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.

Interview with Historical Fiction Author J.A. Hunsinger

J. A. Hunsinger lives in Colorado, USA, with his wife Phyllis. The first novel of his character-driven, historical fiction series, Axe of Iron: The Settlers, represents his first serious effort to craft the story of a lifelong interest in the Viking Age—especially as it pertains to Norse exploration west of Iceland—and extensive research and archaeological site visitations as an amateur historian. He has tied the discovery of many of the Norse artifacts found on this continent to places and events portrayed in his novels.

Much of his adult life has been associated with commercial aviation, both in and out of the cockpit. As an Engineering Technical Writer for Honeywell Commercial Flight Systems Group, Phoenix, AZ, he authored two comprehensive pilots’ manuals on aircraft computer guidance systems and several supplemental aircraft radar manuals. His manuals were published and distributed worldwide to airline operators by Honeywell Engineering, Phoenix, AZ. He also published an article, Flight Into Danger, in Flying Magazine, (August 2002).

Historical Novel Society, American Institute of Archaeology, Canadian Archaeology Association, and IBPA-Independent Book Publishers Association, are among the fraternal and trade organizations in which he holds membership.

You can visit his website at www.vinlandpublishing.com and his blog at www.vinlandpublishing.blogspot.com.

Welcome to Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion, Jerry. Can we begin by having you tell us what Axe of Iron: The Settlers is about and why you wrote it?

The Settlers is character-driven historical fiction.
Why did you choose this genre to write?

The Vikings have been a lifelong interest and any novel about them will be historical fiction. Did you choose it or did it choose you? A little of both I think. My heritage is Swedish/German and I believe writing these books is my destiny.
In regards to promotion, what have you been doing to promote your book online?

I have both a website: http://www.vinlandpublishing.com/ and a blog: http://www.vinlandpublishing.blogspot.com/. I have also signed up for several social networking sites for writers, Google Book Search, and everything that Amazon has for writers of books.

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

I do not know at this point, the book was published August 2008 and the jury is still out on what is the most effective. I believe that the internet is rapidly replacing all other advertising methods because of cost and the amazing level of exposure.

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?

Absolutely! As I said I believe max internet exposure is the key in this business. A case in point: Google J. A. Hunsinger, or the book’s title and see what happens. I am pretty happy about that level of exposure.
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 would say that I am telling a continuing story in a series of books about medieval Vikings and their struggle to settle and eventually assimilate with the native people in North America. It is a story of strife, hate, love, sex, warfare, and every other element that one would expect from a novel taking place one thousand years ago in a primitive new land.

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

I do not want to trade places with any other author, but I would certainly welcome a beer or coffee with Mel Gibson because I have written his kind of book.

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

I want the word out there so people will ask for it, read it, and like the experience enough to tell others that they just read this great book .

Thank you for coming, Jerry! Can you tell us where everyone can pick up a copy of Axe of Iron: The Settlers?

The book is available from my distributor, AtlasBooks from my website and nationwide at major booksellers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Book-A-Million, etc.








J.A. Hunsinger will be on virtual book tour in March and April '09. Please visit his official tour page here to find out more about his new book, Axe of Iron: The Settlers! If you would like to host Jerry on your blog during his virtual book tour in March, send us an email to thewriterslife@yahoo.com. Please put "I want to host J.A. Hunsinger" in the subject line. Thank you!

SPECIAL GUEST: Susan Gregg, Author of THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO SHORT MEDITATIONS

This must be author week here at Pump Up because we have another author I'm dying for you all to meet. She's also one of my authors at Pump Up Your Book Promotion and I say MY authors because I just feel so close to them and Susan Gregg is no exception.

Wonderful, wonderful lady.

Susan is author of the non-fiction spirituality book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Short Meditations (Alpha, April 2007), and has for the last two decades taught thousands of people how to live in true happiness. How can you not like someone like that?

She now lives on the Big Island of Hawaii where she teaches tele-classes, offers local retreats, travels around the world teaching workshops, runs an online discussion group called Toltecmastery and regularly produces her very popular podcast, Food for the Soul.

You can visit her website at http://www.susangregg.com/ or her blog at http://www.shortmeditations.blogspot.com/.

