Hi Friends!
Welcome!
It’s amazing what a new author will do to spread the news. I couldn’t keep up with all the networking demands and hired a social media person, Stormi Johnson, to help me. Before I hired her I was waking up anxious and tense, worrying about how to make my presence known on the internet. She saved me. Lightning Book Promotions is what her business is called and after a couple of days I started relaxing somewhat. With her help I was able to join all these sites. Before I said good-bye to her I asked would she send me a link of all the sites she had signed me up for. Here is her answer.
A tour page on Lightning Book Promotions under Author Tour pageshttp://lightningbookpromotions.com/2012/08/10/annies-special-day-blog-tour/.
Authors Den: http://www.authorsden.com/clarabowmanjahn
Book Promo: http://bookpromo.weebly.com/clara-bowman-jahn.html
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CBoJahn
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/ClaraBowmanJahn
Mutt Online: http://www.muttonline.com/index.cfm (listed your book in their classifieds section)
Book Launch: http://www.yourbooklaunch.com/index.php?do=/profile-540/
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/clarbojahn/ (post your reviews here on colorful paper)
Facebook groups:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/childrensauthorsandillustrators/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/childrensbookhub/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/indieexchange/
Those are the ones I think I signed you up too in order to help promote your children’s book.
Groups on Linked in that I have promoted your book on:
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/FEEL-FREE-BE-worldwide-selfpromotion-3986003?trk=myg_ugrp_ovr
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Childrens-Books-754987?home=&gid=754987&trk=anet_ug_hm
Promoted on Small Press Books Only group on book blogs as well as my own group Lightning Book Promotions and Children’s Books:
http://bookblogs.ning.com/group/small-press-books-only
http://bookblogs.ning.com/group/lightning-book-promotions
http://bookblogs.ning.com/group/childrensbooks
(Stormi asked, “Book blogs would be a good place for you to be, would you like me to make you a page?”)
Stormi has promoted me on her website, her google+, her twitter, her facebook, her LinkedIn sites and anything she has that she promotes authors on.
My Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B007FF6TMQ
I don’t know if it helped in sales but it certainly helped me. I was no longer waking up in the morning full of dread. I had felt like my best was not good enough. Now I know I may be in all those groups and links but how to keep it up. How to let people know I’m still here? Or there?
I still have to tweet and update all my sites continuously to keep my name in front of buyers. But of course one can’t advertise indiscriminately. There has to be a relationship. And they take time, patience and care. How can I ever continue all the promotion needed by myself for my book “Annie’s Special Day?”
I had to let her go and stumble along by myself. Some how I need to repay her and this post is some small acknowledgement and visibility for her. Now you can click on any of these sites and join in as you will. I hope I helped you. 🙂 .
Thanks so much, Stormi, for all the help you gave me. It was great while it lasted. XXOO
Have any of you thought about how to get your new book known in the internet? How many of you would hire a social media person to help spread the news of your new book?
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Clarbojahn's Blog 
Very interesting read, Clar, and seems like Stormi did a great job. I’m on about 2/3 of these. I find it very hard to self promote and err on doing too little as I don’t want to just bash people with my book when I am not building something into that community. I think I need to learn to be more aggressive in the marketing, though.
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Maybe now with these links you’ll be able to just click on over and start doing them?
I agree. We need to build our relationships in those communities instead of just self promoting with out any real thought into the process. And that takes time. Time away from writing. People won’t buy our books just because they see the title. There has to be another reason.
Good luck in getting the word out about your book and in building into those communities. 🙂
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Yay! I’m glad Ms. S. Johnson 😉 helped you! This is very interesting to me because didn’t know about book promoters.
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Thanks, Erik.
Yes, she is in the business to build an authors presence on the internet. One thing she can’t do though is build a relationship with people and that is exactly what is needed to sell one’s book there.
I am very grateful for all she did do though. Starting me on the path of a budding relationship with all those sites. IF I had the time I could go there now and build a relationship with people in them. 🙂
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As it is possible I might be publishing a book this year, I am grateful for this information, Clare! I would definitely consider hiring someone to help me market my book, so I will bookmark this and keep Stormi in mind.
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Thanks, Jarm.
She was a life saver setting up my twitter page and facebook page. Stuff I didn’t know how to do. And then waking up each morning anxious about it all. She was a life saver. 🙂
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This is great information Clar. Thank you for sharing.
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Thanks, Boobi.
It’s great to have a life saver. 🙂
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Thank you Clare for the very kind words about me. I wish you the best of luck with your book and books to come!
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Thanks, Stormi for all the hard work you did for me.
