We live in an information age and like it or not—it’s here to stay. That’s why it is imperative that writers learn to navigate through the World Wide Web and use it to market their books—and more importantly themselves. As an avid e-marketer, I’ve been kicking around the web since 1994 and have been using it as a marketing tool since I contracted for my first novel in 1998.

I’m thrilled to be able to bring you a savvy bunch of e-marketers. and I’m grateful to them for their willingness to step up and share what they’ve learned about e-Marketing.

And many thanks to Stephanie Kelsey for formatting our digital handout! :-)

Perilously yours,

Pauline

Pauline Baird Jones is the award-winning author of eight novels of action-adventure, suspense, romantic suspense and comedy-mystery. She's also written two non-fiction books, Adapting Your Novel for Film and Made-up Mayhem. Her seventh novel, Out of Time, an action-adventure romance set in World War II, is an EPPIE 2007 winner in the single title/mainstream category. Her eighth novel, The Key, will release in Fall, 2007 from LL Dreamspell.

Pauline is the President of The Final Twist, the Houston Chapter of Sisters in Crime and Vice President of EPIC, The Electronically Published Internet Connection. Originally from Wyoming, she and her family moved from New Orleans to Texas before Katrina

Marketing in the New E-Age: Author Branding

Jeri Smith-Ready

www.jerismithready.com

Myths About Author Branding

MYTH #1: A brand is a logo.

TRUTH: A brand is a promise to provide quality and a specific experience. Geico’s brand isn’t the charming English gecko; it’s common-sense, low-cost, no-fuss car insurance.

A logo is just one of your brand’s many visual elements, and visual elements are only part of your brand, which also consists of your public persona (online and in the flesh). Of course, the most important part of your brand is the writing itself.

MYTH #2: A brand is a pigeonhole.

TRUTH: A brand is uniquely yours, because it is about you, not about your genre or subgenre or even sub-sub-subgenre. It should follow you (and adapt to you) wherever the muse leads.

MYTH #3: A brand means I have to write the same kind of book over and over again.

TRUTH: Wow, I hope not! That would be boring for authors and readers alike. You can write a wide variety of books, as long as you keep to your core message.

A core message is the common denominator for all your stories. It reflects your life experience, your philosophy, your beliefs. A core message could be: “Love Conquers All,” or “Discover Yourself,” or “You Can’t Fight Destiny.”

And since your core message comes from your heart, no one else can copy it or give readers the same experience. See the next page for my own example.

MYTH #4: A brand is based on an author’s latest book.

TRUTH: Your latest book should reinforce your brand, not the other way around. Your publisher focuses on marketing your individual books or series, but they’re not marketing you as a brand. That’s your job.

MYTH #5: Branding is for “hacks” who think of their creative work as just another product, like detergent or breakfast cereal.

TRUTH: At its heart, a brand is about understanding who you are as a writer. Once you know that, you can build an identity and make creative choices that reinforce it. Ultimately a brand helps you deliver on a promise to your readers and ensure their loyalty no matter what kind of book you choose to write in the future.

Core Message Example:

When I first examined my core message, the common theme to all my novels, I was dismayed to discover I actually had two: Love Redeems All (my characters tend to to have dark pasts) and Be Yourself (as opposed to what others expect you to be).

But when I looked closer, I realized they were inextricably linked and formed one core message: When we’re loved for who we are, we can be anything we want.

Boiled down: Love is Freedom.

It goes to the heart of what I believe about humanity and the power of love. It carries through whether I write epic or urban fantasy, whether my tone is serious or funny or somewhere in between.

Simply put, I can’t help delivering this core message, because it’s a part of me.

What part of you comes to life in your writing?

Jeri Smith-Ready’s fascination with animals and magic infuses her debut romantic fantasy trilogy. The first installment, Eyes of Crow, won the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Fantasy Novel of 2006, and has been nominated for two Rita™ Awards.

Spring 2008 will see the debut of her new humorous urban fantasy series, featuring a cadre of vampire disc jockeys and the con artist trying to save their “lives.”

To keep her head in the real world, Jeri fosters not-so-magical dogs for a local rescue group.

www.jerismithready.com

Quick Steps to a Brand:

1.  Write down at least 10 adjectives to describe the image you want to

portray/associate with your writing.  Ex. Opulent, lush, sensuous,

light, tickling, crisp, cold, steely, funny, heartwarming, speedy, heart

pounding, alien

2.  Attach that to an image.  Cover art can help enormously with this.

3.  If you like, add a motto: ex: Exotic Tales by Jade Lee

4.  Put the image on everything.  Add the motto too if possible.  Ex,

Jade Lee's tigress image

5.  Dress the part in all public appearances.  Jade wears Asian clothes

at conferences and signings.

Ask Emily Post-it

Etiquette for Review Sites, Reader/Writer Loops,

News Groups and Promotion in General

The internet abounds with popular yahoo groups catering to readers looking for the best place to spend their buck and authors looking for fans. These are great places to get your name and work out in front of readers. However there are some definite dos and don’ts about what to do and how to do it! It’s also a good idea to maintain and grow a list of your own, your personal newsgroup where you can reach out to your growing circle of fans.

First some don’ts:

-- Be a drive by promo slut who only appears to tout her latest work. Most of the regular readers on these loops find this very irritating and will be turned off. You need to build a presence there, not an overpowering one but a recognized ‘member’ who comes across as friendly and upbeat, helpful and supportive of the overall community.

-- Conversely, let the chit-chat take over your time until you have none left to write! It is a real danger; you will find you do make some friends and it is easy to waste hours on line talking about everything. That is not getting your next book written. Budget your on-line time and use it wisely.

-- Bombard the lists with daily posts about your wonderful book. Two or three posts on promotion a month are more than enough! You want to get your name out there but not to the point where everyone says, “Oh geez, not her again!!” The fifth or tenth post that week about how wonderful Love Comes to Lucy is will make them skip posts with your name on them.

-- Make any catty or nasty comments about anyone anytime!! This will almost always come back to haunt you in one way or another. Mom or grandma was right when she said. “You can catch more flies with sugar than vinegar.” If you can’t say something nice, sit down and shut up!

And some dos:

-- Post a comment on a book you have read. Maybe exchange comments (kind of a mini-review) with a friend who also has a new book out. Suggest similar books if someone else mentions one she enjoyed. You are helping the readers here and your fellow authors. How can that be bad?

--Post a teaser excerpt of a new release, being sure to mark it as “adult” if it is explicit. Check the rules of each list to see what is allowed and approved of by the owner or moderator. Some lists are family friendly and others cater heavily to erotica, or highly sensual books. Know where you are and what they want.

--Congratulate other authors on good news they post—probably not daily but enough to be a presence beyond your own promo.

-- Post clips from favorable reviews, again not daily but maybe once a week if you have that many. Take just a sentence or two that is especially intriguing or laudatory. Posting whole reviews is not only hogging space, it can violate the reviewer’s or the review site’s ownership copyright of the review!

-- Now and then take the time to post a little bit about a favorite hobby, a trip you have recently taken or some other semi-personal tidbit. Most readers love to feel they are getting to know favorite authors. This helps make you a real person to them and thus builds a stronger connection to your books. Sometimes a bit of background on how or why you wrote a particular piece is also good. Insider information is cherished by many readers, especially in the romance and women’s fiction genres.

Review Sites

Before you request a review, check the list of those sites to which your publisher(s) automatically send their new releases (in your genre or sub-genre). They will usually have such a list published in the author section of their site along with FAQs, contract data, policies and so on. No use to duplicate efforts and it also clogs things up at the review sites, most of which are very busy these days! Then, read some reviews on the site to see how they tend to evaluate books like yours and whether they are snide, gushingly glowing to the point it is meaningless or honest but diplomatic! Some reviewers/sites have earned a sound reputation for recognizing and acknowledging good books and not letting reviewer personal prejudices intrude into how a book is reviewed. Those are the ones to use! Ask fellow authors about their experiences if you are a relative newbie.

I have done some reviewing myself for several sites. It is an enjoyable exercise and can be helpful when you get into a slump or issues in your personal life put a damper on your own muse for awhile. Some sites allow published authors to review, some don’t. Those that do will usually restrict you from reviewing books from your publisher(s) which is only fair. Ethical reviewers will probably excuse themselves from reviewing books by friends or critique partners etc. If possible check into these aspects when picking review sites to patronize.

Follow the site’s procedures to a ‘t’ when you request a review. Some want the book sent with the request; others want to assign it to a reviewer and have you send the book to a coordinator or directly to the reviewer. Do it their way; this will go a long ways toward making them feel favorable about you as a professional and increase the likelihood that you can get future work reviewed there.

When you are notified that the review is available, check it for any errors in spelling, ISBN, and similar information and politely send any corrections to the moderator, coordinator or whoever is in charge. Emphasis on the politely here! Reviewers are people too and can make accidental mistakes, not because they are stupid or mean or anything else but just because Stuff Happens.

Then be sure to thank the reviewer. Some can be contacted directly and other sites have all comments and thanks forwarded through the coordinator. Even if the review is not a good one, someone did take the time to read and comment so a courtesy thank you is always appropriate.

Don’t spring to your own defense if a critical comment was made; this is just one person’s opinion to which s/he has a complete right!!

Even a basically negative review will probably have a sentence or two that is complimentary which you can extract and use. Selective clipping is allowed and is sometimes wise! Don’t change any words (a ‘sic’ or noted correction can be legal however) but somewhat out of context quotes can be made judiciously. If the reviewer in effect said, “This book sucks in general but the hero was yummy,” you can certainly pull out “…the hero was yummy” and credit the reviewer! (i.e.) Rita Reviewer at Romance Reigns said, “…the hero is yummy.”

If a site continues to give you negative reviews, obviously they are not into you or your work so quit asking them for reviews. If many sites give you bad reviews, but your books are selling like hotcakes, well—maybe stop seeking reviews. If reviews are bad and sales are flat, you had better look at your work and see how to make it better, consider shifting to a publisher who uses good, tough editors to help authors make their work the best it can be, or find a new line of endeavor. I’m not being smart here, just painfully honest and direct.

Publishing at all levels is a cut-throat and dog-eat-dog business. The key concept here is it is a business and if it is not turning a profit, it won’t last. You have to keep this in mind at every stage of the process. The authors who turn in a quality product and then get out and work to get reviews, to promote their books, and cultivate readers by whatever means they can are the ones who will still be around in five or ten years. The one-book wonders who lack in any of these areas can say they are a published author –perhaps that is all they really want to do--but that with fifty cents may by you a cup of coffee. Not at Starbucks though.

I will be compiling an extensive list of review sites and of yahoo groups where promotion is not only allowed by encouraged, grouped by genre or focus in the coming months. Right now I could list my favorites but there are many more and a wide variety of focuses. My choices might not work best for everyone. I suggest you sign up for my newsletter as I will be making more of this kind of information available in coming months. deirdredares@yahoogroups,.com

Bio and Publishing Credits:

Gwynn Morgan is a multi-published small press/electronic author with nine novels to her credit to date. Her publishers include Awe-Struck E-Books, Amber Quill Press, Hard Shell Word Factory and Treble Heart Books. Her first novel, Powerful Medicine was the winner of the 2002 LORIE award for best long romance by a new author. The tenth novel, January Gets her Gunn, will be out in early 2008 from Awe-Struck. Prior to publication she placed or won in a number of contests sponsored by various chapters of RWA to include the Maggie, Silver Heart, Heart of the West, >From the Heart, Heart to Heart, Love in Uniform, and the Outreach Award of Excellence.

