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Building Your Brand and Managing a Street Team. By Eva Pohler. Introductions. After years of perfecting my craft and getting rejected by agents, I took the plunge to self publish in August of 2012.
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Building Your Brand and Managing a Street Team By Eva Pohler
Introductions After years of perfecting my craft and getting rejected by agents, I took the plunge to self publish in August of 2012. I attended a conference the following year, and, after applying what I’d learned, my career took off. I now make as much money from my books as I do as a teacher. I truly think now is the best time in history to be a writer, and so I’d like to share with you what I’ve learned.
Brand Covers Make the covers in a series consistent. Use consistent font for your author name.
Brand Your Social Media: Website Your website is your headquarters for everything. If you don’t have one, get one now. You will need: A domain name—best to use your author name Links to all social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Google+) An “About Me” Page that emphasizes your brand A “Books” Page with covers, blurbs, and purchase links An “Appearances” Page Consistent branding on every page Announcements (be fan-centric, not writer-centric), ask a responsive question, run games, give quizzes Astore with branded products for sale See mine as an example: http://www.evapohler.com
Social Media: Facebook 1. If you are not on Facebook, get on now! Go to http://www.Facebook.com 2. Open a free account with an email and password. 3. Once you have a personal page, create an author page that is “likeable.” This will be shared in rafflecopter widgets. 4. Be sure to brand your pages. 5. Create pages for your characters and/or your series. 6. Use Facebook to create events for cover reveals and release parties, where you can further spread your brand. (By inviting friends to invite their friends, you can have a lot of people “join.” Even if they don’t attend during the event, they will see your posts in their feed.) 7. 8. Use targeted advertising to get your brand out there.
Social Media: Twitter 1. If you are not on Twitter, get on now! Go to http://www.Twitter.com 2. Open a free account with an email and password. 3. Be sure to brand it. 4. Use hashtags so people who don’t already follow you can find you: #Yalit #FridayReads #Authorlove #Greekmythtidbits 5. Link Twitter to Facebook so that your Facebook posts are tweeted. 6. Do not scream “Buy my book!” Instead, provide useful or desired content that will draw people to your website. (Remember to be fan-centric, not writer-centric.) 7. Connect your twitter feed to your website, Goodreads, Smashwords, and Author Central pages.
Social Media: Goodreads 1. If you are not on Goodreads, get on now! Go to http://www.Goodreads.com 2. Open a free account with an email and password. 3. If you have published books, create an author profile and claim your books. 4. You can add a book that isn’t yet out, but you need a cover and an ISBN #. This is FREE promo. 5. Link to Twitter and Facebook, upload book samples, upload videos, create a poll, post favorite quotes—all branded. 6. Join groups related to your genre and interact. 7. Sign up for Author Review Requests and look for top reviewers. (More to come.) 8. Run a giveaway—one or two weeks at a time. Then remind all who signed up for giveaway of your pre-order and/or release date. 9. Use targeted advertising.
Social Media: Newsletter 1. Once you publish a book or two, create a newsletter. I use mail chimp at http://www.mailchimp.com 2. Brand your newsletter! 3. Directly reach fans who want to know more about you. 4. Offer exclusive content. 5. Offer promotional deals they won’t find anywhere else. 6. Let them know about pre-orders, cover reveals, release dates, and book signing events. 7. Incentivize the sign up with a free gift: button, raffle, coupon code, etc. 8. I would make it monthly or bi-monthly (not too frequent, not too infrequent).
Social Media: Pinterest 1. If you aren’t on Pinterest, get on now! Open a free account with an email and password here: http://www.Pinterest.com 2. Brand your boards! Here’s mine: http://www.pinterest.com/EvaPohler Pin your covers, logo, banners, and other promo images. 3. Pin directly from your website so that when people click on the image, they get taken to your site.
Social Media: Google + 1. If you aren’t on Google Plus, get on now! Open a free account with an email and password here: https://plus.google.com/ 2. Post directly from your website. 3. Use Google Hangouts in conjunction with your Facebook events to create live-stream video that can then be uploaded to Youtube and embedded onto your website. 4. Experiment with Google Adwords.
Social Media: YouTube 1. If you aren’t on YouTube, get on now! Open a free account with an email and password here: https://www.youtube.com/ 2. Post an interview of yourself. 3. Post tutorials. 4. Post book trailers. 5. Post updates for your fans. 6. Post your Google Hangout sessions. 7. Experiment with targeted advertising (through Google).
