|  February 22, 2012
In This Issue:
Buzzing Around  Hi Sylvia,
First the good news: I'm looking forward to attending a conference in Washington, D.C. in early March. Now the bad news: I won't be able to wear my usual office uniform...a long-sleeved t-shirt, yoga pants, and Crocs. Bummer. But on the bright side, I'm looking forward to dining out in D.C. If you're a local or familiar with the area, could you suggest a favorite restaurant? I'd really appreciate it! New topic: Do you subscribe to my blog? Keep the book publicity, promotion, and marketing information flowing to your inbox by using the forms on the right side of the blog to subscribe by e-mail or RSS feed. Here are two recent articles you might like: They help de-mystify the "platform" concept and give you 12 planks for yours. Have a great week! Cheers, Sandy
Be Opportunistic:
Use Unconventional March Holidays to Get Exposure Oh, sure, you could create a holiday of your own to get media attention, but why do that if you can take advantage of a holiday that someone else has already created? We've got an abbreviated list of some of the quirkier special days coming up in March below (get the entire list at http://bit.ly/yxbfkY) - what can you do with these to get media or other attention? Some ideas: - Send out a tip sheet offering advice - "March 2 is Employee Appreciation Day: 5 ways to show yours."
- Host a blog or Twitter contest - Invite people who share your middle name to enter to win a copy of your book on March 10, "Middle Name Appreciation Day."
- Pitch radio stations on interviews - Share your best clutter stories and talk about how to get rid of things you don't need on March 2, "Old Stuff Day."
In most cases, you'll need a connection between your book and the holiday to leverage it with the press. It could be the topic, your knowledge and expertise, or a connection to one of your fictional characters (for example, if one of your novel's characters is a quilter, you've got the credentials for that March 17 holiday). Which of these could you have some fun with? Use your imagination!
Tip of the Month:
Download Free Report on Better Blogging Want to get more attention for your blog? Whether you're new to blogging or a veteran, you'll get something useful from this complimentary report from HubSpot. Better Business Blogging in 2011 explains 35 different ways to market your blog, how to blog with search engines in mind, using social media to find new readers, how to recruit guest bloggers, and more. I found it very useful. Go to http://bit.ly/ySNIzs to learn more and download your copy.
Education:
Get More Publicity for Your Book Authors don't always know how to contact the media to get interviewed on the radio, schedule a blog interview, or pitch a story idea to a newspaper or magazine. To help with these essential book publicity tactics - and so many more - we created Build Book Buzz Publicity Forms & Templates, a collection of the most commonly used book publicity media relations tools. This workbook includes fill-in-the-blanks forms for all of them, detailed instructions on how to use them so you'll get fantastic media results, and actual samples of each. Cyndy Drew Etler, author of Straightling, said this about the workbook: "I wish I had found this resource before dropping hundreds on those other tomes, the ones that just created panic over how much I had to do, and how little I knew how to do it. Build Book Buzz Publicity Forms & Templates is, like, the preschool-easy path to a doctoral degree." Kevin Kruse, author of WE: How to Improve Performance and Profits Through Full Engagement, sent us this note: "As a first-time author your Build Book Buzz templates were an incredible value. They saved me a ton of time and, more importantly, ensured that my first effort was a professional one. In the first 3 days of my publicity efforts, 3 editors have downloaded material that was built from your templates. Thanks for everything." There are 30 templates and 30 corresponding samples ready for you to use to generate priceless publicity for your book. Learn more about this valuable book publicity action guide and what authors who have used it are saying at http://buildbookbuzz.com/publicity-forms-and-templates/. Learn "9 Novel Ways to Promote Fiction" As mentioned recently in the BookDaily.com newsletter, if you write fiction, you don't want to miss my recorded interview with Sandra Poirier Diaz, president of fiction publicity firm Smith Publicity, about "9 Novel Ways to Promote Fiction." Unsolicited rave reviews for the audio program include: "I was a newspaper editor for 18 years and have a degree in public relations, so to tell you the truth, I wasn't very optimistic about learning anything new. However, the audio got my creative juices flowing so I now have a few pages of notes to go through." Jessica James "This was absolutely riveting!" Judy Nickles "I learned so much and am inspired to try several different avenues for publicizing that I had not thought of before. Best $29 I have spent in a long time!" Elaine Cooper "It was great - both informative and inspiring. I already have some new ideas for promoting my new book." Gini Rifkin "That was a great teleseminar. I learned a lot." Victoria Noxon "Great seminar! Thanks for all the valuable info!" Chrystle Fiedler Learn a top pro's secrets for using the news media, social networking, and other effective options for building sales-generating buzz for fiction when you purchase the audio program now! Listen on your computer or an MP3 player. You'll also receive three bonus fiction promotion handouts. To learn more, go to http://buildbookbuzz.com/fiction-promotion-audio-program/.
About Sandra Sandra Beckwith, a former publicist who has won several national and regional publicity awards, teaches authors how to generate long-term media buzz for their books. She is the author of three books on publicity, conducts publicity workshops, and writes frequently on small business marketing and management topics. Please visit her book publicity site and publicity blog to learn more. Need a writer's conference speaker or workshop presenter? Sandra's workshops at the American Society of Journalists and Authors annual conference, the University of Wisconsin Writers Institute, and at other industry conferences share priceless how-to information you won't get elsewhere. Contact her at sb@buildbookbuzz.com for more information. Build Book Buzz is a free e-newsletter published twice monthly by Beckwith Communications. Please forward this newsletter to anyone. To subscribe, visit www.buildbookbuzz.com. We do not share our mailing list with any individual or organization for any reason. Build Book Buzz
www.buildbookbuzz.com
Sandra Beckwith, Editor & Publisher
Phone: 585-377-2768
Email: sb@buildbookbuzz.com | 
Reply 
Retweet 
Like
ONLY $5!
