Anatomy of a Viral Success: Seth Casteel, Underwater Dog Photography

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I know, it totally seems like I harsh on people for not having their sh$t together, so I thought I would take some time to focus on someone who got everything very, very right and is reaping the benefits of that preparation in his career.

You probably still don’t know the name “Seth Casteel,” but chances are you’re
familiar with his work.   One year ago, his underwater dog photography series went viral, and because he was prepared, this sudden rush of fame and attention took his career to the next level.

Here is the Facebook album where I (at least) first encountered Casteel’s photography.

Note the caption that appears next to every single photo:

We’re loving this underwater dog series from photographer Seth Casteel.
See more from Seth here: https://www.littlefriendsphoto.com/ 

If you like Seth Casteel’s underwater dog photography,
please show some love and follow his official Facebook page “Little
Friends Photo” here:  https://www.facebook.com/LittleFriendsPhoto

Now, maybe this is the original poster being thorough, but if Seth Casteel hadn’t had an easily-findable website and social media presence, those links wouldn’t have been included, and who knows?  Maybe he wouldn’t have gained thousands of new clients, a print calendar, photo licensing up the wazoo, and a book, all in the past year.  This, friends, is how you do “The Business of Art.”

Let’s take a look at what happened in the “overnight success” story of Seth Casteel.    Here’s what he’s doing right:

Website:  well-organized, clear, easy to get in touch with him.   https://www.littlefriendsphoto.com/index2.php#!/home.

Here’s one thing I love about Seth Casteel:  his website looks great.  It is fully functional, up and running, and he was 100% prepared for the onslaught of attention and new work.   Good looking, brand-appropriate site, clear e-commerce section, Contact Us button is easy to find.  Another thing I love about this site is that the VERY FIRST IMAGE you see reminds you of why you came there—you saw the underwater dog photography on Facebook (or somewhere else), thought it was amazing and innovative, and wanted to see what else this person had going on (or if he could take photos of your dog).

Facebook Fan Page:  Once again, well-organized, up to date, the username is right, and he’s properly using a Facebook Fan Page (not a profile).  https://www.facebook.com/LittleFriendsPhoto

Twitter:   He shoots, he scores again!   This Twitter profile is up to date, it has links back to his main site and Facebook page right there in the profile, and he is regularly answering all of his tweets.  Another example of a creative type being ready for success when it came along.  https://twitter.com/ltlfriendsphoto

Instagram:  There he is again.  Check the link in the center of the profile, right back to his main website.

Wired magazine story:  https://www.wired.com/rawfile/2012/03/diving-dogs-are-good-catch-for-photographer/

And, so, to sum up:  Seth Casteel has been doing awesome dog photography for many years, and also happens to have been awesomely organized and business-like about his digital presence.  Please take an example from him, and use it to motivate yourself to get organized in anticipation of YOUR big success!

Also, I totally have this book, and it is every bit as cool as it looks.  Get it!

How to Get More Twitter Followers

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There are LOTS of ways to get more Twitter followers these days. Heck, you can even buy them (not that I recommend it)!

I think the bigger question is: how do I connect with targeted readers on Twitter?

1. Keywords. This is a term that scares people. Well, man up. It’s simple: what do you write about? What are your interests? Say you’re a nonfiction writer with a passion for vintage birdcages. Boom – two keywords right there: nonfiction and vintage birdcages. Enter those terms in Search.

2. Search. One of the best ways to find targeted followers is to use Twitter Search – that little bar at the top of your page. Type in terms like: book blogger, book reviewer, nonfiction, etc. (or with a hashtag #bookblogger, #bookreviewer, #nonfiction – try both ways) is easy and effective.

Twitter also has an Advanced Search function. If you can’t find what you’re looking for in regular search, try there.

3. Applications. I adore ManageFlitter because not only can I clear out nonfollowbacks, eggs, and nevertweeteds, I can also follow people using their search function, which allows for both an Account Search and a Tweet Search.

Why do I love it so? Because I can unfollow 100 people all at once. I can also follow 100 people all at once. What a huge timesaver! (And it allows for multiple accounts, which is convenient if you have more than one Twitter stream like I do.)

