Promotion: Be Your Brand

These last few weeks have been building towards making your brand. What is it about branding that is so special? Well, think about it. The big companies would be doing it if there wasn’t something to it. There’s consistency. There’s promotion recall. There’s reliability. What they provide becomes commonplace - in a very good way.

Consistent - time and time again, they provide you with a product that has repeatability. Let’s think of some manufacturers who have provided this consistency factor. For examples, Thomas’ English Muffins, the same nooks and crannies can be found in each delicious morsel - whether cut with a knife or split traditionally with a fork. Same goes with your favorite author. The reason they are your favorite is the fact that you can pick up any one of their books and get the same great character development, plot structure, etc.

Promotion Recall - I’m sure while watching the Super Bowl there are those commercials that you will just remember forever. Maybe that could be “Make 7 … Up Yours”, or the sexually charged GoDaddy.com girls, “Bud-Wis-Er”, or the car commercials that make everyone desire that one item that would cost a lifetime to pay off like the GT500. Perhaps you don’t remember the entire commercial, line-for-line or scene-for-scene, but you connect that with the entity. This is what you should be striving for in your promotions. I know, you don’t have a team making hundreds-of-thousands of dollars to market and promote, but that shouldn’t stop you! Because of that you should be working harder… I know, simple right? Hardee-har-har.

Our books are unique to us so we have to find our own unique ways of marketing them it. Catalyst, is a WWII spy thriller with an aviation theme, so I have unique opportunities with it that I don’t have with my other books. I have had signings at air shows, gun shows (and yes, regular book stores too!)
I have also made up book markers that have the different WWII aircraft from the book on them along with my website and I have WWII memorabilia on my signing table to attract attention. Marketing along with branding is your own voice out there among the choir of writers. You have to sing your own distinctive song to be heard.
-- Paul Byers, author of Arctic Fire and Catalyst.

Reliability - Don’t confuse this with Consistency, as I suppose it could be taken, but being reliable is important. As stated back in the Social Media post of week two, people want to interact with you on a reliable basis. That could be reading your blog, that could be seeing new books, that could even be as simple as responding to their emails/DM’s. People want to know that if they are putting time into you, that you will reciprocate in part for them when duty calls - nothing short of proper customer service.


Unfortunately I’m beginning to sound like corporate America, but more often than not this is what people rely on. Don’t fret though, the word ‘indie’ is certainly making its presence known. With names like J.A. Konrath and Amanda Hocking, the brand that they are creating has been rocking the boat of the traditional publishing world. Being able to control your market through the branding of your product opens doors to what can be greener pastures. Hey - I buy generic, my local market e-muffins have the same tasty nooks as the ones that are double and triple the price. Just remember: the indie, less commercialized ones aren’t always worse, they’re just the ones least readily seen.

Be consistent. Be recalled. Be reliable. Be your brand.

Cover Pick-Me-Up

Hey friends, just a little end of the day cover design fun. If you've read David Sakmyster's The PHAROS OBJECTIVE, you will enjoy this post as this is the new cover for book two of the Morpheus Initiative series, The MONGOL OBJECTIVE.



Also keep your eye out for the free short story titled The SMITHSONIAN OBJECTIVE, which takes place between PHAROS and MONGOL and should be popping up over the next few days at Smashwords. It's about 5000 words of Morpheus goodness!

Promotion: Be Viewed

What? Are we going to talk about community mumbo-jumbo again? No, this one is a much bigger step. Get yourself viewed nationwide. How pray tell would you do that? By going to national events and guest blogging.

All of these things you’ve been doing so far have been a workout getting you ready to meet with some big dogs. Places like Thrillerfest, ComicCon, Romance Writers of America, BoucherCon and the like. Make connections with those who influence you, whether by email or other social media outlet, build a relationship, and then let them know you are coming and would like to meet them in person. I can’t tell you how many great contacts I’ve made off of going to these conferences. This is their time to schmooze, to stop thinking about their workload and enjoy themselves in a room filled with their peers who all are or have gone through the same things they are now. Many take comfort in knowing they aren’t the only one who has faced a challenge, and many times they are willing to help you conquer it. Don’t forget, be sure to join the group (ie, become a registered member of Thrillerwriters.org) as that is a great way to establish contacts as well, and the only way you can get into their events.

