by Scott Lorenz | Author Advice, Blog, Book Publicity, Marketing a Book, Promoting a Book, Social Media
Find out how Instagram is helping authors increase visibility and earn more money.
By Scott Lorenz
Westwind Book Marketing
Instagram has over 1 billion users. So, it’s no surprise that many authors are using the platform to sell their books. With an established Instagram account, they’re able to build strong relationships, drive interest, and boost sales. If you’re an author who would like to use Instagram to your advantage, check out the Instagram accounts listed below. Follow them and engage as you like. They can give you a good idea of how authors are using the one of fastest growing social media platforms.
The New York Times bestselling author of The Kennedy Curse and The 20th Victim loves to repost pictures of children enjoying his books. His account is also full of giveaways, announcements about upcoming releases, and inspirational quotes he lives by.
Dan Brown posts about his virtual story times as well as photos of his life in New England and yellow lab, Winston. He also features occasional quotes from some of his top books like The Lost Symbol and The Da Vinci Code.
From the moment you look at Janet Evonovich’s Instagram, you’ll notice plenty of color. She fills her profile with bright and cheery photos of Hot Six, Twisted Twenty-Six and other recent books she wrote. There’s also a lot of details about book signings and new releases.
Malcolm Gladwell’s latest posts are all about his book Talking to Strangers. His Instagram is also packed with photos of him on Jimmy Kimmel Live, NPR Radio, Book Tube, and other places he’s been interviewed.
While Jon Krakauer’s posts of his political views, travels, and adventures are interesting, his catchy description is particularly noteworthy: “I write books for a living. Been toiling in the writing factory for more than 35 years. Not writing is way more fun.” Some of his most popular books include Embrace the Misery, Gates of the Arctic, and Living Under the Volcano.
Mitch Albom, author of Finding Chika and The Next Person You Meet in Heaven is an avid user of the Instagram story feature. He posts short stories to promote his interviews, podcasts, and Say Detroit, a non-profit organization he started to support underprivileged people in Detroit.
Tony Robbins’ Instagram is nothing short of inspirational. It’s filled with powerful quotes by him and information about non-profits he believes in. He also scatters several funny memes throughout. Robbins wrote The New Money Masters and The Path.
On Jay Shetty’s Instagram, you’ll find sayings from his current and upcoming books like Think Like a Monk. Here’s one that really stands out: T.I.M.E Daily Routine: Thankfulness, Insight, Meditation, Exercise.
Joanna Gaines, author of Magnolia Table and We are the Gardners uses her Instagram account to share lifestyle photos of her and her family. She keeps it pretty personal and makes it easy for followers to get a feel for the everyday happenings in her life.
10. Dashama Konah Gordon (@dashama)
Since Dashama is a “happiness expert” in addition to author of Journey to Joyful, her profile features positive quotes, pictures of her practicing yoga and meditating, and a story Q&A session where she answers her follower’s questions. She posts frequently new videos of various activities in the most incredible settings.
The Bottom Line
Use Instagram to grow and expand your audience.
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 Publishing, Book Title Generator, How to title a book, Marketing a Book, Promoting a Book, Writing a Book
“To Write Is Human, To Edit Is Divine.” – Stephen King
By Scott Lorenz
Westwind Communications
You’ve finally finished your book and are ready to get it into the hands of the reader. You’ve crafted each sentence with great intention, choosing each word to communicate your meaning. This manuscript has spent countless hours with your eyes on it and multiple people have read it for you. You’ve rewritten and revised, incorporated their suggestions and there couldn’t possibly be anything else that needs changing or correcting.
Is it still necessary to hire a professional editor or proofreader?
What if the editor has a different vision from you and suggests sweeping changes to your work? What if the editor doesn’t like, or even worse, doesn’t understand your book?
Writing a book is an amazing accomplishment, one that less than 1% of the world’s population will ever manage to do. Given the amount of time, energy, and creativity you’ve invested to bring your ideas to life, your finished manuscript is of high personal value. Your work could even be life changing for some readers, if it can reach them. Capturing an audience is no picnic and whether you are publishing traditionally or self-publishing, the competition is fierce.
