While most of you might know these things already, I’m just learning this myself. I hope I learn from you as well.
Now! Shall we get started? J
- First, why broadcast yourself? Well, everyone knows the answer to that one, or should know…LOL.
- Let us examine the aim for advertising.
- The email medium.
While this can be a great way to buzz your book, it can be very time consuming, not that marketing one’s work ISN’T time consuming, and it can be more tedious than other methods of advertising.
- Snail mail advertising-
While mailing flyers, postcards, etc. to potential readers seems like a great idea, there are some flaws. Most of the time, especially when one is first starting out in the writing industry, the cost for something on this scale is cost prohibitive, (unless one has an old maid aunt who has more money than sense :-D) but I digress. Another thing is that your mail could be just thrown out with the trash; reaching the audience that you want to reach is not guaranteed; and it is very time-consuming.
Best Solutions to Advertising Cheap and/or Free
1. Myspace page: A myspace page can be an invaluable tool. While a lot of myspace pages consist of tweens, young teenagers, and kids, there are quite a few who are serious writers that want to network, etc. If you check out the groups, there are many writers/readers groups you can join, or even create your own group. I’m sure many of you already know about that.
2. Myspace pages will allow you to include slideshows, videos, and photos of your book, or even yourself. This will also help you reach your target audience, as searchers can find you by subject.
3. www.goodreads.com is a wonderful tool as well.
4. So are a number of other sites.
This brings us to broadcasting yourself.
Youtube is one of the best sites where you can post your book trailer. You want to make it as professional as possible when you create your video.
- Check out the photos, and/or text you want to have on the video BEFORE you start. You can find free photos all over the Internet. You can even find sound effects, music, just about anything you want to include in your video.
- Next, you want to keep your video under two minutes, if possible. This is NOT as easy as it may seem.
I use Windows Movie Maker software for videos. Just be sure you read the tutorial, or go to the help icon. If you don’t have WMM, you can create a video on the Internet. Just Google—‘video maker sites”. You might find some that charge, but there are free sites to help you create what you want.
I struggled with making my video due to NOT reading instructions first…LOL
So, there you have the ins and outs of broadcasting yourself.
Here is my youtube video. Please take a few minutes to view it.. http://youtube.com/watch?v=6p-6F8Urx9M
I hope this helps.
