by Scott Lorenz | Author Advice, Blog, Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Book Publicity, Marketing a Book, Promoting a Book
By Scott Lorenz
Westwind Communications
As a book publicist I reach out to many people to read and review my client’s books. That is why I work with dozens of Book Bloggers as they like to read books and interview authors for their blogs.
Some bloggers have tens of thousands of followers and can change an author’s life by covering their book.
The key is to find the right bloggers who are interested in your genre. Blogs tend to generate a dedicated following with certain blogs sending some authors right to the best seller ranks.
Here’s a list of book bloggers I compiled. Some may want to conduct an author interview; some will review your book and some will do both. Find the ones that are a good fit and follow their instructions for contacting them.
1. Book Bloggers Association
2. Morgen Bailey
3. Kate Brauning writes excellent book reviews
4. Cynsations
5. The Next Best Book Club
6. Expat Bookshop
7. Better World Books Blog
8. Modern Mrs Darcy
9. Book Riot
10. Kirkus Reviews
11. Maryse’s Book Blog
12. BookPage
13. Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
14. Reading Books Again
15. Lisa Reading
16. The New York Review of Books
17. Joel’s Books
18. AuthorsReading.com
19. NPR Book Blog
20. Amazon Book Blog
21. Barnes and Noble Book Blog
22. Crossroad Reviews
23. BookTrib
24. LITERARY TITAN
25. Caffeinated Reviewer
26. Book Depository Blog
27. BookZio
28. Largehearted Boy
29. Wishful Endings
30. The Reader
31. TLC Book Tours
32. Joy’s Book Blog
33. Book Room Reviews
34. Linda’s Book Blog
35. Nerdy Book Club Blog
36. Rose City Reader by Gilion Dumas
37. Jazzy Book Reviews
38. Zooloo’s Book Diary
39. Bound 4 Escape
40. NewInBooks
41. The IndieView
42. Independent Book Review
43. The Writer’s Life eMagazine
44. Sincerely Stacie
45. Bewitched Bookworms
46. A Dream Within A Dream
47. Awful Library Books
48. Why Not? Because I Said So!
49. Annabookbel
50. Alexa Loves Books
51. librorum in sempiternum
52. Utopia State of Mind
53. Reading Is My SuperPower
54. So many books, so little time
55. The Reading Diaries
56. Stuck In A Book Blog
57. I’m Into Books | Book Tours & Reviews
58. Up All Night Book Blog
59. Books’n’Stuff ~ Between the Lines
60. Travelling Book Junkie
61. Rockstar Book Tours by Jaime and Rachel
62. One Book More
63. Reviews By Martha’s Bookshelf
64. Review Tales by Jeyran Main
65. Katie’s Book Blog
66. Indie Reader
67. Totally Booked Blog
68. Socrates’ Book Reviews by Yvonne Hering
69. Jen Med’s Book Reviews
70. Dublin Review of Books
71. Author Anthony Avina’s Blog
72. Feed Your Fiction Addiction by Nicole Hewitt
73. The Book Review Directory
74. By the letter book reviews Blog
75. Michelle M. Pillow’s Blog
76. The BiblioSanctum
77. The Book Review Crew
78. Ana’s Attic Book Blog
79. WildBlue Press
80. Read with V
You can also search for bloggers who interview authors by typing keywords such as “list of book bloggers” or “blogger author interviews.” If you want to track down a certain audience, you can be more specific with your Internet search and search phrases like “young adult fiction book blog.”
The Bottom line: Find bloggers to interview you about your work is but one ‘arrow in the quiver’ of a book marketing strategy and one that can lead to new fans, book publicity and increase in book sales.
Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it’s their first book or their 15th book. He’s handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman’s World, & Howard Stern to name a few.
Learn more about Westwind Communications’ book marketing approach at https://WestwindBookMarketing.com or contact Lorenz at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or 734-667-2090 or fill out the form below. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @aBookPublicist. Want help titling a book? Check out Scott Lorenz’s new award winning, bestselling book: Book Title Generator- A Proven System in Naming Your Book www.BookTitleGenerator.net.
Would you like help promoting your book?
If so, tell us a little about your book. What is the title? Do you have a publisher? What is the publish date? How many pages is your book? What is the cost? Do you have web site? What is your specific goal I.E., to make money, raise awareness, get the attention of an agent or publisher, sell the story to a movie or TV studio or something else?
