Book trailers and online video marketing are really effective these days as there is a huge audience on YouTube and other sites consuming video. But how do you use video effectively? In today’s podcast, we explore book trailers in more detail.

Darcy Pattison is an award winning children’s book author and writing teacher. She teaches the Novel Revision Retreat across the US and has just released ‘The Book Trailer Manual‘ which teaches authors how to create and market their books with book trailers.

In this podcast, you will learn:

• Why book trailers are so talked about right now. Online video is a huge growth market with millions of views daily. 80% of internet users are watching videos so you have a huge audience you can reach through video.

• I refer to the interview with Gideon Shalwick on using video for marketing and his Rapid Video Blogging course
• Technology is much easier now so you can instantly make and upload a video.

• Why do people stop watching book trailers? They have boring concepts, bad music and static images.
• The YouTube aesthetic is ‘informal’ so you don’t need movie quality

• Things that make a good trailer: Concrete details about your book, Make it Sticky and memorable, Unusual and a bit different, and humor is very important. (If you’re not very funny, you can be useful!)
• Book of Spam toastvertising as an example

• Your video is a multi-media elevator pitch, it’s not a description. You need to pull the reader in.
• Example of book trailers: Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter
• Another example we talked about: Book Launch 2.0
• You can use book trailers as part of a video series, including a talking head style video as well as a book trailer sales tools. You can keep people’s attention over a long period of time if you post more videos.

• Having your own channel on YouTube is very important as it is considered more authentic, and can also help you promote as you can link to your blog and build a readership there. Remember to use the description box to include live links to your site – you must use http:// so that people can click through

• Technical ways to create a video. There are free services like Moviemaker or ScreenFlow and also Animoto.com for animations. Darcy talks about SonyVegas HD software and her camera Kodak Zi8, similar to the Flipcam. You can get images from iStockphoto.com and also creative commons from Flickr.com. You can get video from lots of different sites including archive.org. For music, make sure it is upbeat and appropriate for your book and also the audience. Remember to be aware of copyright. You need to use royalty free music and images.

• Ideas for distributing your video. YouTube is just one of the many sites you can load video to, although arguably it is the most important. You need to research where you can load your videos as many sites are audience specific. Remember to take your video everywhere so you can play it e.g. before a talk or at a school. Video is definitely relevant for all age groups now. Almost everyone online is watching videos.
• Do book trailers work? It’s a case of using them to augment your marketing across many platforms. People will find your books in many different ways. They also love to make a personal connection. (This is the video I mentioned about the Shroud of Turin)

You can get The Book Trailer Manual here.

You can find Darcy’s other information at her site here.

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This is a guest post from Cindy Jett, author of ‘Harry the Happy Caterpillar Grows: Helping children adjust to change”. If you’d like to write a guest post for the blog, please check the submission guidelines here.

When I considered writing a guest post, I thought to myself, what do I know about writing for children? True, I just had a children’s book published, but I still thought of that as kind of an accident. Truth is, I have never been been singled out for my writing talent, I had never considered myself a writer, and I had never written a single story, until about three years ago. Maybe you feel the same way?

I had always been a frustrated artist. As a child, I was never caught without my trusty sketchbook. In college, I studied architecture because it involved a lot of drawing. When I became a mother, I painted goofy animals to entertain my daughter.  It was when the goofy animals ate up much of the wall space in our home that my husband suggested that I try my hand at illustrating children’s books. An interesting idea, I thought. A bit pie in the sky, but I liked it. Illustrating children’s books, yes, that could be fun!

I soon realized that before I could illustrate anything, I needed a story.  Not quite sure how to proceed, I took my computer, tucked myself into my favorite corner of the local Starbucks, and tried to conjure up a children’s story. Dr. Suess came to mind. Eric Carle came to mind. Goodnight Moon came to mind. Somewhat baffled by the process, I t tried to imagine a story that my daughter Zoe would like. At the time, Zoe was highly focused on caterpillars turning into butterflies. In fact, several times a day, she would re-enact a metamorphosis by rolling herself in a blanket, counting to fourteen, and emerging with wildly flapping arms. Zoe’s metamorphosis was always a joyous event. I asked myself, what would Zoe think of a caterpillar that didn’t want to be a butterfly? Surely that idea would intrigue her. The story came quickly from that germ of an idea as I began to imagine a wonderfully whimsical caterpillar world that my main character would be loathe to leave.

Truth is, I absolutely loved writing that first children’s story. After doing a bit of research about children’s book publishing, I learned that publishers do not want illustrated manuscripts (unless you are Dr. Suess or Eric Carle). Publishers look for good stories, and then  for illustrators. The writer and the illustrator  are rarely the same person. I quickly abandoned the idea of illustrating my own story, and decided to send my story to publishers unillustrated. In my house, this was considered I-Love- Lucy-wacky. I had never aspired to be an author, and here I was sending manuscripts out to publishing houses. I guess I had some small hope that some one would like my story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

In the ensuing months, I got a steady flow of rejection letters. At around six months, the letters quit coming and, at about eight months, I forgot about about my story altogether. Then, a year later, I received a phone call while vacationing in Mexico. It was from New Horizon Press, and the woman on the line was telling me that she wanted to publish my story. You can imagine my total shock, surprise and delight!

That was a about a year and a half ago. I have since been through the editing process. A wonderful illustrator was chosen for my story, and it was published this June.

So, given my experience, what do I know about writing children’s books? I know that you picture your audience. You write something that you think will tickle them, but that also tickles you. You tune into how your main character feels, and  you add a bit of magic to your story.

That’s about it. I am still learning myself, taking writing classes and honing my craft. While, at this point, I don’t have a lot of advice on writing, I do have some advice about finding your passion. It can come at any age (did I mention that I am 47?), and, if you allow for it, it just might turn out to be something completely unexpected.

Cindy Jett is the author of “Harry the Happy Caterpillar Grows: Helping Children Adjust to Change“.

Here is the Facebook page for more information.

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August has been a crazy month for me! I have been fully into editing my thriller novel Pentecost, as well as speaking and doing much more video for the blog as well as my YouTube channel. I’ve also done some amazing audio interviews on the podcast on creativity, spoken word poetry, copywriting, and ebook publishing. Check out the 63 free interviews now available for free.

Here is the monthly Ezine roundup of the posts from the month (right click to download) => The Creative Penn Ezine August 2010

Here’s the online version at Scribd.com if you want to read on-screen.
Writing, Publishing and Book Marketing Ezine from The Creative Penn August 2010

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In this great podcast, we explore copywriting for authors that can help sell books including headline writing, capturing people’s attention and the call to action as well as exploring authenticity and Facebook ads among other topics!

Paul Lonergan is an author, ghostwriter and copywriter with AlwaysWrite.com.au. For more than 20 years, he’s been using words to sell everything from stock-broking services to beauty products

In this podcast you will learn:

• How Paul started out in writing, working for free at a radio station and then moving into writing copy. He moved into Reader’s Digest in copy department learning how write direct mail advertising, and then started AlwaysWrite. He now writes websites, blogs, and advertising copy as well as 7 ghostwritten books and 2 of his own books.

• What is the difference between copywriting and writing fiction/non-fiction books? The skills are similar but the outcome is different. Skills like clear and concise writing. Natural flow and engaging the audience is key.
• Selling is not a dirty word! We all have to sell ourselves and other people. Selling is putting forward your views and your book to people who might be interested. It’s not forcing people to read.

• How can authors get people’s attention when there are so many books published and so much else to read? A blog/ social networking is all a baseline expectation now. Getting people to your website is one point but then you need to engage straight away with a good headline. Targeting your market is totally necessary e.g. On using Facebook ads for books “Do you like James Rollins thrillers? then you’ll love this book”.

• Understanding the call to action. You have to ask for the sale, don’t be shy! Create a relationship first and people won’t feel pressured. People need to know, like and trust you in order to buy. Relationships take the hard sell out of the equation. Tell people what they need to do.

