This Essay was in the LA Times on June 15, 2008 written by Seth Greenland.

Today’s authors must sell their work — and themselves. The publisher’s promotional budget wouldn’t cover bus fare to the book party for “Shining City.” What to do? Try a hot tub, high-priced escorts and a pimp.

Not long ago, I found myself seated with a pimp and three high-priced escorts, the kind favored by the former governor of the great state of New York. I was in a lawn chair while the four of them were in a hot tub — what is the word? — gamboling in the steamy water and . . .

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Once upon a time, an author published a book and left the selling to the experts in the marketing department. This was the case as recently as last week. But that quaint notion has suddenly gone the way of Duran Duran. Now, because of recent developments in the world of publishing, writer and merchant are fusing into one. Willy Loman and Arthur Miller have commingled. Call it — forgive me — Birth of a Salesman.

Publishers still occasionally provide promotional support for an author to whom they have paid a whopping advance. Other authors, however, the ones without giant deals, are placed on an ice floe and set adrift. Yes, you say. Of course. ‘Twas ever so. But if once comfort might have been derived from such platitudes, this was before the Internet and the anticipated Death of Print.

And yet, the ironic thing about the Death of Print is that no one seems to have told the publishing industry. Even as review column inches shrink and fewer writers appear on radio and television, books continue to tumble out like bunnies during birthing season.

It is a faint and slightly maundering sound, muffled, no, smothered by the cacophony of the culture. But to borrow a phrase from the indefatigable Mrs. Loman: Attention must be paid.

How?

Why, the author video. In the last few months, I have become an expert on this subject, as any author now must be. My new novel, “Shining City,” will be published in July, and the promotional budget would not cover bus fare to the book party. To attract readers, I find myself looking to do something . . . sizzling. All of which brings us back to that hot tub, with those three high-priced escorts and that pimp.

Yes, yes, I know — this seems utterly gratuitous: blatant, even prurient. David McCullough would never sit next to a hot tub in which John Adams is frolicking with Dolley Madison and Betsy Ross. But McCullough and I are very different writers, and given my material, pimps and hookers are not so far off the mark. “Shining City” is about a regular guy from Van Nuys, a middle-class dad, who inherits his brother’s dry cleaning business and learns it is a front for a high-priced call-girl ring. He needs money, so he does some on-the-fly moral calculations and, presto, he’s a pimp. Whatever you may think of the character’s principles — feel free to judge him with your book group — it’s great material for an author video.

These days, of course, author videos come in a variety of flavors — as many as there are writers, it seems. The most basic features the author — who has, say, written six novels and never had to do anything this degrading — seated in her book-lined office casually addressing the camera. “Hi,” she says, “I’ve written a new novel. Here is what it is about and I would like you to buy it.” In its subtlety and sophistication, it’s like a television ad for detergent circa 1962.

In other videos, the author remains invisible. Instead, we see computer-generated words combined with a series of graphics meant to give a feel for the book. The aesthetic is that of a neighborhood 14-year-old with iMovie on his laptop — but it’s better than the dramatization, in which a scene or scenes from the book are acted out, making us forget about the writer altogether and wonder about the movie, not a good thing when the idea is to pique someone’s interest in a book.

Then, there is the high-end soft-sell that portrays the author, torn from the comfort of his office, thrust into the world and moving through locations that evoke the book. In one recent example, John Banville can be seen in Benjamin Black mufti, wandering the streets of Dublin talking about the hero of his new thriller. For novelist Jay Cantor, the setting is a Cambridge, Mass., cheese shop. I don’t know what this has to do with anything he’s written, but it did get my attention — hmm, what is Jay Cantor doing near that brie wheel? — and this, after all, is the idea.

For my video, I hooked up with my friend Jason Kachel, who is the Sergei Eisenstein of the Los Angeles bar mitzvah circuit. If you haven’t attended one of these events lately, you might be surprised to learn they often include what has become known as a montage. This is a short film featuring the celebrant; at its most expressive, it can evoke the work of Fellini shot through with the sensibility of Mel Brooks (memo to Cannes: This should be a sidebar — “Un Certain Bar Mitzvah”). Jason is peerless in this form. What is the connection? He is used to working with people bereft of thespian talent. People, in other words, like me.

I HIRED HIM immediately and we set about writing a script. Although we had no intention of dramatizing the book, we needed human scenery, so I logged on to Backstage.com, created an account, and did an e-mail blast to the appropriate cohort (Author Seeks Actresses for Book Video), and we had our extras. As for the pimp, I called another friend, the novelist Mark Haskell Smith, and quickly explained the proposition: Was he willing to take a day off from writing to spend an afternoon with several beautiful women in a hot tub? He did not take long to commit. Locations were procured, craft services arranged.

We began our shoot at 6:45 a.m. and concluded 15 hours later. Editing took a few days, a score was composed by Stu Thomas, and Bob’s your uncle — the “Shining City” video is now online.