Submit the form below with this information and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you!
by Scott Lorenz | Blog, Book Fairs, Book Festivals, Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Book Publicity, Jewish Book Festivals, Jewish Book Promotion, Marketing a Book, Promoting a Book
By Scott Lorenz
Westwind Communications
Book festivals and fairs are held year-round all over the world. As a book marketing specialist, I am the first to impress on authors the new and powerful marketing avenues open to all authors on the Internet – from websites and book trailers to social networks like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. While these are excellent tools when used properly, authors should never overlook opportunities to meet the reading public face-to-face.
If you are a Jewish author or specialize in writing about Jewish issues, you should consider visiting some of these Jewish book fairs in the Jewish community.
1. Jewish Community Center of Greater Ann Arbor. Contact Karen Freedland, Cultural Arts and Education Director, at 734-971-0990. You can also visit jccannarbor.org.
2. Jewish Book Council’s Jewish Book Month. Jewish Book Month is an annual event on the American Jewish calendar dedicated to the celebration of Jewish books. It is observed during the month proceeding Hanukkah, thus the exact date changes from year to year. Click here to learn more.
Jewish Book Fairs and Festivals for Jewish Authors
3. Valley of the Sun JCC in Scottsdale, AZ will be hosting the Arizona Authors Speaker Series monthly from October to April. The event will take place on the 3rd Monday of each month from 1:30pm. Arizona contributes much to the literary world with authors and as a story setting. The Valley of the Sun JCC will be treated to appearances by authors who are either from, reside, or use Arizona as a locale for their books. The authors will speak about their life and writings. You need to be a Brandies member to join this group. Guests and JCC Members are welcome for a $5 fee. RSVPs are required to Merrill Kalman: mskbflo@aol.com or 480.296.3355. https://valleyofthesunj.org/
4. Valley of the Sun JCC in Scottsdale, AZ will also be hosting “Exceptional” Characters in Books & Film, which is co-sponsored by CJSN. The event will take place the 2nd Wednesday of each month from 1:00-2:30pm and will be featuring books with protagonists with disabling conditions; our discussions will focus on the way the disability impacts the characters and the plot. Click here to learn more.
5. JCC of Metro Detroit’s 61st Annual Jewish Book Fair. At this event, fabulous authors from all over the world will present their books. For further information, contact Dalia Keen at 248.432.5467 or email info@jccdet.org or visit jccdet.org.
6. Shalom Austin’s Austin Jewish Book Fair. The schedule features lectures and discussions with acclaimed writers, the annual Book Lover’s Luncheon, and an onsite bookstore in partnership with Barnes & Noble. The total cost for the Book Fair Package is: $25 JCC Member /$30 Non-member. Each individual event is: $10 JCC Member /$15 Non-member. https://shalomaustin.org/2022/11/30/jewish-book-club/
7. St. Louis JCC’s 34th Annual St. Louis Jewish Book Festival presented by Maryville University – St. Louis. All author events take place at the Staenberg Family Complex unless otherwise noted. For more information, please call the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival Hotline: 314.442.3299 or visit their website.
8. Marcus JCC Atlanta’s 21st Edition of the Book Festival of the MJCCA. For 20 successful years, the Book Festival of the MJCCA has provided our community with a literary extravaganza featuring an exciting lineup of the year’s most exceptional authors, speakers, and celebrities. Please join thousands of your fellow book lovers to listen, meet, and interact with your favorite authors in a variety of forums, including author meet-and-greets, book signings, a community read, and panel discussions. Click here for more details.
9. Mandell JCC of Greater Hartford will host the 20th Annual Mandell JCC Jewish Book Festival – Celebrating Israel, Debuts, Dads & Dudes. Click here for complete details.
10. Columbus JCC is finalizing the fantastic line up for JCC Bookfair! For more information about sponsorship contact Bookfair Director Debbie Vinocur at dvinocur@columbusjcc.org or 614.559.6214. Click here for updates as they become available.
11. Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center in Houston, TX will be holding their 40th Annual Jewish Book & Arts Fair. For a calendar of events and complete brochure, click here.
12. JCC of Greater Washington will host the 43rd Annual Book Festival. The festival will present an exciting line-up of best-selling authors as well as up and coming writers new to the literary scene. The nine-day Festival will be packed with engaging author events, children’s programs, book signings, and a bookstore brimming with Jewish must-reads. For details, to request a Book Festival brochure, or to join the Book Festival Committee, contact the Book Festival Director Lynn Gittleson at 301.348.3840 or lgittleson@jccgw.org or click here.
13. San Diego Center for Jewish Culture will host the San Diego Jewish Book Fair. The San Diego Jewish Book Fair is the largest and most respected Jewish Book Fair in the nation and the largest literature-related event in San Diego County. For tickets and further information, click here.
14. Mandel JCC in Beachwood, Ohio will be celebrating the 13th Annual Festival of Jewish Books & Authors. Stay tuned for details and a full listing of authors, which will be announced this month! For information, please contact Julie Frayman at jfrayman@mandeljcc.org or 216.831.0700 ext. 1316. Please check here for announcements.
15. The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee in Florida will host the Jewish Book Festival, with a lecture and Q&A with author Lloyd Constantine. For questions, contact Len Steinberg at 941.371.4546 ext. 106 or click here.
16. JCC Dallas will host the J Book Fair. For more information, please contact Rachelle Weiss Crane at rweisscrane@jccdallas.org or 214.239.7128 or click here.
Book fairs typically seek out guest speakers. By volunteering to speak at a Jewish book fair, you will pique the interest of new readers and potentially gain a few new fans. Additionally, you can add the speaking appearance to your resume. Be sure to plan ahead because book fairs, speaking engagements and readings are all planned months in advance. For a complete list of book fairs and festivals visit westwindbookmarketing.com
The Bottom Line: Reach out to the Jewish community and attend a book fair! You will be happy you did.
Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it’s their first book or their 15th book. He’s handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman’s World, & Howard Stern to name a few.
Learn more about Westwind Communications’ book marketing approach at https://WestwindBookMarketing.com or contact Lorenz at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or 734-667-2090 or fill out the form below. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @aBookPublicist. Want help titling a book? Check out Scott Lorenz’s new award winning, bestselling book: Book Title Generator- A Proven System in Naming Your Book www.BookTitleGenerator.net.
Would you like help promoting your book?
If so, tell us a little about your book. What is the title? Do you have a publisher? What is the publish date? How many pages is your book? What is the cost? Do you have web site? What is your specific goal I.E., to make money, raise awareness, get the attention of an agent or publisher, sell the story to a movie or TV studio or something else?
Submit the form below with this information and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you!
by Scott Lorenz | Author Advice, Blog, Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Book Publicity, Marketing a Book, Promoting a Book, Speaking Gigs, Writing a Book
By Scott Lorenz
Westwind Communications
As a doctor, it is important to gain speaking engagements to promote yourself and your practice to both your peers and to gain new patients. Here are the top ten things you can do to get more speaking dates.
1. You need a terrific website that is informative and grabs the viewer’s attention as soon as they click to your page. A website is one of the first things someone who is interested in you will check out.
If they like it, they’ll contact you, if not they won’t. Your website is the perfect place to post a video of you at a speaking engagement or feature an article you’ve written. One way to ensure your website is as good or better than others is to benchmark it against websites of your competitors or practitioners in your same field.
It is also important for your website to look professional. In order to achieve a clean, professional look hire a web designer who is familiar with medical marketing to design your website. The days of doing it yourself are over.
2. Patient testimonials are a useful marketing tool and can be easily added to your website. Testimonials can be acquired by asking your patients. Simply ask them questions and videotape their responses. Once you have a few testimonials, edit and compile the videos and upload them to your website and YouTube.
3. Doctors who publish articles get asked to speak. My clients are invited to speak on a regular basis because their articles are discovered online. How? A conference organizer who is looking for a speaker on a particular topic will search the Internet for someone demonstrating that expertise. If you have an article on that topic, they can find you. It’s that simple. When writing articles, it is important to understand that you have two main audiences.
First, you have patients. Second, you have your peers. Your patients are not going to understand the serious medical lingo that your peers might. One solution to this issue is to develop two different websites: one for patients and one for your fellow doctors. With a peer-friendly website, you can add the more technical articles and information. On your patient-friendly website, you can put things in layman’s terms which patients will understand and appreciate.
4. Position yourself as an expert in your particular medical field. One option is to add the word “expert” after the topic you are expert in. For example, one of my doctor clients is a “propofol expert.” If someone were to search a topic of interest online and add the word “expert” to their search, the experts in that area would show up in the search results. Go ahead try – it.
Search on “propofol expert.” You’ll find Dr. Barry Friedberg. By finding your specific expertise and promoting it via articles and press releases, when people need an expert in your field, you will be sure to pop up in their Internet search. You can also get yourself listed as an expert by visiting expertclick.com or authorbookings.com.
5. Writing a book is an excellent way to publicly demonstrate your expertise. The most common approach is to write a book proposal and then find an agent who will present your proposal to a publisher who will publish your work.
