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I haven’t personally invested any time working with the new tool but if you know me, you know I’m a BIG Google tool fan and I’m sure this will enhance your opportunities to connect, grow and promote.  I’ll be spending time over the next week jumping in and growing my circles and I’ll be anxious to see what you are doing and hear what you think.

If you’d like me to send you an invitation to Google + send me an email or sign-up for the Web Savvy PR & Marketing newsletter. I’ll be submitting requests from both sources to Google over the next few days and from what I hear, it can take 24 hours for them to respond.

Be sure to send me a gmail address. Don’t have one yet?  You can easily get one here http://mail.google.com/

See you inside Google +

-Laura

Steven Lewis has four books on the Kindle and, through his website and blog, Taleist , he helps other writers become published authors. I talked to Steven about some of his top advice for authors.

What do you think is the most important thing an ebook author can do to promote their book?

I saw Michael Connelly at the Sydney Writers’ Festival recently. Even for a hugely successful traditionally published author, he pointed to word-of-mouth as being critical. Not all traditionally published authors get a decent marketing budget from their publishers, but Connelly would so it was interesting he singled it out as critical.

That’s good news for self-published authors because the playing field is leveled. We might not all have the money to put our books on the side of buses, but we all have what it takes to get word-of-mouth. And the best way to get it is to ask for it.

How do you ask?

There’s no room for an author to be shy about their work. You wrote your book because you thought the idea was good enough; you self-published it because you thought someone other than your mother should read it; and once you’ve done that you can’t hold back on talking about it and asking other people to do the same.

All of my books include my contact details, so I can gather any great feedback to publish on my blog. I also ask people to leave reviews, send a tweet or use Facebook to let other people know about the book. Why trust in the idea that a reader’s first thought will be to do that? It costs you nothing to ask and it puts the idea in their mind. Get them at the end of your book and ask them nicely.

It’s even easier now that Amazon has introduced the Before You Go… feature to all Kindle books. I explain how it works in In-Book Promotion. It’s a powerful word-of-mouth tool and, if you don’t understand it, you should!

What else should authors be doing?

It’s all about making it easy for your reader to help you. It’s great when you get someone to read your blog, for instance, but much better when you get them to persuade someone else to read your blog as well.

All my blog posts have a sharing feature at the bottom of the post. With a couple of clicks, readers can share what they’ve read with their friends and followers on social networks. And, if it’s good material, why wouldn’t they? Sharing it rewards the person whom they appreciate for writing the content in the first place; and sharing makes them look good in their networks as someone who circulates good stuff.

The reason they wouldn’t do that for you is that you haven’t made it easy enough for them. You should look at everything you write and ask whether you’ve made it easy for someone to pass it on.

So the “new” technology is vital?

This is the best time in history to be a writer. Michael Connelly was worried about his word-of-mouth falling off as bookshops decline. That shows me he just doesn’t get what’s happening. How many people can a single bookseller reach with a recommendation? One tweet from an influential reader can reach thousands of people in seconds. I’m as sad as anyone that booksellers are having a hard time but less word-of-mouth is not one of the downsides. Ebooks give rocket fuel to getting the word out.

You have to understand how these tools work, though. Authors owe it to themselves and their books to make sure they understand at least the big three: Twitter, Facebook and blogs. They’re not the same things, they work differently, and have different cultures. It will take an investment of time and learning to get to grips with them but ignoring them or not using them to their full potential is hurting your potential sales.

Time is money of course but how fabulous that the cost of entry to these media is zero or next to nothing. Facebook and Twitter are free; and there is some cost in blogging; but compared to what this sort of publicity would have cost you 10 or even five years ago…

I go back to what I said at the beginning: you wrote your book because you wanted people to read it. People aren’t going to read your book if they’ve never heard of it. You have to believe in your work and you have to back it.

With every little bit of work you put into that, you’re going to see a big payoff.

Steven Lewis has been a journalist and professional writer for almost 20 years. His work has appeared in newspapers and magazines all over the world. His site, Taleist, helps writers become published authors through its free blog and guides like the Kindle Publishing Roadmap, Kindle Formatting, and In-Book Promotion (using the Kindle’s built-in features to boost sales).

You’ll learn more about Steven and his work by visiting www.Taleist.com

How to add your books:

1. Log into your LinkedIn account (you do have one, right?)

2. Choose Profile then choose Edit Profile tab.

3. You should see Add Sections indicated by a green +

4. Choose the Add Sections and Click Publications.

Once in the Publications section add the description and be sure to complete the process by clicking the Add to Profile button. You’re done! 

If you have more than one book—start the process again.

In the same area you’ll see other Sections and Applications you can add to further showcase and promote your work. 

“HOW and WHERE can I easily find media to contact on my topic across the web?”

Here is a free  tool from mBlast that will show you who is talking about your topic across the internets.

http://www2.mblast.com/   Be sure to try several of  your keywords for best results.

Enjoy!

Keep it relevant, timely, and easy, no matter what the message – Laura

This really opens the 2-way conversation which is what social media is all about.  It takes two to have a relationship and your engagement will determine your success in online social media marketing. 

If you’ve scored an online book, product, or presentation review… interact, promptly. Stop by and express your thoughts and sincere appreciation to the journalist, producer, or enthusiastic poster for taking the time to write.   Booked for a speaking event? The same applies; visit the site to express your excitement for the upcoming event. 

Imagine this scenario, you wrote a blog that included  a note about Donald Trump’s latest book and he stopped by YOUR blog and left YOU a note?  More than likely, you’ve just become a lifelong fan who raves about his latest read to your entire network.

That’s precisely what you are doing when you engage in every opportunity for online relationships. Interacting in a hyper social online environment is also a vastly important piece to your own online public relations and will provide exponential possibilities for viral buzz and exposure.

Once you’ve exhibited your manners by interacting promptly, take the time to share the writers review or thoughts through your own social media venues or website. You can do this by selecting the “share” button that nearly all websites provide today.   Let your network know about the interaction, interview, or review.

No matter where you share, take 5 minutes to grab your online megaphone and give the person your generous attention. You’ll find others much more likely to interact with you by practicing this easy social engagement recipe for success repeatedly and without fail.

In case you need one more reason to mind your social media manners, remember, before the media engages with you, they’ll hit the search engines. Do you want them to find a gracious and generous guest that interacts with their audience and is likely to share their work? Or, a phantom?

Enjoy! And if you need help, drop me a line.

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-customize-your-facebook-page-using-static-fbml/

Once you walk through the process, send me a link to your page, I’d love to see it.

1. Free online tool to research available domain names and spin ideas: http://www.domainsbot.com/ 

2. Purchase domain (URL) at GoDaddy.com

Godaddy is an inexpensive and reputable business for your domain purchases. Perfect in fact. Domain registrars are not the place to host your website or purchase additional features. I know it seems tempting to put all of your eggs in one basket but this really isn’t the easiest or right solution. I also never recommend hosting your website on your webmasters account.

3. My Top Pick for Web Hosting: Purchase web hosting from BlueHost

If you need in-depth help with any of these steps or providers feel free to contact me.  I’d love to hear from you.

-Laura

BlueHost has all of the powerful tools that allow easy implementation of a WordPress content management system plus everything you’ll need to establish a strong online presence or quickly move established website(s). The most reputable and affordable web hosting solution on the net.