The Art of Marketing Part 2 The Book Release

Hello again everyone.  I'm finally finished with the move from heck, and raring to get back to work!    Last blog post was the first part of this series, "The Art of Marketing, Part 1 The Blog Tour."

http://velvetdelenn.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-art-of-marketing-part-1-blog-tours.html

With the advent of social media, holding book releases is much easier to do, and cheaper. You may use this advice in tandem with the first part of this series. The Blog tour can be before the release; using it to drum up interest in the book.  Or it can be done after the book is out.  I've been part of a few book release events on Facebook, and have been to ones before and after release.  I'm not much into Twitter yet, or the other platforms, but they can also be incorporated.  

It takes a lot of planning.  You have to pick a date and time (keeping in mind you may have people from a lot of different time zones participating).  Then you have to set up the Event, which can be done from your main Facebook page under "Events."  You can also do so from groups as well.  You should also post the link to Twitter, and everywhere else you have a presence.  Including your Fan page (next blog topic in this series).

The best social media site for book releases, that I have found so far is Facebook.   The straightforward layout makes it easy to set up and utilize.  The other thing about a book release, you can do it pretty much at any time, though for the aforementioned drumming up of interest, you probably should do so before the actual release date.

The successful event has the following elements:

• Games, they are fun, and they are easy to set up.  They are also good to get participation staying on the event page.  
• Interviews with the author.  Participants can post questions on the event page, and then the author can respond to those.    
• Prizes bring more people to the party.   They can be free copies of the book (ebook mostly); keychains with your book cover, bookmarks, etc.   I even got a bead bracelet from one.
• PLANNING-this is very crucial to the success (or lack thereof)

When you post a game on the event page, you give the respondents a time limit.    Then you "Close" the post (though folks can still respond, and that is not a bad thing).  You copy the names of the respondents, and add them to a randomizer program to select the winner.  You should only use that persons name once.

There are a few randomizers app online that will randomly select your winner for your games.   Here is one:  https://www.random.org/lists/  

The last thing I wanted to mention, it is somewhat easier if you have volunteers who help you out while you are on a break (be it potty, food, sleep).   They can be other writers as well, who you can also help out by letting them talk about their work as well, short bios are a good idea.    The volunteers can also run a game, or something else about your book.    Think of them as bridesmaids...they are there to enhance, but not overshadow the bride.   

With a bit of work, you can have a successful book release.  One advantage over one held live, you don't have to have food/drink.   But you could do an online one from the actual live one as well.  Live stream.  Whichever way you do a book release event, it is really important to make a good impression.  Thank everyone who came, and thank your host/volunteers.   After all, we writers do not live in a vacuum, and need our fans, and helpers.