I am very pleased and honored to interview Ms. Gregg and I'd love for you all to see her new trailer that the talented Jamieson Wolf made for her just yesterday! You can see the trailer right after the interview. And, now, I give you, the talented and gifted Ms. Susan Gregg!

PUYOBP: Thank you for coming to Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion, Susan! Can you tell us what your book is about?

Susan: My book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Short Meditations, is all about short meditations, learning how to be happy no matter what's going on in your life, feeling great and looking fine and just generally improving the quality of your life. It's about learning how to use your mind in a constructive manner. Today you'll think 95% of the same thoughts you thought yesterday and if you were stressed and angry yesterday you'll be stressed and angry today. So if you change how you think you can change your life. This book will show you how to do that.

Our minds are very much like puppies if you train them they can become wonderful companions and if you don't train them they can be incredible tyrants. So this book will show you how to train your mind to create what you want when you want and it will show you how to be happy no matter what's going on in your life.

Most of the meditations in this book only take a few minutes and I've had people tell me how easy they were. So even if you've been trying to meditate for years this book will show you how in a very short time.

PUYOBP: Who are you published with and how have your experiences with them been so far?

Susan: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Short Meditations was published by Alpha which is a member of the Penguin Group. This is the second book I've had published by them and other than the title complete idiot's guide my experience has been wonderful. They have a huge distribution system, my editor was absolutely wonderful and they give me lots of words. I found other publishers often limit the content but they don't.

PUYOBP: Can you tell us ways you have been promoting online?

Susan: I've been using my webpages http://www.susangregg.com/ and http://shortmeditations.com/ to promote them. I did an online promotion with Amazon and I have promoted The Complete Idiot's Guide to Short Meditations though my e-groups, with my podcast, Food for the Soul, and my mailing lists. I've also mentioned it on my blog and on some online radio interviews I've done.

On my webpage short meditations.com I have a number of guided audio meditations that people can listen to that are really wonderful. I also have several visual meditations that people find most useful.

I would also like to do more online chats and connect with other people that are interested in meditation.

PUYOBP: Can you tell us ways you have been promoting offline?

Susan: I've been doing radio interviews and in the coming months I will be doing some talks locally.

PUYOBP: What is the most important piece of advice anyone has ever given you about the publishing industry?

Susan: I think the most important piece of advice was to be persistent and to speak from the heart. I am passionate about what I write and I write what I'm passionate about. That love and passion comes through to the reader.

PUYOBP: What’s next for you? Do you have more books in the works?

Susan: I'm currently working on my next book but I'm not sure what the title will be yet. I talked to my agent the other day and she wasn't wild about the title so I've been trying to come up with a new one. I'm also working on my podcasts.

I have gotten wonderful feedback on my podcast called Food for the Soul. I've heard from people all over the world. In each podcast I do guided meditation and talk about a variety of topics. I love doing them.

If any of your readers want to improve the quality of their lives might want to tune in.

PUYOBP: Thank you for stopping by, Susan, and I wish you much success to you during your virtual book tour!

Susan: Thanks for having me and for helping me promote my book. You two are great. I just love the Internet. There are so many great people and so many opportunities to reach out and help people. Thanks again.

Wasn't she wonderful? Now...are you dying to see the trailer? Here you go!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2FbYlKDcJE&eurl=

Tags: How to Pump UP Your Book Promotion, online book promotion, author publicity, book promotion, book promotion tips, virtual book tour, author interviews, guest blogger, Susan Gregg, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Short Meditations, non-fiction spirituality book

Ghost on Tour - Takers Anyone?

I have a special request I'd like to ask my readers. I have a friend who would like to know if there's anyone out there in blogland who would like to host him on his virtual book tour in June. The thing is, and he doesn't mind me telling you, he's a ghost.

Yeah, a ghost.

I know it sounds like the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard of, but believe me, he's alive as you and me and has co-written a book starring six women on a ghost hunt with him playing the part of...himself. He's got quite an ego...believe me, I have known him for about four years now and I don't know how he can live with even himself.

Oh, he likes to drink. And womanize. Just to warn you.

His name is Henri and the book he has co-written is called The Search for the Million $$$ Ghost.

