Do you want to buy my book?!?!

In the comments section of How to Streamline in 2010, Market My Novel reader Beth Barany wrote:

Great advice, Angela! I wonder how you go about finding the right reader networks for your genre. I write YA fantasy, as yet unpubbed. What do you recommend? I want to be ready to build a reader network when I sell my novel. Thanks!

Terrific question! Finding readers isn’t as difficult as it may seem. Below is a pretty comprehensive list of tried and true methods. Some of these have worked for business and nonprofit clients.




I’ve divided them into two sections: How readers find you and how you find them.




You don’t have to use every method on these lists, and some may spark ideas for even better methods for your audience.




They find you

Web sites and blogs. Fans need to be able to find YOU. Be sure to have a blog and a Web site, or a blogsite (a combination blog and Web site). Get a domain readers can find, like your name or your series title. Share links to posts on your social networks.




Social networks. Readers are constantly trolling Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Shelfari and other networks for their favorite authors. (LinkedIn is used most for business authors, rather than fiction authors.) Be sure you have profiles on networks friendly to readers and that you are friends with other authors in your genre. If they don’t search for you directly, they could always find you via the friend list of other authors.




Event sites. You can post tour information at sites like BookTour.com or AuthorsDen.com for publicity. Many readers search for tour information, both electronic and in person, online. Be sure your information is readily available on these sites, as well as your blog and Web site.




Amazon. More and more often, readers are searching Amazon blogs, listamanias and communities for book recommendations. Be sure to have a strong presence by sending out review copies to Amazon reviewers in your genre and feed your blog’s RSS  into an Amazon blog. Also, ask fans to include your novels in their Listamanias.




Public events. People love to meet their favorite authors. Whether it is at a bookstore signing, or a convention, in person meetings are always the best in making – and keeping – devoted fans.




You Find Them

Hobby sites. Don’t promote yourself to the point of annoying everyone. Simply add a signature line that shows you are an author, with a link to your Web site. Be sure to follow site guidelines for signatures. Keep your signature under five lines. Three is terrific.




Guest blogs. They may not know you, but readers might be reading blogs by other authors in your genre. Be sure to guest blog as often as you can to expand your readership.




Guest speaking. You may be asked to speak about topics unrelated to writing or your books. However, these can still be key events to make contacts and garner attention for your work. Business owners who have written tomes can typically offer them for sale after a speech – especially when the topic relates to the book’s content. If you are asked to speak at a function that isn’t a book publicity event, find subtle ways to tell the audience you are a writer: Talk about what it takes to stay inspired, be sure your book is listed in your bio, or offer a basket of freebies that includes your book.




Publisher promotions. If you aren’t featured in publisher monthly e-mails or advertisements, find out why – and get featured. If your publisher has author pages, be sure yours is up-to-date and any blog features link back to your sites.*




Search Facebook. Check out other authors in your genre and send friend requests to others in their network. Let them know you are an upcoming author in the genre and would like to add them to your network.




Go to book signings for authors in your genre. Check out who is there and note their demographics. How old are they? What are they wearing? What other books are they buying? Do they drink coffee or tea? Do they wear T-shirts with their favorite bands or political sayings? These little clues can lead you to new networks for fans.




Advertising. For some authors, paid advertising in hard copy and electronic publications directed at readers works. Be sure the publications are targeted to your genre, or are must-read tomes for readers in all genres.




Online groups. Many readers belong to Yahoo groups on reading, or share their FAVs on sites like Good Reads or Shelfari. Connect with them on these sites.




Analytics. Google Analytics is a great way to see who refers readers to your site. Check out the top referrals list and visit those blogs. Start leaving comments that include your name and Web site. This is a proven method – especially when you really target the blogs you comment on.




Keywords. This could really go in either category. You need solid keywords so readers can find you in search engines. They should be able to type in your name, book title or recurring protagonist name and find you on the first page of Google or Bing. You don’t need a Web designer to do this for you – though it is always great if you do. Check out Google’s Keyword Tools page for details on how to use them.

Coming up on Wednesday: Tips from authors on how to find your audience.

Tony Eldridge at Marketing Tips for Authors offered up a few terrific links this week at his blog:

101 Book Blogs You Need to Read This is a terrific list to add to the blogroll – and find new places for reviews, guest blogs or interviews.

