FSB Associates Blog

Posts Tagged ‘authors’

Book Blogger Appreciation Week Giveaway

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

It’s Book Blogger Appreciation Week and once again we at FSB Associates would like to say thank you to all book bloggers for your support and promotion of our books and authors. The contributions you have made to the publishing industry are valued worldwide and readers of the 21st century have come to depend on book bloggers for passionate and insightful reviews of titles that wouldn’t have received the same attention without your hard work and dedication.

To extend our gratitude for your valued service, FSB is giving away a brand new Kindle to one lucky blogger residing in the US! Entry is simple. Look for our (#FSB ♥ #BBAW – RT/Follow @FSBAssociates if you’re a book blogger in the US for our Kindle #giveaway!) tweet that we are broadcasting on Twitter via @FSBAssociates. Retweet the message and become a follower of our feed to officially enter our giveaway. If you’re a book blogger and would like us to give you additional attention and visibility, please consider joining our directory of bloggers on FSBMedia.com.

Thank you again for your time and energy, and we look forward to working with you in the future!

Tags: authors, bbaw, book bloggers, book review, books, giveaway, kindle, publicity
Posted in New Books | No Comments »

Serotonin Power Diet

Monday, September 13th, 2010

Serotonin Power Diet

by Ken Ishii

We recently wrapped up a campaign with the wonderful authors of The Serotonin Power Diet, Judith J. Wurtman, PhD, and Nina T. Frusztajer, MD. The diet outlined in the book is backed by true scientific findings and offers a much greater health reward beyond just losing weight. It was an incredible journey and learning experience for all of us and we thank you for your kind words of support:

“The visibility of our weight loss book was enhanced significantly through the strategies of FSB. Everyone was extremely generous with their time and patience in teaching us how to use the web as a marketing tool and their enthusiasm and encouragement certainly helped us persist in our efforts. We would not have had the visibility we do today without them” – Judith J. Wurtman, PhD

Praise for a job well done never gets old.

Tags: authors, books, diet, health, networking, serotonin
Posted in New Books | 3 Comments »

Q&A with Fauzia

Friday, September 10th, 2010

by Ken Ishii

Before facing the challenges for themselves, many writers underestimate the difficulty of getting a book published. That’s where publishing expert and author Marcela Landres steps in. At the same time, those same writers often overlook the arduous task of book publicity and may be unfamiliar to major changes made to the game. That’s where FSB steps in.

Marcela featured Fauzia recently in an interview for her award-winning e-zine, Latinidad, that covers online book publicity and offers writers a chance to establish a stable online presence and a road map of what lies ahead.

Q: What are the advantages of online book publicity vs. traditional book publicity?

A: The Internet offers longevity. Web features and links are available to readers now, and new readers months and years from now. Like a snowball rolling down a hill, these features are able to grow thanks in large part to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, which thrive on a constant flow of information. Unlike traditional publicity, such as advertising, TV appearances, print features, speaking engagements and radio interviews, all web features are linked directly to a bookseller or the author. This takes the potential reader from a place of “liking” the book to buying the book with one click of a mouse.

Today’s readers are tech savvy, resourceful, and have higher expectations of publishers and authors. Online book publicity allows these readers to get the information they need immediately and to share that information with their own social network. Nowadays, readers don’t just buy a book, they want to receive a community with their book. The bottom line is that publishers and authors need to evolve their marketing and publishing strategies to accommodate a new kind of reader, a reader whose expectations involve more interaction and community.

Q: What mistakes do authors make when they promote their books online?

A: The biggest mistake an author can make in terms of promoting their books online is not actively engaging in social media and taking the time to establish a unique digital footprint. Many authors feel that by building a Website, they have covered their bases online. However, it is not that easy anymore. If I were an author in today’s competitive market, I would consider the time I spend developing my online platform and building my brand on the Web as an extension of my job as a writer. Publishing a book or any professional writing is a small business and authors should look at it as such. Now, online branding is not a luxury or an afterthought—it is a necessity.

We are seeing the impact of social media in every direction and in every medium. There are 105 million users on Twitter and they send 50 million tweets per day. We are in an age of authenticity and people want to know about the authors that speak to them. Twitter makes it very easy to share information, stay connected, and to “follow” your favorite authors and publishers. Using social media applications like Tweet Reach, a search engine “powered by tweets,” allows you to monitor how many people were reached by your tweet. Lasting visibility and publicity is never based on a single individual, one tweet or post, but an array of contributors.