I also use Pluggio. It has this very cool feature where you set it to follow certain keywords and it works 24/7 to find you relevant followers. TweetAdder also does something similar.

There are many options to follow/unfollow. Google and see which application you like the best.

4. RT others. RT (aka retweet for Muggles) means you’ve taken the time to share someone’s stuff. It takes only seconds and makes you an immediate friend.

5. Hashtags. Facebook users are still scratching their heads as to why we tweeps use the number sign in front of words. But if you’re on Twitter, use of a hashtag creates a hyperlink to whatever it is that you’ve attached to the number sign. So what? Here’s what: hashtags allow you to join in the conversation. What conversation? Who knows?

Here’s an example: on Valentine’s Day eve this year, I came across a hashtag: #candyheartrejects. In a flurry, I typed:

It’s not me. It’s you. #candyheartrejects.

It’s now been RTd over 100 times and I gained a bunch of new followers. So, that’s what.

6. Handle, bio, header, and background. Handle is your Twitter name (you have only 15 characters). Make it easy. Pick a great shot. Show us, in your 160-character bio, that you’re interesting (don’t tell us – snore), create a colorful header and background. Even if nobody knows you, these send nonverbals that sell you. Brand yourself, not your book.

7. Interact! It’s social media, not one-way broadcasting media. Don’t be that guy.

Please share your thoughts!

Amazon’s Latest Mistake – How to Avoid It

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A lot of noise has been made about a recent author/Amazon incident, surrounding Jamie McGuire and her title Beautiful Disaster, including this article in Forbes. If you aren’t familiar with it, the general gist is that Amazon proactively offered refunds on a title purchased six months previously, and also offered an additional sum of money that comprised the difference between the original indie book price and the current big publisher price (the author had been picked up and republished). They then deducted  that amount of money for the refunds from the original indie author account (not the big publisher account). Ouch!

For some reason, Amazon is choosing to remain silent and not come to their own defense. Here’s the thing, I happen to be a big fan of Amazon on both a personal and a professional level (as are the other founders of Booktrope) and I think Amazon’s decisions in business are just that, business – versus some wild conspiracy to take over the book planet as we know it. As a result, we have all been wracking our brains over here, trying to figure out just what exactly could have happened to make this a more or less “innocent mistake”. And I think we have a very reasonable scenario about how this could have happened. Certainly if it didn’t go down like this in this specific case, it could have.

• An author uses DRM to lock down and protect her book, as many do.
• In case you aren’t familiar with this term or how if functions, DRM is intended to keep people from giving away an ebook they have purchased. It functionally means that no one “owns” the digital copy of the book that you have sold them, it is more akin to having a “license” to read the book.
• If a book with DRM is pulled from the system, any person who has purchased the book, but not yet read it, can no longer access the content.
• Wouldn’t this result in a series of requests from affected customers about not being able to access the content? Wouldn’t you then say that this is legitimately a “content problem”? I think we have all been reading this term in another context, i.e. the content being flawed, versus the content not being accessible.
• Now, assume that same book is uploaded by someone else, say a publisher, also under DRM and under a new ASIN number.
• How do you get that new content to the users who have complained? It is no longer the same book, for all intents and purposes.
• If enough people complain, would you potentially take a proactive (albeit in hindsight, drastically mistaken) step and email ALL of the people who could be affected?
• Can you see where some of the folks working in customer service at Amazon, arguably not the highest up in the food chain, might not even have taken a moment to think where these refunds would be coming from (simply pushing the transaction through to the “account” in question)?

As I said, I have no idea whether this is how it happened, but it did make me think about the broader concept. I think that the lesson in this story is not to hate Amazon, or shy away from self-publishing and then moving to traditional – the real moral here is to rethink whether DRM is necessary. If you do choose to use DRM, be sure you are careful about how you change gears. If you bought a print book from me and then I took it back without refunding your money, how would you feel? No matter how you are published, alienating readers is no author’s goal.

I have reached out to Amazon to see if I can get confirmation on the above being a possible scenario…should they respond, I will update this article!

The “How” of Hugh Howey

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Major news sources cover “self publishing success stories” all the time.  Interestingly, all of them tend to leave out the “how” of the story.

I’m an author and am interested in all things internet and marketing (and internet marketing), so naturally I am interested in any and all success stories, especially stories that involve self publishing (which of course combines authorship with the internet).   With that in mind, yesterday one of my Facebook friends referred me to a piece that was running on Marketplace.   First, I went over to read the story on American Public Media’s website, which you can see here:  http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/big-book/best-selling-novelist-youve-never-heard

They’ve also now posted the interview—go over and listen!

As I’m reading the story, all I can think is:  I hope Kai Ryssdall (the host of Marketplace) asks this author how he did it, because that is (literally) the million dollar question on everyone’s mind when they hear about a self-publishing success story:  what did they do that I can do?  How can that be me?

That is where I come in.   If (as in this case) the reporter does not ask the author about how they actually did it, I ask the author myself, and if they don’t answer, I attempt to reverse-engineer their network so I can tell you what I think they are doing right, and how you can do these things yourself (hopefully with the same results).

The last time a self-published author who got a book deal caught my eye, it was Brittany Geragotelis’ 3-book deal with Simon & Schuster.   Right after the news broke about her deal, I reached out to her to get more of the story about how she did it, and she could not have been nicer about sharing her journey.   Brittany and I are now friends, and I continually admire her work ethic.   Her “secret,” in case you’re wondering, was being very active on WattPad, very organized in her author platform and branding, and very consistent in her interaction with her readers (as well as being a great writer, of course!).  Brittany treats being an author like a business, which (in my opinion) is really what you have to do to be successful.

After the Hugh Howey article / interview ran yesterday, I was so curious to know how he did it, I tweeted him to see if he would agree to be interviewed for this website.   Here was his reply:

(sad trombone).  Can I just say that it bugs me to no end when successful authors are coy about their methods?   Dude– you are successful.  People want to know what worked for you.  I feel like if you’re successful as an author, the LEAST you can do is outline what you think might have worked to get you there.

Because he doesn’t want to comment (and because I do not accept “luck” as a method that can be replicated), I took a look at his network and asked a few other publishing types, and this is what we’ve come up with so far:

–He is a great writer.   This is the one thing on the list that will make you roll your eyes, because talent is something you really can’t control.

–He is very prolific.   Hugh Howey is less than 40 years old and has written 14 books, has an active website presence, and participates in at least three social media sites that I can count.   Does this motivate you to finally finish your first novel?  It should.

— He knows his genre.  Howey writes in a genre that is compatible with online promotion/ word of mouth.   Fellow BookPromotion.com contributor Katherine (Sears) and I recently had a whole discussion about how some genre just sell better online, and science fiction (Howey’s genre) is one of them.   Also, his books are series books.  Based on work with clients and my own experiences, I will say that it definitely is to your advantage if you can write a series of books, because (at least electronically) you can link them together and keep people buying and reading.  It really does come down to the first book in the series having great characters and interesting action, but the series is a great “repeat product” model.

— He is organized and responsive.   Just like several other successful authors we’ve profiled, Hugh Howey was ready for his “big break.”  When he saw that people were responding to “Wool,” he wrote more books for that series.  Same with his “Molly Fyde” series.

—He regularly gives books away for free.   This is that topic that authors argue about all the time because they think “free equals no value” and they cite that statistic where 75% of all books that get downloaded for free never get read.   Note:  I’m not telling you to give your books away for free.  I’m simply saying, Hugh Howey does it, and might be part of why he’s so successful.

— He uses social media.    Howey mentioned in a recent Media Bistro interview that he likes to go on Facebook and unwind, though it must be mentioned—Mr. Howey, you have a Facebook Profile linked from your main website instead of a Facebook Fan Page.   This is not something we recommend, since Facebook can take away your profile for having too many “friends” you don’t actually know.    He also tweets regularly (so, he’s not just a “syndicator”).   Facebook and Twitter are both great platforms for connecting with readers.

— He blogs.   If you are thinking of complaining about how you don’t have time to blog/ regular updates are just too hard/ etc, please check Hugh Howey’s website.   Apparently he has enough time to have written 14 books and be at work on three others while updating the blog on his site once a day (on average).

—He’s on Reddit.   Here’s an interview he did where he talks about some of his promotional methods (including Facebook and reader recommendations).     Reddit is a perfect place for Howey to connect with tech nerds who might also happen to be sci-fi geeks (I mean that in the most loving way possible, sci-fi geeks.  I know how to play Magic: the Gathering, ok?).

— He has a newsletter. I signed up for his newsletter (which is run through MailChimp, a service we highly recommend), and I am interested to see if he regularly sends out updates.    No way of telling how many people he has on this list, but since he’s sold more than $1 million worth of books, I am going to guess that he a) has a lot of people on that list, and b) is in regular contact with the members.  This would explain the large number of Amazon reviews and strong sales of each subsequent book in each series (oh, also?  He dances for reviews  on YouTube).    I would definitely put “build and stay in contact with your mailing list” at the top of my recommendations for authors, although I do find that this is the one thing that most of them are missing.

The bottom line for me is that this is an author who is treating his writing career like a business, and it shows.  He’s set up and organized with his website, he regularly connects with his fans, he writes a ton, and he sees what is working and responds accordingly with his work.

With the possible exception of the fact that he really does need a Facebook Fan Page instead of using his regular profile for promotional purposes, I give Hugh Howey an A + in book promotion and conclude that his success has almost nothing to do with luck.  If you are confused about your own book promotion, I would encourage you to look at what he’s doing and follow suit.   If you are feeling reluctant about getting yourself out there, take a look at his success and let it inspire you to get going!

And with that, I will once again extend an invitation to Hugh Howey as well as Kristine Kathryn Rusch to please come and talk to our readers about your promotional methods.

What is With All the Lousy Author Web Sites?

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Every time I find a book I love (or even one that I don’t), the first thing I do is find the author’s site. After spending hours with the book, I often yearn to know more about the author and his or her background, to see what else they may have written.

Often, the sites are lacking. And that’s being charitable.

I may not be neutral on the subject—I’ve worked in both publishing and web design for more than 15 years. But authors can no longer rely upon traditional avenues alone to promote their work. And considering publishing’s bootstrapped state, you can’t count on your publisher to manage your online presence.

This article is an open letter to authors to seize control of their online presence. Use your sites to connect with readers, increase sales and propel your career forward.

Following are some of the most common transgressions I find when visiting author sites.

A Site Written in Marketing Copy, Not Your Voice
Sure, it’s tempting to cut-and-paste from the book’s marketing materials. But frankly, you’re an author, it’s your “thing” to write. You’d be surprised how often I see this. Everything from the author bio to the homepage copy should be crafted by the author, conveying the voice that comes through in the author’s work.

An Aversion to Social Media
Not everyone is a Facebook or Twitter person. But ignore social media at your peril.  It’s an easy—and free—way people can connect with you beyond your book. When people “like” your site or follow you on Twitter, they are inviting you into their personally curated world—it’s a great way to keep the momentum going after a book pub or between titles.

Resistance to Self-Promotion or Sales
I’ve had many author clients tell me that they wanted to soft-pedal the sales angle regarding their books. Or that they felt funny telling people they should buy their books or linking to Amazon when they favor small bookstore

Of course you should tell people buy your books! If someone comes to your site, they are interested in your work. It’s your job to make it easy for them to buy it. Link to Amazon and IndieWire, so your readers have choices for where to make their purchase.

While you’re at it, get comfortable with self-promotion. Your site is no place for subtlety. If you spent time on the New York Times best-seller list, by all means mention it. If Oprah blurbed your book, I suggest you use it.

Not Inviting Visitor Interaction
Your site is an opportunity to connect with your readers beyond the page—and the screen. You may want to have a frequently asked questions area, detailing common questions regarding your book or chosen genre. If your book would work well in a group discussion, include a guide for different topics to address. Include an email address or other ways to connect. If you’re feeling especially extroverted, you may want to consider offering to Skype in to book clubs that meet certain criteria.

Failing to Fully Utilize the Web Medium
There’s a misconception that you need an audio engineer to record podcasts, a videographer to create videos. Actually, all you need is a phone or a computer (not even need both). Record yourself reading from a chapter and post the audio online. (Here’s how.) Film a video of a reading, an appearance, or create something unique inspired by your book—all you need is a smartphone and a YouTube account.

Neglecting the Press
Readers are only part of your Web audience. Many are from the media—and you want to make it easy for them to promote your book. Include an author bio (it helps to have short, medium, and long versions), relevant press releases, and downloadable hi-res images for print and Web.

Being Stingy with Content
Another common thing I hear is that authors don’t want to give away too much content. When you post individual chapters as a tease (with an obvious link to follow through to buy the book), you are giving away enough to leave the reader wanting more.

All these suggestions are just a start. I guarantee that if you incorporate these strategies into your site, it will pay off. Plus, it’s gratifying (most of the time) to connect with readers, and exciting to have a new, free medium to share your work that is fully created and curated under your own domain.

Lisa Hazen is a Chicago-based Web Designer specializing in author Web sites. She’d love to hear from you at www.lisahazen.com or [email protected].

3 Tips To Help You Contact Book Reviewers!

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3 Tips To Help You Contact Book Reviewers!

I see authors every day begging, pleading, and spamming their books to people on social media who:

• Are not their demographic
• Aren’t reviewers or book bloggers
• Don’t read that genre.

Let’s deconstruct.

• DEMOGRAPHIC

Do you know who your ultimate reader is? You should.

Let’s use my latest book, Broken Pieces, as an example. As I wrote it, I knew that I wanted women and men to read this, but I focused most on looking at how women would relate to the material. It’s dark, it’s real, and it’s not humor like my past two books.

Betareading. This created a challenge: whom would I ask to betaread it? Which reviewers, book bloggers, and readers would I approach? Who would ultimately buy it?

Research, interact. If you can’t answer those questions, you’ve got some work to do. How? Google, Goodreads, even your social media (I use primarily Twitter and Facebook), to connect with people and discuss the subject matter and if it’s of interest to them. Social media is the ultimate in free market research.

I sent my book to about twenty-five betareaders who expressed interest in seeing it as well as giving me feedback. Leaving a review (positive or negative) is by no means expected or required, but by creating a ‘sneak peek,’ many readers are happy to leave you a review when your book goes live.

And when Pieces went live, I had about ten reviews within a few days. It’s been three months and I’m up over seventy-five!

(Betareaders can be anyone who is interested in reading your book before it’s available for sale.)

• REVIEWERS AND BOOK BLOGGERS

These are your friends, BUT, if you’re spamming anyone and everyone with your book, you risk losing followers, annoying potential shot in the dark readers, and having your account suspended for spamming people (I’ve seen it. It happens, my friends.).

I’ve received about ten or fifteen spammy requests today alone: Hi Rachel. Thx for the follow. Plz read, review, & RT my book It’s All About Me on Amazon. Thx.

NO.

When I check their stream or Facebook page (which believe me, I do), I see they’ve sent the same message to hundreds of others and usually unfollow.

Sigh.

Get informed. Read this article (from Amazon Hall of Famer Dr. Bojan Tunguz on my blog for suggestions on what to do and what not to do). Here’s another one by Tracy Riva of Midwest Book Review.

I get it. I was confused, too, before my first book came out. So I asked people what to do! I researched. I learned. I made mistakes.

If you’re not sure how to approach reviewers, Google it! Ask another writer. Read blog posts about it. But for the love of all things holy or otherwise, don’t spam your book in a welcome message or blanket your stream or Facebook in spam. It’s unprofessional and you will actually repel potential readers.

• GENRE

Read the guidelines. Book bloggers and reviews are very specific in what they review and they post their review guidelines right on their blog and sometimes, even in their Twitter or Facebook bio. It’s there for you to read and pay attention to. Why waste your time (and theirs) asking people to review your book who don’t review your genre?

Be selective. I get several requests daily to read and review someone’s book, and I’m not even a reviewer! I don’t review books; I’m not a book blogger. So, why is this happening? It’s not that I don’t appreciate it and I’m honored people give a darn about me at all, but there are thousands and thousands of book bloggers and reviewers who do this professionally. Why are you wasting your time on people like me who don’t?

Want a vetted book review/book blogger site? Check out BookBloggerList.com. It’s broken out by genre. Easy.

Hope you find these tips helpful. Any questions or experiences, please share below.