I read a great email from Suzanne Lieurance’s The Morning Nudge. This particular ‘nudge’ was about having a clear vision and it gave me the inspiration for this article.
For a clear vision in regard to your business, you need to analyze three things:
1. Who you are
2. What you have to offer
3. Who your target market is
Interestingly, many, especially new smaller businesses, don’t really
Create Your Writer Platform: The Key to Building an Audience, Selling More Books and finding Success as an Author -- Chuck Sambuchino
www.chucksambuchino.com
I’ve read several books on author platform but have to confess never fully grasping the term until reading Chuck Sambuchino’s CREATE YOUR WRITER PLATFORM. At its simplest level,
a platform is an author’s visibility and reach -- the framework an author has and continues to build that let’s others know of his or her work.
Sambuchino describes his book as
“a guide for all the hardworking writers out there who want a say in their own destinies.” Though there is no one-size-fits-all approach to establishing a platform, Sambuchino says the need for platform cannot be ignored, even for those of us who write fiction. The book is divided into three sections: The Principles of Platform, The Mechanics of Platform, and Author Case Studies. At the end of each chapter, literary agents weigh in on the chapter’s topic, giving readers perspectives outside of the author’s. One of the most helpful aspects of the book is the Case Study section, where twelve different authors from a variety of genres (memoir to self help, fiction to reference) reflect on the choices they made in building their platforms --
what worked, what they wish they’d done differently, what they believe makes them stand out from others in their field.
Sambuchino is also quick to say “this is a resource for those who realize that selling a book is not about blatant self-promotion.” It is more about relationships, the sharing of expertise, and supporting others along the way. Though written for the aspiring author, a lot of things resonated with me, a newly published author, such as the wisdom behind an author newsletter, establishing an “
events” page on my blog, and always, that kindness and generosity go a long way.
Ten Ways to Know if Your (Internet) Marketing is Paying Off
Reprinted from Author Marketing Experts NewsletterSo you're out there marketing. You're doing all the right things (or so you think). You're following the book marketing advice of some leaders in the industry. You've got a checklist and you're methodically checking off your goals. But how do you know you're doing everything right? The fact is, most of us don't. Yet we forge ahead, keeping pace with our marketing plan, without ever knowing if it's paying off. We don't see it in sales.
Does that mean it's not working? Not at all. You could be seeing the effects in other places but just aren't keeping track of it.
I find that especially in social media you need to keep a close eye on what's working and what's not. If you've spent *any* kind of time online you know that you can be in front of your computer for what seems like 20 minutes and yet three hours have gone by. If the three hours of marketing is paying off, then it's fine to spend the time. But you need to know the difference. Here are a few things you can review to measure the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of your marketing.
1. Jumping in without a plan: Set clear, measureable goals because most marketing is invisible. Let's face it, you send an email and wonder half the time if the intended recipient got it or if it ended up in a spam filter, never to be seen again. That's the power behind goals. You need them and you need to run your campaign by them. So what are your goals? And no, you may not say sell books. Yes, that factors in - but there are a million small steps along the way before you even get to sales. Consider these goals and see if any of them fit your book, topic, and future:
a.
Establish yourself as an expert or get known in your particular field. Hey, maybe you just want to be known as the go-to person for everything related to paranormal romance. That's great and it's a realistic, attainable goal.
b. Increase the visibility of your brand. OK, sort of the same as the bullet before this one but more geared to the non-fiction author.
c. Increase traffic and incoming links to your website. This is a great goal. Whether you are fiction or non-fiction, it's a great focus.
d. Do what makes sense for your book: If your followers aren't on Twitter then why have you spent the last month or so promoting yourself on there? Mind you, Twitter works for most of the books we manage, but there are a few that don't make sense. Twitter skews older than most people think so don't be surprised if your YA reader isn't on there. Before you launch head first into a campaign, make sure it fits your demographic.
2. Neglecting other marketing: I know it's easy to get all a-twitter about Twitter, but what else are you doing to promote yourself and your book? If you're good at events and speaking, are you still focused on that? Don't get too myopic on doing just one thing for your marketing. The truth is, you need to do a lot of different things, balanced out over a week or a month for your marketing to really make sense.
3. Set goals - be clear on what you hope to achieve in social media: What are your goals for Twitter? If it's just about gathering followers then you are missing a big piece of this social networking tool. For many marketing people it's all about the number, but numbers don't make as much sense unless they are driving interest to you and your book. If the numbers keep growing, along with traffic to your website, then you're on the right track. But if you're just growing numbers for the sake of being able to say that you have 10,000 followers then it makes no sense. That's like buying a fancy car you can't really afford. Eventually the debt of it will drag you down. It's the same with Twitter and Facebook and any other social media site. It's not about the numbers. It's about the activity.
