Neworking on a Budget (Part 2) by Tara Fox Hall

Following Jenny Twist's interesting post last week on free promotion and the value of networking, it's now the turn of Tara Fox Hall.  Over to Tara for her wise advice.

Tara Fox Hall

Thank you to Manic Scribbler for having me here today to talk about book promotion! Jenny Twist's excellent post on 3-17-13 covered many of the bases which are definite musts for promoting your book. I offer the following tips to build upon her thoughtful pointers. Some are free, and some are low cost.

***I want to add here that to successfully promote a book using her tips and/or mine will take significant amounts of time. Please be aware as an author you will spend as much time promoting as you do writing. There is only so much time, so budgeting your time well must be your first step of promotion!***

Top 4 paid promotions:

 1 – Cover Ads. A fabulous cover goes a long way toward snaring a reader. It’s the first thing a reader sees. When you can get your book covers out there in front of your audience, they are more inclined to pick up your work. The majority of the ads I buy are cover ads. Ads can be very expensive, but some sites like The Romance Studio have very good deals, such as the buy 1 get 9 Free cover ad deal they did for St. Patrick’s Day. This site also has other good promo opportunities like:

 2 – Being a featured author or other promotion at various review sites. Usually this is a small cost for a large return, in terms of blog parties you can join, live chats, or other perks you are given, like interviews, free ads, etc. I have met many of my fans at 24-hr Coffee Time Romance chats, or through daily book giveaways, and doing this will help you get a mailing list started. Be warned thought that some sites charge very high fees, so make sure you know what you are paying for is worth your money. Web hunts and parties are also great to be involved in, as they last for over a month and there is a lot of time for fans to stop in and enter, versus a contest that lasts only one day. I recently participated in The Romance Reviews 2^nd Anniversary Party (free) and gave away a print copy of Promise Me. The winner got the book last week, has already read it, and just gave me a 5-star review on another review site!

 3 – Blog Tours. When I have a new book coming out, I normally book at least a few dates on various blogs. To launch my Promise Me series, I did intense blogging, where I was someplace new each day for 2 months. This really helped my series get off the ground. Blogging is a great tool, but it will eat up time quickly when you do everything yourself. There are companies online that cater to authors, like Heartfelt Promos, that will set you up for a very small fee with blog hosts for a tour. There are bigger companies that will not only book the tours, but also create prizes to give away, organize reviews for you, and create spotlight posts, so you will have to do even less of the work for a tour. Again, know what you are getting before you buy! Get feedback from other authors before booking. Blog posts must be creative, short, and adding a giveaway usually boosts hits/participation.

4 - Putting up a print copy of your work on Goodreads. I’ve done that for some of my books (such as the first and second in my series), and those books have gotten attention. I don’t do it for all books, as Goodreads does not let you contact those interested in your book in any way, or let you send anything to the winners except the book.

Top four free promotions: Jenny already touched on these, so I’ll be brief!

1 – Blogging and more blogging. Note that some bigger blogs like Night Owl Reviews are booked well in advance. Today is 3-17-13, and I just booked a day in late August, 2013, as they are already booked up until late summer. 

2 – Reviews. Get to know the major review sites, and make sure to follow all of their rules in correspondence. Be polite and respectful. Manic Readers is a good place to start: request reviews, book a blog, ask for an interview, etc.!

3 – Book signings. These are more about getting awareness of your book than moneymaking. Make SURE to put up signs that your books are available online as e-books, as many people think since they see you are there selling print books, you only have print books to sell. Have promo items like pens and bookmarks to hand out. (Vistaprint and 4Imprint are great places to get promo items as reasonable cost, but you can also create your own promo items, if you are crafty)

4 – Facebook, and other social media sites. All authors need a FB page, a website, a blog, and other ways to connect online with their fans. These take probably the most work of all, both to create and maintain, even if they are simple. Websites can be free, or you can go all out with major graphics. But there had to be something out there where people looking for your work can find it. Ideally, they should be able to Google your name and have your website come up first on the list. At least, they should be able to get some hits with your book titles together with your name. Goodreads and Manic Readers are also sites you must maintain an author page at, as well as a current list of all books. Goodreads will also give you a blog for free. 

Now get out there and PROMOTE!

Thank you, Tara - there's a wealth of really useful information here.

About Tara Fox Hall

Tara Fox Hall is an OSHA-certified safety and health inspector at a metal fabrication shop in upstate New York. She received her bachelor's degree in mathematics with a double minor in chemistry and biology from Binghamton University.

Tara Fox Hall's writing credits include nonfiction, horror, suspense, action-adventure, erotica, and contemporary and historical paranormal romance. She is the author of the paranormal action-adventure Lash series and the vampire romantic suspense Promise Me series, as well as other novellas. She also co-authored the essay The Allure of the Serial Killer, published in Serial Killers - Philosophy for Everyone: Being and Killing (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010).

Tara divides her free time unequally between writing novels and short stories, chainsawing firewood, caring for stray animals, sewing cat and dog beds for donation to animal shelters, and target practice.

For more information about Tara's literary works, click on: 

http://www.amazon.com/Tara-Fox-Hall/e/B005YPAA4W