Online Promotion Plan VIIII
18. Have you researched the online magazines that promote your genre?
19. Have you created a list of online magazines you want to be featured in?
20. Have you requested interviews from these magazines?
21. Have you researched their advertisement prices?
What I like about being online is there is something for everyone. For instance, if you write romances you probably will find a few sites that promote romances or if you write mystery you’ll find the mystery sites.
That can also be said for online magazines. When I started SORMAG there weren’t many online magazines. Now that story is different. There are a lot of online magazines that like to promote books and their writers.
RESEARCH
As with any magazine, most have a schedule they work with. I highly recommend that you do your research well before approaching them.
Find the magazines that promote your genre. In your research look to see if they promote other genres too (for example, SORMAG started as a romance magazine, over the years we moved to promoting all literature, so you might find a romance or a mystery or even history book featured.)
So do not count the magazine out if they promote one genre, your book might still interest their audience. This is where articles come in. You can write an article for them and still get a chance to promote your book in your bio.
• Find out what their guidelines are.
• How do they want you to introduce yourself?
• Do they want you to send a book for review?
• Do they offer guest spots or articles?
• Do they offer free promotion or only paid promotion?
• Look at their paid promotion?
• It is something that fits into your budget?
CREATE A LIST
Before you start get your calendar out and look at your release date. This will help in setting the time frame for your promotions.
I recommend you have at least:
• Three promotions a month before the release date. You want to get the reader ready for the book, they also can do pre-orders.
• Four promotions the week it releases.
• Three promotions after the releases, you want to catch those readers who might have missed the previous promotions.
• That’s ten promotions.
You can decide how you want to break the promotions up between free and paid promotions. Your budget will determine this.
Create a list with 10 magazines to get you started. You can always go higher once you get the hang of approaching magazines.
Start off with the free promotion. Set up your interviews or promotions by sending your letter of introduction. Offer to be interviewed, do a guest post or write an article.
Do not expect to get a promotion the month you contact them. If you book is coming out, try to schedule your interview three – six months in advance. Remember most magazines are on a schedule of three – six months in advance.
INTERVIEWS
Please remember to meet the magazine’s deadlines. There’s nothing like having an interview scheduled and the author doesn’t send back the information for the interview. Don’t have the magazine chasing you down. Always be professional and send your interview or article back on time.
Include a picture of yourself and your book. This helps the editor not have to go in search of this information.
Get a date when your interview/article will go live. Send out to your friends, family and fans. Stop by the site/blog to see if the interview/article is live. Leave a comment or answer questions if there are any.
Send a thank you note to the magazine for featuring you and offer your services for future issues.
With your next book, remember to support this magazine if it offers paid promotion. Schedule them into your budget. Remember if you don’t support them, they can’t support you.
PAID PROMOTION
One of the things I learned when I sold Mary Kay Cosmetics is that you have to spend money to make money. This is so true when it comes to promoting your books. You want to reach as many readers that you can, which means sometimes you have to pay for promotion.
In your research you’ve found the magazines that offer paid promotion. Check out their advertising page. Look at the promotions that fit your budget. Sometimes magazines will work with you and your budget. ASK, all they can do is say no.
Select the promotion that fits your budget and send them the information they need to create the promotion.
Ask for a date it will go live and make sure you receive a copy of the promotion or know where it is located.
Send the link to your friends, family and fans.
Let the magazine know you saw the ad and if you liked or didn’t like it.
Refer your friends if the magazine did a good promotion.
Remember with any promotion, paid or free, there is no guarantee of a sale. The object of promotion is to introduce your book to new readers. Keeping your name in front of the readers is your goal.
PROMOTING
Promoting with an online magazine can be fun and interactive. Some offer chats and other ways to interact with their readers. Take time to get to know the magazines. Build a relationship with them. If you plan on building a writing career, magazines can help you do that.
Don’t expect to continue to receive freebies when you’re not supporting them. Magazines are loyal to those who are loyal to them. Always remember this is a business. We need each other to stay in business.
Next month we will break down more of these questions to help you continue to build your plan.
Did you miss the other parts - Online Promotion Plans
Did you miss the other parts - Online Promotion Plans
Until then,
I’ll see you on the net.
LaShaunda C. Hoffman
LaShaunda is the creator of SORMAG – Shades Of Romance Magazine. She has 11 years of experience on online promotion, most she learned from trial and error. She has taught workshops on online promotion and is available for private online promotion coaching.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider becoming a member of SORMAG's community - Join Today
Do you need help with your promoting? - http://sormag.com/advertise.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment