Latayne Scott

Thanks to Latayne Scott for bringing us solid advice on how to conduct a Facebook fan party!

I had a fun Facebook Party on Oct. 8.

What's a Facebook Party? I invited people, via various social networks, to "friend" me (if they hadn't already) on Facebook. Then, these new "friends" could interact with me on my Facebook Wall during a specified one-hour period by answering quiz questions and surveys to win prizes.

Pros: This is an inexpensive way to get your books some attention and -- this must be a real motivation given the amount of work required -- allow you to serve your readers, both loyal old ones and new ones as well. My two publishers (Zondervan and Moody) donated 10 books each, a fellow author Patti Hill donated some of her books for giveaways, and I had a grand prize -- a Sony e-Reader, that was given to me by Zondervan. Rose Publishing Company also donated free downloads of some of their charts, and I offered these and one of my own e-books as a prize to everyone who attended the party. There were 40 prizes total. In addition, everyone won something.

Cons: This is very time-consuming (see below). Additionally, even if the books are donated, you must pay the postage to mail the books and other prizes to the winners. In my case, some I was able to deliver locally and in other cases, winners qualified for multiple prizes so I could mail several items in one box/envelope.

Preparation

I promoted the Facebook party different ways:

• I sent out a newsletter to my email list.
• I posted announcements on Shoutlife, Sistahfaith, Twitter, Facebook, and through the Facebook fan groups for my two books, The Mormon Mirage and Latter-day Cipher.
• I let people know that party attendees who had tweeted about the party using the hashtag #latayne increased their chances of winning a prize.
• I asked friends and loop-group friends to publicize it.
• About a month before the party I did a search of Facebook groups that are interested in the subject matter of my books (Mormonism). I sent friend requests individually to everyone in each group, directing them to my site and telling them about the free resources on the site. I'd say that at least 90 percent of the friend requests I sent were accepted, and many people asked good questions about my ministry. Because they were then my friends they knew of the party through my Facebook stream.

Preparation of the quizzes, surveys, and other items

• I took very much to heart the warnings from my agent (Janet Grant) that such parties must be totally without obligation to buy anything. Therefore, any prizes I offered could not require a purchase from me; nor could any of the quiz questions I asked require the participant to have read or bought any of my books.
• My subject matter (Mormonism) is so broad that I chose a really cool aspect of it that one of my books highlighted: the 19th century "cipher" alphabet of Brigham Young called the Deseret Alphabet. I discovered to my delight that there are entire sites written in this code, that one man in Nevada has declared himself a one-acre "nation" and the DA is his way of communicating, and lots of other interesting online resources about the DA. My quizzes (you can see them in this PDF) all related to these online resources that have no direct connection with my books.
• I checked out several online sites that provide surveys (Quiblo.com, surveymonkey, viznu, and others). Though they provide spiffy-looking surveys, the one I chose also put in their own question at the end that had to do with a product the site was promoting. In the future, I don't think I'll use such sites.
• I made a master list of all the questions/quizzes/surveys (along with the correct answers for the quizzes for my own information) ready to cut and paste, one question/quiz at a time, before the party began.

The Party Itself

• You simply must have at least one other person on a computer in the room with you. This isn't a one-person project. In my case, Facebook was acting weird and would not let me post my questions. Because I had a techie son-in-law right there, he quickly showed me how to post directly to Facebook using Tweet Deck.
• I began loading the questions, one at a time, onto the site.
• My son-in-law and daughter were also looking at my wall and helped flag questions and comments I needed to answer.
• As people began to answer questions, I responded to them and told them they had won a contest.
• Some of my deciphering questions were too hard, but most of them were answered with just a bit of research on the sites whose urls I provided.
• The grand prize winner was chosen completely randomly after the party ended when I entered all the party participant names (some, by answering questions, got their names entered multiple times) into random.com.