• On authenticity and how important it is now. Copywriting is not about serious language, it’s about a connection. Be yourself and engage with people. They want to hear your own personality coming through. These days people act as curators of material to their audience. It’s about trust and a relationship. Writers are really nice people as well! (generally!)

• Creating desire in order to get people to buy. This is from AIDA which is an advertising ‘rule’. It stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. You need to create a desire in other people e.g. to get lost for hours in your book, or for an experience.

• How copywriting works with video. It’s about succinctly communicating a message, no repetition, gets across the message with a call to action… within 3 minutes! Copywriting can help you script the video before hand. But remember you can edit! Another idea is to talk for a while, write down key points and edit hard! [We mention a top YouTube video blogger Natalie Tran - The Community Channel who is not an author, but is making several hundred thousand $ with her videos so is worth learning from!]

• How curation of content seems to have moved from publishers and TV channels to online trusted sources.
• On working for free as a way to change your career. It’s what many of us are doing with our writing and our platform building. It seems to be the main way to become a success at anything, and it allows us to change and grow over time. It also gives time for the most persistent to rise to the top. (yeah!).
• Here’s the interview on being an introvert that we also mentioned.

You can connect with Paul at his website AlwaysWrite.com.au

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You have probably heard this advice before, but have you done anything about it? What does your email signature say right now?

I get emails every day from people commenting on the blog, asking questions or telling me about their books which I love to receive and happily reply to. However, over 50% of those emails do not have any links in their email signature, and many have no email signature at all. Some have an image of a business card with no clickable links to their website or book for sale which is not very useful either.

How many emails do you send a day? To friends, your accountant, business colleagues, potential clients, potential readers and more. If your email signature is set up, you are constantly sending people your information and doing ‘passive’ marketing, spreading the word about you, your brand and your books. Use your email signature wisely and those people might click through and read more about your book/join your email list or contact you for business.

So, today’s book marketing advice is to sort out your email signature right now!

What information should an email signature contain?

To make sure people know who you are and can buy your books, you should include some of the following aspects:

• Your full name, your business name and tagline if you have one, or an explanation of what you do. Don’t assume people know what you are about.
• Your website and blog URL prefixed by http:// which makes it directly clickable (you should always use that prefix on the web for clickable links)
• Your book titles and where people can buy them or find out more information e.g. Amazon.com links or specific pages of your website
• A hook or offer for the reader that catches their eye if it is a topic they are interested in e.g. I mention my Author 2.0 Blueprint
• Social media links including Twitter, Facebook and any other main site that is relevant (you don’t have to use them all!)
• Address and phone details if they are relevant to how you run your business
• Logo or picture of you or your books if you want to include them. This is not mandatory, but if you do include them, make sure you also include plain text links as well.

My basic email signature is shown above. It is an image here but as an email signature all the links are clickable.

I don’t use any fancy formatting or images right now but there are plugins and code you can use to make it look prettier. That is great but just get something basic up for starters and worry about formatting later. If people want to know more about you, they want the information right in front of them. They don’t want to search for it.

If you’re having problems with your email, try Gmail

Some people have problems with their email accounts and providers. It seems some of them make it very difficult to set up email signatures. If you’re struggling with email, I highly recommend using http://www.gmail.com which is Google’s own free online email service. You can set up a signature through the Settings page, and then the General area. There are also a host more benefits including easily searchable text, contacts and tasks integration and much more.

What do you include on your email signature now? Do you have any favorite tools for making it attractive?

Image: Flickr CC LarimdaME

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The publishing world and the blogosphere is full of the reports that Seth Godin, 12 x NY bestselling author of marketing books, has given up on traditional publishing. Here is his blog post outlining his move to digital publishing as it allows rapid spreading of ideas direct to the customer. I previously posted about how he launched ‘Linchpin’ with non-traditional media so this seems like a natural progression.

In this video, I explain what this means for you and I as authors, and also how it is impacting the opinions of the publishing industry. (Main points below if you want to read)

In the video I explain:

• What Seth Godin announced on his blog. Basically that he is moving on from traditional publishing and focusing on publishing his ideas to his customers directly through more digital media including ebooks, videos, blog posts and more. But not print books. He knows his customers (438,000 followers of his blog!) so he can sell direct to them.