I hear it in the background, “But Stan, I don’t have the time… I don’t have the money.” Yes, you are right it can take 4 days from your schedule and upwards of $1000 between transportation, tickets, hotel room, and food. Once again, I cannot stress enough that these things will rock your world and give you openings you may not have had before. We would not have had people like Douglas Preston, Steve Berry, or Jon Land gracing our covers otherwise, amongst others. Start saving now! Tax returns may be coming for most of you, find out when and how much the conference is that you want to go to, put a chunk of change - whatever it is - aside, and save for the rest. Even if you go once and find out it’s not for you, you can at least know that you tried, were persistent so to speak, and next year you may not go back if you found it to be lacking in some way. On the other hand, you may get R.L. Stein to fall in love with your book, and not only will he blurb it, but he wants to put a sample of it on his social media pages (hey, crazier things have happened, I’m just saying). You never know the outcome until you try.

Find local book buying events where people are looking for books to put on their shelves. They are usually regional, so you might have to do some driving, but making contacts will help you get viewed that much more. Be sure to join other regional events, like writer’s workshops, book fairs, etc. While some of those may be mostly community-based, keep your eye out for the larger events that may be posted in your local papers or shared on your local news channels.

I’m sure you are all familiar with guest blogging. Authors/officials go to blogs, some well-known, some not so much, and either answer questions for an interview, or talk personally on a subject of their choice. This can be a great way to open your audience up. If you are typically a sci-fi writer but have some romance, find those blogs that would give your book a read. Not only may they read and review the book, but it could open you up for monthly posts if they like what you had to say to begin with. Also, try getting into the larger blogs that have a constant base of reviewers/columnists, or write for the groups you have joined like Thrillerwriters.org.

Also, though it wasn’t a part of my intro don’t down play your local publications. If you have any desire to branch out and become a journalist, try your hand at it. Start locally and work towards your larger regional papers… who knows, you might just get asked to move to the city to write for the big-wigs. Getting seen by a national audience, whether in person or via web publication, is a necessity to get you that much closer to your goal of being a bestselling author. Household names are those that are purchased, and whether that is right or wrong (since there are so many great names out there being overlooked for a lack of a title) it’s the fact that we all must find a way to overcome.

The Demise of the Bookstore?

Today, friend JT Ellison posted on her blog about the demise of bookstores around the Nashville area (please, read her post). By the sounds of things, that area isn't the only spot losing stores to the new reading culture of the ebook. While ebooks are a great way to read and carry a mass quantity of books, as well as being cost-effective with books from .99 and up, it is taking away one of the great escapes for people to walk away from this hectic world (as well as taking great jobs out from underneath an already struggling economy). Being able to go in, grab beverage, browse the racks for new titles in genres you like to read, and walk out hours later with (hopefully) or without a book that interests you... all the while, the stresses have drained from you allowing your senses to go into overdrive - to inhale the smell of newsprint, ink and photopaper; absorb the feel of matte, gloss, raised letters.

While we expect that libraries will never leave us (but with budget cuts, who really knows) and that opportunity may always be there to peruse bookshelves, supporting our local businesses is an absolute must in these times! Whether it is a mom and pop/indie, or a brick and mortar, please let us know what bookstores are important to you in your community, just follow suit on how I post at the end of my post. Help support an industry that is so very important to more people than just you or I, but a nation of readers who haven't yet been born who need to know what a quality bookstore can truly provide their readers.


B&N - Manchester/Nashua, NH
The Toadstool Bookshops - Peterborough/Milford/Keene, NH

Promotion: Be Persistent

With all this talk of promotion - getting your book into stores, talking at schools, using social media, and being unique in the way you promote - being persistent is another tooth in your key to success if you haven’t gathered that from the first three postings. Having been in sales for a nationally known tool and hardware company in another life, that standard “don’t take ‘no’ for an answer” attitude has to come into effect… within reason.