At this point, your manuscript is like a raw diamond. A diamond in its natural, raw state is full of potential, both in beauty and in value. Yet without taking it to a gem expert, it can be difficult to know how much more value could be added with precise cutting and polishing. Professional gemcutters spend years honing their craft and know exactly what to do to bring forth the maximum beauty of the diamond and increase its market value.
Like gemcutters, editors and proofreaders are experts with a refined skill set. They can evaluate your book and make recommendations about which editing processes the manuscript should undergo. Their extensive training allows them to view your book differently than a casual reader and identify errors or issues with the flow, organization, or plot of the story.
“All manuscripts need something,” says author Edward Renehan. As a book publicist, I’ve seen time and again where the attention of a professional editor has changed a good book into a brilliant one. Hiring an editor is like hiring a personal trainer; it’s still you, just faster, tighter, and more trim. Whether you’re getting a developmental edit, copyedit, or proofread, a professional editor knows how to identify your vision for your work and suggest changes to accomplish that vision.
Most importantly, they are on your team. The editor’s goal is to increase the value and marketability of your work—to cut, and polish in ways that make it shine even more brightly. In an article for Publisher’s Weekly, editor Leila Sales says, “We are as invested in the success of your book as you are. Furthermore, remember this: if we sign up books that don’t perform well, that reflects poorly on us as editors. The future of our careers depends on the success of the books we edit. We are never trying to sabotage your book, because we are emotionally and financially invested in how well it does.”
Regardless of your publishing path, one of the best ways to promote your book is to get reviews. In my experience, if your book has a number of noticeable errors many reviewers will find it difficult to look past them and give a fair review of the entire work. It makes the reading more difficult and creates a poor impression. Even if the reviewer knows that it’s a galley copy or ARC and hasn’t been final proofed, a manuscript in need of editing or proofreading simply will not get as strong or positive reviews.
As a third-party endorsement of your work, reviews are critical for promotion and marketing efforts. They give the potential buyer assurance the book they may buy is worthwhile. Professional editing of your work will take your work to the next level, enabling you to get the best reviews possible from your reviewers. Better reviews increase the likelihood of getting your book the attention and audience it deserves.
The Bottom Line
Let your finished work shine! Hire a professional editor or proofreader to polish your book, bring forth its maximum beauty, and increase its market value.
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 | Audiobooks, Author Advice, Book Publishing, Book Title Generator, How to title a book, Promoting a Book, Writing a Book
By Scott Lorenz
Westwind Communications
Alliteration is a very useful literary tool. Alliteration is simply defined as the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words and also the repetition of an initial consonant sound, as in “a peck of pickled peppers.”
Alliteration is one of many tips and techniques covered in my new book designed to help authors title their books called BOOK TITLE GENERATOR.
Incorporating alliteration into your book title can help people remember your work and it will stick out in people’s minds.
Here are a few examples of books with alliteration in their titles:
- The Teeny Tiny Teacher by Stephanie Calmenson
- The Magical, Mystical, Marvelous Coat by Catherine Ann Cullen
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
- Love’s Labor’s Lost by William Shakespeare
- The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
- The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- Caesar and Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré
- The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Roger Parker of Personal Branding says, “Sometimes the most important lessons in personal branding are the simplest ones, like using alliteration, or repeated “hard” sounds, to make the title of your brand-building book stand out and be easy to remember.” You want readers, fans, and your potential audience to enjoy your book’s title. Alliteration can help that title roll off the tongue nicely. If your book’s title is memorable and fun or easy to say, people will talk about it. The alliteration will stand out in conversation or in the review section of a website.
According to Mike Ball, author of ‘Banjos, Boats and Butt Dialing’, alliteration can be a very effective tool for a humorist. Ball explains, “I rarely use it for serious subjects but judiciously used, alliteration is an author’s best friend. Since humor is all about timing, alliteration forces the reader to participate in the timing you are trying to set up. That’s why my book title ‘Banjos, Boats and Butt Dialing’ gets people to laugh before they crack the cover.”
As J.R.R. Tolkien observed, alliteration “depends not on letters but on sounds.” Thus, the phrase know-nothing is alliterative, but climate change is not.”
Domey Malasarn from the website “The Literary Lab” feels that alliteration can belong in titles as well as within your book. “I have used it on occasion myself in places where I thought it was helpful. For example, if I had a sentence like ‘Alfred was furious.’ I might revise it to “Alfred was angry.” because to me it pairs the subject of the sentence with his emotion a little more powerfully.”
Puja Lalwani of Buzzle explains, “The importance of alliteration should not be undermined as just another literary device that is beyond comprehension. It is highly useful and most invaluable, whether just to drive a point home, make for a fun read, or as a marketing tool that will leave your product etched in the mind of the consumer.”
On the website, helium.com, Stella McIntyre perfectly outlines the benefits of using alliteration across various mediums. “Although most commonly used in literature, most particularly poetry, alliteration can also be found in non-fiction writing: leaflets, newspaper headlines, advertising and merchandising. Its effect is twofold. Firstly, it draws attention to and emphasizes a phrase and secondly, it can create connotations that significantly add to the understanding and enjoyment of a writer’s meaning.”
The Bottom Line: Alliteration in book titles will help people remember your book title because it will help your work stand out and engage your reader.
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 Marketing, Book Promotion, Book Publicity, Book Publishing, Book-TV, Marketing a Book, Promoting a Book
By Scott Lorenz, Book Publicist
Westwind Communications
Want to get your book in front of millions of book lovers? BookTV can help. BookTV is a program that airs on C-Span every weekend from 8:00 a.m. EST Sat to 8:00 a.m. Monday. It’s been around since 1998 and dedicates 48-hours to non-fiction books and authors. In addition, it offers live coverage of book events across the nation.
Here are a few examples of authors who have been featured on BookTV:
- Tara Westover: Author of Educated: A Memoir, a memoir about family, loss, and struggle that was honored by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Boston Globe Bestseller.
- Jodi Picoult: Author of 24 novels, eight of which have earned a #1 spot on the New York Times bestseller list. Her books include My Sister’s Keeper, Small Great Things, and A Spark of Light.
- James Comey: Former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Author of A Higher Loyalty: Truth Lies and Leadership, a book about his career in the previous two decades of American government.
BookTV grants readers the opportunity to listen to non-fiction authors speak from the comfort of their own homes. If you’re a non-fiction author, you may be asking yourself, “How do I get my book on BookTV?” After all, this is a great opportunity to promote your book(s) and put yourself in front of the ideal audience.
To start, you can email BookTV at booktv@c-span.org or leave a phone message at 202-737-3220. When you email or call, make sure you state the following:
- Your name.
- The non-fiction book(s) you’ve written.
- Why you believe you’re a good fit for BookTV.
- Anything that makes you and/or your book(s) unique.
C-SPAN has an editorial board that meets on a daily basis to determine which authors and books to cover. If they have an interest in covering you, they’ll get back to you.
Before you pitch BookTV, it’s a good idea to check out its archive of programs and schedule for upcoming programming. This way, you can get a feel for what piques their interest and what they typically cover.
“My advice for authors and publicists who want to be carried by BookTV: Know our mission of promoting nonfiction, public policy, history, biography, and science books and authors. And keep pitching us! Also, join the over 100,000 book lovers who follow us on twitter, @booktv,” says Peter Slen, BookTV’s Executive Producer.
Remember that since BookTV delivers 48 hours of programming every weekend, there’s plenty of room for authors like you. If you don’t get a response right off the bat, keep trying as there is a good chance you’ll hear back eventually.
The Bottom Line: BookTV is an excellent way for non-fiction authors to gain exposure. While getting on BookTV may take some time and persistence, it will certainly pay off.
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 Marketing, Book Publicity, Promoting a Book
By Scott Lorenz
Westwind Book Marketing
Authors will on occasion request an alternative payment arrangement other than the typical retainer fee arrangement most PR firms including Westwind Communications require.
I could discuss all day the various payment options offered for PR services such as ‘pay for placement,’ ‘hourly fee’ or ‘retainer fee’. In a nutshell, the retainer fee allows the client to have a fixed budget amount for PR each month and it allows my firm to rely on a steady cash flow. The work goes up and down depending upon opportunities and implementation of the marketing plan. Clients will also appreciate the logic of this concept as the billing process is simplified for both parties.