Yeah, that's my book, too, but Henri insists that neither myself, nor Heide Kaminski and Pam Lawniczak, the REAL writers of the book, had anything to do with it. And if I try to tell him that actual fact, he blows up my computer...so keep that under your shirt.

With a few cold Coors Light under his belt, he demanded that I set up a virtual book tour page for him. I had no choice...he was holding my computer hostage.

If you'd like to visit his tour page, visit this page. If you would like to see how he talked me into the hair-brained idea, click here.

If you are brave enough to host Henri, the Ghostest with the Mostest, email me at thewriterslife(at)yahoo.com.

I thank you, Henri thanks you and my computer thanks you.

Tags: How to Pump UP Your Book Promotion, online book promotion, author publicity, book promotion, book promotion tips, virtual book tour, The Search for the Million $$$ Ghost

Virtual Book Tour for Pamela S. Thibodeaux at Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion!

I'm happy to be the second stop on Pamela S. Thibodeaux's virtual book tour for her book, Tempered Dreams! Pamela just so happens to be one of my clients for my new virtual book tours company, Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours! I'm happy to host her today so that she can give us her insight and experiences with online book promotion. I'm sure you'll enjoy her interview and if you have any questions for Pamela, please leave them in the comment section.

Just to let you know, Pamela is an award-winning author, as well as the Co-Founder/President & Treasurer of Bayou Writers Group in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Multi-published in romantic fiction as well as creative non-fiction, her writing has been tagged as, “Inspirational with an Edge!” and reviewed as “steamier and grittier than the typical Christian novel without decreasing the message.”

You can visit her website at www.pamelathibodeaux.com.

PUYOBP: Thank you for stopping off at Pump Up Your Book Promotion, Pamela!

Pamela: Thank you, Dorothy for having me here and hosting my Virtual Book Tour.

PUYOBP: It's my pleasure! In case everyone doesn't know this, Pamela is one of my clients for Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours. Pamela, can you tell me what you would like to gain from your virtual book tour?

Pamela: As you know, Dorothy, promotion is a huge part of becoming the next 'best seller.' It is also an absolute necessity for those of us who are published by a small press publisher in lieu of Big Name publisher. Although selling books is important, for me it is more about the message than the money. After all, the Bible promises that if I "seek first the Kingdom of God, all these things will be added unto me" and that "God will bless the work of my hands." My prayer for this book tour is that more people will be made aware of me as an author and the type of books I write.

PUYOBP: What prompted you to sign up? Were you frustrated at book sales or did you just want to test the waters and see what a virtual book tour can do for you?

Pamela: Both. As I mentioned, promotion is an absolute necessity for any author, but especially so for those authors who are published by a small press publisher, e-publisher and/or self-published. After reading about your success with your own book tour, I talked with my publisher and we both agreed that this would be a great way to garner more publicity and of course (hopefully!) increase sales.

PUYOBP: It most definitely is. I believe that I can attribute to my own book tour being a success in that I targeted my audience. Seems everyone is publishing their own e-books nowadays as a way to bring in a little money on the side and I believed that authors could really make some money off of theirs by putting a little more into their promotional strategies than just publishing the book and putting the cover up on their websites. There are so many ways you can promote books online, it's not even funny and I guess what I wanted to do was help them find these ways without having to search all over the Internet for them. So, the main thing was, I found a need and I filled it. That's what a lot of authors have to consider before they even put pen to paper; of course, those needs change everyday. But, another thing you need to consider before you even write your book is whether or not there will be an audience for it. Pamela, your book, Tempered Dreams is an inspirational romance. Who would you say your audience is and how have you found ways to target them?

Pamela: Although I do write "Inspirational" my goal is to reach readers outside the traditional "church" and CBA readership; those who wouldn't normally pick up a "Christian" romance; those who are disappointed with the normal Christian romances, and yet, equally disappointed in the explicit and sometimes vulgar portrayals of intimacy in other novels. I guess the best way I've been able to target them is through interviews, reviews, word-of-mouth promotion and of course by my tag line…Inspirational with an Edge!

PUYOBP: I can certainly vouch for that. Can you tell us how you have been promoting Tempered Dreams online so far?

Pamela: Oh boy, you name it and I've probably tried it…banner exchanges, interviews, reviews, press releases, listing the book at every possible "free" site I could find (though there are probably tons I've missed). I write articles and include bylines in every single one, contests, and all sorts of ways!

