How to Leverage Social Media

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Statistics have proven how important social media networks are for a business:

• 8 out of 10 internet users are reached by social media sites and blogs.
• 87% of small businesses claim that social media has helped their business.
• Marketers saw an increase of 74% in website traffic after devoting just 6 hours per week in social media.
• 85% of business-decision makers believe that at least having one social media channel is very important for technology purchase decisionsHowever, there’s much more to just creating a Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest account and expecting success to follow writes the Search-Engine-Journal. Understand which platforms work best for your brand and where your audience spends most of their time. Don’t forget Goodreads, where readers are searching actively for interesting books!

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Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.

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More info about Social Media Networks and how to use them:

6 Social Media Sites that are Important for Writers
https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2013/02/15/6-social-media-sites-essential-for-writers/

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Brands with great GooglePlus pages
http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/10/18/10-brands-with-great-google-plus-pages/

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Social Media Facts 
http://www.jeffbullas.com/2014/01/17/20-social-media-facts-and-statistics-you-should-know-in-2014/

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How to Get More Followers
https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2013/01/22/how-to-get-more-followers-on-your-social-media-sites/

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,100 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

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http://www.111publishing.com
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Social Media Obsession? Building Your Networks?

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Jeff Bullas, Marketing and Social Media Guru, explained in a recent post:
“Businesses who are relentless in building a following on social media are in fact creating their own publishing platforms, growing their marketing channels and content distribution networks. It is a digital asset that grows every year.”

This info-graphic shows very clear that Google+ is becoming by far the second most popular Social Media Network on the planet, and Google+  should be at the top of your list when it comes to digital marketing. Check out our blog post: 15 Top Reasons for Writers to Be on Google+
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Take Advantage of FREE PDF copies of What the Plus! Courtesy of Google. Please, share this link with as many people as possible. Get a copy http://goo.gl/eRy6z
Read also a short description: How to Get More Followers on Your Google+ Page

Source: The Growth of Social Media v2.0 [INFOGRAPHIC]
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Search Engine Journal wrote: “Social media has transitioned into an obsession and almost a way of life for online culture, changing the way we communicate with our colleagues, loved ones, and our favorite brands. As social media continues to grow in almost every market, the idea that social media is “just a fad” is no longer worth consideration as more and more demographics move toward utilizing social media on an every day basis.”

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $159 for three months! Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/
to advertise your new book, specials, your KDP Select Free Days or the new Kindle Countdown Deals.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 970 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/
http://www.international-ebooks.com/
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Checklist: How to Organize Your Book Marketing

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Checklist for future success authors
Until you become a celebrity author, there are only TWO ways to market your book …

1. You can invest lots of money and pay “bestseller buyers”, buy ads / go on book signing tours / attend all national book fairs – or
2. You can invest time into building a platform and an authors brand through the use of social marketing and content marketing, plus you learn some fast and free tricks to spread the word about your book.

And then there is
a. the promotional, social part (content marketing, Social Media, book readings)
b. the “hard-selling” part for your book (bookstores, online retailers, book fairs)
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“Hard-Selling” will barely work if you have not laid out the foundation under a). Ask yourself:
Would you likely buy something from an unknown person, no matter if on- or off-line? Remember that your competition in published books is fierce and there are millions published every year. Readers have to be convinced to buy an unfamiliar book from a totally unknown author.
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First Things First – Prepare Your Books Success:

– Plan your publishing business – create a business plan/checklist
– Get your own ISBN number and register your copyright
– Register with Bowker to have your book worldwide listed (free)
– Choose the right genre (category) and keywords for your book (on/off-line retailers)
– Gather as many reviews as possible and write a compelling blurb
– Research media contacts and prepare Press Releases
– Write your “elevator pitch” and practice it for quick pitch
– Start spread sheets / lists with email addresses of potential readers / reviewers / media
– Create an email signature & use it for every email you send out
– Print business cards / book marks
– Start and write regularly (once or twice a week) blog posts
– Create your own – not a free! site – hosting is cheap now – author website
– Spruce up your website and blog for your book launch
– Write a compelling press release
– Invite more reviewers for your book
– Submit photos of your book cover image to Pinterest, Flickr…
– Create a slide show and/or video book trailer
– Send copies to book reviewers in various publications and to book bloggers
– Send review copies to book clubs with large distribution
– Have a professional! photographer taken a portrait to use for your avatar
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Offline Book Promotion:

– Book Signings (bookstores / Malls / Airports before X-Mas)
– Readings at libraries & book clubs or Meetup
– Writing newspaper / magazine articles (content marketing)
– Plan and create an email campaign to potential readers
– Get customer orders for special (price) pre-launch sale
– Join HARO (Help a Reporter out) to make yourself a name as an expert in your field
– Participate in Writing Contests
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Online Book Promotion:
For both, fiction or non-fiction: The foundation for your books’ success is in building a community, a social environment and a platform to introduce yourself and your work to readers. How can you accomplish this, even before your book is finished? It takes at least ONE year to make yourself known in the book community, so start early in order to have a successful book launch.

