Online Book-Promotion Services

Some of the most effective ways to promote a book or book series online are not necessarily the most expensive--most important is to craft the online promotion strategy to match the book and its audience. This takes understanding of the book and knowledge of which communities and audiences are reachable online and how. The services below can be combined in various ways; they work synergistically to get the initial word out about a book or line of books, then lead interested readers to more information to create the motivation to buy.

Feature promotions ("Web sites")
For big books or genre books with an established Web-site audience. We individually design a feature promotion to convey the spirit of the book, and these features continue to attract attention even after the initial weeks online, unlike a traditional--and transient--ad campaign. A feature promotion is hosted on the publisher's Web site and includes:

We can also include many other kinds of information, interactive features, and reader services. Registration can be extended to cover more than just the major search engines and indexes. A feature promotion serves as the "home base" for some of the off-site strategies below.

Site campaigns
For books--especially nonfiction--whose topic is of interest to many Internet users, we can place banner ads, text links, or promotional content on related Web sites. Most suited to books whose subjects have fan followings, and a very effective way to put the book in front of niche audiences without high advertising costs. Site maintainers are often very active and vocal in their fields of interest, and thus can create word-of-mouth for books.

Electronic newsletters and mailing lists
For genres in which a publisher publishes consistently, or for popular and prolific authors. Publisher newsletters and mailing lists are most popular when low in hype and high in content that is otherwise unavailable to readers. We can create and disseminate various types of electronic newsletters and mailing lists to suit different audiences, books,lists, and publisher objectives.

Promotion via electronic newsletters and mailing lists
Marketing via other newsletters and mailing lists can be very effective for books whose topics are of interest to enough Internet users. We can research a topic and target the electronic publications that allow the publisher to reach an exact niche that is interested in a book.

Internet newsgroups
The almost-forgotten start of the Internet--newsgroups are electronic bulletin boards open to everyone. Overtly commercial postings are frowned upon, but we can craft a low-key, brief, yet interesting and informative book announcement and place it on appropriate newsgroups.

Promotions on other Web sites/online services
Best suited for youth-oriented nonfiction and books that are of interest to a particular demographic served by specific name-brand Web sites (like ESPN.com for sports fans, iVillage for young women, ParentSoup for parents, or Phys for women's health). We can help publicity departments select the online venues most likely to want authors for live or non-live events (such as Q&As), or pitch the sites and online services for the publisher on a book-by-book basis; we can also provide the materials online venues need to support events (excerpts, etc.) in the formats they require.

Banner advertising
The standard solution to online promotion, but expensive and thus suitable only for the biggest books. Banners can be placed by topic on the bigger search engines/indexes, or on the high-traffic, name-brand sites; space is also sometimes available on smaller sites with niche audiences. We can create banner ads, both animated and simple; place them with name-brand sites or advise the publisher's advertising department on how to do so; and research and contact smaller sites to place ads.

Sponsorship of areas on other Web sites
Combines the previous two strategies--promotions on other sites and banner advertising--and is most suitable for long-term online promotion goals and topics/genres for which the publisher has a deep list. We can help the publisher outline a useful sponsorship deal and create the materials needed for the sponsored site.

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