Taking into consideration that people want you to sell yourself, getting people agitated at your line of sales pitches won’t help you advance up the ranks. You need to show your audience, whether they be teachers, readers, or even agents, that you have something to offer them that they wouldn’t find otherwise. That could be fresh ideas to connect with students, a viral campaign that reaches out to groups who may not have been tapped before, or revamping an old idea that allows that form of promotion to be fresh and inviting. Sign yourself up for everything you can handle, shake those hands - both physically and virtually - and let them know that you are available to them, and if people don’t know you now they should in the near future. If your first tactic didn’t work, a new one will come to mind and you approach again. Whether it’s on your first try, or tenth, your persistence will pay off.

Also, be sure to find your literary heroes and contact them. Not only are they more often than not willing to provide some guidance as most remember being green, but they may even provide a blurb to grace the front cover.

Failure can be a big part of promoting yourself. Perhaps you aren’t reaching the right fan base, or your video didn’t come out as good as you had hoped but ran with it anyway and the result was much less impactful than first expected. But as I said in the Community post, failure on your part isn’t weakness unless you let it cripple you. We learn best when we are open to making mistakes, applying constructive criticism where necessary, and making a better product the next go ‘round. And while ‘no’ can be a disappointing word to hear, as I’m sure some, if not most of you have heard it more than once, no never means forever (well, unless otherwise stated - doh!).

Also, don’t hesitate to ask for help! If you know someone who is good with video software, or has a mic and receiver you can hook to your computer, or possibly a tech guru, either ask them to help by producing it for you or have them teach you these new endeavors. There are reasons why people have different skills sets, to be able to help one another. I’m sure you can barter for something from you at a later date (or, heaven forbid someone does it because of kindness and available time). Or, if you don’t know anyone and have a local tech college nearby providing courses in what you are looking to learn, do it up. Not only will it be a rewarding experience in learning the new trade, but you will be saving yourself some money in the long run not having to pay other professionals to do it for you at professional prices. Granted, all of this takes time, but find your balance.


Remember, don’t give up on yourself. You’ve come way to far to stop now so look back to where you’ve been and persist on to get where you want to be.

Literacy... A dying cause?

Hey folks,

For any of you who have been following this blog, you all know how I feel about literacy. Granted, I should feel that it is important since that is the only way I get paid, but all that aside think about how important it is to be literate.

• Reading a bedtime book to your kids
• Entering the workforce (being able to fill out employment forms, read direction, etc)
• Properly administer medicine to yourself and others

With cutbacks, both on state and federal levels, we all know that schools, libraries and other literacy organizations are lacking the funding they really need to accomplish the feats of teaching our kids or helping our adults. What message are we sending out regarding the future of our country - a country that is 50% illiterate as of numbers from a few years back?

Politics are a fickle thing. Where are the lobbyists who fight hard for, and give kickbacks to, those who vote for money coming back into our education systems? Does a strong workforce produced by well-educated folks not make enough money for these people who are filling their pockets with bills? Maybe not in the short term, but in the long run, what happens when our educators don't make enough to be able to just teach, but have to get a second or third job and can't focus on their true passion... helping people? They can't focus on homework, on finding items to assist kids and adults in their development - in curing the cancer that is illiteracy. Our economy will crumble that much more just compounding every issue we have. Is this speculation? Maybe, but just think about 50 years ago and the number of people who went to college vs even 15 years ago and the advancements we've seen in the world. A strong education program is a strong country.

Being illiterate is nothing to be embarrassed about. Everyone has demons they must contend with. If you know someone who needs help, get it for them. Make a kid's dream come true to finally have their parent read them a story that takes them to another land. Likewise, that parent will forever feel indebted to you, giving them a new found respect for themselves as well as a freedom they have never felt before.

This weekend I took part in a bookfair that raised money and awareness for literacy in my state. Do I wish more people came or that we raised more money? Absolutely, but it was a great success for the organization and for those schools/libraries/learning centers looking to supplement their own funds with grants from the non-profit putting on the bookfair. If anyone wants to learn more about it, please email me (stremblay at variancepublishing.com) as this isn't meant to be an ad for them, but a cause that much bigger.

This now brings me full circle. As we all know, without literacy we all turn back into the primative species we came from eons ago (yes, I know they had cave drawings which is a form of communication and could be read like a book). Now more than ever literacy should be at the top of our list for causes worth fighting for. Is literacy a dying cause? Not at all! ... It's a cause worth dying for.