IMPORTANT:
Choose the “right” followers and post ONLY things that are interesting and useful for your readers, such as publishing news, humor / quotes, valuable tips etc.  Don’t use Social Media as a bill board for your book!
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What you can do before your book is ready to go to the beta-reader, copy-editor and final editor:

– Create a list of tweets / posts for your Social Media sites
– Sign up with free scheduling services (Hootsuite, Futuretweets etc.)
– Choose the “right” followers: READERS / REVIEWERS / BOOK BLOGGERS
– Get to know and introduce yourself to potential readers, sign up at Google+
(good for SEO), Goodreads, Twitter, FB, Pinterest, Flickr
– Join forums in your field, especially if you write non-fiction
– Send blog articles to newspapers / magazines and even to e-Zines
– Write guest blogs for other bloggers to get your name out
– Comment on other bloggers posts (esp. book bloggers and reviewers)
– Invite several thousand! people as followers and friends on your social media sites
– Join book communities at #1 Goodreads (has 20,000+ communities) #2 Wattpad, #3 KindleBoards, BookTalk, Scribd…
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Once your book is edited, has an appealing cover, is professionally converted (e-book), or got a perfect layout (print) and is ready to launch:

IMPORTANT:
Automate submissions between your blog/website and all your Social Networks – and among all your social media sites. This saves you lots of time!  For example: Every blog post you write is automatically transferred to your Amazon author page and to your Goodreads page. When you schedule your tweets on Hootsuite, they are automatically posted on all your Twitter accounts, on Facebook and Google+.  Your post on Pinterest shows up on Twitter. This way, everything you post on Google+ appears on Facebook, Twitter and all your Google+ communities.

– Place your book into the right category / genre and sub-genre (important for its success!)
– Create a second, separate BOOK PAGE on Amazon, Goodreads, Google+ and FB
– Set up a media press kit on your website with a link to your book trailer
– Start a Goodreads Giveaway a month before book launch (print book only)
– Write a blog post about the upcoming launch
– Ask friends to list your book under “Listmania” on Amazon & to LIKE your author page
– Exchange books for book shelves with your friends on Goodreads
– Participate in “Carnival of the Indies” blog carnival to promote your blog URL
– Send your books’ cover to cover contests (e.g. http://www.thebookdesigner.com)
– Submit your blogs including a bio and URL link to even more e-Zines

– Offer interviews at Radio (www.blogtalkradio.com) / local or national TV stations
– Make arrangements for interviews in newspapers or on book blogger’s sites

– Try to set you up to become a desirable guest expert on a talk or morning show
– Befriend influential book bloggers for even more reviews and articles
– Gather writing friends for cross-promotions and blog tours
– Add press clippings and articles, already published, to your website
– Get a new business card with images of all your books and sales links
– Place the books’ cover image & description daily on your Google+ stream
– Announce your book launch or book signing on Google+ for FREE
– Get even more friends, followers and people in your circles on social media sites
as you need lots of audience to spread the word about your new book!
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What else can you do to increase your books’ success:
Write your next book! Readers want to get more of your writing. Only authors with several books will be top sellers. The first book is always the hardest – to write and to sell.

– Become a guest speaker at writers conferences or business seminars
– Sell your book to libraries (find out how the library orders)
– Let your book translate in other languages or sell foreign rights
– Split your (non-fiction) book in pieces and sell single articles to magazines
– Participate in writing contests and book awards
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Hope this list keeps you busy : ) and if you have more tips, please send us a comment! You will find many blog posts here to each of these topics. Just type the keyword into to search function above and get all relevant articles and further information.
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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 179 for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.international-ebooks.com/book-promo to advertise your new book, specials or KDP Select Free Days.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,100 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
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http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Social Media and YOU

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It is no secret that we use Social Media a lot – and all this social media usage can be hard to curtail. Resisting Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and other Social Media sites is harder than other urges, such as smoking, drinking, spending money, sleeping and even sex.  Posting about yourself on Social Media sites rewards the brain the same way food and sex do. Talking about ourselves or books we wrote became a tough habit to kick… Read and see more on this info graphic, created by OnlineCollegeCourses.com

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More about Social Media:

Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day
Well, maybe add a couple more minutes to these 30 minutes Social Media time, and learn about helpful programs, such as Hootsuite, Tweetadder, JustUnfollow, Manageflitter, Tweetdeck etc. to save time in order to win more time for interactions with your followers.
Read the Help Section
To take full advantage of the Social Media sites, study them well, read the “handbook”, helpful info and hints, set up to help users. Just from staring at the site and trying to figure out how it works, or trial and error actions, you will be only frustrated. Ask a fellow writer or your marketing coach to get even more user tips.
How to get more followers
The importance of having more followers (and following more) and how to find those precious friends has been …. Get lots of tips for your Social Media presence here:
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The Secret of Success with Social Media
Word-of-Mouth Content Marketing
If you’re in the midst of developing one of the more than one million books that are published every year, it’s time to start thinking about how you are going to market your book … because in today’s publishing environment, it’s up to you to build momentum for your work.  However, if all you do on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook is to hawk your book or try to interest agents and editors in your manuscript you are probably not going to get anywhere. This is not to say you can not ever talk about the interesting things you’re doing, this just can’t be all that you’re doing. People on Social Media want content, and sharing content has become one important aspect of it.
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Acting Like a Professional Author on Social Media?
Do you agree that selling books online or in stores is a business? You are getting money for writing and delivering your work, no matter how many books you have written, and no matter if you go with one of the big publishers or if you self-publish. And don’t forget: Many publishers and literary agents have a Social Media presence too. They are using Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Facebook, Goodreads or LinkedIn and mingle on these sites with authors famous and unknown. Read more about professional Social Media use.
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How Social Media can Kill Students Success
Yet while social media has been lauded for its ability to connect people from all over the world, build friendships, support political causes, and even help people find work, it has also been blamed for a whole host of social problems. Some of this blame, subsequent research has shown, has been placed unfairly, but that doesn’t mean that social media doesn’t pose some real problems for its users.

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 159 for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.international-ebooks.com/book-promo to advertise your new book, specials or KDP Select Free Days.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are almost 900 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn – What People Do on Social Media

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To promote your books through social networking, take advantage of these statistics from Nielsen, the worlds most biggest internet statistics firm, and find out what your followers and friends on Social Media appreciate most in your posts. Translated to books and publishing, this would be:

• Learn from other authors’ experiences
• Learn more about publishing and marketing books
• Share money incentives (free or reduced books)
• Find out about interesting articles/blogs/news
• Get encouragement

Communicate with your readers!
Social media is a fantastic way to foster communication between you and your readers, but you first have to be able to find them and understand how they use it.  Search for “readers” or “reviewers” on social media sites when looking for new followers and friends. They are the most important networking partners, and the one’s who will promote your book.

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by Tiffani_Allen.
Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.

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Most popular networking sites
What are the biggest and most popular network sites – including blogs? Yes, blogs are very important for social networking!  Read the full Social Network Report on Nielsen’s website. 

Content Marketing is a smart way to connect with readers. Blogging is actually giving them a sample of your writing style and skills.  And who doesn’t like sampling? See more statistics about blogging / content marketing on Ciceron.com.

Where do you stand compared to your competitors – millions of other writers – in the online world?

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 159 for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/ Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 840+ of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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10 Ways of Marketing with Pinterest

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70 million users and 2.5 billion monthly page views: Pinterest, an image-based, dandy social networking platform has been growing at record speed. Direct sales content is not allowed at Pinterest, according to their Terms of Service. However, but this doesn’t mean authors and publishers can’t get creative and use Pinterest for brand-building and to drive visitors via links to their book sales site.
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Here are 10 creative ways to use Pinterest as a platform for indirect marketing purposes in your social media marketing mix. It’s free and easy to use. The visual aspect offers great opportunities for authors to connect with readers by “pinning” their book cover images, photo scenes and illustrations from within their book.
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1. Create several Pin Boards
Depending on the story of your book, you could create custom product pin boards that indirectly
market through topics of your book. For example, when you wrote a historical novel, you can create
a pin board with historical photographs of the area, where the novel takes place and a pin board
about events happening at the time. A pin board about the characters… etc. Or if you wrote a
thriller, set in the financial sector, pin images of Wall Street or offices of investment bankers.
However be careful to show images of persons only after getting their written! consent if you take
the images.
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2. Images of You as a Writer
You could also create a pin board, showing images of your old typewriter, a pile of notes, your laptop, cute writing paper with a pretty pen, you – sitting on your desk and writing, or you – at a book signing or giving a talk.. you get the idea. And always add a cover image of your book, including an image of the back side if it is a paper book, a link to your sales page and the price of your book to EACH of these pin boards.
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3. Creating a direct link to your sales page
Pinterest drives more referral traffic than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn, combined. This means if you want people clicking through to the book page on your website or on Amazon, B&N or Kobo, so Pinterest may be your best bet. Don’t post only your books. Treat it as a way to share things you love. Visitors to your page will be happy to “meet the author”.
Make sure that your visitors can find – and buy your book:  Add a description of your book, the direct link to your sales page and add the price after the description with a $ sign. Example: $2.99. Pinterest will place the price in the upper left corner of the image. Pinterest will automatically link to your sales site when a person clicks on it.
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4. Use “Send Pin” feature
With its new “Send Pin” feature, you can now send pins directly to friends within the site! I love this feature because I am constantly finding books that I think my friends would like. You can now simply click on the Send button and choose another Pinterest user, and from your phone or computer, you can also add a short message. You can only send pins to people that you follow and that follow you back, much like Direct Messages on Twitter.
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5. Informal Market Research
Use Pinterest to show several drafts of the cover images of your next book. Ask visitors to share their thoughts through comments and vote for their favored image. Encourage them to invite their friends on Pinterest, Twitter, Google+, Facebook or LinkedIn to participate and give an e-book
version of the upcoming book as prize drawing for the most popular cover image, chosen by them. You can also ask for feedback on illustrations, video, your book trailer, your ads, and much more.
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6. Create a Contest
Contests can get really creative on Pinterest. You could hold a contest for the best image story, pinned by a Pinterest user / customer taking images of your books or photos to create it. You could for example ask people to pin images of them, reading your book to Pinterest as part of your contest.
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7. Video Pin boards
When publishing How-to videos on YouTube or on your business blog, pin it on Pinterest and share that useful content. Create a pin board for all of your helpful content to give it broader exposure. Create a testimonial board – A great way to leverage your customer and fan enthusiasm is to create a board dedicated to ways that your product or service has helped them. Leveraging testimonials is an excellent way to use Pinterest.
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8. Promote Your Pin Boards
Cross-promote the content you publish on Pinterest pin boards – on your blog, Twitter, Google+ and other social media profiles – and vice versa, your social media appearance on Pinterest pin boards. Help your potential customers to spread the word by putting a button “Follow Me on Pinterest” to your website/blog as well as a “Pin It” button. It’s an easy way for people to pin your image or your video with a single mouse click. You can install these buttons within seconds; it makes your content more share-able.
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9. Tags & Hashtags
Neil Patel advises in “The Marketer’s Guide to Pinterest  “Tag popular pinners – You can get the attention of other pinners by including a “@mention” tag like Twitter in your caption. This will send a message to this particular user, who may then pick up on what you are pinning and re-pin it.”

