This week I heard that after launching the Nook eReader, Barnes & Noble.com’s sales increased 32 percent to $210 million. Tommy Dreiling, who was the romance buyer for B & N until last Friday (he’s just been replaced by Jules Herbert), reported that 30% of those ebook sales were in the romance category. So it’s more important than ever for every romance writer to have a strong online presence.
I’ve already noticed that Brava authors are a particularly web savvy group, with your own websites, blogs and Twitter followings, but did you know that one of the best ways to reach your readers is through a fan page on Facebook? Alexandra Nicolajsen, our Digital Content/Marketing Manager, explains:
“Fan pages come up at the top of searches. They can also be linked to other fan pages, thereby cross-promoting. Also, all content is automatically public, and Facebook members can easily suggest them to friends. Some of our biggest authors are using them, and have switched from traditional Facebook pages to the fan page, which is more advantageous.”
Alex’s position was just created so we can be sure Kensington is taking full advantage of all the marketing opportunities presented by the internet, and she’s wonderfully enthusiastic and knowledgeable. She and the rest of our sales and marketing staff would love to know about any signings, book trailers, blog appearances or other promotional plans you’re making. When you let us know in advance what you’re up to, we can include you on the Kensington website and coordinate our efforts with yours. If you send me a quick monthly update, I’ll be happy to forward it to everyone here.
Next week is a meeting to finalize our plans for the upcoming Romantic Times convention. I’m hoping to put together a contest in conjunction with RT, and we’ve got some fun ideas that will involve many of you. I’ll keep you posted!
Wow! Talk about timing…I noticed my friends had Fan pages and just ‘cuz I’m a tagalong sometimes, I decided I needed one too. (Also needed a break from the black moment with Roman & Tanya.) I had no idea they were public pages or showed up on search engines. But now, I’ll make sure and incorporate that knowledge into my online promotion.
The URL is long though, so it’s time to Tiny it. 
I have major promotion planned for my September book since it is my 50th (I’m doing a silver – my 25th HP is out in Aug – and gold rush theme for online parties, chats, extra contests, etc.). I’ll send the deets closer to the release, but I’m planning on having lots and lots of fun with my readers!
I’m in the process right now of running a contest in hopes of getting more Twitter followers/newsletter subscribers. I’ve been blogging for three years now, and the well is getting a bit dry.
But I find my newsletters may step into the breach.
I confess I hardly ever check Facebook, but I’m grateful Twitter does automatic updates. If only there were more hours in the day!
I’m up on Face book and it’s tons of fun!
Mary Wine
I’ve got a question for the marketing gurus at Kensington. Are Facebook Ads worth the money? I created an ad, put my filters in and discovered to get my ad run in prime real-estate it would cost me about 70 cents a click – which does not necessarily translate into a fan. My Fanpage grows daily by bits, but I’ve still got over a thousand more friends than fans (yep, I’ve invited them all over to the fan page, but they’re stubborn – they want to talk to me on my friend wall – no problem) and I’m trying to decide if this add that could cost me upwards to $350 for 10 days is worth it, or not?