2010 December | Lori's List

Archive for December, 2010

If You Want to Get the Word Out, Befriend a Blogger

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

Recently my book, Green Interior Design was released. Like most people who have never written a book, I thought the days of sitting in front of my computer coming up with hundreds of pages of clever material was the hard part. Visions of Hollywood scenes featuring authors and their publishers led me to believe that I would be traveling around the country on a glamorous book tour (television, radio, chic book stores, exclusive parties) staying at posh hotels, selling millions of copies and having my editor pick up the tab.

I mean isn’t that what JK Rowling gets to do? Ha ha. The joke was on me. After you write your first book, you the author, get the pleasure of marketing it too. Ok fine, how hard can it be? I contacted a PR person known for her prowess in marketing books. She quoted me $20,000- but no Internet marketing . I did the math. I make about $1 a book , multiply that by a million copies, equals… this sounded like a great plan. Only when I asked how many copies she thought I could sell, she said about 15,000. I confirmed the number with some other design authors. My next thought was, I’m going to need to look at some other options.

Then it hit me- THE BLOGGERS. One of the greatest things about blogs is that unlike magazines that have 3-12 month lead times, blogs can post content immediately. Plus the bloggers put a link (straight to a shopping cart) in the article. I immediatly started contacting the blogs I know and love.

In no special order here’s the list of the blogs who saved me $20,000 in marketing and helped me publicize my book. Thank you thank you thank you! Give em’ a read and be sure to tell them if you have something compelling to announce, they’re happy to help you spread the word.

1. All The Best Blog

2.Belle Vivir

3.Crib Candy

4.Absolutely Not Martha

5.Blue Ant Studio

6. Chasing Davies

7. Being Tazim

8. Eco- Modernism

9. Live Modern

10. Just One More Page Or Two

11. Examiner.com

12. Design Shuffle