Authors On The Net

Today we have the pleasure of being a stop on Austin Camacho’s blog book tour. I asked Austin a few questions about his book and how he is promoting it. Here are his answers:

Announcing the release of Russian Roulette (buy at Amazon by clicking here), the fifth novel in Austin S. Camacho’s mystery series about Hannibal Jones, an African American private detective working in Washington DC.

Phil: What is your book about?

Austin: Like every good crime novel, this book is about deception. A Russian assassin threatens Hannibal’s woman to force him to take a case. He must investigate Gana, the wealthy Algerian who has stolen Viktoriya, the woman the assassin loves. Evidence connects Gana to Russian mob money and the apparent suicide of Viktoriya’s father. More deaths follow, each one closer to Viktoriya. To save the Russian beauty, Hannibal must unravel a complex tangle of clues and survive a dramatic shootout side-by-side with his murderous client.

Phil: Tell us about you.

Austin: On the surface I’m a public affairs specialist for the Defense Department who has written five detective novels in the Hannibal Jones series - Blood and Bone, Collateral Damage, The Troubleshooter, Damaged Goods and now Russian Roulette. I’m active in several writers’ organizations and teach writing courses at Anne Arundel Community College.

Inside I’m a philosopher and a teller of morality tales thinly disguised as mysteries or adventure stories. I’m also a husband and father, a flirt and a loudmouth, with a big heart and an even bigger ego. And I’m a hard-working marketing fool who wants every adult alive to read my novels. My manual, Successfully Marketing Your Fiction in the 21st Century is the result of those efforts.

I was born and raised in New York, spent my Army career as a broadcast journalist and now live in Springfield, Virginia with my lovely wife Denise and Princess the Wonder Cat.

Phil: Who is your target audience?

Austin: I started out thinking that hardboiled detective fiction was for young men. However, the great majority of my readers are women between 30 and 60 years old, so I now write for them.

Phil: What are the 5 top marketing tactics you would recommend to other authors?

Austin: My overall plan this year is to focus on creating buzz by working the internet. So my top marketing tactics are:

1. Blog Tour: This month I will appear on 16 of the best crime fiction and literary web sites (like this one) and the content varies – interviews, synopses, reviews by the blog owners, a real variety. The object is to make Russian Roulette part of the general conversation.

2. Reviews: the more the better. I sent books to the usual reviewers, but I also sent books to top Amazon.com reviewers. These people have a lot of credibility. The new twist was to offer a free advance copy to ANYONE who would commit to reviewing my book and posting their review in at least 4 places on line. Again, I want to raise awareness and generate conversation. Most of the amateur reviewers post on their own blogs but also on Amazon, BN.com, Dorothy L, Shelfari and other places readers look.

3. Video: I got a book trailer because it’s an easily passed calling card. But I also taped a promotional video for Russian Roulette in which I personally explain my book to the viewer. This personalizes me and helps readers connect with me. It hasn’t exactly become viral but it has gotten me a little better recognized. And I have posted these things EVERYWHERE!

4. Social Media: I’ve gathered an audience and post daily on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Gather, Friendster,Crimespace, Book place and Bebo. I also maintain a presence on Red room, Black Authors Showcase, Maverick Marketers, LinkedIn, Shelfari, and Goodreads. Aside from my own blog (Another Writer’s Life) I post on three group blogs – Criminal Minds at Work, Acme Authors and Make Mine Mystery. And did I mention the Hannibal Jones Yahoo Group? The idea is to stay connected with people and share your writing news.

5. Direct mail: I’ve never done the post card bit before, but to make it most likely to pay off I targeted the zip codes of the bookstores I’ll do signings in. And the mailing lists are of known mystery readers. Note that this is the most money I’ve spent on promotion and I have the least faith in its value but we’ll see how it goes.

I must tell you that I also went old school for visibility and got a couple print ads. After assessing my target audience I placed ads in Mystery Scene and Crimespree Magazine. Even if they don’t generate a lot of sales, they will be good for my ego when I’m at Bouchercon.

I also sent personal letters to each of the 47 bookstores in this country that specialize in mystery fiction informing them of the imminent release of Russian Roulette and respectfully asking (alright, begging them) to order a few copies. I even promised them a pizza party for their staff if they sell 50 or more copies. Yeah, I’m shameless.

As you can see, the top marketing efforts for me involve more time than money. When your book is ready to hit the shelves you need to think it through and do what will work for you. Keep good records so you’ll know what did pay off, and be careful of buying services that don’t come with guarantees.

GET the latest news about my novels at http://www.ascamacho.com
READ my blog at http://ascamacho.blogspot.com
JOIN the Hannibal Jones Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hannibaljones

If you want to learn more about running a complete social media book campaign visit The Author Platform.

I’m sharing an email I received from a good author and mentor friend of mine, Christopher Harding. I’m sharing for two reasons: 1) to let the community know about his new book and 2) to share how Chris approached his fan base. I liked the use of questions in the second paragraph and his overall “soft” approach while making a direct call to action.