What I would do differently next time

• I would post the rules on my own site and ask party participants to go to that site and read the rules. By posting all the rules in my newsletter and on Facebook to begin the party, it was TMI (too much information.) They didn't need to know the dates I would ship the prizes, for instance. But I was gripped by fear that someone would think it wasn't fair or equitable.
• I would also make the invite simpler. Just a listing of the prizes, the date of the party, and a link to a page with more complete information.
• I would try to build more interest in the party by asking people to suggest questions/quizzes.
• I would find more simple questions and not so many deciphering questions.

The results

• I made some prize winners really happy.
• People I didn't previously know well got involved and had fun.
• My books and those of Patti Hill will be in the hands of people who might not have read them otherwise. In addition, I enclosed in all the prize winners' packages some bookmarks of my books, and those of my fellow authors at NovelMatters.
• Some of the party guests made new friends with each other and began corresponding and ministering to each other. I am very pleased with that.
• My two books showed a dramatic improvement in Amazon sales rankings beginning a few days before the party and continuing for some time afterwards.
• Both my publishers know that I am willing to be proactive and creative in marketing. Perhaps they will remember that the next time my agent pitches one of my books to them.

About the author

Latayne C Scott is the author of hundreds of magazine articles and poems, and over a dozen books published by Zondervan, Baker, Moody, Word, Waterbrook Press and others. One of her most recent books is Latter-day Cipher: A Novel (Moody Publishers, 2009), of which bestselling author Michael Arnzen said, "This is the kind of book that Anne Rice ought to be writing, post-conversion." Also newly-released is The Mormon Mirage: A Former Member Looks at the Mormon Church Today (Zondervan, 2009), which is also available as an audiobook and soon to be released as an e-book. She blogs with five other "upmarket" Christian novelists at Novelmatters.blogspot.com and on her own site, Latayne.com. Her agent is Janet Grant of Books & Such Literary Agency.

I've been talking for ages about how authors can use technology to personally connect with fans.

From your living room, you can chat by video with fans during conferences or book tours, IM with fans during specified times on your Web site, or use teleconferencing to talk to to book club groups.

Libba Bray, author of Going Bovine and The Sweet Far Thing knows what I'm talking about. She held a virtual conference with fans in Miami - while she stayed in Brooklyn.

Using SKYPE, Bray talked to fans. Her image was seen on a large screen at Books and Books in Miami, according to Miami News.

Read "Virtual Book Tour Hits Books and Books" by P. Scott Cunningham

oday, I caught a Tweet from author Matthew Cory, that said simply, "Calling all bloggers." With it, a URL to his blog, where he asks bloggers to interview him to help promote his novels, Like Glass and Shattered.  Here is what he says:

I’m offering a free digital copy of Like Glass, and, when it comes out, Shattered as well, to any bloggers out there willing to offer an interview or a slot for a guest post.  Of course, if you want to do a review, that’s perfectly fine as well – you’ll get the digital copies, but since you’ll be reviewing them it doesn’t sound that special .  I’m open to talk about anything: the novels, writing in general, depression (something I deal with on a regular basis), that one time at band camp… Okay, maybe I’m not open to talk about anything, but most things are fair game.  The only thing I’d ask in particular is that you’re able to give me a warning a day or two ahead of time so I can post about it.

If you’re interested, drop me a line or leave a comment here and I’ll get back to you ASAP.  Thanks!

Read Matthew Cory's full post

Kudos to Matthew for understanding the importance of social media. His Twitter put him on my radar for virtual tours at Pop Syndicate's Book Addict blog. Blogging about it here will also likely net him a few more blog stops. Offering a free copy of his book is a great way to get fans and individuals to also host him.

Take a page from his playbook as you plan your virtual tour stops.

HOT TIP:  Blog stops are about more than just visiting review sites. Individual blogs have just as much word-of-mouth power as a review site like Pop Syndicate. Be sure to include them as part of your virtual tour.

oday, an author and publicist gave me the heads up that her client (her handsome hubby) would not be available for a tour in about four weeks. Their holiday schedule pushed everything back.

