’ve fallen in love with Pinterest. I’m a visual person; for each of my novels I collect photos, maps, headshots, clothing ideas, etc. and put them on an idea board that inspires me while I work (for more on this idea board concept, see this terrific post by my friend Judith Graves.) Now I can post these same photos to Pinterest, and share them with my readers. Finally – a place for me to display a vintage map or period gown, fabulous food or room decor! (Or, in the case of FORGIVEN, visuals depicting the tragedy of slavery or earthquake devastation.) Check out what I mean here.

Now, more ideas:

When my first novel, FAITHFUL, came out I was eager to uncover any marketing opportunities available. The first smart move I made was joining the Class of 2k. Originally FAITHFUL was slated for a fall 2009 release; I joined the Class of 2k9 and made a number of friends there, who continue to be both real and virtual compatriots. When I was bumped to 2010 the window of opportunity opened even wider, as I found another writing support group in the Class of 2k10, whom I also count among my closest writing friends.

My advice to debut authors: seek out the opportunities to join groups like 2k, or the Debs, or the Apocalypsies, because this is a lonely business and community is critical to success.

Judith's blog tour badge

The second thing I did was to spend some of my advance on my own publicist (Blue Slip Media). They arranged a five-week blog tour, which gave me a huge, bouncy springboard. They also helped line me up with signing gigs and raised my media profile. I feel it was money very well spent.

If I were to suggest one single publicity item to you it would be: blog tour. Bloggers who love books are our heroes. As an example of give and give again blog touring, I’ll be hosting fellow 2k10 author Judith Graves here on March 22 as part of her SECOND SKIN blog tour. 


And just in case you're thinking that a blog tour has to precede a book launch, here's a terrific idea to punch up a book that's been out for a while and give a boost to an upcoming book: Joy Preble has a blog tour going on for her second novel HAUNTED in time for the release of her third novel in the series, ANASTASIA FOREVER. 

A recent article on the SCBWI blog  inspired me to think about more out-of-the-box marketing ideas. I love these two that Sara Wilson Etienne dreamed up for the release of HARBINGER:

• setting up a website around a central idea, theme, place, character – and making it come alive with innovative marketing ideas - essentially creating an "alternate reality" for readers
• making the blog tour more interesting by focusing it around a theme (in her case, the artist character in her novel)

My friend Holly Cupala (DON'T BREATHE A WORD) is also a clever marketer, who taught me the value of printing out a limited number of first chapter excerpts (complete with blurbs, publisher information and color cover) to send to a selection of independent booksellers. I made them myself for FAITHFUL, paying only for the color cover printing, using a booklet form of standard paper folded in half and Word layout for a two-page spread (yes, it did take me a while to figure out the layout so that pages would print correctly.)

My bookmarks & postcards, front and back

I also want to give a mention to my 2k10 sister Denise Jaden (NEVER ENOUGH), who is an extremely smart marketer. Here’s a recent blog post in which she discusses marketing; I especially like that she’s honest about the lack of success with postcards, but will do bookmarks again. I would agree – the one stellar piece of swag that I would invest in again and again is the bookmark. (Having said that, Blue Slip made me a fabulous postcard for my FORGIVEN release, featuring both of my book covers, with accolades and awards and contact information, that has been a “best seller” and easy for me to hand to booksellers and librarians at events and conferences.)

I make my bookmarks myself using Word, with all relevant information and cover on the front, and a bleed-out cover on the back over which I add accolades, awards and quotes, maximizing all the space; I have them printed on the heaviest card stock available at my local printer. Note that I leave just enough space for my signature on the back side of the bookmarks, which some like to collect.

I love those little elephants!

Finally, check out this sweet idea from my friend Lynne Kelly (CHAINED) who made bookmarks with an elephant charm attachment – so definitely a “keeper”!! Here's how she did it:

For the bookmarks themselves, I had them designed by Jeff Fielder, then I uploaded the designs and ordered them from GotPrint.com. To make some of them more special, I ordered a variety of elephant charms from Etsy sellers and attached them to the bookmarks with hemp twine. I'd tried a couple different kinds of string, like embroidery thread that unraveled too easily, then found the roll of hemp in the beading section of Hobby Lobby.   


Sweet and smart.


I hope some of these ideas help with your next round of marketing and publicity! Next time - how your "street team" can help you.

Marketing & Publicity for Authors: Part 3

Note: In the past week I’ve discovered the Pinterest site. Like Glogster, you create your own poster boards, but with a cleaner look, and you can pull things from around the internet. I see this as a fun way to create visual “likes” and connect with readers and other authors. I'm thinking of ways to create boards for each of my novels - pictures of places, foods, etc. 


