Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Quick Tips for Authors- Online Presence




Quick Tips for Authors- Online Presence


I work with authors everyday- many first time and indie authors.

So I see a lot of mistakes, faux paus, and things that flat out make me cringe.

And no I’m not pointing fingers or trying to shame anyone because I’ve been there. I’ve made many of the mistakes, learned from them and moved on. Now I am sharing my wisdom with others.

Social Media Profiles

Do not make your Twitter name, Facebook profile or any other social media profile name the title of your book or series. Unless it is the only book you ever plan to write.

You should work on branding yourself as an author- all your social media accounts should be your name.

In fact everything should be your author name: your website URL, your professional author email, your blog, everything.

Example: I am Roxanne Rhoads across the board- all my social media accounts, my website, my email- it is all Roxanne Rhoads.  I can easily be found as Roxanne Rhoads when someone googles me or searches on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc.

Once you have started building your brand you can create pages, groups, etc. to promote a book or series. When promoting your book you can also hashtag the title.

Twitter Example: “New release: Hex and the City by @RoxanneRhoads Vehicle City Vampires Book 2 #hexandthecity #vehiclecityvampires”

Notice that I linked to my twitter profile and hash tagged both my book title and series name.

Author Email

A big pet peeve of mine is author emails- I understand you work with pen names or perhaps you’ve had a certain email address forever…but you really need something professional and something easy to remember when someone in the professional needs to email you.

Example if someone were to email me, they could easily remember that I’m roxannerhoads@bewitchingbooktours.com. It would be harder to find me if I was cutebunny67@yahoo.com.

Sure that email address might have been cute when you were 18 but now you’re trying to be a professional.

When I am emailing an author I work with, I type in their name and hope autofill or my contact list pulls it up. If they have some weird, out there address it won’t show up. If they use their name, bingo it pops up, easy peasy -saves me having to search for it, professionals love things that are streamlined and make their jobs easier.

Please grab a professional email address. You can get them free through numerous sources. And don’t use your real name address if you are working under your pen name. That is confusing, too. Create an email specifically for your author name.

If you buy a domain name you can even point it to that. I have a domain name and pay Gmail for their email service to point to my domain- roxannerhoads@bewitchingbooktours.com

It streamlines everything.


Secrets of Successful Virtual Book Tours
Quick Tips for Authors Guide
Roxanne Rhoads

Book Description:

Are you considering a virtual book tour?

Not sure where to start or exactly what an online tour will entail?

Roxanne Rhoads, book publicist and owner of Bewitching Book Tours, shares her virtual tour expertise in this Quick Tips for Authors Guide.

Secrets of Successful Virtual Book Tours will guide you in utilizing the best marketing tool available- a virtual book tour, which can create online exposure for your book, jumpstart your book sales, help build your author brand, and expand your network.

In this guide you’ll learn:
·       what you should do before a tour
·       the components of  a great author website
·       the best social media outlets for authors to utilize
·       tips for building your author brand
·       how to write great guest blogs
·       what to expect from an online book tour
·       the secrets of successful book tours
·       how to schedule your own virtual book tour

And you’ll receive in-depth details about what to do during a virtual book tour to guarantee success.

Amazon    BN    Kobo    Scribd    iBooks

Smashwords    Inktera     Createspace



Excerpt: 

The world of publishing is continuously evolving thanks to technology and the Internet. It is now easier than ever to publish a book. But with the growing number of new books being released every day it is also harder than ever to get your book noticed in the crowd.

If your line of thinking includes- “If I publish it, people will buy it,” think again.

Indie publishing requires a dedication to self-promotion. Gone are the days an author hermits them self away to write, then hands the book to the publisher who does all the leg work for promotion. Even NYT Bestselling authors and those with contracts through the big publishers still have to do a certain amount of self-promotion.

There are many ways to promote:  social media, advertising on popular websites and blogs, print advertising in trade magazines, attending reader oriented conventions and events…but one of the best ways to get your book out there and build name recognition as an author is through a virtual book tour.

In this Quick Tips for Authors Guide, you will learn why a virtual book tour can be an author’s most effective marketing tool.



