Christian Fiction

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

National Book Month & the Continuation of 30 Days to Build a Better Book Blog

My Placemement of Tia McCollors The Truth About Love in WalMart

This is Day 20 of 30 Days to Build a Better Book Blog. We are still on Book Blog Content. And we're still learning how to build a better book blog. If you want to join our Facebook Group to continue the discussion, receive homework assignments, ask me questions about how to optimize your book blog and to meet other book bloggers like you, then visit the page and request an invite. As you can see I am not blogging everyday and we are well past September when the book blog event began. Since this is National Book Month we are continuing the series. Let me further add that you can do the 30 Days at your own pace.Once you have completed the entire series you will receive a I survived Book Blog BootCamp Banner and a Booblook Blog Certified badge for your site, as well as other goodies like contacts to obtain free books and invitations to join bookstore affiliate programs. So if you're a book blogger why not get in, while this thing is available open source.

Also I recommend that for bloggers--all kinds-- to take part in Problogger: 31 Days to Build a Better Blog. I completed the series and it changed my blogs life years ago. I redo the series every year to stay current and update. Click here to get more information about Darren's great series.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

day 19: Infuse your Writing Life in your Blog

Author poet Hank Stewart at the Wear Red & Read Dessert Fundraiser for American Heart

Yesterday I read a funny post in The New Yorker about the absurdity of some book pr campaigns. Not because it was far-fetched, but because the scenario reminded me of a situation with a past client and the client's publishing house publicity department. Unfortunately for some authors it is no laughing matter. More publishing houses are focusing on online marketing more and expecting the author to be proactive about their own brand advocacy, but as a writer this new shift in roles poses a heavy challenge.

For one I hope this rant is is just parody or sarcasm. I hope what I witnesssed--what is close in spots to what the article describes-- was just a bad case of the unskilled publicist. I need to believe that my future as a writer isn't filled with meaningless, time consuming internet confusion/spam/pan handling practices disguised as marketing efforts. As much as I love marketing and literary promotion I'm a writer first and last, so I need that the New Yorker article to be a wakeup call to the industry for us to return to the heart of publishing-creating and championing great storytelling to our world, not to my 1,2oo plus Facebook followers.

Secondly I hope these poor social media marketing practices fade very fast. Publishing Houses must understand how to create an authentic, efficient, yet intrusive social media design else their authors will crash and burn their brand like Miley Cyrus almost did on Twitter.

Last week she closed her account. As I watched her Youtube explanation for dropping Twitter I realized her problem had an easy solution, her publicist failed her. Because she used her account in pure form(as she should have,) she showed her vulnerability and consequently opened her brand up for scrutiny. For whatever reason(perhaps bad judgment or lack of social media best practices for celebrities) she chose to make her tweetstream public instead of private. Had she made her tweets private they would only be accessible to those she chose to follow. Therefore mass media wouldn't have turned her tweets into celebrity gossip. Instead she could have chosen a media blogger or media contact she respected and allowed in her tweetstream only.

Everything that I type and everything that I do/ All those lame gossip sites take it and they make it news." While I'd like to think that Newsroom is something more than a "lame gossip site," I can't help but wonder if I became part of the problem. -Miley Cyrus

In Day 19 of 30 Days to Build a Better Book Blog I want to share a tidbit with you about your blog content. You need to add your voice to every post, but to add value to your readers from time to time you need to share your writing life with your subscribers. People need to know that you are real and have feelings and concerns. You can use your blog to advocate for your brand and yourself. Miley Cyrus vlogs through Youtube; Writers can use a book blog in the same way.

I won't lie the New Media Age in publishing concerns me, as a publicist and author. I am concerned about the future of publishing as more houses close or lose their past solid distribution relationships. I am also bothered by the countless invitations I receive to book events via Constant Contact, Facebook, LinkedIn and so on. I find myself automatically deleting...

Nonetheless I wonder if authors will be able to craft a great novel during their off marketing hours. which seems to grow and grow. I wonder with all this online chatter will readers become desensitized by it like I am becoming.

One thing I really want to do is create a simple, common sense system for authors to manage and retain their ideal readers and connect them with more ideal readers who are praying for the books they write. I don't want my clients or my own book brand to be tainted because of these efforts and I definitely don't want DeeGospel PR to be the butt of a The New Yorker Article...