4. Be clear on who you are trying to reach: Many of you say you're trying to reach readers, but is that really true? We all want to sell books, but who are you really going after? In all likelihood you will have a variety of different targets you are going after. Consider these: booksellers, speaking opportunities, interviews, bulk sale targets, reviewers, and readers to name a few.
5. Measure effectively: In order to know if stuff is working you'll need to measure effectively. As I pointed out earlier on in this article you may not want to do that by fans or followers - instead consider these ideas as ways to
measure your success:
a. Retweets on Twitter: The best sign of success on Twitter is the amount of retweets. Are you getting them and if so, how often? If your tweets are good and your followers are active, you should see a few a week at least (depending on the amount of followers you have). If you're curious about the amount of Tweets that get RT'd - check out retweetrank.com. Twitter Analyzer (twitteranalyzer.com) is another great tool for determining how far tweets have traveled.
b. Site hits: Are the hits to your site increasing? Are you watching your analytics to be sure? If you're not, you should be. Watch your site stats closely and monitor the increase in traffic and where it's coming from.
c. Inbound links: How many new ones are you getting? Did you do a vanity search before you started this campaign? If not, do that now. Make sure you know how many new incoming links you're getting as a result of your efforts.
d. Sign-ups to your mailing list: Are they increasing? If you're doing the right stuff in your social media they should be increasing weekly.
6. Increasing the contacts in your industry: Remember that social media marketing is just like going to a networking meeting. You want to expand your reach and get to know others in your industry. If you're not increasing your reach and contact base, then you need to be. This is another great way to gauge how effective your marketing is.
We always want to make progress in our marketing but we're not always sure how to do it or if what we're doing is making a difference. Follow these steps and see if it doesn't help your marketing momentum. If it's paying off, you'll know sooner rather than later and you can keep doing the good stuff, and punt the bad.
Bonus: additional tools for tracking marketingBit.ly: This site serves as both a URL shortener and also as a measurement tool. Bit.ly can help get you real-time results on clicks to links you are posting to Facebook and Twitter.
Google Analytics: If you don't have any back end web analytics (and even if you do), Google gives you a lot of valuable data.
Trackur: This is a great monitoring site to see what's being featured on you online and off. It's not free like Google Alerts, but much more comprehensive. Their basic package is $18 a month.
Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques.
http://www.amarketingexpert.com~~~~~
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To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).Karen CioffiMulti-award Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter, Editor, Online Marketing Instructor, Affiliate Marketer
Writer’s Digest Website of the Week, June 25, 2012
Online Marketing Ebooks and Ecourses:
http://karencioffi.comKaren Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/
Three years ago, May B. won first place for a novel excerpt at the Jambalaya Writers' Conference. This year I'm headed back to Houma, Louisiana to present at the conference. It's a thrill to be included on the roster this year! If you happen to live around the New Orleans area, I'd love to meet you.
Here are my topics:
Verse Novels -- From Homer to Ellen Hopkins: Long a mainstay in classical literature, the verse novel has made a comeback in children’s literature in the last fifteen years. What’s the appeal? Learn about the authors and titles which have had an impact on the genre, why an author would choose to write this way, and if your story might best be told through verse.
DIY Marketing Plan: Authors nowadays are expected to play bigger and bigger roles in spreading the word about their books. What, exactly, does this look like? Learn to identify and reach your target audience in traditional and non-traditional ways, produce materials to compliment your book, and create your own marketing plan.
I'll share about the conference once I return -- and don't worry: I'll eat a bowl of gumbo for you.
Everyone needs a plan.
Even you writing "pantsers" need a plan for marketing. Throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks is a waste of time.
Here are some basic steps on how to get started on creating the right plan for your book?1) What is your overall goal? This can be in the # of books you sell or the * of responses you get on a mailing? You book's ranking? You need to set a goal for yourself and your book. It gives you something to focus on and everything you do in your planning should target that goal.
2) What is your budget? You HAVE to invest in marketing. Even if your publishing house does. That does not mean you have to go bankrupt doing it. Maybe it is 10 or 20% of your signing bonus. Maybe it's a percentage of your sales a a self pubbed author. Whatever it is - use it wisely. You can be smart about it and there is a lot you can do on your own - making connections, ezine interviews, bookmarkers, business cards, stationary, articles, press releases, blogs Facebook and MySpace. Save your money for things that matter like high-quality brochures, professional web sites, and ads, book trailers, podcasts, phone calls, etc.
