Posts Tagged ‘social media’

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Cultivating Super Fans with eNewsletters

Tuesday, May 14th, 2013

Social media is sexy, but the real power of your relationship with your fans is in email newsletters. The people on your mailing list are your “Super Fans.” They are the ones who have given you permission to show up in their inbox. That invitation is very valuable.

Think about it, when was the last time you signed up for a newsletter. Probably not for a while. Once I asked an author that question and she said, “oh I don’t do that.” She’s right we don’t do that, unless we are Super Fans or the author/company is providing something of value.

Super Fans are the people who pre-order your books, are the first in line to buy your products, and recommend you to others. So your most important marketing task is to keep them happy and engaged because they are your sales force, the wind beneath your wings, and (drum roll please) your Super Fans.

Here are some simple steps to improve your eNewsletters:

  1. Grow Your List: Make sure it is easy to sign up for your mailing list. Have a prominent link on every page of your website.
  2. Be Consistent: Don’t just email them when you have something to sell. Make sure you share useful information, resources and special offers consistently throughout the year. Just remember talking to people on your mailing list is a privilege, don’t abuse it.
  3. Frequency: It is best not to send mailings too often. Retailers learned how quickly we unsubscribed when they sent too many offers. You should know your Super Fans best, so plan accordingly. For some people daily emails work, for others weekly or even monthly are the right option. When in doubt plan for once a month.
  4. Use Software: There are excellent email newsletter solutions out there. The most popular are Constant Contact, iContact, and Mail Chimp. Do a little research and find the best fit for your needs.
  5. Design It: People don’t read, they scan emails. So make sure your design is easy to scan with images and links for more information. Most people won’t read a block of text that is 1,000 words long.
  6. Content: It’s most important to remember that the purpose of your newsletter is to develop and further enrich your relationship with your fans so make sure it does not sound like an infomercial. Always add a personal note, and keep it short.
  7. Track Results: The best part about using the email software is that it gives you lots of information. Not only whether your list is growing or shrinking but also what content and headlines work best for your list. Every time you do a mailing, you should assess the results a week later.
  8. Timing: Is there a good time to send a newsletter? Turns out there is. GetResponse analyzed 21 million messages to discover that: the top engagement times of 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. MailerMailer did a study to discover that the best day to send out a newsletter is Monday. That was a surprise to me.
  9. Special Offers: As Super Fans, your mailing list subscribers have earned the right for a few perks. So if you want someone to get an early peak at your new product or a special deal, this is the group for it. I would also recommend a “Super Fan only” event. It can be a Google hangout or a Skype chat. Sometimes, we have even given away signed copies of books and tote bags to the Super Fans.
  10. Respect: More than any other advice, I want to leave you with this thought. Please be respectful of your “Super Fans.” Respect their time, their opinion and feedback and most of all their friendship. Don’t ever spam them.

Remember your Super Fans are among your biggest assets. Take great care to cultivate your relationship with them and stay engaged and connected.

© 2013 Fauzia Burke. All Rights Reserved.

Author Bio
Fauzia Burke is the Founder and President of FSB Associates, a digital publicity and marketing firm specializing in creating awareness for books and authors. For online publicity, book publishing and social media news, follow Fauzia on Twitter: @FauziaBurke. To talk with FSB and ask your book publicity questions, please join us on Facebook.

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Does Social Media Sell Books? Gillian Flynn’s Agent Gives Her Perspective

Monday, February 4th, 2013

By Fauzia Burke

Those of you who know me are probably shocked at the title of this blog. You know I am a true believer in digital marketing and publicity and always suggest to authors that they should spend time developing a relationship with their readers. So why am I asking this question? For a couple of reasons: One because I am seeing social media burn-out in authors and second because I realized that two of the top selling authors of 2012 did not invest much time in social media.

According to Publisher’s Weekly, the three biggest selling authors last year were E. L. James, Suzanne Collins & Gillian Flynn. Neither Suzanne Collins nor Gillian Flynn spend much time on social networking. So how important is it for sales? I decided to ask this question to someone who has had a front row seat to the success of Gillian Flynn as well as many other authors.

