Angells4Authors, Uncategorized, , ,

Hello Lovely authors,

I am a big proponent of providing author promotional support. I know how important it is, as I am also an author. My main online persona is geared specifically toward readers, through my blog, An Angell’s Life of Bookish Goodness, where I offer tons of opportunities to help authors get additional exposure. There are quite a few ways that you can get in front of my audience of nearly 26,000 followers across all channels.

Free Services

Please keep in mind that everything listed under free services is first-come, first-serve, or when I feel like it. I do as much as I want/ feel inspired to do. For example, every paperback sent to me will have a book unboxing on Youtube. Beyond that, it is up to me when/ if I feel inspired to do a bookstagram post (or three. I’ve had some books that I totally fan-girled over and really inspired a lot of creative posts.) If I feel so inspired, I will also share those images on other platforms.

I have had author interviews and character spotlights pile up as much as six months (especially after big author events.) I refuse to post more than one blog post a day. That’s just madness.

I have books (e-book moreso than paperbacks because guilt and I LOVE paperbacks) that have been in my TBR pile for 3 years and some that have been on my TBR Goodreads list for far longer.

But when I share your content, it is likely it will get shared more than once across most of my platforms. As long as the post is evergreen content (not time-sensitive) then I will be happy to add it to my content cycle. I am still re-sharing good content from five years ago. True, it only typically happens once a year, but it does happen. With all that in mind, here are the free options available to you.

DIY author Interview

Please fill out the google form and follow all directions. If you do not add your tags properly, I will not chase you down to plug it in and it is less likely that I will share your content repeatedly. Also, please give me images. I like using my fun software tools to create great graphics, but I’m done doing that for free. I will create one image for your post and that is the header that goes with it. That is it. If you have an author interview and you do not provide me a headshot you will have a black box. Those who do not follow directions will be less likely to get their content re-shared over and over.

 My Readers LOVE Character Spotlights

For the character spotlight, you select a character from your book that you would like to spotlight and then a format that works best for that spotlight. For example, One author writes thrillers and did a media interview with her cop character.

One author writes sci-fi and did a stats spotlight for his character who is a genetically modified human.

Email me to submit a character Spotlight.  Please attach the images, your bio, and social media links. If it is time-specific, please let me know. I will do my best to accommodate, but I cannot guarantee that it will be met. If you want to ensure that it is posted during a blog tour then please see the paid options below.

Guest Posts

A lot of great resources for marketing your book come in the form of guest posts on other blogs and book magazines. They are a handy tool for building up your reputation and getting free publicity. The struggle for many authors is learning how to do guest posts. We are so used to writing books, that the idea of writing a quick guest post for someone else’s blog is a bit of a struggle. Even after you make the effort to master that skill (and so few authors pursue this route on my blog, it makes me so sad because guest posts are a GREAT way to get in front of other audiences!) then they struggle getting in because they don’t have a backlog of relevant articles to show that they have the skill.

Well, here you go. Build that reputation. The first step is to know the audience of that blog by scanning through other popular posts and getting the sense of who the blog is targeting.  Pick a topic and theme that suits that blog and allows you to highlight your own skills.

I am pretty open to ideas and will make this easy for you by providing you the information about my audience: 80% + of my readership are just readers. Marketing, promotion, editing posts don’t interest them. But if your book covers a particular topic and there was a fun bit of research that didn’t make it into the book, a guest post on that would be cool. I have had authors do guest posts on world building because they have a fun/ interesting slant.

Some easy guest posts are your top ten favorite authors/ ten books you recommend/ or music that inspires your writing. (I have a lot of music aficionados in my readership!)

I have combined my Angell’s 4 Authors blog with the An Angell’s Life blog as life is too busy to maintain the two separately. The content is separated by category so that readers don’t get the author’s content if they don’t want it. If you want to write a post geared towards authors, you are welcome to do so.