3) Who is your target audience(s)?Think about your market. Don't just think of kids as by age. That is over 70 million people. You need to think in segments. There are many categories you can target with your marketing if you know how to break it down. Try and choose 3-5 categories. You will market to them differently.
For example: lets say you have a
YA historical mystery book that is set in NYC in the 1920s. Your target audiences could be:
- teens who love mysteries
- regional NYC
- regional where you live (always do this one - local places love local authors)
- any group that promotes anything in the 20s - retro groups etc.
- historical places (museums/societies/clubs ect)
4) What are the channels for each? How do you reach these targets?Different markets use different channels to communicate. Think about that for each audience. It might be print advertising, Public Relations, publicity, direct marketing, direct mail, trade show exhibiting.
- Create a excel spreadsheet that has a worksheet for each target audience you identify.
- Then Google, Google Google that subject (ie historical societies, history clubs, retro clubs, retro teens etc) and list all the contacts you can come up with. ezines, websites, clubs, organizations...anything you can find.
- What is their basic need? How can YOU help THEM?
- Then rank them 1 - 5 with 1 being the best mediums and 5 being the lowest.
- Always pitch
5) Where do you start?
Start with the most obvious target segment. first teens who love mysteries, then maybe your local area, then maybe historical places, then many NYC and so on. Make a place to dive into each segment sequentially.
6) Come up with a Pitch
Come up with a Unique Selling Proposition (what do you offer them. Please do not call to discuss your book (z
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By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 2/10/2012
Blog:
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In the last eight months, I've written, labeled, and mailed 1,662 May B. postcards. Yes, really.
Much of marketing a book is like throwing darts, but as I've learned, a personalized, audience-tweaked dart has more potential to hit the board than those thrown willy-nilly.
My audience:
Kansas schools and libraries
Why? May B. takes place in Kansas and is primarily a school and library market title. Also, Kansas Day is 1/29. Teachers are required to teach KS history on or around this day -- perfect for an early January release date!
Plains state/frontier/pioneer museums
Why? May B.'s focus on the frontier era will ide
For the last three weeks, I've been plugging away at my author questionnaire. The packet I received started with a note from my editor which included this:
What you tell us here will serve as the foundation of our marketing, sales, subsidiary rights, and publicity efforts for your book, so your responses are very important.
I was grateful to have spent some time last winter thinking through things like my target audience, comp. titles, and institutions/organizations that might be interested in MAY B. (such as prairie museums).
For those of you who missed my series on Marketing Plans, click here to see the first post.
It's surprising to find out how interesting this aspect of publishing is to me. I never expected to find promotion fun, but I'm telling you, there is something very satisfying about discovering a person or organization that might connect with your book. Think matchmaking and treasure hunting combined.
My questionnaire ends with something I especially fun:
As you may have gathered by now, we want readers to get to know you. This short list of questions-and-answers will be featured on our website. If you’d like to participate, please choose five questions from the list below and compose five brief (a few sentences are fine) answers. If you have something amusing to share that’s not covered below, feel free to invent your own question(s). If you submit more than five sets of questions/answers we will select five to appear on the site.
Can you share any funny, strange, or wonderful stories about how your book came to be?
What are you reading now?
Other than your own, what is your favorite Tricycle Press book?
What are you working on now?
Do you eat your vegetables?
If you had a superpower, what would it be?
How long did it take you to write this book?
What was the hardest thing about writing a book?
When did you know you were a writer?
What was your inspiration for writing this book?
Who is your favorite author?
What's the history of your first or last name?
What was your favorite food when you were little?
What is your favorite food now?
Do you have any unusual or special family traditions?
Do you have any hobbies?
What was your favorite book when you were a child?
How do you cheer yourself up when you're feeling down?
What is your favorite birthday memory?
What is your favorite sandwich?
If you owned a horse, what would you name it?
How do you spend a rainy Saturday morning?
What was the first book you can remember reading?
What’s your favorite snack food?
If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
Where were you when you found out Tricycle Press would publish your book?
What is your favorite thing about being an author/illustrator?
How long does it take you to write a book or create a piece of art?
What book do you re-read every few years?
What did you want to be when you grew up?
I ended up answering ten. We'll see what's selected for Random House's site.
What would you pick to answer about yourself? Share your answers in the comment section!
Last week, I talked with my editor, Nicole Geiger, for the first time since selling MAY. While we didn't talk book specifics, I learned about a typical book schedule. As Nicole is wrapping two other books right now, I should expect to receive my schedule in the next few weeks. For now, here's what I learned:
- Book deadlines are flexible but get tighter toward the end. The "soft deadlines" come early, before getting the book to press. The first "hard date" would be for the galleys.
- For a Fall 2011 book, galleys should be ready to print mid-January 2011. Tricycle prints mid-grade galleys domestically; it takes 2-3 weeks.
- Once the book is done, I'll be handed off to the marketing and publicity department for the day to day contact with Tricycle.
- I'm to expect my author questionaire fairly early and am to "do it in a timely way but take [my] time." While my tentative marketing plan lists authors the marketing team is planning to approach for blurbs(one of the most thrilling parts of this whole process!), I'm to also compile a list of "people who would make a difference" in sales: librarians, booksellers, blog reviewers, or other authors I've admired from afar.
Here are a few links I've found about author questionaires. If you've spent sometime thinking through the
marketing plan posts I ran a few weeks ago, much of this will be fresh in your minds.
Author Marketing QuestionaireSample Marketing QuestionaireAuthor QuestionaireFrom Chris Webb's Publishing Blog:
Book Marketing for Authors: The Author Questionaire
Publicize Your Book (Updated): An Insider's Guide to Getting Your Book the Attention It Deserves
Here's the final portion of a
marketing plan:
Books That Compete or Compare With Yours (Comp Titles): “What books are similar to yours, in terms of shared audience or similar literary quality or subject matter?...Comparative titles…help your publicist frame a pitch for the book.”Be sure to list the title, author, publisher, publication date, and ISBN of all comp titles.
Comp titles for MAY B.:
•
OUT OF THE DUST: Karen Hesse, Scholastic, 1997, ISBN: 0-590-37125-8 (historical novel-in-verse set during the Oklahoma Dust Bowl)
•
HATTIE BIG SKY: Kirby Larson, Random House Children's Books, 2006, ISBN: 978-0-385-73595-7 (historical mid-grade about a girl homesteader making it on her own)
•
Little House on the Prairie Series: Laura Ingalls Wilder, HarperCollins
•
PRAIRIE SONGS: Pam Conrad, HarperCollins, 1985, ISBN: 0-06-021336-1 (historical mid-grade which contrasts an established frontier family with a new one)
•
RULES: Cynthia Lord, Scholastic, 2006, ISBN: 0-439-44382-2 (contemporary mid-grade about autism)
•
Joey Pigza series: Jack Gantos, HarperCollins (contemporary mid-grade about ADHD)
Professional and Personal Contacts: “Let your publisher know how your friends and associates will help make the book a success.” Can your librarian aunt arrange a speaking engagement at her local branch? Can you camp out at your college roommate’s place while signing books in her community? Start thinking through ways your contacts, friends, and family might help support/promote your book. Think creatively but stay sensible. Be sure to respect your contacts’ time and interest level.If you haven’t already, start a mailing list database. “Concentrate on developing a core list of people who car
Here's part three of a
marketing plan:
The Marketing Strategy and Campaign: “The marketing plan addresses how you or your publisher will reach your readership, and will probably require the most time and thought and continual refinement on your part. This section is really the heart of your campaign – the blueprint for how you will reach your target audience.”Here’s a list of some of the things Deval suggests “to stimulate the marketing side of your brain”:
• “Can your book tie in with a local or national event?”
• Does your book have “a strong spiritual or social message” that might interest religious or community groups?
• If have a niche readership, “what media vehicles reach that readership?”
• “Can you team up with other writers in your genre?”
• Does your book tie in to a holiday or anniversary? (For example, last year was the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. I remember several new wonderful picture book and mid-grade titles released to correspond with President’s Day.)
• “Does your book tie into current social trends and concerns?”
• “Can you host a fund-raiser or other charity event” that connects to your topic?
Sales Handles and Media Angles: “Sales handles are the specific facts that prove the book’s appeal to its market and why the book will do well.”
“Sales convey what’s new and different about your book – your authority as the writer, the marketplace for your book’s topic, its advantages over the competition, and its marketability.”
What does your book have to offer?
Handles for MAY B.: (Some of these might be a stretch. Remember, I’m learning through this process, too!)
