My new job…

Smokler on June 4, 2011

First time I've ever been hired with a press release…

BookTour.com co-founder Kevin Smokler has been named vice president of marketing at Byliner.

Smokler will be responsible for overseeing marketing initiatives, social media projects, and community management at the new nonfiction site. Smokler previously served as CEO of BookTour.com. That site offers tools and services for authors to promote their books and for readers to have access to the authors.

Smokler had this statement in the press release: “Four of my great loves–reading, journalism, publishing and technology–all showed up in one job. How often does that happen?”

Byliner.com will formally launch in early June. The site will offer nonfiction authors and readers the chance to form a community by allowing for personalized recommendations, social bookmarking and aggregated discussion. Byliner also runs Byliner Originals, a distribution platform which publishes nonfiction pieces that can be read in a single sitting.


Book Promotion Series Continues: Part VIII: “Your Book Tour and How to Plan It”

Smokler on November 28, 2010

Last time we talked about how to give a great interview. That was probably the first time in our series that book promotion has sounded not just practical but glamorous, maybe even fun. Of course it’s important to describe your book in a smooth, clean sentence, or get your friends excited about the promotion process. But these are functions and not sexy ones. The sexy part of doing all this, we dream, is the unexpected interest, the strangers saying "I love your work," the out-of-the-blue calls saying "could you be at the studio tomorrow afternoon?"

The sexy part of book promotion is going on a book tour.

(Full Post, Entire series on Book Promotion). 

 

Book Promotion Series Continues: Part III: “Getting Your House in Order.”

Smokler on August 9, 2010

My 10-part series on book promotion continues today over at the BookTour blog. Today's segment: "Getting Your Own House in Order." 

Imagine that you’re in the weeks and months right before your book is published. What’s the best way to get ready for the big day? How much time will it take and what needs doing? All of these questions are part of the answer to the one that keeps authors awake at night when they have a new book on the horizon.

How ready would you like to feel?

When entertaining guests, we clean the house and stock the icebox. Before a trip, we pack a suitcase and notify the neighbors. We do this because the best antidote for fear of the unexpected is readiness. Just as you won’t be a good host if you don’t plan for your guest’s arrival, you’ll be a lousy spokesperson for your book if you don’t get ready before its due date. Put more simply…

In order to best promote your book, make sure your own house is in order.

Read the rest of the essay here. 

Book Promotion Series Continues: Part II: It’s Who You Know

Smokler on August 2, 2010

My 10-part series on book promotion continues today over at the BookTour blog. Today's segment: "It's Who You Know."

Book promotion is a block party. If you’re lucky, the party is thrown by someone else (the New York Times, your well-paid publicist, Oprah) and you just show up. You don’t even have to bring potato salad. But that’s simply not the case for most writers, and everyone knows that. Which is why most publishers, publicists, booksellers and members of the media will be most impressed by the effort you put in yourself, by your willingness to bring what you have to the party, or to throw it yourself

I know perhaps you are shy and it’s no fun to ask for favors. This is the time to get over it. If you can’t ask the people closest to you to invest in your book, how do you expect complete strangers to invest their time and money in reading it? 

Read the rest of the essay here. 

10-Part Series on Book Promotion Begins Today: Part I: “Tell Me About Your Book.”

Smokler on July 26, 2010

I'm writing a 10-part series over at the BookTour blog. Today was Part 1: "Tell Me About Your Book" 

A highlight…

If book promotion is matchmaking between your book and everyone who you want to know about it, “tell me about your book,” is the first date. And nobody wants to be on a first date with a motormouth who can’t keep their thoughts straight. If you WROTE the book and can’t say, with confidence, what it’s about, is there any point to continuing the conversation? All I’m thinking is “If this author writes as badly as they explain…”

I know you’ve worked on this book for two years and want to talk about everything in it. But it isn’t time for “everything.” You’re on a first date. You goal is to get a second date.

Read the entire essay here. 

Required Reading: “Celebrity Sex Tapes, Sex and the City 2 and Other Great Jobs”

Smokler on April 20, 2010

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