The following is an interview with Gillian Flynn’s literary agent Stephanie Rostan (Levine Greenberg)

Hi Stephanie, I appreciate you taking the time to answer some questions about the success of GONE GIRL:

Q. I noticed that Ms. Flynn’s website is great but not updated often. I could not find a blog, a mailing list, or a Twitter handle. I may have missed them, but it was not obvious. She has a Facebook page with 13,000 people which I assume is updated by someone other than her and only about her events. Clearly in this case, the books are hugely successful without the author’s investment in social media, so do you think an investment of social media/digital marketing is important for an author’s success?

A: Yes, but it is not always the author’s investment. There has certainly been a lot of social media chatter ABOUT Gillian’s books, although it’s true that for the most part she was not out there participating in or generating the conversation. I think a lot of this was ignited by media coverage of the book (online and off) and early on it was helped by a widespread galley distribution that the publisher executed for GONE GIRL. The book itself really encourages discussion, so as more people read it, more people felt compelled to talk about it.

If the main function of social media, for an author, is to get the word out that this book is worth reading — ideally to the people who will be most likely to read it — and this can be accomplished in other ways (media coverage, ads, bookstore placement, online retailer promotion), then the social media component becomes less important. I also think it’s critical that no matter how active an author is online, the conversation about them and/or their book must be picked up and carried on by others for it to truly have an impact on sales. It can’t be ONLY about the author talking (blogging/tweeting).

Also . . . there is a big difference for fiction vs. nonfiction authors. For nonfiction authors with a specific expertise, being out there in the community that has interest in that expertise will most likely be effective in selling their book. For fiction authors, trying to “sell” their personality may not be as useful for getting someone to read their book for the first time — this isn’t a popularity contest, it’s about the reading experience. I do think readers like to form relationships with authors whose books they love, but that comes AFTER they’ve read the book. So it can be more useful in building and maintaining an audience over time.

Q: So in your opinion, novelists are better off focusing all their attention on writing the best book they can?

A: I think they absolutely need to focus on writing the best book first. Without that, what is there to talk about? That said, once the book is written, every author should take some time to consider how they will work with social media. What are they comfortable with? What are they good at? What will the publisher do? What fits best with the book? These answers will be somewhat different for different authors. I always try to help authors find something that makes sense to them and feels organic — I don’t think it works well to fake or force a social media presence. And as I said above, there are other ways to develop visibility for your work — social media is appealing because it’s free (if you don’t count the massive time commitment!), it’s accessible, and it’s directly under your control. Many other avenues for promotion are not.

Q: Do you feel Gillian is an exception then?

A: Yes and no. The level of her success is exceptional (and her books are exceptional!). But I work with other authors who have upward-trending sales without a lot of personal online interaction. This doesn’t mean that OTHER people don’t talk about their books online, just that their own level of activity may be low (an updated Facebook page and fan mail/email, for example). Many of these authors have multiple books (so they have spent time over several years building an audience), and write in a specific niche that helps them find their readers. They also receive various kinds of support from their publishers.

Q: In your opinion, what was the tipping point in her success?

A: This was her third book. The first two books were widely and well-reviewed, had been nominated for and/or won awards, and had had solid sales. There was a foundation to build on with GONE GIRL. The moment when you could tell this was going to be a different publication was right around the pub date for the book, when we saw how many really outstanding reviews, from such a wide range of national media, were lined up. The publisher had executed a really flawless campaign — sales, marketing and publicity together. The book is also incredibly good and engaging — it was that combination of hard work/foundation, a fantastic book, and a gathering storm of media coverage that all broke at once.

Q: Do your other authors benefit from interacting with their readers on social media and being pro-active with their digital branding strategy?

A: Some of them do, and some of them don’t. But isn’t that how publishing is? Nothing works all the time, or for everyone. It’s important for authors to leave no stone unturned and consider how social media can work for them, but also important to consider the whole picture of getting the word out about their book and reaching readers. I’m sure there are examples of authors whose success is directly related to their social media strategy/efforts. But there are also authors whose success has come mostly without that. Without diving too deeply into it, I think there are different kinds of readers out there who use and don’t use social media in different ways — when there’s a match between the author’s efforts and the potential readers they are reaching, that can be magic. But when there isn’t, a lot of energy can go to waste. Not to mention that things are always changing in the social media world. As I said above — the best advice I can give is to write the best book you can, and reassess your social media involvement/strategy often.

That was truly great and honest advice. Thank you so much for taking the time. You can learn more about Stephanie on her companies’ website.

© 2013 Fauzia Burke. All Rights Reserved.