Ebook Cover Service Creates Twitter Contest Book Cover Tony is pulling together a series about how to launch your very own Twitter contest. He successfully implemented one earlier this year. This was incredibly timely for myself, as I’ve been searching for a good service for my eBooks.

Fridays Tony always provides Marketing Tips Around the Net, a post of links to author promotions and marketing posts that will help you. Be sure to subscribe to his feed or visit his site each Friday to see what he’s found.

Time management is key to writing – and marketing – success!

No matter where you are in the writing process and how many books you have written so far, I’m sure you agree with me that writing is one of the most fulfilling activities in the world (with a few frustrations every now and then). However, most authors, including me, need to divide their time among writing, their day job, friends, family, hobbies, and yes, we would also like to sleep sometimes. (Although if your best writing ideas wake you up at 3am every night, you stand no chance. Since I started writing, I’ve been building up a serious sleep deficit.)

When I was writing my newest book, Tales for Delicious Girls, I felt like I didn’t have time for anything and especially for myself. When I was working, I wanted to write, when I was writing, I wanted to spend time with my family and friends, and my beagle was getting seriously obese because long walks were something he couldn’t even dream of.

Soon I realized that I couldn’t carry on like that much longer and I needed a strict daily schedule so that I could squeeze in writing, my work and some fun too. It was not that difficult in the end and I think I managed quite well, so let me share a few tips for busy writers which I hope make your days a little bit less crazy.

Get your priorities straight. You’re not a superhero, you can’t do everything and you shouldn’t even try to unless you want to go insane. When you’re writing a book, it should definitely be one of your top priorities, so put it on the list. Your job is another priority because unless your name is Dan Brown, you probably need some extra income (at least until your book becomes a bestseller). Friends and family should be on the list too – for an absolutely selfish reason: You need someone who supports you when you get desperate or develop a writer’s block. Hobbies? Be realistic about them and keep just one. I suggest it’s a physical activity because the lack of it is a common issue with writers.

Be creative about your schedule. If you work nine to five, it’s pretty clear how much time you spend at work. If you’re a freelancer like me, your schedule is probably more unpredictable but try to be reasonable about your projects. Remember to organize your work around your writing, not vice versa. Decide to dedicate a certain amount of time to writing every day, without exception. For example, I usually write in the morning, work in the afternoon and do book marketing in the evening. When things get really busy, I get up one hour earlier in the morning to write.

One day for yourself, one day for your family and friends. In order to stay sane, you need time for yourself. For me it’s usually Saturday when I try not to work and not to write, unless it’s absolutely necessary (and I mean absolutely necessary), and I do things that have nothing to do with work, writing and other people. It doesn’t really matter what you do as long as it makes you happy. Go on a day trip out of town, go on a hike, get your hair done, be a couch potato, it’s up to you! Just switch off your brain and do something for yourself. When you feel relaxed and happy, you can dedicate the next day to your family and friends, which is what I do on Sundays. Have lunch at your parents’, meet friends in the afternoon, make time for all the people you love.

Putting your free time, hobbies and friends on the schedule might sound a bit weird at first, but it’s the best way to juggle writing and work and still have some fun. Ian Fleming said in 1962: "Being a comparatively successful author is a good life." Which is very true if you know how to organize this good life of yours.

About the author

Barbora Knobova/Tales for Delicious Girls

Barbora Knobova is a writer, love coach and expert in Delicious Life. A world traveler, she is one of those rare world citizens who live everywhere and nowhere. Barbora is a firm believer in female friendship, loyalty and bonding. She writes hilarious, sharp-witted, caustically apt, ironic, moving, true books for strong, independent, smart, fearless women. Barbora has also written several self-improvement books and teaches women about the importance of self-love in relationships and life in general. Barbora speaks eight languages and has found her home away from home in New York, London and Milan. She is always on the move, accompanied by her beagle Brinkley, the nasty dog from her new book Tales for Delicious Girls. http://www.barboraknobova.com

Tony Eldridge

Special thanks to Tony Eldridge for today’s post in the Market My Novel Time Management series!

It seems that Things To Do are never-ending tasks that find a way of dominating our time. I know that with me, I have to juggle watching 3 year old twin boys during the day, creating videos, blogging, writing, contacting and scheduling guest bloggers, attending offline meetings and working a job that I choose to work during the 3rd shift so that I can find time to do everything else. Somehow, my wife and I try to find some time to spend with each other.

