Get the biggest buzz titles of BEA and beyond with NetGalley!

This was originally a guest post for Armchair BEA, by Lindsey Rudnickas, Digital Concierge at NetGalley

Hello, dear friends! I hope you’re enjoying the bookish delight of BEA from the comfort of your own homes. I’m fortunate enough to attend BEA each year to meet with our publisher clients, and say hello to the many bloggers, librarians, reviewers, and other friends who support NetGalley. This year, I’ll also be speaking on a panel at the BEA Bloggers Conference on Demystifying the Book Blogger & Publisher Relationship. But our love of books and bloggers doesn’t stop at the doors to the Javits center, and we know you don’t have to be at BEA to feel the buzz.

NetGalley has always been a friend to bloggers—it’s been our pleasure to work with you for the past 4 years as the book blogging community has flourished, and we thank you for your enthusiasm for the site. It’s so rewarding for us and for our publishers to see blogger-led contests and read-a-thons like “NetGalley Month” and the year-long “NetGalley Reading Challenge.” For NetGalley and bloggers alike, we’re sure the best is yet to come, and we can’t wait to continue the journey with you!

NetGalley is all about the newest books—helping connect publishers with buzz-makers (like you) to launch titles faster and further. This year for BEA, we’re working with some great industry partners to help bring the galleys to you, so read on.

BEA BUZZ BOOKS: EXCERPTS FROM OVER 30 TOP FALL 2012 TITLES from Publishers Lunch. We were thrilled to join with Publishers Lunch for this cool promotion, which they’re calling “BEA in an eBook.” The best part: it’s available to READ NOW on NetGalley—instant access, no requesting, no waiting.

BEA is all about discovering the fall season’s big books, from new voices to breakout authors, hot nonfiction and beloved bestsellers. Publishers Lunch has packed a convention’s worth of exclusive excerpts from top Fall titles featured at the BookExpo America convention into a single volume. Enjoy new works from Junot Díaz, Mark Helprin, Rhoda Janzen, Barbara Kingsolver, Jessica Khoury, Dennis Lehane, J.R. Moehringer, Neil Young, and many others in the free BEA BUZZ BOOKS. In addition to the excerpts, there’s even a round-up from Publishers Lunch of over 100 Fall books of note of all kinds to have on your radar.

PLUS: Go beyond the excerpts with NetGalley

After most excerpts, look for a link to READ or REQUEST the full galley on NetGalley. Publishers can choose how to provide access to the full galley, so you’ll see two kinds of links—either a link to request the title on NetGalley, or a widget link for approved access as soon as you login. Enjoy!

Barbara Hoffert’s BEA Galley & Signing Guide 2012 for Library Journal. It’s being called “the librarian’s essential BEA 2012 navigation tool” and we have to agree! Barbara’s been tracking some of the show’s top titles, from large publishers and small. Plus, you’ll see embedded icons that will guide you to NetGalley—so you can request a copy even if you won’t be at the show.

 

 

Feed Your Reader with NetGalley all year long!

Although BEA is an especially busy time, we’re working everyday adding new titles from publishers for you to request and review. Browse our catalog anytime, and keep updated on what’s happening at NetGalley with our newsletters (spoiler alert: a facelift and lots of big changes are coming—stay tuned!).

Speaking of which, here are two of our recent BEA-related newsletters:

NetGalley Roundup: Get Ready for BEA

Feed Your Reader with the biggest buzz books at BEA

And watch your inboxes for the NetGalley Roundup: BEA Edition, going out the week of the show! Sign up to receive our newsletters, or find them on our NetGalley Roundups page.

Happy reading,

Lindsey

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Book Blogger Convention guest post: New Ways to Build Book Buzz

BEA is quickly approaching and we at NetGalley are hard at work planning some fun promotions for our booth (#3718). More on that later.