Promotion: Be Unique

As you were growing up a youth, you were always made to be like the other. You even hear it in Pink Floyd’s Welcome To The Machine - go in students, come out robots to fulfill needs with a lack of talk-back. But, as you grow up, get to college, get into the working world, you are always encouraged to be an individual. Those who are typically are the ones who find the most success. This thought process certainly holds water in the publishing world, especially when you are trying to make a name for yourself. While there are those core ways of promoting yourself (Facebook/Twitter/blogs/websites), your key to breaking out of the pack is the unique way you promote your book.

Video - For a long time, book trailers were the way to go, and while they still are a very useful tool, your trailer needs to be good. Effective pictures, short video snippets, breath-taking audio, cool text and video effects, and even some voice-over makes it something people want to view, pass around, and play up.

Beyond this, creating thought-provoking or memorable viral videos that promote your book at the end (as Jeremy Robinson did with his Antarktos Rising 10-video campaign for very cheap money!) can more often than not create a bigger buzz than your trailer.

PODcasting - Many great authors have started their careers with PODcasting. Whether they read their book themselves or hire on a reader for a signature voice, audiobooks can be a very effective way to gain a large base of readers. It can be very expensive if you hire on someone, so be aware, but getting yourself on podiobooks.com and iTunes can open some great doors (amongst other places). You can make it free for a time, then start charging more little by little as you produce titles and increase your readership and quality. That, in conjunction with other promotion can be a great kickstart.

Giveaways - Finding ways to do giveaways that are unique are sure-fire ways to gain some buzz. For example, if you have a story about a special item, see if you can find a way to create a quality version of it online. Perhaps you can find an illustrator who is just getting their feet wet too and have an illustration made of a particular scene from the book. One-of-a-kind items that no one else could dream of getting any other way. Maybe you have a title that follows a particular creature, for this case being a real animal, go to NatGeo.com and purchase the rights to the print to have it made into a poster that you can sign and give away.

One thing that I see happening often is the giving away of one’s own book. I highly recommend fighting that urge. If people are doing their damnedest to win that copy, they won’t do their part in purchasing the title. If they weren’t intending to purchase the title in the first place, would they have really read and reviewed your book? Maybe, but less of a chance of it. They could have always sold that book, or given it away if their true intention was to actually read the book.

Reviews - Find ways to get people to review your titles on their personal blogs, the online retailers, and book sites (Goodreads/Library Thing). Maybe that could be done by giving them a role in your next publication or a $5 gift card to something useful like Amazon.com. This now brings the promotion from your hands into the hands of others… is this more risky? Yes, because there obviously needs to be a demand for what you are giving away and their ROI needs to be worth it to them, but those reviews drive more sales so make it worth it to them if you intend to do this.

Apps And The Like - In the age of smart phones, tablets, and other new and crazy devices, be at the head of the class with the technology. Apps that keep your fans up-to-date with new content and links to vids, blog posts, pertinent images, and the like brighten your fan’s day giving them something to do during their break (or sneaking it in when no one is looking!).

Games are another untapped area to explore. With all the rave in games like Angry Birds, Farm/Cityville, and Bejewled, making an action game may be pricey, but could get a great return if promoted right with your book.

Apps aren’t cheap, so unless you have some money to play with or really want to be at the head of the class, this may not be an option for everyone.

Lastly, you can always check out Vook's too.

There are lots of other options out there (like QR Codes that are now being found on many things for better details on items or special footage, as can be found on Jeremy Robinson's THRESHOLD), but find what is right for you. Keep your eyes open for tech mags spreading the word about new places to be and things to see that could benefit your style of promotion. All of the things above have been done before. For some they have created success, for others they didn’t work so well. As before, you must pave your own way to make yourself a success. Riding on the coattails of another may help you get things started but you will be forever seen as another follower. Leading the way, sticking your neck out, will always see more success - both in accomplishments and failure.

What was your greatest accomplishment with unique promotion? Greatest letdown? Looking forward to your comments!