Will this help sales? Who knows? It’s a chaotic new world and if a novelist can’t have a little fun shilling for his own book then what, finally, is the point? But this is literature, and froufrou aside, it remains serious business. Accordingly, I try to carry myself with dignity and restraint.

Which is how I wound up on the Internet in my underwear. *

Seth Greenland’s second novel, “Shining City,” will be published in July.

Susan’s note: Authors and professionals we can help you. If you want coaching and 2 or 3 short video segments about your book, your business and or an interview check out the BizSpeak & Video Workshop and the Authors’ SpeakEasy Workshop

It is a great way to market your services and spread the word through many distribution sites.

Today’s post is from The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week- Joan Stewart
http://www.PublicityHound.com

http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)

I totally agree with Joan and we have been encouraging our speakers and authors to create video.

At the end of this post you can see a few videos I shoot today at the Women’s Small Business Expo with my new baby – the ultra flip video camera.

Stop wasting time trading links with other websites, posting the same how-to article to a gazillion article directory sites, and doing sneaky little things at your own website to try to trick the search engines.

Those strategies can actually hurt you.

Spend your time instead creating video, one of the most powerful ways to pull traffic to your website or blog. It will boost your position in the search engine rankings and, in some cases, take tons of business away from your competitors. Do it right, and they’ll be so shell-shocked they’ll pack up and go home.

During my 70-minute teleseminar with video expert Mike Stewart earlier this month, the 400 people who were on the line listened as Mike outlined lots of creative, powerful ways to use video in your publicity campaign, or to sell products or services.

We’re not talking about full-length productions here. Just short clips of about two and a half minutes or less.

Here are our ideas on how to use video in a publicity or marketing campaign:

–Create short videos about your products and services, upload them to your website, and include video links in your press releases.

–Speakers, create short video snippets of your presentations and post them at your site.

–Use videos to demonstrate how to use your product.

–Authors, create short little videos that discuss portions of your books.

–Take visitors on a tour of your website using a screen-capture software program like Camtasia.

–Shoot your own video of events the media won’t cover, and submit the video to local newspapers and TV stations, many of which offer consumer-generated video at their websites.

–Use video on a one-page sales letter. If a picture is worth a thousand words, video can close the sale.

–Generate leads and pull traffic by creating videos and posting them to YouTube and other video-sharing sites.

–Use video at your blog, or create a video blog on a free WordPress platform like I’m doing. (I should be ready to introduce it to you next week.)

If you missed last week’s call, you can hear the replay and see the nifty video I shot myself at http://www.JoanandMikeStewart.com

Mike will show you the absolute easiest-to-use equipment you’ll need to start producing video that will turn you into the type of marketing warrior that will send your competitors running home to their mommies.

Susan’s Note:

If you find that you need professional help in creating your videos check out Speaker Services one and three camera video events. June 8- 3 camera video demo showcase, July 12 & 13, Biz Speak & Video Workshop (one camera shoot) . Authors’ SpeakEasy is in Sept 19-21.

These are the videos I did today and I will recycle them and use them in other formats too. I guess you could call this video blogging .

Linda Hollander – The Wealthy Bag Lady- owner of Women’s Small Business Expo

Heidi Parr Kerner, Speaker, Networking Queen

Desiree Doubrox – owner and founder of An Empowered Women’s Network

The story was on the front page of the Business section in USA Today on April 4.

By David Lieberman

I was thrilled to see it as Speaker Services has been offering one-three camera shoots for the past ten years. I have been encouraging business folks to get video on their websites. Now with video blogging, youtube and social networking there is not limit to creating a buzz about your services or books.

“You don’t need a pan and a stream in California to join the next video gold rush. A video camera, computer and high-speed Internet connection will do.”

NEW YORK — You don’t need a pan and a stream in California to join the next gold rush. A video camera, computer and high-speed Internet connection will do.
A vast array of professional and semiprofessional producers are starting to use those tools to create ad-friendly entertainment and news videos expressly for the Web. The goal is to dramatically change people’s video-viewing habits — and cash in on a potentially enormous business opportunity.

“It’s like the early days of cable,” says former Viacom executive Herb Scannell, now CEO of Internet video investment and support firm Next New Networks. “We’re inventing new business models, new talent and new programming models.”

Internet users already can find countless fresh choices in the middle ground between reruns of slick network TV programming, such as the shows on Hulu.com, and amateur clips such as the kind popularized by YouTube.

Popular genres for original Web productions include dramatic series (Lonelygirl15and Prom Queen), topical comedy (BarelyPolitical.com, 236.com and comic Will Ferrell’s Funny Or Die), news analysis (TalkingPointsMemo) and specialized interests (for example, ThreadBanger offers the latest about sewing and knitting).

Producers have powerful incentive to test the market: Ad spending for Internet videos will rise 455% by 2011 to $4.3 billion, says research firm eMarketer.

“It’s growing faster than any other advertising category,” says George Kliavkoff, NBC Universal’s chief digital officer. “There’s just a sea change.” That’s one reason his company and other major TV network owners are starting to dip their toes into original Web production. Over the past few weeks:

•Disney (DIS) formed its first Web-only production house, Stage 9, which forged a deal with Toyota to sponsor its first made-for-Web series, the sitcom Squeegees.

Disney’s ESPN also said it will dramatically step up its Internet-only sports programming.

•NBC (GE) created its first network for original online video. Visitors can get an in-depth look at new cars from clips produced by DriverTV; NBC paid $6 million for a 35% stake in the firm.

•And CBS, (CBS) which defined mainstream news in the radio and TV eras, launched MobLogic.tv, a website with daily clips that it says provides “a reality check on mainstream news, (Internet) 2.0 style.”

The modest size of these investments reflects the companies’ uncertainty about where they fit in.

“The challenge we have with this space is: How do you market these original Web shows so that they become something people want to see and not something that they just come across?” says Albert Cheng, executive vice president for digital media at the Disney-ABC Television Group. “We are experimenting.”

Independent entrepreneurs

While the giants dabble, independent entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the freedom the Internet offers to reach millions of people without having to go through gatekeepers such as TV networks and cable operators. They don’t even need powerful allies to help raise cash, sell ads, get online and market. New-generation studios including Worldwide Biggies, Black20 and 60Frames are eagerly seeking deals to support promising talent.

Most salivate at the prospect of creating a hit entertainment series — a string of episodes that typically run 10 minutes apiece or less — similar to Lonelygirl15, KateModern and Prom Queen.

It’s relatively easy to make a profit: They employ little-known actors, simple camera shots and few, if any, special effects. “The cost is just hundreds of dollars a minute,” Scannell says. “If you’re getting $10 (for every 1,000 viewers that see an ad), and you have 1 million views, then you’re break-even. If you get $20, then you’re in the black.”

Those that work closely with sponsors can do much better than that. For example, LG15 Studios cut a deal with Neutrogena that made the cosmetics and cleanser company and its products key elements in the story line for Lonelygirl15

“We were thrilled that there’s this medium that’s interactive, and if you can get creative and good writers and good brands and put all these pieces together, then you can do something that engages the audience and allows us to do this as our day job, which is insane right now,” says Greg Goodfried, co-creator and executive producer.

Their most recent production, KateModern, showed that the concept was no fluke.

“It just finished with 26 million views, and it was sold in sponsorship ahead of time,” says Quincy Smith, president of CBS Interactive. “Do it once, and it’s interesting. Do it twice, and now you’re starting to see something evolve.”

There’s a lot of activity as well in non-fiction Web video, especially from newspaper and magazine companies grappling with slowing ad sales. “Video is a central component to the future of these industries because they have to grow their business somewhere, and right now, online video is the most valuable real estate in the media industry,” says Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Brightcove, an Internet video services firm.

National newspapers including USA TODAY, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times, as well as regional publications such as The Houston Chronicle and The Gainesville Sun tap journalists for video reports, interviews and analysis. So do magazines, including Entertainment Weekly, Billboard, Better Homes and Gardens and Rolling Stone.

Beginning with the recent Super Tuesday presidential primaries, Newsweek — in partnership with corporate siblings The Washington Post and Slate.com — stepped up the competition by enlisting editors and analysts for live, CNN-like, Web-exclusive campaign coverage and commentary.

‘There’s a business there’

“It was sold to Dodge in three days,” says TV news veteran Tammy Haddad, executive producer of the coverage. “There’s a business there, and a very minor amount of money was spent. All of the reporters were already in place.”

Although many Web productions are profitable, producers say the big payoff will come in a few years as audiences and advertisers become more comfortable watching video online.

People collectively spent 959 million minutes a day watching Internet shows and clips in January, research firm ComScore says.

While that sounds impressive, Leichtman Research Group President Bruce Leichtman notes, “People still spend more time watching Extreme Makeover and Moment of Truth combined (on days when the shows air) than they do with all online video.”

That’s changing, though, especially among the young adult viewers craved by advertisers. About 42% of 18- to 34-year-olds watch Web videos at least weekly, up from 28% in 2007, Leichtman found in a recent survey.

The vast majority of the viewing time goes to user-generated videos and network TV fare, including clips people lift from news and comedy shows.

But those markets present challenges for advertisers.

They can’t effectively buy spots in advance on user-generated material, because “You can’t really tell what clips are going to be hot next,” says PodShow CEO Ron Bloom, whose firm aggregates Web videos to facilitate ad sales. “And it’s typically pornographic, stolen or stupid.”