Author Bio
Fauzia Burke is the Founder and President of FSB Associates, a digital publicity and marketing firm specializing in creating awareness for books and authors. For online publicity, book publishing and social media news, follow Fauzia on Twitter: @FauziaBurke. To talk with FSB and ask your book publicity questions, please join us on Facebook.

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Things I Got Wrong, and Things I Got Right in 2012

Wednesday, November 14th, 2012

By Fauzia Burke

As we wrap up 2012 and start to plan for the New Year I wanted to review the things I got right and the things I didn’t. In the past few years, there have been so many changes in the book industry, and in technology, that sometimes my only guide has been my intuition. Fortunately, our missteps can often teach us more than flawless execution. So here are the lessons I have learned in 2012:

Why Press Release Didn’t Work For Us. Working as the President of an online public relations firm, I relied on press releases to get the attention of editors. Over time, however, I noticed that they didn’t seem to be working as they once did. One reason is that the “one pitch fits all” approach was not working online. Bloggers are unique and so are their interests. For example I hear people talking about mommy bloggers or book bloggers, but in truth those communities are made up of people with very different interests.

I took a huge leap of faith and decided to stop doing press releases. Instead of taking the time to write them, proof them, wait for approval, print them and stuff them, we took that time to talk to the editors/bloggers and invest the time in social media. I thought I would get push-back from clients, but once I explained why I was making the change they agreed with the approach.

I am happy to report that this change we got right. It was the right decision and we’re moving into 2013 with no intention of doing the traditional press releases.

Delegating Social Media. I thought outsourcing social media was always wrong. Although it is best to keep your hands in your own social media, the only way for it to be effective is if it is consistent. A writer’s life is not consistent, which means they are sometimes more active on social media than other times. Trying to do it all themselves can be distracting. Of course, it is crucial to delegate this responsibility to someone trustworthy. I would also suggest having clear goals and to monitor activities very closely.

For 2013, we are exploring and open to creating a hybrid system for our clients.

People like to follow people, not books. I thought book websites and book Facebook pages were a good idea. Remember the days of microsites? Today, I believe that the only websites, Facebook pages and Twitter handles should be in the author’s name, no matter how diverse their list of books and activities. I would advise against a title or book site because people follow people not books. Authors are most effective when they work to build their brand, and can increasingly build a loyal following when readers feel connected to them.

In 2013, we will move away from book related digital assets and focus more on the author’s brand.


Keep Learning. Every single job in publishing should be a social job. I did not always think so. But the more people there are to amplify your message the better. Social media is not only a broadcasting tool, it is also one of the best learning and listening tools for you and your business. You have an open forum to observe and study the readers, their taste and comments. At a time when we need to be learning new skills all the time, social media can be a gateway to that learning.

This one I did get right. We shifted our entire staff to incorporate social media and social networking in everything they do: From searching for influencers, tracking numbers and word-of-mouth, to interacting with bloggers, and supporting our clients. In 2013, we will continue our focus on incorporating social media with our online publicity campaigns.

In the coming year, I only know one thing for sure. We’ll need to keep all options open and learn as we go. What have you learned in 2012? Please share your lessons.

© 2012 Fauzia Burke. All Rights Reserved.

Author Bio
Fauzia Burke is the Founder and President of FSB Associates, a digital publicity and marketing firm specializing in creating awareness for books and authors. For online publicity, book publishing and social media news, follow Fauzia on Twitter: @FauziaBurke. To talk with FSB and ask your book publicity questions, please join us on Facebook.

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12 Ways to Build Your Brand and Promote Your Book on Twitter

Tuesday, August 7th, 2012

An author recently reached out to me via email and said, “I’ve been tweeting for a couple of weeks and don’t see a change in my Amazon ranking. What am I doing wrong?” I told him, “Nothing. Twitter is just not an instant fix. It takes a long time to build a community in social media.” That’s the honest truth, but there are still ways to make sure the time you spend on Twitter is as productive as possible.

You know the Twitter basics, right? You tweet. You retweet. You write Tweets in 140 characters or less. You keep your tweets short to encourage retweets and you aren’t confused by the terms or symbols of #hashtags or @Mentions. So what else? What’s next? Instead of giving you more of the basics, here are 12 ways to be more strategic about your time on Twitter.

