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Author Hops: Strength in Numbers

9 / 20 / 152 / 24 / 16

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Whether you’re indie or traditional, one thing is for sure: cross-promotions tend to generate higher success rates than solo promotions. All promotions can be useful, but if you get an opportunity to join other authors in something, heed this advice, then jump in.

Advice to heed:

  1. Are the authors similar in genre to yourself? Some promotions are open to all genres, and those are useful for building FB Likes, Twitter followers, or Amazon Follows. However, if you’re looking to do a newsletter cross-promotion, it’s best if you stick within your genre so readers will easily transfer into YOUR readers.
  1. Are the authors you’re joining a decent crew? Do your homework. When you join a group your reputation and name are on the line. It doesn’t hurt to check out the authors you’ll be joining. How are their reviews? Their level of professionalism? Their fan base?

Let’s talk hops.

What is an author hop? A hop is an event where readers and fans hop to different authors’ social pages or blogs in order to collect, enter, or retain information generally linked to a giveaway of some kind.

Example of a Facebook hop: Readers hop to each participating author’s Facebook page, then complete an action to be entered to win a prize.

Example of a Blog hop: Readers hop to each participating author’s blog, generally enter to win a prize right on the blog or comment on the blog, then they are entered to win a prize.

Authors can get creative and do all different kinds of hops! How about on Twitter? No problem. Try out different platforms and see what one you like best.

What are some of the benefits of joining a hop type event with other authors?

  • Hops increase your website or social page traffic
  • Hops increase your reach and can help attract new-to-you readers
  • Hops help grow your community relations so you can get invited to more cross-promotions with other authors
  • Hops give your website or social pages fresh content, keeping your brand active and relevant
  • Hops are fun and social
  • Hops put you in front of new audiences
  • Hops can lead to building a larger fan base and increasing sales

So what’s to lose? Grow your audience, have some social fun, and get to hopping! Want to be considered for our cross-promotions? Aurora Publicity always has some kind of author group promo in the works and we’d love to add you to our mailing lists so we can email you any future opportunities to join. Interested? Sign up here.

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Want to see your newsletter subscribers skyrocket? Try a cross-promotion.

8 / 30 / 152 / 24 / 16

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In an earlier post all about author newsletters, we mentioned that you can grow your mailing list exponentially by doing a newsletter cross-promotion with other authors. So in this post we’re going to show you the whys and hows of that promotion. Let’s jump in.

Authors can do all kinds of things to grow their newsletter: giveaways, offering a free book, asking fans to sign up at Facebook parties, etc., but you have to remember that generic fans will sign up for the “freebie” or perk, then unsubscribe at the first chance (or simply disappear completely without ever interacting again). A high unsubscribe rate can mark you as SPAM and complicate sending your newsletter to the fans who do want to read your content. The author newsletter cross-promotion that we recommend cuts down the risk of that happening, and increases your odds of getting new subscribers that are quality ones who will enjoy your books and your brand.

So what is this crazy author newsletter promo? Well, it’s a group of authors in the same genre who put one of their books on sale for $0.99 on a particular day. On the day of the sale, all authors send the same newsletter out to their mailing lists. Not only does it get your $0.99 sale book in front of readers who LOVE your genre already, but within the newsletter you do a newsletter-only giveaway and fans can enter to win by subscribing to all the participating authors’ mailing lists. So depending on the authors you group with, and their fan bases, you can grow your newsletter by the hundreds or thousands. We should probably mention that the sales are nice, too.

So now that you know the what, here are five easy steps to running a successful newsletter promotion:

1. Make a list of 10-20 authors in your genre who are slightly bigger than you, meaning their fan base is equal to or exceeds your own. If you’re an Amazon bestseller, you might not be able to convince a New York Times Bestseller to join in since their mailing list should be 10x the size of yours and you don’t have a lot to offer in return (though we like to be optimistic, so try one or two and see!). However, you can certainly aim for other bestselling authors a little closer to your means. If you have USA Today or NYT friends who want to join you, then you’ll have a better chance reaching other big authors.

2. Once you have your list, make sure you research the authors enough to know that they do have a mailing list. You’d be surprised that some big authors don’t, so check their website and look for a “subscribe to my newsletter” type of function.

3. Craft a message letting the author know you’re getting a group of authors together who all write X (and that’s important; that you all write the same genre), and that this promotion will help them grow their mailing lists, get new readers, and hopefully some new sales from those new readers. Send out your message and establish your group of participating authors. Feel free to name drop if you do get well-known authors involved. Authors are busy, so if they join in to do a promo they want to know there is a pretty good ROI for them.

4. Have all participating authors email you their cover for the book they are going to be putting on sale during your promotion along with their buy links.

5. Create the newsletter so it includes all the covers with the buy links hyperlinked to the appropriate seller, along with the giveaway.* Using Rafflecopter is easy and often free, though we use KingSumo Giveaways when doing this for our author clients. Once satisfied with the newsletter, make an HTML copy and send it to all participating authors so that they can drop it into their email service and schedule to have it sent. Make sure everyone sends the newsletter out at the same specific time on the same specific date.

*Some authors will choose to pay completely for the giveaway prize (aka a Kindle Fire, Amazon gift card, whatever it is), but some will ask all authors participating to contribute $5-10 toward the prize. That part is up to you and what you’re comfortable with. In Rafflecopter you can link all authors’ newsletter links and in order to enter to win, readers will have to subscribe to earn an entry point.

You can also make a private Facebook group for participating authors to join and this gives you a central spot for questions and answers, however, keeping everything in an email chain works just as well.

Sound a little overwhelming? No worries! We can help you run your first one and we’ll work out any kinks together. We’ve helped many USA Today, New York Times, and award-winning authors execute this, and we’re here for you. Email us if you’re interested in learning more.

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Author Newsletter: Must Haves and Absolutely Nots

8 / 23 / 152 / 24 / 16

 

Newsletter

Why you need an author newsletter.

“Aw man, not another thing I need to setup and run. I’m already too busy trying to manage the other hundred things and profiles I was told I needed.” Sound familiar? When we tell an author they need a newsletter, the whine response tends to be pretty high. We don’t blame them, it IS another thing to setup and run when most are already busy maintaining a hundred other things. But here is the simple truth:

An author owns their newsletter.

Here’s why that’s so important:

  • When you post on social media, not everyone sees your posts; Facebook has gotten so bad, really no one sees your posts on there unless you pay for them to.
  • People friend, like, follow, subscribe for all types of reasons and aren’t necessary dedicated fans, so when you post into the masses (and they see it), they might not be really interested in your content.
  • Social comes with rules, and if you don’t follow them, you can end up with a suspended or terminated account, thus losing contact with all those potential fans you’ve spend so much time connecting with.

To sum up why a newsletter is important: you built an email list that is yours. You own it. No one else (or no company) can control or steal that list. Those on your email list are quality fans who do want to see your content and they are more likely to see it when you send them something directly via email as opposed to sharing something on social.

How to get started and build your awesome email list:

Start with a free mail provider like MailChimp or Constant Contact. These two are free to use (until you hit so many subscribers, but that won’t happen overnight and gives you time to try them out) and moderately simple to configure and modify.

Once you sign up and establish a list, work on growth. Have a list for when you do giveaways. You can use that newsletter sign up form and then later email those subscribers and ask if they’d like to move over to what we’ll call your master quality list—or the list of quality readers who know and like you and your books. Don’t just lump everyone into one list or you might get a high number of unsubscribes or uninterested readers who never open your mail and no one wants that.

So you’ve got your lists. Next up is to design your templates, and while you might need a few hours to do it now, it saves time every time you go to send a newsletter as you can go to your template, hit copy, and use it as the base for your awesome email. Design tip: make sure to give your template the same look and feel as your website. Keeping the two branded similarly gives consistency and helps a reader easily recognize your author brand.

Next up, how to build your list of quality readers and fans.

While there are many ways to do this, here are a few of our favorite ideas:

  • Write a short story or novella to tie-in with one of your books or series (can also use one of your full-length books for this) and give it away for free if readers subscribe to your newsletter.
  • Invite your family and friends and those on social media to join your mailing list.
  • Run giveaways where people need to subscribe to your newsletter in order to be entered to win. Remember to feed these prize-seekers into a separate list so not to add in bad leads to your master list. Also keep prizes relevant to your books and not generic so that people who subscribe are more likely to be your fans. If you give away a gift card, most likely, anyone will enter to win it, but if you give away something specific to your books or your genre, those fans are more likely to also like you and your books.
  • Let Aurora run a newsletter cross-promotion for you! You can email us for more details and pricing on this. This promo connects you with other big-name authors in your genre and helps you gain their subscribers and them gain yours so you already know these will be quality readers.
  • If you’ve got a book signing, local reading, or event, then bring a newsletter sign-up sheet. This is often accompanied with a giveaway of some kind.
  • Got that freebie book we mentioned earlier? Drop a graphic telling fans to download their free book in the back (or front) of all of your published books so readers sign up for your newsletter after reading one of your books. You can also put that free download on business cards or bookmarks and hand those out during signings, conferences, local readings, etc.

We’ve discussed why a newsletter is more important than say social media, how to set a newsletter up, and how to grow one, so let’s talk briefly about the absolutely must nots of an author newsletter.

  • Don’t spam your mailing list with constant “buy my book” emails. Let your readers get to know you and your books in an organic and natural way. Yes, still send out new release and book emails, but limit the sell, sell, sell mentality.
  • Don’t buy your mailing lists. You want quality readers, not fake ones.
  • Don’t share your mailing lists with anyone. These readers sign up trusting you to keep their email addresses confidential, so do that.

We hope you’re ready to get your newsletter going, and hope you see the value in having one. They take time to grow, so start early. You can even begin growing one without having your book out yet, so don’t wait. Just think about all the eager readers you’ll have in place when your book does come out. Do try to send 1-2 emails a month so that you’re not spamming fans with too many and not too few to where readers will forget they’ve subscribed to your newsletter…or even who you are.

Try to think out of the box too! You can send different types of emails. We often tell authors to have a main newsletter where you put important news on releases, sales, anything going on with you, then do an email that’s unique for you. Maybe you send a chapter out mid-month, or do a giveaway exclusive to your subscribers. Whatever it is, have fun with it!

Got questions, want to brainstorm some new email ideas, or want help with one of the ideas we mentioned? Message us on Facebook or shoot us an email as we are always happy to help.

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Marketing 101: The Resting Phase Isn’t So…Restful

6 / 1 / 15

If you’re a published author, you know how intense launching a book can be. If you’re not yet published, wait for it, it’s coming. 🙂

There are tasks every author should be doing up to a year in advance of releasing their book, then there’s six months, five, four, three, two, one, three weeks, two, one, and day of your book release. Those hours, days, and weeks can become a hazy blur full of a million things to do. So when your book launches, you breathe a sigh of relief. Maybe you’re already gearing up for the next book launch (it’s never-ending isn’t it?), or maybe you’re in the resting or downtime phase. You aren’t yet focusing on the next big launch, so it’s still time to maintain your marketing on your new release. Or in some cases, maintain your marketing on your old release or an old series.

The truth is, you should never not be marketing your books or building your brand. And while some of these efforts get lost in the new release, launch craze–it’s good to refocus your efforts now that you have a teensy bit more time.

Here are a few things you can be doing weekly, or even daily, during the “resting” phase in between your book launches.

1. Never stop seeking reviews. Reviews help authors land opportunities; whether it’s being accepted with an advertiser like BookBub or ENT, or being welcomed to cross-promo opportunities with other authors. Reviews are testimonials for your business and you want to make sure when a new reader pops onto your page, they see hundreds of glowing ones.

2. Get more active on social media. Book launches can create tunnel vision, so maybe during yours you’ve neglected your Twitter, Pinterest, or Facebook. Now is the time to dust off those accounts and show your readers who you are. No, we don’t mean sell to them. We mean engage with them and let them get to know you. Make friends and build your community, that’s what social media is for. Tie in to Twitter “events” like #1LineWeds or share your book teasers on Facebook for #TeaserTuesday. Social can expand your reach and connect you with new readers.

3. Update your blog. Readers tend to search for an author and land on their website. They may or may not hit your blog, but if they do, and they see you haven’t posted in a year, they might move along to someone else they deem “more current.” Share on your blog and you could earn more sales because readers have gotten to know you and like you.

4. Seek out cross-promotion opportunities with other authors. Share books and promote other authors whose work resonates with you or your readers, and these authors are more likely to want to help you when you come knocking. Blog hops, newsletter cross-promotions, Facebook hops, book sales, box sets, etc., are all good cross-promo opportunities.

5. Pitch articles to larger outlets. The Huffington Post, have you heard of them? How about BuzzFeed? Turns out, there are tons of big outlets that already have an established audience you could leverage. Write an article, submit it to them, and then get in front of their readers. Every outlet has their own guidelines so check those out, and pitch to outlets whose audiences resonate with the type of stuff you write. These would not be sales-like articles; they are not interested in those. Instead, pick a few topics you believe yourself to be an expert in, then write articles around those to submit.

6. Schedule some local readings and signing events. Don’t be shy! Drop by your local businesses, or non-local if you’d like to travel, and introduce yourself. Bring some books, a few bookmarks, and anything else you think is appropriate for the business. You can also email them and include your media kit. Make sure you practice your pitch so you can talk about yourself and your book and why you might be a good fit for their customers.

7. Write a novella–or a freebie. There’s a huge debate on writing and giving out hard work for free. We get it, those words cost you, and they should carry some monetary value. You’re not discrediting your work–or yourself–if you put it up for free; you’re being a smart marketer. You’re proving your brand to new readers, who most likely won’t buy you without knowing your work first. It’s the same reason a lot of authors put up their first book in a series for free as a loss leader, because it converts more readers into series-wide fans than not. Same with a novella you ofter up for free or a freebie short. The more fresh content you publish or push, the more your visibility extends.

8. Start an early reader group. Successful books tend to have a whole mess of positive reviews, and several of them land on day one right when the book first comes out. Sure, they might have corralled some speed readers, but most likely, the author sent out advanced reader copies two to three weeks before the book launched. Gather your own super fans and friends and send them a free eBook in exchange for an honest review on launch day. By forming this group, you should launch with 50-60 glowing reviews.

9. Connect with book clubs via Skype or locally. There are only so many book clubs in your hometown, but that’s where Skype and Google become your best friends. Find them, connect with them, and crash their book club meeting via Skype. If you can’t be there in person to sign all their books, you could mail the club leader signed bookmarks. Think outside the box.

10. Check out local bookstores for promo opportunities. Libraries, too. On top of readings and signings, some do special spotlights or other events you can participate in. Make a document of all the places within say a thirty mile radius and jot down who the contact person is and if they do any weekly, monthly, or annual events you can become a part of.

11. Use deleted scenes for work in progress manuscripts as promotional material. Just like creating teaser graphics to lure in readers is a marketing tool,  so can those pesky edits. Did you cut a few paragraphs, a whole scene, or complete chapters? Readers would love to know what material made it and what didn’t. Think of a clever way to share and promote the discarded words and readers will feel like they’re getting to see something special. Sharing fresh content from a WIP is a great way to build interest before the book hits. Since you’re aiming to hook a new reader through what you’re posting only, make sure it’s engaging and interesting.

12. Spruce up your website. Like we mentioned earlier, readers search and land on your blog. Think about what you’d like to see if you were interested in a new author. Keep it updated, keep it interesting, and you’ll go a lot further in converting passerbys into readers.

13. Find your publicity. Bloggers, podcasters, publications are all your friends. Get in touch with them and see if they’d be interested interviewing you, having you on their show, or spotlighting a post, article, or guest blog on their outlet.

Pick one or two things from the above list and work on them every week. This will keep you focused, and up-to-date on your marketing efforts without overwhelming you. After all, you have that next to book to write! Get to it.

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A Romance Author’s Top 10 Music Choices for Summer

5 / 26 / 15

Authors and music generally go hand in hand, and this sweet and spicy romance author shares her top summer picks!

Jennifer Senhaji’s Top Ten Music Choices…This Month

Whenever I’m asked what my favorite book, song, or film is, my eye starts to twitch. Music—there’s no way I can narrow something like that down. I’m constantly listening to music. At work. In the car. At home. Music has influenced my life and my writing. I create playlists for my books which can be found on my website. My characters are music lovers. Music is life.

Summer is my favorite season. The longer days and warm weather mean more time outdoors, relaxation, going out at night without having to worry about a jacket, and if I’m lucky, a chance to travel.

So, without further ado, here are my Top Ten Music Choices for Summer… This Month. I reserve the right to have a completely different list next month. I warn you, my music tastes are eclectic. Enjoy.

10. Tonight is the Night by Outasight
9. Bailando by Enrique Iglesias
8. Waves by Robin Schultz
7. Wave of Mutilation by Pixies
6. Danza Kuduro by Don Omar
5. She’s Country by Jason Aldean
4. 96 Degrees in the Shade by Third World
3. My Sweet Summer by Dirty Heads
2. Don’t You Worry Child by Swedish House Mafia
1. Island in the Sun by Weezer

Right now, I can think of nothing better than laying on a blanket in the sun, a good book in my hand, and the tunes above to keep me company.

If you’re looking for a great summer read, check out Sea Breeze!

Go on a cruise with Sea Breeze:
Jordan has never been in love, or been anywhere. Trapped in Vegas, she schleps drinks and dodges losers, while suffering under a burden only she can shoulder. Her life is an endless stretch of blah with no escape.

Until now.

Instead of looking back, she’s sailing forward.

Eric has left his family and friends in San Francisco to travel the world, tending bar on a cruise ship to fund his adventures. He can charm any coed who comes aboard, but Jordan sees right through him.

On the blue cobblestone streets of San Juan, everything changes. Food. Music. Exotic locations. Possibilities. Setting out to discover the world, will Jordan discover herself?

Sometimes, adventure can set you free…

About Jennifer Senhaji:
Jennifer's Author PhotoI was born and raised in San Francisco, CA, and have a husband and two children. Music is an addiction. I can often be found in the car, singing along at the top of my lungs to whatever is playing. I work full time, and I split my spare time between family, reading, blogging, and writing. I’m a habitual quoter. Lines from films and TV shows constantly pop into my head—my kids are the only ones that really get it. I’m an only child, and so of course I married a man who is one of ten children. Other than English, I speak Spanish, Moroccan, and a little French. I love to travel, but don’t do enough of it. Reading has been a passion for most of my life and I now love writing. I’m klutz, and in my own mind, I’m hilarious.

 

Connect with Jennifer:
Website: www.jennifersenhajiauthor.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jsenhaji13
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jsenhaji13
Blog: http://jennifersenhaji.blogspot.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jennifersenhaji
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Jsenhaji
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/jennifersenhaji

Sea Breeze Giveaway
Win an eBook copy of Sea Breeze and a $5 Amazon gift card from PageCurl Publishing and Promotion. Leave a blog comment with your idea of a dream vacation to be entered to win. Winner will be announced on PageCurl’s Facebook page this Friday!

Order Sea Breeze today! http://amzn.com/B00XGJCKNM

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Cover Reveal & Giveaway – Sea Breeze by Jennifer Senhaji

5 / 13 / 15

This is one of our favorite covers ever, and no, it’s not because our awesome designer designed it. She does rock, but this cover is so pretty and we are delighted to get to share it with you! Sea Breeze, a contemporary romance novella, by Jennifer Senhaji releases on May 27th, but you can pre-order it now.

Sea Breeze by Jennifer SenhajiSea Breeze
Publication date: May 27th, 2015
Genre: Contemporary Romance

 

GO ON A CRUISE WITH SEA BREEZE:
Jordan has never been in love, or been anywhere. Trapped in Vegas, she schleps drinks and dodges losers, while suffering under a burden only she can shoulder. Her life is an endless stretch of blah with no escape.

Until now.

Instead of looking back, she’s sailing forward.

Eric has left his family and friends in San Francisco to travel the world, tending bar on a cruise ship to fund his adventures. He can charm any coed who comes aboard, but Jordan sees right through him.

On the blue cobblestone streets of San Juan, everything changes. Food. Music. Exotic locations. Possibilities. Setting out to discover the world, will Jordan discover herself?

Sometimes, adventure can set you free…

 

ABOUT JENNIFER SENHAJI:
Jennifer's Author PhotoI was born and raised in San Francisco, CA, and have a husband and two children. Music is an addiction. I can often be found in the car, singing along at the top of my lungs to whatever is playing. I work full time, and I split my spare time between family, reading, blogging, and writing. I’m a habitual quoter. Lines from films and TV shows constantly pop into my head—my kids are the only ones that really get it. I’m an only child, and so of course I married a man who is one of ten children. Other than English, I speak Spanish, Moroccan, and a little French. I love to travel, but don’t do enough of it. Reading has been a passion for most of my life and I now love writing. I’m klutz, and in my own mind, I’m hilarious.

 

CONNECT WITH JENNIFER:
Website: www.jennifersenhajiauthor.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jsenhaji13
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jsenhaji13
Blog: http://jennifersenhaji.blogspot.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jennifersenhaji
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Jsenhaji
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/jennifersenhaji

GIVEAWAY:
Win an eBook copy of Sea Breeze and a $5 Amazon gift card from PageCurl Publishing and Promotion. Leave a blog comment with your idea of a dream vacation to be entered to win. Winner will be announced on PageCurl’s Facebook page this Friday!

WATCH THE SEA BREEZE TRAILER:

READ A SEA BREEZE EXCERPT:
The ship is still in port, so the wind is minimal as I scoot out of my shorts and step into the pool. The water is warm and I dive to the bottom. Back at the surface, I float on my back and gaze up at the blue sky and white puffy clouds above me. My arms fan out around me and I sigh, content. No worries, no responsibilities. No rushing home. My time is finally mine now. Guilt tightens my chest and a tear forms in the corner of my eye. I dive back under the water to wash it away. I couldn’t stop it, no matter how hard I tried. Nothing I did was ever enough.

I swim around for a while, trying to clear my head, and stretching my leg muscles. After all the walking today, I’m bound to be sore tomorrow. After about thirty minutes, I step out of the pool and sink into the hot tub. I rest my head on the ledge and my eyes close on their own.

A while later, an older couple joins me in the steamy water. I smile at them in turn and lean back, taking in the evening sky. Hints of a beautiful sunset are on the horizon. I’ve been soaking for a while now, and my fingertips are all pruned. I smile again at the couple as they exchange a quick kiss, and take my leave. Drying off, I slip back into my shorts. I can’t help flashing back to the moment I shared with Eric. I really wanted him to kiss me, but it’s probably for the best that he didn’t.

Back in my room, I find Kim lounging on her bed, flipping through a magazine.

“Hey, where have you been all day?”

I take a seat on my bed opposite hers. “I went ashore and spent the day in San Juan. It was amazing. What did you do? Did you go ashore?”

“No. I nursed a horrible hangover until about two in the afternoon. By then, it was too late to consider going. I ended up meeting a couple of my friends for Bloody Marys by the pool, and then we went to dinner.”

“Did you have fun last night?”

“We had a blast. You have to come out tonight, Jordan.”

“What’s on the agenda tonight?”

“We’re all going to meet up at Allure around ten. It’s the nightclub here on the ship. Are you in?”

Allure… That’s where Eric works tonight. He said he’d buy me a drink. “Yeah. I’m in.”

Pre-Order Sea Breeze today! http://amzn.com/B00XGJCKNM

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Marketing 101: Cover Reveals Done Right

3 / 29 / 152 / 24 / 16

Let’s talk about something most authors really love to do, and that’s a cover reveal.

The What:
Cover reveals tend to happen when an author has a new book coming out and wants to build some pre-launch excitement by revealing the new book’s cover. Cover reveals can be extravagant events involving bloggers and giveaways, to simple reveals where the author shares the cover across social. However you choose to do it, there are some tips to maximizing your efforts and justifying the time and resources that go into revealing covers in a big way.

The When:
There are a lot of things an author can be doing pre-launch that can make a big impact on their launch day. While cover reveals are exciting, especially for the author, there are other important things an author might want to spend their time or resources on, especially if those are limited. Like sending eARCS, recruiting bloggers to read and review, etc. If done right, a cover reveal can make an impact, but if done incorrectly, they can fall flat.

Here’s how you can make sure your cover reveals really make a difference:

1. When you can reveal the cover along with a pre-order link to your book. Having 20 bloggers reveal the cover is great exposure, but what happens later to all those people who saw your cover? Most likely they forget about it. Unless you can get them to immediately act, in this case pre-order or purchase, then the likelihood of them seeing the book out later to buy it then is pretty slim and you’ve lost the opportunity to get those people to buy.

2. When you can reveal the cover along with getting people to subscribe to your mailing list. After buying the book, one of the best things you can do – and something an author should be continuously working on growing – is their mailing list. If you have 20 bloggers revealing your cover, you want a chance to get the book once it’s out in front of those people again, and you can do this by getting them to subscribe to your mailing list at the same time as the cover reveal.

3. When you can reveal the cover first to your newsletter subscribers or your street/launch team. This is simply to show your appreciation to those who have followed and supported you. Seeing the cover first can make those readers feel special, and they should as they’ve been there for you when you’ve needed them to be. This isn’t to get them to buy, not yet, but to show that they are important and special to you and should be rewarded with something cool.

The How:
Revealing the cover is more than just sharing a jpeg of your book cover. Assuming readers will look up the book or you after seeing the cover is a nice thing to think will happen, but pretty unlikely. The truth is, people are more motivated to learn more by clicking a link than opening a browser, typing in a name, and searching for you or your book. So include your cover, any pre-order links, your website URL or social links, and/or your mailing list. Another good thing is to share a few teasers along with the cover to entice readers to want to know more. Link back to a free chapter or two on your blog.

So we hope you’ve learned a little more about cover reveals, and how to do them better. Make sure you’re using them to capture an audience so you can interest them in buying your book later when it comes out. Don’t put all your time and resources into getting your cover shared and out there with no better motive than sharing it. Use your time smartly.

You can also share your cover with Aurora! Every Wednesday we promote authors by showing pictures of them and holding their book in our free author promo for #WriterWednesday. Take a photo of yourself holding your book, then email it to us. We’ll help you show off that beautiful new cover. More on #WriterWednesday and our other free author promotions, here.

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Marketing 101: Authors using Hashtags

11 / 3 / 142 / 24 / 16

PageCurl

Ah, Twitter. You’re a pesky nuisance to some and a lifeline to others. No matter how you feel about using this hot social platform, the truth is that conversations are happening 24/7 on Twitter, and your readers are participating. If you’ve already made the leap and are active on Twitter then the hashtag is for you. Hashtags allow you to reach beyond your own friends and followers to connect with larger groups who share the same interests. Using hashtags as part of your overall social marketing strategy is an opportunity to find new fans and readers.

We recommend you bookmark this post, then pull it up and find a relevant #hashtag or two to use in some of your tweets. Never post more than 3 hashtags per tweet so you don’t appear spammy. Also only use relevant hashtags to your tweet. No hashtag stuffing just because.

Genre and Specialty Hashtags:

#Paranormal
#Chicklit
#Romcom
#Suspense
#Romance
#Poetry
#YA
#YALit
#MemoirChat
#SteamPunk
#Erotica
#Dystopian
#HistFic
#UrbanFantasy
#WomensFiction
#Historical
#DarkFantasy
#LitFic
#Comedy
#ScienceFiction
#Mystery
#NonFiction
#RomanticSuspence
#Yalovin
#ShortStory
#RomanceWriter

Author Promo/Marketing Hashtags:
#FreeReads
#bookboost
#weekendreads
#BookMarketing
#99c
#AuthorRT
#BookGiveaway
#fridayreads
#FF
#FreebieFriday
#Novelines
#authors
#WriterWednesday
#WW
#99cents
#ASMG
#IARTG
#Wwwblogs

Readers and Book Hashtags:
#Books
#Ilovebooks
#MustRead
#Free
#Freebie
#IndieThursday
#FreeDownload
#Bookworm
#Bookaddict
#BookBuzzr
#NewRelease
#CR4U
#Bynr
#BookReview
#BookGiveaway
#GoodReads
#WeekendReader

Writing and Publishing Hashtags:
#PageCurlWrites
#Amreading
#AskAuthor
#Amediting
#NaNoWriMo
#KDP
#TenQueries
#WriteTip
#Amwriting
#WritingPrompt
#Amblogging
#Ian
#Ian1
#AskEditor
#WIP
#eReaders
#Mondayblogs
#WritingTip
#Kindle
#Nook
#Kobo
#KindleBargain
#AskAgent
#IndiePub

Time to try out one of those hashtags. Follow @aurorapub and tweet to us!

If you’re on Instagram and trying to reach your fans and readers, here’s a listing of the Top 100 Instagram Hashtags. After you’ve gone through our list and are comfortable using them, check out this massive directory from Twub to discover some new ones.

We hope you like our favorites. If you have other popular ones to add, please leave them in the comments.

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