Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Virtual Book Tour - Stop # 13 - Mary Emma's Potpourri of Writing

It's stop #13 at my dear friend, Mary Emma Allen's blog, "Mary Emma's Potpourri of Writing"! Wonderful interview in which she asks me just how I got started writing eBooks, and how receptive people are to to reading a paperless book. See you there!
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Virtual Book Tour - Stop # 12 - On the Writers' Road Less Traveled

Good morning, everyone! Are we out there promoting our little dickens off? Well, good! If you have the time, I'm guest touring over at my good friend, Alyssa Goodnight's blog, "On the Writers' Road Less Traveled," so if you have any questions you would like to ask about eBooks, promoting eBooks, or promoting in general, please leave a comment at Alyssa's blog, and I'll get right to it!
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Monday, November 20, 2006

Virtual Book Tour - Stop # 11 - In the Middle

Baby, it's cold outside! Even so, I've got my steaming hot cup of coffee, and I'm warm and happy. Another advantage of a virtual book tour!

Today's stop is...my dear friend, Martie's, blog IN THE MIDDLE! Come on over and ask me anything. I dare you. Double dare ya. Thank you, Martie, for hosting me!

Speaking of promotion, I will be teaching a workshop, "Pump Up Your Self-Published eBookPromotion" over at Earthly Charms in July. Hard to wait that long!
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Saturday, November 18, 2006

What is a Virtual Book Tour?

I was checking out the stats in Google of an article I wrote entitled "What is a Virtual Book Tour," and I came upon this really good blog post at Whatever, titled "Virtual Book Tours." I really liked the way this blogmeister handled it, and I so agreed with him or her...I couldn't find their profile so I'm not sure who the owner is.

This person goes on to say how while there are reputable agencies that will host a blog tour for you (Kevin Smokler, for example), you can still do this yourself, and for free. Kevin charges quite a hunk of change, but as I'm nearing the end of mine, I have to say there's a lot of work involved.

But, I'm the kind of person who loves to be in charge, and I wanted to see if I could do this successfully. And, I think I have.

I'm nearing the end of the tour, and have I sold any eBooks? Okay, first of all, I have appeared on ten blogs, most of them don't receive many hits as they are new, or not popular yet. Had I appeared on blogs that Kevin Smokler, for example, could have put me on, I might have had more sales. Considering that, I will say that so far, I have sold enough eBooks to buy my daughter a really nice digital camera for Christmas. Do the math.

So, to me, it has been a success. But, even if I hadn't sold any, the links to the various blogs that hosted my tour will continue to give me free advertisement as long as the blog post exists.

I was over at Paperback Writer the other day and she had an interesting viewpoint on virtual book tours. She...oh man, I'm not sure if Paperback Writer is a man or a woman, but for the sake of making my point, I'll call it a she.

Well, she says, "The questions a writer should always ask when considering this kind of promo:
1) Can I afford it,
2) where are the hard sales numbers,
3) are the resulting sales established and consistent, and
4) what name authors are doing it? If the answer to any of these questions is no, none, or even it's difficult to say, then buyer, beware.

This is an interesting point, too. Are you going to make the sales to recoup your cost if you go with someone's service to set this up for you?

So, what you're basically up against is trying to get the same kind of sales that you might have gotten if you had paid for someone to set this up for you. The key would be, of course, to find those blogs that are high trafficked. Goes without saying. Mine was an experiment, and as I know now what to do next go around, I will again do this myself.

They say that you need to be prepared to put some money into the promotion of your book. I say that if you can do what they do, do it and save the money for things like...digital cameras. ;o)

If you want to read my article, "What is a Virtual Book Tour," click here.

Happy promoting to you!