Yeah, I know… cry me a river, right? The truth is, we all have tasks that we have to find a way to get done consistently and accurately. Well, I had so many things happening that I started to turn reactive with my time management. I let my tasks dictate to me how I was spending my time rather than mastering my tasks and ultimately finding peace of mind and more time to do the things I wanted to do. My wife said to me, "Maybe you ought to examine how you are spending your time." By then, I was living (barely) on three hours of sleep a night.

I finally decided to take a proactive stand and get a hold of my time management practices. I found a way to use tools available to us all that effectively turned my computer into a virtual personal assistance. The results: I now sleep about six hours a night, spend more time with the twins and I get more things done. It’s a great feeling to know that things are done (or will be) and not have to constantly be worrying about what I am missing.

Here are some simple ways that I found to take charge of my time and how they act as my own personal assistant:

Find a calendar and use it- I use MS Outlook, but Google and Yahoo have calendars that have many of the same powerful time-saving features. These calendars also allow you to sync with Outlook and your iPod Touch or PDA. I will be talking about the things I do in Outlook, but know that you can recreate the same things in these free online calendars. (Sir, you have three appointments today at 9:00am, 11:00am and 3:00PM- Bring your PowerPoint to the 11:00 meeting.)

Task List- I love these tasks list. Sometimes you don’t need to create an appointment (which takes place at a specific time on a specific date), you just need to have a task that needs to get done. You can set up these tasks for a one-time job or for reoccurring activities. You can set these reoccurring tasks to take place with no end or for a specific number of occurrences. One thing I love about Outlook is that it allows me to flag an e-mail to automatically assign a task to it. This is a great way to make sure no e-mails fall through the cracks. There is also a physiological benefit associated with tasks: Your body releases endorphins when you check off a completed task and it feels sooo good! (Sir, here is a list of your tasks for the day.)

 Alerts- Appointments and tasks can be programmed to send you an alert before they are due. You can schedule these alerts to take place anytime before they are due. So, if you set an appointment 2 months out, you can set up an alert to remind you about it the day before. Alerts are great ways to serve as a back-up to scheduled events (Sir, don’t forget you have an appointment tomorrow with Mr. X at 2:00 PM.)

Schedule E-mails- This is a nifty little trick that I just learned how to do in Outlook (I’m not sure if Gmail or Yahoo mail allows this or not). When there is an e-mail that needs to go out later, I write it, schedule it to go out at a specific future date and time, and it sits in my outbox until the time arrives I have scheduled it to go out. I love this and it bypasses the need to create a task to send the e-mail out and allows me to take care of it immediately. I use this when I schedule new guest authors on my blog. Since I schedule them months out, it’s nice to be able to send a friendly reminder a few days before I need the post. Now I can schedule that reminder the moment I confirm the date they will be a guest on my blog. (Sir, I will remind Ms. Doe about her guest post six days before you need it.)

Sync with my iPod Touch- There are settings and apps available that allow me to sync all of these things with my iPod touch (Thanks to my wonderful wife for this unexpected and awesome 40th birthday gift last month!) Not only can I sync my appointments, tasks and e-mails so I can have them with me when I am away from my computer, I can create new ones on my iPod Touch and sync them back on my computer when I get home. (Sir, here is list of all your appointments, tasks and e-mails for you to have access to on your trip today. I will update your calendar with your new appointments and tasks.)

I know that I haven’t shared anything earth-shattering here today, but sometimes the most effective things we can do are often right under our noses. You want to know what the great thing is about setting up a time management routine using these tools? Multi-billion dollar corporations use these same tools effectively because they work. They are simple, free, and powerful. The more you use them, the more ways you can see how they can help you. The built-in functions are deep and actually pretty amazing.

To get started on these tools, start to play around with them. The help menus do a pretty good job at teaching you how to use the features, but I find that video tutorials found on YouTube are wonderful at showing me shortcuts and time-management applications I may need. Also do a Google Blog search for people who share their tips on how to get the most of these tools. Once you get started and really rely on these tools to help you with your time management activities, you will be thrilled at how they can help you master your schedule and not let your schedule master you.

About the author:

Tony Eldridge is the author of the award winning action/adventure novel, The Samson Effect, which Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the creator of Marketing Tips for Authors, a site the publishes free tips and videos to help authors learn marketing techniques for their books. You can read the serial release of The Samson Effect at http://samsoneffect.marketingtipsforauthors.com/