For example, let’s say we get a placement or review in the Chicago Tribune – what’s that worth? What about a photo? You would think that should demand more money right? How much more? What about a one-line quote in the Wall Street Journal? What’s that worth? What happens if a newspaper in Singapore or Australia runs that quote right out of the journal? What’s that worth? What happens if a meeting planner sees it and calls the client for a speaking gig? Does the PR firm get a piece of that speaking fee? Why not?
What’s the value of a TV interview in the hometown of a self-published author on WBZ in Boston that includes her book cover, photo and link to her web site and the book trailer on YouTube? What happens if that leads to a movie deal? Would my firm be entitled to a piece of that? Or does the fee for pay-for-placement relate to the ad rate for the airtime and space for the web site? For example, an ad a little larger than a business card is $10,000 in the NY Times Sunday Book Review!
Do you want to share profits with the publicist?
I’ve promoted new medical techniques which resulted in hundreds of procedures at $5,000 apiece. In that case the worth or value of the TV story is dramatically higher. I wish I would have had a piece of that!
Several of my legal related PR placements resulted in multimillion-dollar settlements for my lawyer clients and plaintiffs when the opposing party saw the story on the local TV news. Once they knew we were prepared to continue to do battle in ‘the court of public opinion’ they settled. Should I have gotten a piece of the lawsuit settlement? Why not? Do you see the dilemma?
What happens if we hit our stride and all the big shows want the author? Can you afford the $3-6,000 fee per show? I personally have met authors who’ve turned down major national morning shows because they could not afford the ‘pay for placement’ fee. That would never happen on a fixed fee retainer basis because you’d get all the shows for one flat fee.
Do you like reviewing complicated bills? How about fighting over ‘value’ of a PR hit?
The way I see it, ‘pay-for-placement’ is a bad deal for authors. Furthermore, there is no way authors would want to review that detail every month and frankly it would cost us hundreds or thousands of dollars per month to prepare a bill with such a breakdown. The very thought of doing it that way is rather terrifying!
There are other reasons we believe it’s in our mutual interest to use retainer fees over other billing methods. Usually, people who want such a deal have had a bad experience with a PR firm that did nothing, or they don’t have enough money in the first place and they’re trying to generate sales from the PR to pay for the PR. Finding out the reason for asking for a non-retainer deal is essential to formulating an equitable arrangement.
The real issue is the futile attempt to place a ‘value’ on PR placement on a monthly basis. Nobody knows the value with certainty because the benefit may come down the road in the form of new business, speaking gigs, consulting deals, TV shows, book deals or even more publicity. Trying to measure its value every month is like trying to place a future value on a baby in a bassinet… it cannot be done.
Another issue is about trust. Can the PR firm deliver the PR that is proposed? Can they be trusted to deliver media placements? I believe that past results are a predictor of future results, especially when it comes to PR. There need be no leap of faith if a PR firm has a track record of success with placements.
Will your book publicity result in book sales, a speaking gig or will it change somebody’s life?
Furthermore, with some PR projects there is just no way to assess how the media and public is going to respond. We could go through a lot of expense to create a PR strategy, press materials and pitch it to an audience that is just not interested. I once had a reporter at Bloomberg News say, “Scott your guy’s book on INDIA looks great, but it’s the 7th book on India I’ve had this month so sorry we can’t run another one!” Or there’s a problem with the credentials of the author, founder, CEO etc. that were not disclosed to the PR firm in advance. These revelations could tank a PR effort and cost the PR firm money instead of making money.
Sometimes even with PR, people may not buy the book. In fact, there have been authors on CNBC and Good Morning America who have not sold any books!
Are you available willing and able to do almost any interview almost any time?
Finally, another reason the pay for placement deal won’t work is if the author doesn’t hold up his or her end of the bargain, such as being available for interviews, preparing for interviews, book signings, traveling, etc. Little things like these will result in little or no book sales and the publicist gets stuck with little or no compensation. Sorry, that’s a deal killer.
The Bottom Line: We’ll stick to a retainer fee basis, and my clients get to keep profits from their sales, movie deals and speaking gigs. Fair enough?
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!