  1. Help other people. This tip usually comes easily to authors and experts because they have been giving advice for years. Twitter just allows you to give it to a larger audience. Ever hear that if you help other people get what they want, you will get what you want? It’s true. Whenever you have any interaction, start with the intention to give more value than you receive.
  2. Tweet quotes. Your nonfiction book is filled with little tips of value, and I bet your novel is full of perfect little sentences. Share them on Twitter daily. Remember to keep them short (120 characters) so people can add a comment and retweet!
  3. Be polite. It may sound time-consuming, but it’s worth it. Every time someone retweets your tweets, thank them. You will create conversations and ultimately create relationships.
  4. Decide who you want to create relationships with and begin a conversation. Many of my clients find themselves talking to whomever reaches out to them. Instead you can be more proactive and make a list of the people you want to get to know. Whether it’s other experts in your space or media professionals, twitter is a great way to learn from others. Initiate contact by retweeting the content of others to help support and promote them and foster a good relationship. Remember not to spam people on Twitter or ask them to follow you or to retweet you.
  5. Post links to helpful articles, resources, tips and other books you enjoy. One of the best ways to become known as an expert is to be on top of the trends in your industry. Share tips from others, as well as articles and resources that consistently brand you in your area of expertise. Remember to stay in your lane. Don’t tweet things that are irrelevant to your brand.
  6. Host a book giveaway. There are so many ways to create contests on Facebook and Twitter. Free giveaways are often shared, so your followers will help promote your book for you.
  7. Study the competition. Twitter is an open forum for you to study other people who might be in your field of expertise. See what they are doing and what’s working for them and modify those tips for yourself to help market your book.
  8. Maximize your Twitter bio. Your Twitter bio is only 160 characters. Use the space wisely and provide a link to your Website or book. Be straightforward yet descriptive about your expertise and include your book title if you have room.
  9. Use the 4:1 rule. While celebrities might tweet hints about their relationships on Twitter and others might tweet a photo of their dinner, you will be missing a big opportunity if you only use Twitter to share bits of personal info. Instead, make sure most of your tweets provide definite value. For every few tweets that are helpful or provide value, write only one tweet that’s promotional about your book.
  10. Enlist raving fans (or family and friends) to help you promote your book. When people love your book, ask them to tweet about it using a hashtag of the title of your book so it trends in the Twitter world. Retweet those tweets from your fans on your Twitter feed.
  11. Do a YouTube video for your book. You know how you watch movie trailers before you head out to the movies? You want to know what you are going to watch before you head to the movies and buy that ticket. The same goes for your book. Create a promotional trailer of your book by reading some excerpts or discussing the main concept of your book. Once you finish, tweet it.
  12. Host a Twitter chat. Promote your expertise by hosting a Tweet chat. Come up with a short hashtag you can encourage your Twitter followers to use during the hour of your Tweet chat. Your Tweet chat can be a Q & A about your book, or you can take questions from followers for an hour at a designated time that you promote on Twitter.

As you work to market your book and become known as an expert in your niche, don’t forget to use Twitter to build your personal brand. More importantly, don’t expect instant success. Pace yourself and enjoy the journey. Let me know if you have any questions. Good luck.

© 2012 Fauzia Burke. All Rights Reserved.

Fauzia Burke is the Founder and President of FSB Associates, a digital publicity and marketing firm specializing in creating awareness for books and authors. For digital publicity and social media news, follow Fauzia on Twitter: @FauziaBurke.

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We Need Your Voice: An Open Letter to Publishing Sales Reps

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012
By Fauzia Burke

Have you been avoiding the world of social media because you view it as a fad, or a waste of time? Do you see Facebook as something teenagers do?  Maybe you think sales should occur in person and not on Twitter. Let’s just say it; maybe you just don’t see the benefits of social media. You have all sorts of reasons for not getting involved, from being too busy (I hear you!), to thinking it is a waste of your time.

But here’s the truth, we now live in a social media powered business culture. If you are a sales rep and not engaging in social media, you are missing a great opportunity—an opportunity your competitors may not be missing.

I know many reps who are using social media successfully, but I think the whole sales group should be active on social networks. Only when you make social media part of your job or life will you see and reap the full benefits. And once you do, you’ll never want to go back. The conversations about your authors, your books, your company, your industry, your accounts are happening on social media—with or without you.

