Tag Archives: Social network

The Proper (and easy!) way to Market your Novel #4 – The dreaded Public Appearance

Posted on October 26, 2012 | 15 comments

Alright, we’ve talked about not marketing your novel… instead, marketing yourself. How do you do that? By being nice.

(Check out the last few Friday posts if you’re just jumping in.)

Okay, so it’s all well and good doing this over the internet… but what about those public appearances?

We can all be nice, that’s not too hard. Getting out there in front of people… that is hard. But when you do, just remember that you don’t need to shove your novel in people’s faces.

Just smile pretty. Answer questions. Be yourself.

If you are a scared, timid writer, invent a new character who is outgoing and friendly… and be that person for a little while. (It’s called acting).

In the end, the connections you make will sell your work. The connections you make will lead to “word of mouth”. And you never know when you will be nice to someone, and they will help you out.

Remember Ed Griffis? After my post on his novel, dozens of my followers re-tweeted it. It’s the Twitter snowball effect. His Kindle rating jumped. Pretty cool, huh? I’m not saying that is all because of my post. Maybe it was just a coincidence. (There is a lot that goes into your Amazon rating. It not only has to do with your sales, but everyone else’s too.) But if you guys did all run out and buy his book, that’s great… and you found out about it because the author was “nice” to me for a little while.

Easy self-promotion, right?
Market yourself. Not your novel.

Smile pretty at everyone.

You never know who you might meet.

By the way… thanks for stopping by.

It’s great to meet you! 🙂

What else is out there for Writers? (buildingrelations.wordpress.com)
5 Low-Cost Social Media Marketing Strategies for Authors (openforum.com)
Guide to Keeping Up With Twitter (lauraleewalker.com)
7 Tips to Avoid Social Media Productivity Loss (kylelacy.com)

15 Comments

Posted in Author Interview, Marketing Madness

Tagged afraid, Amazon, Amazon Kindle, Facebook, fear of public speaking, how to speak in public, interviews, jennifer eaton, marketing, public speaking, Snowball effect, Social media, Social network, speak in public, Twitter, your vovel

What makes you comment in reply to an article on a Blog?

Posted on September 6, 2012 | 119 comments

I’ve been wondering about this a lot. What makes you stop and comment on a blog article your read? There are some people who comment all the time.

My top commenters are pretty much the same people. Three of them switch back and forth duking it out for the “Top Commenter” honors on a daily basis.

Then a new name pops up, and they hang out for a while. Some disappear. Are they still reading? I don’t know.

I don’t know why there is a Shakespeare guy next to this post, either.

I think maybe some people comment for the social-networking aspect, and some people are just looking for information.

Stop, read, and go. I guess that’s okay too.

Does anyone else mull over this? I guess I’m weird, but when I visit another blog, I usually like the person to know that I’ve been there.

It’s kind of like poking them with a sword, or leaving a message on someone’s desk.

“Hi! I stopped by, and wanted to let you know I was here. Catch ya later”.

According to my stats, I average 150 people visiting this blog every day. (Crazy, isn’t it?) I run an average of six to twelve comments per post, give or take a few here and there. (Yes, a few have gone as high as 50 comments, but that’s not the norm)

That means 90% of people read, but don’t comment. I’ve seen some people create Gravitar accounts just to comment. That’s cool. You don’t need to be a blogger to join in the fun.

So… If you are a commenter, what makes you comment?

If you don’t comment, are you just shy?

Now, I am completely aware that the people who don’t comment probably still won’t. But if a few of you do, it would be great! If you are shy, and think “I don’t have anything to say” just type “Hi, I was here.”

Consider it your first step into the madness of Social Networking.

5 Ways To Encourage Readers To Comment On Your Blog (bloggingtips.com)
Blogging Best Practices: Build and Engage Community with Comments (everything.typepad.com)

119 Comments

Posted in Marketing Madness, Senseless Ranting

Tagged blogging, commenting, Facebook, how to get comments on your blog, LinkedIn, Online Communities, Social media, Social network, Social network service, Twitter

Facebook Trademarks. Relax, guys.

Posted on March 31, 2012 | 7 comments

I’ve seen a lot of articles about “Big Bad Facebook” lately, and their latest (debatably sneaky) ploy to trademark the word “book”.

