Self-Publishing Your Way to Success

Basics for self-publishing your way to success.  These are a few things, that in my opinion, you must have.   A website, facebook page, twitter account, and a feed 140 account.  Without those things, again in my opinion, you're just wasting your time.  I also recommend accounts on Goodreads, Pinterest, and Triberr.  I'll go into detail about each of these, because they are that important.

When we talk about a website, what we're really discussing is your online portfolio.  I personally use Blogger, because I'm more familiar with it, but what you use is up to you.  Blogger offers a free account, but I suggest strongly you visit Go Daddy, or whatever net company you like, and set up a dot com.  I mention Go Daddy because with Blogger it's easiest to integrate.

Your blog or website should be easy to navigate, give a professional biography, and showcase your book(s) on the front page.  This is where you will send every contact and hopefully encourage them to sign up for your monthly newsletter.  We'll get into the newsletter soon and why it's so important. 

The website doesn't need to be fancy, but it does need to look professional.  Every person you send to this site will get an impression of you and your work from it.  I'm not artistic in the least, but I've managed to create my own blog, which means I know you can do it just as easily.  If you have the extra money to toss around, by all means pay a professional if you feel you must.

For your website, outside of showcasing your book and bio, make sure you have a place where anyone who visits can sign up to receive your emails.  For an email program that lets you add up to 2,000 contacts, you can use http://www.tinyletter.com for free.  If you are just starting out this is a great program to use.  Once you visit the site you'll find that they offer a subscribe link and code to add to your website.

A facebook page is the second most important thing you can do for your books.  Even if you already have a personal facebook account (if not you're going to have to create one for this to work) having a separate page for your work is crucial! Setting up a page is relatively easy. http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php start here and create your page under artist, band or public figure.  As with your website, create a professional page that showcase your book(s).

The next hurdle is your Twitter account, and the reason it is so important is it becomes your 24/7 advertising agent that works to promote you even when you're not there!  As with everything you do as an author, this page needs to be professional.  I won't spend time showing you how to make a professional twitter page, because there is tons of information out on the web on how to do this easily.  Just type in Twitter landing page in your search browser for hundreds of ideas.

Feed 140 is going to go hand in hand with your Twitter account to automate your tweets and start working as your personal campaign advisor.  I suggest writing out fifty tweets at 80 characters that promote your book.  You'll find once you reach the site there is a button called a playlist, this is where you want to add your tweets.  While you're there you'll have the opportunity to make those tweets to replay as often as you like.  This has been a very successful component of my promotions.

Just a few ideas to get you started.  If you have questions, feel free to email us at Tears of Crimson by using the email button.