Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’

Welcome to the Team: Lynsie Crespo

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Ambassador is excited to announce the addition of Lynsie Crespo to our team! Lynsie will be focusing on social media, marketing and sales. Have you noticed those cool “Meet Us Monday” posts on Facebook? Or have you checked out the new Ambassador Instagram page? Yes, Lynsie is the one that makes us all look so good. Born and raised in New Jersey, Lynsie decided to take a risk, quit her job, and moved to South Carolina two years ago.  She always had a passion for fashion and that’s what led Lynsie to creating Similar Styles, a fashion blog to prove to the world that you can dress in high end fashion without having to pay a similar price. While fashion blogging, Lynsie also discovered that she also has a passion for social media. When she is not interacting online, Lynsie is a Thrift Stylist for Miracle Hill Thrift Stores. She also loves singing and playing guitar. Connect with Lynsie on instagram @lynsie84 or as Similar Styles on Facebook and Instagram.

LynsieIf your life had a theme song what would it be?

Thrift Shop by Lindsey Stirling & Tyler Ward. This song makes me laugh! For those of you that know me I’m always up for a good laugh… and thrifting. I am always up for thrifting.

Who’s your social media idol?

There are so many! I’ll narrow it down by saying fashion instabloggers. They are all an inspiration to me. 

If you could visit anywhere in the world– where would you go?
Bora Bora & Hawaii! 
What’s social media outlet do you spend the most time on?Lynsie Crespo
Instagram.
Share your best tip for making your social media profile stand out.
I’m a visual person so to me it’s all about the pictures! Make sure they are good quality and don’t be afraid to use filters! Just make sure you use the right ones to compliment your photo. 

Publishing FAQs | What Else Do You Expect Me To Do?

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Frequently asked questions. Every industry has them and publishing is no different. Ambassador International has the pleasure of working with many new and upcoming authors as well as already-established authors who still need our assistance. Many of these authors come to us with lots of questions. Publishing your first book (or your 10th!) is exciting! There are many details to work out and decisions to make. This Publishing FAQ series covers questions Ambassador International receives regularly. Previously covered questions are:

 

Publishing FAQsI’ve written the book, what else do you expect me to do?

If you’re hoping the answer is relax, step aside and let the publisher run with it you’re going to be disappointed. New York Times bestseller Jon Acuff said it well in his blog post Don’t Write A Book saying, “OK, next time don’t write a book. Write a diary. It’s a lot easier and you don’t have to promote it at all.”

This post as Jon shared can sound harsh but it really is true, author involvement in the marketing is crucial — do not write a book to set on your nightstand.

 

Easy Ways to Build a Platform

There are so many easy ways you can work to build your platform and spread word about your book:

  • Social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google+ {with many more} are free tools to build your fan base and promote your title. Keep your fans posted of how, when, and where to buy your title. Share about events, keep them posted on your progress. Make them feel like they are part of your journey.
  • Talking about your title: Can you work your content into a presentation? Can you teach your skills in a workshop?
  • Create a presence online: Besides just social media do you have an online home base? This is a website or a blog that fans can visit. You will want it to point them to everything related to you and your book. If have a website or a blog are you keeping it updated?
  • Connect with local stores: Talk with bookstore managers in your immediate area — this is your home market. Introduce yourself and your book, let them know why they need to have it in stock, point traffic and sales to that store. Make yourself available to them for signings and local author days.

Publishers expect their authors to be passionate about their books and doing all they can to help make it a success. If you cannot get excited about your book, why would you expect anyone else to?

If you want to work on your platform check out our author bootcamp videos.

Facebook: Tell Us What You’re Reading

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Did you know that you can now tell your Facebook friends what you’re reading? Here are some simple step-by-step instructions for filling in your friends on your literary choices:

FB smiley

1. Click on the smiley face under the Update Status box.

FB reading

2. Scroll down to “Reading.”

FB Book Reading

3. Type in the name of the book you are reading. If the book has a Facebook page then it will come up.

FB Im Reading

4. Highlight the book and it will look like this in your status update. Be sure to tag Ambassador International’s Facebook page and let us know what you’re reading!

Beyond the Manuscript : Creating Your Platform (week 2)

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Beyond the Manuscript

Over the span of six weeks Ambassador COO Tim Lowry will be sharing a series he calls “Beyond the Manuscript.” Whether you’re a new or seasoned author we hope you’ll find this material helpful:

  • Week 1: Author and publisher marketing
  • Week 2: Creating a platform
  • Week 3: Building your fan base
  • Week 4: Developing your product launch plan
  • Week 5: How to organize a successful signing
  • Week 6: Engaging media on a local and national level

Any author that has ever attended a writer’s conference or been in the publishing industry any length of time has likely been told “you need to work on your platform.”

