Tag: author publicity

So, You Want to do Author Events? Tips to Get You Started

speaker prairie-dog-1470659_1280 pixabayMany authors make public appearances, or outings, in an effort to connect with more people. For those who have never done it and are interested, I thought I’d put together some pro tips for authors who would like to do a public event.

The first thing I want to say is that participating in an event, as a speaker or as an author vendor, normally won’t propel you to endless fame or thousands of book sales. Generally, the people whose appearances drive attendance and sales already have a large platform. People come to events involving relative unknowns generally because of the event itself or the information gained at the event.

Keeping this in mind, let’s talk about the kinds of events new authors can participate in, and how to do it. There are generally a few types of events authors appear at: festivals, conferences, and special programs. Continue reading “So, You Want to do Author Events? Tips to Get You Started”

Author Fan Club Awesomeness

Melissa Pearl Fan Club on Facebook
Click to enlarge

Last month I talked about Street Teams and well, how mine didn’t actually go so great. This month I want to talk about Fan Clubs and how I prefer this to what I was doing before.

So, what’s the difference between a Street Team and a Fan Club? Well, for me, I thought of a street team as a group of people who could help me promote my work. Like my own little set of minions, they would do things for me and I would reward them with free eBooks and the odd surprise gift. When this didn’t work out, I wanted to try something completely different. I took the advice of a few successful author friends of mine and started up the Melissa Pearl Fan Club. Continue reading “Author Fan Club Awesomeness”

What Is a Street Team and How Can it Help You?

street teams for authorsThere have been a lot of questions recently about street teams and fan clubs. What are the differences and how can they help you? Having been involved with both, I thought I might share my experiences and then you can decide for yourself which might serve you better.  This month I’ll focus on street teams and I’ll cover fan clubs in March.

With some of the limitations being imposed by Facebook algorithm changes, and also the complete flood in the market, it makes it hard to get any kind of exposure. This is where a street team can come in really handy. Continue reading “What Is a Street Team and How Can it Help You?”

Publicists: A View from the Other Side

hunger-413685_640 pixabayMelissa Pearl’s post about her experiences working with a publicist got me thinking about the publicist experience from my end. I’m contacted by publicists on behalf of authors quite often. Those interactions can be both good and not so good, both in what I experience and, at least from my limited perspective, how well the publicist accomplishes the author’s goal in hiring them.

I’ll start with the proviso that a publicist might not be a publicist. Depending on what kind of publicity you want, there are other terms that might apply. I’ve been approached by publicists for the obvious things such as writing a story about or interviewing the author, to the less obvious like an offer of a guest post or soliciting reviews, sometimes as part of a blog tour. A blog tour operator is an example of a publicist with a very specific focus. The same could be said of someone at a small press who wears multiple hats, including that of publicist. Some authors hire personal assistants who, as part or all of their duties, function as publicists and marketers. Keep this in mind, not only in considering my post, but in evaluating whether a publicist makes sense for you and, if so, how. Continue reading “Publicists: A View from the Other Side”