I think a lot of the hysteria is caused by people who don’t really know what they are talking about. In my opinion, this is overreaction.

Have you logged in to Facebook lately? Did you get a message that you need to agree to their new Terms and Conditions before proceeding? Hmmm. Did you read them before blindly agreeing? Most of us don’t even look at those agreements before clicking “agree”, and Facebook is relying on that.

But if you did blindly agree, is it a big deal?

Not as much as people are saying. If you are chewing your nails, this is what you agreed to: “You will not use our copyrights or trademarks (including Facebook, the Facebook and F Logos, FB, Face, Poke, Book and Wall), or any confusingly similar marks, except as expressly permitted by our Brand Usage Guidelines or with our prior written permission.” **

What is causing all the hysteria, is that people translated this to mean “I cannot use the words Face, Poke, Book and Wall ever again or I will be sued.”

No, this is not the case. Facebook is just protecting its very powerful name. Personally, I understand that.

Yes, you can use the word “Face”. You do not have to delete it out of your novel. However, you cannot call you social network site “MyBook” or “FacePage”. Either one of these is calling attention that your site is similar to Facebook, and you are drawing on Facebook’s popularity to increase your own.

In another example, I cannot change this site’s name to “JenniferBook”, because I would be making an obvious connection to the social network giant.

So, did you blindly agree? If you did, don’t worry about it. Just don’t infringe on their logo or name… which should be common sense anyway… in the same way as you can’t call a store “Shirts R Us” if you are not affiliated with “Toys R Us” (Kids R US was a Toys R Us affiliated company.)

Relax, guys. Facebook isn’t stealing words out of the dictionary.

Note: I am not a lawyer, and I am not in any way qualified to give legal advice. This article articulates my opinions formulated from my understanding of Trademark Law.

**Note2: I could not find this offensive quote in their terms myself, but enough people are freaking out about it that it must be there somewhere

7 Comments

Posted in Senseless Ranting

Tagged Confusing similarity, Facebook, Facebook features, Logos, Poke, Social network, Trademark, Word

The Significance of Social Networking. Blogging, Facebook, and Twitter

Posted on February 22, 2012 | 32 comments

Circuitmart recently ran an article about research that was just done on Social Networking. It focused on Twitter, and Facebook… not so much blogging, but the principles are similar. If you’d like to see the article, you can click on the link below, but I’ll summarize for you.

http://www.circuitmart.com/mart/49609.shtml (There is a 30 second commercial, followed by the 1 minute video presentation, or you can click “read more” to read the full article instead.)

What I found interesting is that they interviewed someone with 200 Facebook friends, and they asked them how many are really friends. The answer was only 30.

I thought about my own personal Facebook account. I actually know everyone I’ve friended. Yeah, to be honest, many of them are people I went to high school with, who I barely even knew back then, but I DO KNOW THEM.

(By the way, don’t try to “friend” Jennifer M Eaton on Facebook… that’s not me. Nope, I’m not a blonde.) You can find me under Jennifer M Eaton – Author. If you see Castillia’s fire in the profile picture, or an eye with the reflection of fire in it… that one’s me. (Wow, that eye looks creepy when it’s not cropped into a square. EEEK!

Anyway, I was thinking about how this relates to blogging. This is my professional area. Here, I have a lot of followers, but I’ve actually never met most of you.

Is that weird? Well, no… it’s not. That’s what social networking is all about.

Finding people who are seriously into writing is hard for most of us. I’m in a local writer’s group, but the people I’ve learned the most from are the people I interact with everyday on the internet. (I do get a lot out of small group writing workshops, though)

Through my connections on the internet, I find out about contests, seminars, training classes, resources, and I can get great advice anytime I need it, just by posting and asking for help. When I didn’t have my own blog, I jumped onto Nathan Brandsford’s… and that site is always there for me to get additional advice from a broader spectrum of writers.

Social networking has helped me tremendously. My novel wouldn’t be what it is today without it. I have “friends” all over the world to help me out. (The guy doing the art for my WEB Site is in Hungary… and he’s read my novel. How weird awesome is that?)

Used to its full potential, networking is a great tool. I don’t care if I haven’t met you. If you are here, you are my friend. Friends help each other out.

Friends cheer each other on.

Now, stop reading this insanely long post.

Get up off your butt and finish your novel.