PUYOBP: Exactly. The key is to be proactive. Your book will not sell unless you do the selling, and I'm sure every author realizes the importance of having a hands-on approach with their own book promotion. It used to be a time when publishers had the funds and the time and it's just not that way anymore with all the books being published each year. So, the best way I feel an author should go about promoting their books would be exhause every means they can find, both offline and online, to get those books sold. Tell me, have you seen any advantages online promotion has over offline so far?

Pamela: Well, you can reach many more readers online than in person at any given time. However, I still like the one-on-one I get being face-to-face with readers.

PUYOBP: I understand where you're coming from; in fact, that's what they say offline booksignings are for - the people contact. In what ways have you been promoting offline?

Pamela: Book signings, speaking engagements, readings, book fairs, library promotions…again, you name it and I've probably tried it or have it on my "to do" list to try at some point.

PUYOBP: Well, you have a great attitude. I love to see a pumped up author. I appreciate you stopping by, Pamela. Do you have any book promotion words of wisdom for us?

Pamela: Thank you for having me Dorothy. About the best advice I can give anyone is if it looks good, try it and although free is always better, you have to spend money to make money but use your promo $$ wisely. If you are one of the chosen few who receive an advance from your publisher, earmark that money for promotion. If not, set a budget! Promotion can get expensive. Keep track of what you do and, if possible, the results of that effort and repeat your best efforts with each new novel. If one thing doesn't work as well for you as someone else claims, try something different and never be afraid to try something new. As I told the members of the Golden Triangle Writers Guild when I spoke at their March meeting…nothing on my (or anyone's) list of promotion tips is going to work, on the other hand, everything is going to work…it's all about timing…when it's your time to shine, (or rather in God's perfect time) everything will pull together and work for you.

PUYOBP: Thank you for coming, Pamela, and have fun on the rest of your book tour! In conjunction with the tour, Pam is offering a coupon for 25% off the purchase of Tempered Dreams (or any of the Tempered books). Simply email her with 'Virtual Book Tour' in the subject line and she'll send you your coupon with instructions on how to redeem. Be sure to stop off at The Book Pedler tomorrow as Pamela continues her TEMPERED DREAMS VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '07!

Click here if you would like to see Pamela's official tour page.

You can purchase TEMPERED DREAMS at Amazon by clicking here.

Pamela's tour is brought to you by the Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours, a full service virtual tour booking agency.

Tags: How to Pump UP Your Book Promotion, online book promotion, author publicity, book promotion, book promotion tips, virtual book tour, Pamela S. Thibodeaux, Tempered Dreams

SPECIAL GUEST: Marilyn Celeste Morris, Author of ONCE A BRAT

Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion has another special guest today! I'm proud to have Marilyn Celeste , author of Once a Brat on the 8th stop of her virtual book tour!

Born a Military Brat, Marilyn attended schools overseas, in Seoul Korea, 1946-47 and Linz, Austria (1949-1952) and various schools stateside. From this background, she has crafted her autobiographical Once a Brat, relating her travels with her army officer father from her birth in 1938 to his retirement in 1958.

Her first novel, Sabbath’s Room, was published in 2001, and her most recent work, Diagnosis: Lupus: The Intimate Journal of a Lupus Patient was released in December 2005 by Publish America. She has taught creative writing at Tarrant County College, Fort Worth TX and survived numerous book signings and speaking engagements.

She is co-facilitator for the Fort Worth Lupus Support Group, North Texas Chapter of the Lupus Foundation of America and advisor to the Board of Directors. When not writing or editing emerging writers’ manuscripts, she enjoys searching for former classmates and true to her Brat heritage, she has a suitcase packed under the bed, ready to travel at a moment’s notice.

You can visit her blog at www.onceabrat.blogspot.com or visit her virtual tour page at Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours!

PUYOBP: Welcome to Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion blog, Marilyn! Can you tell us what your book is about?

Marilyn: My book, Once a Brat, is based on my travels all over the world with my army officer father, from my birth in 1938 to his (our!) retirement in 1958. I tell the good, the bad, and the ugly. I sometimes describe-it as part travelogue, part therapy session. As one of the first dependents to be deployed overseas after WWII, I had unique experiences that many children would never dream about.