Dorothy Thompson is the editor of The Writer's Life, and the author of the eBook, A Complete Guide to Promoting & Selling Your Self-Published eBook.
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Virtual Book Tour - Stop # 9 - Shades of Romance Magazine

Little late in posting this, but stop #9 is at Shades of Romance Magazine, so hurry on over there, and if you have any questions, leave a comment in their comment box. See you there!
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Virtual Book Tour - Stop # 8 - Miss Cellania

Folks, you are in for a treat. Not only is she gracious enough to grant me a review for "A Complete Guide to Promoting & Selling Your Self-Published eBook," but her blog is the bomb. I don't even know how I found Miss C, but I remember the first time I was there, I burned my chocolate chip cookies. I just couldn't stop browsing! Fun stuff over there. Check out the review, leave a comment if you'd like, and enjoy the incredible world of Miss Cellania.
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Virtual Book Tour - Stop # 7 - I AM THE HUNTER

And...it's day seven of the "A Complete Guide to Promoting & Selling Your Self-Published eBook" virtual book tour with a stop off at Jamieson Wolf's blog, I AM THE HUNTER. Quite a remarkable writer, and it's such a thrill to have the opportunity to visit his blog! Come join me and if you have any questions about promoting, leave a comment in Jamieson's comment box. See you there!
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Friday, November 10, 2006

Virtual Book Tour - Stop # 6 - The Surreal Unwriter

It's day six of my virtual book tour and today's stop is at Ron Berry's "The Surreal Unwriter"! Stop by and say hello. If you have any questions up to this point about promoting eBooks, leave them in the comment box and I'll get right to them. See you there!
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Let's Talk Promotion - Free eBook Promotion That Works!

While we're taking a break from our virtual book tour, let's talk promotion.

As every eBook (or print) author knows by now, promotion is an inevitable part of keeping our products in the public's eye. No matter how small or large your effort, it's going to pay off eventually somewhere down the line.

I had one of my blog hosts tell me she was sorry that her blog didn't get many responses from outsiders when I appeared there, as she thought it would upset me.

No, it didn't.

The great thing about doing virtual book tours is that it's perpetual. Long after the tour is over, and as long as the blog host archives my appearance, my tour will continue indefinitely.

And that's a great thing.

The secret to selling eBooks is to get your link in as many websites as you can, and by appearing on twenty blogs, it doesn't hurt my chances of someone, somewhere down the line, finding it and purchasing my eBook.

But, the virtual blog tour is one of many promotional venues that will get me the Internet presence I need to create awareness of my eBook.

Other venues include syndicating my articles (read my latest: "What is a Virtual Book Tour?") and by sending out press releases on a regular basis.

I have had colleagues come up to me, saying that their eBook is just not selling, and what should they do? They say they have followed my advice and sent out an article and a press release, and still they have no sales.

The mistake they are making is that that one article and press release isn't going to do them much good.

If they had been following the advice in my ebook, "A Complete Guide to Promoting & Selling Your Self-Published eBook," they would know the secret.

The secret is that you need to send out that same article and that same press release to every website listed in the eBook. I have provided them with a one-click process that takes them right to the submitting page, and have made it easy for them; and yet, they don't take the time to complete the process.

By getting your eBook's link into as many places as you can, you increase your eBooks presence in the search engines; thus, increase the chances of someone finding out about your eBook using your key search words and phrases.

I'll tell you how this works.

A couple weeks ago, my writing group, The Writersville Gang, and I published a free eBook titled "Haunted Happenings." We didn't charge, and it was entirely free for the asking.

Using the search words, "free Halloween eBook," I used this in every promotional literature I sent out. In six days, our ebook landed in the number one spot in Google, one of the most popular search engines. If you want to see this for yourself, click here. See the power of free press releases?

You need to zero in on what key search words or phrases that people would use to find your eBook, and use them in every single promotional literature you send out.

That's it for today, and happy promoting to you!
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Virtual Book Tour - Stop # 5 - Blue Jeans & Tennis Shoes!

What do mismatched jammies, bed hair and a cup of steaming hot coffee all have in common? The perfect setting for my virtual book tour!

Today I'm stopping off at Jen Nipp's blog, Blue Jeans & Tennis Shoes! So, grab your cup of java and come on over!
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Monday, November 06, 2006

Virtual Book Tour - Stop # 4 - Nutter's Gang!

Omg...I have my very first review!

Everyone...hop over to Michelle E. Ellis' blog at http://www.meellis.blogspot.com/ where she's hosting me today and read my very first review! I'm about to have a boomer chick conniption!

What I found really neat is that my eBook, A Complete Guide to Promoting & Selling Your Self-Published eBook, has given Michelle ideas for promoting her already-published eBooks which has given her the confidence to query RT Magazine! Woo-hoo! Go Michelle! Let us know what you find out!

Everyone...pleeeeze, go over to Michelle's blog and leave a comment!
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Friday, November 03, 2006

Virtual Book Tour - Stop # 3 - SmallPress Blog

Wow...Day Three of my "A Complete Guide to Promoting & Selling Your Self-Published eBook" Virtual Book Tour sends me over to Tom Nixon's SmallPress Blog! Head on over there, and if you have any questions about self-publishing eBooks, promoting self-published eBooks, or any promotional questions, leave them in Tom's blog. Thank you, Tom, for hosting me!

Yesterday I was over at Kaleidosouls where Joyce asked me some really interesting questions. Among other things, she wanted to know what the single, most effective way to promote eBooks was.

This was a hard one, and the only way I could come up with a rational answer was to figure out just which tactic I used ended up being the most profitable. I believe that using every promotional tactic I outline in the eBook will give you the sales you want, but narrowing it down to just one, I would have to say the syndication of my articles.

When I send off an article (and this has to be done on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, with daily and weekly being the best), I get enormous exposure. FOR FREE.

It's the domino effect...and never stops. You send it to one content ezine and give them that right to pass your article to other content ezines, and before you know it, your article, along with your bio which has your website link in it, goes out to hundreds of other content ezines.

The key to getting top ranking in the search engines for any particular project you have is to have that website link on as many other websites as you can. Syndicating your articles will do that for you.

Tomorrow, I'll be heading to M.E. Ellis' blog, so I hope to see you there. Meanwhile, come on over to Tom Nixon's SmallPress blog and ask me anything you'd like!
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Virtual Book Tour - Stop # 2 - Kaleidosouls!

It's Day Two of "A Complete Guide to Promoting & Selling Your Self-Published eBook" Virtual Book Tour, and my next stop is Joyce Anthony's beautiful blog, Kaleidosouls. Come on over, and if you have any questions, leave them in Joyce's comment box.

I would like to recap yesterday's events on my first tour stop at Kathy Holmes' blog, Women's Fiction With Attitude. One question she asked me was how long have I been marketing eBooks and how much time would I estimate it takes for an eBook to be what I would consider a success.

I know success means different things to different folks, but to me, I considered my eBook project a success when I got my first sale. I know that sounds silly, but to me it meant there's at least someone out in cyberland that thought my eBook was worthy of plunking down cold greenback. It's a sense of satisfaction in that, you know?

To tell you the truth, I was running around the house screaming with delight.

And, so far, no one has sent me a negative review, or maybe the boomer chick has scared them to the point where they just can't do it. And that's all right with me. Really.

So, how has this book tour gone so far promotion-wise?

Terrific. I can't imagine what kind of surprises there are for me as we go along, but so far it's been fabulous. I do see where you have to be really organized as you are setting this thing up yourself. The only drawback is that your mind is constantly whirring, which isn't good for a little boomer chick like me, but it's been fun. Ask me at the end and I'll tell you how much fun, if it doesn't kill me first, lol.

Tomorrow, I'll be at Tom Nixon's SmallPress Blog, so hope to see you there! Whew...I need coffee!
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Virtual Book Tour

Good morning everyone!

Your blogmeister here would like to let you know that I will be touring blogs this month in my first ever virtual book tour for my eBook "A Complete Guide to Promoting & Selling Your Self-Published eBook."

I will be stopping off at blogs all over the country and talking about promoting your own eBooks (really it's not as hard as you think) in case you wanted to generate some Christmas spending money, or just in case you might want to do this yourself in the near future.

My first stop is today at Kathy Holmes' blog, "Women's Fiction With Attitude"! So, follow that link, and if you have any questions about self-publishing or promoting eBooks, or promoting in general, leave a comment in her blog and I'll answer it there for you.

Happy promoting to you and see you there!
AddThis Social Bookmark Button