This month’s theme is Marketing Madness, as you already know.
And Personal Assistants are great resources to help authors with marketing and promotions.
I have very limited experiences working with a PA myself, so I asked my friend, Amanda Lindsey, PA, to share with you what PAs do.
PA’s are personal assistants to authors. We are also known as VA’s which are virtual assistants. Each person has different qualities and qualifications to offer an author. Services may depend on training and knowledge. We are self taught or gain knowledge from the PA community.
Pricing also depends on what the PA can offer and what the author may need. Each client is always different as are PA’s. We strive to be the right hand person to the author.
Some of the things that may be offered are support, friendship, reading and reviewing on a variety of levels, form creation, blog contact, group activity and maintenance, arc team support, social media marketing, running author social media and pages, calendar management, takeover posting, takeover and party setup, graphics and teasers, transcription and so much more.
We try to take up things that will give the author more time to focus on what they do best….writing.
So as part of my refocusing my blog, I am going to start posting about myself more often, and I am going to post about the monthly themes that are being used in the Burning Embers blog. And the theme for March is Marketing Madness.
I will tell you what, as an author my favorite thing to do is get to know other authors, and make new friends. My least favorite thing to do is marketing and promotion.
I don’t have much experience in marketing and promotion outside of posting about my books on Facebook (which ever since the updated community standards came into effect, I am in FB jail more often than not for spamming book groups), Instagram (which I do so sporadically, I might be better off to drop it), Twitter (here again I am so rarely on Twitter, and don’t really like it for my own use that my postings there are often ineffective), and other platforms where I have a presence.
I have got The United, The Realm of the Light Book 1, included in a few different book promotional emails before, and getting would like to get into higher quality promotions with a more active reach, but at only 27 Amazon reviews, my options are limited to the 25 or more promotional opportunities.
My biggest limitation is money. I do not have the means just start paying out a $300/month on ads or promotions right now. So everything I am able to do, I do without paying for ads and promotions. In fact what has been my experience is that I drop $500 on a promotional run for The United, or a new release, and I make back like $20 in royalties. I know that sounds upside down, and I agree, it is. This drives home my point that I am still learning how to effectively use my limited marketing budget.
My point?
Marketing is struggle for me. I have not found my niche market, I have a platform that is effective for me, and I have not been able to successfully sell my books on a consistent basis.
My challenge for March?
Learn about any new platforms to try and market my books, reword some of my self published book descriptions, and update my blog. As the month goes on, I will keep you posted on how that is working for me.
And you experienced authors out there, feel free to comment with any suggestions and recommendations you have that has worked for you, and that you think may be beneficial to me, or to other authors who follow my blog.
I know it is late February when the Fireside Chat Theme is nearly over, but before it disappears completely, I wanted to share with you how the initial idea for Burning Embers came about.
First, there is something you need to know about me. I have suffered from hydrophobia my entire life, and if there is one thing I have learned about myself during my fight with my phobia is that I NEVER want my fears to define me. Not now, not ever.
So, this is me tell ing you about the creation of Burning Embers in the most scary way I know how, but recording myself on a YouTube video.
This afternoon I want to share with you some of my ideas for what you can do on Release Day.
So your big day has finally arrived. And now, your book is live. It is a BIG DAY, and it does not matter it if is your 1st published book, your 2nd published book, or your 50th published book, it deserves to be celebrated!
Many people celebrate their birthday every year, so why shouldn’t your book, which took a considerable amount of your own personal time to create, be celebrated as well.
There are many ways to celebrate on Release Day. It really does not matter how you celebrate, just that you do.
Some release day ideas include:
A Social Media Event, such as Facebook or MeWe with yourself or with other authors.
A Social Media Blitz, posting pics, prerelease reviews from your Street Team, any promotional materials you may have, etc. on Twitter, Facebook, MeWe, Instragram, Tumblr, or anywhere you have a Social Media Presence.
Holding a personal party with cake or ice cream or pizza or BBQ wings or whatever your party foods are for yourself and maybe a few close friends or family members.
Doing a Book Signing on release day, either in a book store or coffee shop, etc.
There are multiple other ideas that you can do, but my point is for you to do something. Just something to celebrate your success.