But we’re also prepping for the Book Blogger Convention (at the end of BEA). I’m looking forward to being on the Technology for Blogging panel, and talking with all you bloggers!

The kind folks at the Book Blogger Con asked me to do a guest post, which ran today over on their blog. Since we all love to share great ideas, I’m posting it here too.

Follow the updates on Twitter @bookbloggercon and I hope to see you there!

Lindsey Rudnickas on New Ways to Build Book Buzz

Lindsey Rudnickas is the Digital Concierge at NetGalley, an online service and connection point for book publishers, reviewers, media, librarians, booksellers, bloggers and educators.

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We could talk forever about the philosophy behind building book buzz and how that’s changed—and changing. Just as the entire news world is adapting in response to the popularity of online and social media, so is the job of the book publicist/marketer. The key, I think, is to be creative, open to new ideas, and willing to experiment.

So along those lines, I’ll keep from philosophizing and instead give some real-life examples of how we’ve seen NetGalley publishers being creative in their book buzz efforts.

Utilizing social influencers and Twitter:

We had a publisher partner with Klout to offer a digital preview copy of a highly anticipated title (via NetGalley) to 100 pre-selected key influencers on Twitter, in exchange for tweeting about the book to their followers. It was very cool for us to learn about what Klout does, and to see this publisher interacting with some of their biggest fans in a meaningful way. The concept of rewarding people who were both interested in that title and also influential in book circles is something more publishers could easily replicate in other ways (outside of Klout or Twitter).

Certainly, it pays to know your audience—and to use them to help spread buzz. And of course in your own Twitter efforts, it’s important to be focused in your messaging and tweet with relevance—we definitely try to! With a current Klout score of  57, @NetGalley is always looking to keep our audience engaged and extend our reach, and we appreciate your help!

Connecting with bloggers:

The idea of a blog tour can be immediately exciting to many authors and publicists who run into logistical hurtles when planning a traditional book tour (high costs for travel, coordinating special shipments of books to arrive in time, scheduling events with various stores all with their own full calendars, and bringing in a big enough audience at each venue to make it all worthwhile). How enticing an idea—to stay home (in your PJs if you feel like it!) and follow a schedule of virtual Q&As/interviews/guest posts directly with bloggers. We’ve seen how fast buzz can build and spread across dedicated book blogs, and we love to see publishers taking advantage. One publisher used NetGalley to promote a special campaign to bloggers to help spread the word about authors who were touring (both physically and virtually). In exchange for a blog post about the author, book, and tour, the blogger would receive an exclusive sneak peek of another forthcoming title via NetGalley. Win-win!

Engaging with online reading communities:

Publishers don’t have to look far to find pre-existing communities of dedicated readers who can’t wait to talk about the books they’re reading. Sites like LibraryThing and Goodreads are an awesome resource and a way to connect directly with fans. LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program in particular is a great tool that awards advance copies of books to LibaryThing members in exchange for a review. LibraryThing uses their special algorithm to match the most deserving readers with the right titles, and publishers benefit from all that pre-publication buzz. We love when publishers use NetGalley to make the process even easier (and environmentally friendly) by fulfilling those Early Reviewer copies digitally. Not only does this allow the LibraryThing member to read the title on their favorite device, but also keeps the publisher from being restricted to only offering as many printed galleys as they have left in their office.

They can even have the best of both worlds—offer some print galleys and then fulfill the second-tier of requests with digital galleys. We saw another publisher do this with a trade advertising campaign: through a trade newsletter ad (like Shelf Awareness, PW Daily, etc), the publisher collected requests for a particular galley. When they ran out of printed galleys to send, they provided an auto-approved link to view that galley via NetGalley instead. We loved to see how many more readers were given access to the galley because the publisher utilized the digital option, too.