Q: What online book publicity tips can you offer to authors?

A: No surprise here, but “word of mouth” on Twitter spreads very quickly. The word can spread very fast within a 24-hour period, so the more information available about you, your work, and your interests, the greater the chance of gaining a fan, a feature, or a sale. With that said, I urge you to start the chatter! Please be social, share yourself, and be authentic. Make sure that you have a variety of places where you can share information and grow your features, publicize your book, and share your successes. All of these outlets provide more exposure for your book and help to establish a strong digital footprint. Publicity breeds more publicity. So, my advice is to chat it up, be social, and continue building a social network. However, you must remember not to be a living, breathing advertisement. My rule of thumb on sharing is a 4 to 1 ratio. You can post something self-promotional if you post 4 other non-promotional links that are helpful to your followers. The key is to build credibility.

Q: What changes or trends do you predict in online book publicity?

A: Content development is going to continue to grow in importance. Videos and slide presentations offer readers a new way to interact with their favorite authors. Recently, we posted a slideshow with “Five Tips to Being Happy at Work” on Slideshare.net. It is a helpful and useful resource for our clients and, at the end of the presentation, we can give our viewers “Calls to Action” by embedding links to online booksellers, and author’s websites. The benefit of this particular strategy is that the views of the slideshow can be seen just like YouTube, and it can also be easily shared on Facebook and Twitter through one-click-sharing. Additionally, the slideshow has great SEO’s and is readily available in the search results of all major search engines. Being able to embed links to online marketplaces such as Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com into the presentation is a crucial way to ensure that an inclined buyer is given the opportunity to purchase the title on the spot.

Q: Other than your fabulous blog on The Huffington Post what other blogs, web sites, and/or books do you recommend to writers who wish to learn more about online book publicity?

A: Books:
Engage by Brian Solis
Trust Agents by Chris Brogan
The New Rules of Marketing and PR, 2nd Edition by David Meerman Scott
Twitter Power by Joel Comm & Anthony Robbins
The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs by Carmine Gallo
The Referral Engine by John Jantsch

Blogs:
http://www.copyblogger.com/
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/
http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/

Sites:
http://marketing.alltop.com/
http://social-media.alltop.com/

Great reference sites:
http://listorious.com/
http://addictomatic.com/
http://twittercounter.com/
http://www.blogpulse.com/
http://www.hootsuite.com/
http://tweetreach.com/

Tags: authors, books, branding, marketing, publicity, social media
Posted in Social Media Tips | 1 Comment »

Online Branding for Writers

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

By Fauzia Burke

If I were an author in today’s competitive market, I would consider the time I spend developing my online platform and building my brand on the Web as an extension of my job as a writer. Publishing a book or any professional writing is a small business and authors should look at it as such. Sure, the publisher will offer support and expertise, but it is the author’s responsibility for building a long term Web strategy. Now, online branding is not a luxury or an afterthought — it is a necessity. And, to be honest, it’s fun.

Of course I am biased because the Web has always been fun for me. In 1995, I was 28 years old and I fell in love with the Web. I remember the moment clearly. Someone had shown me a hyperlink, it was the word “Paris”. Wow, what a moment. Just understanding what was happening set my neurons and synapses firing. I also saw Compuserve and witnessed people communicating in a way I had never seen before. It was fascinating and inspiring.

A million questions went through my mind: how does this work? Can I communicate with people on Compuserve too? What are they talking about? Who puts up all this information? How do you find what you are looking for? And of course the game changer, can I use this to market my books? Although the questions were intriguing, I had a job to do and at that time the job of marketing books had nothing to do with the Internet. How the world has changed!

After that moment, I tried to make myself forget. I tried to go back to business as usual without bulletin boards, email or Web access, but I couldn’t. The Web had stolen my heart and there was no way of going back and living without it. So within weeks of that day, I resigned as the marketing director for computer books at Henry Holt, and started FSB Associates. I was not sure what I would be doing, but it was going to be online.

That was over ten years ago, but my passion and thrill for the Web is still the same. Every time we place a book on a Web site, I am excited. I know that the book will be online for years to come with a link to a bookseller. I believe that by promoting authors on the Web we are creating their brand and establishing their platform. We help our authors create digital footprints which can be Googled long after their campaign is over.

Unlike how things were in 1995, today you can’t (or shouldn’t) promote books without having a Web strategy. A majority of readers are online, buying with one click, talking about books, and interacting with authors. Authors need to use the Web more and more. There is now an expectation of accessibility. It is not an expectation of their publisher or agent or publicist, it is the expectation of their readers that they will be available for interactions and communications with their readers.

Many authors feel that by building a Website, they are covering their bases online. However, it is not that easy anymore. Simply having a Web site is no longer an effective Web marketing strategy. It is essential that authors consider outreach on the Web as an extension of the writing process. Why not include the readers in their careers, getting their help in building a brand, taking their suggestions and including them in the process–not only after the book is published, but before and during. Authors should have a social media component to their online presence, as well as reach out to niche communities for reviews and interviews, and they need to write content for other sites and blogs so their name has “Google juice,” or Google visibility.

So many authors think this is a chore, and it really doesn’t have to be. It can be fun and it can be manageable. Today an effective, long term Web-branding strategy is essential for both a writing career as well as for selling books.

Tags: authors, books, branding, networking, publicity, seo, social media
Posted in Social Media Tips | No Comments »

Temple Grandin Recommends The Watchman’s Rattle

Monday, August 30th, 2010

By Fauzia Burke

On Sunday, August 29th, an HBO movie on Temple Grandin’s life won 5 Emmy Awards. What an exciting night for her and everyone involved in the project! If you have never read anything by Grandin, I would recommend it highly. Full disclosure, I did promote one of her books called Animals in Translations, which changed in many ways how I think and relate to animals.

A few days ago I read something else Grandin has written. She wrote a foreword to a new book due to be published in October. It is a fascinating book and one that addresses issues close to all our hearts. Why can’t we solve our problems anymore? Why do threats such as the Gulf oil spill, worldwide recession, global warming, terrorism, and pandemic viruses suddenly seem unstoppable? These are the questions Rebecca Costa confronts – and offers a solution to – in her widely anticipated, game-changing book, The Watchman’s Rattle.

Costa pulls headlines from today’s news to show how accelerating complexity quickly outpaces the rate at which the human brain can evolve new capabilities to manage it. With compelling evidence based upon research into the rise and fall of the Mayan, Khmer and Roman empires, Costa shows how complexity causes a civilization to quick-fix problems by focusing on mitigations — instead of finding permanent solutions — which leads to frightening long-term consequences. Eventually, a society’s ability to solve its most threatening problems becomes gridlocked, progress slows, and collapse ensues.

With that said, I will turn the forum over to Temple Grandin. Hope you find her comments, responses and observations as interesting as I do.

“Critical Thinking is Required to Solve Problems Instead of Blind Ideology

By Temple Grandin

One idea in this book that I could relate to was the disturbing fact that when the Mayan civilization faced mounting problems with drought and food shortages, they stopped thinking in a rational manner. The government became gridlocked and they lost the ability to find real solutions to their problems. When the problems with food shortages became more, and more difficult, fighting increased. They stopped working on finding better ways to grow food and conserve water.

Today our government is gridlocked. When I was a child in the 1950’s and 1960’s, the government actually got useful and exciting things done. The Republicans built the interstate highway system and the Democrats went to the moon. These projects would never make it through the maze of regulations that we have today. Another important idea in this book is the observation that too often people campaign and protest earnestly and vigorously either for or against something, but they often have no concrete solutions. In some cases, the people who present real solutions are attacked.”

You can read the rest of Grandin’s essay on Rebecca Costa’s website where you can also see some interesting videos on complexity, evolution, gridlock and brain research.

Tags: authors, books, branding, marketing, networking, publicity
Posted in New Books | No Comments »

I’ll Take a Community with That Book, Please!

Friday, August 27th, 2010

By Fauzia Burke

With today’s search empowered readers, do we need to market and publish books differently? Does general publishing makes sense in an age of Google searches, micro communities and niche marketing?