Now on to today’s post.

To continue with my series on marketing and promotion, I asked a few of my colleagues to share their own tips. Here they are in no particular order:

From Judith Graves (UNDER MY SKIN, SECOND SKIN):

When promoting with social media in particular, it's difficult to find a balance between blatant self-promotion and genuine interactions with followers. I try to keep the following three E's in mind: 

·      Encourage - be a cheerleader for others. For each self-promo or "product" update, promote three other authors, aspiring writers, bloggers, or friends of literacy.

·      Educate - share your knowledge with others. And don't be afraid to share your mistakes along road to publication - so your followers can avoid similar pitfalls.

·      Engage - invite your followers to share their knowledge, opinions, tips, tricks and concerns about the industry. Allow discussion, but insist on respect for opposing viewpoints.

If you base your social media usage around the E's you'll ENSURE your posts are relevant, informative and gracious. This kind of profile will EARN loyal followers and build solid connections with your intended audience. It's as EASY as E, E, E! ;)

From Holly Cupala (TELL ME A SECRET, DON'T BREATHE A WORD):

·      Put a Google Alert on your name, your book name, your name + book name (spelling variations, etc., since if you are like me you will run into a fair number of misspellings). Watch for bloggers waiting for your book—you can always politely contact them about interviews, guests posts, etc.

·      You can’t always send review copies (and most of the time publishers don’t give you that many), but you can respond to requests and see if they’d like to do an interview or guest post. As a side note, setting up blog tours can be very time-consuming, but there are a couple of blog sites out there that may want to organize one for you.

·      If you have an ARC to spare, check out some ARC tour blogs—they usually sign up ~10 bloggers who will mail one galley among themselves and review.

·      If you can get to a major conference (BEA, ALA, etc.), it’s great for exposure—see if your publisher can sponsor you and/or schedule you for a signing.

·      And…pace yourself, because marketing can be consuming and exhausting! You can always do more, but I think it’s good to do what you can do well and what is fun for you.

From Linda Oatman High (TENTH AVENUE COWBOY, PLANET PREGNANCY):

My tip would be that I multi-task:  if I’m going somewhere for journalism, teaching, etc., I try to incorporate book marketing with whatever else I’m doing.  (I’d like to add that this is one tip I need to incorporate more. Take advantage of those expensive trips by visiting bookstores!)

From Joy Preble (DREAMING ANASTASIA, HAUNTED):

Don't forget to mine organizations you belong to. When DREAMING ANASTASIA released in '09, I reached out to the alum groups of my college sorority. Not only did they come out to support my Chicago area signings, but I reconnected to people I hadn't seen in a while and ultimately it has led to speaking engagements here in Houston with various alum chapters and also some nice support from colleagues.

My question for readers this week:

Do you think blog tours work? If you’ve arranged your own tour, how did you get started? How did it go?

In two weeks I’ll be back with some out-of-the-box thoughts.

Marketing & Publicity for Authors, Part 2

A caveat I should have mentioned in Part 1 of this series: I hope that having a familiarity with marketing and publicity will help you get your books into the hands of your audience; but nothing can replace the time and energy you should put into writing the best book you can write in the first place.

Before I continue with a few more online marketing tools, I want to address a couple of relevant questions that emerged this week.

1. You can cross-post from Facebook to Twitter and vice versa. Check the settings menu for each site, and you'll find instructions for setting up this link. With one post you can now double your coverage (if you exceed Twitter's length limit with a Facebook post Twitter will turn the "leftovers" into a link.)

Clever shorthand guide to social media by Douglas Wray, who posted via Instagram

2. A reader mentioned the press room on my website. This is a wonderful idea I borrowed from other writers. It's set up so that someone wanting my head shot, cover jpeg, and/or book information can access these easily, with jpegs at different resolutions for different purposes. Newbies: don't forget your ISBN. My first 1000 bookmarks were missing this vital information.

3. Katie Davis has recently published this guide to marketing - "How To Promote Your Children's Book" - that I found useful and that goes into much greater depth than I can here.

4. In case you have doubts about the need for activity in the spheres of blogging and social networking, check out this excellent post by Joanna Penn on the subject.

Okay, on to some slightly more out-of-the-box internet tools.

1. Google+ : Yes, I have joined this social networking site. No, I have not become immersed. What I like is the ability to create different groups (circles) so that I can target my information. What I don't like is that it's just one more social site I have no time to visit. On the other hand, here's a unique way to use Google+ - as a work motivator, with members of a social circle all writing "together" as if they were in a coffee shop or at a writing retreat.

