0111, 2013

Guest Blog: Small Press Tips & Lessons from the Booksburgh Book Store Hop

Beverly Bambury/ November 1, 2013/ Author Readings, Book Marketing, Book Signings, Book Tours, DIY, Guest Post, Marketing, Publicity/ 0 comments

Today’s guest blog is by Jennifer Barnes, of small publisher Raw Dog Screaming Press (RDSP). She organizes social media and events, and today she’s come by to share her experience organizing a madcap day in which RDSP took over Pittsburgh, doing a reading/signing each hour for five hours, at five different locations. Even if you aren’t a publisher, you may find some of these hints useful in organizing events with your writing group or other writer friends. Enjoy! Over the years RDSP has done all kinds of events from gigantic book fairs like BEA to readings in a decommissioned lunatic asylum. It takes a lot of planning to get the most out of events and you can learn from each one. We recently did

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3110, 2013

Why You Shouldn’t Buy Followers: Book Marketing without B.S. #1

Beverly Bambury/ October 31, 2013/ BookMarketingWithoutBS, Facebook, Marketing, Publicity, Self-Promotion, Social Skills, Twitter/ 0 comments

Book Marketing without B.S. is a weekly publicity and marketing advice column for writers and other creators who prefer a realistic, clear, and no-nonsense approach. The marketing and publicity worlds are important for understanding audience and customers, and getting the right word out to the right people; but, let’s be honest. There’s also a lot of bullshit. My goal is to help you cut through the B.S. with direct, understandable advice you won’t be embarrassed to follow. Welcome to my inaugural Book Marketing withouth BS column. Today’s question was asked anonymously, and it’s about purchasing followers on Twitter (and by extension, purchasing likes/on other blogs and social media such as Facebook, Pinterest, etc.). The short answer to this is “Don’t do it”. Below is

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2310, 2013

The Secret to Contacting Traditional Media for Book Publicity

Beverly Bambury/ October 23, 2013/ Book Marketing, DIY, Product Placement in Books, Queries, Self-Promotion, Social Skills, Traditional Media/ 0 comments

I haven’t contacted as many traditional media outlets as I have websites and bloggers for publicity–if for no other reason than traditional media is on a decline or integrating with online media–but, as it turns out, the secret is that there isn’t much of a secret. It still remains connections, politeness, reading directions, and being an all-around good human being. I go into some of this in my earlier article 5 Steps to a Quality Blog Tour, but here is more info with an eye toward bigger sites/traditional media publicity queries. ConnectionsThe main difference I’ve found with my work is that personal connections and networking count for even more with bigger publications, print, television, or otherwise. It’s not impossible to get into a major

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2509, 2013

A Hard Line Against Twitter DMs for Promotion and Marketing

Beverly Bambury/ September 25, 2013/ Advertising, DIY, Marketing, Publicity, Self-Promotion, Social Skills, survey, Twitter/ 5 comments

Stop using Twitter DMs for marketing or publicizing your stuff. Just. Stop. (You’re going to like this one. It’s short to read and I am telling you to do less.) Here’s why: A minimum of 90% of the DMs I receive parrot the exact same stuff/links that is already on the sender’s Twitter profile or in a bunch of their tweets. If someone’s already looked at your profile and decided to add you, you don’t need to repeat yourself in a DM. “But I’ve got free stuff to share with followers! I need to make sure they don’t miss it!” Tweet it instead. Twitter is for tweeting. You can add it to your profile, too. It won’t be that hard to find. Honest. And

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1909, 2013

Authors Reviewing Authors?

Beverly Bambury/ September 19, 2013/ 21st Century Criticism, reviews, Social Skills/ 0 comments

A client asked me today about what I think of authors reviewing other authors, particularly in a negative light. It’s an interesting companion with yesterday’s blog post about writers commenting on reviews. I am of two minds: On the one hand, I am a strong proponent of critical thought and discourse. There is just too damn much puffery out there, and it seems like people (at least publicly) are losing their ability to think critically. On the other hand, from a public relations perspective, it is smart for people part of a small community (and really, the internet makes it a small commuity no matter how far apart we are,) to write critical reviews of other community members’ work? Probably not. So my answer?

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1809, 2013

Just a Litte More: Author/Creator Comments on Reviews

Beverly Bambury/ September 18, 2013/ authors, Publicity, Self-Promotion, Social Skills/ 4 comments

In light of recent discussions I thought I’d clarify my thoughts on the authors (and other creators) commenting on reviews issue. I’ve said in the past “just don’t do it, ever”, but I think the time has come for me to expand that thought into more than just the idea of authors behaving badly. My updated advice to creators is that they should pretty much never comment on negative reviews. If you want to thank someone for a good review, please do; but, don’t say much beyond a gracious “Thank you”. Especially if you have any negative or irritated feelings inside you. The reason I say this is because people can tell, and—at least from the publicist’s perspective—you don’t want people thinking of you

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1707, 2013

Guest Post: I Am Finished Writing My Novel. Now What?

Beverly Bambury/ July 17, 2013/ editing, Guest Post, Queries, Self=Publishing/ 1 comments

Today we hear from freelance editor and author of The Dragon Whisperer, Vanessa Ricci-Thode. So you just finished writing your book? Congrats! Reward yourself! Go grab some ice cream. Have a wild evening out with friends. You’ve earned it. Few people ever even start writing a book, never mind finishing one. You’re a star! Now it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get to work. That’s right, writing a novel is the easy part! If you’re completely lost about what to do next, then you’ve come to the right place. Step away from the manuscript and no one gets hurt Give the novel some time to simmer. Do anything that doesn’t involve tinkering with your shiny new draft. It’s one of the first thing Susan

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1006, 2013

Closed for Queries on 2013 Release Dates

Beverly Bambury/ June 10, 2013/ Publicity, Queries, Scheduling/ 0 comments

The response to Beverly Bambury Publicity has been overwhelming, and so it is with gratitude and pleasure that I annouce that I am no longer accepting queries for 2013 releases. (Well, maybe a little sadness, too, since it means I won’t get to work with so many of you!) The one exception: if you and I have a prior relationship, please do contact me even with 2013 releases. I don’t have much space left, but it’s much less time consuming to work with someone whose work I already know, so I may be able to squeeze something into the schedule. If you have a 2014 release please contact me soon; I’ll gladly make tentative arrangements that we can solidify closer to your release.

0906, 2013

5 No-BS Twitter Tips for Authors (and Everyone Else)

Beverly Bambury/ June 9, 2013/ Self-Promotion, Twitter/ 0 comments

I was inspired to write this post with my no-bull Twitter guide for writers after answering questions about Twitter for a colleague not too long ago. I am sure you’ve heard some of this before; however, I think a lot of it will be new, and all of it bears repeating. It also often applies to other social media interactions. So let’s dive in:1 – Have A Purpose And that purpose probably should be to network with other authors. If you haven’t stopped reading with that line, let me also say that another purpose certainly can be to have genuine conversations and social experiences with readers, too. Note I said “genuine conversations”: if your expectation is that tweeting out your announcements will build relationships

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