For those posts, I am really looking for experts who are willing to write an in-depth post to teach other authors something useful. This can be on marketing, writing, networking, promotion, finding an agent, whatever topic you feel you are an expert in. If it has already been covered, I typically won’t accept another post unless it does a better job of covering the content or takes a different approach to the subject matter.

Email me to suggest a topic, or submit an article for consideration. If you have specific images you would like included, please attach and include appropriate citation if you do not own the image. (EX: Pixabay Free Download) Do not forget your bio, an author picture, and social media links.

Other Ways I Help Promote Authors

I have built my whole online presence around the persona of another rabid book fan sharing my bookish joys. If you friend me and invite me to a Facebook event, I will invite followers, if you follow me on Twitter, I will probably share your book stuff (especially if it is interesting/ engaging and if you share my stuff first.) I’m a Booktuber and Bookstgrammer. Much of this gets looped around to the other sites, which makes it easy to provide a decent amount of author promotional support.

I know how important reviews are for authors. I also know how hard they are to get. There are days that I think “I’m done with all the writing and marketing and running around like a madwoman trying to meet everyone’s needs (AKA being a wife and mom) I just want to READ!” Alas, I cannot become a full-time reader.

However, I do schedule reading time every day. When that “I’m done” attitude hits, I am known to devour a book in one sitting. All my reviews (good and bad, you’ve been warned!) get posted on my blog, Amazon, Goodreads, Bookbub and if you have other sites you would also like it added to such as Smashwords, B & N, Kobo, etc. just let me know and I will do my best to add it there as well. (I strongly recommend that if you want a review on these places, you should follow me there as well.) Know that I am constantly talking about books. When someone on Bookstagram asks “What was a book that inspired you” I mention 3-5. If someone on Goodreads asks for a recommendation of great XYZ books, I am recommending 3-5 and telling why I think they should. If you follow me on these platforms, I can tag you when this happens. It makes it easier for them to link back to you and your book. If we don’t then there is a good chance that someone with a similar book name will get that sale, unless you have mad SEO skills. But why risk that on something as simple as giving me a follow?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuXh65mHSYu/

Now, I would suggest that before you message me with a review request, you take a moment and look at the book reviews I have done. I will read every book sent to me (eventually) and I tend to be a harsh critic.

I almost never give 5-star reviews, but I can’t think of a single time I’ve given a 1-star review either. Most books get 3 stars and really good books get 4. I occasionally give out 2-star reviews if the grammar is really bad or the story is riddled with plot holes, but it has to be more than just “I don’t like this”.

I give DNF (Did Not Finish) reviews. These will typically fall under the 3-star category unless the previous 2-star issues are there. Generally, I will try to give it at least 100 pages or 10% of the book (whichever happens first) before DNFing. I used to struggle through books because I have a compulsion to finish things, but in 2019 I made a resolution that life is too short to waste my relaxing time on books I do not like.

Still think you want a review? I have a couple of different options for you to consider.

Send Me Your Book Links

Send me the link to your book on Goodreads and Smashwords (or Amazon, I suppose)  I will add it to my TBR and will eventually buy a copy and post a review. (If you take a look at my TBR on Goodreads, it is pretty big.) I like to support Indie authors with a sale but I’m not made of money and the husband keeps me on a strict budget because he knows as much as I joke, I really cannot live off books.

Send Me Your E-book

Feel free to send me your ebook in Mobi to Hangell531@kindle.com or in epub to hangell531@gmail.com. Please be sure to let me know via email that you are sending the book and if you have a deadline request (For example, it is a pre-release and you’re doing a tour.) I cannot promise that I will get it in before there, but I can’t if I don’t know about it can I?

So, what do I like to read? I am pretty much all over the map, to be honest! I will read anything except hardcore erotica. My always-in-the-mood-fors are any speculative fiction, especially fantasy and Sci-fi. I have to be in the right mood for romance, historical, and non-fiction (typically preferring books about business, marketing, sales, and occasionally self-improvement.) If you have a religious or philosophical book then I suggest that you ask yourself how hard you want someone who is very fact and science-based reviewing. I don’t really get behind woowy stuff unless there is some real science addressed to back it up. Please bear in mind that if you are sharing your experience of something and not trying to convince others to believe as you do, I am a much less harsh critic. But if your book gets preachy, I am likely to get sciency. I can’t seem to help myself.

