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Today's tip was suggested to me by an author. I have mentioned it in passing a few times, but it is important so I wanted to devote a whole post to it. By doing this one thing you can increase traffic to your site, build relationships with authors/publishers, and better promote a title.
What is this mystery tip? It is simply contacting the author/publisher with the link to a post where you mention their book. Often the easiest way to do this is through Twitter or Facebook. Every time I write a review I tag the publisher and/or author on the tweet. If for some reason I cannot find a Twitter account or don't think they are active tweeters, I will post the link on their Facebook page. Most times my tweet is retweeted by the publisher and/or author and I see an increase in traffic from Facebook. I tagged @PenguinUSA when I posted about The Kama Sutra and that tweet was spread not only by Penguin but also many of their followers.
Now most publishers and authors are using something like Google Alerts to track mentions of themselves on the web. But Google Alerts does not capture everything or it can be a week or more behind. Contacting the author about their books appearing on my site has led to continued relationships. They will follow me on Twitter or Like my fan page on Facebook. Several have stopped by the blog to leave a comment. And I often show up on the list to review their next book.
It's not only your reviews that you should be tagging the author or publisher, but any time you mention them on your blog. I occasionally do favorite lists and I will send it to authors. If I mention the author in a video post, they may never know unless I let them know as the keywords are not there for the Google crawler to find.
Some authors I know well enough to exchange emails with and I will sometimes notify them in advance (when I know myself) they are being mentioned. I have noticed that a few of them will then do a blog post of their own and link to my blog. If you use NetGalley to receive review copies then including a link to the post is required and presumably the publisher has it, but still it's a good idea to tag it when you tweet or Facebook (it lets them know how active you are in promoting your blog and their book).
I've recently started something new when I email links to authors/publishers, I also include positive data about the post (number of comments, page views, etc.). I've only done it a couple of times (it's new so I haven't developed the habit yet), but the feedback is positive - they want to know this information.
In today's information saturation it is easy to find Twitter and Facebook accounts of authors and publishers. Most will have links on their websites or blogs or just type the authors name + Twitter into a search engine and it should pop right up.
Thank you, J. B. Lynn (author of Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman and The First Victim) for the Tip suggestion. If anyone else would like to suggest a topic for Tips on Thursday all you have to do is leave a comment (leave your twitter handle and I'll tag you when your topic is posted).
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