Writing as Deirdre O’Dare, she has twelve shorter works available at Amber Quill Press in their Amber Heat line. Her first, Karola’s Hunt was a winner in the first Amber Heat Wave Contest in 2004. One of her latest, Doggone Love, was the #1 best seller for March 2007. Her first print anthology, Daring Dreams, a collection of four fantasy/paranormal erotic romance stories which includes Karola’s Hunt and February’s #7 best seller, Nellie’s Rogue Stallion is newly released. Daring Delights, featuring several of her contemporary cop and cowboy tales will be out later this year. Journal of a Timid Temptress was released in April to be followed by Cowgirl Up in June.

Thinking Strategically... Looking Beyond the Obvious… Thinking Outside of the Box.

By Shannon Aviles

1. MARKETING – BRAND DEVELOPMENT AND PLACEMENT

Create a Plan

Develop a Strategy

Continuity is the “Key”

2. PUBLICITY/PROMOTION

START WITH A BUDGET!

YOU ARE A CELEBRITY!

5 THINGS EVERY AUTHOR MUST DO

6 THINGS EVERY AUTHOR MUST HAVE

YOUR PROMOTIONS AUDIENCES

WORK YOUR AUDIENCE

WHERE TO PROMOTE YOURSELF

3. COLLATERAL DEVELOPMENT

Brand Sensitive

Cost Effective

Target Markets

4. ADVERTISING

The Free and the Paid

5. PUBLIC & MEDIA RELATIONS

Pitches and Hooks

6. SPECIAL EVENTS

Opportunities to Attract New Audiences

7. WEB DESIGN and SEO

Get them there, keep them with you and have them come back for more!

8. VIRAL MARKETING

Attracting New Prospective Readers

9. BOOKTRAILERS, TEASERS and MINI-TEASERS

To do or Not to do….

10. PUBLISHING HOUSES

Make them your Allies not your Adversaries!

11. BOOKSELLERS/VENDORS

The Hidden “Key” to your Success!

12. COMPETITORS

Who are they Really?

Thursday, April 26^th; 11-12.

The Low Down On Internet Promotion: The Home Of Paid And The Land Of Some Free

Speaker: Sheila Clover English, CEO Circle of Seven Productions

Worksheet #1SE

Objective: To identify a starting point in your promotional and marketing endeavors. Establish a goal. Identify resources and needs. Discuss budget and Internet opportunities.

What is your goal? What is your mission statement?

What resources do you have?

What resources do you need?

Who is your target audience? Be specific. Who is most likely to look at the title of your book, or see your book cover and say, “I have GOT to read that!”

What is your budget?

(note that your budget is not the biggest priority here, nor the most important thing. Why not? Because most of us don’t have one. So, we have to work with what we have. Work within your means.)

What can you do within that budget?

Internet – Free stuff

Online press releases

User-generated articles and freelancing

User-generated video

Social sites

Internet – Low cost – Big Bang

Banner ads

Web Site

Contests

For a list of free resources go to – www.sf-english.com/resources

Marketing in the New E-Age

The Website and Beyond

Rob Preece

Publisher, www.BooksForABuck.com

The Internet has become the single-most powerful tool available to the author, small publisher, or aspiring writer in its ability to reach huge numbers of people, communicate messages rich in media, and in its accessibility both to users/readers and, importantly, to creators. In this brief handout, I’d like to discuss just a few of the tools and strategies a writer, whether published or as-yet unpublished, can use to carve out a place on the net, increase visibility, and ultimately generate a significant volume of sales.

It’s incredibly easy to get a website. Many ISPs offer free web hosting for their customers, and there are dozens or hundreds of free hosting sites. Many of these offer scripting, allowing you to create your website without learning HTML, the markup language used on the web. For a few dollars, you can get a domain name (like www.yourname.com). There are also dozens of free blog locations, places for you to post your videos, and free tools to let you create chat rooms, forums, and mail lists. A couple you will want to consider are: Yahoo’s mail lists, Google’s mail lists, Microsoft Office Live hosting, Bravenet web services, and Myspace and Blogspot blogs.

If you’re going to have a website, what should you put on it? You’d be surprised what works. Here are some of my discoveries:

People like connecting with authors. Author Jane Graves, for example, finds huge interest in her Dumb Cat Photos.
People come back when you change your content often. Author Karen Leabo’s ‘picture of the day’ gives regular visitors a reward for making a visit a part of a daily routine. BooksForABuck.com posts book reviews of the latest fiction, even for books we don’t publish, also to encourage readers to swing by often
People will not come back often to read what is, essentially, a brochure.
Blogs are useful ways of connecting to people because they have tools for comments, and because they really encourage the personal connection.

There are a lot of on-line organizations, mailing lists, and groups where you can promote yourself and your book. One thing to consider is, who is on those lists. In many cases, you’ll find that the other members are all fellow authors, all desperately flogging their books to each other. While most writers are also readers, you’ll want to reach beyond the writer community. Don’t spend all of your marketing energy going after the people who probably already get a dozen or more promotional messages a day. One nice thing about websites like MySpace is that they allow you to forge multiple communities—with people who share your interest in hobbies, background in education, professions, or love for particular authors—interests that can be turned to your advantage when it’s time to sell your book. One note that applies to all groups and blogs, though—remember to be a friend first. Nobody likes people who only show up to promote their books and then vanish. If the venues don’t interest you as a reader, don’t bother them as a writer.

Dropping from the high-level to the bottom-line specifics, I’ve got a list of do’s and don’ts:

Do create a signature line for your e-mail. It’s acceptable to add a line or two about you, your book, or your website
Do create a website
Add new content frequently. Think of your own browsing—you probably return to certain websites almost daily, and every one of those websites is one with new content daily
If you wouldn’t want to read it/see it from another author, don’t think anyone will want to see it from you
Video trailers are the hot thing among authors—be careful getting too hooked on sizzle, though. Unless your video is really exceptional, you won’t attract the tens of thousands of viewers a few YouTube videos manage
Do think about search engines. Most of your new traffic is likely to come from them. If you write vampire erotica, include multiple words for vampire and erotica on your home page (e.g., vampire, undead, living dead, nosferatu) to help searchers find you. Make sure the words are in text and (where appropriate) in ‘alt tags’ for images. Don’t just use word images. Definitely don’t game the search engines, though. Using invisible words (white on white), repeated words, or super-small print can result in your pages being banned by the engines.
If you blog, do so regularly. Once a week is better than five times in one week then nothing for a month. Once a day (or more) is best
Don’t expect editors to find your website, but do expect editors to Google you if you submit to them. If they like what they see, that’s a positive. If not, not so much.
It’s not about how much you spend. Show creativity
Respect copyright. This isn’t just the law, it’s common sense. Publishers are in the copyright business. If you violate copyright by posting others’ work, stealing art, or if you have posted long excerpts from your work, you are going to make yourself a less attractive business partner for the publisher
Be careful with ad spending. Buying search words or phrases, banner ads, and text ads has some appeal, but most viewers are blind to ads—it takes an exceptional ad, or a super-low price to make your ads worth the investment
If you’re published, talk to your publisher’s marketing department about ways you can work with them—and they can work with you. Coordinated marketing works better than getting in each other’s way.

Even fifteen years ago, a new author could do little more than hope her book would catch on. The web offers a powerful opportunity for unknown authors to break out, be discovered, and to create a real personal connection to the reader that goes beyond the book. It’s easy to get too excited and spend too much money, but there is a lot the new or experienced author can do to increase her visibility, add value to herself with publishers, and to grab the new wave and ride it to success.

What Should I Put On My Website?

By: Cathy Clamp

One of the most important decisions an aspiring or published author has to make is deciding what information to put on their website. Of course, the whole reason for a website is so the public . . . the reading public . . . can find the author. Hopefully, the result of that “finding” is the sale of a book or a future fan if the book isn’t yet published.

But what do people want to see to keep them interested enough to come back? How about if they find the site by accident? What will make them stay? Yes, there are a million opinions on design of a website and, what one person considers “easy” to use, another person will find difficult. But what are the elements that EVERY author site should contain, that can make or break a happy visit from a fan? How about things to avoid to avoid chasing visitors away?

For the past few months, I’ve been polling a wide variety of readers on this very subject, using the power of the internet itself to reach the most people possible. From bulletin boards to forums, Yahoo loops, MySpace and library reading groups—I put out the question to more than forty thousand prospective readers: “What do you want?” Of the over twenty forums and loops I’ve contacted, more than one hundred thirty people responded, both publicly and in private. Respondents included Romance readers, plus those who prefer SF, Fantasy, Mystery, Horror, Literary, Non-fiction, Biographies/Memoirs and even Western afficionados.

Here, then, are the findings to the very specific questions I asked. Hopefully, all of you can make use of these preferences when designing your own site. Not all of the percentages I’ve used here will add up to exactly 100% because often people would state more than one preference in various parts of the questionnaire. One thing I found very interesting was the shared interests of readers, regardless of their preferred reading topic.

Which of these elements do you REQUIRE on an author’s site in order to visit a second time?

ì In-depth information about the author? (and how in-depth do you like it? The author's hobbies and interests or National Enquirer-style dirt?)

83% of respondents want basic information about the author. They like to see: how the author started writing, the process of creating the characters, hobbies, the kind of music the author enjoys and how the author gets ideas for books.

40% of respondents do NOT want to hear dirt about the author, including: nasty divorce cases, drinking/drug problems, child custody battles, pets dying, or DUI/assault arrests.

17% of respondents want to know if the author owns cats. Don’t ask me why...

14% of respondents want homey, informative bits about the author that make the reader feel like they “know” the author.

6% of respondents want to know if the author has any specific background that will create a more realistic book (like, for example, if the author used to be a nurse who now writes medical mysteries or a former FBI agent who writes romantic suspense.)

í The books. What do you want to see about them:

a. Blurbs and covers only?

b. Excerpt to read (is a chapter enough for you to know if you want to buy?)

c. Reviews of the book from sites/reviewers you know?

d. Direct hyperlink to buy somewhere?

e. Do you like ALL the books on one LOOONG page, or go from page to page for more depth?

f. Do you like to see a notation genre on a title if you've never read the author and they write various kinds of books?

g. How about content "ratings" on titles (like G, PG, R, X, or sweet, spicy, hot tamale?)

a. 100% of respondents want to see back cover blurbs and the cover of a book so they can find it in the store.

b. 86% of respondents want to read an excerpt. These were split nearly in half as to whether the excerpt should be a page or a full chapter.

c. Only 23% care about seeing reviews on a site. If a person mentioned a review was important, the comment always specified that the review had to be by a trusted reviewer/magazine to have any meaning.

d. 72% of respondents wanted a hyperlink to buy the book. This was especially important if the book is an ebook. One issue that came up repeatedly in the “no” responses was that author sites only seemed to link to websellers in their home country, which made foreign readers (whichever side of the ocean they were on) feel like outsiders.

e. 93% of respondents prefer individual pages per book. A common theme seemed to be a page that showed all covers, where each cover could be linked for more information about that book.

f. 71% of respondents would be very interested in a notation of the genre of books, especially if the author writes in several genres/subgenres.

g. 45% of respondents would be interested in a content rating of some sort so the reader knows what they’re buying, but mention they’ve never seen it before.

As a side note, 61% of respondents independently mentioned that they want to see the reading order of series book, and how they are related (e.g., whether a book focuses on a prior book’s secondary characters, or is a true sequel to a prior book.)

î Photo gallery?

a. Signings only with fans and other authors, or at-home candid stuff (their office, pets, etc?)

b. Would you prefer to see a "Work Safe" or "Don't open at work" tag BEFORE you open a gallery page (especially with spicier authors?)

a. Only 35% of respondents want to see personal photographs that don’t relate to writing (conferences, appearances, etc.) but 57% are interested in a photograph of the author’s work space.

b. 2% mentioned they would prefer a “work safe” label prior to loading.

c. 17% mentioned they want to see photos of the author’s cats. (Weird, huh? Readers are apparently big on cats.)

