What I Know Now: The Ever Changing World of Online Book PR

Award I was on a radio show recently talking about virtual book tours and the radio show host asked me, “Is there anything you think Pump Up Your Book Promotion can be doing but isn’t?”  He reworded it a little differently, but that’s how I remember it.  For the first time in the whole interview, I pulled a blank.  I was doing everything in the book for my clients I could possibly do in regards for getting them immense online exposure – implementing SEO, getting them into high profile websites and national newspapers, showing them how to videotape themselves for video blogs, having them appear on radio shows, getting their key search words at the top of the search engines, getting them reviews before their tour started, teaching them about blogs, Twitter, Facebook and the list goes on.

Knowing all this, I said, “Honestly, I believe we are doing everything we need to do.”

Don’t you hate it when you remember something after the fact?  Well, the fact is, in this ever changing world of online PR, nothing stays the same.  It’s always changing and evolving.

When I first started Pump Up three years ago, Twitter and Facebook, for example, weren’t as popular as they are today.  Authors and promoters are seeing how fantastic these places are to promote with less effort.  Newspapers such as USA Today, Chicago Times and Wall Street Journal are seeing the advantages of pulling content from syndicated blog posts and now not only are my clients appearing in the online versions but the paper as well.

Now you don’t have to appear inside the studio of a radio show to be heard by thousands of potential book buyers.  There are hundreds upon hundreds of online radio shows that you can appear on without having to leave your home.  Not only that, now you don’t have to wait for months for reviewers to review your book.  Now there are hundreds of review blogs who are excellent in understanding what I need for my author and that is for the review to be live on a certain date (no other method but virtual book tours guarantees this).

Oh, did I mention the fact that despite what authors believe about appearing on national TV shows, it doesn’t necessarily sell your book?  I had an author tell me the reason why he chose my company to help him promote his book is because he was dumbfounded that this method didn’t sell thousands of books like he thought it would.

This isn’t a promotional ad for our company nor to convince you that virtual book tours are excellent vehicles to sell your book, but it does show you how vital it is to keep up with the latest ways to promote your book online and to not stay in the mindset that you’ve done everything there is to do and leave it at that.

As authors and promoters, we need to understand that online book promotion never stops evolving and it’s our job to make sure we stay on top of the latest technologies in which to promote our books.

Dorothy Thompson Dorothy Thompson is CEO/Founder of Pump Up Your Book Promotion, an innovative public relations agency specializing in online book promotion.  Visit www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com/specials2.html to find out about their fantastic “12 Days of Christmas” special.  You can also find out about other virtual book tour packages by visiting www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com/virtualbooktours. You can follow her at Twitter at www.twitter.com/pumpupyourbook or Facebook at www.facebook.com/thewriterslife.  Email Dorothy at thewriterslife@yahoo.com.

 

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