“Use hashtags – like other social media sites: hashtags work on Pinterest to help you gain attention across multiple platforms and build up a following during a marketing campaign. It also works in gaining followers in much the same way as it does on Instagram.”
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10. Use Pinterest’s Analytics and Insights tool
To access the new analytics, click the word Analytics in the top-right menu under your name. If you
don’t see it yet, you need to make sure to switch to the new Pinterest look and verify your website.

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Authors and publishers who already have a personal account on Pinterest will be able to convert it to a business account.  The process to open an author / business account with Pinterest is very easy and really fast. Visit their sample sites to learn more.  Use Pinterest’s buttons and widgets to make it easier for people to pin items from your site, see what you’re doing on Pinterest, and follow you or your boards. Pinterest is the hottest social media tool right now. So, how do you make your own Pinterest page working for your book publishing business?

Have a look at these blog posts:
https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/3-top-reasons-to-have-your-book-on-pinterest/
https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/11/16/pinterest-for-business-launched/
https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/are-your-books-already-on-pinterest/
https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/how-can-pinterest-increase-your-book-sales/

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 159 for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/ Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 830+ of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Remember the Time Before Social Media?

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Even your grandmother is now on Social Media. Do you remember the time before Facebook, Twitter and Google+?  See the steep curve of the user growth rate in all age ranges and demographics, and the continuing pervasiveness of social networking into every facet of work, play and life in general.

Social Media Facts – did you know:

• 53% of all employers research potential job candidates on Social Media?
• 80% of companies use Social Media for Recruitment?
• 43% of companies used blogs in 2012 and growing?
• 33% of companies use YouTube videos for marketing?
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Readers are making book purchasing decisions every day based on social media interactions.  Social platforms are a way to connect with your readers. Use it and be social!

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Source: The Growth of Social Media: An Infographic
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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 730 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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3 TOP Reasons to Have Your Book on PINTEREST

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You might be addicted to Pinterest already. And I am the first to confess, it’s fun to browse their site and pin away… After all, it’s the third largest social network in North America. There are lots of reasons, not only female writers should be on Pinterest, just everyone who sells books or other items can benefit tremendously from joining Pinterest. Can it really help you sell more books? And how to sell your book via Pinterest?
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1. By showing your book on Pinterest
It means not only, to pin the cover image, but also illustrations and images representing the content of your book. Let’s assume you wrote a historical novel and the heroine lives in Scotland. It means you can show tons of images regarding to your story. Get them on free photo sites, use links we posted in former blogs. To find them, just type in free images into the search function at https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com

Search on these free photo sites for landscape photos of Scotland, antique furniture, dresses from the period, recipes… the list goes on and on. Possible board topics at Pinterest could also include book quotes, books turned into movies or book inspired art. Create a separate page for each of these topics, and in no time you will have dozens or even hundreds of “pins”, which makes it interesting for your visitors to browse your books’ Pinterest page.
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2. By creating a direct link to your sales page
Pinterest drives more referral traffic than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn, combined. This means if you want people clicking through to the book page on your website or on Amazon, B&N or Kobo, Pinterest may be your best bet. Don’t post only your books. Treat it as a way to share things you love. Visitors to your page will be happy to “meet the author”.

