It’s Friday, which means it’s time for another Book Marketing Update.

I loved a lot of the blog posts on social media that I read this past week.

Be sure to peruse the ones I list below, especially the one on how to improve engagement on your Facebook page.

And, of course, wear a mask, wash your hands frequently, and stay safe!

Book Covers

How to Design a Book Cover: The Only Guide You Need from MiblArt Book Cover Design: This has got to be the best blog post on book cover design I’ve ever seen. Be sure to read it. The illustrations are beautiful, too.

Book Marketing

The Best Book Marketing Tips for Getting Discovered and Making the Sale by Penny Sansevieri: In this post, Penny emphasizes the importance of repetition. It’s not a new theory. Check it out.

How to Change Your Kindle Keywords and Why You Should by Dave Chesson: Keywords are critical to successful book marketing on Amazon. Be sure to read this post.

Social Media News

6 Apps To Help You Succeed On Bookstagram from Book Riot: This is an excellent review of a few apps to improve your Instagram images. I have already downloaded two and am testing them.

13 Hashtag Generator Tools to Fire-Up Your Social Media Strategy from Social Media Today: Need help finding hashtags for Instagram? Read this post.

10 Facebook Posting Tips to Improve Your Brand Awareness from SproutSocial: Is engagement down on your Facebook author page? Check out this post. It has a list of sure-fire tips to spur more conversation on your Facebook page.

Of Note

Four-year-old lands book deal for his ‘astonishing’ poetry from the Guardian: Read the story behind this amazing, young poet. He will inspire you!

Quote of the Week

I am an author and social media consultant for writers. My focus is on helping writers like you surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. I also provide content writing and email marketing services. Be sure to download my ebook about Twitter marketing. You can get it now for free!

I love today’s Book Marketing Update. I guess I’m not supposed to say that but I take no credit for it.

Instead, I give credit to all of the great bloggers out there.

For example, be sure to read Penny Sansevieri’s post on bookstammers. It’s wonderful.

I also liked Cristian Scanciu’s post for Joel Friedlander on how to use video to promote your books.

Don’t take my word for it. Read all of the posts below.

And stay safe!

Social Media Marketing

Pinterest’s User Guide: Yes, Pinterest has a new publication on how to advertise on this platform. If you don’t yet use Pinterest advertising, start by looking at this new guide. If you don’t know how to use Pinterest, get my ebook.

How to Reach Bookstagrammers (Podcast) by Penny Sansevieri: Bookstagrammers, according to Penny, are dedicated to showcasing books. They don’t muddle their accounts with what images of what they ate for dinner.

How to Write an Author Bio

How To Write An Optimized Author Bio That Maximizes Guest Posting Results: A 6-Point Checklist: “If someone reads down to your bio, they are a seriously engaged prospect. You’ve done all the hard work to get them that far. So you must optimize your bio to capitalize on that attention and interest.”

Book Marketing

5 Ways to Use Videos to Promote Authors and Their Books from TheBookDesigner.com and by Cristian Stanciu: “Video marketing is so obvious a choice that most independent authors forget it’s available to them. Videos are not meant to be used only by entrepreneurs and businesses. If you’re an author with a book to sell, using the visual medium can expand your reach and introduce the writer behind the book to the audience.”

Books versus TV, Narrative Voice versus Scripted Scenes Longmire, Outlander by Mara Purl and from Anne R. Allen: “

Every author wants their novels to be made into a film or a television series. Right? So let’s take a look at how these two worlds of “series”—both the readable and the viewable kind—connect, overlap, or compete.”

Spoilers Won’t Spoil Your Book Promotion. How to Use Them to Pull Readers In. from Writer Unboxed and by Sharon Bially: Sharon Bially, founder and president of BookSavvy PR talks spoilers. In book promotion, more information is more. And less is flat. To engage potential readers, there needs to be enough powerful, detailed information to pique their curiosity.

Of Note

Five Things Every Aspiring Author Should Know by Phil Athans: Rule No. 1 is do not limit your creativity. Let it flow!

Instagram Shares Listing of Top Hashtags on Posts About Racial Injustice from Social Media Today: Check out this list of commonly used hashtags on posts and captions related to racial injustice.

Writer’s Digest Best #creativity Creativity Websites 2020 by Cassandra Lipp: You’ll find plenty of helpful websites, including Cliche Finder, Lit Hub, and Language is a Virus.

Quote of the Week

I am an author and social media consultant for writers. My focus is on helping writers like you surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. I also provide content writing and email marketing services. Be sure to download my ebook about Twitter marketing. You can get it now for free!

Today’s Book Marketing Update is again chockfull of plenty of tips to help you succeed in your book marketing.

Also, Mike Shatzkin wrote an insightful post on how COVID-19 has changed publishing and book marketing, possibly forever. So be sure to read what he has to say.

As we experience a surge in COVID-19 in the US, please wear a mask and stay safe and heathy.

Book Marketing

Amazon Editorial Reviews: Are You Using This Incredible Section? from Jane Friedman’s blog and by Dave Chesson: This post explains what editorial reviews are, where to look for them, and how to add them to your book page on Amazon.

How to Market a Book with 5 Simple Website Upgrades by Penny Sansevieri: In this new post, Penny takes a look at author websites. Is yours helping or hampering your book sales? Penny shows you step-by-step how to improve sales by improving your website.

Both the supply chain and book marketing are forever changed by Coronavirus from – Mike Shatzkin: Mike Shatzkin explains in this post how publishing is forever changed and what publishers can do about that.

Blogs

Boost Your Blog Traffic with the Yoast SEO Secrets of the WordPress Elves from the blog of Anne R. Allen and Ruth Harris: If you have a WordPress website and blog, you must also have the Yoast SEO plug-in. This plug-in will help you improve the search engine optimization of every post you write.

Email Marketing

Why You Need a Template for Your Newsletter (and What to Put in It) from TheBookDesigner.com and by Nate Hoffelder: I’ve said many times that email marketing needs to be a part of an author’s book marketing strategy. Read this post to learn how to excel in email marketing.

Of Note

6 Principles for Writing Historical Fiction from Jane Friedman’s blog and by Andrew Noakes: I love to read historical fiction. If you write in this genre, be sure to look at this post. Andrew Noakes offers some great tips for you to consider.

How #PublishingPaidMe Exposed Racial Inequities – from Publisher Weekly: Author L.L. McKinney described created the hashtag #PublishingPaidMe as an outgrowth conversations she’s had with friends about Black authors. She reports that black authors are historically underpaid and under appreciated by a white publishing industry. 

Quote of the Week

I am an author and social media consultant for writers. My focus is on helping writers like you surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. I also provide content writing and email marketing services. Be sure to download my ebook about Twitter marketing. You can get it now for free!

I hope you enjoy the newest edition of the Book Marketing Update.

Are you tired of sheltering in place and wearing a mask when you leave your home? I know that I am but I also know those measures are vital for my own welfare as well as the welfare of everyone I come into contact with.

Not that I leave the house often. I’ve just begun to accompany my husband for a weekly trip to our local Costco and it’s exciting for me. Hard to believe I’m actually admitting that.

Please wear your mask and stay safe.

Testimonials vs. Reviews

Don’t Confuse a Book Endorsement With a Review from The Book Designer blog and by Sandra Beckwith: As the title suggests, there’s a difference between reviews and testimonials. Sandra Beckwith explains how they differ.

Traditional Publishing

How Do Publishers Decide What Books to Bet On? from Jane Friedman and by Anne Trubek: When a publisher decides to accept a book, it’s always a gamble for them. Find out what they need to consider before taking this risk.

100 Common Publishing Terms from Writers Digest and by Robert Lee Brewer: In this post, the author breaks sown all of the terms commonly used by traditional publishers.

Book Marketing

8 Most Common Book Marketing Mistakes Authors Make by Penny Sansevieri: In this post, Penny confirms that too many authors wait too long before starting their book marketing. She also explores other issues that can affect marketing results.

Interesting to see how these authors use Pinterest to either promote their books or inspire their writing from BookBub Partners: If you don’t use Pinterest, you need to give it a try. It is wonderful at referral traffic (referring traffic to your landing pages). It’s also one of the largest social networks. According to the Pew Research Center, 42% of all online women and 15% of all online men use Pinterest. And here are 23 Pinterest tips every author needs to know to sell more books.

Of Note

An Updated Required Reading List from Book Riot: “Over the past 50 or so years, the required reading list in U.S. high schools has had few modifications. Most of the books that students are reading now are the same that their parents read. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, there are so many incredible, culturally important works of literature that are being  published and are either offered as a bonus read, or neglected from the curriculum altogether.”

Be sure to check out Lisa Tener’s Five-Day Series on Amplifying Black Voices

Quote of the Week

I am an author and social media consultant for writers. My focus is on helping writers like you surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. I also provide content writing and email marketing services. Be sure to download my ebook about Twitter marketing. You can get it now for free!