Meanwhile, the major broadcast and cable networks may not have enough openings for ads on their rerun TV shows. “If you’re trying to spend $1 million on an online buy, you have to reach tens of millions of people,” says Jayant Kadambi, CEO of YuMe, a broadband video ad sales firm. “You just can’t do that on NBC.com.”

To keep ad dollars from flowing elsewhere, the major networks are busily creating Web attractions, including original videos.

For the most part, though, their productions have been designed to enhance viewer interest in popular TV shows. For example ABC’s Lost: Missing Pieces, CBS’ Big Brother House Calls, Fox’s Prison Break Visitation and NBC’s Heroes 360.

“It’s a good way to continue to have a relationship with these fans” and advertisers, Cheng says.

That also was a safe thing to do before the recent strike by Hollywood screenwriters was resolved. A key issue in the dispute was how much writers would be paid for work that appears online.

Now that there’s a contract, conversations about digital initiatives “have exploded,” says Vivi Zigler, executive vice president at NBC Digital Entertainment and New Media. “It’s a matter of ‘should we,’ not ‘could we.’ That’s important.”

Disney took the boldest step in late February by creating Stage 9 Digital Media. But the new media studio still dreams about seeing one of its series on TV.

“We call that the holy grail,” says Barry Jossen, general manager of Stage 9. “The new media business, from the sponsors’ point of view, is definitely experimental. So the kinds of commitments they are making are modest. It’s a break-even business.”

He’s undaunted by NBC’s experience in February — during the writers’ strike — when it became the first major TV network to air an entertainment show originally made for the Web. Although the series Quarterlife was a hit on the Internet, NBC moved it to cable channel Bravo after the first episode attracted a mere 3.1 million viewers.

“Just because their one and only shot didn’t work out as pristinely as they would have hoped or dreamed doesn’t mean that’s the only opportunity like that,” Jossen says. “We have to keep trying.”

Cutting deals

While Disney focuses on producing its own Web videos, CBS and NBC are buying and investing in independent producers.

CBS has led the way here cutting deals with firms including high school sports site MaxPreps, business-satire-oriented Wallstrip, celebrity news provider Dotspotter and Joost, which offers a hodgepodge of new and old videos.

That’s one reason the smart money is betting that the networks eventually will control the biggest mines when gold rush fever finally subsides.

“The theory of the Internet is that you can get anything you want,” says investor Richard Wolpert. “But you still have to be exposed to the fact that it exists. That is still a very valuable asset. It feels like this is the year when everything is happening. But on a historic perspective, it’s a 20-year process, and we’re in the middle of it now.”

Do you realize that most website users spend less than a minute browsing each website they visit? Therefore it is vitally important to find a way to capture their interest immediately. One of the best ways I know to reach out to potential clients in an innovative, interesting and personal way is by having video on my website.

Whether you are a speaker, author or entrepreneur or any kind of professional it really makes a difference in getting hired. Gone are the days when we searched the yellow pages for an attorney, accountant or a doctor. We want recommendations from our friends or colleagues and what if we could get a look at these folks before ever calling? I personally want to see if we are on the same page and feel who they are. If I am inspired I will take the next step and call them. This is the same truth for an author whether you want to read their book or for hiring a speaker.

Well for some of us it can be quite a challenge to produce the video and then to have it look professional. Speaker Services offers one and three camera professional videos.Take a look at some of the videos we produced for our clients.

The first was for Judd Matsunaga, Elder Law Attorney and he invited TV News Reporter Judd Mcllvain to join him in the following piece. This is a one camera shoot and was created at the BizSpeak and Video Workshop.

Here’s Marlin Keeser, Speaker & Author talking about his book Our Life on the Run created at the Authors’ SpeakEasy and Video Workshop. One camera shoot.

Here’s Libby Higgins, Website Designer sharing her expertise on her website. One camera shoot created at the BizSpeak and Video Workshop.

Here’s a 3 camera shoot done at the Video Demo Showcase. This is Loree Taylor Jordan. It’s about 7 minutes long.

Once you have video you can post it on YouTube, Google or the Speaking Channel
plus several other distributions sites.

If the idea of video appeals to you. Give me a call to discuss which venue is best for you needs. 310-822-4922 PST .

A few days ago Jack Barnard and I met John Kremer www.bookmarket.com at his Book Marketing Blastoff Seminar in Los Angeles. He had asked us to talk with his authors about how to speak their books and also to introduce Speaker Services to his attendees.

John Kremer

In the short time we had Jack shared a few tips ie: you need to solve a problem and to be able to speak it in 2 or 3 sentences so people will ask you to tell them more.

It was quite an eye opener for John to see that the authors were challenged to do the exercise. I told John months ago over lunch that most authors do not know how to speak their books and needed training. He got it!

John suggested that we join together to offer a Book Market and Authors’ Speak Easy Workshop which includes a one camera shoot. We like that idea and also we are looking at doing a one day seminar with John just before the Book Expo which is in Los Angeles at the end of ’08.

John suggesst that authors have video on their website and was thrilled to learn that we offer video in a few of our worskhops. Whether you are an author or a professional person or a speaker it is a great marketing idea to have video on your website. Video inspires trust. I know for sure that the speakers who are listed on my website get booked much faster then those who do not.

Take a moment and check out some of the one camera video work we have done. See BizSpeak and Video Workshop and Authors’ SpeakEasy Workshop . For our three camera shoot see Video Demo Showcase .

I am sharing a few items with you today about soundbites and MediaSpeak that Jack offered as a handout when he spoke to John’s folks.

The soundbite

Sound-bites are those few words the media extracts from everything you said and puts on air, to show you at your best…or worst. Sound-bites should be planned by you, not found by them. Here are some tips:

Keep them short. Watch and listen to the media. Sound-bites are rarely longer than 15 seconds, and more frequently five to ten seconds.

Pithy: Concisely meaningful, forcibly convincing, terse, interesting. And juicy. Especially juicy.

Carefully crafted: take your time, test your efforts on colleagues or even the public. Make sure there are no unintended inferences or hidden meanings.

Specific meaning: Each message point should have a specific, clear intention with regard to the particular audience.

Specific effect: Each message point should be designed to generate a specific effect…arouse an emotion, stimulate an action, clarify a point, be memorable, create a background for other messages.

MEDIA SPEAK (The Questions)
√ Audience…Who exactly is your audience?

________________________________________________________

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√ Message…What exactly do you have/need to say?

________________________________________________________

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√ Different Media…What language does this media speak?
• live interview • radio interview • panel • book signing • TV interview • print interview

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

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You need to be able to speak your book/product/message/theme/
philosophy in various formats. In any media encounter or speaking opportunity, this is the key question: what is your intended outcome?

Plan a Powerful Blog Tour by Steve Weber excerpted from Publishers’ Marketing Association

Many Internet marketing programs focus on luring readers to your Website. But you can reach even more people with a campaign that meets your potential readers where they already congregate.

This means arranging a series of appearances known as a blog tour, a virtual author tour, or guest blogging. Blog tours are especially valuable for authors who can’t travel or are uncomfortable with public speaking, and when touring is impractical because a book’s readers are widely dispersed.

While blog tours expose your book to a much larger audience than a traditional bookstore tour—and cost you less in time and money—they also help your host bloggers by providing free content for their readers and affiliate revenue from book sales.

Typical blog tours include these elements:

· an excerpt displayed on each host blog in the days preceding the tour to publicize the tour appearance
· a one-day appearance, beginning with a short essay on the topic of your book and then inviting discussion
· follow-up visits for the next four to seven days to answer questions and comments from blog readers

Targeting Host Blogs

The first step in arranging a blog tour is finding potential host blogs. Identify the most popular blogs read by your book’s target audience. Some likely candidates may spring to mind, but new blogs can gain readership quickly, so it’s worth surveying the field periodically.

Building your list of target blogs requires legwork, because no comprehensive directory exists. To determine the popularity, authority, and quality of blogs in your market, you’ll need to sample contents yourself.

Three sites are good starting places for your search:

· www.Technorati.com. This blog-tracking site lists the 100 most popular blogs at www.technorati.com/pop/blogs. But to find niche content, you’ll need to look beyond the mainstream. Use the advanced search tool—www.technorati.com/search—to drill down into specific topics.
· www.Blogsearch.Google.com. Type in keywords related to your book. Ignore results from personal blogs that focus on the author and get little traffic.
· www.Forbes.com/bow/b2c/main.jhtml. Forbes’s “Best of the Web” directory reviews blogs with high-quality content.

Once you’ve created a list of potential blog hosts, prioritize them in terms of three criteria:

Activity level. How frequently do new posts appear on the blog? Bloggers usually must post new content a few times a week to sustain a loyal readership. Scan the past few months of a blog’s archives to determine the posting frequency.

Reader involvement. How often do readers chime in with thoughtful comments? The vast majority of blogs allow readers to follow up with their own commentary. Frequent and thoughtful reader comments indicate audience engagement.

Traffic volume. Traffic is the natural result of audience loyalty and involvement, and it’s an objective measure of a blog’s impact. A handy yardstick for measuring blog traffic is available at Alexa (www.Alexa.com), which provides estimated traffic reports on many Web sites. (A subsidiary of Amazon, Alexa isn’t limited to blogs, so you can also use it to find all sorts of Web sites targeting your readers.)