PUYOBP: Can you tell us how you have been promoting your book online?

Marilyn: I really didn't know how to do much publicizing online, until you came along and patiently taught all of us in your The Writers Life group. I had only a pitiful web site; now I have blogs all over the place, and a spiffy new website coming. Interviews are coming at a rapid pace, too.

PUYOBP: What do you believe are the advantages of promoting online versus offline?

Marilyn: I think I'm like most writers -- I would rather write than get out and promote myself. And I can do it in my pajamas at any time of the day or night. I am beginning to see the power of the Internet over a brick and mortar bookstore.

PUYOBP: Have you been able to successfully sell your book offline and can you tell us about it?

Marilyn: I have had four or five booksignings, attended book and craft fairs, all with rather interesting results (one craft fair was populated by guys who were mostly in the market for guns, knives and ammo.) I have also done cable television interviews and three or four radio chats. Locally, I have spoken to the Kiwanis Club and the Chamber of Commerce. The most books I sold was during my 50th high school class reunion in Lawton OK last June, at Hastings Books. As a military town, I thought surely my army brat book would be the best seller, but I sold more of Diagnosis: Lupus: The Intimate Journal of a Lupus Patient. I suppose the age of my classmates had something to do with it, looking for tips on avoiding disease and taking care of oneself.

PUYOBP: I understand your next book,The Women of Camp Sobingo, is going to be published in ebook format first. Do you have any advice for other ebook authors that would help them with their promotional campaigns and is this your first ebook?

Marilyn: It is my first ebook, and I went kicking and screaming into that venue. But it appears to be the next best thing in publishing. New authors should hire this woman as their publicist, to walk them through the new jungle of publishing.

PUYOBP: I thank you for coming, Marilyn. Do you have any final thoughts on book promotion that you would like to share?

Marilyn: I have learned that for every hour you write on your next best seller, you must spend two hours on promoting it. Even before it appears in print. All the old school of thought that a big New York publisher would find you work worth millions of dollars in sales and that you would spend weeks on the road at booksignings and public appearances doesn't exist, except in the general public's imagination. Promotion is blood, sweat and tears, and I'd rather be writing. But that's why I have you, Dorothy, my publicist. I love saying those words!

You can purchase Marilyn's book Once a Brat at Amazon!

Tags: online book promotion, author publicity, book promotion, book promotion tips, virtual book tour, Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours, Marilyn Celeste Morris, Once a Brat, military brats

Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours in Full Swing!

I would like to take a moment and wish everyone a Happy Easter and hope you and your family have a happy holiday together!

I'd also like to explain why I haven't posted in a week (arggg...just noticed that).

Two things actually. One, I've started a virtual book tour company, Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours, which is already in full swing.

This month, we have the lovely Marilyn Celeste Morris touring with her book, Once a Brat!

In May, we have wonderful authors including Sandi Shelton, author of A Piece of Normal, Caridad Pineiro, author of Blood Calls, Kim Robinson, author of Roux in the Gumbo, and Pamela S. Thibodeaux, author of Tempered Dreams. What a line-up!

So, I only think it appropriate that we enter the next stage of learning how to pump up your book promotion by showing you what's involved in setting up your own virtual book tour for those who have never done it. Sound cool?

I know some of my readers have already been through this. We had the lovely Glenda Watson, author of I'll Do It Myself, as our special guest on March 16 and we got a lot of responses from that and I set up my own back in November to promote my ebook, A Complete Guide to Promoting & Selling Your Self-Published eBook which went over real well. Since I was the publisher, I knew when and where the sales came from and I'll tell you this much, never in the history of the ebook was there such a rise in sales. All from using the Internet to pump up my book promotion!

As Glenda will attest to, it takes a lot of work to put one of these together, not to mention an incredible knack for organization (that I learned the hard way), but it's an excellent way to get the word out for your book without even leaving your home.

Not only have I done this for myself, but now I'm doing it for others which means I'm learning the ropes as I go, too. The things I have learned by trial and error might help those who are thinking about putting one together for their upcoming releases. But, don't overlook past releases. Marilyn's book actually was published a few years ago, but this was her way to get some pre-buzz before her next book which deals with the same subject comes out in December.