And this is how your visitors can find – and buy your book:
Add a description of your book, the direct link to your sales page and add the price after the description with a $ sign. Example: $2.99. Pinterest will place the price in the upper left corner of the image. Pinterest will automatically link to your site or product when a person clicks on it. For example:  http://pinterest.com/pin/262053272040143005/
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3. By writing about your book & adding your book trailer
Your presence on Pinterest invites your readers into your life and gives them a reason to buy your books. Keep your presence welcoming. Have a dialogue and re-pin some of their images on your site as well. And if you are an established writer with several books, create separate Pinterest accounts and pages for each one of your books.

Writers who already have a personal account on Pinterest will be able to convert it to a business account. The process to open an author / business account with Pinterest is very easy and really fast. Visit their sample sites to learn more. Use Pinterest’s buttons and widgets to make it easier for people to pin items from your site, see what you’re doing on Pinterest, and follow you or your boards.

Unlike Facebook, Pinterest users don’t have to restrict their searches to information pinned on their friends’ walls. Users can choose to search the entire site. So while a user may not be following your profile, they can still look at and click your link even if they don’t re-pin the link, they will find your books’ sales page.

However, not only photos, also videos can be posted, which means you can add your book trailer (video) as well!
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Pinterest is the hottest social media tool right now. How do you make your Pinterest page work for your book business? Have a look at these pins: Maximize Pinterest for your Business!

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $159 for three months! Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/  to advertise your new book, specials, your KDP Select Free Days or the new Kindle Countdown Deals.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 980 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/
http://www.international-ebooks.com/
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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6 Social Media Sites, Essential for Writers

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Going through my list of tweets for the day, I paused at this one:
1. Why engage in yet another social media when I am already on Twitter, Pinterest & Facebook ?
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It reminded me of other statements from new writers, I hear on a daily basis:
2. None of my friends is on Google+ …
3. I have a website, why should I additionally have a blog?
4. Writing my book, I don’t have time for all these Social Media…

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Answer for question 1 and 2 – Google+
This says it all: Google+ = Google, the famous Search Engine… You don’t join Google+ to meet your friends and family as you do on Facebook!  You join to improve your Search Engine Ranking: As the main search engine, Google indexes and ranks its own site much higher than any other content. Google+ posts – with a main keyword in the first sentence / title – will rank well in Google search and often show up on the first page, for a long time.  And now Google+ outranks Twitter as no. 2 social network, having more active users than Twitter!

On Google+ authors can create a separate page for each of their books. You have immense space to show images, such as your books cover, even if it has 36 MB and you can show your book as often as you want. More reasons to be on Google+ can be found in a former article: “7 Reasons Why Google+ is Perfect for Writers”

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Answer to question 3 – Why should I have a blog?
Your website is something very static. You usually don’t do many changes or new content writing. A blog – either on your website – which would increase SEO – or on WordPress or BlogSpot is adding constantly new content. This means search engines index your blog site higher.
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Writing is fun – why else would you have written this novel!  As a writer, it is only a matter of minutes to write a blog post.  And you don’t need much fantasy to come up with topics. You can write about, well, writing, your writers life, the publishing process, what you have learned about marketing your book… the subjects you can write about are endless.

An important reason for a blog is that you can use snippets from the content to fill your social media sites. For sample: use one sentence and a link to your blog and post it as a tweet.  Readers see your post and click on your blog or website – and voila! they learn about your book. Here are two samples from the blog page you are just reading:

Author of “The Wolf’s Moon” Patrick Jones, in an Interview, talking about the characters in his book http://wp.me/p1uIFg-1il

9 Compelling Reasons to Get Marketing Help, Boosting Your Books Success
bit.ly/X3rwul
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Readers and fans have a reason to come back to your blog, as often as you write a new post, and will re-tweet your blogs and spread the message about your book. Plug-ins and share buttons automatically send your blog posts to all your social media sites.
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Answer to statement 4:
What you are just reading here, was automatically send to Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Stumbleupon, Tumblr, Reddit, Triberr, Yahoo and Goodreads – at the same moment I hit the “publish” button! I don’t need to go to all these sites to fill them with content. What more could you wish for? Writing one blog post, it can be as short as 300 – 500 words an it will be found all over the internet! You certainly can add more Social Media sites to your blogs sharing button, to spread the word even more.

Your post is yet sent more often among Social Media sites:

• Google+ can send your post automatically to Facebook and Twitter, I wrote in December how authors can set up this function. 
• Twitter gets feeds from Google+ and Pinterest, among others
• Facebook for sample gets feeds from Pinterest and Goodreads and your blog
• Pinterest feeds Twitter and Facebook

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SUMMARY: To have maximum exposure for your book and you, as an author, and to save lots of time, join: 

• Google+
• Twitter
• Goodreads
• Facebook
• Pinterest
• Write a blog.

