Many of the authors we talk to who are getting started on the internet get hung up on the first question -- ‘What should my domain be?’. At the same time, we also see many authors who have websites, but who aren’t getting the results they should be simply because they don’t have appropriate domains. For example, they may be named ‘Mark Twain’, but their url is ‘marksbooks.com’ and they have a blog on ‘twainsblog.com’. This creates confusion and leads to a diffuse, dwindling audience online.
We recently added the ability to run your BackMyBook blog and store on your own domain, so it’s a good time to consider registering your own domain if you haven’t already.
Why have your own domain?
- Permanence -- once you register it, your domain is yours. You own it and you have complete control over where it points, how it looks, and what appears whenever someone navigates to it (hosted services may disappear, change layouts, change privacy rules, etc., etc.)
- Consistency -- Use your domain properly, and it becomes an implicit advertisement for you and your writing. people can find you online without having to remember 4 different things about you.
- Findability -- the number one determination of rank on google is the domain (number 2 is backlinks)
- Branding -- much of the value of being online is the ability to create a direct relationship with your readers. having your own domain reinforces this and creates the subliminal impression that they are in a relationship with you (not blogger or squidoo or amazon, etc.)
How to register your own domain:
- Find out if it’s available -- just check on GoDaddy
- Register it! -- We like Mad Dog Domains
- We can register for you -- just contact us with the domain you’d like to use
- The process of registering a new domain is relatively straightforward -- most importantly, don’t accept upsells during the checkout process.
Here are some simple rules for getting a great domain for your author website:
Rule 1: Have One Domain. If you have more than one domain, redirect them directly to your primary url (no interstitials, click-throughs or landing-pages). It should be the shortest version of your name or brand possible. The only good reason to register several different domains is to grab common mis-spellings or misunderstandings.
Rule 2: Make your domain you. Your domain should either be a direct variant on your name, or the first thing that pops into your readers’ heads when they think of you.
- Use this core term consistently everywhere -- it should be your twitter handle, facebook identity, amazon ID, etc., etc.
- Example: “Mark Twain†would want marktwain.com. May register ‘marctwain.com, marktwane.com, marctwane.com’ as mis-spellings and direct immediately to marktwain.com.
Now that the internet has become a mature platform, it is increasingly hard to find an appropriate domain that isn’t already taken.
Here are some strategies for dealing with the clutter:
- Add a descriptive modifier like author, books (e.g. marktwainauthor.com)
- Add a dash (e.g. mark-twain.com)
- Check alternate suffexes (these are called Top-Level-Domains, or TLDs) like .net, .org (e.g. marktwain.net)
- Try a Non-Descriptive modifier like mr, mrs, the, a, the etc. (e.g. themarktwain.com)
- Check Sedo -- sedo.com is a domain marketplace where domains are constantly being auctioned off and resold. If your name has been registered, but is not being actively used to host a website, it's possible that the owner can be contacted through SEDO and you can negotiate the sale of the domain.
How do we know that the Southern California Writer's Conference is that good? We've seen it for ourselves. We've talked to the agents and publishers. We hang out at the bar with the writers after hours. For this conference, we'll be there with our good friend and BackMyBook client, New York Best Selling Author Scott Sigler. Our workshop with Scott, titled Author as Entrepreneur, will pull back the curtain on Scott's operation, and give lurid details on how he created his platform and worked with key strategic partners to create an army of rabid readers.
Scott Sigler was kind enough to mention us (favorably, nonetheless!) in his guest post on JA Konrath's post. If you want to know the secret to Scott's success, and our bit part in it, head over to Scott's guest post.
The BackMyBook crew had a great time at the 25th annual Southern California Writer's Conference this past weekend in San Diego. We absolutely love, love, love this conference. For whatever reason, it is always attended by the nicest people and most amazingly talented writers on the planet. It is always an impressive event, and you can be sure that one way or another these attendees are writing the books that we will be reading in the next years.
The overall theme of this installment of the SCWC was defintiely the rapid changes going on in the publishing industry right now, and the amazing opportunities they represent for all authors. We were excited to lead a workshop on Taking Control of your writing career - lending a bit of our entrpreneurial perspective to the process of writing, building a brand and community, and publishing. Then we had a wonderful opportunity to really roll up our sleeves and get into it leading an evening workshop on Branding, Author Websites, and 21st-Century tools for authors. We capped the weekend off with the E-ndependence Panel on the horizons opening up in the newly-legitimized world of self-publishing. All-in-all wonderful information, wonderful people, wonderful talent on display, and getting better all the time -- we can't wait for the next one!
Gk and 21st Century Author Extraordinaire Hyla Molander
Thanks to Gail Kushner for the photo!
We talk a lot about "brand" and its importance, and define it using examples of people who have already found success. But creating a new brand, your brand, can seem pretty daunting, especially if you feel like you're not quite sure how to go about doing it. Let's lay out some key points to follow, you can think of this as your guide to the brand creation process. I like to start with these 4 points: a successful brand (in any case) should be Remarkable, Intimate, Consistent, and Authentic.
Remarkable
Your brand has to stand out! That means you need to be eye catching, ear catching, dream catching, whatever kind of catching you can be to get people to notice you. This comes with an important disclaimer though, you can't simply stand up on a soapbox and yell into a loudspeaker to make people hear you. The trick is to be remarkable to a group of targeted readers who will like your writing, who you can engage with. Your work must be remarkable to these readers not just to the point where they notice you, but so that you are worthy of comment, so that they share you. Granted, this has a lot to do with the quality of the content you are building your brand around (aka in short the trick is to *ahem* be good at writing), but there are a lot of authors out there with good content. Don't let this discourage you, there are also plenty of fans out there, just know that you will have to fight for their attention, so be prepared to roll up your sleeves and get to work.
Intimate
No, not like on a romantic date. Well, sort of. You want to be personal, relatable... intimate. In other words, your brand needs to be open and inviting, the reader needs to feel like they "own a piece of you." Make yourself available to readers, interact and communicate with them, mingle! Make your readers feel like they belong in the community just as much as you do. When readers can think of you as a friend or a peer, they will be more invested in you and more interested in what you have to say.
Consistent
Your readers should know what to expect from you. That doesn't mean you should be droll and uncreative, just that readers should be comfortable with the experience they're having. Try to maintain the same tone, style, pizazz, and interesting types of content that attracted them to you in the first place. Keep in mind, your brand is in play anywhere you are visible to readers. This means, blogs, forums, websites, interviews, book covers, posters, promos, trailers, tweets, your American Idol audition... everywhere! If your brand comes across as bi-polar or inconsistent it will be difficult to build strong relationships with fans. If you are consistent however, fans will be comfortable; and the ones who identify most with your brand will be your strongest supporters as a result.
Authentic
It's tempting, especially on the internet, to exaggerate and extrapolate and hide behind a keyboard. But it's easy to spot a fake, and generally speaking nobody like a fake. So don't do it! Another way to think about this is to simply practice what you preach. This adds so much value and validity to your brand, and in turn builds trust for your fans. Again, the stronger the relationships with your fans, the more they like you, the more invested they will be in you. This is how "true fans" are born, and you can't put a price on the marketing they can do for you simply through their enthusiasm for you and your brand.
So... with these 4 key points in mind, you can be well on your way to creating a successful brand around your writing. If it feels a bit overwhelming, that's okay. Just take a deep breath, and stay within yourself (remember, authentic). Create a brand that you can "pull off" and it should just about come naturally. For some writers a brand could just be as simple as your engaging personality, for others it could revolve around the world created in your stories, and for others it could have to do with the style or subject matter of your writing. Finally, if it still seems scary, just remember: you don't (in fact shouldn't) need to please everyone. Just your fans.
So much of recent discussion about the tumult in the publishing world has focused on the challenge for publishers to find new business models in the face of rapidly changing technology and customer habits. Quite a bit less attention has been devoted, however, to the effects of those trends on authors themselves, without whom the publishers would have no content to actually print. As the industry continues to thrash around, grasping for quick solutions while also cutting costs frantically, authors less popular than Rowling or Franzen can find themselves essentially abandoned by their supposed advocates in large publishing houses.
Noted technology writer Douglas Rushkoff shares his recent experiences with publishers and how those disappointments drove him to make the radical step of leaving his publisher and embracing an entirely new model of 21st century authorship. What could have inspired such a move? Shouldn’t authors desperately grab for the security of a big publisher, especially in uncertain times like now? Won’t the sheer size and expertise of the big companies provide an essential lifesaver in the rather choppy waters of the book marketplace currently?
Well, actually no, at least according to Rushkoff. In his view, “Authors and readers no longer need Big Publishing to find and engage one another. The sooner we all realize this, the better off we’ll all be.” Based on his experience, publishers now utterly fail at the two roles authors have traditionally relied upon them for, editing and marketing. As just about any author can tell you, having an intelligent and engaged reader critique your work is incredibly helpful. But editors can no longer play that role anymore, as they must now focus entirely on new content acquisition. Even worse in Rushkoff’s view, publishers no longer provide either necessary resources or expertise in marketing. If anything, they tend to get in the way of the authors’ own attempts to publicize their work. The writers, after all, usually know far more about their subject matter and the likely audience for their own books, and what the best methods of outreach might be.
Absent their ability to edit and market, Rushkoff just does not see a valuable role for publishers any more, and has decided to eliminate these middlemen (and their not insubstantial costs) for his latest book. It is a new very journey, without the usual signposts, but 21st century authorship does open up vast new potential audiences and opportunities to engage with ones readers. As Rushkoff says, the new methods he now embraces are daunting, but writers today really have no other choice, “The good news and bad news here is that we must create new ways of doing things that meet our real needs.”
BackMyBook is excited to help authors of all kinds discover their own paths to success, that meet their own particular needs. They won’t be the same as Douglas Rushkoff’s, nor Stephen King’s, but they will be what works for you.
I'm particularly fond of using the F-word when I'm stuck in traffic, or trapped in a boring meeting, or standing on the sidelines at my daughter’s soccer game. I'm talking about Facebook of course...
In my experience from speaking with authors and reading forums there seems to be a fairly common response when it comes to using Facebook and Twitter for marketing your book. It usually goes something like this: "Well, I made my Facebook page, but nothing really happened... what am I doing wrong???" ... or something like: "I don't really have a blog yet, but I use Twitter occasionally does that count?"
Common Misconceptions
Well, I want to be 100% clear on this point: Facebook and Twitter are NOT sites where you will gain fans simply by making a profile and talking about your book. Keep in mind, these are two of the biggest social media sites, not two of the biggest author sites. People are on Facebook to connect with their friends, not with you. But wait, if you read between the lines there's a hint (make them your friends first!)
Simply showing up on somebody's "news feed" on Facebook is akin to having a kiosk set up in the mall. Maybe a few people will notice you, but people are really there for the real stores. If they don't know you ahead of time most people will walk right by you. If you want to sell stuff at the mall... Build. Your. Store. First. (read: build your brand first. see the pattern yet?)
If you are just starting out, or even if you've been around but you're still pretty small, you won't have the kind of fan community that will be able to take on a life of its own on sites like Facebook yet. When the TV show "Dexter" gets thousands of comments on its Facebook update, it's because they had thousands of fans ahead of time that they gained from creating a hit show, not from creating a hit Facebook page.
So, what's the point?
So if Facebook and Twitter are not working out of the Field of Dreams "if you build it fans will come" play book, then what is the point? What's the goal of using these social media sites to market your book?
Try to think of Facebook and Twitter as simply extensions of your brand, another place to reach fans who have already given you permission to market to them.If you are still building your brand, Facebook and Twitter can help by acting as a place for interaction that many people are already comfortable with, but not as a means of self promotion.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about as far as "your brand" goes, stop reading, check this out, and come back in 5 minutes. I promise I'll be right here waiting patiently... Okay, great. Let's continue.
How do I use Facebook and Twitter?
I know I sound repetitive, because I'm repeating myself. The short answer to this question is you don't until you have something that your fans will think is worth sharing. Not something that you think is worth sharing with them, but something they will be glad you shared and think is worth sharing with others. If you want a longer answer, take a look at the Facebook and Twitter sections of this article which show some specific examples, or just keep reading.
There are a couple of themes that apply to just about every aspect of marketing yourself and your book. One of them, the one I keep harping about, is to create value for the user. This is probably more important and more tricky on social media sites than anywhere else.
Let's look at the mall again. You don't want to be the kiosk. The kiosk is lame, annoying, and in your way, quit bugging me with your $2 sunglasses for sale and your book I've never heard of. You want to be a cool store. You want your store (your brand, your profile page, your twitter feed) to be something that shoppers want to come visit. They like the atmosphere, it's nice in there. No pushy salesmen, just some people to help you out, and maybe even recommend another store you might like. Shoppers stop by because they like your store, even if they're not going to buy anything.
The store doesn't appeal to everyone, shoppers choose to go in there because they are interested in the kinds of things you sell or the styles you have. And finally, new shoppers show up because their friends told them it was cool and to check it out!
Aha!
Enter Facebook, and Twitter. It's not "if you build it fans will come;" it's "if you give fans cool stuff, they'll bring their friends." Not quite as catchy, perhaps, but much more effective. Share cool links on Facebook, Retweet something relevant you came across on Twitter (if you aren't familiar, a Retweet, RT for short, is simply sharing someone else's tweet with the people who follow your tweets; don't worry it's totally cool and acceptable and even encouraged). Give people value! Ask yourself: "why would anybody follow me on Facebook or Twitter? What are they getting out of it?"
Build your brand, build a fan base around your brand, interact with fans in a way that is meaningful to them and worth sharing with new people. Wash, rinse, repeat (actually it all sort of happens at the same time, but stay consistent with your approach).
With a solid foundation to build off of, Facebook and Twitter can be magnifiers for your brand that already has some traction. The key however is to build your brand and build your following everywhere.
If it feels like I'm suggesting to not worry too much about Facebook and Twitter, it's because that's exactly what I'm saying. Should you still be there and take advantage of the huge networks of friends and fans? Yes absolutely, but don't focus on them. Be patient, not pushy. Take care of your writing and give your fans something worth putting on Facebook. Don't be the kiosk, be the store.
The old guard "brick and mortar" publishing industry is crumbling. This is no secret to anyone who has been paying attention; everybody has an e-reader and a Facebook page, and stores like bookstores like Borders and Barnes and Noble are hemorrhaging money. Still, like a stubborn child, the publishers continue to drag their heels and desperately try to hold on to the reins. Of course this doesn't mean you need to keep playing by their outdated rules. For the savvy 21st century author the change is already here, the tools are in place to take what's yours.
Traditionally, the distribution of roles and responsibility between author and publisher has been quite one-sided, with the publisher performing most of the roles, and retaining most of the revenue. We should all be able to agree on that, right? That is no longer true in the 21st century, however. Authors now have the power to drive their own success by assuming more and more roles that publishers were responsible for. This claim I suppose I'll actually have to back up. After all, the 21st century author doesn't just think something is true because she read it on the Internet. She's smarter than that. In order to make this point, I'll break down the book publishing process into 4 easy to swallow stages. No spoon feeding here, just food for thought.
Creation
You have the ability to create your own brand without any influence from a publisher, and when you have an established brand you have a lot of leverage, both for negotiating with publishers later on and for gaining new fans now. This is the foundation for the 21st century author's success.
Marketing
In a traditional publishing deal a publisher will put your book on the front bookshelves stores all over the country. They will have a team of marketers coming up with ads and posters and promotions for your book. Okay I admit, that's pretty sweet, fair enough. But allow me to poke two holes in this boat and sink the Titanic marketing campaign.
First, the publishers will do all of those wonderful things for you if your name is Tom Clancy or James Patterson, which I'm guessing it's not on the grounds that the publishers probably pay somebody to read blog articles like this one for them. Publishers want home runs, not feel good stories, and they're not going to pour their marketing budgets into risky projects (read: unknown authors).
Second, it's not sustainable. Okay stay with me here... for this type of marketing, through mass media, the publishers must continuously funnel new traffic, or eyeballs, to your book (through ads, promotions etc.). Most of those eyeballs (attached to the faces of potential fans and customers) will overlook the product or simply not be interested. This tactic works solely because of the massive scale, but it's tremendously expensive and inefficient.
Probably the biggest, most central question, though, remains the decision to pursue a traditional publishing route or to self-publish instead. All of the other issues fall into line very quickly once that key point is decided, for traditional publishing houses will likely have very strict guidelines over how and in what form their books appear both in stores and online. While BackMyBook has very clear preferences towards self-publishing, we fully understand the allure of the traditional model for first time authors, or really for anybody daunted by the challenges of working outside an established system. Regardless of one’s particular stance, however, there will be inevitable challenges to overcome if you decide to self-publish.
Eric Karjaluoto, a successful marketing guru, does an excellent job of laying out some the most pertinent issues to the question of self-publishing, as he examines his own experience putting out his book Speak Human by himself. It is far from a resounding endorsement of self-publishing, as he ran into a number of obstacles he never anticipated, and came to realize some of the advantages the traditional publishers still retain. As he says, it is important when thinking about self-publishing, “to avoid falling into some kind of a fantasy of ‘easy riches’” since most self-published books in his estimation do not end up profitable. Karjaluoto even declares that for his next book he wants to try the traditional route, in order to take advantage of what he feels publishers are still able to do effectively, professional editing, marketing and the handling the logistics of review copies.
But just as interesting as Karjaluoto’s experience with self-publishing is the response of his commentators, many of whom make clear that even in the areas traditional publishers claim expertise, far too often the reality is much less than the promise. Editing can be obtained in a number of ways, at a wide variety of professional levels depending on the genre and the goals of the book. Logistics will likely be a challenge for any self-publisher, to some extent, and does need to be realistically factored into any plan for a self-published book. However, it its Karajaluoto’s faith in the publisher’s commitment to marketing their books that really needs to be examined most carefully. From what we’ve observed, this is exactly the area where faith in the publishers is most misplaced. The reality is that marketing budgets for any book outside of a publisher’s roster of superstars have been tumbling in recent years. More fundamentally though, authors today, especially unknown ones are caught in a catch-22 situation when it comes to publishers and marketing. Publishers today will seemlingly only sign authors that already have an audience of likely readers (buyers). They do not have the resources or patience to try and build an audience that does not already exit, even for authors they believe have great books to sell. And if you are an author that has already constructed a community of fans, then you really don’t need a publisher to market your work, especially as they are going to want to take a huge percentage of revenues in order to do it.
We certainly do not want to raise unrealistic expectations for self-publishing, but no analysis of this choice is accurate without a sober and unflinching examination of what traditional publishing actually is today. And that picture is a far from rosy one, even when it comes to their historic strengths of editing, logistics and especially marketing.
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