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Jun 24 2009, 8:24 PM EDT (current) GregoryK.
Mar 25 2009, 7:41 PM EDT JonPincus 6 words added, 321 words deleted

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General Tips

  • Are there other high profile blogs/sites where your book is a natural fit? Think of all the communities you're involved in or would like to be. For example, If it's a children's book, think about moms and dads who blog. If it's the kind of thing that's likely to appeal to geeks -- try to get it on Slashdot. The "/. effect" is huge, and translates to visitors and sales.
  • Use Google Alerts to help find places where you, your book, or your area of expertise might be a natural fit.

Facebook


Twitter


MySpace

  • post about it in the Book Warehouse group ("we encourage blatant capitalism!")
  • Using MySpace as an Author Promotional Tool by Rick Reed.
  • when you get a friend request, look at who is asking and see if there's any information you should send them. Many bookstores, libraries, librarians, and book sellers are on MySpace and would actually appreciate good information. Use the opportunity to offer something of value.
  • use the MySpace blog as a means of communication -- put in information your readers would want/be interested in, remind folks of events, make it interactive by answering questions, and update often enough to keep the story (your book!) interesting. A good example is here on author Jay Asher's MySpace blog and how blog info is highlighted on his profile.
  • if you have written a work of fiction, create a profile for your main character(s) or a page for a band featured in your book (for example, Metal Assassin from Mark Haskell Smith's book Salty) or any other variation you come up with that ads value and fun for the reader and potential reader.

LinkedIn

Almost everyone at LinkedIn wants to hear about jobs. The easiest way to send all your LinkedIn Contacts a note is as a job offer: "Promoter for my new book." When Adam Shostack published The New School of Information Security it went above #5,000 on Amazon using this technique before any other press, reviews, or PR.

Xanga

  • Ira Socol suggests building a network of subscribers for your Xanga blog; this has been his biggest source of sales so far for The Drool Room.

Yahoo!

  • don't forget about Yahoo! Groups.
  • if there are beautiful or interesting images in your book, get them on Flickr. Consider Creative Commons licensing them to make them easy for others to reuse -- and credit
  • it works for Oprah, so why not give it a try: post questions on Yahoo! Answers and encourage participation.

Twitter

Squidoo

  • Build a "lens" on Squidoo. You can include links to your blog/webpage and syndicate your blog here as well. Also, Squidoo is set up nicely for selling your book via links you provide.
  • Seth Godin, one of Squidoo.com's founders, says that Squidoo is working on some tools for this area. Watch the SquidBlog for details.

Amazon

  • Authors can blog on Amazon.com via the Amazon Connect program. If you already blog, you can use your blog's RSS feed within the Connect program.
if you self-publish, how do you get your book on Amazon?

Success stories

  • How to create a liberal bestseller describes how Glenn Greenwald's How Would a Patriot Act? "rose from obscurity to number one on Amazon largely because those initial blogs ignited a wildfire of mentions and purchase links throughout the blogosphere."
  • Bloggers Expose and Sell the “Real McCain” describes how Cliff Shechter's book The Real McCain reached #6 on the Amazon biography list with no advertising and no TV appearances, but active promotion in the blogosphere
  • Leinad Zeraus' (aka Daniel Suarez) self-published thriller Daemon grew sales through blog buzz and word of mouth before eventually selling to Dutton... with a sequel also purchased.

Book clubs and salons

Blogs


VoiceThread

  • Easy way to create a short audio file about your book. Link the audio file to an image, such as your book cover, and to a sales source, such as your local bookstore. Then share it anywhere, just like a YouTube video.
  • Big in the education community, with many, many reviews of books by kids.
  • Viewers of your VoiceThread can comment with their own audio tag and/or share it virally.
  • To read aloud more than an excerpt, you might need to check on your audio rights.
  • Examples here.

EverNote

  • Clip all your web reviews to a notebook. Make it public and share one neat file instead of separate links.
  • Great because it preserves all the copyright and author credit for the blog reviewers.
  • More info here.

Articles and discussions

Other resources