From Christopher Harding:

Hope all is well with each of you.

I’m taking the opportunity to let friends and family know that I’ve just (or as some might say, “finally,”) published my latest book, “The Saint of Malibu Shores.” Given the age we’re in, it’s published in e-book format (download as a PDF or as a Kindle book to your Kindle, iPhone or iPod).

The book came to me as I contemplated the idea of what would happen if a person appeared in our world today who was a Messianic or Christ-like figure? How would people react? What kind of political and social interactions might take place? To make it more personal, I drew from the experiences of a friend of mine who allowed me to use her story as a foundation of the storyline.

To be sure, the story is controversial and somewhat provocative, but ultimately the message is one that invites all of us to take a deeper look at our lives. I hope you’ll enjoy it.

If you’re so inclined and would be game to help me get the word about the book started, please visit either:

http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/the-saint-of-malibu-shores/7245214

or Amazon (download the Kindle format for Kindle, iPhone or iPod Touch) at:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_kinc?url=node%3D154606011&field-keywords=The+Saint+of+Malibu+Shores&x=11&y=22

Both formats of the e-book are selling for just $7.99.

If you’re not in the position or of the inclination to buy the book, that’s perfectly fine.

If you are, I’d love your feedback (http:/www.saintofmalibushores.com) and be truly grateful if you felt inclined to pass on this info and your recommendation to your friends and colleagues.

This is just one of the ways that Lila and I are working to generate a positive ripple effect while stimulating our own micro-economy. We would also love to know what you’re doing as well so, please let us know of the visions you are pursuing so that we can continue to find ways to support one another’s dreams and well-being.

All the best,
Chris

I just discovered www.freado.com, a place to make a widget to make it easier to share your book on social media sites. The widget allows readers to flip pages and get a very good feel for a book before they decide to buy. Here’s what my widget looks like:

To help authors generate more interest in their books, WakeUpCelebrityAuthor.com has launched a Social Media-style book contest where fans vote for the next BarnesandNoble.com best-seller

Long Beach, CA (PRWEB) June 8, 2009 – As the publishing industry continues to change, authors are taking the job of promoting their books in their own hands. The good news for authors today is the emergence of social media and that they can use Web 2.0 tools to connect directly with their target audiences. WakeUpCelebrityAuthor.com seeks to give recognition to authors who enthusiastically promote their books and will make the author with the most votes by September 25, 2009 the next BarnesandNoble.com best-seller.

Traditional book contests call for authors to submit their books for evaluation based on writing style, content, relevance and other criteria. But having a well-written book at the right time and for the right audience is only half the challenge of creating a best-seller. The other half of the challenge is getting recognized in an over-crowded marketplace and getting people to talk about your book.

“Writing and publishing a book takes one set of skills,” said Phil Davis, co-founder of WakeUpCelebrityAuthor.com. “Promoting a book requires a completely different set of skills. Authors today are using Web 2.0 technology like Blogs, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter and Blog Talk Radio to connect directly with their target audience. We want to recognize these efforts and also put a little fun into an activity many authors find to be a bit overwhelming.” Read the rest of this entry »

If you have a profile on Amazon and are using Amazon Connect and/or feeding your blog into your profile, then you may have received the following message from Amazon. I’m reprinting the message here for those who did not receive it as I think this new tool by Amazon could be a winner. I say “I think” because I haven’t seen my author page yet.

Once you go through the few simple steps, Amazon builds you a page and it takes about 7 days. If you have no idea what an Amazon Profile or Amazon Connect are, then sign up for The Author Platform and use the 15 day free trial to find out how to use Amazon to sell more books.

Here is the message I received:

As someone who has used AmazonConnect to blog to readers on Amazon, we’d like to introduce you to Amazon Author Central (beta). It’s a free service provided by Amazon to allow authors to reach more readers, promote books, and help build a better Amazon bookstore.

Author Central now houses the blog feature previously offered via AmazonConnect. In Author Central, you can post to your blog as usual, and you will also be able to update your bibliography and provide a photo and biography, which we’ll use to build an Author Page featuring you and your books. Our new Author Pages are designed to display all the information we have about an author in a well-organized, easy-to-locate place in our store. This includes blog content, which we are relocating from book detail pages to Author Pages. We think Author Pages are a great addition to our bookstore, because they give authors a way to reach more readers and also help customers find their favorite authors and discover new ones easily.

This will be an interesting tool to try out.

For two weeks in May I partnered with a local representative of a national company in Salt Lake City, Utah to have them display our new book, How To Become a Total Failure: The Ten Rules of Highly Unsuccessful People, in 14 book fairs. These fairs were held in corporate office buildings, corporate board rooms, hospitals, colleges, factories and a number of other venues. Here’s a video of the book fair held at the Utah One Center, a large office building in downtown Salt Lake City.

Bill and I were very pleased with the results and especially the feedback. For example, we sold 10 books at an Ikon factory and 0 books at a hospital. This is excellent market information. We will ramp up our efforts in the fall with better merchandising and some special offers and have a goal of selling 200 books.

