Welcome to week four of the Christian Author Bootcamp! This is a ten week book promotion blitz created to help you whip your publicity plan into shape. This week we’re talking about using special discounts as an incentive to get people to purchase your book and about conducting a book giveaway.
Ambassador International often provides custom coupon codes to authors who want to provide a special discount through marketing materials or to people who attend a special event. The coupon codes are valid only in the Ambassador International online bookstore. Check with your publisher about getting a coupon code that you can distribute.
If you decide to host a giveaway of your book make sure you promote it through Twitter, Facebook and more. Enter your giveaway on giveaway listings hosted by other blogs. Here is a long list of blogs that promote various weekly giveaways. You must enter your information into each site, but it can be a great way to get the word out about your giveaway.
Welcome to the second week of the Christian Author Bootcamp– a ten week book promotion blitz. We’ll be sharing free or low cost resources to help you whip your publicity plan into shape. This week we’re talking about joining the conversation.
Welcome to the first week of the Christian Author Bootcamp– a ten week book promotion blitz. We’ll be sharing free or low cost resources to help you whip your publicity plan into shape. This week we’re focusing on creating an online home base.
On just about every site that sells books, there is an opportunity for fans (or critics) to share their opinion on a book. Amazon does it. Barnes and Noble does it. Even Google Books allows reviews. Whether it was loved or hated, the book seller wants to give readers a chance to share their opinion on a title. What does that mean for you as an author? Keep in mind some interesting statistics in the Christian marketplace. Personal recommendations are a big factor when buyers are deciding which books to buy. Seventeen percent of people buy books based on online sources including book reviews, online advertisements, email from the retailer or based on the author’s website. That’s nearly two out of five people.
The good news is reviews are free. It doesn’t cost any money to get someone to write their opinion down about your book. The hard part can be getting someone to do it. Here are some ways to generate positive reviews about your books on book selling sites:
1. Ask for them. Sounds simple enough, but most people don’t do it. Send out an email to family members and friends asking them to take a few minutes to write a review of your book on Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com.
2. Tweet about it. Use social media to generate reviews. Request them on Twitter or Facebook. If you’re a fan of Christian Publishing on Facebook you could even ask other members to help you out.
3. Hold a giveway. Hold a giveaway of your book on your blog. Or ask another blogger to hold a giveaway for you. In return for receiving a copy of your book, ask the winner to post a review of the book on a book selling site. While you can’t guarantee that it will be a positive review, at least you’ll be generating talk about your book!
4. Trade reviews. Team up with other authors and swap reviews. That way everyone wins.
5. Ask your publisher for help. Your publisher likely has access to an email database of customers. Ask them to give away a few copies of your book in return for online reviews.
What are some other ways you would suggest generating online reviews? Have you knowingly generated sales based on an online review? Let us know!
Are you a fan of Christian publishing? Whether you’re a published author, aspiring author, publisher, editor or anyone with an interest in Christian publishing, we invite you to become a fan of Christian publishing on Facebook! We just launched this group this week and already have over a dozen people joining the fan club. We will use this as a place to keep you posted on events and industry news. If you have an event you’d like to promote to this group, go ahead! Be our guest!
Christian author Adam Blumer recently held a book launch. It wasn’t at a local coffee shop or bookstore– it was on Facebook. According to his blog, nearly 150 people turned out and here’s what Adam wrote about the event:
Here’s a big thank you to many who attended my online book release party yesterday! I was pleasantly surprised when 147 of you participated and entered the book drawing. You wrote such kind words of encouragement. Thank you! Sorry we ran out of salsa, and my assistant who was supposed to buy more cake ran off with it.
It sounds like Adam and his Facebook visitors had a great time celebrating the release of Meaningful Suspense. So here’s how you can create a book launch party on Facebook:
1. Create a Facebook Page. As long as you already have a Facebook account, you can create a fan page. Put your name or your book’s name in the title so people can easily search for it. Here are some guidelines to follow when setting up a Facebook Fan Page.
2. Pick a Time. You can either set up your book launch like Adam did with a specific date, or you can make it more general. Either way, encourage your fans to visit your page often to stay up-to-date about book signings and events.
3. Promote your Fan Page. Send messages to your Facebook friends and encourage them to become your fan. Ask them to recruit more fans for you. You can also use paid advertising to get the word out about your event.
4. Put a Badge on Your Blog. Facebook makes promoting your fan page easy by creating badges. This will let visitors to your blog know about your Facebook page. You can learn how to create a badge for your Page from the ‘Promotion Guidelines’ link. This can be found under the communications section when you are editing your Page.
5. Host a Giveaway. Encourage visitors to stop by your Facebook Page by holding a giveaway like Adam did. Promote the giveaway on your blog as well.
6. Communicate with Your Fans. As long as you don’t go over 5000 fans, you can easily communicate with the entire group and keep the up-to-date about events and happenings surrounding your book. The update will appear in their Facebook inbox.
Are you planning a Facebook book launch party? Or have you held one in the past? Tell us about it!
We are developing a list of Christian publishing contacts that are on Twitter. We at Christian Publishing Tips love to connect with people on Twitter and we wanted to create a directory of those working in the Christian publishing industry including publishers, authors, literary agents, editors and bloggers. This is by no means a complete list! Please leave your information in a comment or contact us on Twitter (@ChristianPubTip) and let us know what category you would like to be listed under.
Christian Publishers
@AmbassadorIntl Tim Lowry, Ambassador International
@TakeRoot Noelle Mena
@MichaelHyatt Michael Hyatt, Thomas Nelson
@IsraelWayne Israel Wayne, Wisdom’s Gate
@GGoldSmith Gretchen Goldsmith, Rose Publishing
@StrangBookGroup
@millerisms56 Michael D. Miller, NavPress
@DiscoveryHouse Katy R. Pent, Discovery House Publishers
Authors
@alyssasaavant Alyssa Avant
@Brandilyn Brandilyn Collins
@ricky_spears Ricky Spears
@PaulWirth Paul Wirth
@TerryWhalin Terry Whalin
@DianeLHarris Diane L. Harris
@BobKellemen Bob Kellemen
@booksbyjanice Janice Thompson
@seedoflife Roney Smith
@Lucyannmoll Lucy Ann Moll
@orrin_woodward Orrin Woodward
@surrenderedscri Julie Arduini
@LawrenceWilson Lawrence Wilson
@KayArthur Kay Arthur
@sandycathcart Sandy Cathcart
@Darnyelle Darnyelle A. Jervey
@pfministries Paula Friedrichsen
@kathleenpopa Kathleen Popa
@latayne Latayne Scott
@BonnieGrove Bonnie Grove
@sharonksouza Sharon K. Souza
@pattihill Patti Hill
@Debbiethomas Debbie Fuller Thomas
@VeracityGroup group of authors of Inductive Student Bible Curriculum
RT @newerakara: Looking forward 2 signing my new book, "Are You Keeping a Secret?" at booth 2121 (Winepress) Tues 9am at #ICRS! See u there! http://twitter.com/christianpubtip2010/06/29
RT @AngeStar: First full-I mean FULL-day of #icrshow & great 1! Meetings books etc.Must go to popcorn cart &see Like Dandelion Dust trailer. http://twitter.com/christianpubtip2010/06/29
Are you a fan of Christian publishing? Whether you’re a published author, aspiring author, publisher, editor or anyone with an interest in Christian publishing, we invite you to 
