Interview with Life Coach Sheri Kaye Hoff

Sheri Kaye Hoff is a Life Coach and owner of the Sheri K Hoff International Coaching Company. She also teaches college classes as an adjunct faculty member and has earned her Master of Arts in Organizational Management. Her new book, Keys to Living Joyfully, offers a way of living a meaningful, successful and joy filled life.

You can visit her website at www.lifeisjoyful.org.

Welcome to Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion, Sheri. Can we begin by having you tell us what Keys to Living Joyfully is about and why you wrote it?

Keys to Living Joyfully is about living a meaningful life with peace, passion, energy, and joy. The book focuses on the importance of one’s thought life, spirituality, and being motivated through inspiration. I wrote this book because I experienced the tragic death of my brother when he was 15 and I was 17. For many of my adult years, I was impacted by this devastating event. I truly felt that I did not deserve joy and that I would never find true joy again. I alternated between feeling numb and slightly depressed. For the most part, my outward demeanor was enthusiastic, and I am sure others would describe me as happy and successful. When I realized that I did have the capacity for joy and how to create it-I felt a deep desire to share this with others. I have spent years of my life studying leadership literature and I teach at a college-so I effectively combined my spiritual life with great personal leadership skills in my book.

Keys to Living Joyfully is a spiritual book. Why did you choose this genre to write? Did you choose it or did it choose you?

This genre chose me. I always thought that I would be the next Margaret Mitchell writing a great historical novel or I pictured myself writing leadership books (which are still plans that I have). However, my book seemed to write itself. Every time I sat down to write-the words just flowed into the computer-and I had very little rewriting or changing the organization of the book. I did not have one single blocked moment. I feel that this book was meant to be.
In regards to promotion, what have you been doing to promote your book online?

I have my website www.lifeisjoyful.org and I use Facebook, Twitter, AuthorsDen, and squidoo.

Of all the promotional items (bookmarks, press kits, etc…) you have used to promote your book, which one was used most effectively?

The most effective promotion has been promoting my blog on Twitter.


Do you feel that the Internet has opened doors for authors who never dreamed they’d ever see a publishing contract and how has it influenced you in regards to your own publishing journey?

Without the internet, I would not have attempted to self-publish through Createspace. It would be too hard to create buzz and reach markets. Almost all of my promoting is on the internet-though I do have some speaking engagements.

If you were in the middle of Manhattan (or any busy thoroughfare) and you wanted to call attention to your book, what would you do and what would you say?

I think I would take 100 copies of my book and hand them out to people asking them if they wanted more peace, passion, energy, and joy in their lives every moment of every day.

If you could trade places with any author just for a day, who would it be and why?

I would like to trade places with Stephen Covey. I read his 7 habits book when I was on bedrest for 11 weeks when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter. When he wrote about prisoners (Anwar Sadat and Viktor Frankl) who were able to feel more free while they were in prison (because their minds were free), I realized that though I could only stand up for three minutes of every hour-my mind was free. It was an exhilarating realization at a time when I could have felt sorry for myself. I think Stephen Covey’s life work is an amazing contribution to our body of knowledge regarding personal leadership skills.

Lastly, how do you determine your book’s success?

My book is already a success. I know this because people have begun sending me their life stories (often very tragic) and they tell me that this book touched their hearts. Yes, I want to be a best selling author-but my book is here on this earth for a reason-to touch hearts and help people to move forward and grow.

Thank you for this interview, Sheri. Can you tell us where everyone can pick up a copy of Keys to Living Joyfully?

Keys to Living Joyfully is available on Amazon.

Editor's Note: Sheri Kaye Hoff will be traveling the blogosphere throughout March and April to talk about her new book, Keys to Living Joyfully. If you would like to interview her, have her guest blog or review her book for her virtual book tour, email Dorothy Thompson at thewriterslife(at)yahoo.com. If you would like to find out more about Sheri, visit her official tour page here.

Promo Tip: The Book Pedler - Author Interviews & Book Reviews

Pedler. N. a person who tries to promote some cause, candidate, viewpoint, etc.

WHERE THERE ARE BOOKS, THERE IS KNOWLEDGE...

So says The Book Pedler. No one is quite sure when he stumbled upon the blogging scene, but his love of books is obvious.

His blog is a cornicopia of all things books. As well as featuring a wide selection of book reviews, The Book Pedler also interviews authors about their work

"I love reading a great book and then getting to know more about the author," he says. "The more people that know about good books, the better."

