Preparing to Promote Your Writing at Online Events

by Karen Whiting @KarenHWhiting

Since the early days of COVID many authors increased the amount of online speaking they do and also found it great for marketing their books. Prepare to use those opportunities for promotion.

Make Marketing Easy

For a live group event where you will be interviewed or leading a discussion, have any related books you wrote in reach. That makes it easy hold up while mentioning or reading from it. Make sure to hold it in front of the camera lens. If you have the e-book link you can get a universal link at Books2Read.com and use that.

It's also good to have a word document with a little introduction or little snippets about your books plus contact information that includes your web site's URL. You can copy and paste any information listeners might want into the chat instead of trying to type while talking. This can include talking points or tips you plan to share. 

Engage the Audience

Choose a few good anecdotes to engage the audience. Make them relatable to your viewers as well as relevant to your books and brand. If you plan to mention great tips or steps to do something, have a handout prepared with a link for people to easily download. Make the most of handouts by creating an email sequence to gather emails.

Before the event, if it is public, share it in your social media. Encourage people to join in with a welcoming message and note about what you will cover. Add a photo of the book or a brief video.

Create Power Points

You can generally share the screen and use a PPT. This helps viewers follow along and they can take screen shots of the slides. Or you can download the slides as photos and include a link to them at the end of the presentation. Be sure some of the slides include your website, book title, and other promotional information. 

Check the Connections

It's a good practice to be online ahead of time, especially with an interviewer. This way you can check your mic's volume, picture quality, screen share availability, and even you makeup before you click start.

Use Questions to Inspire Interaction

For live talks, be prepared for questions and ask for input. Craft questions that will stir imaginations or plug into memories people can share briefly. Ask people to describe in a nutshell a related memory or a tip that works for them on the topic you're discussing. Be sure to respond when people comment. Have a few comments or anecdotes you can add to keep the question lively.

Leverage Gamification

People enjoy fun and games. Put a quick survey in the chat or see who can respond fast to a quiz type question. Or ask people to put in the chat a funny anecdote on your topic. You might even have a quick game with a prize.

Follow Up

Ask people to put in their emails and save the chat. That way you can send an email to the people who attended and thank them for coming plus invite them to subscribe to your email list, and give them your landing page link where they can subscribe for a free download. 

Develop an additional follow up handout after the talk based on what inspired the most interaction. This can then include comments people made that show you listened and cared about the audience. That's also an opportunity for showing appreciation and letting people know what they put in the chat or said that made you smile, think, or impacted you in some way.

Repurpose

After the event consider what content engaged people and use that to create a new post, blog, or article. Or create a new tip sheet based on information that most excited the listeners. It might give you more ideas for future online talks to create.

It only takes minutes of preparation to promote while online!

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Preparing to Promote Your Writing at Online Events from @KarenHWhiting on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Karen Whiting (WWW.KARENWHITING.COM) is an international speaker, former television host of Puppets on Parade, certified writing and marketing coach, and award-winning author of twenty-seven books for women, children, and families. Her newest book, The Gift of Bread: Recipes for the Heart and the Table reflects her passion for bread and growing up helping at her grandparent’s restaurant. Check out her newest book Growing a Mother’s Heart: Devotions of Faith, Hope, and Love from Mothers Past, Present, and Future. It's full of heartwarming and teary-eyed stories of moms.

Karen has a heart to grow tomorrow’s wholesome families today. She has written more than eight hundred articles for more than sixty publications and loves to let creativity splash over the pages of what she writes. She writes for Crosswalk. Connect with Karen on Twitter @KarenHWhiting Pinterest KarenWhiting FB KarenHWhiting.