When you submit your book, please understand that if it is an ARC, I will do my best to complete my review before the release date but I need at least 6 weeks to complete a review and that is only if a) I’m not in the middle of a book I’m enjoying and don’t want to drop for yours and b) yours catches my fancy enough to do so. The rest of the books I receive are read according to my fancy because in that way you will get a better review.  

Send Me Your Paperback

You can send me a paperback and I will do an Unboxing video and review, possibly posting the review on Youtube, post a “reveal” on Facebook Live, post a couple of pictures of the book on Instagram. I am still working on clever ways to use social media this way to promote other authors.

Email me to request my address. 

Please keep in mind that any and all of the above book-related promotion can and probably will get used periodically in Booktube Booktags and on bookstagramchallenges (especially if I have a paperback.)

Happy to Help You Network

Another key element to author promotional support is networking. I strongly recommend that you join our Facebook group Author Anon I am tied into the book community, so if you have a blog hop, book tour, panel idea, Facebook Takeover, or some other event and you would like to get the word out to authors, let me know. I will be happy to share your information around with my connections. If I feel that it is a good fit for my readers, I will also include an announcement in my weekly bookish e-newsletters.

Submit a Book Event Announcement or Sale.

Last, but certainly not least, if you have another way that you would like my help, let me know. Whether it be a Thunderclap, additional marketing services, or just need someone to bounce ideas off of, I am here to help.

All of these services are free, but if you found them helpful and would like to provide payment you can either join my Patreon or provide a one-time tip in the Tip Jar through PayPal.

Paid Promotional Services

I fully believe that no one should pay for a review. Please bear in mind that the following services are not based around “a paid review”. They are based on specific promotional content provided around a specific time-frame. You do not get approval over said content when it is a review however, you do get to use said content as you see fit. All content will be heavily promoted using well-planned SEO and hashtags and you will be tagged in the social media posts as appropriate.

  • Paperback Book Promo- Unboxing, Video Review, 3 Bookstagram images, and content posted across social media 30 times over the course of 1 year. (If the initial engagement is for a specific time frame like a new release/ book sales then 12 of the posts will be done during that time. The rest will have the original post remove the promo information and then be re-shared as evergreen content.) after the year is up, the content will continue to be shared across my social media just as the free posts are done.
  • A Timed Post Promo (author interview, character spotlight, guest post, sales announcement set for a specific week), 2 unique images besides the header which will be used for re-sharing and re-sized appropriately for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, Pinterest, and each size provided to you for your own use ( 10 images total) Content posted across social media 30 times over the course of 1 year. After the year is up, the content will continue to be shared across my social media just as the free posts are done.
  • Book Review Video- A 15-30 second clip that will be added to Youtube, my blog post, and provided to you to also use on your content as you see fit. See samples here. This one cannot be time-sensitive as I can only make 5 a month. They are great for running promo ads though.
  • Book Trailer – 15-30 seconds that you will need to write the outline for so I can tweak (please, not your synopsis.) The trailer will be added to my Youtube channel, my website as a post, and provided to you to use as you see fit. See Samples Here. This one cannot be time-sensitive as I can only make 5 a month. They are great for running promo ads though.
    • First come, first serve
  • Marketing/ Publicity Services- I can do the grunt work for you in submitting for book reviews, creating content, writing/ editing copy, evaluating your ad campaigns, developing bookstore lists, and a ton of other P.A. type services.
  • 30 Social Media Posts/ Evergreen Promo Package- You can submit 1 piece of content for me to share over the course of the year on my social media channels. I will create 2 unique images inspired by the content which will be used for re-sharing and re-sized appropriately for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, Pinterest, and each size provided to you for your own use ( 10 images total). You will be tagged in each share. This is on a case by case basis with site and content approval.

Until next time,

Keep Writing!