Custom Search
|
|
Use Article Marketing To Sell More Books
Articles that get reprinted the most provide helpful or thought-provoking information. How do you decide what to write about? Here are a few suggestions. 1. Review your book’s chapter subheads in your table of contents. How many of them would make good mini-articles? Most, probably. For example, one of the subheads in Chapter 2 of my book, "Publicity for Nonprofits," is "Identifying what's newsworthy." That’s a great article topic. 2. Scan your author Q&A in your online press kit for ideas. What questions stand out as good instructional topics? You won't want to write an article answering the question, "Why did you write this book?" but your answer to "Your characters have such interesting names. How did you select them?" could easily be expanded into an interesting piece on the significance of character names in novels and how to create them. 3. Make a list of the questions that are asked the most when you're doing media or blog interviews or when you speak to groups. Turn those questions and your answers into articles that will showcase your expertise and generate interest in your book. 4. Find the nonfiction nuggets in your fiction and use them as idea springboards. Did you shadow a police officer while researching your mystery? Write about the essential steps law enforcement officers use to stay safe in dangerous situations and how the rest of us can incorporate them to stay safe, too. Is your protagonist a black belt in karate? Write an article or essay about the advantages of studying martial arts. The possibilities are almost endless if you're open to seeing how your fictional elements can be helpful in the "real" world. 5. Turn your blog postings (especially those that generated many comments) into articles. It won't take much more work, will it? Some of them could be fine as is while others might need to be altered. For maximum pick-up, keep your articles to 400 to 750 words. If you’re offering “how-to” information, put the steps or tips into a numbered or bulleted list so that they stand out and are easy to read. All article marketing or syndication sites allow an author credit or “resource” box at the end. That’s where you summarize your relevant credentials, mention your book title, and provide a link to your Web site in two or three sentences. With your content in place, you can write your headline. Throw out everything you know about writing something eye-catching or attention-getting and focus instead on creating a headline that includes the keywords people will use to find your article. For example, I used “Book Signing Tips” for one of my article headlines instead of “6 surefire ways to sell more books at your booksigning” because people are more likely to type “book signing tips” into a search engine to find the information I provide. Once you’re satisfied with your first article, use the list of article syndication sites at http://ti.nyurl.com/6nr5yq (scroll down to the most popular sites in the short list under the long list) and follow the posting instructions on each site. Finally, make sure you've got Google Alerts in place to tell you when your article gets used online. Contact those users, offering to send them more articles or to do an interview. Use article marketing to widen your circle of influence, drive traffic to your Web site, and increase your book’s visibility – all good things! Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Award-winning former publicist Sandra Beckwith now teaches authors how to generate book publicity and promotion. Get more author and book publicity tips and sign up for her free Build Book Buzz e-zine at www.buildbookbuzz.com. |
|