Social Media: Email Signature If you haven’t already, post your book covers, short blurb, website, and other social media sites in your email signature. Eva Pohler Lecturer in Writing and Literature The University of Texas at San Antonio Author of Teen and Adult Fiction http://www.evapohler.com The Gatekeeper's Saga ".. . sure to thrill Hunger Games fans . . ." --Kirkus Reviews The PurgatoriumSeries The Mystery Book Collection
Commoditize Your Story I’m not trying to make money on this merchandise (though I might eventually with greater success); right now I’m just looking for more ways to engage my readers with my story and increase awareness about my brand. I offer an online store through Zazzle and Etsy. Here are ideas: • T-shirts and Other Apparel • Buttons • Temporary Tattoos • Pens • Notepads • Totes/Purses/Backpacks • Caps/Hats • Purse Charm/Key Chain/ Bookmark Charm • Jewelry • Reading Journal • Beach Towel • Posters
Easy Banners and Images If you can’t afford Print Shop, you can make eye-catching banners and other promotional images for free using on line tools and free software. This is what I do: • I go to http://www.uprinting.com and use their free online design tool. You have to open a free account using an email and password. • I upload files of the images I want to manipulate. • I create a poster or banner with their online tools. • I download my finished project as a PDF. • I rename the file something memorable. • I open the file in Gimp (free software) • I import the PDF and convert it to a Gimp file. • I rescale and/or crop the image if necessary. • I export the image as a Jpeg. (I also created my logo this way.) • I then edit the Jpeg at picmonkey.com.
Soliciting Reviews: Consumers Avoid trading reviews with other authors. Avoid giving negative reviews. Send invitations to people who review in your genre on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. Offer a free book in exchange for a review. Sign up for Goodreads ARR’s and run Goodreads giveaways. Once you make your first book free and take out a BookBub ad, you will see an increase in reviews. You can also try Freebooksy, Bookblast, Book Gorilla, and others. Never respond to negative reviews. Instead, go read Tolkien’s negative reviews.
Soliciting Reviews: Bloggers • Hire a variety of blog tour companies—maybe a different one for each book, so you can reach new bloggers . Contact the bloggers from previous tours about your newest release. Offer a free book in exchange for an honest review. • Use Google Docs to create a sign up form for bloggers, which you can then post to various Facebook pages . Offer a blogger prize. • Create rafflecopter giveaways where people who enter can “like” the pages of bloggers who share your post. • Attend conferences and other professional events in the industry where you can meet and make friends with bloggers. • Support bloggers by sharing their posts when they make such requests on Facebook.
Soliciting Reviews: Trade Reviews • Buy a Kirkus Review. • Submit to Midwest Book Review and/or others in your field. • PW Select is another option. • Romantic Times and most other trade reviewers will want your ARC six months before publication—hard for Indies. • Send out a Press Release a few months before launch and then again on release day. Send it to wire services but also to your local newspaper, radio, and television. Try to add a level of local interest. • Be sure to follow all review policies.
What Is a Street Team? • Street Team marketing originated in the music industry. • There are two types of teams: literal street and online street. • Literal street teams can hang up posters, deliver bookmarks and other promotional items to libraries and bookstores, parade around in t-shirts, and bring their friends to your brick-and-mortar signings. • Online street teams can share your Facebook posts, tweets, pins, and other social media activity. They spread the word about your cover reveals, releases, and other online events. They also review your books in exchange for free copies and post the reviews at all e-retailers and Goodreads. Most of them are bloggers who will participate in your online book tours. Like literal street teams, online street teams can alert their friends to events happening in their cities. • The members of your street team are your superfans who love you and your works and who want to evangelize about you to others.
How to Form a Street Team Wait until you have at least two books out. Hire a tour company to hook you up with bloggers and reviewers. Create a secret group on Facebook. Approach around a dozen people who have given you raving reviews on the first two books and invite them to join your team. With their permission, ad them to your secret Facebook group. Their first mission can be to vote on a name. Start small, and allow it to build organically. Those members will ask if their friends can join. Don’t let your team get too big too fast, because you need to get to know them, because they need to get to know each other, and because it’s hard to afford a big team and still treat your members well.
Ways to Organize a Street Team Competitive Point System: only the high-point members are rewarded Independent Point System: each member earns rewards as they earn a certain number of points Lottery/Rafflecopter: members qualify to enter to win, and only the winner gets a reward Monthly Missions and Rewards: Members can choose to participate or not each month, and all who do earn a reward
Examples of Missions Read and review books Tweet once a week about upcoming release Pin covers and teasers to Pinterest Share teasers on Facebook and Instagram Recommend books to Goodreads friends Share news on Facebook Invite friends to Facebook events Participate in a blog tour Request your book at bookstores
Examples of Rewards Signed ARC’s Book-Related T-Shirts Book-Related Jewelry Buttons and Pens Book-Themed Reading Journals Gift Cards Street Team Acknowledgements Page
More About Street Teams • Social Interaction with them is key. They joined because they want to spend time with you. • Support Group: they can be there for you when you get a bad review, etc. • Beta Readers: most of them would love the opportunity to be a first reader and enjoy giving one of their favorite authors their feedback. • Don’t exploit their love for you. Be sure to reward them fairly.