2. Tumblr : I also have a Tumblr account, but for the same reason my Google+ is underused, my Tumblr is quiet. However, there are advantages to Tumblr. It's basically a cross between a blog and Facebook, in my view, where you can repost a blog, but also link directly to Twitter, video, photo, or articles. If you are just starting out and feeling underwhelmed, this is one site to explore.

3. Klout : Well, okay, everyone wants clout. And this site offers a way for you to track your social media metrics - which basically means your industry "clout". Is it useful? Yes, mainly because you will have a more realistic view of how your marketing is impacting the world at large. It is not a social networking site, so don't expect to connect with readers. But it will allow you to measure the effectiveness of your marketing by tracking the number of times you are tweeted, retweeted, mentioned, etc.

4. Glogster : Here's one I haven't really explored but after only a few minutes' peeking I am salivating. As I'm a visual person, this is my kind of site. You can create a "poster" of anything - your work, your life - and connect with teens who are obviously drawn to this site. As are teachers, who have begun to use it as an extension for self-expression in the classroom. Will it help with marketing? Hmmm. Remains to be seen.

Next time - some really out-of-the-box ways to market your books and generate publicity.

Marketing & Publicity for Authors: Part 1

The time is long past when authors – with the exception of megastars – can rely on their publishers to help with marketing and publicity. Most authors I know do a significant amount of marketing; I know I do. For the next several weeks I’m going to share a few things I’ve learned since the publication of my first book, and I invite you all to chime in and share your own experiences.

In particular I’d like to talk about the advantages of online tools, including some of the newer venues (like Klout and Tumblr). From the social networking sites to contact media like Skype, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of ways you could spend your time. Let’s see if we can demystify even a few of the options available today.

For this week: what are the must-have or maybe-have online tools for every author?

1.     A website. This is truly the only absolute in publishing today. I do believe a personal website is essential to every author. I’d go so far as to suggest that even before your first sale, you should secure a domain name and hosting. GoDaddy offers both for reasonable fees. The most versatile platform is a content management system like the one offered by Wordpress, which allows even the most non-web-savvy user to update and edit their content. Note: editors and agents are saying it frequently – they look for an author’s web presence (website) before ever signing a contract. Your website doesn’t have to be fancy, but it needs to be easy to find (your name as URL, for example) and easy to read.

my Facebook Author page

2.     Facebook. Love it or leave it, Facebook is an important place for you to connect with your audience and other authors, with publishers and editors. I have created an author page that is separate from my personal page, which allows me to separate content for those two audiences (anyone can “like” your author page – they don’t have to be a friend.) I post on my author page maybe three times a week, and on my personal page maybe once a week – but I often find links, learn news, or discover valuable information by scanning Facebook. You can configure your author page to feed directly to Twitter and your personal page, or vice versa.

3.     Twitter. Easy-peasy and actually fun, I tweet a couple of times a day and try to re-tweet and/or reply when I find tweets that grab me in some way. I like a combination of personal and professional, though my personal tweets I hope never stray into the negative, ugly, or icky.

4.     A blog. Really, a blog is nothing more than a platform for you to discuss issues you find meaningful or important – and gather an audience along the way. It’s not essential; but it is kind of fun. Here are the important things to note: be regular (I try to blog once a week); be generous (try to host others on your blog, and comment on/visit fellow author blogs); know your audience (are you blogging to teachers? teen readers? fellow authors? it’s hard to do it all); find your own voice (stay inside your comfort zone.) Blogger is an easy platform, and Wordpress has the advantage of a combined blog/website platform (caution: Wordpress.org is the website platform; Wordpress.com is the blogging platform.)

Now, some basic tips.

1.     SEO. This means “search engine optimization.” Links, keywords, blog titles, META tags, hyperlinks – all of these lead to search engines finding you, your website, and your books. And, baby, it’s all about getting readers to find your book when they google keywords. As an example, my first novel is set in Yellowstone National Park in 1904. My keywords might include Yellowstone, American history, geysers, bears, plus newer keys like Kindle young adult fiction or Nook young adult fiction.

2.     Branding. Basically this means...be yourself. Find out who you are and let your readers know about you. Really, they want to connect with you. By connecting with you, they connect with a “real author”. In addition, you can play off something key to you – for example, I used my name by creating a fox logo and plastering it everywhere.

3.     Be nice. Your mom was right. Once you're out there, people do see you.

Next week - some of the more obscure platforms. Please do chime in and add your own discoveries!