ï Is a dedicated forum/message board a must or is a guestbook okay? How about a blog?

70% of respondents felt they would participate in a forum, message board or guestbook if one was available. Of those, the vote was split in thirds on the preferred venue. Those who liked one (message board, forum or guestbook) actively disliked the others. 50% of the respondents are blog readers, but ONLY if the blog was regularly updated. “Regularly” was defined as weekly or more often.

ð How far in advance do you like to see upcoming book tours or appearances show up on the site?

83% of respondents like to know about upcoming tours or appearances. The overwhelming preference for advance notice was one month.

ñ Do you like to play games or puzzles on a site?

91% of respondents do NOT play games on a site. The few positive responses preferred trivia questions about the author’s books, with the answers included on a separate page, or far enough down on the same page that they can’t easily “cheat.”

ò Are contests to win books/prizes important to you?

6% of respondents enter contests to win books. Of those who indicated they did NOT enter contests, 50% stated they felt like their email address was being “farmed” for future spam mailings, which made them not enter.

ó Is there anything else you like/dislike when you visit a new site (music, “whistles and bells” like tracking cursors with bats or hearts, book trailers (movies about the books), or flashing/moving banner ads?)

97% of respondents actively hate music that loads on entry, flash play entry portals, and tracking cursors. Some specific comments on this issue:

“I hate music and funky cursors. When I browse online, I am often listening to my own music. Website music annoys me beyond words. Flashy, graphic heavy sites give me a headache, and often I will pass them by.”

“I hate it when music plays as soon as the site loads, and I have to turn it off. If they want to have music, let me decide whether to turn it on (I usually will -- music says a lot about someone, but it’s annoying when theirs plays over mine).”

“I don’t like a lot of special effects, they tend to give me a headache.”

“I don't like music on websites, because I listen to my own. Also, I might be some place (work, school) where I can’t have music coming from the ‘puter anyway. Odd cursors are just irritating.”

“Oh dear dog! I’m on dial-up, and the minute some of this flashy stuff comes up, click goes my mouse and I’m gone, never to return. I’m not good at figuring out how to turn them off in the best times. But worst are the moving entry pages that don’t let you opt-out at all. If it takes more than ten seconds to load, I’m gone.”

“Why do some authors feel they have to load up big photos and sparkling glitter? I’m on a ten year old machine where I have to dial in. Text is tough enough for my old clunker, not to mention weird stuff that tries to refresh every few seconds.”

“Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, will make me close down a website faster than music, tracking cursors, and flashing/moving banner ads!”

“I hate all of the above. I mean hate. These are the web design features of bright middle-school students. Authors must remember the reader who has a slow connection (dial-up, or faster but shared with their entire dorm) who may be sitting, waiting for several minutes for all this unnecessary crap to load and may not know how to turn off any of it. Music in particular is inappropriate--the site's visitor may be at work, the library, or have a colicky infant asleep at last on her lap--until that damned midi started.”

But that very same 97% LIKES book trailers (provided there’s a link and it’s not forced on the visitor) and several mentioned they enjoy links to audio interviews, podcasts or television appearances.

ô What do you think about a page with links to the author's favorite sites or "for further reading" links?

98% of respondents enjoy having the opportunity to read more about a novel’s topic, or find out where the author got their data. Likewise, they enjoy visiting websites of the author’s favorite authors, favorite bands or even political links.

Next, how often do you visit an individual author's site if it's a FAVORITE author? Do you visit:

ì Hardly ever. I just like to read. Don't really care about the author's life.

22% chose this option.

í Occasionally. Mostly when a new book is due out.

71% chose this option, meaning authors have the opportunity to create return visits to the website by strategic mention of upcoming titles.

î Pretty often. I visit favorite author sites every few weeks.

4% chose this option.

ï Nearly every day. I go to at least one author site a day and always look for new sites.

3% chose this option, but stipulated that mostly they visit an attached forum or message board, rather than the actual website.

How about if it's a NEW author you've only just learned about?

ì Do you visit their site to read excerpts to see if you want to buy the book?

100% of respondents will visit the website of an unknown author if something in the marketplace makes them aware of the author (review, attractive cover in bookstore, mention on a forum or loop, or recommendation from a friend.)

í Does the design or ease of use of the site influence your purchase of their book? Do you EXPECT multiple pages to wander through?

60% of respondents admitted that the visual appeal of a website affected their decision on whether to buy a recently discovered author’s books.

î Does WHERE their site is matter? For example, if the domain name is the author’s name, does that matter to you more than say, if the author has a single page on a community site, like sff.net, Geocities, Freeweb, or Authors Den?

87% of respondents admitted that a community site made them think less favorably of an author because of the site’s location. Some of the comments on this issue were:

“I prefer it if the author has their own website.”

“Okay, so I'm an elitist snob, but I expect a legitimately published author to fork over the ten bucks and have a dedicated domain name, the equivalent of Yournamehere.com. I also expect a paid host/server, so the site has no advertising. The sharing of a communal site seems unprofessional, or perhaps simply unaware, to me. Worst of all in terms of professionalism are sites hosted by angelfire, geocities, or AOL.”

“It does reflect on the author if they use a free site, and not well. I expect the author to have their own domain name.”

“If it's a community site, I will pause and wonder. I may check them out a little further (for example, to see if they are self published, POD, micro press, big press). Yes, I admit it seems snobby, but I think that personal domains are more professional for published authors.”

¼~~~~~~~½

So, there you have it. What does the reader want? They want to know:

ì About the BOOKS. Cover, blurb, excerpt, trailer (if available.)

í About upcoming APPEARANCES and signings.

î About links to interesting INFORMATION related to the books.

ï About YOU, as a writer.

What will make them leave your site?

ì Things that SLOW DOWN their machine.

í Things that TAKE AWAY their choice.

î Things that CONFUSE, DISTRACT or ANNOY them.

Good luck with your site!

Cathy Clamp is 1/2 of the USA Today bestselling author team of C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp. The co-authors have five paranormal romance novels on the shelf for Tor Books, with another six to be released in 2007-2009. Their August, 2005, Sazi shapeshifter novel, Moon’s Web, was the winner of the 2006 RT Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Werewolf Romance. Captive Moon, their August, 2006, release is a finalist in the same category of this year’s RT award.

TALES OF THE SAZI:

December, 2004 August, 2005 August, 2006 January, 2007

ISBN 0765349132 ISBN 0765349140 ISBN 0765354012 ISBN 0765354020

THE THRALL:

March, 2006 COMING SOON!

ISBN 0765354004 May 29, 2007

ISBN 0765356635

Survey “On Authors’ Newsletters”

by Rowena Cherry

Newsletter: http://www.rowenacherry.com/newsletter/

“I subscribe to authors’ newsletters because I’ve already enjoyed a book by that author.”

“I subscribe … only for the chance of winning

free books and/or other prizes.”

“If there is a link that allows me to go straight to the contest, I don't read anything else.”

“I've never bought an author's book because

of something I read in her newsletter.”

“If there was no contest, I wouldn't subscribe.”

“I'm more likely to like an author whose

newsletter I receive.”

My favorite newsletters contain:

A. CONTESTS

B. EXCERPTS

C. REVIEWS

D. LINKS

E. NEWS OF BOOKSIGNINGS AND APPEARANCES

F. PICTURES

MAKING PERSONAL CONTACT IN A VIRTUAL WORLD

(Promotion, Newsletters, Contests, Joint Ops, Blogging, Book Videos and More)

From Panelist Rowena Cherry: www.rowenacherry.com

newsletter: www.rowenacherry.com/newsletter/

book video: http://www.youtube.com/v/RNnX5dyfzmQ

group blog: http://www.aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com

25 Free Ways An Author Can Promote Herself/Get Friends To Help Her Promote

#1. Help the search engines: Why? Even if your friends know where to find you, your blog, and your books, “hits” help. The more visitors the search engine spiders find, the more priority the author's website gets. So: ask your friends to Google you, ask Jeeves about you, Dogpile you, A9 search you, Yahoo search, Blog search.

#2. Having “Searched”, have friends Visit - your website; blogs; author pages. (Reciprocate for other authors).

#3 Amazon Connect.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/arms/directory/A/2/105-8737680-2353243#directory

links to an alphabetical directory by last name. Click on other authors’ name and go to their Amazon pages where you can: Invite her as an Amazon Friend. Add her to your list of Interesting People. E-mail her page (to your other friends). Add her posts to your plog, Click on every link. Reciprocate.

#4 Click to read any reviews other authors have written, ask your friends to do the same for you. If you like them, click Helpful. If you may comment on her review, do so.

Why? If authors write reviews, their books are advertised free in the attribution line, and their links to their page and their books are seen by people who are interested in the products that your friend reviewed.

#5. If there’s a link to your own web site, click on it… to give the site traffic. Then go back to Amazon.

#6. If you, the author, have blogged there will be a link to Comment. Ask your friends to Comment and vote that they liked your post (it’s encouraging feedback). Do the same for others.

#7 If you, the author click “product” as you write your Amazon blog, the cover image of one of your books will link to your Buy The Book page. Ask your friends to Click. Give your book page traffic. Have them Scroll down and see your bibliography, who your other friends are, what search suggestions you’ve made, what “tags” you’ve created for each of your books, and what tags your readers have added. Even your Reminders are promo.

#8. If another author has a reminder on the calendar for a booksigning near you, click on Remind Me Too. Booksignings are nerve-racking. Support is always appreciated, even if you don’t buy her book. Remember the golden rule, and also that no author can write a book as fast as a reader can read it.

#9. Check out her friends, click on other authors whose books you like. Amazon often pairs up two books by different authors and suggests “Buy Both”.

#10. When you are on another author’s book page (in your genre), without buying that book, click on links to:

Put it on your wish list. It’s extra, free advertising. Tell a friend. Scroll down the book page to Tag this product. (or make a search suggestion). Add a tag. (Loved it! Can’t wait to read it! Soooo romantic! Etc)

#11. Join in the Customer discussions. Ask a question. Start a discussion. The search engines pick up on the discussions.

#12 If you have read other authors’ book: write a customer review. It doesn’t have to be long or scholarly. Be as generous with the star rating as you can. Try to be specific about what you liked best about the story or one of the characters. Don’t give away the ending. It doesn’t matter if some people think that you are friends. More often than not, you became friends because you like and respect each other’s talent, or sense of humor, or something you bring to your writing. People do respect recommendations

#13. Ditto all of the above for Barnes and Noble, E-Bay, Borders, Chapters Indigo, Waterstone’s, Amazon uk, Amazon ca, (did you know the overseas Amazons have different content?) or any other bookstore chain that allows customer reviews, comments, discussions etc. Or, simply search online bookstores for her name, titles, reviews.

#14. If you have a MySpace page (and if you don’t, but really want to help yourself or an author friend, get one… it’s free) invite your author friends to be your friends there. Write a bulletin about your friend or her book. Add a comment on their profile page’s comments section. Your comment is their opportunity to say something about their book without the appearance of soliciting. Review their book on your MySpace blog. Or on You Tube!

#15. If your publisher or your author friends’ publisher has a forum, join it and ask her questions. For instance, Dorchester Publishing (home of Leisure and LoveSpell ) has http://forums.dorchesterpub.com/

Again, your comment will be seen by hundreds, if not thousands, and it will give your friend a reason to post something interesting and quotable about her book without seeming to be self-promoting.

#16. If you have a blog or website, (and you should always secure your own domain name before you become famous yourself) publicize your own and your friends’ upcoming signings/author talks/workshops on your blog. Mention their website URLs. Link to your author friends’ websites or blogs on yours. Put their book as a 'must read' on your own site, or in your own newsletter. Most people reciprocate one way or another.

#17. If you belong to readers’ group sites, or book chat sites, or special interest sites, post what you are reading. Plugs never hurt. These are also picked up on RSS feeds and the search engines.

#18. Join your favorite author’s yahoo group, let her know where you’ve seen her book in stores, or where you’ve seen discussions of her book, or reviews of her book.

#19. Drop in on your friends online chats to say how you enjoyed her book. Supportive friends at chats are cool because chats can be chaotic, and typing answers takes time.

#20. Send e-mails to your entire address list recommending your friends’ books.

#21. Offer to take a bunch of her bookmarks to conventions, or conferences, and make sure they are put in goodie bags, or on promo tables. Or simply visit her table at a convention, and sign up for her newsletter, or pick up her bookmark and tell someone else how good the book is. Offer to slip her bookmarks into your own correspondence when you pay bills, taxes, etc.

#22. Instead of quoting Goethe in your sig file, try quoting a line from your friend’s blurb in the week of her launch, and maybe she’ll quote a line from yours one day.

#23. If you see a good review—on any bookselling site that allows customers and visitors to comment on reviews-- click Helpful if it is a helpful review. Votes help both the reviewer and the author (especially the reviewer’s rankings ). If you see a bad review (eg where the reviewer hasn’t read the book), click Not Helpful. If you see a personal attack disguised as a “review” click Report This, and tell the author. If enough people click to report ugly remarks, bad reviews come down in 50-60% of the time

#24. If you see your favorite author’s books in a supermarket or bookstore (or your own):

Facing her books (if there is room, turn one so the cover shows). Tell store personnel how much you like that book, or that the author is local. If you don’t see her books, especially when they ought to be there, ask about them. Ask your library to order your friend's book, too.

#25. Buy her book. If you are an author, having a stash of other authors’ autographed books means you always have something classy and cool to give away as a prize.

With thanks to the following for their help and suggestions

Kathleen Bacus, http://www.kathybacus.com

Diana Groe, http://www.dianagroe.com

Joyce Henderson, http://www.joycehendersonauthor.com

Diane Wylie, http://www.dianewylie.com

Jacquie Rogers, http://www.jacquierogers.com.

Deborah Anne MacGillivray, http://deborahmacgillivray.co.uk

Charlotte Maclay, http://www.CharlotteMaclay.com

List compiled by Rowena Cherry, author of Insufficient Mating Material, Feb/2007, http://www.rowenacherry.com

***

Postage is going up to ) .41c in May. All the more reason to team up with three or four authors in your genre, with releases in the same month as yours, to share postage, and group-mail bookstores and romance reader groups.

For $60 pa, you can subscribe to Rouse’s Readers Group List of over 100 great contacts. Email Rousepat@aol.com.

Websites:	http://amarketingexpert.com/ameblog/?p=91
Webtips:	http://www.redhotinternetpublicity.com/blog/
Social Bookmarking:	Technorati, Del.icio.us, Flickr.
Newsletters to take for tips on book promotion:	http://www.amarketingexpert.com/#
Newsletters and mailing lists:	http://www.bravenet.com/webtools/elist/
Gift ideas:	www.EarthlyCharms also be on the lookout for sales and special promotions.
Printing:	Use Vistaprint offers to order free postcards: http://www.vistaprint.com/vp/ns/sign_in.aspx?mm=1
Author Pages (free):	Set up accounts at MySpace, Google, Blogspot, YouTube, Amazon Connect, author’s den, LibraryThing.

Possible Venues To Consider For On-Line Promotion

From Panelist: Catherine Snodgrass (www.catherinesnodgrass.com)

aka Caitlyn Willows (www.caitlynwillows.com)

Always join all the discussion loops available through your publisher. You’ll discover many opportunities by talking with your fellow authors.

For Doing Your Own Newsletter: Though there are other more detailed programs available, this is a simple way to start and is fairly well known.

www.yahoogroups.com

Sites On Which To Promote: This is not a full list of every place available, but provides a good starting point. Don’t forget organizations to which you might belong.

MySpace	www.myspace.com
The Romance Studio (for nonerotic authors)	www.theromancestudio.com
TRSBlue (for erotic authors)	www.theromancestudio.com/blue
The Romance Galleria	www.theromancegalleria.com
Romance Junkies	www.romancejunkies.com
Know Better	www.knowbetter.com
Romance At Heart	www.romanceatheart.com
eBookPalace	www.ebookpalace.com
BitBooks	www.bitbooks.com
Mind Like Water	www.mindlikewater.com
Amazon Connect (similar to MySpace)	www.amazon.com/connect

Online Sites For Reasonable PR Material:

www.cafepress.com

www.vistaprint.com

Contests For Authors: Check out these sites for information on contests for authors. Entering contests can also generate recognition for your work and gain you new readers. These are on-line contests that accept ebook entries in ebook format. There are many more that allow ebook entries if they are printed out. Since the focus of this workshop is on-line marketing, those are not listed.

EPPIE	www.epicauthors.org
Passionate Plume	www.passionateink.org
Dream Realm	www.dream-realm-awards.net
Lories Best Published Contest	www.fthrw.com

Review Sites:

(Always check with the site for their current rules regarding review submission. Also, some review sites also have advertising opportunities available.)

Coffee Time	www.coffeetimeromance.com
Fallen Angel	www.fallenangelreviews.com
JERR	www.justeroticromancereviews.com
Romance Junkies	www.romancejunkies.com
Romance Reviews Today	www.romrevtoday.com/
Road to Romance	www.roadtoromance.ca
The Romance Studio	www.theromancestudio.com
A Romance Review	www.aromancereview.com
Cupid's Library	www.cupidslibraryreviews.de
Erotic Bookworm	www.theeroticbookworm.tripod.com
eCataRomance	www.ecataromance.com
Erotic Escapades	www.erotic-escapades.com/
Enchanted in Romance	www.enchantedinromance.bravehost.com/
Enchanted Ramblings	www.enchantedramblings.net
In The Library	www.inthelibraryreviews.net
Joyfully Reviewed	www.joyfullyreviewed.com
Literary Nymphs	www.literarynymphs.com
Love Romances	www.loveromances.com/
Novelspot	www.novelspot.net
The Pink Possee	www.thepinkposse.net
Two Lips Reviews	http://www.twolipsreviews.com/content/

Legal Aspects Of The Internet For Authors

I. Web sites

A. Copyright Issues

B. Domain names

C. Trademark Issues

D. Misrepresentation -- Defamation/Slander

E. Linking/Framing

A. Copyright Issues

A copyright is a property interest. A copyright is secured automatically when the work is "created." And created is defined as when it is first "fixed" in a copy or a phonorecord or even on a hard drive for the first time. Thus, an author, artist, web designer or anyone who creates an original work has a commonlaw copyright in the work they created as soon as it is fixed in a medium.

Commonlaw copyright is a body of case law that has built up over the years. Also many States have statutes that codify the commonlaw for further protection.

Note, many creators go on to register their works federally with the U.S. Copyright Office. I have included with these materials a lecture I gave to a Florida writers organization on whether or not to formally register a copyright in a work. The lecture addresses fiction in book form (including e-books) but the underlying reasons on registration are the same.

Web sites can be formally registered. A web site owner would use the serial rights form for magazines and periodical publications. [http://www.copyright.gov/forms/formsei.pdf]

In my opinion, at the very minimum, a web site should be re-registered once a year since there are constant changes to web sites in design and content. A yearly web site copyright registration would protect most periodical changes made to the site.

But note, a web site owner does not need to register to have commonlaw copyright protection. Federal copyright just has some advantages as to burden of proof and costs of the litigation to defend a copyright. [See material from Florida Writer's lecture on Copyright as to whether or not to register.]

The holder of a copyright (and I am addressing both commonlaw and federal law when I speak of copyright) has the right to prevent others from copying, displaying or passing her work on to others without the copyright holder's express permission.

There are exceptions for the need to get permission, the Fair Use Doctrine being the primary one.

"Fair Use" doctrine:

Fair use is a doctrine that allows courts to avoid a rigid application of the copyright laws. Normally, fair use is used to justify works of criticism, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research, although it has been expanded somewhat through case law depending on the particular fact situation. To be safe use the following guidelines:

a. purpose of the use - - including whether or not the use is for commercial nature or for a nonprofit nature. Commercial unless it fits into one of the standard categories of fair use cited above is usually a bad thing and should be avoided.

b. the nature of the copyrighted work itself - - is it a text book or a book of fiction, for example.

c. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole, i.e, are you quoting one line or a whole chapter?

d. the effect of the use on the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work, i.e., will your use of another's work in part harm the original copyright holder's monetary interest in his work?

The primary concern in creating a web page, or even just posting on the Internet in other forums, is to avoid infringing on another's copyright. Getting sued by a copyright holder is only one of the problems facing you if you violate another's work. Internet Service Provider's (ISPs) may shut your site down or kick you off forums and listserves for such violations; this is because ISPs can be held liable for copyright violations on their servers. [list cases]. [See ISP discussion later in these materials.]

A web site owner can get into trouble by copying from another place, whether it is on the Internet or written material scanned and then copied onto the web site. Various ways this copying violation can occur:

1. "Derivative works" -- creating a new image or work from someone else's original work. This is a common occurrence. Someone sees a cool graphic or image on another site and then copies it to their computer and manipulates it then posts it on their site or somewhere else on the Web. This is a violation.

Fan fiction or shared universe collaborations on the Internet are also derivative works, but there is usually a limited or open-ended license (licenses are contracts) for the fans to use the work for non-commercial purposes.

2. Taking images or text directly from somewhere else and posting them on your web site, your blog or anywhere lese on the Internet. Remember, the moment a person fixes an image or text on the hard drive of their computer it is protected by commonlaw copyright. Exceptions, see "fair use."

3. Licensed images - - Some images or graphics may be copied if the copier accepts the terms of a limited license defining the use of the image. Logo licenses such as the one MSNBC uses allows a person to display the logo with a link to MSNBC. Any other use not listed in the license is forbidden. [See, http://www.msnbc.com/cpyrightlogo.asp]

4. Clip-art libraries -- Some clip art libraries are provided with software such as Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Office. If you look carefully, there is probably a license (a EULA) somewhere on the software that details the proper use of the images. Using images from such libraries is not a copyright violation as long as you follow the restrictions on their usage. Most do not allow you to manipulate or alter the images; in those cases, that would be a breach of the license.

5. Free images on the Web - - There are many sites that allow you to copy graphics and clip art for free -- almost all of them have some sort of restrictions, such as not using them for commercial purposes. If you use the images for a commercial purpose, and I would argue that an author's web site is a commercial site since it usually links to a publisher or place where the author's books are sold, a fee would need to be paid for the use of the images. These are sites with limited licenses. Violating the license could open you up to a law suit.

6. Stock photo libraries - - These are fee-based sites for the most part, such as iStock [http://istockphoto.com/index.php]. For a fee, you can download an image without the sites logo on it and use it for whatever legal purpose the site allows.

Each site will have some form of a license for you to electronically sign. [See, iStock Photo license at http://www.istockphoto.com/license.php]

Reading these to see just how you can use the images you are purchasing the license to use is a must.

The copyright remains in the original creator of the image. The stock photo site has a primary license with the copyright holder and the license you are agreeing to is derivative from that primary license.

Caveat, your use of these images is only as legal as the stock photos’ site agreement with the original copyright holder -- thus only deal with reputable sites or you might find yourself in a lawsuit.

7. Text on web pages. If the text is yours, then you are okay.

If you take someone else's text, then you violate that person's copyright unless the use falls under fair use or is in the public domain.

“Public domain” means the text/image is no longer protected by copyright. Always check to see if the work is really in the public domain. The Copyright Site has suggestions on how to do that and the definitions of when a copyright expires. Anything copyrighted prior to January 1, 1978 would require a manual search by the Copyright Office. However, anything filed after January 1, 1978 can be accessed online.

See, Copyright Office Circular 23 [http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ23.html] for helpful information on how to access and search the online catalog.

8. Appropriating script or programming - - this is also a copyright violation. Thus, that cool glowie button Java Aplet you took the coding for from another person’s site? You just violated that person's copyright.

A lot of programmers have made the script and aplets available for use, but some programmers do have restrictions for the use. Please be aware and sensitive to this. When in doubt, contact the site owner and ask about the code before you snatch it. Just as there are free image sites on the Web, there are places you can download code without violating anyone's property rights.

B. Domain Name Concerns.

Domains have levels.

First level domain names are what we are most familiar with, such as .com, .net, .org and so on.

Second level names are the ones that cause all the issues. Second level is the "microsoft" in www.microsoft.com.

As of December, 1999, these secondary level names are monitored by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) through a series of private registrars.

Prior to 12/99, NSI issued most of the second level domain names -- they did it on a "first come, first served" basis. NSI still is a registrar under ICANN. Most of the other registrars also use the precedent that first registration creates the right to the second level name.

To find if your author name has been taken, you do a WhoIs search. You should also perform a trademark search since it is recommended that if you have a lot of investment in your domain that you trademark the name. You can search for trademarks at the PTO.

See [http://www.uspto.gov/main/profiles/acadres.htm].

If the name is available, you can register it.

If the name is not available, you can make an effort to reclaim it if you can prove superior rights. There are cases where someone has registered the name in order to make a killing on the name later when a famous person with the name wants it.

Usually, though, the first person who registers it, wins.

There is also administrative dispute resolution policy available through ICANN (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy). This dispute mechanism is far less expensive than maintaining a court action.

Some legal cases concerning a domain name are the following:

candyland.com - - Hasbro and an adult entertainment company both desired the name. Hasbro didn't get it registered fast enough, but later won in court.

mcdonalds.com - - an author writing an article on the value of domain names took this one. He convinced Mc Donald's to make a large charitable contribution before he assigned the name back to them.

peta.org - - Registered to "People Eating Tasty Animals" found they had a fight on their hands with the animal activist organization. The domain name was suspended, but as of 5/06, the name still belongs to the first registrant.

Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, November 1999. -- Congress passed this law to protect trademark owners and "famous" people from having their domain names taken over by persons who might have bad faith reasons for registering the name, i.e., sitting on it and then selling it to the mark holder or the famous person. A person suing under this act must prove bad faith on the behalf of the registered owner. The statute cites the factors a person suing to regain rights to a domain name must consider. [See, short explanation with links at AOL, Legal,

http://legal.web.aol.com/resources/legislation/cybersquat.html]

C. Trademark Issues.

A trademark is a word, image, slogan or anything else that is used to identify the goods or services of a particular person or business. COKE is a trademark of the Coca Cola company (as is Coca Cola). An author might not think of trademark, but a series name with logo could be trade-marked such as Forgotten Realms, a registered trademark of Tor Publishing company.

When using such trademarks on a web site you should use them properly, i.e., capitalize them and use the registered mark symbol. HTML Code for it is ®.

If there is a potential for confusion in the use of a trademark, don't use it. However, if you are blogging and talking about buying Prada or Chanel or love Pepsi, you are okay as long as you use the marks appropriately.

Trademark violation occurs when a person uses or appropriates the trademark of another in a way that causes confusion, mistake and/or deception for the public.

For example, a copier company uses the word xerox in their slogan or promotional materials -- that is a violation of Xerox's trademark in their company name. A person might read the ad and think that the companies copier is a Xerox. A Xerox machine is made by Xerox. Any other copier company must use a different name and use the generic term of copying or copier in their promotional materials.

Using a company logo (such as the MSNBC logo mentioned above) to link your web site with the site of the other company might lead to confusion and a potential copyright violation. When in doubt, check with the owner of the logo before linking. In the case of the MSNBC, they have a limited license posted on their web site allowing non-MSNBC sites to link to their site. Of course as with any license, you must read it and comply with the limitations therein.

If you are linking to another author's web site, please get permission for the use of any graphic or banner that you use to link.

If you choose to trademark a domain name, then you must realize that names that have nothing to do with the content of the web site are the strongest. This means that made up names are the easiest to trademark; common names are the hardest since the words are most likely heavily in use and can not be trademarked without causing confusion.

For trademarks in general, besides common words, also foreign words, bible phrases, and the like can not be trademarked. A common word that is used as part of a graphic logo has a better chance of being trademarked than the word itself. But in that case, it is really the graphic image that is trademarked, not the common word in the image.

To protect a trademarked domain name, first do a search at the PTO. If it is not in use (and that is relative, it all depends on the classification of the manner in which you will use it), then you can fill out an application and pay a fee to register it. This is a much more involved process than filing for a federal copyright registration. And there is no guarantee you will successfully register the mark.

D. Defamation Issues.

Defamation is making a false statement about someone or some product that could cause damage to their reputation. By putting such statements up on the Web, be it on a web page, a blog, a listserve, you have published the statement. If you make such a statement and know the statement is false, you have defamed the subject of the statement.

Case law and statutes abound on defamation. There are some defenses: (a) if the statement is true, then that is a complete defense, and (b) if the statement was protected by the First Amendment, then that is also a possible protection.

But the law is complex and there are even exceptions to the First Amendment (such as the subject of the statement is a famous person and has put him or herself out there and open to speculation; a defamed famous person can only win if he can prove actual malice was

behind the defamatory statement).

Best rule -- don't post scurrilous statements about people on your web page, blog, or listserves.

Private individuals have a right to privacy and not to be defamed. Even if truth is a defense, airing someone's dirty laundry is not a nice thing to do. Think of the Internet as a big small town - - someone will hear it and it will get back to the person in question. You always should take a step back before posting something that might damage a person's or a business's reputation.

However there are times when it is in the public interest to post the “truth.” There are many sites devoted to major companies whose products are defective - - there is some justification for these kinds of sites. That kind of speech is protected under the First Amendment only if it is true -- if you do put up a site like this, expect to get sued. Yes, you might eventually win, but you need to balance the short term costs versus the long term. Besides there are many other vehicles to getting a company's bad acts in front of the public without you taking the chance of defaming the company yourself -- that is what Consumer Protection agencies are for.

E. Linking and Framing.

Links are of two types:

1. HREF – HypetextREFerence. Or in other words the web page URL that you are linking to and any position on that web page.

2. IMG - - IMaGe link. This links to a graphic image of some sort

By linking to other person’s web pages and images, you could be considered to creating a derivative work by importing them into your site. Thus, you could be guilty of a copyright violation. You should always get permission to link to another person’s web page or images on that page.

There is also a potential copyright violation in a list of your favorite things. For example, you list a bunch of favorite photos on your web site and have the links to the image. You have no attribution that these images were created by someone else. You could be said to “passing off” someone else’s work as your own. Again, getting permission to link and then properly attributing the artist or photographer who created the images would take care of this issue.

You can also defame with linking. Let’s say you put up a page about adulterers in your town and then without naming names included links to that person’s personal web page or business page. You have defamed this person even though you did not mention him on your page specifically. Be aware that what is represented on your site can defame anyone you have linked to even though you may not have intended that consequence.

By linking through another’s trademark, especially if your site is one that concerns a similar product, you could be accused of deceiving the public by implying that you have a relationship with the other trademark holder. Get permission to link always.

Framing:

Frames subdivide web site pages. By importing other persons’ images or text into your web page within a frame, you could be violating that person’s copyright and/or trademark. All the issues that are raised in linking – copyright violation (derivative works), passing off, defamation and trademark infringement also apply here. When in doubt, get permission to use another person’s work on your web page.

II. EULAs and TOS

EULAs - are licenses that allow a person to legally use a certain software program or upgrade. You get these with programs all the time and when you download updates, you are supposed to read them and sign off as accepting them. EULAs also contain warranties for the product. These warranties are null and void if you violate the limited license provided in the EULA.

What would constitute a violation of an EULA? Representing or appropriating the formatting code as your creation (copyright violation) and then you sharing or selling it to others (contractual violation and copyright violation).. Violations of any limits on the number of computers to which the program can be downloaded. Altering the original program in any way.

Yahoo, Google, AOL, ATT Worldnet, Comcast, Roadrunner, etc., all have them. You may have even read them.

See, Yahoo’s TOS here – [http://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/utos-173.html]

Some pertinent clauses that I expect you will find in most TOSs:

1. Services are usually provided “as is.” Thus, the ISP is saying if it breaks down or is unavailable, or any content you save goes bye-bye into the cybersphere, they are not liable.

2. Privacy Policy – your registration data and certain other information about you is subject to the ISP’s Privacy Policy.

[See Yahoo’s, http://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/details.html]

3. Member Conduct - - You are entirely responsible, liable, for the content you put up on the ISP. The ISP does not control the content (this is to absolve them of liability for your bad acts). You agree to be a good little poster and not violate anyone’s legal rights, which include not defaming other persons, stealing their intellectual property, or violating their constitutional rights and the like. You agree not to stalk anyone using the ISP. If you do violate other person’s rights, you and the illegal content can be removed from the server without prior notice.

4. Using the ISP’s services places you in the realm of interstate commerce, which means federal law will predominate (higher penalties if a third party sues you under any of the numerous statutes enacted in recent years about the Internet).

5. Indemnity – you agree to protect Yahoo and its subsidiaries et al from harm for your bad acts. Meaning if they have to defend themselves in a law suit for your bad acts, you will bear the costs.

6. Termination. – Under certain situations the ISP can axe your services without prior notice. Those are the items mentioned in Member Conduct.

7. Yahoo’s Proprietary Rights – you agree not to steal the ISP’s software in any way, shape or form. You agree to use the service on one computer and not to transfer it to a third-party.

8. Trademark Information - - you agree not to use ISP’s trademarks and the like without prior permission from the ISP.

9. Notice and Procedure for Making Claims of Copyright or Intellectual Property Violations – this spells out in detail what to do if someone has stolen your intellectual property. One presumes this is the step you have to take in order to get the person suspended from the ISP and your content removed from their site or the list serve or wherever.

III. Internet Service Providers’ Liability

ISPs use Terms of Service (addressed above) to protect themselves from law suits by third parties who feel their property/contract legal rights are violated by someone housed on the ISP.

Copyright violations: The crux of this liability is knowledge. What kind of knowledge did the ISP have about the illegality? If the ISP knew or should have known about the illegal material disseminated by its servers and took no steps to remove same, then the ISP is guilty of “materially contributing to the infringement of the user.” [See, Religious Technology Center v. Netcom, 907 F. Supp. 1361, N.D. Cal. 1995, in which a certain copyrighted religious material was disseminated on Netcom’s newsgroups.) ][http://www.law.cornell.edu/copyright/cases/907_FSupp_1361.htm]

Trademark violations:

ISPs can be liable for their own use of marks that might be similar to other person’s registered marks.

ISPs could face liability if a customer misappropriates a third party’s trademark. The theory would be “contributory trademark infringement.” Just as in the copyright theory, the ISP would be liable if they had knowledge of the infringement by one of their customers and did nothing to correct it. Since there has been no case prosecuted under this theory yet, one would presume that the decision in the Netcom case would be used by analogy.

Defamation:

The leading cases concerning ISP liability for defamation are the Prodigy and Compuserve cases. [See, Lunney v. Prodigy Services Co., 94 N.Y.2d 242 (1999);Cubby v. Compuserve, Inc., 776 F. Supp. 135, (S.D. N. Y., 1991)]

These two cases established the difference between the ISP as “publisher” of the defamatory material versus “distributor” of the defamatory material.

If the ISP is found to be a mere distributor (like a bookstore or a library), they are held not to be liable because they had no knowledge of the material.

ISP knowledge of the alleged defamatory material and failure to take action about removing said material from the server makes the ISP a “publisher”(implies some control over the information) and thus liable just as the poster.

