Dana Lynn Smith – Twitter, Tweeting, and Re-tweeting: Twitter Book Marketing
Jan 23rd
On January 22nd, 2010 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with book marketing guru Dana Lynn Smith about exploiting the potential of Twitter for marketing your books. Dana Lynn Smith, owner of Texana Publishing Consultants, LLC, has 15 years of experience in publishing and 25 years of marketing experience. She specializes in developing marketing plans for nonfiction books and teaching authors how to promote their books online. She is the author of The Savvy Book Marketer Guides, a series of ebooks on book marketing topics. Talking points include:
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Dana ’s professional background includes:
She has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing, and is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association and the Writers League of Texas. A fifth-generation Texan, Dana enjoys exploring Texas and the world, and she writes a Texas travel column for Examiner.com. She and her husband live on a small ranch near Austin, Texas, where they raise cattle and goats |
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Podcasting for Authors – Roundtable with Alan E. Smith
Jan 9th
| On January 8th, 2010, we convened a roundtable discussion on Podcasting for Authors with Victor R. Volkman, Irene Watson, and Alan E. Smith. Each of the principals invited has been recording and distributing podcasts for several years through Authors Airwaves, Inside Scoop Live, and UnBreak Your Health, and podcast programs respectively. Our discussion ranged through a wide variety of subjects from production to promotion to book tie-ins and of course, getting started.1. How did you get into podcasting? 2. Is it hard to do, do I have to learn a lot of stuff? 3. Should I use blogtalkradio or do-it-myself? 4. How do I get guests, what do I talk about? 5. How do I promote the podcast? 6. What is RSS.XML and stuff like that 7. How can I tie my book into the podcast without making it an endless infomercial? 8. Can I integrate or interweave my book and podcast content? 9. How do I measure success? 10. What about audio quality? tips |
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| Victor Volkman specializes in the audio engineering aspects and has done audio editing for quality control on more than 200 podcasts, including all 102 podcasts of Authors Access. The chief problems that he works on involve noise reduction, balancing the levels, integrating background music and commercials, fixing speech problems, and maintaining quality and continuity. His audio editing suite is Goldwave Version 5.
Irene Watson is the owner of Reader Views, a full-service book marketing and publicity firm with a wide range of services from reviews to interviews to book editing and agenting. In 2005, she created Inside Scoop Live which has produced nearly 400 shows which is now primarily hosted by Juanita Watson. Inside Scoop Live is a global internet-based broadcast specializing in interviewing published authors about their current books and areas of expertise. Her preferred recording platform is Audio Acrobat dot com” Alan E. Smith is the author of Unbreak Your Health: The complete guide to complementary and alternative therapies. Alan has produced 55 podcasts since 2008 with a variety of guests from bestselling authors such as Bruce Lipton, PhD, who wrote “The Biology of Belief” which was a major influence of the infamous “What the Bleep” movie and also the creators, deans, and master teachers of many techniques such as Naturopathy, Chiropractic, Energy Medicine, Therapeutic Touch, and dozens of others. |
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Resources we mentioned on this show |
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Internet Stations to consider broadcasting on
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For publicizing your podcast show
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Where to get great guests?
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Top 10 podcasts of 2009
Dec 31st
Dear listeners, new and old,
As we ring in the New Year, we want to make sure you haven’t missed the best podcasts that Authors Access has presented, as voted by you: the people who listen to the show
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Guest | Subject | Podcast Link |
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| 1 | 08-Aug-08 | Jo Virgil | Getting Your Book into a National Book Store |  |
| 2 | 21-Aug-08 | Yvonne Perry | How to Become a Freelance Writer | |
| 3 | 04-Sep-08 | Alice Acheson | Publicity for Pennies | |
| 4 | 15-Nov-07 | Carolyn Howard Johnson | Frugal Book Promotion | |
| 5 | 16-Oct-08 | Kevin Collier | Kevin Collier – Illustrating and Designing Children’s Books | |
| 6 | 11-Dec-08 | Alexis Niki | Screenwriting 101 | |
| 7 | 12-Nov-08 | Ryan Johnson | POD Printing Books and Games | |
| 8 | 20-Nov-08 | Suzanne Lieurance | Developing Your Passion of Writing as a Career | |
| 9 | 12-Nov-08 | Edna Washington | Using QuickBooks with Publishers in Mind | |
| 10 | 04-Dec-08 | Barbara Hudgins | Crafting Travel Guidebooks | |
Intensive critique classes online in fiction and memoir
Dec 26th
Claiming and Polishing the Power of Our Stories: Intensive critique classes online in fiction and memoir. (10 weeks)
This is an advanced writers’ workshop open both to writers who have studied with me, or those who have not but are invited to participate after sending a 3-page sample of your work in fiction or memoir, and a paragraph describing the project you are working on, or aim to develop. The workshop focuses on your work-in-progress and the questions you pose about craft, which will be addressed specifically in relationship to your work. This intensive critique class will respond to each individual’s needs as they continue to develop and revise their work toward the completion of a memoir, novel, collection of short stories, or collection of memoiristic essays. Many of the fiction writers in the class may have an autobiographical connection to their work; this connection may be direct, or may be subtle, internal, roundabout, and not absolutely necessary or identifiable. This course means hard work, following your own strong impulses and directions, and receiving and giving helpful, extensive feedback. Participants in the group who have studied with me previously have shown themselves to be insightful and constructive in their responses, and I aim in my feedback to you to illuminate in large and in detailed ways the deeper subject matter, language and structure of your project. The course will begin in late January or early February, to be determined.
Fee: 325$ payable in full before the start of class. Please aachtenberg@gmail.com or 651-214-9248 before January 2, or after January 18. Remember, if you have not studied with me before, please email, within the body of your email and NOT as an attachment, a paragraph or one page project description, and a 3-page writing sample from your project.
***If you are looking for another kind of online workshop with regular lectures posted each week, I will continue to teach with writers.com — see http://www.writers.com/achtenberg.html#story for Claiming Our Stories… Parts One and Two.