What Readers Are Saying About Secrets of Successful Book Tours

As a book blogger, I am often surprised by the number of new authors I meet that do not really promote their books. There are a lot of inexpensive and free ways for them to do so. Roxanne Rhoads does an excellent job of laying these ideas out. The book is well-organized and easy to follow. She points out author mistakes and faux pas. She speaks from her past experiences. I have a background in marketing. Roxanne Rhoads has a strong understanding of marketing and does a great job of explaining her suggestions and ideas. I highly suggest this book to all authors. There are many great ideas in this book that can help brand you as an author as well as get your books noticed. There are so many books out there. It is absolutely necessary for an author to promote themselves.” ~ Diane Lynch, Book Blogger

“Jam-packed with useful tips that had be scrambling for my calendar. And the conciseness is frankly another selling point for a busy authorpreneur. Who has time to wade through a bunch of fluff? Not me. And Roxanne doesn't waste our time with that -- she gets straight to the business of book tours. Want to run your own tour? No problem. The book provides advice on DIY'ers as well. From lists of blog ideas to the legal in's and out's of using images, Secrets of Successful Virtual Book Tours has something for novices and old hands like myself. And I believe her branding advice was spot on.” ~ Kirsten Weiss, Author

“This is a must have for any author planning to do a virtual book tour. Most of us wouldn't even think of half this stuff. Roxanne's advice is golden.” ~ Serena Synn, Author

“This book is packed with information on how to not only promote your book but also promote yourself as an author.” ~ Bonnie Amazon Review


I have been doing blog tours with Roxanne for quite some time now and I can say her organization and skills are without a doubt top notch.  If I ever actually get around to writing my novel I can assure you that I will use this as a guide.   She covers everything from building your brand to what to expect on a blog tour.

Her knowledge is well shared and I think every author that wants to build their brand should read this guy.  Simply put this is a must read for any author that wants to exposure that can come with a blog tour. ~Jen Brooks The Cubicle Escapee


In this era of self-publishing, an author needs to do as much as they can to get themselves noticed. Enter the virtual book tour, a tour of blogs on the Internet - as opposed to visiting book stores - with the aim of increasing an author's online presence and ultimately increasing book sales. Roxanne Rhoads guides you through the dos and don'ts of virtual book tours, with great advice on providing fresh material for each tour stop. She covers both tours run by established tour companies and tours you plan yourself, and she includes a list of sites where you can find book bloggers to contact. She also gives you some great advice about setting up your online and social media presence, as well as social media mistakes to avoid.

Roxanne Rhoads is the guru behind Bewitching Book Tours, the first book tour company I ever signed up with. If you're interested in a well-organized blog tour, be sure to check out Bewitching Book Tours. As Roxanne states, "Publication is only the beginning of the process ... promotion is the road to success."

An excellent quick guide for all authors. ~ Lynda Dickson - Books Direct

Recommended reading for anyone considering a blog tour. There is information here that I didn't know and have never come across before. If you want to do-it-yourself, there is a section to help with that as well. How to write a good guest blog, do's and don'ts, even copyright information. It changed the way I think about blog tours and I will be doing things differently the next time around. ~ kmontemayor Amazon Review


This little gem was borne out of Ms. Rhoads' experiences and speaks for itself. It is a must-have reference for authors old and new. ~ AoBibliophile



Secrets of Successful Virtual Book Tours is fantastic compilation of tips, tricks, and learning tools for ensuring your book tour is to your liking.  The guide is filled with do's and don'ts as you navigate your tour whether it's your first or your 10th.  Learn what a book tour is all about, how to market your author brand, write guest posts, and much, much more. Highly recommended for authors and bloggers, alike. ~Amber Marr Saph’s Book Blog


About the Author:

Roxanne Rhoads has been working in the world of online book promotion since 2005. She has worked as a freelance writer, author, book reviewer, book blogger, editor, self-publisher and book publicist. She has a unique advantage of knowing how multiple sides of book publishing and promotion operate.

Roxanne understands how book bloggers work and what they want to make their jobs easier while also understanding that authors need promotion to be streamlined, easy, and less time consuming.

Roxanne shares some of her knowledge in Secrets of Successful Virtual Book Tours.

Author Website  http://www.roxannerhoads.com

Bewitching Book Tours www.bewitchingbooktours.com



Twitter @RoxanneRhoads

Newsletter Sign Up: http://eepurl.com/0z3z1 



No comments: