More on BBPCon

As the last post on the Book Bloggers and Publishers Online Conference ran long, I'm carrying it over.

Long before the conference, I'd begun to enhance my blog with extra functionality and content. I hope you like it. :) Note the new search box at right, which allows you to search through all previous posts for a topic. And the Stat Counter, which provides a quick and easy read of visitors. (I'd been using Google Analytics, but it crapped out when I created a second blog, The Susquehanna Writers. Boo hiss on Analytics.) I took advantage of Blogger's new Pages gadget, and much of the content on my web site is now in those pages. Pretty cool stuff. Some additions are just for fun, like the labels gadget. Oh, and now my blog matches my web site in design - not quite a brand, but at least some recognizable variation thereof.

Anyway, back to BBPCon.

Teresa D’Amario had a cool session about how she planned a six-week book tour, three dates per week. Rather than posting the usual excerpts etc., she started the tour with a 1,000-word story. At each blog stop, she encouraged readers to provide ideas about where the story should go from there. Readers were introduced to the hero's sister in the police station, where she went for aid in finding her lost brother. Ms. D'Amario then asked readers to contribute story elements: is he human, or not human, what type of hero is he? Readers decided he was a Fae prince, and they actually named him, and it ended up as 13,000-word story. After the tour, she posted it as a free read on her web site: www.teresadamario.com.

Another interesting point: She chose blogs who were typically paranormal-themed, but stayed with more reader blogs than author blogs, and found that while author blogs had great participation, reader blogs brought in a totally different audience. Some readers followed the author from blog to blog, which benefited the host blog as well. She got to know what readers were interested in reading.

If following her format, she advised authors to be prepared to do a quick turnaround with your next story installment after the blog. Another blog date might follow the next day, and you need to give visitors until evening to provide comments. Some blogs restrict dates for guests, so be flexible with dates too.

The Blog Tours Panel echoed some of Ms. D'Amario's key points: Don't make post content one big advertisement. Make the post value-added, not the same post continued from blog to blog. Hold a giveaway if possible. Stick around and respond to comments.

On her blog tour, author Leanna Renee Hieber told haunted London ghost stories, which were actual ghost stories of London. She posted links to this tour on her web site: http://www.leannareneehieber.com/haunted-london-blog-tour/.

Another author advised other authors to include information about the origin of story, how it came about, inspiration for title... any insight into the creative process to better engage readers.

I drifted in and out of the Reaching Out to Readers beyond the Internet session. It began on topic, which was how to bring in new readers who are not aware of online resources. One of the organizers of RomCon spoke of the benefits of actual conferences -- bringing together readers, authors and industry professionals for a weekend. RomCon will take place July 9-11 in Denver.

Then discussion veered back to the Internet, to the upstart SavvyAuthors site, which brings writers together to cross promote each other. Bloggers can create account for free. So they lost me for a bit here. One of the downsides of an online conference, I suppose.

Eventually it came back to the topic, and suggested authors contact schools to schedule a program with students. Contact local authors groups to see if they'd be interested in having you join their group for an evening, and possibly end with a booksignings. If your local library has reading groups, approach them with the same question.

While "attending" this conference, I tended to web-surf, answer emails, do laundry and make dinner. After awhile, it became difficult to sit and listen for such long periods.

My take overall? Definitely worth the twenty dollar registration. I'm guessing we'll see more of these types of conferences, and the fact that big-name houses participated was encouraging. They understand the critical shift toward digital, and understand they need to stay relevant in the game.

More BBPCon highlights

Carrying on from yesterday...
The next session I listened to covered Publicity Departments. Reps from Tor Forge and Net Galley (an online source for ARCs and galleys) said blogs have come into play as key reviewers for books, and obviously arranging virtual book tours for authors.

As big newspapers minimize operations, among the first things to go are arts and leisure sections, which include book reviews, forcing publishers to look elsewhere. I’ve seen that locally, so no surprise. In fact, when I sent a local newspaper some info on Read an E-Book Week, along with some info about my own books, the newspaper turned it into a negative article against ebooks. Hm, could there be some bitterness there? The newspaper has a web presence, but its print edition has lost many advertising dollars, so it let key reporters go, and cut back features including — you guessed it — book features.

When you submit to a publisher, they will look at your blog and web site, so be sure your content is updated, and laid out well. Present your work as an author serious about your work. 1st Turning Point recently had a great article about important site elements.

Giveaways, author interviews, book blog tours contribute toward sales, but the panelists said they couldn’t quantify the value of any of those activities. Labeling by genre, interestingly, made a difference in whether a reader will buy a book. The same book sold differently when labeled speculative fiction versus scifi/fantasy. So a big hmm there. If you have any pull with your publisher and your title might span a few genres, it’s worth asking if they’ll cross-list the title.

Also, ease of navigation on the publishers’ site is crucial. Cumbersome arrangements and processes put off some readers.

Most other issues discussed followed pretty much as I expected. Nothing earthshaking there, though they stressed Twitter seems to be the most popular tool for getting the word out, and Facebook is where most authors congregate. MySpace, they said, is dead. Don’t go there.

The Business of Blogging covered what goes into making a blog profitable, how to make money. I skipped through this session, because it seemed geared more toward review and professional sites than for authors.

Caridad Pinero's Contracts for Authors session's key points followed common sense: Authors should read and understand the terms of a contract before signing it. In addition to the financial aspects, be sure the contract specifies how long a publisher can delay actually putting out your book before the rights revert back to you, how long the pub retains rights to the title.

BBPCon interviewed Borders buyer Sue Grimshaw, and this was offered as text within the Ning site. Borders launched its True Romance Blog came after romance writers and readers asked for it. Begun in August 2009, its hits range in the “double digit thousands.” So obviously, a great site to have an interview if you can get one!

Grimshaw foresees growth in small town romances, paranormal romances & Historical romances. She indicated a personal note that Westerns are making a small comeback -- good news for authors in that genre!

With so many other authors opening their sites to feature authors, do you need to hire a company to arrange a tour for you? For me, it seems to make more sense not to, especially if you’re only starting out and don’t want to invest too heavily before seeing a return. And are companies organizing author book tours aware that reader blogs play a more important part. I haven't worked with one, so would be interested to know.

As this recap has run long, I'm actually going to continue it next Monday, March 29, as I have a few other posts scheduled in between.

BBPConference highlights

As I mentioned earlier, I signed up for the Authors Day of the Book Bloggers and Publishers Online Conference. Kudos to Terry Kate of Romance in the Backseat, who organized the innovative virtual event. Terry Kate’s a woman to watch! Since creating RITBS, she’s packed the site with amazing content, and reaches out to authors one on one.

Set up on a Ning site, the BBPCon offered panels in three formats: call-in, audio sessions via iTunes and text. Forums and chats were available so participants could interact, though these seemed limited to the day of the particular session, limiting interactivity.

Although the Authors Day was the last day of the conference, some of the earlier sessions were archived and I had access to them, which was great. Others didn’t play when I tried to listen, which was disappointing. Possibly a technical glitch, so I intend to check back, and hopefully the site will remain open awhile.

I listened to Friday’s audio session with Terry Kate and reps from Dorchester and Ravenous Romance (who was also an agent). This "Industry Bloggers" session lasted about an hour and a half, and provided info from a publisher/agent perspective.

Ravenous publishes 120 titles a year, and Dorchester publishes 60 a year. Both said blogs are just one more venue for information. Interestingly, Dorchester does not require authors to blog, and would prefer an author uncomfortable with blogging to better use their time promoting in other ways.



Because submissions have shifted to electronic means, both reps cautioned authors not to submit before doing your homework, to better target your submissions, and not waste your (or their) time. Both panelists agreed vampire stories have had their run. Shapeshifters and werewolves seem to be the next best thing. Zombies are also big, along with angels and demons. Ghosts are due for a run. So if you write to trends, those are the ones you should be writing in now.

Advertising has lost its impact. You can get a message across better through a blog and generate more interest than a print ad in a large newspaper. Banner ads have lost some impact, though certain sites with high traffic have success.
They recommended several sites for getting great industry info, such as GalleyCat and Publishers Weekly.

Ravenous Romance has begun using the Home Shopping Network to sell titles through, interestingly enough, and also has a deal in place now with Barnes and Noble to carry print titles. Exciting stuff! I love to see how this industry’s in constant evolution, and this is proof positive, to me, that ebook publishers will be as formidable in the industry as print pubs.

Not much else surprised me in this session. Blogs are obviously a great way for authors to get news out about their titles, they agreed. Also, blog commenting is a great way to be active in the authors’ community, but cautioned against promoting your own titles when commenting on another author’s blog (something I agree is distasteful, as is posting promos on another person’s Facebook wall. I remove those if it’s done to me, because that’s what your own wall is for, as well as the “events” function.)

So it seems blogs are basically a stream in an ocean of online information. Personally, I’d love to see more synthesis between all those myriad venues. I try to do that with my own news by posting it on my blog, which I then link to on Facebook, which is automatically set up to post to Twitter. I also have a Ning site, but so far have seen no real value in it, other than it's free and I used it as a pseudo web site until I built a real one. I have never quite figured out how to use it effectively, or use its features period.

I admit I haven't gotten the hang of Twitter yet either. It's definitely the last place I check for messages. Too many sites to check kill writing time, and I've tried to streamline as much as possible without sacrificing too much either way.

So. More tomorrow on BBPCon.