Sean Sweeney - Guest Blogger - Social Media and Today's Author

For those of you who read the last Promotion blog this past Friday, you will know that it was on Social Media/Marketing. Sean Sweeney (aka, John Fitch V) wanted to help out and provide a blurb... well, his blurb turned into an entire post! It's a great post though, so read up on this one and if you missed my last, go back and check it out.

As I said previously though, these posts can certainly be used for your own company's needs. As our favorite left-over Idol host says: Check it out.

Social Media and Today’s Author – Yep, It’s A Necessity

By Sean Sweeney

I wanted to write a stunning blog post for you on this Friday, a blog post explaining why you, as an author, should have a strong Internet presence, especially through social media. Then mega marketer Tony Eldridge came out with a similar one earlier last week, and I wanted to violently delete his new book from my Kindle.

April Fool’s, Tony. Anyway, back to the blog.

Sighs. Always late to the party, I am. But shall that stop me? Negative.

You do need a strong Internet presence. This is essential. Imperative. A necessity. You need a website, an easy way for readers to email you, and you need to invest yourself heavily in social media.

This doesn’t mean you have to bury yourself in Facebook for hours at a time (hello, self). It doesn’t mean you have to Tweet and RT – shorthand for reTweet – every little posting you happen to come across (once again, hello, self) on Twitter. It doesn’t mean you have to immerse yourself in every messageboard (do you see a pattern developing?) you come across. Simply being involved for a modicum of time – even though social media is extremely addicting – is enough. You have to be seen. You have to be heard.

And you can do it all without leaving the comfort of your office chair. Or your recliner. Or while sipping a venti caramel latte at Starbucks.

(Quick aside: Yes, I’d like one. Right now. I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a caramel latte today.)

Social media has been a boon to yours truly. As I am an indie author without the multi-million dollar backing of a New York publisher – wait, hold on, I can’t hold the laughter back – I have relied on social media to get the word out about my novels. I have used Facebook and the various groups – Amazon Kindle and Nook both have Facebook pages, but I do not spam the board. I say hello in the morning, offer virtual coffee, etc. I’ll ask what they’re reading (and offer extra points to anyone reading anything by me). The point is to be normal – readers think of us as ethereal creatures because we have this incredible ability to take all of the words in the dictionary, re-arrange them into sentences and stack them into paragraphs, meaning we’re standoff-ish and unapproachable – and be personable. Answer questions. Ask questions. Have fun. This is the hard part of writing a book – getting a reader to pick up your book – but it can be fun, too.

Look at this snippet from last Friday morning on the Amazon Kindle Facebook page. I’ve deleted the names of the other users, but this is an unedited interaction I had before I started my writing day:

Me: Good morning everyone! As I wake up on this beautiful Friday morning, and after a brief check of my sales numbers, I’m at 299 for March. Have a blog post to write, marketing to do, then start brainstorming Vam(p) Yankees. First, coffee. Can I pour anyone a cup?

User: Morning Sean...yes please a big cup please LOL

Me: Coming right up!

User: What is your secret! 299 in March? That’s awesome!

Me: My secret is.... wait, hold on... some big brute is coming and... hey! Stop that! I didn’t say anything! Ow! Stop hitting me!

I guess I can’t reveal my secret. ‘Scuse me, need a steak for my eye.

User: Uh-oh......didn’t spill the coffee, did you, Sean??!!!

Me: That’s a big negative! That would be akin to spilling beer.

User: Good morning Sean,,,,don’t need coffee - save it for some one else - LOL.. I have my decaf Constant Comment Tea.

Me: Plenty of sugar if you need to sweeten it. :)

User: Thanks Sean, but I use honey in my tea ♥.

Me: Mama Told Me Not To Come…

User: I have a cup in hand....thank you.

Me: When you’re ready for a re-heat, the Keurig is fired up.

See what I did here? I was personable. I interacted. I became part of the community. I snuck in a mention of the book I’m working on. Of course, I was also funny. Funny helps. Funny attracts readers.

Now, many authors think this is a waste of time. It is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a waste. These are READERS we’re talking about here, the reason we write. Talking with readers, getting them interested about your book(s), is what you have to do. Even as a traditionally published author, you are now expected to promote your books. But in social media, you are also promoting yourself. It is a part of our business, just as much as conceiving a story idea at 3:30 a.m. in the middle of August is a part of our business.

