Last post, I explained my marketing push that started with authors, and how Catherine Ryan Hyde and Cheryl Kaye Tardif came on the first day to claim their Author Account and cast their works. But they were joined over the next two months by a host of others, twelve in May, either as referrals from other authors, or from contacts through MyBookTheMovie; then five in June, some of whom found the site on their own and joined as regular members, but then indicated that they were authors and wanted to get their own books on the site. Three in July, four in August, and now we’re getting a steady run of authors who either came on as members or found us first as authors. I still have a backlog of people to contact from Marshal’s blog, and a bunch more whose works have been suggested for inclusion on the site and thus get informed and invited that way. I haven’t even tried to contact the “first tier” authors, the Stephen Kings and the John Grishams of the world, simply because they have no trouble getting the attention of the studios if they want to, whereas most of our authors, although published, are still actively writing and promoting their own works, and we can work together more easily, since they know what I’m going through.
The biggest effect of supportive authors has been Google links I could have had no other way. As soon as the site went “live”, I created a Facebook and My space page for it, and whenever I saw a site or blog with a book-related “fantasy cast” on it, I commented and pointed to the site. Those posts are all visible on Google – but those are nothing compared to the comments, posts, links, and pointers provided by our authors. Some have just a web site and a blog, but mention us several times; some have three blogs of their own, and contribute to another three or four, and they have mentioned us on all of them. We’re the first reference on the first Google page, perhaps because we own the domain name. But almost every reference on the next eight pages is also a link to us, primarily because of all the posts by our authors.
The other outcome of helpful authors has been collaborative promotion. Stella and Audra Price write a series of “hot supernatural romance” books. At one point, Stella pointed out that she was always on a book-signing tour somewhere, and was always looking for some kind of interesting “freebie” to give our at signings and events. Could I come up with something? I don’t know which one of us suggested the bookmarkers, but after I saw how inexpensive they were, I agreed to print some up and send them out free. Over a dozen of the authors immediately requested some to give out from now to Christmas – I have commitments for 2900 of the first buy of 3000, so it’s already time to order some more. They just came in from the printers on Saturday, and we’re spending the next day or two to package and ship them. I have posted a photo of the front and back (thanks Malcom and Gary for the graphics work!). Getting ideas from authors who already have a feel for promotion in the book world really helps! That’s why I’m really glad I started promoting to the authors, and let them help drive traffic to the site.
Showing posts with label Authors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Authors. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Authors, part one
Sometimes, you know where you’re going. Projects at work usually have a clear goal, a definable scope of work, with knowable resources and deadlines. However, internet businesses don’t usually follow that straight path – they start with an idea, then that idea morphs into something new, and each iteration of that idea changes the picture more than slightly. Remember those old Disney time-lapse movies of a plant sprouting, growing, flowering, and then fruiting? That’s the straight path. But a time-lapse movie of an internet business would appear much more chaotic and bizarre – the seed sprouts, but then grows arms and a face, then mellows to the flower; but then the flower gets some teeth and starts snapping small creatures out of the air, finally maturing into an aggressive flower that eats only pollution – but does it with a wicked smile.
Originally, I thought that the main players on the website would just be other people like me, people who read books, like movies, and wanted to post a fantasy cast. I never really got beyond that until my sleep-breaking epiphany (see my post for August 5th). That was the first morph: the idea that authors would be even more interested in posting a fantasy cast than the regular readers. It was perfectly obvious, though, once you saw it – they were the original Storycasters, creating the story and peopling it with characters. Even if they didn’t envision a particular actor in the role, they saw somebody doing those things, and they had a much clearer picture of the situations than any of the readers ever would. At that point I realized that I would have to contact the authors and try to get them to share their own “authorcast” with the rest of us. I just had no idea how I would do that.
I spent several months in January and February of this year Googling combinations of “book” and “cast” and “movie”. That’s how I ran across a really cool blog that was already asking authors those key questions. It’s written by L.A. screenwriter Marshal Zeringue (“just like the pie”, says Marshal), and his blog is called My Book The Movie; it’s listed in the navbar. Marshal interviews authors and asks them specifically who they’d like to have directing and starring in the movie adaptations of their books. And that’s how I got “introduced” to Catherine Ryan Hyde, Cheryl Kaye Tardif, Kelly Komm, Ben Tanzer, Cory Redekop, and the rest of the authors who came on the site early. Marshal’s blog showed me the authors who were already willing to talk about casting, and when I started looking around, I found that they were not only easy to contact, but they were very interested in the Storycasting concept.
I wrote to Catherine at the end of February, explained the site concept, indicated that the site wouldn’t go “live” for another month or two, and asked if she’d consider coming on the site to “cast” her own characters. In just a few days came her definite reply: “Yes, I absolutely will. I'll leave this email in my inbox so I won't forget.” Also ready was Canadian author Cheryl Kaye Tardif, who thanked me for the invitation and told me that she knew “many authors who would be happy to participate”. When the site finally got up on May 1st, that very day Catherine and Cheryl Kaye claimed their Author Account and started casting their characters. These same authors, and the two dozen who have since joined them on the site, are the major source of our Google listings. My next post will expand on our relationship with the authors, how they promote our site, and how their fans have reacted to the casting opportunity.
Originally, I thought that the main players on the website would just be other people like me, people who read books, like movies, and wanted to post a fantasy cast. I never really got beyond that until my sleep-breaking epiphany (see my post for August 5th). That was the first morph: the idea that authors would be even more interested in posting a fantasy cast than the regular readers. It was perfectly obvious, though, once you saw it – they were the original Storycasters, creating the story and peopling it with characters. Even if they didn’t envision a particular actor in the role, they saw somebody doing those things, and they had a much clearer picture of the situations than any of the readers ever would. At that point I realized that I would have to contact the authors and try to get them to share their own “authorcast” with the rest of us. I just had no idea how I would do that.
I spent several months in January and February of this year Googling combinations of “book” and “cast” and “movie”. That’s how I ran across a really cool blog that was already asking authors those key questions. It’s written by L.A. screenwriter Marshal Zeringue (“just like the pie”, says Marshal), and his blog is called My Book The Movie; it’s listed in the navbar. Marshal interviews authors and asks them specifically who they’d like to have directing and starring in the movie adaptations of their books. And that’s how I got “introduced” to Catherine Ryan Hyde, Cheryl Kaye Tardif, Kelly Komm, Ben Tanzer, Cory Redekop, and the rest of the authors who came on the site early. Marshal’s blog showed me the authors who were already willing to talk about casting, and when I started looking around, I found that they were not only easy to contact, but they were very interested in the Storycasting concept.
I wrote to Catherine at the end of February, explained the site concept, indicated that the site wouldn’t go “live” for another month or two, and asked if she’d consider coming on the site to “cast” her own characters. In just a few days came her definite reply: “Yes, I absolutely will. I'll leave this email in my inbox so I won't forget.” Also ready was Canadian author Cheryl Kaye Tardif, who thanked me for the invitation and told me that she knew “many authors who would be happy to participate”. When the site finally got up on May 1st, that very day Catherine and Cheryl Kaye claimed their Author Account and started casting their characters. These same authors, and the two dozen who have since joined them on the site, are the major source of our Google listings. My next post will expand on our relationship with the authors, how they promote our site, and how their fans have reacted to the casting opportunity.
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