This document provides information and tips about online marketing plans, specifically regarding tweets, pitch letters, and finding bloggers to promote books. Key points include: - Tweets should be useful, specific, and urgent while using hashtags, @mentions, and short URLs within 140 characters. - Pitch letters should be personalized, positive in tone, promise value for the reader, and include a clear call to action. - Bloggers can be found through their websites, Google searches, book reviews, and book tour companies. Knowing their interests helps tailor the pitch.

1. Online Marketing Plans
October 11, 2013
Contact Details
Monique Sherrett
monique@boxcarmarketing.com
778-837-9012
Office Hours TBA

2. Do I have a Twitter
volunteer?

3. Tweets that resonate
Useful (promised msg is valuable to reader)
Ultra-specific (know what’s being promised)
Urgent (need to take action now)
Notice the @, RT and #tags
Notice short codes, bit.ly
140 characters

4. What Makes a Good Tweet
Define your goals. Know what you want to accomplish before you create your tweets:
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Pass along news
Offer discounts and promos
Generate leads
Build customer loyalty
Answer customer service questions
Shape opinions
Sell products
RT, #hashtags and URLs are important
To be shareable (& discoverable) aim for 115 characters vs. 140.
• 55-70 characters for the description
• 18-20 characters for ow.ly or bit.ly
• Up to 100 characters with hashtags
• 25 reserved for RT

6. What makes a good tweet
• 115 characters to allow for Retweets
• Should include a link
• Uses @ and # where useful
• Same fundamentals as good subject line:
• useful
• ultra specific
• urgent

7. The inbox

8. Write a good subject line
• Imagine that you work for TouchWood Editions and are
sending out the weekly newsletter to subscribers.
• This week’s announcement is the publication of Phyllis
Smallman’s Long Gone Man, the first in a new series. You are
offering a 20% discount on her previous titles (i.e., the Sherri
Travis Mystery series).
• Write the subject line (2 min.)

9. What makes a good press release headline?
• Same fundamentals as good email subject line or good tweet:
• useful
• ultra specific
• urgent

10. Newswire.ca > Book

11. What’s wrong with those examples?
• Nothing. We’ve written releases this way for years.
• But they could be better:
• useful (to the intended audience, answers So What)
• ultra specific (minimalist, 1 topic)
• urgent (the promise + why this story, why now?)

13. Assignment—10%: email to monique@boxcarmarketing.com
Pitch 1 of the 2 titles to me as a blogger.
Review the persona worksheet you created previously
http://bit.ly/persona-worksheet
a) Imagine you are working for TouchWood Editions. Pitch this title to
Monique at SoMisguided.com. Imagine I do not already know about
this book, but have written about a previous title in the series or by the
author or on this topic. Your goal is to get me to review the book.
b) Provide a list of 5 other Canadian literary bloggers or media who
you’d pitch. Include their website, URL and 1 sentence about how
you’d pitch them, what’s the angle? Why is the title a good fit for their
blog, program, publication, etc? DUE 5 pm Wed, Oct 16

14. Tips
1. Know your audience: Before writing a pitch letter, think about the persona
exercise and what you know (or can infer) about the person you are pitching.
This will help you find the hook that will resonate with the media/blogger.
2. Positive in tone
3. Authentically true (rings true, no false praise)
4. Minimalist
5. Promise (What is so great about this book? Why will I care? What’s the offer)

15. What makes a good pitch letter?
• Dear Name (Name is spelled correctly, Name is the name of the blogger. It’s
personalized, never Dear Blogger)
• You’ve checked the About page and search for “Pitch Policy” or “Review Policy,”
PR, publicist--confirmed the person is open to pitches. If not, be prepared to be
embarrassed online with a rant. See Beauty in the Ruins blog.
• The title is spelled correctly, i.e., Long Gone Man not Lone Gone Man. The
author(s) name is spelled correctly.
• You’ve included a link for more details: publisher detail page, author website, press
release link, etc.
• Call to action: You have included the “ask” or clearly articulated what you are
offering and how you want them to respond.
• You have provided a closing and signature with your contact details.

16. Pitch Angle (or Building the Hook)
• Have they reviewed the previous title or this author before?
• Do they review mysteries or mainstream fiction at least?
Do they review nonfiction? Any interest in food, cooking, cocktails?
• Does their About section provide contact details? Are they reachable?
• Smallman is an award-winning author. You can play that up.
Soole has written for multiple publications. That’s important.
• Play up the Canadian angle. National Pride.
• Look for for bloggers with a social media presence in particular GoodReads
and Amazon as they’ll likely post multiple places.

17. Ways to Find Bloggers
• Tell me what you would search for? What was the process?

18. Ways to Find Bloggers
• Go cross-platform: Search on Goodreads reviews of the previous title or Twitter
• Twitter Advance Search with location, hashtags, keywords
• Google Advanced Search Queries
“keyword” site:twitter.com
intext:bio* [keyword] location* [city] site:twitter.com
intext:bio* blogger* vancouver site:twitter.com
• Follow Blogrolls, i.e., BetaCocktails.com
• Look for virtual book tour companies and the blogs open to author guest posts, i.e.,
Partners in Crime, Cozy Mystery Book Tours

19. Questions?
Next Up
Hand in Assignment
Break
Marketing Planning
Grid View

20. Marketing Plan
Assignment

22. Assignment—15%: 2-4 Pages. Due Oct 25.
Choose 1 of the 2 titles and write a marketing plan for a holiday promotion.
In general: You want to get coverage for the book online and offline; you want sales.
Figure out who audience is for the book in order to figure out what marketing activities are
best.
This is draft 1.
In draft 2, you’ll
• Include your Persona worksheet (revise as needed)
• Provide examples (Pitch letter, tweets, ads, etc).
• Provide a grid view
Please use this worksheet: http://bit.ly/7Sentence-Pub355W

23. Readings
Darren Barefoot and Julie Szabo, Friends with Benefits
•Chapter 3: Flagging a Ride: Finding the Right Bloggers
and Communities, 47-61.
•Chapter 4: Netiquette: Miss Manners for the Web,
63-78.
•Chapter 5: Stick Out Your Thumb: Devising Your Pitch,
79-97.

24. Ok, questions?
Pitch + Outreach List: Due Oct 16
Marketing Plan Draft 1: Due Oct 25

25. Questions?
Contact Info
Monique Sherrett
monique@boxcarmarkting.com
604-732-6467