The document discusses how authors can use influencer marketing to promote their books through social media. It recommends identifying relevant online influencers and bloggers, then treating them well by being responsive, providing review copies of books, and spending time with them. While top media sites are competitive, authors should also seek influencers in niche communities to build their brand. Outreach can be done cheaply using tools like spreadsheets or paid services that help track influencers. The key is engaging wherever potential influencers spend time online.
3. #outreachmarketing @chrisabraham
ProprietaryandConfidential
• The publishing industry has
changed in the last decade
• With eBooks, self-publishing,
and a decrease in traditional
book reading, the margins on all
but the top-sellers is paper thin
• First-time and niche authors
have much less support and
resources towards book-
promotion
• Marketing budgets have been
slashed or preserved for top
sellers and top earners (that’s
assuming you can even get a
book deal these days)
3
GLOCK: THE RISE OF AMERICA’S GUN BY PAUL M. BARRETT
4. #outreachmarketing @chrisabraham
ProprietaryandConfidential
• Unlike advertising or a book
tour, there is no barrier to entry
to social media
• Social media enables both
intimate one-to-one
relationships with online
influencers
• Social also enables access to
one-to-many and many-to-many
social media shares
• Influencer marketing allows
authors to identify and then
engage topically-relevant online
influencers and bloggers 4
LAW OF THE JUNGLE BY PAUL M. BARRETT
5. #outreachmarketing @chrisabraham
ProprietaryandConfidential
• Time, talent, and treasure are
all you need to support your
online “shadow” book launch
and book tour
• You can do it on the cheap
using just your time and talent
or you can subscribe to a
dedicated blogger outreach
platform like GroupHigh with a
little bit of treasure
• Or, you can open your wallet
and either collaborate with an
expert or hire a publicist to do
the outreach on your behalf
(I’m always happy to help) 5
SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING BY MIKE MORAN & BILL HUNT
6. #outreachmarketing @chrisabraham
ProprietaryandConfidential
• While social media marketing lacks formal
protocol, there are three essentials:
1. Treat everyone as if they’re a
Kardashian: be excited and grateful and
don’t take anyone for granted – no matter
how little clout (or Klout) -- and be willing
to lavish time & attention on everyone
2. Be responsive and follow up more than
once: “no reply” doesn’t mean “no”
3. Provide an exceptional gift: bloggers love
bound galleys, they love hardcover
copies drop-shipped. They’ll take
paperbacks, some prefer Amazon-
compatible downloads – but nobody at
all loves a PDF attachment
6
MINDFUL WORK BY DAVID GELLES
7. #outreachmarketing @chrisabraham
ProprietaryandConfidential
• In each of the preceding books, each
author was willing to lavish as many
books, at much attention, and as much
time was as required to make a
connection and honor each influencer:
• Paul M. Barrett was willing to brave
the gun message boards for Glock
• Amy Wilkinson hosted a reddit IAmA
question and answer session
• Mike Moran & Bill Hunt never met an
interview they weren’t willing to take
• David Gelles took podcast interviews
as readily as NPR interviews
7
THE CREATOR’S CODE BY AMY WILKINSON
8. #outreachmarketing @chrisabraham
ProprietaryandConfidential
8
WHY YOU SHOULD REACH FURTHER THAN THE A-LIST
• Top newspapers, journals, celebrity sites,
and high-status A-level blogs are highly
competitive
• Don’t forsake the crème de la crème but
don’t only rely on them to fuel your book’s
promotion – everyone’s fighting to go to
prom with the prom King and prom Queen
• If you don’t already have a brand, it’s
entirely possible to build a powerful brand
from the bottom up: blog by blog, influencer
by influencer
• Social media goes beyond blogs,
Facebook, and Twitter – don’t ignore
message boards and specialty sites
10. #outreachmarketing @chrisabraham
ProprietaryandConfidential
10
THERE’S SO MUCH MORE THAN MOMMY BLOGGERS
• Paul M. Barrett made best mates with both
the pro-gun and anti-gun online – I helped
him connect with shooting sport hobbyists
on both general sports shooting and Glock-
specific message boards for his book Glock
• I found David Gelles hundreds of
influencers connected with the mindfulness
movement, both spiritual and secular
• I helped Amy Wilkinson connect with both
entrepreneurs and women with the goal of
connecting with women entrepreneurs
• Mike Moran tapped me to help him and Bill
Hunt track down everyone outside of their
personal SEO/SEM database of contacts
11. #outreachmarketing @chrisabraham
ProprietaryandConfidential
11
AS CHEAPLY OR AS EASILY AS YOU WANT TO SO IT
• For years, I did all of my blogger outreach
campaigns using Excel spreadsheets and
then Google Sheets
• I discovered bloggers using keywords on
Google and blog search engines and tracked
engagements on those blasted spreadsheets
• You can do it cheap and hard or spend a little
money to make it easier
• I currently use a combination of Google, SDL
SM2, InkyBee, and GroupHigh to do my
blog and blogger research
• I use GroupHigh to manage my outreach
campaigns, including contacts & follow-ups