You can find The Book Pedler hard at work at www.thebookpedler.wordpress.com where he is always reviewing something new. You can also submit your book for review! Though there is a little wait for the review, the wait is worth it.

If you have any questions, The Book Pedler would be happy to hear from you! You can email him at thebookpedler@gmail.com and he'll try to answer you as soon as possible!

Pedlers Unite!

Tags: Pump Up Your Book Promotion, online book promotion, author publicity, book promotion, book promotion tips, The Book Pedler, Jamieson Wolf, announce your books, book reviews, author interviews

FREE DIGITAL MARKETING HANDOUT

Digital marketing.

Don't you just love those two words (must make a mental note to use it more often when talking about online book promotion!)?

Pauline B. Jones is captain of a track of workshops called "e-Marking in the New Age" for the upcoming Romantic Times conference in Houston. Twenty-five panelists in eight workshops prepared handouts, which they collected into a digital handout.

It's available FREE for download, in additioin to a couple of other bonus marketing handouts by visiting her website at www.paulinebjones.com/emarketdigHO.htm.

I was very impressed and I encourage everyone who is interested in e-marketing (isn't that everyone in here?) to download this free handout.

Thank you, Pauline!

Tags: Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion, online book promotion, online marketing, Pauline B. Jones, book publicity, digital marketing, Romantic Times Conference, e-marketing

What's Wrong With This Website?

Saturday before last, we played a game called "What's Wrong With This Website?" The website in question was a gimmicky attempt at promoting a new book, but regardless of whether it was gimmicky or not, the website has created quite a buzz. Today's ranking at Amazon? 880.

The author's name is Miranda July and the website for her book, No One Belongs Here More Than You, can be found here.

There are mixed reactions around the blogosphere as to whether this website is brilliant or whether it's committing SEO suicide.

Maud Newton calls it a "wonderful online performance."

M.J. Rose calls it "brilliant creative with no name recognition."

Of those willing to partake of my little game, here are their responses:

Jeni said, "I was bored waiting through each appliance she wrote on, which actually told me nothing about the book, about the author, price, availability, etc."

Jamieson said, "I even visited her other web site and it's as annoyingly vague as the fridge one is."

Vicki M. Taylor said, "It's all flash, no substance."

Manic Mom said, "No times for when she's doing her book tour?"

Gloria Oliver said, "I would say the problem is that for each page, she does not identify herself."

Linda Rucker said, "For me, if I have to bounce all over the web to get the author's bio and pic and info about the tour then I'm bored."

Kathy Holmes said, "While it's rather creative, I got bored paging through and finally just stopped."

Rhonda Stapleton said, "It's all images and no searchable text--how in the world can google help rank it, since it can't search for any terms?"

Kristin said, "You can still be cute, original, and artistic without all the separate pages and loading times. Blech."

Spyscribbler said, "I read the whole thing, but I probably wouldn't read it again."

The Gospel Writer said, "She doesn't have an email sign up for her visitors, readers and fans!!!"

Oopsie Daisy said, "As a former web designer and Marketing director I have to say she is doing everything wrong."

And finally...

John Kremer said, "The key thing missing on her website is any sort of searchable text for ratings on Google, BUT her website has been mentioned a lot. I bet she has had more website visitors that 99% of websites that are searchable by Google, almost all of those visitors sent by bloggers who found the site fun and interesting."

When I originally saw Miranda's website and when I initially started this little game of SEO, I was aghast to be perfectly frank. Everyone's comments were on the mark.

Miranda starts off with a splash page to open her website; in fact, they are all splash pages. Will Google or any of the other search engines find her? Let's do a search for her website now.

As you can see, she has 155,000 links for her book. Her website is third ON THE FIRST PAGE.

In all the years I have been studying SEO (search engine optimization), I am scratching my head. You can put up a website with absolutely no search words that the search engines can pick up because the words are embedded in the graphics; yet not only is she on the third page of search, her rankings at Amazon make my books look really pitiful.

So, how did this happen? You mean adding search words and optimizing our websites and blogs are all in vain?

This is where word of mouth becomes your most powerful weapon. I would not have designed my website or blog in the way she has; but for some odd reason, she has been able to capture everyone's attention by having everyone talk about it.

So, does quirky sell? In Miranda's case, it's working in her favor. Whether another year down the road when her book loses a little steam, will her website pull her through? Highly unlikely. For now, she's comfortable. She has everyone talking about her book on various blogs, but my suggestion to her would be to go back in and add words on top of the graphics for the future.

So, what did we learn here?

Word of mouth is a powerful tool.

A lot of authors (myself included) wonder...how do we get people talking about our books? If you pay close attention, no one is even talking about Miranda's book. They're talking about her website. Look at the cover. Nothing about it strikes you as being something that would stand out...it's quite plain, but it ties into Miranda's whole scheme of things.

All it takes is that one person who finds your website and thinks it's the neatest thing since chopped liver. Miranda's website is different. I've seen lots of author websites and blogs and I have to admit, it is different from the rest. Different sells?

In Miranda's case, it does.

The only drawback is...will her book live up to everyone's expectations?

It's all part of the game. The game of successful book promotion. While Miranda's website is definitely not pumped up, it's drawing people's attention and they're all talking about it.

I don't know about you guys, but I've come to the conclusion that word of mouth is what is going to sell those books. Be different. Be quirky. But, please, remember that no matter how quirky or different it is, I would still recommend adding those vital elements that are necessary for successful book promotion. Don't take that chance.

Meanwhile, never underestimate the power of word of mouth.

Tags: How to Pump UP Your Book Promotion, online book promotion, author publicity, book promotion, book promotion tips, Miranda July

Let's Play "What's Wrong With This Author's Website?"

On John Kremer's blog yesterday, he commented about an author's website which he says is the best one he's ever seen. Granted, it IS cute, quirky and really a neat way to promote your book. I've never seen anything like it and I love new ways authors come up with to entice the reading public to buy their books. It's actually a great marketing ploy because you really enjoy going through the different pages, not to mention the author has a great sense of humor! This website can be found by clicking here.

However...before you go over there....

We're going to play a game. It's called "What's Wrong With This Author's Website?"

I'm not singling out this website to down it because, truth be known, I love the hell out of it. But, since you are here to learn how to pump up your own websites or book blogs, this website will help explain a point that someone in one of my writing groups brought up the other day.

But, let's see if you can spot it. What is this author doing wrong?

Leave your comments in the comment box and see if you can guess. Tomorrow, I'll give you the answer. Have fun!

(Incidentally, this is a lesson in SEO and not in any way increminating the author because whatever it is that she is not doing does not hurt her Amazon rankings at all ---> 2,835 as of last night.)

Only goes to prove that if you can come up with something quirky and leave a smile on people's faces, it doesn't matter what the hell I think, lol.

Tags: How to Pump UP Your Book Promotion, online book promotion, author publicity, book promotion, book promotion tips

How to Increase Book Sales at Amazon

I was over at Booksquare this morning reading an article they had about getting your books into the #1 spot at Amazon and how they feel the same as I that not only are you manipulating Amazon, but it's an expensive route to go, too.

I don't condemn anyone trying to get to that #1 spot, but I wouldn't do it simply because if it doesn't get there on its own merit, then it's not meant to be. It's like playing God. Or Goddess. Or Whoever You Believe In.

The thing is, this is how desperate authors get. If they have to mortgage their own house to get it, they'll do it, too.

On the Chris Web: Publishing, Media & Technology blog, there is an interesting article about how you can increase sales and what I like about the ideas mentioned in the article is that not only do you not have to spend any money to do it, they are all legit. ;o)

Tags: How to Pump UP Your Blog to Sell More Books, online book promotion, author publicity, book promotion, book promotion tips, Booksquare, Chris Webb, increase sales at Amazon

Pump Up Your Book Promotion with Google Alerts

About six or so months ago, I was the victim of copyright infringement. In this case, it was a well-known blogging site and one of the members decided they would post an article I had written on their blog and give credit to himself. Immediately, I went into action and had him eradicated from the whole blogging site.

Let me back up, though.

I syndicate articles to hundreds upon hundreds of websites and blogs. They are mainly relationship columns (this one happened to be that), plus I write promotional articles. I do this mainly to gain expert status in my field, but I also do it for the link back which is found in my bio. If the particular website or blog do not provide link backs, they're history and I move on. There are too many other websites or blogs that will.

Before you are wondering if I happened to be patrolling the search engines and just happened to venture onto this by some unforeseen coincidence, think again.

I have what they call google alerts.

I discovered google alerts a year ago and I don't know how I ever lived without them. All I have to do is go to http://www.google.com/alerts?hl=en and put the title of my article (enclosing it with quotation marks) and once a day, I get an "alert" in my email box telling me where my article is showing up.

Anyone who is syndicating their articles over the Internet needs a google alert account. It's free and worth the time it takes to register.

Another thing I discovered about google alerts is that the information that is coming in are all recent, and very rarely do I get an alert with a blog post or webpage that is not current to date.

I'll give you an example of what I'm talking about. Last Christmas, my writing group and I put out a free Christmas ebook. I immediately put the title of the ebook in google alerts to see how well my promotional efforts were paying off. In other words, I wanted to see where my promos were ending up.

Almost immediately, my email box was filling up, telling me where my promo was landing.

Two months later, I rarely get an alert even though the promo is still up on these blogs and websites. So, what's up with that, you ask?

The reason is that the information is now pronounced static.

So, what does that mean?

That means that it is showing me that it is very important not to let a day go by without promoting it in some way. Since Christmas has come and gone, and since it was just a free ebook to give away for promotional reasons, I stopped promoting it and went on to other projects. I don't need to promote it anymore because of that fact. However, if this was a paying ebook, what do you think would happen? The search engines wouldn't pay it any attention, either, and completely overlook it when they send their spiders out.

You have to understand SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and by what I've learned, you can't let anything get static if you are looking for customers. You have to keep promoting, making it a 24/7 obligation. If not, then you are doomed.

You can't just put up a website and not change things around frequently or you're not going to get any visitors. That's it in a nutshell.

So, my google alerts have alerted me not only to where my articles are showing up on a daily basis, they have alerted me to the fact that if I sit on my toosh and not promote even in some tiny way, someone else is going to get the search engines' attention.

Don't make the mistake I did and keep those books out in front of the search engines by blogging about it every day. Pump up that online book promotion and keep visitors returning. ;o)

Tags: google alerts, online book promotion, search engine optimization, copyright infringement, free Christmas ebook, syndicating, book promotion

Book Trailer of the Hour

Lisa Gardner is a bestselling suspense novelist as you know, but she has outdone herself in this hilarious book trailer she made for her latest book HIDE. Now this is an EXCELLENT way to garner interest for her new book. Not only is she using book trailers as visual aids to entice book buyers (not that she'd need anything...her words speak for itself), but she has gone a step beyond ordinary and turned her book trailer into something that apparently is the talk of the book world right now.

I noticed, as I keep an eye out for promo ideas, that they coincided the book to be released with this trailer. The book was released on January 30, 2007 and the trailer went up January 31, 2007, which is the very next day if you've not had your Wheaties this morning. Powerful online book promotion at its best.

How many authors who are reading this have a duh moment once their book is released? In other words, do they have a marketing plan that is going to shake up the world or do they have a marketing plan that starts off with putting the cover on the website, securing a few reviews or maybe setting up a book signing or two and when the time for the book is to be released comes, they freeze because they don't know what's the next step?

This is where the power of multitudes comes in. You have to act quick. You have to have every single duck in a row and know what you're doing before your book is even released. Don't be one of those authors who are scrambling for attention when there are others who know how to take online book promotion to the next step.

Do you think Lisa Gardner's publicity team took a passive approach to her marketing plan for her next release, or do you think that all of them got together, constructed a powerful marketing plan that was going to have everyone talking? You decide.

You have to be quick and you have to have all your ducks in a row.

Lisa's publicity team is a fine example of being prepared, but not only that, to do it in a powerful way. They learned what it takes to pump up your book promotion, and this trailer is a fine example of this.

Watch for yourself...





Tags: online book promotion, Lisa Gardner, book trailer, the power of multitudes, marketing plan, publicity

Welcome!

Welcome to the Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion blog where you'll find ways to increase those book sales you've been wanting!

To introduce myself, I'm Dorothy Thompson, editor of The Writer's Life and editor/contributing author of ROMANCING THE SOUL, co-author of THE SEARCH FOR THE MILLION $$$ GHOST and author of many self-promoting ebooks including A COMPLETE GUIDE TO PROMOTING & SELLING YOUR SELF-PUBLISHED EBOOK.

I'm also an entrepreneur. I love money. And lots of it.

When I became published for the first time, I thought all you had to do was plaster your book cover onto your website, get a few reviews, whatnot, and the sales would come in.

Was I disallusioned.

Not only did the sales not come in like I expected them to, but I learned that in order for my books to sell, I was going to have to get off my duff and learn how to do this right.

It's been six years since my first little ebook was published. I went on to author more books, learning the ropes along the way. I found that while some things seemed to be working, others were working beyond my expectations. This is when I knew I was onto something.

And this is what this blog is all about. Learning how to create an online presence so powerful that you and your book will reach more readers and get more sales than you've ever believed.

In the upcoming posts, you'll learn the secrets of successful online promotional methods that work.

So, stay tuned, and happy promoting to you!