How to get more followers on your social media sites is explained in one of last months’ blogs, and also at How to Get More Followers on Google+
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Be very selective when choosing followers:
You want READERS and REVIEWERS as followers. NOT your friends. Type into the search functions on top of these pages: readers, book lovers, book worms, reading, love to read etc. to find the right people as your following.
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One last tip: Set up a second page on Google+, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest – only for your book. Separate it from your existing private presence.
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Part of our Book Marketing package we offer, is dedicated to help you to create or improve your reader community platform, such as:

• create an attractive media presence
• increase the amount of followers
• learn how to connect all these sites 
• and how to save time on Social Media

Find out how else we can help you to have more success  for your books and more fun in marketing.

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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are almost 700 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

Don’t forget to spread the word on other social networking sites of your choice for other writers who might also enjoy this blog and find it useful. Thanks

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Happy Valentine’s Day

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Happy Valentine’s Day

These Valentine’s greetings are for our thousands and thousands of followers and readers on our blogs, especially on https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com, and on Twitter, Google+, Chime.in, Facebook, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, FavStar, Goodreads and on http://www.111Publishing.com.

We wish you all a wonderful and relaxing Valentine’s Day.  Spoil the writer in your life with a gift that saves time – more time to write.  See yesterdays post …

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Have You Got a Marketing Plan for Your Book?

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Marketing possibilities for your book sometimes seem to be overwhelming. Use this article to schedule and divide it into small pieces to execute one at a time – make it a habit to work on it every day.
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Let’s assume that you, as a self-publishing author have produced an excellent, high-quality book or e-book and now you are going to publish and to market your book.
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Or take scenario two: you have written the best book and found the best agent possible and she’s made the best deal she can get with the best publisher who’s interested, then you will be surprised to learn about the reality in traditional publishing: Publishers do spend money on advertising, PR and paid placement in bookstores, but they don’t spend the same amount on all books. On average publishers spend less than $2,000 on advertising 90% of their titles—not much to get the word out about your book.

Bookstores will return your unsold books after three months to the publisher, which means almost the end of your book’s “brick & mortar” career. These are the reasons YOU will have to get the word out about your book, no matter if you author-publish or if you go with a big, traditional publisher.
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You certainly have done your homework before you started writing your book:

• You researched your possible competition and how popular the genre is in which you are writing.
• You have identified your target market and in which time-frame you want to accomplish the introduction for your book.
• You made plans for your writing career, you vision already – and maybe even lined out several books, you know that one book only doesn’t make for a writing career.
• You thought about where you want to be in one, three, or five years from now, and what you want to have accomplished as a writer then.
• You also know that book marketing starts ideally before and while you write your future bestseller.

There are two avenues to market and sell your work, even if you have sold your manuscript to a traditional publisher. Either you:

• will invest lots of money and buy ads / go on book signing tours / attend book fairs – or you
• will invest time into building a platform and an authors brand through the use of social marketing and content marketing, plus you learn some fast and free tricks to spread the word about your book
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And then there is 1. the promotional, social part and 2. the “hard-selling” part for your book.
The latter will barely work if you have not laid out the foundation with the first part. Would you likely buy something from an unknown person, no matter if on- or off-line?  Remember that your competition in published books is fierce and there are millions published every year. Readers have to be convinced to buy an unfamiliar book from a totally unknown author…
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It will be the same for both, fiction or non-fiction: The foundation for your books’ success is in building a community, a social environment and a platform to introduce yourself and your work to readers. How can you accomplish this, even before your book is finished? It takes a year to make yourself known in the book community, so start early in order to have a successful book launch:
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1. What you can do before your book is ready to go to the beta-reader, copy-editor and final editor:

– Have a professional! photographer taken a portrait to use for your avatar
– Get to know and introduce yourself to potential readers, sign up at Google+
(good for SEO), Twitter, FB, Pinterest, Flickr
– Join several book communities, #1 Goodreads, #2 Wattpad, #3 KindleBoards, BookTalk, Scribd…
– Visit forums in your field, especially if you write non-fiction
– Join HARO (Help a Reporter out) to make yourself a name as an expert in your field
– Start and write regularly (once or twice a week) blog posts
– Create your own (not a free!) author website 
– Send your blog articles to newspapers / magazines and even to e-Zines
– Write guest blogs for other bloggers to get your name out
– Write your “elevator pitch” and practice your “elevator speech” for quick pitch
– Start a spread sheet or list with email addresses of potential readers
– Create an email signature & use it for every email you send out
– Print business cards / book marks
– Get an ISBN number and register your copyright
– Register with Bowker to have your book worldwide listed (free)
– Choose the right genre (category) and keywords for your book
– Gather as many reviews as possible and write a compelling blurb
– Research media contacts and prepare Press Releases
– Invite several thousand! people as followers and friends on your social media sites

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2. Plan of action, once your book is edited, has an appealing cover – that’s what people see first, is professionally converted (e-book), or got a perfect layout (print) and is ready to launch:
.– Place your book into the right category / genre and sub-genre (important for its success!)

