I recently blogged about author’s lack of supplying contact information in their ebooks and how they missed the opportunity to connect with their readers.
Since then I have started a new blog to help authors get more attention focused on their books and their Internet presence. Much to my dismay most author blogs and websites are failing to supply their contact information to their audience. The goal should be to get interaction with readers and create an audience to communicate through social media and the Internet. RIGHT!
After reviewing several hundred author sites, in most cases, readers had to be a detective to find the author’s contact information. It was like it was a closely guarded secret.
Author’s Blogs and Websites
In over half the cases, they did not have a contact me link. Oh they had a Twitter bird or a Facebook link but no other contact points. They did have their books highlighted, sample chapters, giveaways and lots of beautiful covers. Surprisingly way over half the covers displayed did not have a buy link attached.
Some had blog links to other pages if they had both a website and a blog. The more cross-links the better say our SEO gurus.
The question I have to ask is: We are trying to build a reader/follower/buyer base, aren’t we?
HBS Author’s Spotlight
Like I mentioned before, my new blog requires lots of research
of author sites and blogs. I am looking for interesting authors to blog about.
One of my objectives is to give current contact information to readers so they
can interact with the author. The blog will only be posted if the author
approves the content including the contact information.
I have had one author so far go through the draft process of
the blog and put it on hold when I required an email address to complete the
Q/A section of the blog. (By the way, displaying any of the contact information
is up to the author’s approval.)
I expected some resistance to some of the questions because I
ask untraditional questions to make the blog more interesting.
Marketing Online vs. Traditional Marketing
Traditional signing, giveaways, events, conferences &
book shows and personal appearances still are a part of the author’s strategy. But
research is showing the Internet interaction shows more results for less cost.
On-line is the fastest way if you have a new book to announce.
In fact with the relationships that are developed, the development of the plot,
the cover and the characters can all be a part of the pre-publishing plan.
I have one author, Joanne Penn that I follow regularly
because her website has a lot of good information for authors: The Creative Penn. She was quite
successful at publishing her book, Pentacost,
because she got her reader base involved in the book development process
including picking the cover. With her online audience she was able to do what
traditional marketing would have found impossible. If she hid her contact
information, she wouldn’t have had a chance.
So you lead your audience along through book development, cover
design, launch, reviews to the shelves but not without keeping in contact.
If you see a lot of reviews for a book, I’ll bet that most
of them were keyed by the author’s contacts online.
Twitter/Facebook/Pinterest
Social media keeps the whole thing going. You must keep your
followers in the loop. Write something meaningful in your tweets or posts if
you’re going to use social media. If it is all ads, readers will skip right
through it.
Here is a footnote in the middle of the blog. I am writing a
blog for author David Bain @davidbainaa. Like Joanna Penn
above, he also has a blog that helps authors. One post that he has that I found
real interesting: For
Writers, Social Media Should Be Little More Than Playtime. David has over
30K Twitter followers. He came to an interesting conclusion after doing a quick
tweet study.
There is a lot of noise out there. I turned off a couple of
followers because of all the tweets.
I can just imagine the number of tweets David goes through to
filter out the meat.
One author I have in the Author’s
Spotlight is M. R. Mathias. He has over 87K Twitter
followers. (@dahgmahn)
Besides being an award-winning, best-selling Fantasy author,
he has written a must read book for author who want to use social media to
market; The
First Ten Steps. It is a great source if you’re just getting started
in social media marketing.
Goodreads + Linkedin + Retailers
A brief note on two other groups that author should engage. Goodreads
and Linkedin are good author sources to interact with other authors and readers.
They present great profile opportunities. You should include their links on
your blog or website.
Email
I saved this one for last. You know sometimes 140 characters
are just not enough? In my author research one of the most glaring things
missing from the contact information was the email address. Almost no one had
an email address published. (Reviewed over 300 sites.) They just left it up to Twitter
and Facebook.
Oh some had email forms with CAPTCHA security to prevent
spam and hacking. The first question I ask when I fill a form out is: Did they
get the message? Then when I don’t get a reply, I have no clue what has
happened. (Most regular email systems report undelivered mail.)
I understand keeping your personal/favorite email account to
yourself. Try getting another free email account to communicate with your
followers. It keeps the mail separated. I have three email accounts. (2 are
free) One I have with my website. The others are Gmail and Mail.com and I use
them for different purposes.
There are many free email services available. Get a free
account somewhere and try it out. I just did a search: free email accounts and
got a list of 18 freebies.
Conclusion
So you write a book, you notify your audience and the
downloads start happening. That is not really how it works but it is a plan. You
must make it easier for your audience to communicate. Don’t make them have to
be a detective to communicate with you.
First question to ask yourself: Can your readers easily find
your contact information?
Remember your goal should be to develop a following that
will buy your book.
I feel authors miss the same opportunity in their ebooks. Check
out my blog:
eBookMarketing: Include Live Contact Information in Your eBook
For an example, check out how I think contact information
should be presented.
HBS Author’s
Spotlights – View the Author’s contact information and some interesting Q/A
sessions.
Anne Allen - HBS Author's Spotlight
Henry Baum - Author Spotlight
James Moushon - Author Spotlight
Kelly Abell - HBS Author's Spotlight
Monica Mathis-Stowe - HBS Author's Spotlight
Ron Fritsch - Author Spotlight
Follow me as I try to keep up with the eBook Experience. Do
you think we should ONLY give the reader access to our Facebook or Twitter
account? Should your email address be published? If not, why not?
Follow Me on Twitter:
@jimhbs
Or EMAIL at: jim@jamesmoushon.comOr visit my blog: The eBook Author Corner
Take a look at my Author’s blog: HBS Author’s Spotlight
Check out the Jonathon Stone Mystery Novel: Call Off The Dogs
