E-Book Revolution Podcast Episode 15: How To Prepare For A Radio Or TV Author Interview With Bill Thompson

Welcome to the first podcast for 2014!

If the thought of public speaking makes you feel like you’ve swallowed a litre of tequila, then I’m assuming the thought of approaching radio or TV shows to promote your book is the most horrifying thing you could think of short of chopping off your ears and sewing them to a mouse. No one wants to sound the fool, and when you’re not in charge of the questions being asked that can be a very real possibility. Plus, there’s the whole problem of how horrible you sound on tape. Well maybe not you, maybe you’re one of the rare few whose voice sounds like God’s gift to birds, but I know I sound horrible (Or think I do, sometimes listening back to these podcasts is torture). I feel like I’m kind of squeaky, slightly slow and my vocabulary seems to shrink by half. It’s an illusion of course, potentially a kind of jedi- mind-trick to make sure our egos don’t become too inflated, but it still makes those recorded snippets of promotion uncomfortable like you’re trying to swallow a cactus.  

But for an author, particularly a self-published author, audio and video interviews are crucial to your success. Because the best way to ‘sell’ is still ‘face-to-face’ or ‘voice-to-voice’ as the case may be. Words can be misconstrued, but when people listen to you speak they hear the passion you have for your writing and they connect with the emotion in your pitch and tone. Your personality shines through and you become more human to them, more interesting. When I first went searching for opportunities to promote my own book, I realised I wasn’t nearly as prepared as I needed to be to do recorded interviews. So for this podcast I went to an expert, a radio and interviewing veteran with almost twenty years under his cap, and I asked him what was the best way for an author to prepare themselves for an interview. That man is Bill Thompson, and not only does he sound amazing (man I wish I had a voice that smooth – it’s the kind of voice you get up in the middle of the night to listen to) but he had some practical and step-by-step advice to share.

Bill Thompson is the Creator and Host of The Bookcast. A radio journalist by profession, he is currently on the air on a major station in Washington, D.C., and has worked for the Associated Press Radio Network, USA Today SkyRadio, and Voice of America. Since 1985 he has interviewed well over nine thousand authors, including some of the biggest names in contemporary literature. In 2006 the opportunity to go “indie” presented itself and he grabbed it, taking Eye On Books to the web, and creating The Bookcast. Devoted solely to interviews with indie authors, its aim is to introduce readers to these immensely talented writers.

I was lucky enough to be able to do an interview with Bill for my Facebook Comedy novel The Grand Adventures of Madeline Cain which you can listen to here.  It was wonderful to work with such a professional, and I’m so grateful for his further kindness in appearing in this podcast.

In this podcast we discuss:

• What an author needs to get ready for an interview
• How to weed out bad speaking habits so you sound like a pro
• The top three things you need before you approach a station for an interview
• The mistakes indie authors make when approaching book interviewers
• What you need to practise and purchase before your interview
• The importance of knowing how much time you have to answer the questions.
• The secret to preparing your voice
• Why you should avoid the sleep inducing ‘monotone’
• Three big no-noes to avoid
• What the most important thing an author needs to get across in a three minute interview is
• Whether interviews are worth your time
• And much, much more!

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At the start of the podcast I also talk about my New Year goals (see the blog post here) and my rather whimsical way of keeping track of my successes, a little jar where I place pieces of paper on which I’ve written my successes as they happen. So at the end of 2014 I can open the jar and remind myself of how far I’ve come. Here’s a picture of it:

That’s all from me this time around, I hope you enjoy!

I love hearing from my listeners! If you’d like to appear as a guest, or offer any feedback on topics you’d like to see covered, email me at: ebookrevolution (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Emily's non-fiction book E-Book Revolution: The Ultimate Guide to E-book success is now available at Kobo, Amazon and Tomely (Australian e-book store).If you enjoy her tongue in cheek style you may also enjoy her comedy novel set in Facebook, The Grand Adventures of Madeline Cain: Photographer Extraordinaire also available from Kobo, Amazon and Tomely.

The companion website for this podcast is http://ebookrevolution.podbean.com

E-Book Revolution Podcast Episode 7: A Conversation with Reviewer, Blogger, Writer & Podcaster Sean the Bookonaut

I've always been fascinated as to how writers build their author platforms, and which platform, if any, brings in the most traffic and whether or not more traffic equals meaningful connections with readers. Are reviews important? How should you approach a reviewer? If reviews are so influential, should you be doing your own? If you're confused as to whether you should be trying normal blogging, review blogging, or podcasting to connect with your audience then this podcast is for you. Today I talk with Sean the Blogonaut (or Bookonaut) a speculative fiction reviewer, blogger, writer and podcast. Not only will be be discussing the merits of different platforms but the best way to approach a reviewer with your novel (because let's face it, poor Sean has seen it all!)

Sean Wright (AKA Sean the Blogonaut, Sean the Bookonaut) considers himself an aspiring writer, he tends to do quite a lot of aspiring and not much writing.  He blogs at Adventures of Bookonaut in attempt to keep himself sane and connected with other humans who share his tastes in fiction and to comment on and support the Australian speculative fiction scene. He lives in rural South Australia, in the midst of wheat fields, in a 120 year old farm house which has its own history book but no ghosts. He holds a 2nd Dan in Chung Do Kwan, a Korean School of Shotokan Karate, and consequently can speak about 10 korean words and can break pine boards with just his mind.  He is currently working on two manuscripts. You can find him on Twitter and at his website.  He files audio interviews for the Ditmar nominate Galactic Chat, a reviews column for the International Speculative Fiction Magazine and has recently started his own genre fiction podcast, inventively named Adventures of a Bookonaut Podcast.

In this podcast we discuss:

• The importance of attending local writing events and workshops.
• Why it's important to approach a reviewer correctly.
• Mistakes authors make when sending a review.
• How blogging helps you get into the habit of writing every day.
• Podcasting vs Video casting.
• How Goodreads should figure in a writer's overall strategy.
• Why community minded authors get further.
• The proper use of Twitter.
• The mechanics of writing a balanced Tweet.
• Thoughts on paid reviews.
• How to go about blogging.
• What the benefits of podcasting are.
• Which platform draws the most traffic.
• Which platform creates the most interaction.

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I love hearing from my listeners! Please feel free to contact me or offer any feedback on topics you would like to see covered at: ebookrevolution (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Emily's non-fiction book E-Book Revolution: The Ultimate Guide to E-book success is now available at Kobo, Amazon and Bkclb (Australian e-book store).If you enjoy her tongue in cheek style you may also enjoy her comedy novel set in Facebook, The Grand Adventures of Madeline Cain: Photographer Extraordinaire also available from Kobo, Amazon and Bkclb.

The companion website for this podcast is http://ebookrevolution.podbean.com 

E-Book Revolution Podcast Episode 5 - Learning How To Crowdfund It! With Anna Maguire

Ok, it may be pretty clear to some of you now that I'm a little bit obsessed with crowdfunding. There are some fantastic projects getting off the ground (including my project 'Images of Joy' that would not have been possible without the crowd funding platform Pozible) now that the gatekeepers of the arts world are no longer the only funding bodies. In the last podcast I talked with author Alain Guillimaine about his personal crowd funding journey. So it was only natural that in this podcast I have gone to a crowd funding and digital content expert, Anna Maguire, who has been in the publishing industry for almost twenty years. In this podcast we talk about management of and author's digital content as well as the crowdfunding phenomena.

Anna Maguire is a Sydney-based consultant and blogger specialising in digital training and strategy. She advises on digital publishing and crowdfunding through her consultancy Digireado. Anna has worked in book publishing and digital content for 25 years. She is a former head of production and interactive at Random House Australia and is a passionate advocate for digital developments in the book industry and the emerging Australian ebook and app market. She is a graduate of the Yale Publishing Course and has appeared at the Sydney Writers’ Festival and Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. Anna regularly conducts training for editing and publishing students at Macleay College and has presented to Master of Publishing students at Sydney University. She has also trained authors in their digital publishing options for over two years.

In September 2012 Anna published her first ebook with digital-first publishing start-up Editia Books. Crowdfund it! is the first Australian book about the $1.5 billion crowdfunding phenomenon. Anna blogs on the Digireado website, www.digireado.com.au, and at www.crowdfundit.com.au. She is also on Twitter (@digireado and @crowdfunditnow) and Facebook (facebook.com/digireado).

In this podcast we discuss:

• The 1.5 Billion dollar crowdfunding phenomena
• How crowdfunding works and why it works for writers
• How this digital evangelist went from producing book content, to website content, to phone content, to working for Random House.
• What a digital content strategy is and why it's important for authors to think about
• The benefits of having your own ISBN
• How Facebook generates 8x more funding then any other network
• The best way to convince people to fund you
• How to manage your crowd funding project in three steps
• How to put together enticing rewards
• How small UK press Unbound uses crowdfunding to determine which books get published
• Issues of Tax when crowdfunding
• How to keep interest in your project consistent over three months
• How often to post project updates on Facebook in comparison to Twitter
• Crowdfund It!'s publisher Editia and how they specialise in long form journalism and short form non-fiction.
• And examples of successful projects and why they were successful.

Crowdfund it! is available from the Editia website http://editia.com/books/crowdfund-it/

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Hope you enjoy the show! And remember, I love hearing from Listeners and readers so please drop me a line at ebookrevolution (at) yahoo (dot) com.

  Emily's non-fiction book E-Book Revolution: The Ultimate Guide to E-book success is now available at Kobo, Amazon and Bkclb (Australian e-book store). If you enjoy her tongue in cheek style you may also enjoy her comedy novel set in Facebook, The Grand Adventures of Madeline Cain: Photographer Extraordinaire also available from Kobo, Amazon and Bkclb. Thinking of doing your own crowd funding project? Hire Emily's brain! Emily has successfully conducted her own crowd funding project and interviewed many other authors on the subject, she know exactly what is needed to get a project off the ground. Contact her about it on the above email address. The companion website for this podcast is http://ebookrevolution.podbean.com

E-book Revolution Episode 3: Creating Your Own E-book Store in Bkclb with Connor O'Brien

I am the first person to tell you that I am in awe of what Amazon, Smashwords, Apple and Kobo have created. Platforms where authors can release the content and stories they want to, with access to their stories made so easy you can purchase a novel at the click of a button. But then Amazon goes and locks authors out of their own dash board, only gives them 35% royalties  if an Australian reader is interested in their work (no matter what you think Amazon, we are a bloody first world country with technology equal to your own!) or Smashwords allows you limited options to pretty up their not so pretty author pages as well as committing heinous crimes against your cleanly formatted MS; it's enough to make you want to go into their office, smack them on the bottom and send them into a corner.

Which is why my interest was piqued by the new start up e-book platform Bkclb. It is not trying to be another Amazon or another distribution site like Smashwords. The founders aims is to give authors and publishers complete control of their own e-book stories, allowing them to customise colours and looks and promotions to suit them. Some fantastic features are in the works for this start up (including discounts on books for paying with a tweet, linking into Goodreads reviews, full analytics of reader locations and what site referred them to your store, as well as the ability to include YouTube videos/book trailers right next to the book in question) and I was very excited when founder Connor O'Brien agreed to this podcast. Bkclb is the first platform I used to test the water for my e-books.

In this podcast we discuss:

• How Amazon and Smashwords don't allow a lot of control over how your 'book store' works
• Promotion functions necessary to successfully market your novel (Twitter/video/Goodreads)
• Partially paying for a book with a tweet
• Different e-book models now available to writers such as short stories, subscriptions, and plays
• The Kindle Serial program and its potential problems
• Thoughts on creating communities for serial works
• Getting more royalties AND Australian's reading your work
• How independent publishers are forgotten in the digital revolution
• How to create an epub file easily and cleanly
• Taking advantage of reverted book rights
• Digitally publishing magazines
• Authors making money from sharing their mistakes
• The boon online publishing is for poets
• Mistakes authors make in marketing
• How segregating yourself from the rest of the traditional publishing community may not be to your benefit

Hope you enjoy the show! And remember, I love hearing from Listeners and readers so please drop me a line at ebookrevolution (at) yahoo (dot) com.

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Emily's non-fiction book E-Book Revolution: The Ultimate Guide to E-book success is now available at http://emilycraven.bkclb.co. If you enjoy her tongue in cheek style you may also enjoy her comedy novel set in Facebook, The Grand Adventures of Madeline Cain: Photographer Extraordinaire also available from http://emilycraven.bkclb.co

Transmedia & Print Books – Get Your Hands Dirty.

Memoirs have always been less then satisfying for me, and I would perhaps lump travel books in there too. I feel like I’m the curious cat of readers, I want to see the tumbling waterfall and the gnarly Aunt and there are never enough pictures. The photos included are never wide enough to show you everything, and certainly there are never any images of the person you find the most intriguing. I think I shall blame this dissatisfaction on Harry Potter; it is J.K.Rowling’s fault that my mind believes books should have pictures that move. It surprises me that very few publishers seem to acknowledge this need for exploring further than the pages, they seem more interested in flogging a dead horse and giving nothing away unless someone gives them a quid. The battles some authors have gone through with publisher to try podcasting their books are epic; editor and author body parts scattered across the battlefield and not a reader in sight. Yet transmedia, as mentioned by one of my other esteemed Meanland writers, is not a dirty word, and even if it was, publishers and authors should be getting their hands filthy.

Books aren’t only going through a revolution in their digital form but their print form too (Albeit at the pace of a snail, riding another snail, riding a tortoise). I have been advocating for over twelve months that the print book is a fantastic place to explore a multimedia experience, yet only a daring few are moving into the print/transmedia realm. In fact, as far as I’m aware, only one print book has taken that step into interactivity using my favourite free technology, the QR code, and that book is Awake by Joel N. Clark (see the trailer below).

Awake is a transmedia extravaganza, combining memoir writing with QR codes linked to films showing extra footage and interviews that allow you to meet the characters mentioned in Joel’s stories and see the places he has visited in his crazy, adventure filled life as a film/documentary maker and story teller. I feel I should put a disclaimer upfront that there is a bit of God stuff scattered throughout Awake, which normally turns me off in a big way. Yet while the book starts off with Joel’s thoughts of God and the meaning of life (Insert Monty Python Joke here…), the book is not preachy, and my dislike for strongly Christian protagonists gave way to the fantastic stories, thoughtful (and often hilarious) film footage and the simple brilliance of how Joel and his publisher have integrated the QR codes into full page sketches.

Some sketches from Awake written by Joel Clark. Note the blank spaces on the left picture reserved for the QR codes linked to that story. For the print book, the movie screen is where the smart phone would sit.

Joel was kind enough to chat with me about Awake and his work in helping authors integrate transmedia into their books. What I found to be one of the more fascinating points to come out of our conversation was how the transmedia component of the book was there to enhance the story, not to replace it (as he mentioned in this section of the interview below). The aim of the QR codes was to add a deeper level of exploration and the reader was not expected to diligently click or scan each one of the forty-eight extra elements in the book. Because transmedia is such ‘uncharted’ territory in the publishing industry it is easy to forget that just because you can add a hundred links or extra features to a book, doesn’t mean you should. Readers have lives to your know… While many may use this as an excuse to continue to do things as they have always done, I hope that the true leaders in this industry will see it as an opportunity to dive in head first. Yes, you need to hold the Hands of Common Sense out front as you hit the water (to avoid knocking yourself out on unnecessary content), but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t explore unknown depths.

Part of the stigma attached to transmedia in print books seems to involve perceived cost and the notion that the enhancing of the story will be a complex task. Yet it’s clear that the enhancements that work best are ones that are simple and show an understanding of the audience. Joel, as well as creating his own multimedia print books, guides other authors on how they can build an experience around their words, particularly around fiction narratives. The enhancements he devises are those that require only small production costs. One example includes some simple films he shot for author Michael Albert, using iPhone and security camera footage to explore other character view points. As the story is told in first person this allows the reader to explore another side to the minor characters they wouldn’t have seen had the novel been entirely text based. In Joe’s latest project, a young adult fantasy novel, he plans to include a basic interactive website which allows young readers to post tales speculating what happens to the character of a mouse between his appearances at the beginning and end of the novel. Having the courage to play with format is key in creating a great transmedia experience and below Joel talks about the transmedia projects he is involved with and the three things an author needs to get their transmedia project off the ground.

“Is it a modern day story you’re trying to tell? Then you can use modern day technology to help tell it.“ It’s true that some stories lend themselves more to transmedia then others, just as certain cheese lends itself better to a good bottle of red. For my recently released e-book, ‘The Grand Adventures of Madeline Cain: Photographer Extraordinaire’ a comedy set in Facebook, try to avoid adding interactive Facebook pages into the mix was akin to avoiding chocolate, it just wasn’t going to happen. Not if the people around me wanted to keep their heads. In the end it was a win-win for me as I was able to tap into the transmedia possibilities of the book at zero cost. However, if you’re creative enough (like Joel), it doesn’t matter if your novel is set in the 1900’s or in the era of Facebook, transmedia can be used effectively to enhance both. But first the idea that print can be as interactive as digital needs to be accepted and made the norm.

By allowing readers the option to partake in interactivity if they choose, I can see publishers once again forging ahead of the print and digital pack. Publishers need to lead the industry. So don’t settle for being a book factory, move outside print and become storytellers. 

You can download the full interview with Joel and myself on Transmedia & Print books at the E-book Revolution podcast. To find out more about Joel and Awake go to www.joelnclark.com

Opportunity! Like to guest post about e-books, writing or marketing? Get in touch at ebookrevolution (at) yahoo (dot) com.

My recent novel a comedy set in Facebook, The Grand Adventures of Madeline Cain, is available at http://emilycraven.bkclb.co/the-grand-adventures-of-madeline-cain. You can also purchase E-Book Revolution: The Ultimate Guide to E-Book Success at http://emilycraven.bkclb.co/e-book-revolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-e-book-success.

Crowd Funding 101 For Writers

I believe I’ve spoken about the cocktail fantasy before. You get your first book published (either traditionally or self) and suddenly you find yourself daydreaming about monthly holidays in the Caribbean and writing from your million dollar villa in Spain. And in your excitement you quit your run-of-the-mill job and suddenly find yourself up Poor River without your Pay Check Paddle. If only you had the money/the apartment to get the second book off the ground that your fans so desperately want. Or at least you hope they want.

What if I told you, you could get paid for writing, or to make your first print run? Especially if you are an already established author? If you are willing to do the work, then perhaps crowd funding is for you. Crowd funding allows artists to raise funds for their project, by asking everyday people to pledge money toward their project. It's not like traditional fundraising where you wear a Santa suit, put out a bucket to collect change and you hand it into the organisation (or I suppose yourself in this case). Crowd funding sets a goal and time limit, if you don't get enough people to pledge in the allotted time, everyone keeps their money, and the project goes back to square one. If the artist makes the funding goal, only then will the project go ahead, and then everyone who pledged gets some sort of reward for their wonderful help.

This is the platform that I used to fund a photography project to Cambodia (http://imagesforjoy.pozible.com.au) and what first time author Alain Guillemain used to edit, print, and launch his book Customer Delight (See his crowd funding project here).Yes you heard me right, Alain is a first time author, not an established author, and in 40 days he raised $7600. I was so intrigued I interviewed him about how he did it.

Lucky for you, I recorded it! See below for the full interview:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Customer Delight is available at http://customerdelight.com.au

Don’t say I don’t find the good stuff for you.  But remember,this is a professional artistic endeavour which requires the ability to produce what you promised. Almost 50% of projects do not get funded in the allotted time. So you need to have a good, creative plan in place, a fan base and dedication.

WANT TO GET THE EDGE?? MAKE YOUR CROWD FUNDING A SUCCESS.

For a limited time I will be offering the full recording, transcript and a one hour conference call with me to help you set up your project, so that you can give yourself the best chance of funding your project and getting paid for your writing. If you are interested in purchasing please email ebookrevolution(at) yahoo (dot) com with the subject heading  “Crowd Funding Help”.

Why do I have the expertise to guide you? I have both conducted a successful crowd funding campaign (raise almost $4500) and interviewed many others who have raised between $2500 and $7600. I know what it takes and how you need to market your project.

If you are interested please email ebookrevolution (at) yahoo (dot) com with the subject heading  “Crowd Funding Help”.

My recent novel a comedy set in Facebook, The Grand Adventures of Madeline Cain, is available at http://emilycraven.bkclb.co/the-grand-adventures-of-madeline-cain. You can also purchase E-Book Revolution: The Ultimate Guide to E-Book Success at http://emilycraven.bkclb.co/e-book-revolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-e-book-success.

The Ultimate E-Book Launch

I have been told that the biggest highlight in an author’s career is their first book launch. What says ‘I made it!’ better than a party? It also provides a bit of promotion, some good snapshots (sober and otherwise) and you may even sell a couple of books.  But if you’re an indie author (or even an established author) releasing an e-book, how do you get the word out? How do you launch that sweat soaked manuscript you’ve been slaving over without being able to entice an audience with a wine or two?

Why, you make it an event.

If you haven’t heard of Isobelle Carmody’s launch site for her e-book Greylands, then you better hop over there before it self-destructs at the end of the month (http://greylands.theslipstream.com.au **18/03/13 since the end of the launch the site/debates have been archived to here and here.). This folks, is how it’s done. Isobelle has taken the book launch one step further and made it into a month long forum complete with special guests, book trailers, and prizes.

Isobelle is a world renowned fantasy author of over thirty books for adults and children. After taking back the rights for her out-of-print book Greylands, she decided to rerelease the novel in e-book format. It was clear this needed a bit of a fanfare and what better way to do that then to have a debate about the publishing industry’s move into digital? I can already hear you weary Indies crying, “Of course this is working for her. She knows people, she has fans, she can call on big name authors because they’re friends.” Being an established author is of course very helpful, but it is not what makes this launch so successful.

Everything Isobelle has incorporated can easily be replicated by indie authors to great effect. She used the forum to build up the hype for the book several weeks before it was released. In those weeks she announced the prizes (kindles, print books and audio books) for the best comments on the forum, and released a trailer for the book complete with addition video on the making of the trailer (See below).Creating anticipation is key, whether you’re newly published, or an established author whose fans have been fighting over out-of-print copies of your books at their local library. On the day of the e-book’s release she had another fantasy author ‘launch’ the book for her in an online speech, again a brilliant move by getting other people involved and promoting her work.

The major stroke of genius in this launch however, was conducting a month long debate over a contentious subject, in this case the digital vs. print debate.  There are many contentious subjects out there *cough *cough *religion* *cough *cough *politics* *cough *cough *guns *cough *cough, that an indie author can tap into to create a bit of a buzz around their release.  Every day this month a different person has posted their perspective of the topic on the site, taking the debate in a new direction and allowing the general public to join in. While Isobelle did use her connections to well know authors, she also invited opinions from journalists, editors, librarians, readers, teachers, professors, emerging authors such as myself (See my post here), and high school kids who will be the generation leading this revolution.

 So perhaps it’s time to start harassing your contacts on Facebook and include an e-book launch in your marketing plan. Every book has an angle it can launch a debate around; what’s yours?

Note: The Great E-Book Debate will end on August the 3rd (**2012). Why not head on over to the site and make a comment or two. You could win some great prizes.

My recent novel a comedy set in Facebook, The Grand Adventures of Madeline Cain, is available at http://emilycraven.bkclb.co/the-grand-adventures-of-madeline-cain. You can also purchase E-Book Revolution: The Ultimate Guide to E-Book Success at http://emilycraven.bkclb.co/e-book-revolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-e-book-success.

The Business Of Being A Writer

I have a notoriously faulty memory, to the point where I will call family members on their birthday, not to congratulate them but to talk about some mundane subject I had been meaning to call about. Diaries rarely work, normally they end in some hidey hole I don’t find until I move house. So I have taken to writing things on my hand with pen in a bid to appear organised, and on occasion, prompt my memory. Today’s reminder came in the form of BC.

After rejecting several meanings, both religious and otherwise, I finally remembered what it stood for: Business Card. Writers rarely think of what they do as a business, that every person they meet, from the pretty girl behind the counter of the cupcake store, to the editor who gives them 2 mins to pitch their novel, is a potential champion of their book, their information and a possible link to media coverage. For indie authors this can be vital, because most people will keep a business card over anything else given to them. They are terrific promotional tools because they are inexpensive. They are also terrific icebreakers and informational aids.

A business card has to have a specific purpose, and as a published/self-published writer I would recommend you have two. One specifically for your e-book or book, and the other for you as a writer and (if writing non-fiction) an expert. My business card’s purpose was to establish myself as an expert writer and e-book specialist and to recruit Joint Venture partners to help me sell my e-book. You will remember from my previous posts, that a Joint Venture partner is part of your army of promoters. They do not promote you to get that pleasant fuzzy feeling inside; they will promote you in exchange for you giving them part of the profits. If you give them money to help they will move heaven and earth to promote you through social media, on t-shirts, in song... You take advantage of the people they know, to become more widely read and recognised.

The result of my efforts is below:

On the front of the business card I have the cover of my e-book – simple and eye catching, done by a professional cover designer, not my next door neighbour’s two year old. I have the name of my e-book and a six word pitch or ‘silver-bullet’ that tells people exactly what the book is about. It is short and concise and does not include the entire storyline of my novel or dramatic and unnecessary words like ‘stupendous’ and ‘so funny it will make your socks fall off!’. It gives my name and expertise along with my phone number (more relevant if you are recruiting your promotion army in your own country), email, blog and the webpage where I currently sell my e-book. The colours of my information match the colours of my book cover.

On the back of the card I have my pitch once more, along with my websites and my social media information (Twitter, and when it’s up and running, Facebook will join the party). The most important feature of this whole card is the QR code. This code takes the scanner not to the ramblings of my blog but to my e-book page with my whole pitch including bonuses, extras and samples. At the bottom of the card it tells smart phone users where they can download a QR code reader if they don’t have one. If they don’t have a smart phone, they can manually look up the websites printed next to it.

A business card specifically for your book has just as much potential, with the QR code going to a Youtube video of your book trailer, or to three sample chapters of your novel. The best part is you can change which web address your QR code points to. So if you hand out a card and three months down the track you decide you may have been a little racist in your first trailer, you can direct the person to a different trailer with a couple of clicks in your QR code generator. On a business card for your book you want to have the name of your novel, the publisher’s name if you have one, your 6 or 7 word pitch, the cover image, your contact information and your book’s website. Have your own author website and pick only one of the websites that sells your novel, you don’t want your card crowded with the sites of all your sellers in letters no-one can read.

There are ads all the time on ebay promoting 250 free business cards and all you have to pay is postage. So no more excuses! While your e-book may be digital, your promotion should not be restricted to the screen. There are so many networking opportunities out there, conventions, festivals, talks and courses that you cannot afford to hand people your information on a piece of scrap paper.

My recent novel a comedy set in Facebook, The Grand Adventures of Madeline Cain, is available at http://emilycraven.bkclb.co/the-grand-adventures-of-madeline-cain. You can also purchase E-Book Revolution: The Ultimate Guide to E-Book Success at http://emilycraven.bkclb.co/e-book-revolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-e-book-success.