I wish you the best of luck in all your endeavors. 🙂
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Thanks for sharing all of this, Clar…I clicked through to some of your links to make sure I was following you…I was.:) I think you did well to hire someone…I didn’t (thinking that my daughter (who is in sales and marketing…and my daughter-in-law…who has designed sites and marketing pieces for her fashion design clients would step in and help…they did initially…but have jobs and families of their own to keep them ultra-busy) and sometines wish I had.
I did take Sandy Beckwith’s Build Book Buzz course…online…6 weeks…under $200…fantastic and I can’t say enough about it…but she doesn’t ‘do’ it for you…although she helps you craft a great press release and write a promotion plan specific for your book and provides mega resources. This March I’ll be taking another online course…with Lexie Lane from Wikimommy.com and Voiceboks of Motherhood. She just wrote a book (coming out in March, I think) on social media to target and reach your audience…and she rounded up half a dozen experts in FB, Twitter, Blogging, etc. who will give each webinar. I want to learn how to do it better and smarter.:) And the two panels I will be on at the Asian Festival in Singapore are all about Fostering Relationships within the Blogging community and using Twitter and Blogging to Reach Your Audience…could I have signed up for that course at a better time?
Clar, I’m so proud of you for all you have done…you’ve got a great network set up now. It looks like Stormi did a super job for you. You are right that it takes a lot of effort to maintain everything and continue to connect…and you don’t want to let your writing suffer…so you need to make time for that for sure. 🙂 Try not to stress about it…continue promoting your wonderful ‘Annie’s Special Day’…but concentrate on the next one. 🙂
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Yes, Vivian to all the above. She did do a good job for me but can only “do” so much and the rest is up to me. I think there is only so much online marketing can do and then you have to take it to your off line life. May be hire a publicist.
Do you have your talk on the work shop all done and written out?or outlined? Have you sold your book at community events?
I also think Sandra Beckwith is great. I have her book buzz and used it to write my bio. I look at it from time to time and think I should be doing some other things she recommends as time allows.
I have written two other picture book manuscripts but had to scrap one and the other is more of an early reader for which I don’t know any of the rules for. So I am back to square one with picture books and am glad I joined 12×12 to help me craft another. I am hard at work on it. For I agree. There is no substitute for another book. Soon Annie will be old news.
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Clar, you post was so timely for me. I have a friend who is about to publish and I forwarded your post to her. She was thrilled and is going to contact Stormi. She sounds like she was quite an asset. Will bookmark you blog for further reference. Publishing can be overwhelming.
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So grateful for your comment that my post got to you in just the right time. I am thrilled I could help and I know Stormi will be delighted. She certainly did help me.
People think once you get published life is grand but it is only the beginning of more work. I am hard at work trying to write another book. The two I had already written have to be scrapped. I am back at square one. 🙂
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Clar, what an awesome list of promo links. That is a good basis for you to follow up on. I hate to be the bearer of “tiring” news, mate, but you need to keep contacting all these places with fresh news about your wonderful book, and what you are doing next. A book does finally get finished and published – out of your clutches and onto a book shelf or into an eReader. However, promotion goes on until THE END. The public has a nasty habit of forgetting about writers who don’t keep in contact with news and updates.
It’s a BUMMER, I know.
What we need is a Promo Robot that we program with all those links. Then have it regularly spit out catchy and amusing blurbs about you and your super cool books on all the above sites. Now THAT would be real progress!!
Books for Kids – Manuscript Critiques
http://www.margotfinke.com
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LOL, Margot!! That would be real progress indeed and exactly what a new author needs. I have neglected to continue relationships in most of these links bc they were mostly to other authors not to my audience of mothers and librarians and readers of my niche book.
Also I found the most bestest thing I can do is write another picture book. So some of my time has been going to that. 🙂
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What a great idea Clare. It looks like she got you on the important sights etc. NIce to have the peace of mind. I don’t see Goodreads on the list. I think it is a great place to list your books as well. I gave your book a ‘like’ on Amazon. I hope everyone else does too!
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Thanks, Darlene for liking my amazon page. I truly appreciate it. Will you also like my facebook page on my blog here?
As it is the Goodreads site was forgotten because Stormi did do a page there and I gave away a book there. I’ll see if I can add it to the list. Thanks for noticing it. 🙂
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Thanks for sharing, Clar. I clicked through on the links. It’s wonderful to see your book out there.
Self-promotion is a ton of work, but anything worthwhile does take a lot of effort. Keep it up! 🙂
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Thanks, Tracy.
I could encouragement to keep it up. Maybe with these sites so easy to use it’ll be a breeze. 🙂
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