• What it means to you: Indie (independent) publishing is becoming more acceptable to the mainstream. When big name authors go that way, then there is no longer a stigma attached. I have seen some bloggers talking about changing their minds already. Check out agent Rachelle Gardner’s blog post on other publishing options.

• Vocalization of issues by someone who publishers respect will benefit all of us e.g. time from idea to market needs to shrink. For fiction, stories are perennial so this doesn’t matter so much, but it definitely makes a difference for non-fiction.

• Seth has made this move because he can market direct to his customers and he has a global fan-base from his blog, his books and his ideas worldwide. He has been blogging every day for years. This makes it very clear that authors need to build their platform regardless of whether they want a publishing deal or to go indie. Either way, you need to market to customers. [Ideas on platform building here]

Here are 2 other articles on the matter from blogs I read religiously.

• Publishing expert Mike Shatzkin talks about Seth’s move plus JA Konrath and how the industry is changing
• Here is a great, in-depth look at the issue from Tim Ferriss, author of ‘The 4 Hour Work Week’

What are your thoughts on this? Does it change your view of self-publishing/being an indie author?

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Have you heard any of the following lately?

• You must build an author platform online. Authors need to be able to market their own book.

• Authors should be blogging and using social networks like Twitter and Facebook to connect with their fans

• Authors should be doing video and podcasting, and reaching out to their fans with multi-media

• Publishers want authors who have an audience already, preferably an online global one.

• Ebooks are a massive growth market, and you need to be selling your work on digital platforms

All of these statements represent the zeitgeist for authors and writers.

This is the time to be grabbing your online real estate and building your presence online.

People who get ahead of the curve will have the advantage when the rest of the writers/authors finally get involved. The internet compounds over time. It takes time to build an audience and grow one. It starts slow but once it’s going, it only builds. I have seen this myself in the last 18 months since I started this blog and doing podcasts, videos and ebooks. You have seen this too in the information from publishers, agents, bloggers and other successful writers. The author platform is not negotiable anymore – you must have one.

So how do you learn all about it, especially if you are a bit wary of the technology?

One way is to struggle away on your own, fighting your way through information and trying to do it yourself.

Another way is to come to Bali with me and learn all about these Author 2.0 tools while relaxing with yoga and massage, experiencing Balinese culture and eating really well!

Yes, there are still a few places left on the writer’s retreat I am speaking at in Bali! I will be presenting sessions over the 5 days on:

• Creativity, ideas and practical tips for getting your book actually written
• The Publishing Quadrant including how to use print-on-demand services to publish your book to Amazon.com plus how to publish your ebooks to the Kindle, iPhone and iPad

• How to build your author platform online including an author tech masterclass where we’ll get into all the detail to help you build the basics as we go through.
• How to make multiple streams of income from your book including how to make and sell online digital products (yes, make money while you sleep!), and how to build a speaking career

Because this is a small group retreat, the sessions will be tailored to your level of expertise and you’ll be able to get targeted help on what you are struggling with in particular. There will even be hands on sessions when we will make and edit video, start or improve your blog, publish ebooks and whatever else you have issues with. This will be a practical but also inspirational few days!

As part of the package, you will also get:

• Five nights stay in the luxurious Kumara resort
• Full Writer’s Retreat Program. 6 hours of instruction per day and many hours of informal sharing and information exchange between students and teacher including the evening Writer’s Group where you can share your work in progress. All the workshop material will be available for download after the retreat so you have all the information you need to be successful.

• Use of the resort’s 2 pools, yoga pavilion, gorgeous gardens and pathways, and spa
• One free relaxing massage at the resort’s onsite spa (massage therapists available for other treatments)
• 3 gourmet meals per day
• Balinese cultural activities including a dance performance, and a guided walk through the rice paddies with lunch at one of Ubud’s most popular rice paddy restaurants, Sari Organic
• Discount for the Ubud Writer’s Festival, which many people are staying on for

It’s going to be a fantastic time, and I would love to spend time with you in Bali!