Tracking Traffic

At Alexa.com, click Traffic Rankings at the top navigation bar. Enter the address of the blog you want to evaluate and click Get Traffic Details. For most blogs, you’ll see an Alexa rank from 1 (the most-visited site on the Web) to about 5 million, meaning very low readership. For the top 100,000 sites, Alexa provides detailed traffic estimates. Under the heading Explore This Site, you’ll see these links:

· Traffic Details shows the blog’s relative reach and number of page views, and whether traffic is trending up or down.
· Related Links shows other sites popular with the same audience (which makes this a good place to discover still more potential blog hosts).
· Sites Linking In shows which sites, ranked by authority, have incoming links to the blog (follow these links to identify more sites that target your audience).

Depending on how narrowly focused your book is, you may find only a few relevant quality blogs, and that’s fine. It’s better to focus on a small, well-qualified audience who will respond to your book instead of a general audience on whom you’ll have little impact.

Alexa’s reports aren’t foolproof; they’re drawn from a small sample of Web users who use its browser toolbar. Rankings for high-traffic sites are more statistically accurate than reports for niche sites. But Alexa is a handy, free source of objective information about Web traffic, and more accurate than anecdotal reports from bloggers and Webmasters, who are notorious for overestimating.

Another good source of traffic estimates is MetricsMarket , and Google PageRank can also help you determine how much juice a blog has. Google’s patented method ranks the importance of Web sites on a scale of one to 10 based on the authority of incoming links.

To check rankings, use toolbar.google.com. Quality blogs and Web sites will have a PageRank of at least five. To determine PageRank, check a blog’s main page or a Web site’s home page; other pages often are unranked.

Building Your Excerpt

Once you’ve identified appropriate hosts for your blog tour, the next step is creating your excerpt—an online document providing a description of the book, a passage from the text, cover artwork, and an author photo and biography.

Your excerpt can resemble a traditional paper flyer but include more detail. It should serve three purposes:

· convince the blogger to host your appearance
· promote your appearance to the blog’s readers
· prepare the blog audience to discuss issues and ideas raised in your book

Essential information like the author name and book title should be embedded and visible in the photos of the cover art and author photo. That way, if a Webmaster accidentally leaves out part of your text—or it’s deleted at some point—readers will still have enough information to buy your book. If possible, combine all the elements of your excerpt into a single document to ensure that it’s displayed properly and that nothing is omitted.

A typical excerpt includes these elements:

· a brief setup describing the book’s topic, audience, and perspective
· title, author name, and retail price
· blurbs and testimonials
· credentials of nonfiction authors; previous books by fiction authors
· a short passage from the book
· affiliate links for buying the book at online retailers
· author photo
· standard bibliographic information such as ISBN, binding, page count, and publisher

Try to cap your text at 2,000 to 3,000 words. Some readers won’t scroll down through two screens of continuous content. Interested readers often print longer excerpts, however, so when you provide them, include a message at the top that encourages printing.

What Makes an Excerpt Successful

Your elevator speech should be the heart of your excerpt. Don’t automatically take a passage from the front of the book.

More hints for a compelling excerpt:

· Give chunks, not boulders. For nonfiction, select the most essential, engaging nuggets in your book. Winning excerpts often contain lists, like “Top 10 ways to save money when buying a car” or “Three ways to ask someone on a date.”
· Use cliffhangers. For fiction, try leaving readers in suspense. Encourage interest in one or two characters.
· Find a news angle. For both fiction and nonfiction, try to provide a news hook. Does a current controversy or movie relate to your book’s topic? Topicality is blog oxygen, and a strong current-events hook can persuade A-list bloggers to host your tour.
· Highlight benefits, not features. For nonfiction, briefly describe the problems your book solves. Explain how it differs from competing titles.
· Include white space. Break up your text. Separate paragraphs with blank lines, to relieve gray blocks of text. Readers are more likely to read your excerpt if they can scan chunks.

All together now: If you are providing more than one image, assemble everything in a layout file in PDF or HTML format. This prevents the blogger or Webmaster from losing any pieces.

Don’t send your excerpt as an email attachment. Most people are apprehensive about receiving files from unfamiliar sources. Instead, post the document on a dedicated page on your own site and provide the link so hosts can copy the document or link to it. After you’ve posted the file on your domain, don’t delete it, because some blogs will link to your page instead of keeping the material on their sites. The excerpt on your domain may get traffic for years to come.

For an example of an excerpt, see: www.PatronSaintPr.com/samples/mclaren/mclaren-obd.htm.

And Here’s the Pitch

With your excerpt ready and your A-list of blogs for your tour on hand, it’s time to pitch the tour to host bloggers. Contact each blogger individually by email, explaining why your book is of interest. Provide two or three compelling reasons why your tour will be thought provoking and entertaining for this blog’s audience.

Start with your top prospects and work your way down as time permits. Contact bloggers directly; don’t simply leave a comment on a blog and hope the blogger notices it. Most blogs have a mechanism for contacting the blogger through an email address or form.