• As a mid-grade addressing a learning disability: Though several successful mid-grades address conditions seen in the LD community (
RULES focuses on autism, the
Joey Pigza series on ADHD), I know of no titles that deal with dyslexia, nor am I aware of any outside a modern setting.
• MAY B. could be read in teacher’s college methods courses, comparing the classroom approach of Miss Simpson and Teacher.
• MAY B. could be marketed to schools as a class novel or literature circle title, with special emphasis placed on schools in the mid-western/plains states.
• MAY B. would be a good fit for state reading lists, with an emphasis placed on lists in the mid-western/plains states.
Another way to think about sales handles and media angles is to “name the three reasons the media should interview you.”
Your Biography: Start thinking about what might appear on your book’s dust jacket.
Here are the next three parts of a
marketing plan:
Target Audience: Remember to think beyond your initial audience (the reader typical to your genre). Brainstorm a list (as I did here) to broaden your thinking about those who might find your book appealing.“Remember: By defining your audience, you can figure out which media to approach – or suggest that your publicist approach – to get publicity coverage for your book that will reach your readership.”Positioning Statement (or Pitch): “The positioning statement is
one or two appealing sentences that make the listener highly curious about the book…
A finely honed positioning statement will become the basis of how everyone in your publishing house can talk about the book…Why should we care about the book? The positioning statement answers this question.”
Scan your query. Ask your agent how she’s pitching your story to editors.
MAY B.'s pitch:This is a hard one for me. I’ve come up with nothing on my own. Agent Michelle has pitched MAY B. as LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE with a modern feel.The Background Story: “
A short background piece – a couple of paragraphs to a couple of pages long –
about how and why you wrote the book.” This can include your publication journey, “any unusual events in the research and writing of the book or specific influences on your work.”
This is the story of your story. It’s a chance for publicists (and hopefully readers!) to talk about your book. (We all know the background story on HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE. Next week I’ll post about the big word-of-mouth seller, THE HELP, which has an amazing background story.)
MAY B.’s background story:
I’ve always been interested in the women of the frontier, most likely stemming from my love for the Little House on the Prairie books. As a child, I’d talk about Laura as if she were someone I personally knew. I’d devote a lot of time wondering about her world: how she’d never seen a town until she was five, how she hadn’t gone to school (or even lived near one) until she was seven, how a penny in her Christmas stocking was such a big deal (and how the first time she saw a Christmas tree, she didn’t know what it was!)
When I began teaching, I thought a lot about learning on the frontier, where the schoolhouse focus on recitation and memorization favored students able to do these things well. There’s a character in the Laura books named Willie Olsen, an ill-mannered school boy who often sat in the corner during lesson time. As a kid, I labeled him a bad boy; as a teacher, I wondered if there was something more going on. Maybe Willie was a poor student and a goof-off because he had a learning disability. Maybe he couldn’t grasp his school work not because he wasn’t capable but because no one had taught him how.
MAY B. is part tribute to the frontier woman, part exploration of what it means to be capable as a child, as a daughter, as a student, as a girl, and as a hum
This is the week I'll walk you through the
marketing plan included in
PUBLICIZE YOUR BOOK!Today we'll look at
Title,
Goal, and
Description of Your Book. Remember, I'll use examples from my novel-in-verse, MAY B., to give you a feel for specifics.
Title: Your title’s job is “to tell and sell: it needs to tell what the book’s about and sell it to your audience.”I usually find titles incredibly hard, but not this time around. MAY B. feels like a perfect fit for several reasons:
It’s a play on my main character’s name (May Betterly)
It’s part of a school-yard chant aimed at her because of her difficulty reading (maybe May B. can, maybe May B. can’t)
It describes how she’s learned to see herself (a “maybe”)
It’s can be read several different ways (as a name or as an adverb) and plays into the difficulty children with learning disabilities have when trying to process information
It’s a snappy, short title, the sort that is popular right now
It bears mentioning another mid-grade with a comparable title,
IDA B. Maybe this will be a problem, though the stories share no other similarities. My future editor might head another direction, title-wise. It’s still beneficial to think through the reasoning behind how you choose to present your work.
Goal: “The first important step in writing a plan is to understand and articulate your goal for the book.” You should be able to do this in one to two sentences.Goals for MAY B.:
To establish myself as a children’s author.
To extend dignity to children.
These goals might not work for an official marketing plan, though they’re the core (especially the second) of what I want all my writing to accomplish.