If anyone has any questions to start us off, leave them in the comment box and I'll address them in near-future blog posts.

Now, the second thing that has kept me busy this past week...I have a paranormal coming out in paperback any day now! The Search for the Million $$$ Ghost, written by Heide Kaminski, Pam Lawniczak and myself has been in ebook format since September and we just got word that it will be up at Amazon as a paperback any day now. So, I've been a very busy bee the last week taking care of the tours and putting together a marketing plan for the book.

So, tomorrow look for Pump Up Your Book Promotion with Virtual Book Tours Workshop! Hope to see you back! ;o)

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

How to Pump Up Your Book Promotion with Virtual Book Tours

I haven't quite officially announced this publicly yet, but I am gearing up to become your host for Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours, a new company which I'm about to launch in April. Some of you who are reading this blog have been down the virtual book tour route, whether you paid someone to do this for you or you did it yourself. My last guest, Glenda Watson Hyatt, successfully pulled off 40 stops in 40 days on her virtual book tour for her book, I Can Do It Myself, so it can be done if you're the kind of person who likes doing things yourself, have the time and means to do it, and love saving money.

Since I'm almost rather new at it (I say new because even though I have successfully pulled off my own virtual book tour for my book, A Complete Guide to Promoting & Selling Your Self-Published eBook *see cute little cover in the right hand sidebar*), as far as doing it for other authors, I think it's going to be rather fun.

One day I was in the market for someone to do this for me, but when I checked out their prices, I went, "Wowzers, what do they think I am? Rich?" That's when I decided to do it alone. I'm frugal, I guess you could say, and have this attitude that I'd rather learn how to do it myself to save some greenbacks and I did.

That was last November and it didn't occur to me until about a month ago that there are authors who would rather pay to have someone handle their tour, and that's when Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Tours was born.

However, this isn't a plug for my tour company, so let's get on with the show.

Since I decided to embark on this journey to set up tours for others, I've been doing a lot of research into it *which basically means spying on who else was on tours or doing tours...lol* to see if there was anything I had left out, and I came upon this book trailer by Gabriella Goddard, author of Gulp!, an exciting new self-help book published by Penguin UK.

If you're on dial-up like me, turn your speakers off and let it download, and go back to it when it's finished downloading because I found this to be an excellent, not to mention ingenious, way to introduce your own virtual book tour.

At the end of the book trailer, you will see an address, which I promptly visited. I'm taking this tour took place last September, but it never the less shows you where she went on her own virtual book tour, which was rather enlightening. I'm not sure if she did it herself or Penguin helped, but she had some pretty impressive stops.

If you are setting up your own tour, you need to keep a record of each stop on your own blog, so that visitors can travel to the different stops and see (or hear) what you have to say about your book. This is great book promotion in the finest virtual sense.

Now, here's the trailer. I love this woman. She's funny, engaging and I just love how she used this book trailer to entice people to her website (you can see I went straight there afterwards).

It's all part of the new age of promotion and gives us all ideas on what to do, how to do it and have fun in the meantime!



Tags: How to Pump UP Your Blog to Sell More Books, online book promotion, author publicity, book promotion, book promotion tips, virtual book tour, Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours, Gabriella Goddard

Add Your Book Events to BookWire (for free!)

Most everyone knows about BookWire (www.bookwire.com), but did you realize their traffic rank is (as of today) 307,707 on Alexa (www.alexa.com)?

And what does this mean? This means that BookWire gets MILLIONS of visitors each and every day. With that much traffic, this is an excellent place to submit your book events such as I did a few days ago when I was interviewed at Book Marketing with Fran (Silverman) on Achieve Radio Network. It's anyone's guess as to how much traffic this listing would drive to this particular radio show, but with the promoting I did besides listing my "event" at BookWire, I obtained an email from someone wanting to pay to put an ad on my website, plus five interviews...all in ONE DAY. Not bad. Whether or not BookWire had anything to do with it or not, it's a good place to add your next event whether it's an appearance on a radio talk show such as I did, an upcoming booksigning or even your next virtual book tour. And, what's great about this is that it's absolutely free. Visit www.bookwire.com and look in the top right hand side corner and you'll see "event listings."

Tags: book events
online book promotion
BookWire
radio talk show
virtual book tour