The more popular bloggers are, the harder it may be to get their attention. If you can’t find contact information, look at the bottom of the home page, where you may see instructions for contacting the Webmaster. Or try reaching a decision maker via an “advertise with us” link.

Make the subject line of your email specific; a generic “Please read this” is often deleted unread. Tailor your pitch for each blogger, addressing everyone by name so your message won’t be mistaken for spam. Offer a complimentary review copy of your book. Provide your complete contact information—including phone number—to further differentiate your message from spam.

Not every blogger will accept your pitch, and you shouldn’t take the rejections personally. Some sites simply don’t use book excerpts. Blogs run by newspapers or magazines often don’t use third-party content except in sections labeled “Opinion” or “To the editor.” An acceptance rate of 25 percent is a good target, and you shouldn’t schedule more than three to five blogs per week.

As realistically as possible, pitch yourself as a potential long-term partner, not a drive-by opportunist. Successful blog tours will prompt return invitations and can launch mutually beneficial relationships.

Acing the Appearances

Depending on how a blogger administers a site, you may be given a login and password or simply email the blogger. After opening with a short statement that recaps themes expressed in your excerpt, ask the blog audience for reactions.

Responses can continue to come in for several days, giving you the opportunity to reappear, replying to comments and answering questions.

Make your own responses succinct and keep the conversation moving. Blogs are two-way streets, and exchanging ideas makes compelling content. At the end of each of your responses, ask a question, such as “What’s your take on that?” or “How do you feel about this?”

Be prepared for the occasional rude or embarrassing question. For example, if your book is about barbecuing, be ready for questions from animal-rights activists. Feel free to ignore off-topic comments, and simply continue with your message. But don’t shy away from substantive arguments—nothing sells a book better than controversy.

At each stop on your blog tour, mention your previous appearances on other blogs, and provide the links. This will generate continued readership and cross-linking among blogs.

Blog tours don’t always cause a big spike in sales, but they do fuel word of mouth for your book and build name recognition. Each time you appear in front of your target audience, it’s a plus. When a blog appearance goes particularly well, don’t let it end there. Offer to write a monthly guest column for the blog in exchange for a link to your site and a permanent buy-the-book affiliate link.

Steve Weber is author of Plug Your Book! Online Book Marketing for Authors (Weber Books, 2007). For more information, visit www.PlugYourBook.com.

Blog Tour Experts

The blog-tour strategy outlined here is based on one developed by Patron Saint Productions. Its Web site contains free sample materials you can adapt for your own tour. See www.PatronSaintPR.com/samples.html.

Another company that specializes in blog tours is Author Marketing Experts Inc., headed by author Penny Sansevieri. Her site also features several free resources and a newsletter. See: www.amarketingexpert.com/free.html.

A Sample Pitch

SUBJECT: [Author Name] as guest on [Blog Name]

Dear [Blogger Name],

I’m a regular reader of your blog, and I believe it’s one of the best sites about [topic]. I’m writing to see if you would consider having me [or my author, Author Name] as a guest on your blog on Monday, May 9, to discuss my [or his or her] book, [Title].

I believe the book is of particular interest to your readership. [two or three reasons, briefly]

I’m hoping to have a dialog with your readers. If you approve, I’ll take a day on your blog, make an opening statement, and respond to comments as long as they keep coming.

I hope you’ll give this a try. I’ve prepared an HTML document with a short excerpt from the book and its cover art. You can view the document here at my site: www.example.com. You’re free to reproduce this document on your site or provide links to it.

I’d also like to send you a complimentary review copy of the book; just let me know where to mail it.

Thanks for your consideration.

Sincerely,

[name and full contact information, including postal address and phone number]

Archiving Your Results

· Save screenshots of your blog appearances and a journal of your correspondence with bloggers. They can come in handy later.
· Review a tour to see which sites and techniques were effective.
· Record the contact information for each blogger—email addresses, phone numbers, and mailing addresses.

This way you’ll have a running start if you decide to conduct another blog tour.

To see archived screenshots of a blog tour, go to www.PatronSaintPr.com/samples/mclaren/mclaren-blogreport.htm.

Susan’s note: I think it would be helpful too if an author had a 1-2 minute streaming video available too. There are two opportunites through Speaker Services to create short video segments. Authors’ SpeakEasy and BizSpeak & Video Workshop .

This past weekend we produced the BizSpeak and Video Demo Workshop. It is designed for Business Owners, Entrepreneurs, Authors, Coaches, Professionals who want to personalize their website with streaming video.

We know that video inspires trust rather then static text or pictures as well as captivates visitors’ attention and motivates them to take action. Additionally it creates a personal connection with potential clients and converts more visitors to customers.

We had a dentist, a lawyer, a business and a dating coach, a skin care salon owner and reflexolgist, an actress, a high school teacher and a web site designer.

Take a look at a one of the short segments that we produced. View more videos and check out the upcoming dates for the next workshop.

The BizSpeak Seminar helped me understand my audience, refine my message, and get a great finished product. I can use my video to attract and educate clientèle on my website, myspace.com, citysearch.com, justburbank.com, youtube.com and many other online venues! Susan Levin and Jack Barnard made the process easy, professional, and a pleasure!”
– Libby Higgins, www.CitySitesInc.com, website design, optimization and advertising
View Libby’s video- Click here to play video…

My friend e-mailed the following video that he saw on You Tube - Elvira Speaks
When you have a chance take a look at it-it’s a riot.

You’ll probably agree after viewing it that you do need to be prepared to speak!

Many of my colleagues feel as I do that it is vitally important to have a coach and to continue to take seminars to enhance their skills.

At Speaker Services we offer lots of training. The Speakers’ Bootcamp is a great intensive for honing your speaking skills. Our next Bootcamp is March 26-30, ’08.

The MediaSpeak Symposium is great for anyone who has a service, product or book and wants to get more publicity.

Does any of the following sound like you?

You want to:

- Communicate your key message to the news media, audiences and clients

- Position yourself as a savvy media guest/expert

- Create grabber sound bites that attract attention

- Sell books on the radio and TV

- Develop dynamite pitches that attract producers and editors to spotlight you now

- Choose the best promotion strategies for print, TV, radio or Internet

- Discover how to pitch to multiple media outlets

- Become a sought-after talk show guest who gets booked again and again

- Convince newspapers and magazines to run feature stories on you and your work

- Nail any interview without getting clobbered

- Craft print and online media kits that reporters will love

- Adapt your ideas into a screenplay or TV pilot

Then you need to be at the 3rd annual MediaSpeak Symposium, October 11-13.

Psst: sign up by Sept 1 and save $150.

Would you like to have a video presence on your website? The BizSpeak and Video Workshop is a one camera shoot with a full day workshop attached to it.

There are just a few slots open at this time. Grab one-it’s only $497. A steal.

When I went to You Tube today to see the Elvira Speaks video I created an account and uploaded 2 short videos. One is with Jack and me talking about Why Video is Important and the other is of one of our speakers Suzanne Stanford talking about Internet Safety. Click here to view them. Suzanne’s is a one camera shoot that we shot at the Speakers’ Summit.

If you are a speaker and you want to get booked for speaking gigs it is necessary to have a 3 camera video shoot in front of a live audience. We offer a Video Demo Showcase twice a year for 18 folks. Take a look at some of the streaming samples on my website. I have 2 openings for Nov 4.

I got sidetracked today with the Elvira Speaks video and now I have to get back to work!

More later.

Susan

I think you may be aware of the fact that text is static. Right? So as professionals it is rather important and necessary to be seen or heard. Tell me the truth. Would you be more likely to hire an attorney or an accountant if you could see them talking about the benefits of working with them rather then reading about them?

I sure would. At Speaker Services one of the services we offer is a one camera video shoot called BizSpeak & Video Workshop.

It is a 2 day event. September 15 & 16 in Los Angeles.

Our master trainer, Jack Barnard teaches the attendees how to talk about what they offer in 2 or 3 minutes and the workshop is very interactive.

Day 1
- Learn the template for a 3 minute to 3 hour speech structure
- Learn how to balance information, story support and interaction
- Tap into a systematic approach for creating dynamite presentations
- Familiarize, not “memorize” your material

Day 2
Shoot a two-three minute segment and leave with a CD which you can stream and post on your webstie, Goggle, UTube, MySpace…

Your Investment: $497, Limited to 20 attendees

Take a look at at the streaming video we created at the Speakers’ Summit in May. This is Chaz Gaddie.

If you recognize the value of streaming video on your website or blog etc and would like professional coaching and a great video shoot then check us out at

Check out the PDF for the Workshop BizSpeak & Video Workshop

I love the graphics. Dotti Albertine of Albertine Designs is my graphic artist/designer. She really specializes in Book Covers & Interiors however, when she has free time she helps me out.

You can hear Dotti in a short audio clip on my resource directory talking about Book Design.

For business owners, entrepreneurs, authors, coaches or any professional finding ways to market your business, product or service can be a challenge. Let me recap the benefits of marketing yourself through streaming video:

- Inspires trust rather then static text or pictures
- Captivates your visitors’ attention and motivates them to take action
- Creates a personal connection with potential clients and converts more visitors to customers
- Provides a quick and easy way for visitors to get a quick overview of what you offer without having to read a lot of text
- Can be uploaded to your website and to video distribution sites with access to hundreds of millions of potential customers

Streaming video is changing the way we communicate in and out of business at an amazing rate. Video e-mail, video instant messaging, video blogging and video web casting are the hottest new crazes in the communication industry.

Jump on the video bandwagon and speak up so we can hire you as a speaker, coach or a consultant.