#MFRWorg Authors Secret Weapon: Street Teams

Author Street Teams. Likely, you've heard this term before. They're popping up all over the place as authors take advantage of their most valuable resource - their readers. Readers -especially bloggers/ reviewers- are vital to a book's success because their opinion goes a long way. Some readers have an established reputation as being a person to turn to for book recommendations. Why not partner with them if they love your books/ series?

That's exactly what creating a street team is... partnering with readers who like your books so much, they want to share them with other readers.

A Street Team is an author's secret weapon. In this article at Kobo Writing Life, an in-depth description of one author's experience puts it all into perspective. Read it here.

A Street Team is a group of readers/bloggers that are fans of a particular author and want to spread the word about books they love. They're just doing what they already do - reading what they like and telling their friends. There's no recipe as to how many members per street team, benefits to offer or rules to follow. Each author has their own style.

Here are some Basic Guidelines:

• Provide a central place/ method to communicate. Many authors use a private facebook group, google+ group or yahoo group. Regardless what you use, be sure to interact. Place a reminder on your calendar to post an update weekly.
• Choose a creative name that suits your branding. Google "author street teams" to see what others are already doing.
• Share WIP previews, excerpts and cover reveals.
• Ask if any are interested in serving as beta readers/ proofreaders. DO NOT use them in place of editors!
• Chat and give updates often, and always in advance, to the group.
• Honor and recognize their commitment by commenting when they post on their blogs or other social media sites.
• Have target tasks that you'd like members to help with... ask them to host a blog stop, like your books at on-line sites, place reviews on goodreads, share cover reveals, pin on Pinterest, post updates on facebook or tweet about your new releases. In general, you want them to spread the love for your book.
• Have contests just for your street team. Be creative: winner chooses a name for a character in your next book!
• Create perks. Provide swag and ARCs. Blog badges that members can display on their own blogs or social sites are great too. Not only do bloggers love them but it also increases your visibility.
• Allow your street team members more "personal" on-line access to you. Answer their requests quickly. Group them for ease and then interact with them on facebook, google+, twitter,etc.

There are a lot of books in the world and authors need help to spread the word. A street team is a fun way to interact with fans while asking them to do what many already do … and it has added perks (for you both).

Here's a list of links to some author's street teams for ideas on how to begin your own:

Cat Johnson  |  J. Kenner/ JK Beck  |  Heather Hildenbrand  |  Donna Grant  |  Sabrina York

I began my own street team after a few readers requested it. I keep it small and simple. There's no gimmicks or contests. Each member gets an ARC as soon as they're available in exchange for honest reviews on as many on-line sites as possible. And every week, I post an update and try to engage on facebook mostly. For the details, CLICK THIS LINK. 

Talk to me.

Do you have a street team? Post it in a comment to share. Do you want to know more about creating a street team? Just Ask. - Paloma

#StreetTeam #Promotions for the #MFRWAuthor with @kristynphipps

When I first found our marketing group, I was overwhelmed at the variety of promotional, networking, and learning opportunities that were offered on a monthly basis.  After being a member for six months, I decided to start giving back to all those who had given me such warm encouragement and wise advice by taking on the bloghops. Within another six months, I became the first Activities Director. Now, I will admit that this job is much more than I can handle, and that is why I'm so thankful to my support staff that handles so much of the brunt work so that I can work behind the scenes to organize and plan the next event. I'm so proud to be an active member of this group.

With my position, I get to see a wide range of opportunities on the horizon that many of you don't see until it's here. I want to take this year and highlight those opportunities for you, help you engage yourself, and encourage you to get involved. We have so many promotional opportunities: bloghops, newsletters, minibooks, sponsorships, etc. Today, I'm going to highlight our Street Team.

How to Get Promoted

In the fall of 2013, MFRW established a small street team. This group of people post established tweets for our members. Anyone with something to share, a book, blog post, special sale, contest, etc., just needs to fill out the form here to get promoted. Our street team will take the information you give and word a tweet to be blasted across the internet. 

What Are the Benefits?

MFRW has over 1900 members and nearly 400 followers on Twitter. Each of these brings a new audience to the table and the potential for you to be discovered by new readers. Tweets gets passed along by our followers on a regular basis and this means more exposure for you. Plus with the potential connection to Facebook, you will find an even larger boost of potential readers finding you!

Not only will you enhance your sales opportunities, but your networking opportunities will increase as well. As people share the tweet our Street Team sends out, you in turn will receive a notice that it was shared. It gives you the opportunity to connect with another MFRW member, reader, editor, publisher, graphic artists, etc. Today's book business isn't just about how well you write; it's now become a networking business all in itself, and MFRW gives you, our members, the opportunity to tap into that market as well.

If you have any questions on the Street Team or how you can get promoted, please feel free to ask questions in group or reach out to me personally. We want to help you succeed in any way possible!

Meet Kristyn

Kristyn Phipps lives in the foothills of North Carolina where she and her husband are raising their two daughters and their lab/shepherd mix daughter, Lady. She is a regularly featured writer for the Conover Life Magazine. She loves to bake, read, and drive.

Kristyn joined Marketing for Romance Writers as a member in 2012. She became the bloghop Director in January of 2013, and was promoted to Activities Director in April that year. She oversees all promotional and camp events for the group.