I love to have professional PR folks share with my subscribers and visitors and Scott Lorenz is one of those who knows his stuff!
A Professional Shares PR
Resources
Scott Lorenz Loves Listopia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How Authors Can Use Listopia to Promote Their Book
By
Scott Lorenz
As a book
publicist I am always on the lookout for effective inexpensive ways to reach
book buyers. One way is to tap into the power of Goodreads by using Listopia
lists.
How?
Listopia is
a free tool through Goodreads for authors to see how people rank/rate your book
and for readers to see all the riveting published work on the site. It is ideal
for authors to list their own book on their list along with other books in the
same genre to gain from their popularity and association. For example if you
have a book similar to Gone Girl,
list that book along with your book and other similar books. Your book can
benefit as it may show up on Google, Bing and Amazon searches.
Here’s how to create a Listopia list
on Goodreads:
Click
the “Create a List” button on the top right-hand corner of the page.
Sign
in or Sign up to create a Listopia account.
- After
you Create or Sign in to your account, Click on the Explore drop down menu and
hit the Listopia tab.
Click
the “Create a List” link.
Provide
the requested information for your list and click the Preview button to review
your list and Publish list when you are finished.
Here’s the information
you’ll be asked to enter:
Title of Your List: Make it searchable by keywords,
other bestselling authors’ names or book titles
Description: Create a summary of what your list
contains.
Add tags: This allows you to add keywords
that help others discover your list.
Add Your Book: This is the core of your list. You
can add anything from the book listings on Goodreads; (you can add books from
your Amazon account too)
“I added my
book Fireflies to a bunch of lists on
Goodreads, and I was fortunate enough to have it voted as the number one spot
on the Indie Fantasy List,” said P.S. Bartlett, author of Fireflies and The Blue
Diamond.
“A review
is worthless unless you say what you really think,” said Neina Campbell, author
and reviewer on Goodreads. She went on to say, “I think the best reviews come
close to capturing the ‘qualia’ of reading a book, and portraying what it meant
to you.”
“I never
knew about Listopia and have now added my book (Chocolatour) to an existing list about Chocolate books and have
created a new list,” said Doreen Pendgracs, author of Chocolatour.
According
to Lisa Ruefenacht, writer at PCmag.com, “Goodreads expands your literary
community, it’s easy to use, and the recommendations come from your friends not
from an automated database.”
Most
authors are unaware of this inexpensive and valuable promotional service but
should become familiar with it. By creating a list, and adding their own book,
the author should also add their competition to the list. It is ideal for the
author to create a list with his or her book listed along with the genre
competition before someone else creates a similar list without that particular
author’s book listed.
“If you’re
a big reader with a circle of friends who are too—or if you’re looking for a
like-minded community—you owe it to yourself to check out Goodreads,” adds
Ruefenacht.
Interesting
details to note about Listopia lists are as follows: First, the lists are
public, everyone can vote on them so it is important to create a generalized
title rather than a personalized one. For example, instead of “Denise’s
Favorite Cook Books,” title it as “Delicious Cook Books.” Second, if a list
already exists, they will be eventually merged together. Third, capitalize all
list titles. Last, the Goodreads user can only create one list per day.
Whether you
are a well-known author or self-publishing your first book, Listopia is an
economical way for you to promote your book.
The Bottom Line: Listopia gives authors free
exposure leading to more sales and recognition. Make a Listopia list TODAY! If
you don’t want to do it, ask your friends to create a list and include your
book.
Book
publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public
relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors
to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with
bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books,
whether it's their first book or their 15th book. He's handled publicity for
books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors,
Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning
America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME,
PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman's World, & Howard Stern to
name a few.
-----
Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of
This Is the Place;
Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered;
Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of,
The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher;
The multi award-winning second edition of The Frugal Editor; and
Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers .
The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including
A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are
TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at
The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .
Howard-Johnson is the author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers including the award-winning second editions of The Frugal Book Promoter (where she talks more about choosing and the advantages of winning contests and how to use those honors) and The Frugal Editor. Her latest is in the series is How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically. Learn more on her Amazon profile page, http://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile. Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers is one of her booklets--perfect for inexpensive gift giving--and, another booklet, The Great First Impression Book Proposal helps writers who want to be traditionally published. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it will help them convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. In addition to this blog, she helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs at all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor (http://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com )
