The PR Power of YouTube

Pabby’s Score was recently published and we tried to do some things during the pre-release stage of marketing that we had not included in publicity efforts for my previous four novels. I like to think that I am learning from each book publishing experience and becoming a more effective marketer of my own work with each new offering. The digital age presents writers with so many ways to share our products that weren't available ten or even five years ago, and the possible outlets can be overwhelming!

This new book of fiction I've created could have been available for purchase as early as the summer of 2011. But we waited . . . and waited . . . as we planned out our marketing tactics for optimal coverage.

We wanted to present to the online community an organized, promotional campaign that was cohesive and multi-pronged in its distribution. One decision we made was to include the use of video.

We all recognize the power of YouTube as a marketing method. Just ask Justin Bieber or any number of laughing babies whose parents now have a million hits on a homemade video!  These publicity pieces can be made by anyone; it is rather easy if you follow the tutorials. So, we decided to give it a try.

Our focus was to try to keep the message at a length of thirty seconds. We wanted to make our point and move in and out of the video quickly. The cuts are realistic. The writing is to the point. We slapped a little music to the screen and presto -- we made our own amateur YouTube production.

You can watch the video as embedded in this post or check out the link. If you find the video convincing, I hope you then will give Pabby's Score a try.  I'm really excited to share this fifth novel with my reading audience and I look forward to your feedback, both on my YouTube efforts and the book itself.

James Ross
Author of Lifetime Loser, Finish Line, Tuey's Course, Opur's Blade, and Pabby's Score
jamesross@authorjamesross.com
Website: http://www.authorjamesross.com/
Publisher Websites: http://www.xlibris.com/ and http://www.nightengalepress.com/
Blog: http://www.authorjamesross.blogspot.com/
Purchase: http://golftwitt.com/46ey

Offering Review Copies Proved a Great Marketing Tool

I am excited to share that Pabby's Score is finally available for purchase! It is my fifth novel in the Prairie Winds series. As I mentioned in some prior blog posts, we delayed the release of this book to try some new approaches with pre-release publicity.

We researched different marketing tactics in an effort to create some buzz for this book before it hit the virtual shelves. One of the things we tried was sending out pre-release review copies to people who have helped our efforts in the past. I asked for help from friends who have an interest in golf, have had me as a guest on their radio show, have provided a review for one or more of my previous books, or have met me on an online social media site.  If you are one of these people and you've read Pabby's Score for me -- thank you!

I anxiously waited for those review copies to be read and to get the feedback from peers and others whose opinion I so highly value.  Well, the results have been staggering.  Nightengale Press and I received some wonderful comments from readers that are now included on the back cover of the book, as well as inside the front pages.

We also featured some of the positive remarks in a YouTube production as well as a Twitpic that could reach even more people through the powerful tool of Twitter.  Check them out!

I hope that reading the great reviews Pabby's Score has already earned will generate interest among new readers to my style of writing. Even if you have never read one of my books before, I hope you will try Pabby’s Score. It is a drama, but also loaded with comical moments and suspense. It will allow you an opportunity to meet some of the eclectic characters that I’ve created over the years, and maybe you'll want to go back and read what they've done in my previous work.  I look forward to your feedback!

James Ross
Author of Lifetime Loser, Finish Line, Tuey's Course, Opur's Blade, and Pabby's Score
jamesross@authorjamesross.com
Website: http://www.authorjamesross.com/
Publisher Websites: http://www.xlibris.com/ and http://www.nightengalepress.com/
Blog: http://www.authorjamesross.blogspot.com/
Purchase: http://golftwitt.com/46ey