Yes, it’s going to cost you some money. But you will learn so much that will save you time, money and effort in your Author 2.0 journey plus/ you get a great holiday. This is for people who are committed to making money and being successful as a writer, and you will have all your questions answered in the time we spend together.

To find out all the details and to book, click here now. (site has some sound so turn down the volume)

Here are some other posts on the retreat:

• Make time for your creative self in Bali (including little video)
• Interview with Robin Sparks, retreat organiser

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Michelle Halket is the Creative Director for ireadiwrite Publishing, an independent press specializing in digital books. Passionate about technology and books, Michelle works with writers from submission to publication.

In this podcast, you will learn:

• How Michelle started her career with Nielsen marketing, but she wanted to help authors and foster the creative spirit. She started off with a portal for self-publishing, but this later developed into more of a traditional publishing model focusing on ebooks with a personal touch. So ireadiwrite turned into an independent press focusing on quality books.

• The attractions of an ebook publishing model. Ebooks are growing over 300% p.a. , and sales increase every month and the only other growth is mass market, so this is a great time to be in ebook publishing. It removes the paper, ink, gasoline, warehousing, freight and expenses associated with print books. The investment is smaller upfront – it still includes editing, typesetting, design etc but it is less labor intensive than print.

• So why do print books at all? 95% of readers are still on paper books so it’s good to meet that market where they are. By publishing a select group of print books, sales did increase. Michelle is very careful about which books she does print, and uses print on demand and short runs to meet the market. The traditional model of printing thousands of books and shipping them to a warehouse just doesn’t work for a small press.

Checklist for what Michelle is interested in publishing:

• Interesting synopsis (publishers are readers!)
• Only fiction at the moment for ireadiwrite, so be careful of what genre you are submitting – read the guidelines
• It doesn’t need to be trendy, but does need to be marketable
• Marketable ebook genres which sell well include: sci-fi, fantasy, romance and erotica
• If this is all good, the first 3-5 chapters will be read to check whether it is well written and well edited. Publishers won’t usually edit from scratch anymore.
• The author platform is a given right now, you need to have some way to market
• What kind of person is the author and will they be easy and good to work with – this is very important as writer/publisher relationship is a personal one.

• A small press is more like a “little family” and relationships are important. The authors are very positive about ireadiwrite and word of mouth is a great way to grow organically. [Dean Mayes, romance writer was on the podcast a few months ago]

• Why an author should use an ebook publisher rather than self-publishing. Readers still want a ‘quality’ filter so publishers act as a portal to books. It’s also great if you don’t want to do all the publishing yourself i.e. you want someone else to edit, do cover design, format for ebook publishing and distribute. You’ll still need to market (like with any publisher) but if you get a publisher, you have less tasks on your plate to get your book to market. So it’s about the model an author wants to follow.

As a reader, you can get ebooks from ireadiwrite here.

Writers can find submission guidelines here. You can also follow Michelle on Twitter @ireadiwrite

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This is a guest post from Jamie Guiney, a literary fiction writer from Co. Armagh, Northern Ireland. If you would like to write a guest post, please check the guidelines here.

All writers eventually reach the stage where they must release their writing on the world. They must send their stories, their novels, off to war and hope that some survive long enough to make it into print.  As if the book industry wasn’t already a difficult enough gauntlet to run, global recession swanned in and squeezed it almost to pulp.

Now, the industry is showing signs of recovery, but there have been casualties.  Libraries have closed, bookshops have disappeared and publishers have folded.  Fewer writers are getting into print.  To make matters worse, the very foundation of books themselves is under threat.  A new age has arrived that shall be known as digital.

With some stories in my pocket, I set off on a journey to find them a home.  I had success with literary journals, good-old, traditional print, but then something else caught my eye.  A new kind of publisher, one who embraced the digital age.

After seeing the publicity that mobile publisher Ether Books Ltd (www.etherbooks.co.uk) got following their launch at the London Book Fair in April 2010, I thought their idea to match up short stories with mobile phones was very innovative.  Perhaps an idea so bold could even start a revolution…..