A different approach is to compile past articles you’ve written and then self-publish your book. Visit westwindbookmarketing.com for ideas on publishing and promoting your book. Whichever route you choose, your book will show the media that you are serious about the work you do.
6. Now that you have your book written and published, what do you do with it? The answer? Promote it! You can either promote the book yourself or hire a PR firm to get the word out and promote the book for you.
The PR firm will create a press kit, which includes a press release, a bio of the author, sample media questions, as well as a fact sheet that covers some of the issues in your book along with excerpts and direct quotes from your book.
You can also sell your book at the end of a speech or require the people who schedule your speech to buy “X” number of books to give to the participants. For more strategies on book promotion check out www.WestwindCos.com
7. While searching for speaking engagements, be sure to visit these useful websites. First is www.ProfNet.PRnewsWire.com, which sends out media and speaking leads to PR executives and communications representatives at hospitals, associations and universities.
A second website to utilize is The National Speakers Association (www.NSASpeaker.org). Another website, www.DoctorsReview.com, has two thousand scheduled meetings readily available on their site. On the DoctorsReview.com page, you can narrow your results by searching for a specialty or travel destination. A final suggestion is to visit www.projectspropublica.org/docdollars to gain an idea of who is paying doctors to speak.
8. In order to be a successful speaker, I recommend presentation and media training. A good friend of mine, Jess Todtfeld, was Bill O’Reilly’s producer at Fox for many years, and also worked at NBC, ABC, and CBS. Jess’s website www.successinmedia.com offers media training in both New York and Los Angeles. On his site, you can also find advice on how to pitch to the media and how to create an effective speaking presentation. Media training will help you improve your speaking skills as you will learn to speak succinctly.
9. Another way to gain speaking arrangements is to reach out to the media directly. The Harrison Guide to Top National Media and Interview Shows is an effective way to gain access to the media. For example, each of the top shows from Good Morning America to Dateline list the dozens of producers’ contact information. Another resource is called Media Atlas; they offer an online database you can access.
It is easy to go online through these options and home in on a specific audience and get in touch with the media associated with them. Once you’ve identified a member of the media that covers your topic, send them a pitch letter and a press release.
10. Finally, there are free online services you can utilize to publicize yourself and your book. CraigsList www.craigslist.org is a great place to post a number of press releases and it does, in fact, work to your advantage. Depending upon your topic, people do search for all types of things on CraigsList.
Two other websites are www.PRAvenue.com and www.PR-Inside.com where you can also post releases along with photos and video at no charge. All three of these free websites are fine options for your press release to gain circulation online.
One more thing. Keep your Curriculum Vitae (CV) up to date with education, affiliations and articles as you may be asked to email it to a prospective customer on the spot. Furthermore, have new headshots taken so your photos look like you and not your high school yearbook.
If you follow these steps, you’ll be well on your way to obtaining more speaking engagements. For a more detailed strategy with tips and articles on these subjects visit WestWindCos.com.
Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it’s their first book or their 15th book. He’s handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman’s World, & Howard Stern to name a few.
Learn more about Westwind Communications’ book marketing approach at https://WestwindBookMarketing.com or contact Lorenz at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or 734-667-2090 or fill out the form below. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @aBookPublicist. Want help titling a book? Check out Scott Lorenz’s new award winning, bestselling book: Book Title Generator- A Proven System in Naming Your Book www.BookTitleGenerator.net.
Would you like help promoting your book?
If so, tell us a little about your book. What is the title? Do you have a publisher? What is the publish date? How many pages is your book? What is the cost? Do you have web site? What is your specific goal I.E., to make money, raise awareness, get the attention of an agent or publisher, sell the story to a movie or TV studio or something else?
Submit the form below with this information and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you!
by Scott Lorenz | Author Advice, Blog, Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Book Publicity, Promoting a Book, Social Media
By Scott Lorenz
Westwind Communications
Now that you’ve written a book, ask yourself if you can use 280 characters to successfully promote it? After all, what good is your book if no one (except your family) reads it? Just like book signings, Twitter is a great tool to utilize while shamelessly promoting your book. As with most things, successful book promotion via Twitter is an art form not to be taken lightly.
The first thing you need to do is create an account with a not-so-boring username. In my case I used what I do in the name @aBookPublicist, you could create something clever or about your book. Then you’ll need a picture or headshot, it better be a good one too, it’s the only image people will have of you so make it clean, clear, and simple. Twitter is reminiscent of the schoolyard playground, so play nice and make friends.