Ugh. Please, don’t mind me: I’m just having this recurring nightmare about how I conceived my debut thriller, MODEL AGENT. I woke up with the scene in my head, and I went to my computer and logged onto Facebook to find a friend of mine. Through the Facebook IM, he helped me through those agonizing moments and we were able to get a little bit of the plot out onto paper.

Then I crashed.

Woah! Wait a second: Did I just say that you can use social media to bat ideas around privately? Holy monkeys!

Hell, do you think I would have written this blog if it weren’t for social media? Nope. I wouldn’t even know Variance’s Stan Tremblay, or Steven Savile, or Jim C. Hines, David Dalglish, David McAfee, Daniel Arenson, Amanda Hocking (I wonder how many hits on Google we’ll get now that I’ve mentioned A-Money), Mike Crane, Jason Letts, Rob DuPerre, Bruce Sarte, etc. I’ve met many authors, both indie and traditionally published, through social media and have developed professional relationships. I’ve been invited into several small press anthologies because of social media. I’ve done blog tours through social media. I’ve shaken my hiney through social media. I’ve shaken a martini through social media.

And most importantly, I’ve sold books through social media channels.

Simply said, social media is important to today’s author. You can reach readers – flesh and blood humans, not just words on a computer screen – and make important connections (i.e., other authors, small press publishers) that can help expand your brand.

Do you have to spend all of your time on social media? No, of course not. We do have to write, right? We have to eat and sleep and shower; we have to feed the cat, walk the dog and do our laundry (unless we’re Jo Rowling, who just waves the wand and poof).

A little effort, though, and a little patience, in building your online presence, whether it be through Facebook, Twitter, Kindleboards.com, Nookboards.com, the Amazon Forums (tread LIGHTLY), or even Goodreads, can go a long way to developing – and expanding – your readership.

Sean Sweeney, who also wrote six novels under the name John Fitch V, is the author of eight novels with more on the way. Find him on the web at www.johnfitchv.com, on Twitter at @SMSweeneyAuthor, as well as Facebook. He lives in Massachusetts.

Promotion: Be Social

Just talk and talk and… oh no. Well yes, in a way. Social networking is all the craze these days. Twitter, Facebook (and the declining Myspace), Linked In, Goodreads/Library Thing, and others I’m sure I’m missing, is the place to be if you are trying to be anything. We live in a society of instant gratification - what used to take 3 days to get a message from Boston to LA now takes 3 seconds in a Tweet or DM. There are fan pages for random things like deodorant, and accounts for writing 140 character novels post-by-post. You can meet with fellow readers and discuss books like you would if you were sitting in a round table discussion at sites like Goodreads, as well as doing virtual meet and greets and book give-a-ways. There are so many options for you to dive into that many don’t know where to begin or what works best for them. You also can’t forget about websites and blogs. As Captain Tenneal would say on MXC: Let’s go!

Twitter - The land of 140 characters. Oh Twitter, how you polarize people. I’ve heard from so many people how much they love or loathe that entity. Me, I fall somewhere in between. If I didn’t have it, I wouldn’t have met a good number of the folks I parley with today. Unfortunately, the number of folks that follow me FAR outweigh the number of actual comments I actually get from it. Do I feel like it is a waste of time, no as any traffic driven to what I want people to see is good traffic. Perhaps I don’t spend enough time on it making better contacts (remember, people want to talk to other people, not just be sold a product), and that is my own fault, but I do what I can when I can to make an effort to reach out. At times the 140 character limit can be tedious if I want to fit my message in all in a single Tweet. I do have to say though, I am friends with many successful users though who would rather do this than the others I’ll talk about below.

Facebook - Where I spend the majority of my promoting hours, I truly enjoy FB. It has everything you need in a neat (though at times buggy) package. You never have to leave to view a picture or Youtube video, Networkedblogs.com can link right to your profile so you can keep up to date with your favorite blog posters, and once again, a face with the name mentality sticks which tends to create a better connection between you and your fans. The downfall can be that your profile can only host 5000 friends (yes, it is possible to reach, and hope it is a goal that you plan to surpass), at which point (or maybe even before when you get to the 2k range) you will have to create a Fan page and herd (for lack of a better term) your fans to there so you can continue to allow new fans to find you and reach out. Be sure not to neglect people from your personal profile to your fan page though!

