Marketing your books is a tough proposition and even harder for the self-published author. These days we are all learning about having “Fun with Videos”. There are a wide variety of tools out there to create short but fun videos for yourself. Some of them are even on your smartphones. For some reason, readers look for “eye-catching” visuals before deciding on reading an unknown writer. Some of us rely on our friends and family to recommend books and other writers for us to try. Others look at reviews online and in print. Sadly, we are all having to readjust our thinking and finding more and more things online.

Speaking of doing everything online. Have you visited the Sunshine State Book Festival yet? It officially began today and I have an author panel page with a video set up. http://www.sunshinestatebookfestival.com/au_pg1.html#Eadie It is the first book event of the year and the first time I participated strictly online. It is the Writers Alliance of Gainesville first time as well. I think they have done a really nice job of it. They will be leaving the videos on their YouTube page for 6 months. Please visit the site, watch a couple of author videos and buy some books from there.

Please click on the link above and it will take you to my section of the website with the video that my social media coordinator created. This is my first all-digital book event. I do miss the interaction with the readers but do not miss all the booth setup and tear-downs attending these types of events require. You have to decorate your assigned area with your marketing materials and copies of your books that is inviting but not too overwhelming. Then you and your partner (always bring a partner to help you run the booth and give each other bathroom and meal breaks) will have to sit at the table during the entire event. This way we recorded what I wanted to tell all of my avid readers/fans and I don’t have to sit there all day.

Below is an excerpt from our first attempt at making the required video. The conference media person said the audio was too hollow sounding so we had to shoot it again in a different location. I wanted someplace that looked nice but was quiet. We ended up at my beach house. The intro to the video is a little bit long but the rest, I think turned out really nice. Still, I liked the first video. Thankfully, my videographer was able to fix the sound and we are using parts of it to make other book commercials. Never throw anything out, especially videos you just never know.