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I’ve just returned from the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Conference at Queen Mary University of London. My neetswriter blog post ‘Going to a Writers' Conference as Two People’, covers the talks on writing by Julie Cohen, Emma Darwin and Charlotte Betts.
I’ve just returned from the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Conference at Queen Mary University of London. My neetswriter blog post ‘Going to a Writers' Conference as Two People’, covers the talks on writing by Julie Cohen, Emma Darwin and Charlotte Betts.
This post will cover
Hazel Gaynor's talk on 'Promotion Commotion'. I'll cover the talks by Kate Harrison and
Alison Baverstock in my next post 'Latest on Book Marketing from #RNAConf15, Part II'.
Hazel Gaynor’s debut ‘The Girl Who Came
Home’, a poignant story of a group of Irish emigrants aboard RMS Titanic was a
New York Times bestseller and RNA Historical Romantic Novel of the Year. Her
second novel, ‘A Memory of Violets’ was a WHSmith Travel Fresh Talent pick, and her third novel will be released by
HarperCollins in 2016. I shall definitely be adding 'The Girl Who Came Home' to my summer reading list.
Hazel used great
examples to explain the points she was making during her talk (I've included some of her tweets and Facebook updates in this post), and this information is so
helpful to authors, whether you are traditionally published or self-published.
These points are also helpful if you intend to be published one day.
Hazel is a fantastic speaker; engaging and witty, and exceptionally generous. Hazel said that the point of promotion is to:
Hazel is a fantastic speaker; engaging and witty, and exceptionally generous. Hazel said that the point of promotion is to:
Tell me the book exists
Give me a reason to care
Convince me to buy it
By using quotes from the recent Bookseller
Marketing and Publicity Conference #mpconf15 (click for link to tweets under this hashtag), Hazel was able to demonstrate how to go about doing this.
Here's a quote from Alison Barrow, Publicist at Transworld:
Here's a quote from Alison Barrow, Publicist at Transworld:
"The author has always been vital for publicity. They know their book best."
There are more quotes from Alison Barow at #mpconf15 in this tweet:
We should be unconditionally nice, naturally. A few tips for writers (and publicists) from @thebookseller #MPConf15 pic.twitter.com/xyQ50vWOMf
— Alison Barrow (@alisonbarrow) July 1, 2015
Here’s a link which I tweeted from @neetsmarketing: via Laura Waddell with more details on #mpconf15 Social Media:
In all three talks on marketing that I attended at #RNAConf15, the speakers emphasised the importance of social media for authors.
Hazel used another quote from #mpconf15 when talking about social media, and went on to explain what you should do.
“Authors must take up the challenge to excel at social
media, building communities around their work….," Harkable co-founder, Will Francis said.
People are online to be entertained, informed, to
connect. Ask yourself why you are there. Social media isn’t a billboard.
Be engaging, rather than '#buymybook', and continue to
engage in those long gaps between books.
Focus on fluid media: Twitter, Facebook,
Instagram-what is current and ‘now’.
Be there as a user as well as an author promoting
their book.
Visual social media works well, and Pinterest can be
used as an online noticeboard, a way to give the reader something more after
they've finished your book. Here are Hazel’s Pinterest boards
Use video: YouTube, BookTube, video on Facebook. Video
views on Facebook recently passed those on YouTube for the first time.
Use Virtual Events and Festivals such as the Festival
of Romance, Podcasting, Google Hangouts.
Use Periscope. See #WhereIWrite for an example of how to use it (here's an article on this, via The Independent).
Share interesting, relevant book-related content: For ‘The Girl Who Came Home’, Hazel shared images of
the Titanic, references about the ship, imagery from museum trips, artefacts
sold at auction, and she engaged with people fascinated by the Titanic.
A
Google Hangout: Irish Fiction Chat with Carmel Harrington, Hazel Gaynor,
Clodagh Murphy (chaired by books editor of The Evening Herald, Susan Conley)
#Romance15
Use a relevant
hashtag: Hazel used the Chelsea Flower Show hashtag for A Memory of Violets
For the last day of #ChelseaFlowerShow I have flowers for you! RT to enter giveaway of #AMemoryOfViolets Ends 2pm. pic.twitter.com/0TkSkL6Ks1
— Hazel Gaynor (@HazelGaynor) May 23, 2015
Use
anniversaries:
On the anniversary of the event that inspired the book, download #AMemoryofViolets for $1.99 http://t.co/6C26SuEY8w pic.twitter.com/OIOTWFLxxs
— Hazel Gaynor (@HazelGaynor) June 26, 2015
Social
media essentials:
Website and blog, Twitter, Facebook Page, Sign up to Goodreads as an author, create a mailing list using eg. mailchimp
Website and blog, Twitter, Facebook Page, Sign up to Goodreads as an author, create a mailing list using eg. mailchimp
Make
your personal Facebook account updates different from your Facebook Page
updates:
See my posts on Facebook, and another will follow soon on 'Managing What Your Friends See on Facebook'.
See my posts on Facebook, and another will follow soon on 'Managing What Your Friends See on Facebook'.
Add an app to your Facebook Page for ‘start reading':
Use your Facebook Page for giveaways;
3-6 months before release of book:
Start showing your progress, the cover reveal, have a Goodreads giveaway, ask for book reviews.
Launch:
Do a blog tour-interviews, chapters, extracts; do
Twitter giveaways, have reader discussions, share reviews, share your Pinterest
board, use Goodreads and keep your author profile up-to-date, keep your website
up-to-date.
Community where you live:
Visit local bookshops and give them a copy of your
novel for the staffroom, and offer to do readings and signings. Approach the organiser for local writing festivals and
events. Find local book clubs, ask your librarian about
writing groups and book clubs. Offer to run writing workshops at libraries. Try to meet booksellers at conferences, and go to book
launches. Connect to book clubs in for example the U.S., if you
have a friend there who can help, via Skype.
Articles/blog posts:
Write articles-online and in print, be interviewed,
and write blog posts for eg. see Hazel's post on the RNA blog.
Other things you can do:
Remind yourself what it’s like to be a reader, why do
you fall in love with a book? Collaborate with your publisher, put forward
ideas and work together
Be creative-eg see Matt Haig's video on how to be a writer. I love
this!
‘Keep chucking the mud and see what sticks’
That's it! Thank you so much to Hazel for such useful advice. I look forward to using some of these ideas with clients, and hopefully one of these days for myself :-).
Take a look at #RNAConf15 on Twitter and Facebook to see photos and updates from the RNA Conference.
Part II of this post is now ready (which covers talks by Alison Baverstock and Kate Harrison):
Latest on Book Marketing from #RNAConf15, Part II
Fantastic - thanks so much for posting this, Anita! I missed Hazel's talk as I was at another and, although I already do a lot of this, I've learned some more. One to bookmark for reference!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you found it helpful Rosemary! Lots of cheeky tips :-)
DeleteThanks for posting Hazel's talk, Anita. I had to leave 10 minutes in to go for a 1:1 appointment so missed out on most of it - now I know what good advice I missed.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you found it useful, Kate, thanks for reading! Hope the 1:1 went well :-).
DeleteThanks, Anita. I was there and scribbling furiously and you've still managed to pick up things that I didn't.
ReplyDeleteGlad you found it helpful April, thanks for reading!
DeleteGreat post, Anita. I will share. x
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sue!x
DeleteA great summary of a REALLY good session!!
ReplyDeleteJohn
Thank you, John! And thanks for sharing on Twitter too :-).
Delete