– Create a second, separate BOOK PAGE on Amazon, Goodreads, Google+ and FB
– Submit your book to the Library of Congress (USA only)
– Set up a media press kit on your website with a link to your book trailer
– Plan and create an email campaign to potential readers
– Get customer orders for special (price) pre-launch sale
– Invite more reviewers for your book
– Submit photos of your book cover image to Pinterest, Flickr…
– Create a slide show  and/or video book trailer
– Send copies to book reviewers in various publications and to book bloggers
– Send review copies to book clubs with large distribution
– Automate submissions to and between all your social networks
– Write a blog post about the upcoming launch
– Spruce up your website and blog for your book launch
– Write a compelling press release
– Ask your friends to list your book under “Listmania” on Amazon
– Participate in “Carnival of the Indies” blog carnival to promote your blog URL
– Comment on other blogs and write lots of guest blogs
– Submit your blogs including an URL link to even more e-Zines
– Consider to participate at KDP Select free days, announce your upcoming book for free
– Offer interviews at Radio /TV stations and newspapers or on other blogs
– Try to set you up to become a desirable guest expert on a talk or morning show
– Befriend influential book bloggers for even more reviews and articles
– Donate your book to local libraries and offer to speak
– Contact local bookstores for book signings
– Gather writing friends for cross-promotions and blog tours
– Add press clippings and articles, already published, to your website
– Get a new business card with an image of your book and sales link
– Place the books’ cover image & description daily on your Google+ stream
– Announce your book launch or book signing on Google+ for FREE
– Get even more friends, followers and people in your circles on social media sites
as you need lots of audience to spread the word about your new book!
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What else can you do to increase your books’ success:
– Become a guest speaker at writers conferences or business seminars
– Sell your book to libraries
– Let your book translate in other languages or sell foreign rights
– Split your (non-fiction) book in pieces and sell single articles to magazines
– Participate in writing contests and book awards

The possibilities are endless… Stay tuned for more tips at https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com
Make sure you have done every one of these steps to have a great start once your book is published. Write for pleasure – publish for profit!

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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are almost 700 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Follow on Twitter: @111publishing

And don’t forget to spread the word on other social networking sites of your choice for other writers who might also enjoy this blog and find it useful. Thanks, Doris

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Great Info Graphic: History of Social Media

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Beth Hayden and Rafal Tomal created a marvelous info graphic to show

the (short) history of Social Media:
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Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger.

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Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are almost 570 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article, from where you can submit blog posts to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Follow on Twitter: @111publishing

And don’t forget to spread the word on other social networking sites of your choice for other writers who might also enjoy this blog and find it useful. Thanks, Doris

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5 Ways of Marketing with Pinterest

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PINTEREST, an image-based social networking platform is growing at record speed. Direct sales content is not allowed at Pinterest, according to their Terms of Service. However, this doesn’t mean businesses can’t get creative and use Pinterest for brand-building and to drive revenue. Here are five creative ways to use Pinterest as a platform for indirect marketing purposes in your social media marketing mix. It’s free and easy to use.

The visual aspect offers great opportunities for authors to connect with readers by “pinning” their book cover images and illustrations from within their book.
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1. Create several pinboards
Depending on the story of your book, you could create custom product pinboards that indirectly market through topics of your book. For example, when you wrote a historical novel, you can create a pinboard with historical photographs of the area, where the novel takes place and a pinboard about events happening at the time. A pinboard about the characters… etc. Or if you wrote a thriller, set in the financial sector, pin images of Wall Street or offices of investment bankers. However be careful to show images of persons only after getting their written! consent.  Images of Banks such as Merrill Lynch, Rothschild or Bank of America are ok.

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You could also create a pinboard, showing images of your old typewriter, a pile of notes, your laptop, cute writing paper with a pretty pen, you – sitting on your desk and writing or you – at a book signing or giving a talk.. you get the idea.  And always add a cover image of your book, including an mage of the back side if it is a paper book, to EACH of these pinboards.

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2. Informal Market Research
Use Pinterest to show several drafts of the cover images of your next book. Ask visitors to share their thoughts through comments and vote for their favored image. Encourage them to invite their friends on Pinterest, Twitter, Google+, FB or LinkedIn to partizipate and give an e-book version of the upcoming book as prize drawing for the most popular cover image, choosen by them. You can also ask for feedback on illustrations, video, your book trailer, ads, and much more.

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3. Create a Contest
Contests can get really creative on Pinterest. You could hold a contest for the best image story, pinned by a Pinterest user / customer taking
images of your books or photos to create it. You could ask people to pin images to Pinterest as part of your contest.

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4. Video Pinboards
When publishing How-to videos on YouTube or on your business blog, pin it on Pinterest and share that useful content. Create a pinboard for all of your helpful content to give it broader exposure.