If you want to participate, we are accepting up to 50 authors. We can only accommodate 50 authors per 20 book fairs as the company needs to keep its primary focus on the mainstream books it sells. It is also important that we place independent author books next to mainstream books as cross-promotion helps sell independent books.

If you are interested in this program, please email me at info@authorsonthenet.com We are accepting applications now for the fall book fairs that start the last week of August. The cost per 20 book fairs is $250.

Here’s another video of the book fair at the One Utah Center. In this video you will see that our book was first placed near the register. While at first this seemed like a great idea, in later shows we placed the book on tables with other self-improvement books and produced much better sales results.

I recently joined a group called CEOSpace and one of the instructors is Lisa Nichols. I had the chance in March to attend Lisa’s super-teaching class and she is inspirational. Here is a message I received from the president of CEOSpace and thought I’d share. CEOSpace, by the way, is a great organization for authors building a business with their books and if you want to learn more shoot me an email at info@authorsonthenet.com.

Re: HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY – NOW IN BOOK STORES EVERYWHERE – “NO MATTER WHAT” BY LISA NICHOLS – GET OUT OF YOUR PERSONAL RECESSION THIS WEEKEND:

1. BUY ONE COPY FOR YOURSELF
2. BUY THREE COPIES FOR A PERSON YOU LOVE THIS HOLIDAY

Drop by a BOOKSTORE and help the publisher FEEL CEO SPACE POWER on this HOLIDAY WEEKEND…enjoy …this read will make your weekend (and those receiving your gift will never forget “NO MATTER WHAT” – not EVER ! )

And now this: Just in:

-Wall Street Journal Bestsellers list

-Publishers Weekly Bestsellers list

-Amazon Bestselllers list

-USA Today Best sellers list

AND…..
AND….

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERS LIST!

PS: We have created a new star……in a matter of weeks…..actually a new world figure SUPER STAR……books are in stores just hours now – SELL THEM OUT – clean those shelves IBI – CEO SPACE – make a difference and TIME is so much of the essence – happy holidays as you join our NO MATTER WHAT new record setting army buying three to be free – making a difference in your world and in the world of those you appreciate and recognize this Holiday. DO IT NOW if at all possible …and thank “YOU”. Lisa is so grateful as we thank HER for the years of helping our teens. This is HER TIME to receive….let her feel our love and appreciation THIS HOLIDAY !

I’d like to announce author Austin Camacho’s upcoming appearance on the Authors On The Net blog on June 16th. We will interview Austin on his new book and on the top 5 ways he is promoting his book.

You can get a free advance copy of Austin’s novel by visiting http://www.ascamacho.com/contest.htm And all mystery fans within reach are invited to my big book release party, but are asked to RSVP at http://www.ascamacho.com/contest.htm so we can be sure to have enough food and drink for all.

This year’s InStock Self-Publishing’s conference will be held in San Francisco on July 18, 2009. This conference is a great place to meet other authors fully engaged in the transformation going on in the publishing industry and I hope to see many of you there.

There will be panel discussions and conversations with self-published authors who have successfully connected with their audiences. Publishing is fast-changing, and self publishing authors are inciting a re-examination of the industry. Meet other authors, learn how to improve your game, and be part of the movement at InStock.

If your goal is to become a professional author - an author that makes money from your book - then it is important to get out and meet other successful self-publishers and other people who can help you move your agenda along.

To find out more about the InStock conference, click here.

A few months ago I had the pleasure of interviewing Deborah and Joel Shlian, authors of Rabbit in the Moon. (To listen to our podcast, click here.) They emailed me a press release that just went out announcing they have been awarded the Gold Medal in the Florida Book Awards. Congratulations Deborah and Joel. Here’s the press release they sent me:

Rabbit in the Moon by Deborah & Joel Shlian Awarded Gold Medal in the Florida Book Awards
Oceanview Publishing is pleased to announce that Rabbit in the Moon by Deborah and Joel Shlian has been awarded the Gold Medal in the 2008 Florida Book Awards Genre Fiction Category.

Ipswich, MA (PRWEB) February 26, 2009 — Oceanview Publishing is pleased to announce that Rabbit in the Moon by Deborah and Joel Shlian has been awarded the Gold Medal in the 2008 Florida Book Awards Genre Fiction Category.

An annual awards program established in 2006, The Florida Book Awards, now the most comprehensive state book awards program in the nation, recognizes, honors, and celebrates the best Florida literature published in the previous year. The Florida Book Awards is coordinated by the Florida State University Program in American & Florida Studies, and co-sponsored by the Florida Center for the Book; State Library and Archives of Florida; Florida Historical Society; Florida Humanities Council; Florida Literary Arts Coalition; Florida Library Association; “Just Read, Florida!”; Governor’s Family Literacy Initiative; Florida Association for Media in Education; Florida Center for the Literary Arts; Florida Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America; and the Friends of FSU Libraries. Read the rest of this entry »