Honestly, social media is the greatest gift to sales and marketing people, because it allows us to listen to conversations and cultivate deeper relationships. It lets us leverage our experience and existing networks, at a time when personal relationships are more important than ever. It helps us sell more books, promote local events, amplify the efforts of our marketing and publicity teams, and support our accounts.

While face to face meetings will always be important, with social media you can reach more people, build relationships faster and more often, and keep in regular contact with your customers.

I truly believe that your experience, contacts, and love of books is one of your company’s biggest assets. You already possess some of the must-have skills needed for social media success. You are already knowledgable, experienced, responsive, helpful, generous, and charming (I know for a fact that many of you are).

Social media takes just a few hours to learn and a few months to master. Your years of experience in knowing books, is priceless. As you incorporate these tools into your daily routines, you will find that social media is actually fun and will save you time, keep you “in the know,” and allow you to have an even better relationship with your accounts.

So, I’ll say it again, come join us on social networks. We need your voice.


© 2012 Fauzia Burke. All Rights Reserved.

Fauzia Burke is the Founder and President of FSB Associates, a publicity and website development firm specializing in creating awareness for books and authors on the web. For web publicity and social media news, follow Fauzia on Twitter: @FauziaBurke.

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Publishers Looking to Amplify eBook Marketing

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

Our new Amplify e-book marketing program is off to a running start. Publishers are realizing that e-book publicity is going to have to play by different rules than those traditionally found in paper book campaigns. Why? Walk into a bookstore and you’re practically tripping over new releases placed strategically on tables and shelves for all to see.  E-books on the other hand aren’t availed the same service online where millions of titles vie for attention.  The hit-and-run campaigns publishers are used to are short-term events for paper books that won’t cut it with e-books and now with brick-and-mortar booksellers against the ropes, book publicity faces a whole new challenge and importance.

FSB’s Amplify marketing program focuses on turning a short-term event into an extended engagement that increases a book and author’s online visibility. By grouping similar e-books together and promoting them over a six month period, campaigns are amped by boosting their volume, duration, and networking communities. Early adopters of the Amplify program are spearheading the online book publicity movement and among them are publishers such as F&W Media, TOR Books, Vanguard Press (Perseus), and Reader’s Digest Trade Publishing.

F&W Media is currently featuring a line of crime novels under the brand, F&W Crime, whose titles seen below are a good example of what makes up a typical Amplify program lineup. By promoting individual books as part of a whole, each title benefits from the support of other titles, the publisher, and FSB’s 16 years of experience, personal relationships with online media outlets, and a far-reaching social media network that includes a team of Twitter support.

Screams & Whispers by Randall Peffer

Young Cape Cod public defender and commercial fisherman Michael Decastro ventures to Saigon with his father to come to the aid of his long-lost client and love-interest Tuki Aparecio, who is in a fight of her life with a mysterious dragon lady from Indochina’s underworld. Screams & Whispers from FW Crime is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Untouchable by Scott O’Connor

A year has passed since Lucy Darby’s unexpected death, leaving her husband David and son Whitley to mend the gaping hole in their lives. The Kid hasn’t spoken since his mother’s death, and only communicates through a collection of notebooks. Untouchable from FW Crime is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

County Line by Bill Cameron

When the steadfast Ruby Jane Whittaker drops out of sight, dogged ex-cop Skin Kadash sets out to discover what drove the woman he loves to leave her life behind. Skin and Peter cross the country on a desperate journey deep into Ruby Jane’s haunted past — and toward an explosive confrontation. County Line from FW Crime is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Liquid Smoke by Jeff Shelby

Private eye Noah Braddock has found peace in his relationship with Detective Liz Santangelo and has called a tentative truce with his alcoholic mother, Carolina. So when lawyer Darcy Gill demands that he look into a death row case, he’s more interested in catching some waves. Darcy then plays her trump card: the man scheduled to die is the father Noah never knew. Liquid Smoke from FW Crime is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

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Twitter Tip: How to Organize with Lists

Friday, August 5th, 2011

by Ken Ishii

It’s no secret that online social networking is an efficient way to spread news fast and far. Great news for authors. And among social networks out there, Twitter has proven itself a powerful vehicle able to drive users to both familiar and new communities with little effort.

If you don’t have one yet, you should really open a Twitter account quickly before you lose a golden username to someone too quick to the draw. Already a member? Then you’ll most likely enjoy how useful Twitter lists can be.

If you’re familiar with the ins and outs of Twitter, then you probably maintain a regular stream of tweets, amassed a robust network of like-minded users, and made a habit out of lending a hand by retweeting others. With that, you probably realized how hard it is to keep track of users that relentlessly enter your network.

Like any social gathering, you’ll always find a few folks that seem to linger in the spotlight a bit too long. Twitter being no exception, you’re bound to be surrounded by virtual soapbox speakers unless you manage your tweet listening skills. So how does one handle those overly-ambitious users that drown your Twitter fellows into oblivion? You could just stop following the post-happy users altogether, but then you’ll be burning a bridge you might need to cross when time comes to promote your work. A less antagonistic approach would be to simply avert your attention away from the noisemakers. Creating lists offers a friendly solution that won’t cause tears when users find out who stopped following them on Twitter. With Twitter lists, those chatterboxes can keep their seats at the party, but you’ll get to choose which table to join.

So let’s get started. To make your own lists, visit and log in to your Twitter account. You say you rather use Hootsuite? We do too, but we’ll get to that right after this.

After logging in, you’ll be taken to your Home screen. Right above the news stream on the left are several tabs including one labeled, “Lists.” Click it, and a drop-down menu will appear where the option, “Create a list,” can be found. Think about all the categories you’ll want to get updates from regularly and then decide how many lists you want to create. Again, it might help to imagine a party with tables of different groups.

I need to throw a bit of caution out there when creating lists. With public lists, the list name, description, and users you add to the list will be visible to everyone on Twitter. You can specify lists as private to keep them hidden from other users, but keep in mind, lists make great sharing resources that others might find helpful.

Next you’ll need to add people to your lists. Search for new or familiar Twitter users and find the drop-down menu on his or her profile to add them to a list.

You can add a user to more than one list if you wish or you can create a new list right on the spot if you think of any new categories.

Over time, users might find social media management tools such as Hootsuite necessary to organize and enhance their networking experience. If you’re one of these people, you’ll be relieved to know that you don’t have to go to the main Twitter site to put together a list. There are several ways to create a list on Hootsuite. The method I like is to simply click the “Add Stream” button in the upper left-hand corner just below the tabs.

In the window that pops up, click on the Lists tab to reveal the required entry fields. If you have multiple Twitter accounts, select the profile you want your new list assigned to. On the third line, click the “Create a new list” option and then name your list. Select whether you want to make your list public or private, click “Create Stream,” and you’re done!

If you already have a list created or subscribe to a list you want to add new users to, just click on the user’s Twitter profile picture and click on the “Add To List” button in the profile box that appears. Next, select the list you want to add the user to from the drop-down menu and, within seconds, the user’s tweets will be included in the stream of messages filtered by the list.

With lists in place, Twitter comes alive with customized channels you can surf to find whatever suits your mood. You can create lists consisting of general news outlets, industry experts, valuable followers, competitors, family members, friends, favorite stores, or find other creative uses for lists to enhance your tweeting experience. If you’re looking for pre-made lists or recommended Twitter users, you can browse a Twitter list directory to save you some legwork or even get yourself on a public list.

Don’t feel like you need lists right now? Maybe it’s time to go and follow more tweeps? You can start with our FSB home team on Twitter!

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It Takes a Village to Promote a Book

Wednesday, July 6th, 2011

by Fauzia Burke

“Markets are conversations,” said the authors of The Cluetrain Manifesto and it is still the number one thesis on their Web site. Social media allows you to have those conversations. When I wrote a Blog on Huffington Post called “It’s 2010: You Really Need to be on Facebook”, I was shocked by the response. In fact, Donna Fenn, author of Upstarts wrote on her Bnet blog that judging by the response, you’d think that I had asked people to walk around naked. It is surprising that anyone could still deny the benefits of social media for marketing.

Today’s marketing is truly about conversations. So if you are going to spend the time and money marketing a product or service, you should think “will this start, maintain, or enhance the conversation?” Will this get people talking, will they take it to their twitter feeds and Facebook pages? Will they forward, post, or retweet this?

I have found that it is seldom that one big hit that results in conversations. You need a lot of attention, some big, some small, all moving the conversation forward. If you compare hits to the old formula that big is best, then the smaller blogs have little impact. But if your goal is to truly broaden the scope of the discussion, you need lots of people talking on lots of different Web sites and blogs.

Even a feature on Web sites like CNN.com or Oprah.com does not guarantee instant increases to your Web site traffic or book sales. In fact, these days even a Today Show appearance is no guarantee. However, I believe a sustained effort to keep people talking results in speaking engagements, paid blog posts (yes there is such a thing), interview opportunities, more fans on your Facebook page, more traffic on your site, increased sales, and a recognition and expansion of “brand YOU.”

Selling books is almost always the first goal of every author, however if you chat with them a bit they’ll say things like, “I want to help people,” “I know my book will make a difference,” “I want to make sure people know what is really going on,” “I want to make people laugh,” “I want to entertain my readers” or “I envision a world where people love what they do and if they read my book they would.” I often take on projects based on these secondary goals, the goals that speak to the truth of the person and the importance of the book. These are the goals that are worth talking about.

As a marketer, I can’t ever get people to talk about the author’s first goal. Not once has a reviewer said, “Please buy this book because the author would like to have a bestseller.” However, those secondary goals have always started conversations and sparked interests and led to interviews and discussions.

Many of the bloggers we work with post their reviews on multiple blogs and Web sites like Twitter, Amazon, B&N, Goodreads, Ning, Library Thing, Facebook, and more, all of which increase the search visibility of the book and author. In that way, those reviews or features are all fluid and viral. They do not stay where they are created. They often take flight and have a much broader life than just the traffic on their own blogs.

Search results, conversations and virality are most important in today’s connected market place, and they are achieved by a broad spectrum of coverage, not just the sites that get the most hits.

So as of today, think about the real reason you wrote the book, the reason why only you could have written it, think about those secondary goals, and then get on with the business of starting conversations.

What do you think it takes to promote a book these days? Please share your comments. Thanks.

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12 Social Media Tools for Publicity

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

by Fauzia Burke

The explosion of social media in the last few years has brought with it a whole slew of social media applications and tools designed to help publicists deliver and monitor better results. As I have written before, I think social media has been a huge help for publicity. However, choosing the tools is important in helping you save time and be effective. I’ve compiled a list of 12 tools that lighten the social media workload at FSB, and I hope you find them helpful as well.

Blog Searches:

Blogpulse: You can search for a URL, name or topic. I think it gives good results for a given topic, even though I’m not always crazy about the results. However, every now and then I find things here that are missed by Google or Google alerts.

Google Blog Search: This is the most thorough blog searching tool around. You can find blogs for any topic.

Technorati: This is a great site of blogs by topic and ranking. Very helpful.

Digital Presence Assessment and Management:

Addictomatic: This site is very helpful in gauging a digital footprint as it searches the web for latest news, blog posts, videos and images. A cool element is that you can customize the dashboard by simply dragging the boxes around.

Hootsuite: We use Hootsuite in the office and even pay for the pro version. I think it is an excellent program that we find more reliable than Tweetdeck. You can manage several accounts and schedule posts for Twitter and Facebook.

How Socialable: This site gives you an evaluation of your brand’s visibility. It’s not great for personal brands, but a good tool for big brands, like your company.

Klout: One of the most popular Twitter popularity tools, Klout measures influence rather than just followers.

Social Mention: This site allows you to search an author, company or topic across the Web. You can get results from 100 social media sites in one place. My favorite part is that it gives you sentiment (positive, neutral or negative) of the mentions all over the Web, along with top keywords and top hashtags. It’s handy.

TweetReach: This is one of my favorite sites. It allows you to search a topic, author, handle or name and see how many people were reached by those Tweets. You can also see who sent the Tweets and how many followers they have. Very helpful for publicists looking for influencers.

TwitterCounter: I love this site. It allows you to see the Twitter stats for any handle. You can see if the trend is for gaining followers or losing them. Also shows you how many Tweets are made everyday by any handle. Good for research and for monitoring the success of your company feeds.

Topic Search:

Google Trends: If you are working on a news topic, this is an excellent source as it gives you insights into the traffic and geographic visit patterns.

Twazzup: This site allows you to filter news from live Twitter content. It’s good to see trending topics and influencers for a given subject. Better for topic than an author’s name.

Having a social media platform for communicating is extremely important for the success of your publicity campaigns. The majority of the tools presented in this list can make communicating your messages on target and easy to manage/track. I invite you to choose the ones that help make your social media experience more productive and better still, enjoyable. Do you have a favorite tool not on this list?

For the latest on web publicity, social media news, and personal branding, follow Fauzia on Twitter: @FauziaBurke.

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8 Ways to Develop Better Relationships with Bloggers

Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

By Fauzia Burke

When authors come to me and say, “I want to reach book bloggers or mommy bloggers,” I often have to tell them that bloggers have very specific tastes. More specific than you probably realize. For example, when reaching out to mommy bloggers, it is really important to know the age of their kids. Pitching a YA novel to a mommy blogger with a baby won’t get you far. Pitching a Sci-Fi novel to a blogger that loves historical romance won’t work either. Sending a WWII book to a blogger that covers the Civil War will make for a cranky blogger, and sending a press release to the wrong person may actually get you blacklisted.

So here are some tips to help you develop better relationships with bloggers.

Know Their Beat

The best piece of advice to any publicist trying to build a relationship with bloggers is to build it through mutual respect, trust, and consistency. Make sure you know the blogger’s focus and area of interest.

Search For Blogs

If you are looking for bloggers, try Alltop, Technorati, or Google Blogsearch. Another interesting but time-consuming site is called Listorious; it helps you search for people and lists on Twitter.

At FSB, we have also set up a directory where book bloggers are listed by category. Each book blogger has registered and submitted the information themselves and others are welcome to join the blogger directory. The directory is available for free to everyone – bloggers and publicists alike.

Value of Bloggers

It’s good to know the traffic of blogs, but don’t dismiss bloggers with less traffic. It is important to look at the “full reach” of a blogger. Sometimes blog features from smaller blogs can generate more chatter on social networks. It’s a good idea to follow them on Twitter and “Like” them on Facebook to check out their social networks. Some bloggers post reviews on multiple sites so they can be more valuable for that reason alone. Remember also, that placements on niche sites (with less traffic) can sometimes be more effective than placements on a large general interest site.

There isn’t a consistent way to get traffic information for every type of blog. However, here are a few tips: You can always see the number of people that are subscribed to an RSS feed (usually listed on each blog web site); another way is to use a web tool like Compete or Alexa, but unfortunately these tools don’t keep traffic for all blogs; and lastly you could always check out a blog’s advertising info or media kit.

Make Things Easier

Understanding the needs of bloggers will help you work with them. Make note of the type of coverage they have. Do they like to interview authors, review books, do raffles or post guest blogs? Then make sure you send them the materials they need in a timely fashion.

Because bloggers need quality content often, we have set up a web site just for bloggers called FSB Media. Bloggers can request review copies plus “grab” quality content from published authors. We make sure we have permission already in place so bloggers can feature the content on their site with ease.

Approach Bloggers One At A Time

Every time I say that, people either roll their eyes in disbelief or try to sell me on the benefits of mail merge. Here’s the honest truth: you are better off reaching out to 50 bloggers one at a time than 500 via mail merge. You’ll actually get better results. Is it time consuming and labor intensive? You bet. Is it worth it? Yes!

Don’t Push

Without follow-up nothing will come of your pitching, so you need to find time to follow up and develop skills in asking without being pushy or rude. Every good publicist needs to master the delicate art of begging.

Represent Good Content

Don’t send out press releases, articles, or op-eds that are not written well. Make sure the content that leaves your hands always looks professional and does not have spelling or grammatical mistakes.

There are a few endorsements from bloggers on our site, and I read them as market research for this piece. Many of them noted that being consistent and professional is important to them.

Perfect Your Publicity Database

All of these tips are good and fine, but unless you make some changes to your contact database, these tips will be difficult to implement. At FSB, we have several fields in our custom-designed database that help us develop relationships with bloggers.  We record when the contact was added, by whom, and any notes about their likes and dislikes. We also keep track of all the books sent to every blogger and which ones featured our books. This practice allows us to learn more about the blogger with every interaction and only send them the books he/she would be inclined to cover.

I hope these tips help you develop better long-term relationships with bloggers. A couple of years ago, I wrote a blog on The Huffington Post called Book Bloggers Rock! where I thanked them for their hard work and dedication to books and authors. I stand by that idea and encourage publicists and publishers to change internal publicity systems to develop an ongoing dialogue and relationship with bloggers.

For the latest on web publicity, social media news, and personal branding, follow Fauzia on Twitter: @FauziaBurke.

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