Upon entering the world of Twitter, your mission is to create a following. If people aren’t reading your tweets, they won’t read your book. The best way to gain a following is to follow people. Hopefully, you’ll pique their interest, so they follow you in return. It won’t hurt to do a Twitter search for the subject area of your book. If you wrote a romance novel, search topics like “love,” “relationships,” and “romance,” Follow those people, pages, or groups and maybe they’ll want to follow you.
Look up magazine editors and tweet them specifically (using the @ function) to steer their attention to you and your literary masterpiece.
You should make nice with the book industry folks like bookstore owners, book reviewers, librarians, and your wonderful friends at Westwind Communications @aBookPublicist and let them know what you’re up to by following them. If you have a new blog post, find an article about your genre, or have new information on a speaking engagement; let them know about it by tweeting it.
Hashtags can help you attract potential readers and fans. They might also make it easier for current readers to find your books. Therefore, it’s a good idea to take advantage of services that let you find the best hashtags. Here are some options you may want to explore.
If you’re unsure of which hashtags to use, RiteTag can give you instant suggestions based on your images and text. It will also inform you of hashtags that are currently trending. There is a free trial, but you can enjoy unlimited access to the hashtag suggestion tool for only $49 per year.
AllHashtag will show you 30 of the top hashtags based off of one of your keywords. It was developed by a German web developer to help others find the best hashtags for their unique content. While AllHashtag is free to use, donations are encouraged.
Hashtagify is unique because it gives you real-time insights about hashtags you may want to use. You can use it to track hashtags, discover trending hashtags, and keep tabs on competitor posts. If you decide you like this tool after the 7-day free trial, you can invest in one of its packages, which range from $29 to $311 per month.
#Hashme is a hashtag generator powered by artificial intelligence or AI. It lets you search for the appropriate hashtags based on the text or photos you upload. While it’s free and available in the Apple app store, you can buy an $8.99 monthly subscription and unlock extra premium features.
Inflact is similar to #Hashme in that it uses AI. It lets you use a photo, link, or keyword to search for the best hashtags on Instagram. This tool rates each hashtag it recommends based on metrics like the number of posts, posts per day and level of difficulty. To use Inflact, you can buy a 3-month subscription for $144.
Sistrix is another Instagram hashtag generator that can help you discover the ideal hashtags based on keywords. According to the site, the generator is based on over 15 billion hashtag combinations and updated often. It’s free to use!
The Display Purposes hashtag tool features a search bar where you’ll enter a keyword. Once you do, you’ll receive a list of relevant hashtags. While this tool is pretty basic, it’s free and easy to use.
Remember you’re an author so it only makes sense to follow other authors. That way, you can get tips on what is happening in the writing world, outside of your area of expertise. You’ll learn while you are promoting and what’s wrong with that? About writing actual tweets: You’ve written an entire book, don’t ruin it all with a bad tweet. It is important, while tweeting, that you use a catchy headline and include a link. If your tweets are stupid, boring, annoying, or uneducated, no one will read them; or worse, people will unfollow you! We simply cannot have that nonsense. So, you should be sure to use keywords that relate to you and your book, attracting “tweeps” to your page and thus gaining your book recognition.
DO NOT make every single tweet a shameless self-promotion. People don’t like that. If people don’t like your tweets, that means they will not like you or your book. Tweet interesting things you come across, your genuine thoughts, and save the self-promoting tweets for about 20% of your total tweets.
Since tweets are limited to 140 characters, each letter is very valuable. Use www.tinyurl.com to shrink up those lengthy links containing fascinating information. This will give you more room to convey your personal message and to add your own touch to the tweet. Once you gain a following, you should reward those who were kind enough to give a hoot about you in the first place. Reward your “twitterverse” by announcing a “giveaway” and give a prize to a follower selected at random. You could make them earn their prize, perhaps by retweeting a tweet of yours.
Remember how I said be nice and make friends? Well, Karma will help you survive in the land of social media. Re-tweet posts from people you follow. They’ll probably be flattered and thus, more inclined to retweet the things you post; especially if they’re interesting and relatable!
Still not convinced all this tweeting is worth it. The media follows Twitter posts as they are searchable by Google. If someone is commenting on a current event in the news and a reporter finds your tweet, you can get quoted directly or they may call you for an interview. Trust me, as a publicist I know it works.
The Bottom Line: Twitter is a very useful tool that all authors need to utilize. Get tweeting today.
Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it’s their first book or their 15th book. He’s handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman’s World, & Howard Stern to name a few.
Learn more about Westwind Communications’ book marketing approach at https://WestwindBookMarketing.com or contact Lorenz at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or 734-667-2090 or fill out the form below. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @aBookPublicist. Want help titling a book? Check out Scott Lorenz’s new award winning, bestselling book: Book Title Generator- A Proven System in Naming Your Book www.BookTitleGenerator.net.
Would you like help promoting your book?
If so, tell us a little about your book. What is the title? Do you have a publisher? What is the publish date? How many pages is your book? What is the cost? Do you have web site? What is your specific goal I.E., to make money, raise awareness, get the attention of an agent or publisher, sell the story to a movie or TV studio or something else?
Submit the form below with this information and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you!
by Scott Lorenz | Author Advice, Blog, Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Book Publicity, Book Publishing, How to title a book, Marketing a Book, Promoting a Book
By Scott Lorenz
Westwind Communications
Throughout the ages books have been renamed, given a new copyright date as a result, and found new life and success.
There are several reasons to rename a book such as adding a subtitle to be friendlier to search engines. Another important reason is to get a new copyright date because many book critics will not review an old book and reviewers often define an “old” book as one with a copyright of more than a year old.
Margaret Mitchell first gave the title “Pansy,” the original name for Scarlett O’Hara, to her epic novel. That title was dropped as soon as MacMillan convinced Mitchell to rename her main character. She then considered the titles of “Tote the Weary Load” and “Tomorrow is Another Day,” the latter being taken from the last line in her novel. When MacMillan objected to these two titles, Mitchell reconsidered and suggested “Gone With The Wind.”
Sometimes just a minor tweak in the title will pay off big, such as “Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone” being renamed “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” “Philosopher’s Stone” was the first novel in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling when it was first published in London in 1997. The next year it was republished in America with the “Sorcerer’s Stone” change made in the title and it reached the New York Time’s best-selling fiction list in August 1999.
Other examples of books that were re-titled include:
- “The Last Man in Europe” to “1984”
- “The Dead Un-Dead” to “Dracula”
- “Catch 18” and “Catch 11” to “Catch 22”
- “Atticus” to “To Kill a Mockingbird”
- “First Impressions” to “Pride and Prejudice”
- “Fiesta” to “The Sun Also Rises”
- “Strike” to “Atlas Shrugged”
- “Mistress Mary” to “The Secret Garden”
I think you get the point. Tanya Hall of Greenleaf Book Group (www.greenleafbookgroup.com) tells of the renaming of a book that made a big difference for Greenleaf: “Gregg Crawford approached us seeking distribution services for his book, ‘Execute or Be Executed’, originally published in 2006,” says Tanya. “We saw potential in the book, but it definitely needed to be repackaged and re-titled to stand out in the crowded business genre. Gregg agreed to our suggestions, and the end result was ‘The Last Link: Closing the Gap That is Sabotaging Your Business’ which was published in March 2007 by Greenleaf Book Group Press and became our first New York Times bestseller.”
Many of the authors with whom I work do not subtitle their book which is a big mistake. A subtitle allows for a book title to contain more searchable terms which, in this day of search engine optimization, is a major consideration. Remember that people use Google, Bing and Yahoo! to search for information they need immediately – help that fills their needs, wants and desires. You want to be their Answer.
Authors should always be open to suggestions made by editors and publishers. You may love your title but the publishing company that makes millions of dollars each year selling books knows a lot more about titles that sell than you do.
So be ready to rename your book if that new title will attract more readers and sell more books. If in doubt, ask Margaret Mitchell, or J.K. Rowling, or Ernest Hemingway, or George Orwell or… Want to rename your book? Bounce an idea off me at: scottlorenz@westwindcos.com.
Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it’s their first book or their 15th book. He’s handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman’s World, & Howard Stern to name a few.
Learn more about Westwind Communications’ book marketing approach at https://WestwindBookMarketing.com or contact Lorenz at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or 734-667-2090 or fill out the form below. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @aBookPublicist. Want help titling a book? Check out Scott Lorenz’s new award winning, bestselling book: Book Title Generator- A Proven System in Naming Your Book www.BookTitleGenerator.net.
Would you like help promoting your book?
If so, tell us a little about your book. What is the title? Do you have a publisher? What is the publish date? How many pages is your book? What is the cost? Do you have web site? What is your specific goal I.E., to make money, raise awareness, get the attention of an agent or publisher, sell the story to a movie or TV studio or something else?
Submit the form below with this information and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you!
