Can I Schedule a 10-Stop, 10-Day Virtual Book Tour in Only 5 Days?
… I sure hope so! Let me explain.
I’ve been challenged by friend and writer Amy Munnell to put my money where my mouth is. You see I’ve just released an ebook, “My Virtual Book Tour Secrets! – A Self-Publisher’s Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your Own Successful Virtual Book Tour in as Little as 30-Days.”
And, Amy is a bit, shall we say, skeptical of my claim that I can set up a virtual book tour in 30-days … she knows how much work is involved in setting up a successful virtual book tour, she frequently hosts tour stops for other authors. Anyway, in my enthusiasm - ok, maybe I was shooting off my mouth - I said using my system I could set up a successful virtual book tour in about a week. And, she said, “Prove it.”
The gauntlet had been thrown and I accepted the challenge.
So, during the week of July 7, 2008, I will set up a virtual book tour for, “My Virtual Book Tour Secrets!” And your invited to watch over my shoulder as I document every step along the way and the results I receive. Good or bad.
If I fail to set up a 10-Day, 10-Stop virtual book tour I promise to contribute a minimum of $100 to Amy’s Event: Kia’s Birthday Benefit, which is a really good cause I might add. If you’re on Facebook, you can learn more by visiting her event page at: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=21496451465. Anyway, if I succeed, I’ll be able to point to this event as proof that my system works.
You can watch me succeed or fall flat on my face in 1 of 3 places:
1.) My Facebook Fan Page
2.) The Official “My Virtual Book Tour Secrets” Readers Group on Facebook
3.) Or, here on my blog. Bookmark it pressing “CTRL + D”
I’m sure Amy will have something to say too. She blogs at “3 Questions…and Answers: a Blog/Zine about Writers.”
There’s one thing I’m worried about though … I’m scheduled to go on vacation with my family starting July 12th. So my wife will be expecting me to be doing other things, like mowing the grass, changing the oil in the van, packing, etc. Who knows what else?! So I’ll have to use my system and time wisely.
You’re also invited to follow my 10-Day, 10-Stop virtual book tour that will begin on July 21, 2008 and run to August 1, 2008. See the itinerary, which I will post on my blog, Fan Page and Group.
During the virtual book tour I will be interviewed by host bloggers, answer reader’s questions, write and submit guest posts, possibly even do a live teleconference or an interview on SecondLife. All with the intent of generating buzz (and sales) for the book.
If you want to learn how to set up your own successful virtual book tour and sell more of your books, please attend this event … and invite all of your friends to do the same. You won’t be disappointed.
Until next time …
No day without a line.
10 Web 2.0 Sites for Writers
Below is a list of 10 Social Media Sites specifically for writers. On these sites you can upload, share, bookmark and market your books (be sure to check out their policies before blatantly marketing your books. Follow proper netiquette). Social Media Sites are a hot book marketing tactic.
Social Media Marketing is getting big. Even large book publishers like Random House/Crown Publishing, Harper Perennial and Putnam are starting to use Web video and social media to market their books. Just take a look at this episode at The New Media Minute for more details.
Social Media Marketing brings higher rankings and more targeted traffic. Give it a try and let me know what you think in a comment. If I missed a Social Media Site that you think would be useful for writers, post it in a comment.
I’d also like to thank @MargHamp and @sduffyphotos for their suggestions.
Here they are in no particular order …
http://www.shelfari.com/Create a virtual shelf to show off your books. Connect with your friends. Discover exciting new titles. Voice your opinion. All for free. Read. Share. Explore.
http://wordsy.com/
Strongly inspired by Digg.com. You can vote on stuff, and if more people vote on something it’ll get promoted to the homepage. There are many places on the web to find stuff about books and reading - like reviews, previews, discussions, newspaper articles, blog posts, videos, podcasts. Wordsy is a place to put it all together. And let you be the judge…
http://www.scribophile.com/
Scribophile is a community of writers just like you. Publish your works and get valuable critiques and feedback from their writing community. Read the works of other authors and write helpful critiques. Interact and grow with a vibrant community of authors and poets. And, when you’ve put the finishing touches on your work, publish it as a PDF eBook.
http://ficlets.com/
A ficlet is a short story that enables you to collaborate with the world. Once you’ve written and shared your ficlet, any other user can pick up the narrative thread by adding a prequel or sequel. In this manner, you may know where the story begins, but you’ll never guess where (or even if!) it ends.
http://www.facebook.com
Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.
Note: When you sign up for Facebook, send me a friend request. I enjoy connecting with writers.
http://beta.booklamp.org/
BookLamp.org is a system for matching readers to books through an analysis of writing styles. Similar to the way that Pandora.com matches music lovers to new music. Do you like Stephen King’s It, but thought it was too long? The technology behind BookLamp allows you to find books that are written with a similar tone, tense, perspective, action level, description level, and dialog level, while at the same time allowing you to specify details like… half the length.
http://issuu.com/
Issuu is the place for online publications: Magazines, catalogs, documents, and stuff you’d normally find on print. It’s the place where YOU become the publisher: Upload a document, it’s fast, easy, and totally FREE. Find and comment on thousands of great publications. Join a living library, where anyone finds publications about anything and share them with friends.
http://www.22books.com/
22books is dedicated to the creating, sharing, and viewing of book lists. Start out by browsing some of the featured lists to the left and then open a free account and start creating lists of your own.
http://www.booktagger.com/
Tired of cruising bookstores trying to judge a book by its cover? Now you can ask those who’ve read it before. Booktagger is an online bookshelf application to list the books you’ve read and to share them with others.
http://www.mixbook.com/
Mixbook was started with the idea that friends should be able to create books together. Though Mixbook software makes book creation easy and fun, it also allows groups of people to build books together. Now friends finally have a way to share their memories online!
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Until next time …
No day without a line!
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