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5. Promote Your Pinboards
Cross-promote the content you publish on Pinterest pinboards – on your blog, Twitter, Google+ and other social media profiles – and vice versa, your social media appearance on Pinterest pinboards. Help your potential customers to spread the word by putting a button “Follow Me on Pinterest” to your website/blog as well as a “Pin It” button. It’s an easy way for people to pin your image or your video with a single mouse click. You can install these buttons within seconds; it makes your content more shareable.

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Excerpt from the brand new e-book: ***** 111 Tips to Create Your Book Trailer ***** featuring valuable tips and links to video tutorials, free music downloads and free images, available on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008Y15YYO

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Are Your Books Already on Pinterest?

Images from a short visit at Pinterest, hundreds of photos featuring book shelves, libraries, yes and even books – but not many…

Where are all these authors who want to get the word out and market their new titles? Why do they not “pin” a cover image of each of their books?

I just read a blog post of “The Well-Read Wife“.  Mandy writes: “Pinterest has the potential to be a very useful part of your book blog’s social media plan. Pinterest has the advantage over Twitter and Facebook when it comes to our particular niche, because it promotes the cultivation of information in as simple a way possible.

Unlike Facebook, Pinterest users don’t have to restrict their searches to information pinned on their friends’ walls. Users can choose to search the entire site. So while a user may not be following your profile, they can still look at and click your link even if they don’t re-pin the link or choose to follow your profile.

I have been cultivating Pinterest boards geared toward book lovers. Among others:

• Books I Love
  This board is where I pin reviews posted on my site of books that I enjoyed. It also is a promotional tool for The Well-Read Wife. Most if not all of the pins are from my site and link back to WellReadWife
• Beautiful Library Spaces
  I pin photos of beautiful home libraries and reading spaces on this board.

There are so many possibilities when it comes to Pinterest being a resource for book lovers!
Possible board topics include book quotes, books turned into movies, book inspired art, and so much more. As book bloggers, we are very lucky. Because of cover art, we typically have a beautiful graphic to go with each post we write. We need to use that to our advantage and pin away, because it will get the word out about the books we love to a wider audience!”

Directory of Book Bloggers
She writes further: “I am making a directory of BOOK BLOGGERS on Pinterest over at The Well-Read Wife. If you are a book blogger and would like to be included, simply email a link to your Pinterest page to me at wellreadwife [@] gmail dot com. Please make sure your Pinterest page has a link to your blog on it.”

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Do You Use Social Book Marking / Sharing Plug-ins?

Would you like to have SEVEN times! more people read your blog or visit your website?
Yes?  So, how do you get folks to share your posts or website content online?  Make it easy for them to share what you have written with their social networks, so that others can discover your content – and forward it to their followers and friends, and these also forward it to their friends and followers …. You get the idea!

The best way to start this process is to include click-able buttons to offer the idea of sharing front and center, and make it incredibly simple for your readers to post your link to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or other social networks.
Some Social Book Marking Plug-ins even measure your content’s impact across social streams by displaying traffic and audience data generated from sharing tools, search, Facebook Like buttons, Tweet buttons, browser address bar sharing and more places.  Learn which social networks, geographies and influencers drive the most sharing for you.

See the best 10 Social Sharing Plug-ins on Web Designer Depot’s site:

WordPress Users
Add Twitter, Facebook Like, Google+ Social share… This WordPress plugin for Twitter, Facebook, Google +1 (plus one) and other social shares can add the share box before post contents, after and also floating on the left side of your post. Display all popular social sharing buttons including a counter, such as Twitter, Buffer, Facebook Share, Facebook Like, Digg, LinkedIn, Google +1, Reddit, dZone, TweetMeme, Topsy, Yahoo Buzz, StumbleUpon, Del.icio.us, Sphinn, Designbump, WebBlend, BlogEngage and Serpd, Pinterest.

Visitors, who find your blog content valuable, can link it with one click to their Google+, Twitter and Facebook site.  Very easy for your visitors: They do not need to write the post manually – and for you it is a great publicity! Your post might even go viral!

Download it for free.
How to install it on your blog can be found on their WordPress site or use Digg Digg, which is one of the most popular sharing plug-ins for WordPress blogs with over 330,000 downloads to date. It adds a nice floating bar to your blog:

Those are not the only ones: there are many Social Bookmarking options available for WordPress. The idea is to find the plugin that best fits into the theme and style of your site.  “Share this” for sample is an unobtrusive way for your visitors to post your site content to various social bookmarking sites, or send a link via e-mail & other communication channels (like Facebook and MySpace) to a friend.

Adding a floating sharing bar with Digg Digg, just like Mashable does for example, can have a huge impact for any blog.  Some great research from BrightEdge showed that more visible sharing buttons will increase the number of shares your posts get. This might seem quite obvious. Yet the real impact is easily underestimated. Get your site more exposure and traffic: an info graphic shows that blogs and websites with a Twitter button, will get 7 times more shares than sites without! 

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