Category: Publicity

How to Prepare and Run a Twitter Tip Campaign for Your Book

Not long ago I happened to hear Patrick Schwerdtfeger talk about a Twitter tip campaign he ran for his book, Marketing Shortcuts for the Self-Employed. I thought the idea was brilliant and decided to do a similar campaign for my new book, How to Blog a Book: Write, Publish, and Promote Your Work One Post [...]

Mistakes to Avoid with Your Amazon Book Launch

I did not plan an Amazon launch for my new book, How to Blog a Book. So, I can’t tell you how to do one or offer any tips or advice. However, many authors do. As I prepare for my blog tour–another launch activity, however, expert guest blogger, Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi-award-winning The [...]

Tips for Writers on How to Give a Standing Ovation Talk

One of the best ways to promote a book and to make money as an author involves speaking. That’s right. No writing. Get the words off the paper and out of your mouth. Today my guest blogger is a friend and client, Rick Deutsch, known as “Mr. Half Dome,” author of the best selling guide [...]

Mari Smith on Blogging and Writing Books

We writers hear it all the time. I just heard it at least five times at the San Francisco Writers Conference this past weekend from at least five different publishing and PR experts. To become a published author–and to produce a successful book (one that sells to lots of readers) you need more than a [...]

Mari Smith on Why Writers Need to Use Relationship Marketing

I spend a lot of time on social networks every day—maybe more than I should or have to if I knew how to do a better or more effective job with my social marketing. However, those efforts have garnered me a decent—not huge—platform, one that grows every day. In fact, it’s growing faster every day. [...]

Mari Smith on How Writers Can Use Social Networking Effectively

Many aspiring and published authors balk at the idea of getting involved in social networks. My clients continually tell me they don’t want to have to “sell” themselves and their writing via social media nor do they want to “waste” their precious writing time on this endeavor. So, when I found myself at BlogWorld and [...]

How Writers Can Use the Super Bowl as a Promotional Tool

I’m not a football fan—at all—but I spent the afternoon and evening yesterday keeping my husband company as he watched the Super Bowl. I watched the commercials and the halftime show and kept a running commentary on them on Twitter as I pigged out on junk food. With the exception of the dip and chips, [...]

4 Steps to Your Social Networking Program

More aspiring authors than I can mention in desperate need of a platform refuse to use social networking. They see it as a waste of time and a time sink. Published authors needing to promote their books also won’t go near Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google Plus. Somehow, it is beneath them, an activity not [...]

How Writers Can Make Time for Social Media

I hear the same excuse from aspiring authors—and from published authors—when I tell them they should use social networking to build platform and promote themselves and their work. They always say, “It’s one more thing to do that takes me away from my writing.” This statement is closely followed by, “Social networking is a waste [...]

How to Use Linked In to Research, Write and Market a Book

It’s a new world out there for nonfiction writers of all sorts who want to get published. If you’ve been reading the last week’s worth of posts here on this blog about promotion and marketing, you’ve gotten just an inkling of what it takes to succeed—and it’s not just a good idea and good writing. [...]