The RWA National Conference invades Times Square in New York City from July 22-25. The conference hotel is the Marriott Marquis, opposite the Armed Forces Recruiting Station. Featured speakers include (link):
- Barbara Freethy
- Julia Quinn
- Nalini Singh
- Jude Deveraux
- Lisa Kleypas
... and me! RWA accepted my panel proposal, A Tale of Two Bloggers - Candid discussion of how to promote your book (and have a life):
Bloggers are called the online gatekeepers to readers. Two book bloggers, Kimberly Rocha and Kim Lowe, offer their perspective on what works (and what flops) in promoting romance books and author brands. We’ve posted reviews and we’ve hosted blog tours. We’ve hopped over to other blogs for cross promotion. We’ve participated in launch parties on Facebook and character chats on Twitter. We’ve seen it all – the good, the bad, and the ugly – on social media.
We have also attended industry events – RWA National Conference, NJRW Conference, Barbara Vey’s Readers Luncheon, and the RT Booklovers Convention. We’ve attended panel discussions about marketing, only to find that authors miss the main ingredient – what readers want. We know what readers want because we are readers. We interact with readers every day as “trusted advisors” through our blogs.
We created a Power Point presentation to highlight the indispensable aspects of promotion – author website, social media, and face-to-face interaction. We will use the presentation to guide the discussion, giving us the flexibility to engage in a lively discussion and answer any questions from authors.
My partner in crime is Kimberly Rocha from Book Obsessed Chicks (link). What out New York, here we come!
I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash to one randomly selected commenter. To enter the giveaway,
1. Leave a comment about what you think is a good way to promote a book to readers - blogs tours? guest posts? author interviews? excerpts? giveaways? Facebook? Twitter? Pinterest? something else?
2. Comments are open through Saturday, February 7, 10 pm in Baltimore.
3. I'll post the winner on Sunday, February 8.
Mahalo,
Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City
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| NY Guardsment on duty during Thanksgiving in NYC in front of a book store no less! |
Congrats to you and Kimberly for being featured speakers at the conference this summer! That is very cool. I like blog tours, author interviews, online Facebook parties.
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda!!! This is so cool!!!
DeleteHow fabulous!!
ReplyDeleteI have to say you nailed it with blogs tours, guest posts, author interviews, excerpts & giveaways.
Blogs blogs, contet
ReplyDeleteKimh
Wow, what an amazing group of speakers! Have fun with that :)
ReplyDeleteBlog tours are awesome and I like it when authors promote on Facebook and do guests posts. Also newsletters and giveaways are always fun to follow.
Congrats on being selected. I see about 3 authors on your list I'd enjoy meeting :)
ReplyDeleteI think blog tours which include excerpts, reviews and giveaways are the best way to get a book "out there."
I think blog tours are a great way to promote books.
ReplyDeleteI think blog tours.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on being a speaker at RWA! I think blog tours where bloggers review, interview and/or have a giveaway are promotions that I notice.
ReplyDeleteI love blogtours & I think it's a good way to get it out there. Plus the giveaways, like those a lot too :D
ReplyDeleteWow, that's wonderful news about you being a speaker at the RWA. I'm so jealous that you will be with some amazing Authors.
ReplyDeleteI think that online blogs, blog tours, giveaways, Facebook announcements, and also Goodreads, is a great way to promote books.
Congratulations, Kim. That's great news!
ReplyDeleteRegarding promoting books, I'd second many of the things you list: blogs tours, guest posts, author interviews, book excerpts and giveaways. (I don't use Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.) I would add an author's newsletter and a specific newsletter-subscriber contest to the list.
Pet peeve--I've noticed lately I get lots of newsletter invites to participate in an author contest on Facebook (which I don't use) or on Rafflecopter, which wants me to jump through hoops for an entry. Many times, authors offer no entry for newsletter subscribers. Does that mean they don't value their own newsletters? That seems counter-productive.
blog tours :) I don't do any of the other social media, so blogs are what attract my attention the most. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI've found most of the new to me authors through blogs, fb and Twitter. I think authors interaction on blogs in a big one too.
ReplyDeleteThat's fantastic news! Congrats to the both of you and have fun. Bloggers are who authors likes to call their little helpers so your panel will be of great help.
ReplyDeleteblog tours
ReplyDeleteThat sounds exciting, Kim. If it's a new author winning one of their books is a great way to discover them. Your blog gives us a lot of information too that always helps. I do FB the most now but there are a handful of blogs that I follow. I haven't been doing the tours as much unless it's to a site I already visit.
ReplyDeletecongratulations!
ReplyDeleteBlog tours with giveaways seem to be a great way to reach readers
I think I find out about new books from blogs, so blog tours and reviews are probably best.
ReplyDeleteNewsletters, giveaways, goodreads. Congratulations, Kim! So proud of you.
ReplyDeleteHoping to get to RWA to hear your panel presentation in person! I'm not published yet so I'm not sure what the most effective way to promote as an author is, but as a reader I love to receive recommendations from friends and bloggers.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, that's amazing news! I think newsletters and facebook are the best to get the word out and giveaways are fun ways to promote!!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to you and Kimberly, Kim! I like blogs, blog tours, giveaways, newsletters, and facebook.
ReplyDeleteGiving ARCs to bloggers for early reviews. That's where I find most books I read, from blogs.
ReplyDelete