This week we’re going to cover some of basics needed to get you on the road to Creating A Platform.

A platform is key to the success of any book. If you have no established platform and no plans of establishing one then the your going to be facing an uphill battle. Thankfully however there are now more ways than ever before to build a platform, get a following and get your message out to the masses.

Let’s take a look at some of the tools that are available to you.

Social media icons

-Facebook: I have no doubt that everyone reading this has heard of Facebook, you probably already use it on some level. This is must for building your social presence — think of Facebook as a country with 1.1 billion residents, this is a huge market!

When talking about Facebook with respect to building your platform we’re talking about creating a fan page verses using a personal account.

A fan page is created from your personal account and Facebook has genres in place allowing you to easily create an author page. A fan page allows people to “like” rather than friend you.

With Facebook you can also customize your page URL (web address). We recommend making your URL your author name. The key in all this is to create a brand — your name is your brand. You want to make it as easy as possible for your readers to find and follow you.

-Twitter: Again I’m going to assume almost everyone reading this has heard of Twitter, you may already have an account and have tweeted out a link to this blog, for others we’re getting into a grey area. Twitter is a powerful networking tool. Using short, concise messages you can grab attention and easily direct followers to your content, keep posts to 140 characters or less, incorporate links and hashtags to what is relevant. The best way to learn how to effectively use twitter is 1) by using it, 2) following others in your category that you respect and see how they’re using it to build there brand and following.

-Google+: Although relatively new to the social media scene Google+ is growing in popularity and an important one for building your platform. Google is the king of search and they love data. As a publishing house we have recently seen some of our Google+ posts show up on Google’s home page for a search ahead of websites related to the product. Put simply Google likes Google, that makes this a must. Finding friends and creating circles will take some getting used to however once established Google offers great tools that makes the learning curve worth it — Google Hangouts could perhaps be one of your most valuable free marketing tool. We’re going to go into further detail about Google Hangouts in the coming weeks and how you can use this tool to build a following and sell product.

-Website/Blog: This is your home base, the social networks are the connectors to you but your website is where it all happens. Use great tools like WordPress to create a robust website with a blog integrated. When building your site think about what you want it to achieve. If you’re wanting to push sales do you want to link to major retailers or would you prefer to handle your own sales using a service like paypal or perhaps providing both options? Do you speak at events or do you want to build this out as part of your marketing? If so make sure your site has a speaking calendar, instructions on how to book you and if possible audio or video of you speaking at other events. Do you want to offer freebies to bring fans to your site? Perhaps you have had several interviews or have a great media kit you’d like to have downloaded — this can go on a media page.

-YouTube: This is yet another one of Google’s sites.If you’re going to create a video there are options like Vimeo and Animoto however we strongly suggest YouTube as the way to go, this being a Google run site it works nicely with their analytics and places it higher in searches than other sites. Again, use your author name to brand your channel on YouTube.

It is important if at all possible that you keep your branding consistent. Website URL, Facebook URL, Twitter handle, YouTube Channel etc. Do not use some nickname or alias that only a handful of people know you by, stick with the name that is on the book.

Next week we’re going to be talking about how putting these tools to work and building your fan base as you write.

What tool have you found most successful for you to connect and build a listening audience?

Don’t miss out on the latest Ambassador International news!

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In today’s world, it’s hard not to be involved in at least one social media website. At Ambassador International, we want to make sure we reach out to everyone! We are located on some of the top social media websites. Make sure you check out our pages to get the latest book information, helpful writing tips, giveaways, and much more!

facebook Facebook

Our number one source for finding information on our book giveaways! An astounding 1 in 5 people in the entire world on Facebook! Write on our wall and give us your latest thoughts!

twitter Twitter

In 140 characters or less, we tweet the latest details on book giveaways, author information, and ideas for Christian living. Providing inspiration in a couple sentences or less!

googleplus Google+

A new addition to our media outlets, we love to have Google Hangouts with our authors! This is a great way to connect one-on-one with your favorite authors and ask them questions!

pinterest Pinterest

Are you addicted to pinning? We have boards to provide inspiration with Christian living, links to book reviews, what our authors are up to, decorating with books and more! We love to share writing tips!

youtube Youtube

Check out our YouTube channel for book trailers, author interviews, and tips for publishing your own books. More videos to come!