Compuserve escaped the bullet and was found to be a distributor. Prodigy was found liable for the defamatory material posted by one of its customers since Prodigy was well-known for its policies of monitoring and censoring its online forums.

To Register ...or Not to Register: Copyright Law Basics

[First presented in an online class on law for authors by Monette Draper, Esq.]

So, you’ve written your first book, and it is in a fixed form that can be read (print or e-books would be considered fixed), and you’ve heard that you need to register your copyright in order to protect your literary baby. True or not? Not necessarily. Don’t you just love lawyers? Never a straight black-and-white answer.

It never hurts to register the copyright, and I will explain why later, but for the most part, copyright protection immediately attaches to any original piece of writing. You don’t even have to point that out to anyone by marking it as such – it just is.

Any legal action to protect an unregistered copyright is a tort action (probably sounding in conversion, i.e., civil theft). You would just have to prove that you created the work, someone stole it and claimed it as their own, and you have suffered measurable monetary damages.

So, why if there is this free, automatic right would anyone pay money (now a whopping $45) to the Library of Congress and the Copyright Office to register the copyright?

Advantages of registration:

1. Creates a public record;

2. Registration is necessary in order to file an infringement suit under the Copyright Act;

3. Registration before or within five years of publication will create prima facie evidence of the validity of the copyright and the truth of the information contained in the copyright application (for lawyers this is like manna from heaven!);

4. Registration within three months after publication or before filing an infringement suit allows the copyright holder to ask for statutory damages (judge-determined damages without you proving actual losses) and attorney’s fees;

5. Registration also allows the copyright holder to record the copyright with the US Customs Office so as to protect against importation of infringing copies.

For reason 2, 3, and 4 alone you should register. The fact that registration creates a prima facie case to prove that you are the copyright owner makes it very hard for anyone claiming otherwise. You have at that point already shifted the burden to the defendant to overcome the fact of your registration. Registration also allows you to ask for statutory damages (nominal damages in contract-speak). Why is this good? In cases where it is hard to track and predict actual losses, you will automatically qualify for a minimum to maximum range (depending on the willfulness of the violation). Also, the fact that registration allows you to ask for attorney’s fees and costs is a plus. Most of the cost in a minor infringement case will be legal fees. You always want the infringer to pay the cost of going to court and going to Federal court is expensive.

Duration of Copyright:

For detailed info, see:

For Works created on or after January 1, 1978, they are automatically protected upon creation and for the life of the author plus seventy years after the author’s death. For two or more authors, the copyright lasts for seventy years after the death of the last co-author.

If the work was for-hire or had anonymous authors, then the copyright duration is 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

Works originally created before January 1, 1978, but not published or registered by that date have been brought under the current act. Copyright duration will be figured in the same way as duration is figured for works created after 1/1/78. The law provides that no duration for works falling under this definition will last longer than 12/31/02. For works published on or before 12/31/02, the term will not expire before 12/31/2047.

For works created and published and registered before January 1. 1978, it becomes more difficult since the original law provided for 28 year term from the time of publication or registration (if not published); it then allowed for a renewal. With several changes in the law, the renewal could allow for anywhere from 70 years to 95 years total, depending on the law at the time. A copyright holder for works published or registered during this time period no longer have to file for renewal. It is done automatically and will not extend beyond 95 years total term protection.

For many of us creating, and either registering or publishing now, the older laws will not affect us – just remember for your life plus 70 years.

How to Register

The registration forms for authors are available on line. The basic literary registration form is Form TX (http://www.copyright.gov/forms/formtxi.pdf) . Registration fee is currently $45. (Eff 6/1/06). The instructions with the Form TX are very straight forward. Just remember you must mail all elements of the registration: copy(ies) of the work to be copyrighted, the filled-in application and the check together to the:

Library of Congress

101 Independence Avenue, S.E.

Washington, D.C. 20559-6000.

You will receive a file-marked copy of the application with a Certificate Number sometime later (I’ve found it takes almost 6 months to get this, so be patient). Also, with the mail issues after the anthrax scare, you might want to send it Priority Mail. Fro some reason, premier mailing services are not considered “terror-ridden.”

What Can Be Registered?

It might be easier to list what is not considered a literary work (Note, I am not addressing motion pictures, sound recordings, visual arts, or serials/periodicals, which also can be copyrighted and have their own special forms).

1. Ideas, procedures, methods, concepts, principles and the like are not copyrightable.

2. Titles, names, slogans, listings of ingredients or contents. Some of these things might be able to be trademarked, a totally different animal.

3. Works containing information that is common such as standard calendars, weights and measures and anything taken from public documents or other common sources.

Now, that said, if you have a really cool concept that you think might make a film/TV show and you are going to pitch it around NY or Hollywood, you might want to protect your cool concept/work by registering it with the Writers Guild of America-West.

I have done this with several of my ideas and novels since I have pitched them at conventions where film agents were present. One of my ideas I registered has never been written, but is just an outline of a potential series of books. The WGA-w will place your work in a sealed envelope and send you a registration certificate and if you sue someone for stealing your idea for a film or television show, you can call the WGA-w as a witness who will then bring the sealed envelope and open it in the court room. This proves that you registered the concept and the date you did so, thus establishing your ownership as of that date. The person whom you are suing would have to overcome that evidence by showing that their ideas pre-dated your filing with the WGA-w and show how they created the concept.

You do not need to be as member of the WGA to register – it just costs non-members more. $20 for non-members; $10 for members.

Using Other Copyrighted Material in Your Work

First, let’s just clear the air, no, you can not use song lyrics in your story, unless you make them up or they are out of copyright and in the public domain, BUT are not further licensed in some way.

Note again, song lyrics are not only protected by copyright, but are also under contractual rights called “licensing.” You do not want to go there. The recording industry is all over this stuff. I know you will have lots of examples of people using song lyrics; if the publisher is smart, they will have gotten permission from the holder of the license to do so – check it out in the credits on the copyright page. Yes, you can mention a song title.

As for other author’s literary works, “fair use” doctrine is the law. You can use a certain amount of someone else’s work in scholarly works, criticisms, news stories, and the like. The amount that can be used depends on what it is and what it is being used for.

You can not use anyone else’s protected copyrighted work in your fiction novel unless the other author’s work is in the public domain. For example, you can use Shakespearean quotes. I use quotes as chapter headings sometimes. You’ll also see authors use a quote from the public domain at the front of a book to establish a theme or to set a tone.

You can search the Copyright Office site for registered copyrights after 1978. As far as I can tell, there is no way on-line to search prior to 1978 without going to the Library of Congress.

If you wish to write a derivative work of a work that is not in the public domain (you can write all the Sherlock Holmes knock-offs you wish, it is in the public domain), you must get the permission of the copyright holder.

Why is this different from ideas or concepts? The characters created by the author are copyrighted; they are original creations that belong to that author. Thus, fan fiction could be violation of someone’s copyright – so be careful. Many authors who have people writing fan fiction are flattered. But most fan fiction authors are not doing so to profit by it. Big difference. So, watch it!

This is not the whole of copyright law – so ask me specific questions and please do refer to the Copyright Office site which is wonderful and has lots of information!

The Shalls and Shall Nots of Chatting

(a.k.a. Chat Room Etiquette Tips)

by Cynthianna Appel/Celine Chatillon

(www.cynthianna.com/www.celinechatillon.com)

1.) Thou shall show up for thy chat on time—or at the very least let the moderator(s) know that you could be held up a few minutes before the day of the chat. With so many authors online, the chat rooms are all booking up quickly. If you discover you can’t make a chat after you’ve scheduled one, please let the chat room owners know as soon as possible so they can re-schedule you and allow another author to have your hour.

2.) Thou shall be kind and considerate of others, following all “house rules” set up by the chat room owner/moderator. Some moderators use the “Q and GA” system to keep the chat orderly. This means the moderator will pick questions from the chat room guests who designate them “Q” and tell that person to “go ahead” or “GA” to ask it or for you to respond to a question. If the moderator uses a different system, follow it the best you can. Try not to “talk over” others, which leads to the next rule—

3.) Thou shall not grab the spotlight away from other authors at a group chat. Many publishers and promotional groups sponsor “group chats” which (in my opinion) offer many advantages over solo ventures. Group chats usually bring out a large number of participants because of the list of names to be featured. If the moderator wishes to individually question each other one at a time, patiently wait your turn. And always give positive feedback on your fellow authors’ books. Help them promote their stories, and they, in turn, will help you promote yours. On a related note—

4.) Thou shall try thy best to stay on topic. This is probably the hardest rule of them all, as things can quickly become chaotic in a chat room. But if the topic is “historical sweet romances from Such-n-Such Books” then you (and others) should not be chatting about “sultry futuristic erotic-romances from Hot-n-Heavy Publishing”. You can book another chat room and day for that discussion, but as far as this chat goes, it was advertised to be about a certain topic and should deliver a discussion on the topic to all the chat room participants. (And be cognizant of the fact that most chat rooms want to keep the talk “PG” rated just in case any children may have slipped in… Even if you are discussing adult books, you will need to be careful of your language and plot descriptions.)

5.) Thou shall never be drawn into an argument or name-calling in a chat room. This could have long-lasting, negative consequences for your writing career. People might associate your name/pen name with controversy and avoid you. Sure, some might find your aggressive and/or rude behaviors exciting at first, but the excitement wears thin after a short while. You’re in the writing business for a lifetime, right? Make friends, play nicely, and gain a reputation for being a solid, dependable, and considerate chat author.

6.) Thou shall have all your promotional information handy on your computer desktop before the chat begins. That way, when a chatter asks, “What’s the link where I can buy your book?” you won’t have to wait to type it all in—you’ll simply be able to cut and paste. It’s also good to have your short, short synopsis and/or logline handy to paste in when someone asks you to quickly describe your book.

For example, a conversation could go like this. “Tell us about your latest release, Cindy?” says the moderator. I respond: “My latest release is a contemporary romance called. The Fixer-Uppers. It asks the age old question, ‘Can a single mom go on a blind date and expect dinner with a male who can cut up his own food?’ The answer is yes, but with hilarious and heartwarming consequences.” Always follow up any discussion of your book with your personal web site and publisher links. Help those impulsive buyers to purchase your book before they forget how intrigued they were by your witty conversation and interesting storylines. (The links are www.cynthianna.com and www.moonlitromance.com by the way.)

7.) Above all else, thou shall enjoy thyself! Be silly, tell jokes, promo your heart out, but above all, have fun. If chatting online is a nerve-wracking experience for you, it will show. Chatters will simply stop chatting to you. If chat rooms aren’t for you, then you’ll need to find another way to promote yourself online. Fortunately there are many other ways to promote e-books and e-authors, one of them being an e-newsletter…

Keeping Your Readers Informed: The e-Newsletter

by Cynthianna Appel/Celine Chatillon

(www.cynthianna.com/www.celinechatillon.com)

Don’t be surprised—readers will want to know more about you and what else you’ve written. Don’t disappoint them—keep them updated regularly with an e-newsletter.

An electronic newsletter doesn’t have to be mind-numbingly complicated, graphic intensive, or expensive. In fact, Yahoo Groups offers free “announcement-only” groups that you can set up and use to disseminate your latest release news. Authors Den and other sites also offer free or free-with-their-site-hosting ways to email your newsletter effectively and efficiently. Why waste money on postage and paper on a print newsletter when the Internet gives you instant access to the world?

An e-newsletter should be a regular occurrence, even if your book releases aren’t. You can send out your e-newsletter monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly. Weekly might be a bit too much email for some subscribers even if you do have frequent e-book releases. Try to wait to announce your book releases together on a regular schedule, or send out a short extra notice now and then. One way to lose e-newsletter members is by sending out too many emails. Your letter will wind up in their spam folder to be deleted unread. Remember, “Less is best.”