Description of Your Book: “Many people working on promoting or selling your book may never have the time to read it. It is to your absolute advantage to carefully convey what your book is about in two to three tightly written paragraphs.”Description for MAY B.:
May wants nothing more than to one day become a teacher. Though she understands everything she reads quietly, she struggles with reading aloud. Against her wishes, her family pulls her from school to help a newly-married couple settle into their Kansas frontier home.
Just weeks after May’s arrival at the Oblingers’, the new bride abruptly leaves. When Mr. Oblinger attempts to find her, May is left to fend for herself, facing her shortcomings head-on in her solitary struggle to survive.
Thanks to
Valerie, for helping me pull this descripton together.
Tomorrow we'll focus on
Target Audience, Positioning Statement (Pitch), and
Background Story.
Ever feel like you've lost control of your life- your schedule- your plans? Oh, moi? Gee, never. But I 'know' this children's author who is experiencing something like this. It's a lot like getting your arm wrenched out of its socket by a thundering bull or an exceptionally fast little white dog. All you can do is HOLD ON. The crashing from letting go would be worse!
Or, at least that is what I imagine it feels like to her. :-] Okay, fine, it's me, and my month hit the ground at warp speed. I have way more events and deadlines than any one violet should have to endure. Lots of people+lots of events are to introverts what Kryptonite is to Superman.
I'm going to make sure that I get lots of down time in my special ice fortress-- or bakery. The latter works very well for me. Give me a latte hot as lava and a chocolate chip scone, and my battery starts humming again. (Not just from the joe-- really.)
And for the day's major gaffe, in editing my new Facebook profile, per my Marketing Plan, I accidentally fired off a request to (nearly) everyone in the northern hemisphere asking them to be my "Friend". The long list included the mayor of Santa Barbara, nearly every student I've ever had, some very high-profile editors and authors, and Robin's son in college. It was truly an introvert's nightmare.
I know I'll be laughing about it later in the week.
But I do want to speed by and deliver the ** NEWS ** that having counted all the entries for the Ms. Viola Makeover Contest, it is confirmed. The new look for Ms. Viola wins-- but only by a hair. Whew! It was close, a real dead heat. Thanks for all your entries, everyone!
Melissa Camara Wilkins' entry was randomly selected, and she will be receiving a copy of the Plug Your Book by Steve Weber. Many congrats, Melissa! Will you email me off-line and send me your address so that I can get it shipped to you? Click here to email me.
We haven't done a Milestone Monday for some time. Do any of you have any news, breakthroughs, incremental victories that you would like to post? We would love to hear from you.
Homework for This Week:
1. Update my mailing and email list. I taught two workshop classes over the weekend, and I'm doing a presentation at the Women's Literary Festival in Santa Barbara this weekend. I've circulated an email list in the class on Saturday and I'll do it again this coming weekend. Those names will all be added to my notifications lists. When it is time for postcards to go out in late May or June, I don't want to have to be scrambling to get my list updated. And, when I do my school visits this months, I'll make sure I get teachers' contact info as well.
2. Invite Shrinking Violets to be my Friends. A-hem. Any of you on Facebook?
Best,
Mary Hershey
Today we stray from our beloved children’s books to invite you into the podcasting fold.
If you’re a podcaster — or a podcaster-to-be who is in need of a nudge — Kingston, Ontario is the place to be the weekend of June 22-24, 2007.
Podcasters Across Borders 2007, the second annual not-for-profit international podcasting extravaganza, will provide you with a full arsenal of podcasting how-tos — from audio production techniques to podcast promotion and podcasting in an educational setting — and a chance to spend a weekend with generous, talented, friendly members of the Canadian, American, Argentinian and British podcasting community.
PAB 2006 resulted in our “Just One More Book!” podcast. If 2007 is half as inspiring and half as much fun, it will be well worth the $75CDN.
Hope to see you there!
- Click HERE to see details of the 2007 conference
- Click HERE to see 2006 conference notes and listen to the sessions
Tags:
2007,
PAB,
pab2007,
Podcasters Across Borders2007,
PAB,
pab2007,
Podcasters Across Borders
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I like Chuck's blog a lot. Would you say this is a great book for children's authors to read? I understand the importance of platform building for non-fiction and memoir. I'm sure it's important for all authors, but I haven't figured out yet what that means for MG and YA authors.
While this is geared toward adult authors, I definitely think there is a benefit for those of us who write for children. We have the added bonus of a built in, interested community of readers called teachers and librarians. Many of the things Chuck suggests are sensible and can be tailored to reaching out to these groups as well as beyond.