Best Seller Authors

Book Marketing, Publishing, Author Resources

Get More Buzz For Your Book With Google Buzz

There are so many social media tools, sites and systems coming online that an author might think about a wait and see approach

Please don’t fall in this trap.

The world is moving so fast that you really need to budget some time to catch a wave as soon as possible. You will need to manage your time.. social media is not a replacement for all other marketing.

Use Google Buzz to Jump Start Your Social Media Plan

Announced just two days ago, Google’s BUZZ has been tried out by 10 million users and updated

If you have been holding back on other social media sites like Facebook or Twitter.. Google Buzz might be just the thing you need to jump start your social media marketing for you and your book.

Signing up is easy.. if you have a Google Talk or Gmail account, you likely already have seen it. If now, now is a good time to get one (FREE).

Publishing is not a one-way street any more. Smart authors are learning to listen to the readers, research their market, establish connections and get quick feedback on ideas.

Have you tried Google Buzz? Connect with Warren Whitlock on Google Buzz and share your experiences via Twitter and comments here.

Use Foursquare to Find Readers Near You

I’ve been investigating location based apps on my phone, netbook and other gadgets and following the trend of people living with a device in their hand at all times.

Why would you want to do this?

We’ve always used any communications device we can to stay in touch with family and friends.

“Give me a call when you get there”

“Check in to let me know you are okay”

“Can you pick up a loaf of bread on you way”

Now technology allows you to do this with ease, add all your friends to the conversation, and have some fun while you are doing it.

By checking in from my new favorite frozen yogurt shop, I was awarded the mayor badge. The interesting thing is.. I knew it would happen, I know it has almost now meaning, but when I got the notice I was a bit excited.

As far as I can tell, this is the entire game here. Click to check in, and get a message that you are doing a good job of it.

Foursquare Grows By 300% in the Last Two Months

from ReadWriteWeb

Location sharing social network Foursquare saw traffic to its site triple in the last two months since November, according to new numbers from traffic analyst firm Hitwise today. The service has seen unprecedented media coverage lately and is no doubt sending more updates to Facebook and Twitter, prompting the growth in visits back to Foursquare that Hitwise is measuring.

Thinking How This Location Based Service Can Be Used by Authors

To date, I’ve just been adding friends who request a connection on Foursquare. It’s a general group and watching them check in is mildly amusing.. about like Twitter when I first started there.

As these services grow, I envision more ways to interact with readers by building a group of people that have said they were interested in your book or topic and happen to be in the same area. Imagine holding a book store signing, a seminar or conference and knowing which readers are there and what they are interested in.

Much of this data is already out there. We have reading lists, wish lists, group lists and social media gathering data based on interest. Twitter has added geo-coding to every tweet.

We are not sure what’s coming next.. but it is coming.

Are you using Foursquare? Leave a comment and let’s talk about using it to listen to our readers, show them more love, attract more readers and create best seller promotions.

The Draw of Books. Why Your Readers MUST BUY

When asked about the power of books, especially in this era of ebooks and supposedly less reading, I point the stats or 570,000 books published each year and the irresistable draw we have to book stores.

Best seller books will be most of what catches a reader’s eye becuase they are in heavy distribution and reader recognize the names. Once they do.. many readers can’t help but to pick up a copy.  It’s what Daniel Pink calls Intrinsic Motavation (Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us)

Here’s one fun review of what happens to a reader when they see interesting titles.

It’s NOT just a question of whether you book is a good read (it better be).. but how many places readers can see you and your book

How To Get People To Listen to the Message of Your Book

Most authors I meet have important ideas to share. That’s why we want to sell a lot of books.

We want our message to be heard.

In the social media (web 2.0) world of online marketing and book promotions today, I talk to a lot of authors who tell me that they need to get more people to listen.

But are you listening to your readers?

Robert Scoble is one of the most connected people in the new technologies being used in online marketing today. His best selling book Naked Conversations is a must read, and he always draw a crowd.. online or offline.

This week, he took on the subject of twitter.com, one of the fastest growing sites.

Most people try to get people to read their tweets (twitter.com messages). Robert says that’s backward.

Read this short article about listening on twitter.

You can follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/warrenwhitlock  If you do, I will be subscribing to your posts, looking for your feedback.

Post a comment here about your experiences on twitter.com. I’ll be reading and listening here too