Dee

Friday, October 09, 2009

Weekend Chatterbox: Were you Suprised of Obama's Nobel Peace Prize?

Today the watercooler and blogosphere have been abuzz over President Brack Obama's 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Win. In an email I received this morning, President Obama state:

This morning, Michelle and I awoke to some surprising and humbling news. At 6 a.m., we received word that I'd been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009.

To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize -- men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.

But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.

That is why I've said that I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations and all peoples to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges won't all be met during my presidency, or even my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it's recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone.

This award -- and the call to action that comes with it -- does not belong simply to me or my administration; it belongs to all people around the world who have fought for justice and for peace. And most of all, it belongs to you, the men and women of America, who have dared to hope and have worked so hard to make our world a little better.

So today we humbly recommit to the important work that we've begun together. I'm grateful that you've stood with me thus far, and I'm honored to continue our vital work in the years to come.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

When I read this email this morning I was shocked. I didn't know he was nominated. So of course this weekend's chatterbox question is three fold:

Do you agree with the decision? if not, who should have won?
Do you feel like me that this award is ironic for our nation, since we are still bickering over the President's national healthcare initiative and trivializing his presidency?
based on his letter what could we do in our own home and community to be a peacemaker?

for me question 3 is something I have been working on I recommend you read Gary Chapman's Love as a Way of Life. It has helped me a lot the past three months.

Now your thoughts? (let me add a housekeeping rule. submit thoughtful comments

Dee

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Day 18: FTC Rules for Book Bloggers. Payments & Endorsements

This is Day 18 of 30 Days to Build a Better Book Blog.

I will step out of order(we were talking about book blog content,) in order to address a new and important issue for bloggers, especially book bloggers like us. Yesterday I posted on Twitter the new FTC Rules for Bloggers.

Today I want to simplify the rules in terms that we understand, as well as address a common dilemma between veteran book reviewers.

What the new FTC Rules mean?
Book Bloggers who receive payment or in-kind payment for a book review must disclose their relationship with the payor.

What is in-kind payment?

A book of retail value is considered in-kind. An ARC is not, because it cannot be sold and holds no value. The ARC or loose bound manuscript cannot be sold.

What if I do receive the actual book to review?
It's cool. However, in your review you need to add your relationship to the payor. You can write something simple as, "Disclosure: I was provided with this free product by ."

What if I was paid for the review?

You must disclose that you were paid a fee to write the endorsement.

Will this affect my credibility?

Read my next post to find out my answer. It's twofold.

If I don't disclose what will happen to me?
Fines for violating the new rule will run up to $11,000 per post.

paid blogger pic courtesy of media bistro.com

Trailer Park Tuesday: Ted Dekker's Green

This week's Trailer Park Tuesday feature's Ted Dekker's Green.

Dekker related posts:

Booker Prize Finalists Announced

Tonight at 10 Pm the Man Booker Prize announcement will take place at London's Guildhall and will be broadcast by the BBC just after 10pm across television, radio and online.

The Six Finalists are below. J.M. Coetzee may win for the third time, but the favorite for this year's prize is Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall. Wolf Hall is Thomas Cromwell's fictional account of the mess that went down when King Henry VIII had to have Anne Boleyn as his wife. A hot mess. IF you're a fan of the Tudors, the Showtime series or The Other Boleyn Girl the movie or a British History buff then you will like it. Thomas Cromwell, the first Earl of Essex was an interesting political figure. I am always amazed at how these people continue to shape society.

An excerpt...

Summer arrives with no intermission for spring, promptly on a Monday morning, like a new servant with a shining face: 13th April. He, Cromwell, is at Lambeth, with Audley and Archbishop Cranmer; as the sun shines strongly through the windows, he stands looking down at the palace gardens. This is how the book Utopia begins: friends, talking in a garden. On the paths below, Hugh Latimer and some of the King's chaplains are play-fighting, pulling each other around like schoolboys, Hugh hanging around the necks of two of his clerical fellows so his feet swing off the ground. All they need is a football to make a proper holiday of it. "Master More," Cromwell says, "why don't you go out and enjoy the sunshine? And we'll call for you again in half an hour, and put the oath to you again: and you'll give us a different answer, yes?"

Read full excerpt here

The Six Man Booker Finalists are: