Pajama Promotion: Ten Tips For Writers

As my book launches tomorrow (First Daughter: White House Rules), I've been doing my best to get ready from the comfort of my cozy study. For any writers out there, I want to share ten ways to spruce up your online presence in anticipation of a book release:

1. Create a web page for your book to grab potential readers.

2. Syndicate your blog(s) at Feedburner (bloggers should do this, too).

3. Invest in an ad via Google Adwords (see mine below) and on Facebook -- make sure you pick keywords carefully.

4. Use AddThis to put social networking buttons at the bottom of every post.

5. Generate a Facebook Page for the novel.

6. Create a widget at Springwidgets to display your blog on your MySpace page, the sidebar of other blogs (note my sparrowblog content to the right) and/or on your website.

7. Import your blog(s) into Amazon.com so that the content shows up for all your titles.

8. Create a widget featuring your book(s) at Adaptive Blue for your sidebars -- see mine as an example to the right.

9. Set up Google Blog Alerts with keywords related to your novel and write a two-sentence blurb that you can cut, paste, and personalize on a blog post dealing with those keywords, like I did over at the Los Angeles Times and at MSNBC.

10. Make a book trailer (see mine below) using Animoto, Jumpcut, Quicktime Pro, or Apple iMovie and upload it to YouTube, Google Video, Facebook, and MySpace TV.

I know everybody might not be as geekily inclined as myself but some of these things are so easy even a purely right-brained person can do them.  And they're all free, except the ads, which can cost a lot or a little, depending on your budget. Oh, and you have to pay for Quicktime Pro or iMovie but Animoto and Jumpcut are free.

At the very least, get yourself to MySpace and Facebook and sign up right now. Then come to my session on Pajama Promotion for Dummies at the New England Society of Writers and Illustrators Conference on April 12, 2008, where I'll explain how to do these things and more.

My Google Ad

First Daughter (Dutton)

Check out two fast and funny 

tween novels by Mitali Perkins 

www.firstdaughterbooks.com

Book Teaser / First Daughter White House Rules

Grouchy Grammar Blogs

Does the "overuse" of quote marks make you insane? Join the hate-fest at The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quote Marks.

Can you literally not stand the misuse of literally? Track the abuse at Literally, A Weblog.

Got an orthographic pet peeve? Visit Apostrophe Abuse to find company.

And, finally, if you despise the use of an "l" in an otherwise all-caps setting, vent your frustration at lowercase L.

The Saturday Song Sung Blue Meme

What next? Now that cheeky MotherReader wants me to dish about the top 100 songs played on the radio the year I graduated from high school. Since I'm obviously the geezer around here, I'm cashing in on my seniority and changing the rules. Here are five songs from twelfth grade still getting air time on my iPod in 2007:

• The Rose, Bette Midler
• Cruisin', Smokey Robinson
• Let My Love Open The Door, Pete Townshend
• One Fine Day, Carole King
• Refugee, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers

Now, without going to the website, see if you can guess the year. And if you get it wrong, consider yourself tagged.

Gadgets and Gizmos

Since I've been informed that I'm a bit of a geek, I feel obligated to offer some techno tips every now and then on the Fire Escape. Here are a few fun (and free) web toys:

Crazy Egg: Want even more information about who's consuming what you generate on-line? Find out who clicked where, when, and how -- tracking up to 5000 visitors is free.

Ace Polls: Want to rock a vote? Here's the easiest way to generate a zany or illuminating poll on your blog.

Musicovery: Got writer's block? Find music that matches your bad mood or inspires you to new creative heights.

Show Stash: If that doesn't work, might as well indulge your inner potato and watch a comfy re-run.

Don't Want A Zodiac Sign On MySpace?

If you're an html geek and want to hack your MySpace to cut your profile's zodiac sign, here's the code to insert (if you need help let me know in the comments and I'll try and walk you through it):

tr[id="Zodiac"] {

visibility: hidden!important;

}

tr[id="Zodiac"] td, tr[id="Zodiac"] td span, tr[id="Zodiac"] td a {

height: 0px;

font-size:0px;

margin:0px;

padding:0px;

border:none;

}