Guest Blog - Jia Gayles of The Knight Agency

I'm very pleased to present a guest blog from the fabulous Jia Gayles, Promotions/Public Relations Director of The Knight Agency (who you might know represents yours truly).

Don't forget to leave a comment for today's contest: I'll be giving away FIVE signed Chicagoland Vampires bookplates today. Enter by commenting and telling us about how you use the web to market your own writing OR to learn about what your favorite authors are doing. Winning entries will be chosen at random, and the contest runs until 11:59 p.m. on Monday, June 29.

Take it away, Jia!

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First off, thanks to the lovely and talented Chloe for inviting me to do a guest blog on web promo. She’s definitely one savvy lady when it comes to promoting her own books, and if you haven’t checked her out yet – you are behind the curve! LOL.

We all know that publishing is undergoing a major facelift. Before the economic turndown publicity departments were already stretched. Most authors were responsible for being the major push to get their names out there. Now with shrinking revenues and print media collapses, both on the magazine and newspaper side, it’s even more imperative that authors take a prominent role in publicity. The easiest, most cost effective way to do that is online.

So, your first book is coming out and you’re thinking Hawaii might be a nice stop for the whirlwind book tour. Not so fast. A debut author trotting around the country on the publisher’s dime is as likely as waking up to find a giraffe munching on your begonias. So, if you want to travel, consider renting a virtual jet. It can be as fabulously luxurious and as decadent as you like – you don’t even have to leave your bed. Blog tours are an excellent way to get your name out there. There are actually companies that set these up, like Virtual Blog Tour and TKA Book Tours, among others (Disclaimer: I usually book tours myself, so I don’t have personal knowledge of these companies success rates). Honestly, you can do the research yourself, if you have the time. Just put on your private investigator hat. Talk to your agent or author friends and see what blogs they have done a guest post for or are following. Search through industry-related blogs that you personally like to read and check out their links sections. Links will lead you to like-minded bloggers and websites. Look to see if said blogs have an active comment section and a traffic counter to indicate number of hits. If not, you can always visit Alexa.com and Technorati.com to see how the blog rates. Once you’ve determined the site is worthy, contact the blogger and express your interest.

It’s best to keep the blogger query email pithy – just the facts m ‘am sort of thing. Hit the highlights: book genre, release date, link to any great reviews (i.e. TRAVELING TO THE MOON received 4 1/5 starts from Romantic Times and a starred review in Publishers Weekly). After your signature include the book title, cover blurb, ISBN number, and any links to your website, blog, message board – what have you. Let me back up here a minute and say that you should note the type of books each blog specializes in. If you are an erotica writer, it’s probably a waste of electricity to send an email to someone who primarily spotlights inspirational authors. You get the drift.

A note here on local publicity. Don’t leave this source untapped. Find local book clubs that might be interested in reading your book or have you visit during the discussion in person or via phone. You can find local groups by visiting Meetup.com and entering your interest and zip code. Of course, setting up a signing in your local bookstore and coercing all your friends and family into helping you get the word out is always a plus. I could go on here about local efforts, but I am prone to going off on tangents and this is supposed to be about web promo!

So, moving on, if you are a super new author and you are wondering what the first step is, I would say start with a Facebook page, Twitter account or blog. That’s the bare minimum. All are FREE. Yes, the magic word. Blogger.com and Wordpress.com are user friendly and will give you a platform to promote yourself. Just pick one avenue, based on your personality, to get the ball rolling. Keep in mind, social networking sites require frequent daily updates to build a following. Blogging requires creative, thoughtful posts published several times a week – and it might take months to get a decent sized audience.

Next on the agenda, get your own website. The first order of business is determining your budget. Do you need to start out with something cheap, a la Yahoo! web hosting? Understandable, but it might be a good idea to find a web designer first and figure out if they might be able to work within your budget. The best way to find a designer is word of mouth or researching other authors’ web pages you admire. Look at the bottom of the homepage to determine who designed that site (there’s usually a link to the designer’s website embedded in the name). When you talk to them, find out if you will be able to easily make small updates to the site or will need to contact them for all updates (designer updates=more $$$). It’s not a problem to go with something quick and dirty to start, but ultimately you want something customized that will help further solidify your brand. Website templates will tie your hands design-wise. Whatever the case, having a website is critical for any goal-oriented author. You need a place to showcase your work and keep readers informed of what’s on the horizon.

A final word about that Twitter thing. Everybody’s doing it. From teens, to Oprah, to senators and Iranian protestors – you can’t deny its impact. As a writer, you pretty much live a solitary life. Just you and the computer typing away in Hoboken, N.J., grand ole Paris or a remote island in the South Pacific. Twitter eliminates that distance and allows you to hold real-time conversations with writing peers and publishing professionals all over the globe. Everyone is answering the question, “What are you doing,” in 140 characters or less, and they are divulging personal activities and much more. Case in point, the Tools of Change for Publishing Conference was held in New York. I couldn’t hop on a plane, but I could insert the hashtag “#toc” into the Twitter search engine and get a minute-to-minute update of the conversation live from attendees. The trick to standing out on Twitter is saying things that are not only light-hearted and entertaining, but also educational to the people “following” you. Once you’ve gained their loyalty, you can start inserting links to your blog, announcing your upcoming release, awards, contests – the sky is the limit.

Obviously, there are myriad ways an author can promo themselves online, and the “pond” is growing deeper and wider each day. Choosing the right avenues can be daunting, but by dipping a toe in, slowly wading up to your knees, treading water and finally swimming – you can eventually turn yourself into a big fish.

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Thanks so much for joining us today, Jia, and happy weekend to everyone!