Oh, don’t forget about the Adspace available. It’s relatively inexpensive and when used correctly can get a good amount of ROI (Return On Investment). It’s extremely flexible in how you want it set up so you can be as concise as L.A. only or the state of California, but as broad as the entire U.S. and more.

“Social media is an aspect of writing and publishing that cannot be ignored. I receive comments daily from readers, and I'm able to respond to them and establish that all-too-important personal connection. I've also met some of my best friends and business contacts through social media.

“Two things to keep in mind: 1. Sales and marketing (including social media) is a transfer of enthusiasm, so be excited about what you're doing. Your enthusiasm will be infectious. 2. 78% of people trust peer recommendations even if they don't know the person making the recommendation, while only 14% of people trust advertisements. With that in mind, where do you think you should be investing your time and effort?”

-- Ethan Cross, author of The Shepherd

Myspace - What used to be the first though in people’s minds when the words social networking came up only a few years back, MS has migrated from a general place of contact to a place more geared towards comedians and musicians (though podcasters may find some success here). While I still provide updates to my profile, I rarely if ever see any return from that. Thankfully I have a program that broadcasts to T/FB/MS all at once if I just want to get a message out so I never get the feeling of wasted time having it all in one spot. My main use right now - the free music player available to MS users. It’s unfortunate but true.

Linked In - I’ve not used Linked In. So please, those of you who do who could provide some input, it would be greatly appreciated to hear what you have to say.

Booksites - Goodreads and Library Thing have so much great potential! They are both very interactive leaving what you want to experience completely up to you. You can join discussions, take polls, become a featured author, and provide a member giveaway. If you are an avid reader, which most of you are, post reviews, join those discussions, get your name to be recognized. BE AWARE: they do not appreciate “shameless self-promotion” (back to the don’t just sell your book, sell yourself aspect).

Blog - I’m sure most of you by now know what a blog is (if not, you probably wouldn’t be here), but what it is exactly is different for each individual. Some use Blogger, others use Wordpress, and others still use different resources available including those built right into their website. If you have a bunch to say, like to give away free short stories, or want to start large discussions, this is an easy way to facilitate that (though that can also be done via a fan page on FB, just a different format and interface). It is also a great way to keep your readers up-to-date on things like new releases (nationally and internationally), artwork, and other pertinent news of your success.

Website - The building block to the whole web-based shebang. Not everyone has a website though and use the other resources above to basically replace this entirely instead of supplement. I think a website is an important tool not to be dismissed to get new fans viewing your work. If they aren’t friends with you on FB and you have locked-out your profile to non-friends, you could have just lost that person as a new reader when no one is locked out of a website where people are free to view your message, covers, samples, etc. Are they expensive? Ya, they can be depending on how detailed you want to be and what you want to provide your fans. Is there upkeep? Yup, keeping your website fresh and updated is important so users keep coming back to check out what you have to provide. Can you do it yourself? Sure, with some know how, drive, and a few resources you can accomplish anything you set out to do. Really though, your website should be your anchor so if you don’t have one, you should be thinking about getting one.

Signings/Book Tours - THE original social networking, this is unfortunately falling by the wayside with the development of electronic publishing. Are there ways around it? Sure, there are apps out there which allow you to sign someone’s iPad version… but does it hold the same value - both monetarily and in that human-to-human interaction? You be the judge.

So, where does this return us to? Personal preference. The cardinal rule: be consistent. Don’t stretch yourself too thin because people will think that you are wasting their time or can’t rely on you. A close second: be genuine. Once again, like a broken record, people want to get to know the author that they are a fan of, not the next book you plan to sell them. Interact with them and be merry. What would I do if I were to do it all over again today knowing what I know now:

Pick one: Twitter or Facebook

Blog

Website

Those three in unison can be like the Dynamic Duo… but just three of them. When you get good at the Pick One category, get the other and perhaps try a book site. But only if you feel like you need to branch out - don’t feel pressured to! If it isn’t broken and you see consistent results as well as climbing numbers, don’t fix it.

Where have you seen your best Return On Investment (both time and/or money)?