At first blush, you might think this is a terrible tragedy. After all, I have to fill that day with some sort of content. But as a seasoned virtual book tour host, I can tell you I was in heaven.

This author/publicist had the common sense to understand that VBT hosts need plenty of advance notice if a tour need to be canceled or rescheduled. With nearly a month, I have plenty of time to find an author to fill the slot. It also allows me to bump up another author and give them plenty of notice to change their promotional lists with the new date.

I e-mailed back with a reschedule date and a big KUDOS for telling me well in advance. What I learned next was interesting, and why I decided to pen this post. These authors had tried virtual book tour stops with other authors. What they learned was that many authors don't show up. They are disorganized, ineffective and simply do not understand VBT deadlines.

These authors vowed not to fall into this category. I guantee they will not. I respect them for telling me and have no issue rescheduling their booking. Other authors who fail to follow up don't get the same treatment.

I cannot blog about this enough. If you set out to promote yourself and book virtual tours, you MUST be organized, efficient, and communicate with your hosts.

You have got to be willing to do the back work to get it in on time - ON DEADLINE - to your virtual book tour host.

You have got to be willing to show up to respond to comments, or do live chats are required by virtual book tour hosts.

You have got to be willing to participate in a big way to connect with fans, new readers and other professionals in publishing.

If you cannot buckle down to organize yourself and be responsive to requests, do not bother booking tours.

If you want to do it, but are overwhelmed, or if you have booked some and become overwhelmed, ask for help. Get friends and family members involved. Ask other authors for advice if various forums like bookblogtours or get advice from pros.

If you want to do this, but none of the above works for you, check your budget and research VBT firms to help out. But he warned: You still have to produce something for tours, even if you hire a virtual book tour promotions company. No one can do it all for you.

The purpose of VBTs is to allow the author to express personal views, share stories about their novels and their heart as a writer. No one else can do that but you.

HOT TIP: Think of your virtual book tour as a series of deadline-oriented articles due to a paying employer. As a freelancers, you have 10 articles lined up with 10 different magazines. You have different sets of facts to collect for each article. Then, you must put them into one cohesive piece that the editor will love - so much so they will want you back.

Carry this analogy over to VBTs. Each tour stop has its own set of facts to report - i.e. materials requested. These "facts" must be put into some kind of order to send into one e-mail to your virtual book tour host. Keep a close check list handy that you can follow to meet the guidelines of each tour - or blog pitstop.

If this were a paid assignment, you would NOT want your editor to have to track you down to complete it. Would an editor hire you again if they had to do that? I don't think so. A virtual book tour host isn't going to give you a second chance if you are lazy and disorganized. We simply do not have time to do so, and with so many other authors out there willing to take time to do it right, why should we?

CAVEAT: This post sounds harsh, I'm sure, but these are tough lessons you need to learn and accept as authors vying for the attention of readers with small pocketbooks and lots of choices. Good virtual book tour hosts will make exceptions for deaths, natural disasters, childbirths or other life happenings that get in the way. Sometimes lifes curveballs simply cannot be predicted or helped.

 It can be tough to share your virtual book tour spots with your fans. You can post at Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, your Web site and still not reach everyone in your network - or new readers.

BookTour.com is a free service that allows authors to connect directly with readers. This site allows you to post book signings, virtual book tour stops, reading engagements and more. There is also a button that allows readers to request a visit from you.

Readers do not have to be in your immediate are to visit. You can always do a conference call, or use Instant Messaging or SKYPE for a personal visit.

If you don't already, set up your account at BookTour.com and start sharing. You MUST have an ISBN number to post.

Another services to consider:

Eventful.com

Shoutlife.com

HOT TIP: Use BookTour or another service as the singular venue to post book tour information. Post a graphic and link to your BookTour account on your social networks and Web site so readers will always find your book tour information. This will save you time since you will only need to enter your information on one site for each engagement.