Plug Your Book! - Steve Weber (top 10 motivational books TXT) 📗
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Authors are quickly realizing they can do the same thing the bands are doing: use MySpace to go directly to their audience, without needing a big fat marketing campaign or the muscle of a big publisher.
Barely two years after its launch, MySpace became the most popular U.S. Web site based on number of visits during 2006. Each member has his or her own circle of like-minded friends. After you become someone's MySpace friend, you have access to his or her friends. And each of your new friends has more friends.
While there are hundreds of social-networking sites--Facebook, Friendster, Orkut and Tribe.net to name just a few--MySpace has captured more than 80 percent of the traffic. If you want to see what all the fuss is about, you can open a MySpace account here:
#www.Signup.Myspace.com/ index.cfm?fuseaction=join#
If you wish, you can make your MySpace account private until you're ready to use it. Go to #Account Settings # and then #Privacy Settings#.
MySpace? You might be thinking, "Isn't that for high-school kids?" Sure, that's the stereotype; MySpace is popular with kids. But with nearly 100 million members and the No. 1 traffic rank on the entire Internet, clearly there's more to it than loitering schoolkids.
Authors of every genre are jumping on the MySpace bandwagon. Horror novelist Michael Laimo says he got more than a dozen big media interviews after reporters noticed his MySpace page. He inked his first movie deal through MySpace after an independent director sent him a MySpace message asking about film rights. Hundreds of fans have told him they bought his books after seeing his MySpace profile:
#www.MySpace.com/MichaelLaimo#
MySpace is the Internet's answer to a promotional tactic used by new authors for decades--selling books from the trunk of your car. Both tactics are tedious, time-consuming, and usually don't produce results for a while. But if you keep plugging away and you're sincere, people notice. Your snowball starts barreling downhill purely from its own momentum.
Here are some of the friends you can network with on MySpace:
Readers.# People who read similar kinds of books, on the same topics and in the same genres. People who read the same authors as you, or whose style you emulate. You can search for these readers using any keywords or names related to your themes and books. Authors.# Other authors are great people to network with--creative types in the same boat as you, trying to find new readers. You'll find many valuable ways to share resources and cross-promote with authors you meet on MySpace.Most of its members don't use MySpace as a promotion tool; they're just there for the friends. But MySpace can be a foolproof self-promotional tool if you're intent on using it that way. Any author, even one without computer skills, can easily post photos along with artwork and sample text from their books. You can include links to buy your book from online retailers, publish a MySpace blog, and send bulletins about your public appearances and publication dates.
Big publishers have noticed the potential for publicity on MySpace, too, and have been building profiles for their authors, often using the same canned material from press releases. Readers who are already fans might be interested in this warmed-over stuff, but authors building an audience must get involved. You can't fake participation online for very long.
In addition to its networking opportunities, MySpace is a wickedly good research tool. For example, in about 10 seconds you can find out how many members say "Malcolm Gladwell" is their favorite author, and you can zap a message to them if you like. Or you can quickly locate members in your ZIP code who are science-fiction buffs. Authors can even use MySpace to figure out what books their own friends and fans are currently reading.
Making friends on MySpaceThere are several ways to find people on MySpace who might be in your target audience--by searching for murder mysteries, historical romance, _ self-improvement_, organic food, or whatever field you're in. Perhaps there's a famous writer whose style you emulate, and you'd like to find other admirers. Once you've found potential friends, you can send a request for them to "add" you as a friend. The invitee can accept, decline, or ignore your request, although most people accept.
Once you're friends with someone on MySpace, you can post comments on each other's profile pages and see each other's full circle of friends. Here's how to find friends and potential readership on MySpace:
Browse friends lists of similar authors. #Find the MySpace profiles of authors with similar books, writing style and similar target audience as yours. On the right side, scroll down a bit to the link See All of [Name]'s Friends. Start sending invitations--you'll get many potential readers this way. For example, up-and-coming memoirist Josh Kilmer-Purcell sends friends invitations to fans of David Sedaris and Augustine Burroughs, bestselling memoirists in the same vein. Each time he makes his rounds on MySpace, Purcell watches his Amazon sales spike for days afterward. Here's another twist: Send an invitation to a famous author, and if they accept, post a comment, which appears on the bottom right of their MySpace page. More exposure for you.There are two ways of approaching MySpace friendships: trying to acquire as big a list as possible, or having a smaller group you can make stronger connections with individually. In any case, the people who ultimately buy your books and recommend you to others will be those in your core groups, those who feel a connection.
Leaving comments. #After you become someone's MySpace friend, visit their profile and add a comment. This is an effective networking tool--not only will your new friend read your comment, but people who visit your friend's page will see it, too. Avoid the most overused MySpace comment: "Thanks for the add," which means "thanks for adding me as a friend." It's a clich�, and a missed opportunity. Take a moment to think of a meaningful comment, based on something about your new friend's profile, like "Hey, my favorite author is Hemingway, too!" Sending messages. #MySpace has an internal e-mail system and an instant-messaging system for sending private notes. You can include your regular e-mail signature, including links and photos. But if the message isn't too personal, you're better off posting your thoughts publicly, as a "comment" on your friend's page. This increases your visibility on MySpace, making it that much easier for new friends and readers to discover you. Responding to messages. #When you receive a MySpace message, you'll receive an e-mail alert. To network effectively, respond promptly to your messages. If someone makes the effort to write to you, they'll be waiting for a response. Don't alienate potential friends by letting messages pile up unanswered.Sending personal replies is time-consuming and you won't see instant results. But remember, the personal connection you provide with a thoughtful reply is something readers will remember, and something they're unlikely to get from a big-name author. These are the folks who will feel good about you and recommend your books to others.
To post a bulletin, click the Post bulletin link in the box labeled # My Mail#.
Like personal messages, bulletins are a feature you'll want to use sparingly, to preserve their impact. If you bombard friends with frequent bulletins that aren't compelling, they'll start ignoring them, and perhaps be irritated enough to drop you as a friend.
Here are the kinds of noteworthy events you'll want to send bulletins about:
Your new book becomes available for sale at online retailers or local bookstores.
You get profiled in a national newspaper or magazine.
You've won a prestigious award or literary prize.
You've just been booked to appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show _ or _Larry King Live.
Picking your 'Top 8'After you've explored MySpace a bit, you'll notice under each member's # About Me# section are pictures of eight friends, along with a link to that member's complete friends list. By default, the eight pictures displayed are the first eight friends added by that member, known in MySpace parlance as the Top 8.
You can shuffle your Top 8 to add zing to your profile page. Take your most influential or well-known friends and move them to the front by scrolling down to the box labeled #My Friend Space# and clicking Change my Top Friends. Seek out more authors or experts in your field, and request they add you as a friend. Move them into your Top 8,
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