The beauty of publishing short stories onto the Apple iPhone, was that so many people already owned one. The more I looked into it, I realised that this new mobile publisher had already attracted literary heavyweights to their list of authors, such as booker prize winner Hilary Mantel, Lionel Shriver, Alexander McCall Smith, Louis De Bernieres and even Sir Paul McCartney.  They offered a fine variety of literature that was balanced with classic stories and the best of contemporary fiction and non-fiction writers. As a writer I was pleased enough just to be published, but even more excited to be part of something new.  Now, two of my short stories ‘Changes’ and ‘Christmas’ are being downloaded and read on iPhones all over the world.

This digital age has also brought other developments.  E-Readers such as the Sony, Kindle and Nook have become popular (even recently dropping prices to attract buyers), but I think the real backbone of the digital/e-book market is going to be mobile phones, because everyone already owns one.

When you look at the technology advancements in recent years, mobile phones have been morphing into smartphones.  Everything has become touchscreen, screen sizes have gotten bigger and quality has improved to impressive standards – perfect for reading e-books.

And do you know what the most exciting thing is?  E-Books now give people a flexibility that doesn’t restrict them to a physical bookstore on a high street. Most people already have a smartphone in their pocket and are already exploring what they can be used for.

As for the publishing industry, it is still in a state of flux.  After very little change in a hundred years of making books, the industry is experiencing its first mid-life crisis……it has taken up weightlifting, started tracking down old school friends and scraped its hair back up into that ten-inch Mohawk.  It has even tried on those old jeans with the turn-ups and tatty badges, but they don’t quite fit anymore

But do not fear.  The industry is learning how to cope with the digital age and has begun to recover from global recession.  E-book sales are rocketing and publishers have posted profits from traditional print for the first in a long time.  And don’t worry that digital publishing will ever replace print, because it won’t.  They will complement each other.  People now have variety and choice.  Television did not kill the radio – words are still words, it doesn’t matter whether they are printed or digital.

We live in an exciting age.

Get your phone out, download a story, read an e-book.

Oh, and welcome to the revolution.

**************************

Jamie Guiney is a literary fiction writer from Co. Armagh, Northern Ireland who is rapidly making a name for himself in the short story genre. His debut novel ‘A Man in Grey Shoes’ is with several international publishers for consideration. Sophia Bartleet, MD of Ether Books had this to say about his writing:

“We are delighted to publish Jamie Guiney’s stories. They have a very strong sense of place so that when you are reading them you can almost smell and taste a different world. Ether Books is always on the lookout for the best new authors to publish on to people’s iPhones alongside their list of prize winning contemporary writers”

Jamie is currently writing his second novel and working on a short story collection.

To read Jamie’s short stories on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch – download the free Ether Books app from the Apple Store: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/id362070951?mt=8

Contact Jamie –

Website:                www.jamieguiney.com
Twitter:                  @jamesgwriter
Facebook:             www.facebook.com/pages/Jamie-Guiney-Writer/135627359804546

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Why do we read fiction and why do we write fiction?

Here’s a little video about my thoughts on the matter. What do you think?

If you like to read, here’s what I cover in the video:

Life is fantastic but it can also be pretty crappy, overwhelming, busy and crazy at times. We sometimes need escape and that’s what great fiction gives us. Escape from the daily grind.

Humans have always wanted stories and they have been told round the campfire through then generations. The TV is just a big campfire although there are some pretty bad stories out there!

But also great ones – we go to the movies for escape and entertainment. We go to a book for the same reason – to be taken out of ourselves.

So why write fiction?

Entertaining people and giving them respite from craziness is valid, creating a story from your mind, from the ideas in your head is valid and exciting. It’s fun to come up with ideas – sometimes I wonder where they come from! We write fiction to entertain ourselves, to challenge ourselves and also to entertain others

When you read my words, we connect across time and space  – it’s a miracle, stories are a miracle. That’s why we write fiction.

Let me know what you think in the comments! Thanks, I love to know what you think.

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