Author Marketing Experts, Inc.

August is National What Month? Unique Content Ideas for Authors

Tue, 28 Jul 2020 15:03:36 GMT

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Welcome to our list of August observances and content ideas for your monthly author marketing plan!

If you’re committed to making this year one of your most successful yet – we can help you do that.

If you haven’t downloaded our Monthly Book Marketing Planner yet you can grab that at the bottom of this piece in our resources section. We’ve updated it for 2020 with even more prompts and tips to make life easier!

Remember, without regular connections to readers, you’re just another book on the shelf (literal or virtual) they have no vested interest in…so take the time to make yourself stand out by using our monthly observances and tips to create interesting content with your own unique twist.

This is part of building your brand!

Another great reason to bookmark this author marketing resource? Timely content that uses popular and trending search terms and hashtags, is a great way to enhance your visibility and improve SEO in a very simple way.

And what’s really key: content ideas don’t always have to stem from your genre or topic.

When it comes to author marketing and building a brand, ensuring fans and followers have ways to connect with you on a more personal level is equally as powerful as ensuring you also make time to really speak to your genre and topic.

How to Use My Content Ideas

Below are holidays and just plain wacky and fun August Observances for 2020.

I’ve also included a few content ideas and angles to help spark your creativity!

Remember, not all these are worth an entire blog post or article, but nearly all of them can be turned into a fun or thought-provoking social media post or blurb in your newsletter – so it’s like getting triple the ideas!

There are always a lot of holidays around food, drink and cooking, so get ready to share recipes or tag local fave establishments and ask followers to share theirs. Same goes for activities, this is a great chance to take selfies, share a bit about yourself outside of being a writer.

These also open up opportunities for you to make recommendations for products, no, not official ads, but again, people love to follow someone who’s a great resource, so think outside the box when it comes to figuring out ways you can help people out and make their lives easier or more exciting.

Keep in mind: ALL your posts should encourage your fans and followers to respond, chime in, share their feedback, insight, stories, etc. so don’t forget to work in that angle to let them know you want to hear from them.

I mention it as part of my recommendations occasionally, but please know that encouraging engagement is always the goal – never post “flat” content, always get creative with how you can pull others into the conversation, and easily.

And if you’re feeling a little guilty about the lack of promotion planning you’ve done so far this year, use this list as a productive kick in the rear, commit to writing some form of content every day, use it on social, for your blog, in your newsletter – get creative – but giving yourself a bar to reach is the first step in upping your game.

Do polls, giveaways, fan art contests, remember to make it about your readers – not about you – and you’re guaranteed to see better engagement.

If you need some additional support on how to translate these ideas to actual content and posts, please consider signing up for email coaching with me and we’ll get personal!

Getting Started with Content Ideas

Monthly Observances for August:

Admit You’re Happy Month
Family Fun Month
Dog Days of Summer
International Clown Week
National Catfish Month
National Eye Exam Month
National Golf Month
Peach Month
Romance Awareness Month
Water Quality Month
National Picnic Month

Weekly Observances for August:

Week 1 National Simplify your Life Week
Week 2 National Smile Week
Week 3 Friendship Week
Week 4 Be Kind to Humankind Week

Daily Observances for August:

August 1

Campfire Day

International Hangover Day

National Girlfriends Day – Girlfriends are all over awesome literature, if this includes your work then I suggest planning a BOGO offer, if someone buys a copy of your book have them email you the receipt and the name and email of a friend you can gift a copy of the book to!

National Mountain Climbing Day

August 2

Friendship Day – If you have a fab friendship in one of your books use this time to provide some background info on their friendship, create cool bonus content that might help you drive newsletter sign ups too.

International Forgiveness Day

National Coloring Book Day – If you have a coloring book, this is an obvious one, but if you have children’s book consider doing a promo, or a giveaway, where you bundle your book with a popular coloring book on the market.

National Ice Cream Sandwich Day

Sisters Day

August 4

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day

U.S. Coast Guard Day

August 5

National Underwear Day

National Oyster Day

Work Like a Dog Day

August 6

National Fresh Breath Day

Wiggle Your Toes Day

August 7

International Beer Day

National Lighthouse Day

Professional Speakers Day – If you’re currently speaking, or you’re looking to get into speaking, plan a promo around this day, make a point to get your name out there, plan to pitch yourself to some new events, use this as a reason to get to work!

August 9

Book Lover’s Day

August 10

Lazy Day

National S’mores Day

August 13

Left Hander’s Day

August 15

National HoneyBee Awareness Day

Relaxation Day – What do you do to relax? This is a great get-to-know-me post!

August 16

National Tell a Joke Day

August 17

National Thriftshop Day

August 18

Bad Poetry Day

World Daffodil Day

August 19

Aviation Day

August 20

HP Lovecraft’s Birthday – Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of weird fiction and horror fiction, who is known for his creation of what became the Cthulhu Mythos.

National Radio Day

World Mosquito Day

August 21

National Spumoni Day

Senior Citizen’s Day

August 22

Be an Angel Day – This is a great opportunity to be a catalyst for good, promote this holiday on your social and ask fans to let you know what kind of angel acts they’ve taken on.

August 25

Chinese Valentine’s Day/Daughter’s Day

Kiss and Make Up Day – Romance authors, if you have a plot line that supports this holiday definitely plan for a special promotion.

National Banana Split Day

August 26

National Dog Day

Women’s Equality Day – I’d love to see my fellow ladyboss authors do something special, especially if your primary market is women!

August 27

Global Forgiveness Day

Just Because Day

August 29

International Bacon Day

More Herbs, Less Salt Day

August 30

Frankenstein Day

Mary (Wollstonecraft) Shelley Birthday – (August 30, 1797 – February 1, 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel Frankenstein.

Toasted Marshmallow Day

August 31

National Eat Outside Day

National Trail Mix Day

The Takeaway

Remember, being an author demands creativity, and it also demands authenticity.

Coming up with unique content ideas as part of your author marketing plan is a great way to take your success seriously, without taking yourself too seriously! And these August observances should really help.

Have plans for a fun take on any of these ideas? Share below in the comments!

Resources and Free Downloads

Monthly Book Marketing Planner

Personalized Coaching

How to Create Video Content for Social Media

Irresistible Bonus and Giveaway Ideas for Authors

The post August is National What Month? Unique Content Ideas for Authors appeared first on Author Marketing Experts, Inc..

The Best Book Marketing Ideas for the Pandemic (Book Marketing Podcast)

Tue, 28 Jul 2020 13:00:39 GMT

Reading Time: 4 minutes

To say the best book marketing ideas have evolved in 2020 would be an understatement.

With author events canceled, book tours rescheduled for who knows when – and book releases moved – the publishing world has seen a lot of change.

But the thing is, books are still selling. Perhaps now more than ever.

Escapism is, to say the least, at an all-time high. And that’s likely going to continue for the foreseeable future. But it’s not just books to escape in, it’s also the opportunity to learn a new skill, or polish an old skill. Getting into gardening or baking – or anything to do with home repairs.

There’s probably not a single one of you reading this who doesn’t have a book that’s in demand right now.

So let’s look at some of the best book marketing ideas for reaching more people, building your sales, and finding new readers in these Covid-lockdown times – but keep in mind this is just a taste of what we covered on the podcast – so be sure to listen to the full episode for all our tips!

Discounted eBook Promotions and the Impulse Buy

Since Amazon got all wonky about shipping books, eBooks have really surged.

Have you considered doing an eBook promotion, even just discounting your eBook by $1 could dramatically help your exposure and impulse sales.

I spoke with a small publisher the other day who said they’ve been rotating eBooks in and out of sale pricing and have been selling a ton of eBooks on Amazon!

Libraries are Evolving in Creative Ways

Many libraries are looking for virtual events – I know a library just north of me in Anaheim is powering through a ton of online classes, which is great.

So reach out to your local library and see if they’re open to online content.

Local Bookstores Need Your Support Still

If your local stores are still closed, or only open for limited shopping you might want to ask them how they’re handling author events, because there could be some good opportunities to do virtual programming, too.

Check Out the Virtual Conference Circuit

If you’ve always wanted to speak at a particular event or events why not email and ask them if they’re interested in having you speak virtually?

I’ve actually done more speaking events during lockdown (all virtually) than I do normally in a year. It’s really been fantastic.

Sell More Books Virtually

Yes, you can sell your books on Amazon but you can also sell them on your own using the online events mentioned above or perhaps a BOGO or gift with purchase offer.

These are fun drivers for additional sales and to extend your reader reach. But if you’re wondering how to sell books via virtual events here are some ideas.

First off, see if you can capture sign ups using a free landing page via LeadsPages or a page on your website, if the event allows that it’s a great way to send out a post event reminder about your book.

If the event won’t let you do the sign ups, be sure that you have a “special” offer during your class, it might be a BOGO (buy your current book and get a free one of an older title) or something similar.

Video is Key to Making Your Brand Stand Out

Now is a great time to do video, or more video – and it’s so easy with smart phones and video apps, you can do a quick video pretty easily and the best book marketing strategies are ones that make you stand out as unique, and video is ideal for that.

Using video on platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter is a fantastic addition to your social media posts. If you have a how-to book maybe it’s time to do a short tutorial!

Social Media Cannot Be Avoided Anymore

So many more people are on social media – now more than ever – and some of the best book marketing ideas involve pushing your brand and your personality on social media!

Get serious about creating a clear, unique, memorable look and a consistent plan to drive more reader attention to your book.

Also, don’t be shy about creating some custom imagery that reminds readers why your book could be a fun escape while they’re stuck at home.

What will they learn or experience by reading your book?

If you’ve shied away from social media previously maybe it’s a good time to hunker down and learn or spend some time on your favorite platform.

Setting a social media strategy isn’t always easy, but you won’t know till you give it a solid effort.

Goodreads Groups Prove You’re Committed

We’ve talked about Goodreads a lot and Amy and I did a special podcast series on this very topic (see link in resource section!).

Networking within Goodreads groups isn’t hard and it doesn’t require a ton of work, but it can give you lots of exposure so be sure to listen to this episode because there are lots of tips for networking and building readership!

Book marketing in the age of Covid isn’t hard, it’s just different. Traditional ways of marketing may not return for a while, but there are many other opportunities to get the word out there about you and your books!

Stay healthy and stay focused!

Resources and Free Downloads

Check out our Book Marketing Podcast for all the episodes mentioned in this piece!

How to Market a Book with a Virtual Event

8 Ways to Sell Self-Published Books Locally

The post The Best Book Marketing Ideas for the Pandemic (Book Marketing Podcast) appeared first on Author Marketing Experts, Inc..