Marketing & Promotion Archives » Page 11 of 27

New story, “The Lipidopterist,” read live at The Meshuggah Cafe, recorded by Booked Podcast

March 15, 2012

The fellows over at Booked Podcast are gents in the truest sense of the word. By that I mean they are whimsical placcards on the bathroom doors of bar restrooms. Also, they happen to be amazingly active participants in the podcast and reading communities, so much so that they are dedicating many future episodes of their podcast to live readings as recorded during the 2012 AWP Conference in Chicago, IL. Though my reading, done at The Meshuggah Cafe in St. Louis on February 28th, wasn't officially part of the AWP Conference (which started February 29th in Chicago), the entire week blends for me into a single mess of drink, friends, and drunk friends. This recording captures the first time I had read "The Lipidopterist" out loud in front of an audience. All-in-all, I think it worked. Have a listen, then check out Booked Podcast for more. Be sure to subscribe…

New short story available at Amazon.com, “The Lipidopterist.” Man collects human lips. Ex-wife wants half of his collection.

March 9, 2012

It has been a while since I've had a short story to whore out to the world. While I've been busy bombarding poor souls with news of my 3 recent book releases, I haven't had much to say in the way of short stories since...well, since September, if you can count my non-fiction piece "Denis Johnson Almost Drank My Pee" as a short story at Dark Sky (though "short story" implies fiction, and the Dark Sky piece isn't). Anyway, my story "The Lipidopterist" is now available as a Kindle story over at Amazon.com. I recently read this story in St. Louis at the Meshuggah Cafe. The reactions were quite good, I must say. I believe it is also part of the Kindle lending library thing, or at least will be shortly. Still, though, it's only $0.99. Fork over the coins! Available now from the fake publisher Viscera Irrational. Buy. Read.

What is the value of a Goodreads.com book Giveaway? 93% of entrants had never heard of me. 88% plan on reading my books.

February 25, 2012

Does giving away your books lead to more readers, and in turn, more fans? I’ve long read of the marketing effectiveness of giving away books using the Giveaways option at Goodreads.com. And though I’ve conducted one giveaway in the past (for Stranger Will) I’ve not yet been able to confidently attribute any gains in readership or sales due to that giveaway. With this attribution gap in mind, I set out to conduct a giveaway for As a Machine and Parts, that would allow me to more precisely measure the value of a Goodreads.com user. My conclusion: a Goodreads.com user stands a great chance of becoming a reader. The setup I listed a 2 copy giveaway for As a Machine and Parts to take place between 2/3/2012 and 2/15/2012. During this time the giveaway received a total of 398 entries. After the giveaway was closed for entries, I followed up with…

Book Metadata. Let the Algorithm Sell Your Books For You. A Primer.

February 11, 2012

There’s a rule when it comes to search engine optimization: Content is King. Basically, this means that above everything else—all the link building, code tweaking, and social networking—the most important factor of any well-optimized web presence is the content itself. What good is your website without compelling content? And without compelling content, how can you expect other websites to link back to yours? I would go so far as to suggest the rule should be Content is God, but then we lose out on the lovely alliteration. But the Content is King rule governs everything, not just your website or social profiles. Your books themselves actually contain Kingable Content that can be tweaked and optimized for marketing benefits. I’m not suggesting that you to manipulate your book’s words for the sake of search engines; that would be [keyword]ing+<h1>stupid</h1>. Rather, I’m here to clue you in to an area of underutilized…

Booked Podcast. Noir at the Bar. The Velvet Podcast.

January 28, 2012

I’ve been non-stop busy the past few weeks. I feel as though I’ve done nothing, as my to-do list never shrinks. But somehow, as I look back, all that I felt never happened, is done. Here’s a few things: The wonderful Robb Olson and Livius Nedin at Booked Podcast did a full episode about my work, splitting time with my two newest books, I Didn’t Mean to be Kevin and As a Machine and Parts. The things these guys say, it makes me blush colors of red never before blushed by humans. Listen to the full episode now, and be sure to stay to the end to hear Mlaz Corbier say awesome things about my awesome socks. Pablo D’Stair and I recorded another episode of The Velvet Podcast. We talked about one my recent tweets: [blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/calebjross/status/158648828218707968"] I hope to have the episode edited and posted within a week. As…

They Know Your Name, but They Aren’t the Ones You Want. Directional Marketing for Authors

January 15, 2012

Back in November I wrote a blog post about standardizing your name for search engines. One of the most common responses I received from this post was from authors with unique pen names who cited their unique names as a reason to exempt them from the post’s advice. Basically, their ideas went that a writer with an uncommon name—we’ll use Maximus Pandroistien for this example—should not be worried about being outranked by other websites in a search results page because the likelihood of a similar name existing is nil. While this logic is true, it is narrow-minded. And please, pass along my condolences to Mr. Maxie Pandy and his presumably horrible childhood. But here’s the important bit: potential readers who already know your name are not your target demographic. After all, they already know about you. You want to reach those who may be interested in your style of work…

I lost $ 75.48 on a Facebook ad campaign, and you can too! -OR- Can Facebook ads sell books? Quick answer: no. Long answer: noooooooooooooooo.

December 14, 2011

(part of my ongoing Search Engine Optimization for Authors series[ref]I understand that paid search ads aren’t traditionally umbrellaed under search engine optimization. However, because tracking and optimization is involved, I’m including it in the series[/ref]) Part of being a great author-marketer is knowing how to filter promotion time wastes from time worthwhiles. Some options are simple to filter. “Should I do a Goodreads.com giveaway to attract potential readers?” Yes (all it costs is the price of a few copies of a book to receive interest from hundreds of readers). “Should I rent a billboard for a month?” No (billboards offer either 1) travel-oriented products/services or 2) products with a high profit margin). Some options aren’t so simple. And in the case of the Facebook ad, prominence adds to the should I or shouldn’t I debate. Well, I’m here to help.