Showing posts with label author marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label author marketing. Show all posts

Saturday, 16 March 2019

Pony book author postcards and bookmarks



I recently invested in getting more of my popular bookmarks printed - along with a new postcard design.  Hope you like them!

STOP PRESS: I am delighted that on Wednesday 20th March, this blog welcomes best-selling pony book author Amanda Wills as part of her mini blog tour to launch her 8th book in the Riverdale Pony series!

Saturday, 14 March 2015

Saturday 21 March Day School :How writers can stay visible

On Saturday 21 March I'm running a day school in Canterbury from 10am -4pm called The Business of Writing 2: Now you see me - how writers can stay visible .  This may be of special interest to indie and self published writers.

With more opportunities than ever before for writers to get their work out to a public readership, how do you stay visible? Is an author also a brand? And what does this mean for a writer? How do you promote yourself?

We will explore ways writers can stay visible, including author websites, book trailers, blogging and blog carnivals, social networking, book signings and launches, readings, interviews, visits, getting reviews, and ways to showcase your work. What is most effective?

We will also look at creating a personal promotion plan.
Cost is just £29.50 and you can book via the link below.
https://www.canterbury.ac.uk/cae/day-schools/spring-2015/the-business-of-writing-2.aspx

What previous students have said about my day schools:

“Jane is very knowledgeable and has a wealth of experience.”
“Fabulously engaging tutor, enthusiastic about her subject, spoke with passion and authority.”
“It was more than I imagined.  Very informative and interesting.”
“Knowledgeable about the topic.  Excellent to listen to. Inspiring.”
“Obvious sound knowledge base and good clear delivery.”
“Useful hand-outs with links that can provide even more information after the course.”
“Inspiring and informative.  Lots of ideas to work with now!”
 “Jane is clearly very experienced.  She has a good relaxed style and is very enthusiastic.”
“Very useful and clearly put across.”
“Excellent content.  Covered more than I expected.”
“Very clear information.  Very generous with the information. Helpful.”
“Very good at answering questions, very clear targets and direction, well prepared.”
 “It was excellent – very informative, well organised, encouraged questions. Engaging.”



Tuesday, 15 April 2014

Visible Writers: Marketing and Promotion for Authors

Now you see me.........


The Business of Writing 3: 
Now you see me – how writers can stay visible

Saturday 10 May, 2014.  10am-4pm at 
Canterbury Christ Church University

Bookings are now being taken for my next Canterbury Saturday school on May 10th.  It's all about marketing and promotion for writers.  As well as being a published writer for nearly 40 years, I've also been in the marketing profession for more than half that time, so I have plenty to share with other writers.  

With more opportunities than ever before for writers to get their work out to a public readership, how do you stay visible? Is an author also a brand?  And what does this mean for a writer? How do you promote yourself?
We will explore ways writers can stay visible, including author websites, book trailers, blogging and blog carnivals, social networking, book signings and launches, readings, interviews, visits, getting reviews, and ways to showcase your work. What is most effective?  We will also look at creating a personal promotion plan.

All Day Schools cost £27.50.  

To book please contact April Doyle via email to education.communityarts@canterbury.ac.uk 
or by phoning 01227 863451
http://www.canterbury.ac.uk/community-arts-education/day-schools/summer-2014.asp





Tuesday, 29 October 2013

Making a book trailer: 20 Steps I took before, during and after making my first book trailer

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1.       I took time and did not hurry the process
2.       I studied a lot of book trailers on You Tube – some good, some not so much, some done by pro teams and publishers, others by authors.
3.       I had a small budget so needed to be creative
4.       I worked with a professional designer, Klaus Hartleben,  who I trust, respect and who designs my kindle covers. Yes, you can do it yourself – all of it – but I am not a designer so I would rather pay someone else to do this bit so it looks as professional as possible
5.       I wanted specially written original music so commissioned a professional composer to do it.  I love Barry Seaman’s music and knew it would be good. Music really enhances the storytelling in the trailer and brings out the emotion.
6.       I chose the words for the trailer – this took time and a lot of careful thought.  I made several drafts before I was totally happy.  Did it tell a story?  Did it engage the viewer?
7.       I picked stock photo images – again carefully chosen.  I did change a few after my original selections.
8.       A book trailer is like a mini film.  It has to intrigue people above all else and engage them emotionally.
9.       I asked the opinions of two people not involved in the process for a more objective view.  It’s too easy to fall in love with your own creations and lose sight of their purpose!
10.    After seeing the first draft of the trailer, (without the music) I got even more picky, and edited words and images again – just subtle changes. 
11.    I made sure the trailer info on You Tube had the book links and my blog links.
12.    After the final version was complete, I waited and reflected for a while, to make sure I was totally happy, before loading onto You Tube.
13.    After it had received around 50 hits, I added it to my Amazon author pages for the UK and US.
14.    I sent it out – in individual messages (not a mass email) – to friends, colleagues and associates, plus all organisations that might be interested. 
15.    I did the same with my Linked in networks.
16.    With Facebook groups, I also sent individual messages – never assume it’s okay to just post on someone else’s page without asking permission.
17.    After a week, I checked my book sales to see what effect the book trailer might have had.
18.    I did the same with my blog to see if any viewers were finding it via You Tube.
19.    Between 20 and 28 October it had 344 views.  I had the search title as Coming Home by Jane Ayres. There are lots of other book trailers for the same title, ie, plenty of other books called Coming Home.  Was mine getting lost? So on 29 October I changed the search title to Norwegian Forest Cat Adventure book trailer to see if it improves the visibility. 
20.    If having a book trailer results in more books sales, I plan to do a trailer for another title in the near future – possibly more.  A book trailer is an investment of time and money.  So is it worth it?  It's too early to say yet.

I couldn’t figure how to embed clickable weblinks into book trailers, and I couldn’t find any that do this.  So if you know how to do this I would love to hear from you! In the fast, impatient world that we live in, with instant clicks to anything we want,  I wonder how many people will want to scroll to the info after viewing the trailer to click on the Buy links?  Any feedback on this very welcome!

I’m happy with the result of all our work with the trailer - what do you think? 

If you enjoy Barry's music you might also like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIyhg8e04cI