Recently, YA author Brenda Estacio commented at Market My Novel:
During my experience in getting Gateway To DreamWorld published, I learned a lot about the real world hidden behind the publishing scene. I once believed that the publisher handled all the marketing after the book was released.
Now I am totally lost in what to do to get the book out to the public and to movie agents.
Brenda needs to reach the YA audience, but she wants to do more behind-the-scenes marketing - like online promotions.
My suggestions: Facebook and MySpace are good places to reach a young audience. Create a fan page or a group to promote the book. Start an Amazon blog; you can feed the RSS from your current blog right into Amazon. Ask a top reviewer from Amazon to review the book. Send review copies to YA-specific review blogs, and ask if they will do an interview or post a guest blog for promotion. Connect with parents of YA readers to promote in forums, chats and social networks; they need gift ideas for the holidays. This is a perfect time to reach them.
What suggestions do you have for Brenda? Leave your comments below.
Definitely online book tour. Pump Up Your Book Promotions and TLC Book Tours are good. A bunch of YA and fantasy bloggers can be found at http://www.bookbloggersappreciationweek.com in the directory. Keep in mind that the most established bloggers with the largest audiences are probably backlogged at the moment. If you surf the blogs, though, you’ll find that the Christmas meme is wandering around. Don’t span with comments though. Bloggers will delete you if they figure it out. Query some though.
Is there another YA author you have been compared to? Create a page on your website that talks about that connection. My readers also tend to be fans of Karen Kingsbury. I made a page on my website called “Me and Karen”. On this page, I talk about how her work has inspired me, and why her readers might also be interested in my work. When people Google Karen, my page is one of the results. It is a great way to reach others who may not know who you are yet!
Terrific suggestions! Lynn – you are SO SEO savvy! What a terrific idea!
Put up a profile on as many author sites as possible. You’ll make contacts and get reviews from other authors. Some of the better author sites allow you to put up lots of links/reviews/information which all enhances you and your books. JacketFlap and Authorsden are good bets here. A site called http://www.freado.com allows you to put up an author profile and free sections of your book for people to read. You can also Tweet this so your followers will be alerted and get to read and spread the word! Freado also has a marvellous social media marketing plan attached to their system. Subscribe to newsletters and e-zines for information. Pursue every link and connection and do something every day to promote your book. I have written a detailed article on this subject (with suggested links) and it’s on my Authorsden profile (Fiona Ingram). Once you start the ball rolling, it’s amazing how many connections you make.