The Web-Savvy Writer

Here are my 15 favorite ways to develop your author platform. Please use comments to add your own. And don’t forget to read my original post on author platforms below!

1. Get credentials related to your specialty
2. Join and participate in professional associations
3. Create a website that demonstrates your expertise
4. Publish a blog
5. Publish a podcast
6. Write and publish articles (online or in print publications)
7. Publish an ezine
8. Volunteer or do perform pro bono work
9. Serve on committees and panels
10. Teach — online and off
11. Get quoted in magazines and newspapers
12. Participate in social networks
13. Give speeches
14. Get on radio and TV
15. Create a PR campaign — both online and off

Reader Mike Maranhas, author of Re’enev, recently wrote to alert me to another great promotional opportunity for fellow readers of The Web-Savvy Writer blog. AuthorViews is a company that creates free book videos for authors. You need to be at one of the book events around the country in which AuthorViews is participating, but there is no charge for your two-minute video. To learn more about the program and how to get your own video, visit the AuthorViews website.

Tags: AuthorViews, book trailer, book publicity, book promotion, book marketing, self-publishing

Sometimes you need to think out of the box to generate buzz for your book in a crowded market. So start focusing on what everyone else is not doing, or at least what few people are doing, to promote their books.

What you’re aiming for is something that’s innovative, different, and bound to generate attention. Not something that’s so over the top it generates you another kind of attention — the negative kind.

To get you started, check out Maria Veloso’s site promoting her novel Midwinter Turns to Spring. Maria is also a songwriter and created a music soundtrack to accompany her novel. This clever promotional tactic has generated press because it was both unique and appropriate to what she was promoting.

Tags: online book promotion

Here’s the third in my series of favorite tips for fiction authors (again, also a great option for many nonfiction authors).

Many people love to try before they buy and fiction readers are no exception. Providing an excerpt of your novel is particularly important if you’re a new author and don’t have a solid track record or fan base from previous books. Publish your first chapter to your website and promote this free excerpt heavily. You should be able to get an excerpt from your publisher, or if you self-published, create your own excerpt as a PDF (for free at Adobe CreatePDF). Also consider posting your excerpt on other sites, such as 1chapterfree.com.

Tags: online book promotion, book excerpts

Several people have asked me for tips on promoting fiction on the web. Here is the first tip in a series. Non-fiction authors: these tips can easily work for you as well. They just represent my favorite ways to promote fiction online.

Tip #1: Get Talking

Many fiction authors do readings, but reading an excerpt from your book to a small local audience is unlikely to lead to a large stream of sales. To have your spoken words attract a worldwide audience, you need to go online. You can record and post a basic excerpt on your website or blog (try Flash Audio Wizard, Audio Acrobat, or Gabcast) or or create a podiobook, a serialized audio book delivered via podcast (see Podiobooks for an example).

If you follow the serialized approach, it is up to you to determine how much to provide for free. Some authors podcast their entire novel with the goal of selling print books to new fans; others deliver only a few chapters and encourage sales to listeners eager to find out what happens next. Another option is to podcast a series of short stories for free that may help develop an audience for your novel.

The advantage of a podcast is that you can generate additional publicity by listing it in podcast directories such as Yahoo! Podcasts or iTunes and by encouraging subscribers. The advantage of an audio excerpt is that it’s faster and easier to create.

Tags: online book promotion, podcasting, podiobooks