What should you include in your e-newsletter besides the latest news about your book releases, works-in-progress, promotional contests, and upcoming book tour schedule? Anything really—it’s pretty much up to the individual. Your newsletter should express your personality. Some authors include a regular feature where they interview their fellow authors. Some (like myself) include a “question and answer” feature where they field questions about writing, publishing, or their books. You can provide short excerpts from your books. You can provide links to interesting articles or web sites—remember, this is an electronic newsletter. You could even post your entire newsletter online at your web site and simply mail out a link to remind subscribers that you’ve updated your newsletter site. Of course, you risk the subscriber simply ignoring the link and not reading your newsletter… That’s why I’m more of a fan of newsletters complete within the body of an e-mail. The chances your subscribers will at least check out your contests updates/book releases are increased that way.

How do you get people to sign up for your e-newsletter? Easy—ask them nicely! Place an icon/link on your web site, a link in your signature line of your e-mail, pass the info along at a chat, and always take along a sign-up sheet with you wherever you sign/sell/promo your books in the “real world”. The Romance Studio (www.theromancestudio.com) offers a great service where readers who sign up for a book give-away your sponsor can say if they want to be added to your newsletter list. What an easy way to add new members!

Warning: If your newsletter features adult/erotic excerpts, be certain everyone is a legal adult before they can sign up to receive it. (Yahoo Groups offers adult announcement groups.) If you discover any underage recipients, don’t be afraid to drop them. Better to stay on their parents’ good sides than risk angering them.

Friend Me at Myspace: The Basics

by Adrianna Dane

“Friend me at myspace.”

Isn’t that the “in” place to be these days? You hear about it, you wonder about it, but you’re not sure if it’s the right place for you. And besides that, you’ve also heard that it’s a terrible place for predators to prey on young people.

You probably know about it from your teenagers. You think its about young people and bands who want to gain a following. You think groupies, you think adolescent. And you worry about what kind of element is out there? Do I really want any part of it?

Primiarily I’m going to be discussing writers and why a writer, especially a published author, would want a presence on myspace. Professionally speaking, if you want to reach a larger, possibly more diverse, audience, I suggest you take a look at this powerful, free promotional opportunity.

Believe me, I don’t fit in the adolescent age group. Even my children don’t fit there any longer. But I utilize the power of the Internet, and specifically a presence on myspace. Do you visit large cities like New York, Seattle, Los Angeles, or any other that is teaming with huge populations? Do you take precautions when you visit those cities? Would you send your child out into unknown territory to play in one of those cities?

Of course not. Why should myspace be any different? Why would you take less precautions? Because you’re sitting in your own home doesn’t mean you should take less precautions. A stranger is still a stranger. And people put on character costumes on the Internet and you need to be wary. It takes a long time to get to know someone, remember that. And take precautions.

Cautionary tips. Don’t download anything from an email. Don’t click on links within emails. Don’t enter your password anywhere, unless you are at the page (and check the link to make sure it’s not just a facsimile) you are supposed to be at. Spammers and phishers are becoming amazing adept at acquiring information. And be certain you have good firewalls and virus programs that are up to date and running.

These are the very basics of Internet safety and in running a business on the Internet. I write ebooks and run my business on the Internet and I take these precautions.

So, let’s get back to talking about myspace.

Currently, there are over 170 million profiles on myspace. If you watched the Academy Awards recently, even Ellen DeGeneres gave myspace a little promo. Did you see her picture with Clint Eastwood? It did show up on myspace. Millions of possibilities like this give one a lot of wiggle room for making new contacts in an effort to interest people in your stories. Heck, go give Ellen an jingle and ask her to be your friend.

It also gives you contacts for researching your stories. There are readers, writers, publishers, editors, agents, filmmakers, models, artists, etc., that you can make contact with.

It is overwhelming, but narrow your focus and start with the basics.

Profile. Get a profile set up. That’s your first goal. It can be simple, or use a template of which there are many available, or html intensive, depending on your knowledge. I used the Thomas Myspace Profile Editor to set mine up. You can find it here: http://www.strikefile.com/myspace/

For business purposes, keep it fairly simple and easy to load for those on dial-up. Be careful how graphics-intensive you make it. A hint here. I’m sure you have a lovely face, but the photo you use should be intriguing. Not just a “hi, I’m a friendly kind of person.” Unless, of course, you’re a major film or music personality that everyone will recognize. In business on myspace, you want people to invite you to be friends and when I look through profiles, my attention settles on the interesting pictures, especially if you’re flipping through a profile that has thousands of friends. Just like a how important an awesome book cover can be to the sale of a book?

Photos. So, you have your profile. Myspace has a photo management program that will allow you to upload up to 300 photos. Use it, and get your book covers up there. These are what you are trying to get people interested in. So do use that feature. They have improved it and are continuing to do so with the use of photo albums.

Friends. Who are your friends? Remember, we’re talking about your business profile, not your personal profile. Think of it as a network of friendly associations to your business. Anyone is a potential buyer of your books. Go out and start inviting people to be your friends. Surf your friends’ friends. Search myspace using terms related to your profile and your books. Be generic and search using the terms “books” or “reader” if it comes down to it. How about your own hobbies and interests? Themes for your books? The friends are out there and you should go out and invite them. People on myspace expect to be invited as a friend if they’ve been around for a while and understand how it works. And if you’re there for business reasons, I wouldn’t set the profile to private. Nor would I check the box that only allows people who know our email address or name to invite you as a friend. This is only going to limit new contacts.

Another thing about friends. In relation to people who invite you to be friends. Be sure to check out their profile. Porn sites are notorious for trying to become your friends. If a banner comes up that it’s an adult site and you have to download something to view it–DENY the friend request–go no further. Spammers are out there as well. I would not suggest simply approving any and everyone who asks to be a friend. Take a moment to check out their profile. The majority are fine, but there are a few every now and then, so do be vigilant.

Comments. You are able to leave comments on your friends’ profiles. And they can leave comments on your profile. I would suggest that you check the box to approve all comments left on your profile to weed out abuse. A good comment is a few lines, not a web page of information. “Thanks for being my friend,” “have a good week,” and include a link to your website or to where your book is for sale is tasteful. Why are they advantageous? They give you front page profile for a bit on another profile, and if you leave a link it is spidered by the search engines and comes up in searches outside of myspace. So do leave a link, but don’t abuse hospitality. I don’t recommend disabling html on comments in your own profile because (a) part of the fun is seeing all the pretty graphics people leave, and (b) you want to be able to leave a link on their profile, so courtesy means allowing html on yours.

Bulletins. Posting a bulletin goes out to your network of friends. Another good promotional opportunity. See what people are posting, understand it, and utilize it to your advantage. But don’t become a bulletin hog–use it judiciously so you make an impression and people will be more likely to read what you post.

Blog. Yes, there is a blog and I’ve found my blog does received a nice number of visits and comments. I post excerpts, reviews, my newsletters... Get familiar with this feature as well. People can subscribe to your blog, and you can invite them to become a regular subscriber to your blog.

This just scratches the surface of what you will find available at myspace. There are many features. I’ve touched on some of the highlights. You can upload videos, you can join and create special interest groups, provide invites to special events, such as book signings and appearances, notification of contests, and there’s also a calendar feature.

Take your time and investigate. Can it be overwhelming? Only if you let it. Take it one step at a time. And enjoy, because you’re about to expand your horizons.

About the author.

Adrianna Dane is the author of sensual and erotic romance with over forty stories currently available with her publishers Amber Quill Press, Phaze, Loose Id, and Lady Aibell Press. In 2007 she was a three-time Eppie finalist and she was a 2006 eCataromance Reviewer’s Choice Award Winner. She is a member of EPIC and Romance Writers of America. Find out more about her at www.adriannadane.com

Online Promo Guide

by Jennifer DiCamillo

1) The first and most important rule of online advertising these days is having an appealing website with great meta tags and regular updates. The more sites you have, the more chances readers and potential buyers will stumble across what you’re offering. Your website should have information about you, your contracted works, your works in progress, previously published works, as well as contests you’re running, and links to your blog, and how to sign up for your newsletter. Put the links up top or on an easy to spot sidebar, and make sure they links and buttons and guestbook or comment sections are no-brainers. GO HERE: http://marketing.networksolutions.com/web-promotion-tools.php

2) Blog. Get one. Try blogspot or livejournal or myspace, or all of the above. Post to other blogs as a way to bring traffic back to your site. Always include your link, or something about what you’re working on. Actually pay attention/read the blog post of another author before posting, so you can stay on topic and tie it into something you’re doing. Be genuine in your interest or don’t blog there. Go to the blogs that have readerships that would like what you offer, too. Guest blogging to other blogs can also be called a VIRTUAL TOUR.

3) Newsletter. Get one. Send it out once a month like clockwork. More often if you have special notices. It keeps readers interested in you, and remembering your name between your book releases. And contribute to other author’s newsletters.

4) Search Engine Visibility. If you don’t show up in google, askjeeves, excite, yahoo, msn, altavista, alltheweb, etc., you need to work on your meta tags. Top Ten Search—not only must you come up in search engines, but in the top ten. You must search for yourself regularly and adjust things accordingly to keep in the top ten.

5) Press Release Services are everywhere on the internet. Start preparing your PR’s and dropping them in key places that will send them out. PRweb, and Yahoo/Google/MSN/RSS/XML have news releases you can get your press releases included in.

6) Pay Per Click. Check into this. You can get paid for ads on your website, and you can pay to post your ad on other websites. Several options involved in this concept.

7) Website Link Visibility. Reciprocating links with other authors, and on websites that have lots of hits, are a cheap way to bump up the traffic to your own site.

8) Interviews. All over the web, there are opportunities for Q&A style interviews.

9) Reviews. All over the web, there are opportunities for reviews on your work. Specifically, review sites that have readers who specifically (free) critique your book. Also, Amazon has a section for reviews of your book. While you can’t post reviews yourself, you can certainly point your fans to the site and thank them for putting in a kind word.

- The Promotion Puzzle -

Promotion Leads to Prosperity

Prosperity equals Success!

Linda Houle

Publisher

L&L Dreamspell

www.lldreamspell.com

Promotion is often a puzzle, whether you’re already a published author, or still working on your first book, it’s a real ingenuity test! What in the world wide web should you be doing today, tomorrow, and the next day to achieve your future fifteen minutes (or more) of fame?

Since I’m a ‘new publisher on the block’ so to speak I’m working hard every day to solve the mystery of the promotion puzzle. When asked to give you a publisher’s point-of-view on the subject I decided to write an article illustrating five important aspects of promotion—somewhat different than other ‘five P’s of promotion’ lists. For more in depth explanation of author promotion I’m also recommending two excellent books on the subject, listed at the end of this article. If you’ve already done everything I’ve listed here then congratulations! You’re already on the path to prosperity and success.

Packaging your Product

Picking out a Brand

Pretty Promotions

Placing your Commercial Ads

Putting on a Live Demonstration

Within our own brand name—L&L Dreamspell—the two letter L’s stand for Linda Houle and Lisa Rene’ Smith. We’re two gutsy women with a common goal. We started our company by publishing our own novels just to ‘prove’ we could create real books, then we set out to make other author’s dreams come true by publishing their manuscripts. We love what we are doing so much it doesn’t even seem like work. I hope you think of your career the same way—if not now, then soon!

After we created our name I designed a logo to fit our theme; actually I designed several logos for different uses—for our imprint, for our website, and for our merchandise. We created more than a publishing company, we actually designed a new brand. Our brand is represented on our business cards, our bookmarks, tote bags, t-shirts, and anywhere else I can place it. We even have it on the labels of our custom hand-dipped incense, designed for the characters in our books!

