Tuesday, March 18, 2014

MFRW Monthly Quote - March 2014 #MFRWorg

“The more I think, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.”
 -Vincent Van Gogh








Emerald
Emerald is an erotic fiction author whose short stories have been featured in anthologies published by Cleis Press, Mischief, and Logical-Lust. She serves as an assistant newsletter editor and Facebook group moderator for Marketing for Romance Writers (MFRW), and she selects and posts the monthly inspirational quote on the MFRW Marketing Blog. Find out more about her at her website, The Green Light District.

Monday, March 17, 2014

#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:

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

Saturday, March 15, 2014

#MFRWorg Newbie's World: Do I Need A Blog?

Newbie’s Corner: Do I need a blog?

Big question. There are as many opinions on this one as there are, well, you know how that adage ends…

The question always comes down to, will this bring me more readers? Will more people buy my books if I’m blogging?
Let’s explore.

Advantages:
  • Trust: In order for readers to buy your books, they want to trust you, the author. So if you are continually serving up great content on your blog, then a potential reader might e more willing to buy your books. 
  • Writing skills and time management: blogs are a great way to get out short, great messages, as well as a way to improve your dedication. 
  • SEO: You want to be on the first page of Google, right? Well, blogs are liked by the magical Google spiders because they are updated more regularly than a static site. 
Disadvantages:
  • Time: Ah, if only we had days and days filled with nothing but time to do what we wanted. But in our crazy writer lives, we are limited. So in between Facebook, Twitter, updates to our regular website, and actually writing, do you need another weekly commitment? 
  • Platform: what are you writing about? It’s great that you have kids, recipes, and writing in your life. But do others want to read about that? (this is not meant sarcastically at all – some people have great blogs on all of the above. But is that your platform?)
  • Reciprocity: A big part of blogging is the reciprocal aspect. Blog hops, sharing other’s posts, gaining new followers by posting comments to others’ blogs, linking to Google+ and Goodreads blogs, Triberr…it’s a long list, once you go down the rabbit hole of blogging. Do you have the time and energy for it? 
There is no easy answer for this question. For me, personally, I know that my readers like to read paranormal romances. But I don’t feel that I read enough in this genre in order to generate new content on a weekly basis.

My compromise with myself has been to write for others’ blogs or group blogs (like Heroes and Heartbreakers). This way, I’m reaching a larger viewership with established readers. And, the pressure is off for a weekly (or monthly) commitment.

However, I still need to relate everything back to Erin Moore, the author. That means keeping my messaging consistent – any of my readers could read anything I wrote. Here are some other general rules for writing for others:

1. Google Authorship: You want to make sure that you own your content so that Google searches for your name or books will link back to you. Here’s a very detailed explanation of how to do this.

2. Search for blogs in your genre with a large readership, but don’t neglect the small or medium blogs, either. These may have very dedicated followings. Trying to land a big blog? Try these tips.

3. Promote your guest post as you would for your own blog.

I know, I know…I still haven’t answered the essential question. Unfortunately, hard data on whether blogging promotes sales seems extremely hard to come by. If anyone has seen any real numbers on blogs increasing book sales, would love to hear about it!

For authors with their own blogs, the only way to determine if it is truly bringing in readers is by measuring traffic. Do blog readers click on buy links after finding your post?

In the end, like everything, it is a personal decision. Hope some of this information has been helpful.

Tell us what you think!
Is a blog necessary, or not? How do you negotiate the world of blogging?

Sources: Small Blue Dog  |  Jane Friedman  |  Savvy Book Writers  |  Boost Blog Traffic  |  Weblogs  |  Pushing Social

POSTED BY ERIN MOORE
Erin has been writing her entire life, but only recently found her voice in the paranormal romance world.

She's an avowed chocoholic, loves travel and good tea, and finds her inner peace by meditating and writing. Fantasy, historical fiction, and romance are her inspirations.