Wicked Wordsmith

Marketing Creative: E-letters

Let's step back from Web sites this time to talk about connecting with your readers via letter.

Before e-mail, authors had to spend significant cash to send out newsletters, postcards and other mailers to that core group of loyal readers who need to know about new releases, signings, panel discussions, library readings and more.

But the Internet now allows us to send personalized messages - for free. Here's what to know:

DO:

• Include book signings, MySpace, Facebook, Ning.com, Web site and other addresses in your letter. Just do simple links - don't make it complicated.
• Tell readers about library readings.
• Talk about panel discussion with other writers that you will participate in.
• Talk about your writing - what you're working on, how it's going (this is also good blog copy).
• Publicize your latest/upcoming work.
• Writer about any awards or cool stuff that happens to you.
• Be conversational.
• Tell readers when you switch publishers. Tell them why and if that will change where your books are categorized in the stores and libraries.
  
• Make the letters pop up instantly in the email, and don't send along a link. People are more likely to delete if it's a link.

DON'T:

• Include heavy graphics. These are bad for dial up users
• Be pompous. You aren't writing to someone to impress; you are writing to readers who want to connect to you on a personal level.
• Make it too long. A standard page is a good rule of thumb. Only change that when you have important news - like the launch of a new series. If you go a little over or under, don't sweat it. Just keep it concise and as brief as possible - and not two pages.
• Have someone proof your e-letter. I've seen many come to my Inbox with spelling errors, dead links and photographs that don't convert correctly in my e-mail program. Have someone else proof it to catch those mistakes that you won't see because you are too close to the project.
• Charge. This is a free service to generate interest in your work.
• Create a PDF newsletter. Attachments from unknown places are sometimes sent right to the junk mail folder. People like myself just empty it without checking it. You will lose people by doing this.
  

How to start:

Take down e-mails at events you attend and put them into an email account that you can use to send out the letters. Let people sign up on your Web site, MySpace, Author's Den or any other site you are on.

Austin Camacho is the King when it comes to e-letters. Sign up for his letters at www.ascamacho.com and start getting news on Austin's writing front, plus examples on formatting and content.

Play around. Try a few formats. See what works for you. Then DO IT.

Angela Wilson - Wicked Wordsmith

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Marketing Creative: NIE

Newspapers in Education is incredibly popular. It's a great way to get kids reading newspapers (and hopefully become buyers in a decreasing market), talk about the history of your state or local area and bring the community together for literacy.

It's also a great promotional tool for authors. In Kentucky, local author Leigh Anne Florence (Woody Book series) wrote the NIE supplements the last two years. These are not only a great learning tool in the classrooms, but get in the hands of parents - readers with money - and are a great promotional tool for your work. Sometimes, authors are paid as freelancers for doing NIE, so not only do you get publicity in a wide circulation area (NIE through press associations can be picked up by all newspapers that are press members), but you could get a little cash as well. (No matter where you are in your writing career, you can always use extra cash.)

And many organizations will enter their NIE efforts in the National Newspaper Association's annual contest, which gives added exposure if you get a place or honorable mention - and is another thing to add to your writing resume.

Call your state's press association, or even your local metro daily and speak to the Newspapers in Education coordinator. Find out how you can be part of this fabulously fun educational project. (Don't do it if you won't be enthusiastic about it. Lack of passion will show up in the writing and in your dealings with NIE folks - and will give you a not-so-hot reputation.)

Angela Wilson - Wicked Wordsmith

Marketing Creative: MySpace

Many writers have asked me questions about marketing - particularly the best ways to market online. This week, I'll start a series on the most efficient, cost-effective marketing techniques online and off.

Today, we tackle MySpace.

The Internet can be overwhelming to some if you don't surf it often. MySpace has millions of users, and yet, many authors I've met don't want to go there. It looks too complicated; I don't want to get a "porno" friend by accident... The excuses go on and on.

This is not good if you need to find your niche. You must embrace the technology and introduce yourselves to readers and other writers to build an audience and - most importantly - sell books.

Here are some quick tips to managing your MySpace.

1. Create an account. Because there are so many users, it might be difficult to get your name as the address (i.e. www.myspace.com/angelawilson). If you can't get just your name, try authorangelawilson, writerangelawilson, angelawilsonsnovels, etc. If you are unable to get a suitable name, do a MySpace specifically for your novel. This will be more time consuming, because you will need a MySpace for each novel, but this can also be an effective marketing technique. You specifically create blog and bulletin posts for that book.
2. Backgrounds. Okay, lots of people have creative backgrounds. Thing is, these take forEVER to load - especially on dial up. You don't want to turn off prospective buyers (readers) by making your page so difficult to load that they decide to go elsewhere. My recommendation: Keep the standard MySpace white background. Don't add music to your site. Don't add a lot of large photographs, or slide shows to your site. A few are fine, but don't overload it.
3. Blog posts. These are important. You write a post and file it in a certain category. MySpace offers a categories section that includes something on writing. Keep these posts conversational - you are sitting down, chatting with your best friend about... well, anything. You can talk about the novel in progress, what's happening with your latest book, new authors you've met, family stuff, writing techniques. Readers want to know you, so be as personable as possible. The drawback to blogs is that people have to subscribe to them to get each post, or find them by tooling around the site.
4. Bulletins. These are WAY important, because each person you have as a "friend" will see your announcements. Unlike blog posts, people don't subscribe to these, they are automatically on their homepage when they login. This is where you post short blurbs on books signings, book release dates, any signing cancellations, conferences you will attend. This is a great place to tell people where to meet you personally. Please don't put jokes or forwards or silly surveys here. If you do, people will stop paying attention to what you say, and will miss the important news.
5. Friends. This is tricky. I've met some authors recently who are very conscientious about finding friends. They correspond with them before adding. As great as this would be, it's not efficient for this site. Go to a legit page, like that for  Writer's Digest Magazine, Writer's Digest Books, or conferences like Love Is Murder. Start sending out invites to folks from those types of pages. From those author pages, you will find more potential "friends" - possibly fans of the author who are looking for another great writer to adorn their bookshelves. Don't sweat the friends part. You will get what are known as MySpace whores - people who just want as many friends as possible on their page - and every once in a great while you will get some requests sporting a nude photograph. Just decline these invites. As you navigate pages, you will be able to tell by the photograph - in most cases - if the person is legit. It's easy to get into a groove and lose an entire day doing friend requests, so set an egg timer before you begin.
6. Hijacked. My MySpace was recently hijacked. My username and password just didn't work. Just yesterday, I discovered someone had received a reply to a message on my page on Monday, when I hadn't logged in since the weekend. It will happen. This happens to everyone at some point in their online life and on any site they visit. Don't sweat it. MySpace has a contact form on the site, where you submit your hijacked site to get it back. Sometimes they have to delete the site, because of the type of hijacking, but other times - like mine - they set it right back up for you. To stay safe, change your password once a month and don't accept any comments from people with images embedded inside them. Each comment will show the photograph of the user that sent it - and that's Okay - but if the body of the comment has a photograph, delete it. This is one way people are able to hijack sites. I put a disclaimer on my homepage that I would not accept these types of comments because of this.

If this still sounds complicated, get your kids or grandchildren to set it up and navigate it for you. Even if you've banned them from MySpace, I guarantee that they've used it - and they will do a better job of monitoring it than you or I ever could. You can also hire someone to take care of it for you. Remember, this is time consuming, so keep that in mind when you budget for it.

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