Today’s readers are tech savvy and resourceful. They know how to get the information they need and have higher expectations from publishers and authors. They don’t just expect a book, they expect a community with their book.

I often hear publishers say that there are “very few brands in book publishing.” But to thrive in today’s competitive, niche markets, perhaps brands are exactly what we need. What readers choose to read is personal and an extension of who they are. Shouldn’t their book choices be supported by a publisher, a brand that is invested in their interests?

Many small publishing companies have done an enviable job of branding themselves and building reader communities around their books. Take O’Reilly, TOR and Hay House. You may not read their books, but you know what they publish. Their communities trust them. People who share their point-of-view flock to their lists. These companies publish for a niche community, and are trusted members of their community. They provide extra resources, and often their authors are members of the community itself. TOR has even launched a bookstore to meet their readers’ needs. These publishers show passion for their books and an understanding of their readers, and as such their readers reward them with loyalty.

Publishing books for the community.

Besides reader loyalty, publishing for micro communities may have other long-term benefits as well. For example, the focus would help publishers save money on marketing. Marketing through online communities is less expensive and much more powerful than trying to reach the general public and hoping to find the right match. The publisher’s Web site wouldn’t have to cater to a wide variety of people, it would be designed to serve the needs of a small group. Instead of expensive advertising, they could announce the book to the community that has already bought into their brand. Publishers and authors could enlist the support of the community to spread the word (which will always be the most efficient method for marketing books.) The logo on the book spine would mean the readers have a promise that the book is worth reading. The readers would know that the publisher looked at over a thousand manuscripts all on the same topic and is offering them the very best.

So are large, general publishers at a disadvantage with today’s search-empowered, community oriented readers? I think so. General trade publishing is for everyone, yet there is no “everyone” out there. Readers are part of micro communities. They want good books, and they need publishers who will support their interests and passions.

The bottom line is that publishers and authors need to evolve their marketing and publishing strategies to accommodate for a new kind of reader. A reader whose expectations demand more interaction and community. A reader whose loyalty you can have once you have earned it. A reader who wants more than a 6 week marketing campaign so you can sell a book. This new reader requires an investment of months and years.

Is that too much to expect? Perhaps. But this is your new reader, and she will stay with you if you stay with her.

Tags: authors, books, branding, marketing, networking, publicity, social media
Posted in Social Media Tips | 1 Comment »

It’s Sink or Swim for Content on the Internet

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

By Ken Ishii

What a waste it would be to labor hours over an article only to have it become some nameless alga castaway in an ocean of facts and fiction on the Internet. Smart companies, entrepreneurs, scholars, bloggers and more take advantage of SEO tools to help get noticed online. What’s SEO? It stands for Search Engine Optimization, which translates to getting your stuff to appear on search engines ahead of other content that’s swimming around. The point? Well, we’ve all marveled at Google’s ability to dispense search results in numbers topping the human population, but even those of us without ADD could barely stand to click through more than five pages of web links. This is exactly what makes the first page of a Google search (especially) the “Beverly Hills” of online real estate.

There are a number of ways of making it to the top with scores of books written on the topic, but an easy and effective way to start is by submitting entries to article archive sites for review. Upon approval, these sites will syndicate your work to people specifically looking for what you have written. Matching interests in content with those seeking them works a lot like a dating service does minus dinner and a movie. You would expect these services to be everywhere and you would be correct, but the effectiveness of each service varies by those same numbers as well. The FSB favorite at the moment is an article archive site called Ezine Articles. The draw is in their pull. Hundreds of thousands of daily visitors to Ezine’s site means lots of eyeballs on your articles and if you include their newsletter audience, the compounded views grow exponentially into the millions making you feel like the entire world is now staring at you. It’s a good thing though because in no time you’ll be nicely seated overlooking the muddled waters of the web from your search page penthouse on the hill.

Take a look at Fauzia’s article submissions on Ezine for additional tips and advice on web publicity for book authors.

Tags: article, authors, books, branding, networking, publicity, seo
Posted in Social Media Tips | 2 Comments »

Posts Tagged ‘authors’

Book Blogger Appreciation Week Giveaway

Serotonin Power Diet

Temple Grandin Recommends The Watchman’s Rattle

It’s Sink or Swim for Content on the Internet

Mailing List

Pages

Archives

Categories