Tag: marketing

Social Media 101: Instagram as an author tool

Posted on by Keely Flanagan

Instagram LogoIs your New Year’s Resolution to use a different form of social media other than Facebook or Twitter? Instagram is one of the best social media platforms out there, and one of the most popular among 18-24 year olds and 25-34 year olds, according to Social Media Week. If those age groups are your main audience, then utilizing Instagram is an app you should seriously consider. It’s fun, easy to use, and unless you’re Justin Bieber, less likely to be spammed or “trolled” than outlets like Twitter.

For those who aren’t familiar, Instagram is an app that allows you to post photos and graphics with (or without) a caption. It’s different from sites like Facebook and Twitter because you can only post to it if you have a picture to upload.

If you’re an author, how can you use Instagram to your maximum potential?

Use those hashtags. Like Twitter, Instagram allows you to use hashtags so you can search for terms like #ThrowbackThursday with ease. Participate in trending hashtags to insert yourself into the conversation.

Show us what you’re reading. Why not show your audience what books you enjoy or are currently reading? The hashtag #bookstagram is popular, and if you have a bookshelf that’s as grand as the one in Beauty and the Beast, you can even get involved in the #bookshelfporn tag.

Give us a glimpse of your life. Your readers may love your books, but we want to know who you are, too. If there’s anything going on in your life you’d like to share, like showing off your new lightsaber while in line for the new Star Wars movie, your audience will love you the more for it.

Cats, cats, cats! Since the dawn of time, photos of pets are proven to receive the most likes, hearts, and favorites across all social media. It’s okay to upload a photo of your kitty making an angry face worthy of Grumpy Cat, or your dog trying to lick peanut butter off his nose.

Quote your own stuff. Do you have some lines in your new book that you seriously love? Post them on Instagram as a pretty graphic! You never know who will find your book quote inspirational enough to repost.

What social media platform do you find is the best to use as an author? Tweet us your thoughts @mckinneypr!

 

Publicizing a book? What to expect & when

Posted on by Keely Flanagan

What happens next? — A question I am asked all the time when it comes to a publicity campaign for a book, especially from new authors and clients. It’s time to lay down an outline of the calendar so you are armed with enough information that you can move on to other things on your list.

Infographic-Publicity timeline

Publish, Release, Launch: Some of The What and When of Book Publishing

Posted on by Claire McKinney

james pattersonI will let you in on a secret: no one, not even the big publishers, know exactly when to publish a book.  Yes, there are some givens, like making sure you are able to get into holiday and other promotions like Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, etc. Then there are books by authors that consumers are trained to buy in a certain month based on its availability.  I’m talking about Michael Connelly, James Patterson, and others who write at least one book per year.

I should also mention the reason a book is usually published on a certain date is because of marketing and publicity reasons.  We try to get books out there when they will be featured most prominently and when the media are interested in what the titles and authors have to say. 

For self-published authors I recommend that they publish the book as soon as it is ready.  I call this a “soft publication.”   Your “media date” or “hard publication” can be  whenever you think the stars are going to align with media coverage and the success of your marketing—or when you think you can sell the most books!

I’m going to try to break down what the norms are in terms of publication months, but first I need to address some lingo that is tossed around and needs to be clarified.

Publication: This means that your book is on the market and available for sale via any and all distribution channels.

Release: This usually means the date that books are shipped from a distribution center to online and retail stores.  However, I’ve seen it used interchangeably with “publication” but for some people it means something different.  I’m not saying you are wrong for using the word, but knowing that there are other meanings out there might help clear up some confusion.

Launch: This term is a pet peeve of mine, because using this word implies there is some kind of event attached to the publication of your book.  If you are a celebrity or famous person and/or your book has breaking news that is going to dictate an entire news cycle, then perhaps “launch” is a good word to use.  But I caution people about calling publication a launch, because I think there are inherent expectations associated with using the word that can potentially be cause for disappointment.  

* * *

Having said all of this, here are some monthly breakdowns that I have generally experienced as the accepted publication patterns:

January (Or “New Year, New You”)

Self-help; diet; inspirational; business—if you fit into this category, this is what the media are generally interested in, and it’s what consumers are thinking about.

February 

Self-help associated with relationships; debut authors; business; fiction—if you are a debut author, this month is not as full of new titles and there may be more promotion and media opportunities for you as a result.

March

Debut authors; mysteries; fiction

April

Women’s fiction

May

Beach reads; women’s fiction; biographies; books on mountain climbing

June

More beach reads; women’s fiction; biographies or other non-fiction that will appeal to male readers on vacation or for Father’s Day

July

Quieter month better for debut authors; more of what you saw in June

August

Debut authors; education related titles; narrative non-fiction by lesser known writers

September

Public affairs and politics; serial authors in fiction and non-fiction; cooking; highly publicized titles by debut authors

October

More politics; cooking; big non-fiction titles by well-known personalities and writers; higher end photography books; art books

November

Photography; art; gift books; big names; and anything else you can think of that will sell in the current budget year

December

Good month for lesser known authors.  A variety of books are published including late comers for Christmas or those titles that people want to get a jump on for January

* * *

You may notice that the categories are not always dictated firmly in one month or another—this is what I mean about the secret.  In the end what everyone wants to do is get the book out there at the best possible moment.  But you need to consider what you can control and what you can’t.  After you make your best educated decision, you have to go with it and plan as if it will be the biggest “launch” you’ve ever seen! 😉

What’s in a tagline?

Posted on by Claire McKinney

I apologize for being remiss in not posting these past couple of weeks.  To be honest it’s been a bit of a shocker since I live in the NY Metro area and was affected by Sandy.  No power, gas rationing, and empty grocery stores can do that…I can only imagine what some others have dealt with on the shoreline or in lower Manhattan.

Anyway, as promised I owe you an article about taglines.  What are they?  They are probably most commonly thought of as slogans.  Their purpose is to emphasize the brand that is being promoted and to provide another way for the product to stick in a consumer’s mind.  Sometimes, the line can be so ridiculous, you wonder how someone came up with that!  Kind of like watching Geico commercials.  At this point with or without the gecko I know who did the ad by the crazy scenario I see on screen.

So let’s take my tag for example, “Communication Strategies for the 21st Century”.  My goal is to impress on potential clients that I am well versed in traditional methods in public relations and marketing but I also embrace new media and everything it can offer to a campaign (hence 21st century).  What am I going to do when the 22nd century hits…fortunately I won’t be responsible for that, but it has run across my mind, should my enterprise become the booming conglomerate every entrepreneur dreams of…

Here are a couple of others I’ve noted that kind of go out on a limb, if you ask me, but at the same time I certainly can’t forget them.

Applegate Farms: a maker of fresh, hormone free sausages and hot dogs has this on it’s trucks “The Cleaner Weiner” shaped in a smiley face.  See this video for more fun http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAwemDM2INo

A septic service in Wisconsin touts it’s excellence with “Yesterday’s Meals on Wheels”.  This is actually the name of their company, but it emphasizes the service.

yesterday's meals on wheels - Chilliwack & Abby Septic Service truck
From collegehumor.com

I have sat in meetings in the corporate world where a room full of people try to come up with a catchy, poignant way to highlight a brand.  I wish I could have been there for these two.  Please share any great taglines you’ve observed.  I’d love to read them.