Packaging your Product

What I’d like to cover first may not seem like part of the promotion puzzle, but in my opinion it is the most important part. A book is a product, whether it’s electronic or in print form. You want to sell it to as many people as possible, so it must be the most delicious product you can produce on the inside, covered with an irresistible outer wrapper. Is your book delectable?

If your book isn’t well edited people will notice. Word gets around, especially if you get less than stellar reviews. Make sure your manuscript is well edited before a publisher even sees it. Then work with your publisher to edit it even more. Lisa and I work closely with our authors to make sure they have the most polished prose possible! Lisa is our typesetting expert, making sure the inside is professionally done. Sure, I admit there are some very successful ‘ugly’ books out there, with mediocre typesetting and haphazard editing, but why settle for anything less than the best for your book?

Next the cover should be breathtaking—even if you’re only publishing an e-book. I’ve seen thumbnails of e-book covers on the web that look like it took someone all of ten minutes to create them. Customers do judge a book by its cover. Discuss elements for your cover with the designer—they should be willing to listen, and also let you give suggestions if there is something you feel needs to be changed. I’m the cover designer for L&L Dreamspell and I help create covers our authors are proud to show off—covers meant to catch and hold the eye of the book buying public.

Picking out a Brand

You should always create a brand name, even if it’s just your own name. Most of our authors use either their real name, or a pen name. If you plan to write more than one novel it’s best not to limit yourself to a single book title as a brand. You can still have separate domain names for each book you write, and have them all ‘forward’ to your main website. You can have it all.

Choose a color scheme for your brand—something you can use on your website, blog, and promo items. It should coordinate with your book cover if possible, to make it pleasing to the eye. Think of setting up everything like you are decorating a favorite room in your house. Make color count!

Is there a theme within your story, or a character you use in a series of books? Consider using that as a promotional tool. One of our authors has a female detective in her mystery book series so I designed a logo for the fictional agency. The author is using it as a brand. Not only does the logo appear on the back cover of her books, it’s on her bookmarks, mugs, t-shirts, magnets, and more. Consider using a logo—it might help make you famous!

Pretty Promotions

I mentioned a few promotional items already. Even if you’re only selling an e-book you should still hand out promotional bookmarks, postcards, business cards, magnets, pens or anything else you can put your brand and/or logo on. Color coordinate everything; make sure your website address is legible on smaller items. The larger, more expensive things like t-shirts and mugs make great prizes—for contests on your website or drawings at your personal appearances. You can go a step further and make goodie baskets with gift items suited to your story and characters. I enjoy helping our authors with promos by designing custom bookmarks, postcards, and even lobby card sized posters with their book’s cover. As their publisher I’m able to use the highest resolution files of the cover, and I also get great deals on the tie-in promotional products. I admit I’m a frugal promoter—our authors shouldn’t have to spend a fortune to generate book sales!

Placing your Commercial Ads

An advertisement can be a simple signature line or two or three with your book’s name and your website address—it goes under your name in every e-mail you send, and in every forum post you make. Join web groups that fit your genre. Is there a dog in your story? Join groups where dog lovers hang out and post from time to time. Don’t join just to spam, people will know it and your efforts will backfire.

If you don’t have video commercials to advertise your books then you are so last century! Movie book previews are popular and not difficult to make. Your home computer might already have basic video editing software built in. If not you can get an inexpensive program and use your own still photos along with special effects and titles to put together approximately two minute mini-movies, then upload them to YouTube—it’s free! Once your video is uploaded you will get a unique URL to put on your website, in your blog and in your e-mail signature line. I create the video book previews for L&L Dreamspell—I call them our Dreamviews (it’s all part of our theme!) I include several live video clips of our authors, then I use a variety of special effects, photos, and royalty free music to represent a few key elements in their stories. Capture the overall mood of the book—is it mysterious, or dark and dangerous, soft and romantic, or a light hearted comedy story?

Podcasts or even simple audio clips are great commercials. See if your website host will allow you to include short audio clips like MP3’s within your web pages. All you need is a microphone and some simple software—some is available free on line. For full length podcast interviews or book excerpts you may want to purchase better software, also available on line. You’ll need a hosting service to make your podcast recordings available via websites such as itunes and yahoo. Content is important—don’t make an ‘obvious’ commercial, record something meant to entertain. If you don’t grab the listener’s attention in the first minute they will tune you out! I’m creating a series of podcasts to promote the L&L Dreamspell authors.

Putting on a Live Demonstration

A majority of book promotion is done on-line, for both e-books and printed books. But that doesn’t mean you never have to go out and promote in public. Handing out promo items with your web address on them can bring more visitors to your website. Use the theme within your book to create a presentation, then arrange local speaking engagements. One of our authors wrote a historical fiction novel about the great Indian Chief Crazy Horse. His research for the book made him a virtual expert on the subject, and now he’s busy setting up appearances to promote his fiction novel! Fiction is more difficult to promote than non-fiction, but by planning as you write your book you might be surprised at how many ‘themes’ you can use as promotional tools.

While it’s typically the author’s responsibility to arrange interviews and personal speaking engagements, L&L Dreamspell also sets up group events for our authors to participate in regional book fairs and similar exhibitions. And since we’re just getting started I’m always finding new venues for joint author/publisher promotion and advertisement. Don’t be afraid to ask your publisher if they’ll go in on a group advertisement. Often that’s the only way to make print ads cost effective as part of the promotional puzzle!

As a micro-publisher, L&L Dreamspell does its part to promote our authors via review books and initial media announcements, then through catalogs and fliers that go out to various bookstore and library buyers. Just like an author’s marketing efforts, there are no guarantees—stores may never carry the print version of the book, but we certainly open the door to that option, including offering competitive discounts.

We also spread the word about our books on line, but it’s important for authors to take the initiative to establish a major web presence. The more places you put your ‘brand name’ out on the web the better your chance for prosperity and success!

Find out more about us at www.lldreamspell.com

Recommended reading: The Web-Savvy Writer by Patrice-Anne Rutledge

and Plug Your Book by Steve Weber.

Blogging...

Keeping in Touch With Your Readers The Cheap Way!

By: Dianne Castell

DianneCastell.com

The word "blog" is a combination of the words "Web" and log". Blogs are more than just weblogs, though.

A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world.

Your blog is whatever you want it to be. There are millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, and there are no real rules.

In simple terms, a blog is a web site, where you write stuff on an ongoing basis. New stuff shows up at the top, so your visitors can read what's new. Then they comment on it or link to it or email you. Or not.

Since Blogger.com was launched in 1999, blogs have reshaped the web, impacted politics, shaken up journalism, and enabled millions of people to have a voice and connect with others, especially authors! J

And I’m pretty sure the whole deal is just getting started.

Some of the easiest blogs to use are:

Blogger.com

Whatever you have to say, Blogger can help you say it. And it’s really, easy to use and even I can upload pictures.

Blogger Comments let anyone, anywhere, offer feedback on your posts.

The fastest way to understand blogging is to try it out. It’s easy, even I can do it. Less than five minutes. Seriously. And remember: Blogger is totally free.

MSN Blog

MSN Spaces, an online community sponsored by Microsoft. It's free, easy to use, and integrated with MSN Messenger.

The Place to Be is:

My Space

Creating a profile in MySpace is fast, fun, and easy. You can disclose as much or as little information about yourself as you want. MySpace will always keep your personal information private and confidential. We will only show what you choose to share. You can even post pictures of yourself to add to the fun - ALL FREE!

Stuff to think about…

-get others to blog with you so you don’t have to do it all the time and you can get pretty boring!

--get authors who write what you do

--set a schedule

--new each day is the best, keeps readers interested

--a few rules like no author or book bashing

--run give-aways to keep ‘em coming back

--ask a question that the readers can comment on

--have extravaganza days for hype

--get guess bloggers and advertise this to the readers

--have fun and keep it light

--do not sweat over this, just do it

--include pictures

The Low-Down On Internet Promotion

Marketing In The New Age And Author Branding.

Thursday, April 26^th; 10-11 a.m.

E-Marketing is an increasingly important part of any author's promotion plan. And…what is author branding; how does it tie into your promotion efforts?

Learn:

· How to use cover art in branding.

· How to be consistent with your brand.

· How to deliver on the brand.

· How to advertise your brand.

With:

1. Deidre Knight

Deidre Knight is a literary agent, mom, wife, novelist and southern woman, and proud to answer to all of these titles. Before she founded The Knight Agency in 1996, Deidre worked behind the camera in movies and television. During the ten years since she launched her literary agency, she has grown The Knight Agency to national prominence, shepherding authors on to every major bestseller list. With agency sales of more than 450 titles, a large percentage of which are in the categories of romance and women’s fiction, Deidre has established a reputation for discovering vivid and unique storytellers and is considered an industry expert on the hot trend of paranormal fiction. Writing in that genre, she creates fresh characters and strong, emotional storylines. One editor has described her as having “tremendous verve and a great knack for character and smart scenes.” Others have called her writing “outstanding” and “emotionally evocative.” http://www.deidreknight.com/

2. Cornelia Amri

Cornelia Amiri draws on her love of history and fifteen years of research on the ancient Celts, to write tales of long swords, hot heroes, and warrior women. Ms. Amiri is the author of four Celtic/Romance novels, The Fox Prince, The Vixen Princess, Danger Is Sweet, and One Heart One Way, published with Awe-Struck e-books. http://www.CelticRomanceQueen.com

3. Jade Lee

Children of mixed races have their own set of rules. As the daughter of a Shanghai native and a staunch Indiana Hoosier, Jade Lee struggled to find her own identity somewhere between America and China. Her search has taken her throughout Asian and the United States. In the end, the answer was found not only at home, but in her own head. Her imagination allows her to explore China (yr 1900) in her Tigress series. Sexual issues abound in this series where east meets west in the context of Tantric sex exploration. http://www.jadeleeauthor.com/

4. Jeri Smith-Ready

Jeri Smith-Ready's fascination with animals and magic infuses her debut romantic fantasy trilogy. The first installment, EYES OF CROW, won the RT Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Fantasy Novel of 2006, and has been nominated for two Rita Awards. To keep her head in the real
world, Jeri fosters not-so-magical dogs for a local rescue organization.
www.jerismithready.com.

Warrior Jake Tierny travels back in time to stop a traitor in his beloved king's camp. But when a twist of fate proves the mission unnecessary, Jake is trapped in a time not his own, with friends who cannot learn his true identity. Scott Dillon may be the king's trusted lieutenant, but he is also a man at war with himself, a human hybrid who refuses to succumb to the Antousian nature he abhors-and that Jake Tierny embodies. FBI linguist Hope Harper refuses to let near-blindness keep her from joining the Refarians in their war to defend mankind. Her attraction to both Scott and Jake forces all three to question the core of their beliefs.And as their enemies surround them, Hope knows she must choose one man for all time.

Don’t miss the latest in Jade Lee’s award-winning tigress series!

China’s Grand Canal transported food, slaves, and deadly opium. Today, it was a white woman’s path to freedom. But her flight would end in the arms of the Emperor’s Enforcer, Orphaned and stranded, Anna Thompson could trust no one; especially not her dark captor. Not when his eyes held secrets deadlier than her own. His caress was liquid fire, and his kiss could tame demons. Safety, joy, even love were for the taking, he whispered, if only she would give in to temptation.

She was born to die . . . again and again.

For Rhia was bound to the Spirit of Crow, gifted with the foresight of Death's approach and doomed to the isolation of one feared and set apart. There must always be one whose magic can ease the passage of the people of Asermos to the Other Side. But to be the guide her
people require, to truly know the depth of her gift--her curse—Rhia must surrender herself to the wisdom of the Great Forest . . . and drink deeply of Death itself.

And though two powerful men stand ready to aid her, even to love her, the Aspect of Crow demands unthinkable sacrifices from the one who walks its path."