Plugging into the NetGalley community:

Here’s the shameless plug portion of this post! With the new “NetGalley Features” newsletters, publishers are promoting their forthcoming titles to professional readers (reviewers, bloggers, media, librarians, booksellers, and educators) who have expressed interest in that genre. NetGalley members who love Romance titles are excited to hear about the newest romance galleys that have just become available, and publishers benefit from tapping into their pre-existing reading preferences. Plus, we announce which galleys were the Most Requested from that each newsletter—just as you can sort our entire catalog of galleys by Most Requested.

Those are just a few recent examples that caught our eye and made us smile—but we’re always open to new ideas! We thrive on finding new ways to incorporate digital galleys into buzz campaigns and are continually inspired by publishers and bloggers alike.

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Going DRM-Free on e-Galleys: Carina Press

As publishers experiment with digital galleys and book reviewers gradually get up to speed with new e-reading devices, the question of how to protect digital information without hassling the reader is moving to the forefront.

For some publishers, the simplest approach is to dispense with digital rights management (DRM) altogether and just trust the reviewers. That’s what Carina Press, the digital-only romance imprint of Harlequin Books, decided to do when it began offering digital galleys and press kits via NetGalley (click here for a catalog of available titles).

Since Carina aims to build their brand with romance bloggers rather than traditional professional reviewers, the advantages of going DRM-free were clear. For one thing, their galleys are more easily accessible on any number of mobile devices, including the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and BlackBerry. Plus, digital galleys from Carina carry no expiration date, which means reviewers can access them long after the publication date for the book.

To find out more about why Carina chose to go DRM-free, and how it’s working out, we talked with digital marketing specialist, Carly Chow.

As a digital-only publisher, how do you use e-galleys in your promotion strategy?

Since we don’t have print galleys, digital galleys are really important for promoting our titles. A lot of traditional reviewers, like Publishers Weekly and print media, are less inclined to review our titles, so we’re looking to non-traditional reviewers to get the word out.

How receptive are reviewers to digital galleys?

Digital-only publishers are quite new, and there are not a lot of them, so we’re doing a lot of brand-building at this point.  People are wary of e-books, but when they discover that ours are comparable in editorial quality to what Harlequin is offering, they will often try other galleys from us.

What types of reviewers have been most attracted to Carina Press titles since you began offering them on NetGalley last June?

Romance bloggers are very active on NetGalley, as well as GoodReads and LibraryThing, which are a close second. We’re finding that a handful of reviewers will go on NetGalley, then post reviews on GoodReads or LibraryThing. Often, the reviews say they got the book from NetGalley, so other reviewers see their reviews and go to NetGalley to get a review copy. LibraryThing has an early review program, but we haven’t used that yet.

Can you give me an idea of your overall constituency of NetGalley reviewers at this point?

Carina Press has hundreds of reviewers, but less than 1000 so far. On the Harlequin side, they have more than 1000 reviewers on NetGalley– the biggest group is bloggers, followed by librarians and then booksellers.

When do you release your e-galleys for optimal review coverage?

We usually put the book up two to three weeks before the pub date. Some reviewers read and review it the same day I upload the title, and others will review it a month or more later. Online, it’s a bit of free for all – bloggers will review things published 30 years ago, and books published this month. Since they’re not obligated to review, we can’t force them to do it in any particular timeframe.

Are you getting any specific feedback from your reviewers about how they like DRM-free galleys compared to galleys with DRM?

I handled the NetGalley program for Harlequin, which has DRM protection on its galleys, and by comparison, I’m getting fewer complaints from reviewers about the process of transferring Carina galleys between devices. In my experience, DRM can make transferring a title from an e-reader to a desktop computer or other device a little harder.

Are you getting any feedback on the ePub files you’re offering, since they are supposed to provide a better reading experience because the text reflows according to the device?

We were one of the first publishers to offer ePub files on NetGalley, but I haven’t heard people saying they love it. On the other hand, we’ve have had fewer complaints from reviewers that the print size of our galleys on their e-readers is too small.

Do you have any sense of which DRM-free formats are most popular – e.g. iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, BlackBerry, Sony Reader, Kindle, etc?

Personal computers seem to be the most popular device for reading digital galleys. With so many e-readers coming on the market, and prices dropping all the time, people seem wary of investing a lot of money in an untested device. Kindle seems to be the most popular, because it’s been around longer. The iPad is coming up slowly, but it’s hard to say how fast things will change or where they’ll end up.

Which of your galleys have been most popular on NetGalley?

Our paranormal titles do very well in NetGalley. Several of our top five titles are in that category, such as Dark and Disorderly by Bernita Harris and Allegra Fairweather by Janni Nell. Other popular titles are Exclusively Yours by Shannon Stacer, Panther’s Lair by Esmerelda Bishop and Motor City Fae by Cindy Spencer Pape.

What effects do the dynamics of online discussion have the promotion and sales of your books?

Romance is getting more attention than it used to. Bloggers are reading and reviewing the books quickly, and they can review as many as they want, GoodReads and LibraryThing great for generating word of mouth. People trust other people – if 7 out of 10 reviews are good, they trust it more than one critic at one magazine.

NetGalley helps us reach more bloggers than we would have known about otherwise. Bloggers drawn in by books from other publishers can easily find ours too, because of the ways the books are tagged.

It’s also easier for me to find blogger reviews – they send us their reviews using NetGalley, so it’s easier to find than by searching the whole Web.

Do you think you might offer any incentives to frequent reviewers on NetGalley?

We only started offering galleys on NetGalley last June, so it’s a little early to say for sure. But we’re looking into an incentive program for frequent reviewers.

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Library E-Book DRM Solutions

Picking up where our lively and vociferous conversation about potential models for library e-book lending left off, today’s #followreader chat from 4-5pm ET will look more specifically at ways libraries can break through the strategic and practical impasses associated with current e-book digital rights management.

Our guest is Robin Nesbitt (@RobNesb) of the Columbus Ohio Metropolitan Library, who will help us get a fix on such key issues as:

• Hw can DRM for library e-book lending look like balance the needs of publishers and authors to be compensated for their content, and for libraries to serve their patrons?
• Could a consortium of libraries have greater bargaining power with distributors and publishers on DRM?
• How much would librarians be willing to pay for publishers to offer more latitude in DRM?
• To what extent does cumbersome DRM encourage serious piracy while dissuading the average reader from adopting e-books?

For more background over the librarian debate on this issue, check out these blog posts: 

Librarian in Black: 

“I strongly feel that eBooks & eAudioBooks are only used on the margins of our library communities.  Not because people don’t have the technology–they do.  And not because they don’t want eBooks–they do.  But because using library eBooks is such a horrible pain, sometimes impossible, due to the restrictions that DRM places on us (which affects the subsequent issues of licensing & copyright). . . .

I also chime in as a frustrated customer, who recently purchased an Android HTC Eris smart phone.  I have a Mac at home, and a PC at work.  This means that I have three separate “groupings” of library eBook content that I can access, depending on what device I’m using at the time.  My library subscribes to several eBook collections: Overdrive, MyiLibrary, NetLibrary, TumbleBooks, Safari Tech Books, and Learning Express eBooks.  What I can access on each depends heavily on my device.  Why?  Digital Rights Management.”

David Lee King:

At least SOME of the problem is on the design and usability end (of at least Overdrive). But there HAS to be an easier way to manage DRM concerns, like allowing someone to check out stuff, but then adding one extra step or something that makes you “prove” you’ve deleted the file? Netflix’s digital downloads and the movie rental part of iTunes are similar (except for that whole for-profit thing) to a library setup. They also deal with people “borrowing” their stuff, some of it even digitally. But it’s easy. Why can’t our library vendors (Overdrive, Netlibrary, etc) also build something easy to use and manage?

To join today’s #followreader conversation from 4-5pm ET, here’s what to do:

1. Just before 4pm ET today, log in to Twitter or whatever interface you prefer. (We recommend Tweetchat, which refreshes quickly and automatically loads your hashtag when you are in the discussion.)
2. To follow the discussion, run a search for #followreader
3. I’ll start by asking a few questions, before opening up the discussion to the group.
4. To post a comment to the discussion, make sure that the hashtag #followreader is in each tweet you write.

Looking forward to chatting with you!

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Regional Shows: The New Hook-Up Spot for Booksellers and Bloggers

Can bloggers help booksellers make their way into the digital age? The Southern Independent Booksellers Asssociation (SIBA) and New England Independent Booksellers Association (NEIBA) clearly think so – and are opening the doors of their trade shows to bloggers this fall. Bloggers are responding enthusiastically, judging by their outpouring of excitement as they peppered both organizeers with questions in our #followreader chat on Twitter yesterday. 

What do booksellers see in book bloggers? ”The desire to connect readers with book is what drives this industry and indie stores are looking to bloggers and digital solutions,” said SIBA director Wanda Jewell (@SIndies), who was our guest on yesterday’s chat, along with NEIBA director Steve Fischer (@SteveNEIBA). In addition, bloggers and booksellers also share a fiercely independent outlook, Jewell observed. So why not encourage bloggers to affiliate with indie stores, and share their passion, content, and the profits from selling books via their blogs?

Must say, this chat was one of those intensely gratifying moments when two vibrant communities  - book bloggers and booksellers – came together on Twitter in a moment discovery and excitement. The hour flew by with more than 550 tweets from more than 125 contributors, as guests Jewell and Fischer explained trade show basics and how bloggers can get involved.

Key Facts about the Regional Trade Shows for Bloggers:

Of course, it costs money and time for bloggers to attend a trade show – so it’s best to weigh the main benefits of regional trade show attendance first:

• hearing buzz on upcoming books and chance to sample free galleys
• talking one on one with booksellers and publisher sales reps
• interviewing authors attending the shows

The next step is to see if one if you can make it to one of the nine regional book trade shows in the U.S. this fall. (Click here for dates, locations and organizer contact info.)

Both SIBA and NEIBA are offering free media passes to bloggers.

• Bloggers wishing to attend SIBA in Daytona, Florida on September 24-26 can find more details here.
• Those wishing to attend NEIBA in Providence, Rhode Island on September 30 – October 2, can register and get more info next week.

Bloggers who are curious about attending other regional shows should check with the organizers about blogger attendence policies. And why not even propose a panel on ways that book bloggers and booksellers can work together, like the one at SIBA?  Of course, it’s a good idea to check the program listings at your local show to make sure another blogger hasn’t already gotten there first, like Rebecca Schinsky (@bookladysblog) and @RonHogan, who are presenting on this topic at SIBA and the NAIBA show in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Keep scrolling for a detailed recap of the #followreader conversation – but first, a few words of thanks.

Hats off to Ruth Liebmann (@yrstrulyREL), queen of bookseller and library marketing services at Random House, who hatched the idea for today’s chat. A shout out to the other industry insiders like Mark Evans of Edelweiss (@markrevans), Kelly Justice of the Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia (@RVABookChik), and @HarperPerennial, who added clarity to the conversation. And thanks to bloggers Candace Levy (@bethfishreads), Dawn at @TooFondofBooks and librarian Marie of @BostonBibliophl for great input from the blogger side!

Regional Book Trade Shows 101

SIndies: Regional trade shows are where the industry gathers to prepare for the next season

SIndies: So imagine tons of books, booksellers, publishers, authors, librarians, industry friends gathering for education & enlightenment

@yrstrulyREL: And many publishers also bring advance reading copies of books that they think the indies will especially love reading

@markrevans: Having gone to both, I can say that regionals are much more about the books and bookselling than BookExpo.

@yrstrulyREL: The regionals are independent & each one is different. Some may be great for bloggers, others maybe less so.

@yrstrulyREL: The educational sessions are environments where booksellers can speak freely and trade good ideas.

@charabbott: For book bloggers who cannot make those shows, try following their hashtags on Twitter for scoops (e.g. #SIBA10)

Bloggers Are Welcome at SIBA

@SIndies: #SIBA10 charges for “other industry” admittance but book bloggers qualify for press passes which are free to media

@SIndies: Book Bloggers should really check out SIBAs Get in Bed Blog Project – http://bit.ly/9ptcsk

@SIndies: SIBA would love to post your reviews to www.authorsroundthesouth.com so get in touch if interested!

Previews of Galleys and Publishers at Regional Shows

@charabbott: Are bloggers familiar with the Edelweiss book catalog? Great tool for finding out about galleys at the trade shows – ask @markrevans

@markrevans: As with Books@BEA (our BookExpo catalog), Eidelweiss show catalogs will be named Books@SIBA, Books@NEIBA, etc. 

@HarperPerennial: we also have a catalog at www.harpercollinscatalogs.com

@HarperPerennial: would bloggers appreciate preview posts on our blog for trade shows like we did for BEA and ALA?

@HarperPerennial: Will definitely do preview posts before trade shows–thanks for feedback!

@yrstrulyREL: Check the regional bestseller lists to see what kinds of books will be popular at a trade show

@SIndies: Here is a link to our bestsellers list – http://www.authorsroundthesouth.com/bestsellers

@SIndies: Here is the list of publishers that will be at #SIBA10 as of today – http://www.tradeshow.sibaweb.com/exhibitors

@NanReads: NEIBAs Bestseller List http://bit.ly/12r0rM – gives you an idea of titles popular in region

@SIndies: And even if you cannot make the show – check out www.freebookstimulusplan.com

Authors at Regional Shows

@charabbott: Yes, key point for bloggers – regional trade shows are a great place to meet authors

@SIndies: Our list of confirmed authors to date at #SIBA10 is http://www.wanda.sibaweb.com/

@yrstrulyREL: Southern pals: Fannie Flagg is going to SIBA. You know *that* will be blogworthy

@SIndies: Oh, yes, Miss Fannie Flagg, Johnny Atomic, Emma Donoghue, Henry Cole, Joshilyn Jackson at SIBA: http://www.wanda.sibaweb.com/

HarperPerennial oh, and bloggers: any time you want to interview one of our authors, let me know! i’ll do what i can to make it happen.

Bloggers and Booksellers Unite!

@ShelfAwareness: Bloggers, when you mention a book, offer a link to an indie bookseller, not just Amazon. Support your local!

@AaronsBooks: wld love to meet more bloggers at NAIBA in Atlantic City http://www.newatlanticbooks.com/registration.html

@GodinePub: if any bloggers are coming to NEIBA or the MBA show in Minneapolis, we’d love to meet you!

@mawbooks: In UT? Bloggers are holding their bi-annual social this month. Booksellers, authors invited to attend -> http://bit.ly/chgeoz

@SIndies: #siba10 are offering sessions about Finding Your Tweet Spot and Getting in Bed with a Book Blogger: http://bit.ly/9ptcsk

@SteveNEIBA: Judging by volume on NECBA listserv I’d think childrens bksellers+authors could blog up a storm at NEIBA!

@SIndies: I dont think geography has to be an issue. That is the real beauty here. Find a store you love and love it.

@AMACOMBooks: How about genre book bloggers teaming up with genre indie stores? Mystery, biz, LGBT, etc

@teresasreading: I love the idea of getting “matched” up with a bookseller

@AaronsBooks: 2 things bloggers can do is link to store in your blog & let them know you want to work w/ them

@SIndies: Bookstores can include their local book blogger in their staff picks.

@bethfishreads: I wish more indies allowed bloggers to post reviews on their websites

@IndiaFiles: Indie stores need to have logos available for display by book bloggers who wish to support local Indie stores

@IndiaFiles: Each store website could list local book bloggers & displays book post feeds, auto-aggregated

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Regional Book Trade Shows in the Digital Age

As independent booksellers face the challenge of capturing online mindshare and staying competitive with e-books as well as print books, how are regional bookseller associations helping their cause at the annual trade shows this fall?

One new tactic is to invite book bloggers to join the tribal book gatherings happening in nine cities around the country, where they can meet local booksellers and publisher sales reps who can steer them to hot titles, industry buzz, local angles, and (of course) free galleys. For example, the  Southern Independent Booksellers Association has created an educational program on how bloggers and booksellers can work together, which we explored in a Q&A with participating blogger Rebecca Schinsky, and in a big, lively #followreader chat last month.

On today’s #followreader chat on Twitter from 4-5pm ET, my two guests will be Steve Fischer (@steveNEIBA), director of the New England Independent Booksellers Association, and Wanda Jewell (@sindies), who directs the Southern Independent Booksellers Association.

So, book bloggers, come with your questions about how you can get involved, and what these trade shows can offer.

Booksellers, let’s hear your questions about what will make these shows move your business forward and wrap your mind around bridging the digital divide.

Publishers and authors – we’d love to hear from you too, since these shows provide an important opportunity for tete-a-tetes with booksellers and bloggers on the front lines of the book trade.

Keep scrolling info on the nine regional shows, and details on how to join today’s #followreader chat:

SOUTHERN (SIBA): September 24–26, 2010, The Plazas, Daytona, FL

NEW ENGLAND (NEIBA): September 30–October 2, 2010, Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence, RI

GREAT LAKES (GLIBA): October 8–10, 2010, Hyatt Regency Dearborn, Dearborn, MI

MIDWEST (MBA): October 1–2, 2010, Rivercentre, St. Paul, MN

MOUNTAINS & PLAINS (MPIBA): September 23–25, 2010, Marriott Denver Tech Center, Denver, CO

NEW ATLANTIC (NAIBA): September 21–22, 2010, Trump Marina, Atlantic City, NJ

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA (NCIBA): October 14–16, 2010, Oakland Convention Center/City Center Marriott, Oakland, CA.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST (PNBA): October 7–9, 2010, Airport Holiday Inn, Portland, OR

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (SCIBA): October 23, 2010, Renaissance Hollywood Hotel and Spa, Hollywood, CA

To join today’s #followreader conversation from 4-5pm ET, here’s what to do:

1. Just before 4pm ET today, log in to Twitter or whatever interface you prefer. (We recommend Tweetchat, which refreshes quickly and automatically loads your hashtag when you are in the discussion.)
2. To follow the discussion, run a search for #followreader
3. I’ll start by asking a few questions, before opening up the discussion to the group.
4. To post a comment to the discussion, make sure that the hashtag #followreader is in each tweet you write.

Looking forward to chatting with you!

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Who Are the Best Bookseller Tweeters?

In the past year, Twitter has become an indispensable tool for booksellers. Not only does it offer real-time access to a wide array of customers, fellow booksellers and other industry partners, but it requires less money and effort than producing a traditional store newsletter, and offers new ways to measure results.

So who are the best bookseller tweeters, and what can they tell us about the best ways engage with their customers, and with authors and publishers?

To find out, tune in to tomorrow’s #followreader chat on Twitter (July 22, 2010, from 4-5pm ET) - and tell us about your favorites and why you follow them!

To join the #followreader conversation on Thursday, here’s what to do:

1. Just before 4pm ET today, log in to Twitter or whatever interface you prefer. (We recommend Tweetchat, which refreshes quickly and automatically loads your hashtag when you are in the discussion.)
2. To follow the discussion, run a search for #followreader
3. I’ll start by asking a few questions, before opening up the discussion to the group.
4. To post a comment to the discussion, make sure that the hashtag #followreader is in each tweet you write.

Looking forward to chatting with you!

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When Booksellers and Bloggers Get in Bed…

What makes for an effective partnership between a bookseller and book blogger? After six months of working together, Rebecca Schinsky of The Book Lady’s Blog and bookseller Kelly Justice of the Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia have plenty of good ideas – and even make it look fun. In fact, they’re planning to present a panel at this year’s Southern Independent Bookseller’s Association meeting on this very subject.

In today’s #followreader chat from 4 – 5pm ET on Twitter, our loyal #followreader attendees will get a sneak peek at what they have to say, and a chance to ask lots of questions.

For more background on Rebecca and Kelly’s partnership, keep reading.

And to join the #followreader conversation, here’s what to do:

1. Just before 4pm ET today,  log in to Twitter or whatever interface you prefer. (We recommend Tweetchat, which refreshes quickly and automatically loads your hashtag when you are in the discussion.)
2. To follow the discussion, run a search for #followreader
3. I’ll start by asking a few questions, before opening up the discussion to the group.
4. To post a comment to the discussion, make sure that the hashtag #followreader is in each tweet you write.

Q&A with Rebecca Schinsky

How did you and Kelly decide to work together?

It evolved organically. When I visited Kelly’s store, where I’m a regular customer, I mentioned my blog and my background as an event planner at big box bookseller. Kelly and I were both thinking about social media programs for educators, so eventually we decided to work together on a workshop on media and technology to encourage reading among students. I’d also been blogging and tweeting about events at the store, so we decided to be more deliberate about it, and talked about how we could work together.

What were the most important factors in making your partnership work for both of you?

The voice of blog my blog is fun and sassy and playful, and that worked for the store, which has a great sense of play too – they try to make reading fun. Kelly wouldn’t have gotten in bed with me if she was concerned about how I would present myself or what I would say on the blog.

So the #1 key for booksellers is that it’s important to do your homework: look at local blogs, and ask the right questions about the traffic and exposure they get, what they’re willing to do for your store, in terms of posts mentioning events at the store and featured titles.

As a blogger, it’s a plus for me that Kelly has made me part of the bookstore family, and has opened her galley shelves to me. I even have a mailbox and shelf for galleys at the store!

What are the nuts and bolts of your agreement?

Kelly doesn’t pay me, and it’s not exactly a barter either. Mainly what I get is exposure to the community. The relationship with the store has really built my profile in Richmond. Kelly has also helped me build up more industry connections. For example, I joined Kelly on all of her publisher meetings at BEA.

For Kelly, a great strength of the Get in Bed with a Book Blogger idea is that I can cover an event at the store and give it wide exposure, no matter how many people actually showed up for the event itself.

Have there been any sticky areas for you or other bloggers and booksellers in this kind of arrangement?

We haven’t had any problems, mostly because we are open communicators. When there’s a new issue or opportunity, we run things by each other. Every now and then, an author reach out to me about an event at another store, because they know me and they want me to cover it. So I talk to Kelly about how to handle it. She’s never said not to cover it, but I may decide to just go to the event to support the author and not blog or tweet or about it, or I might post pictures. I think the most important thing is that she knows about those things before they happen.

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What’s Good About Traditional Publishing?

In this time of restless techonological transition, we’re constantly calling business-as-usual in the book industry into question. And in many ways, it’s healthy and long overdue. Yet when I hang out with friends like Colleen Lindsay, who – like me - can remember how the industry operated in the days when faxes and Fed Ex were the spanking new technologies, we also tend to lament aspects of the industry that are fading.

Like what, you ask?

• Like booksellers who hand-sell based on personal connections with their customers.
• Like the grounding many people got in bookselling as their first step on the ladder, watching which books moved and why, before they climbed into the industry’s ivory tower in New York.
• Like manuscript production editors who are enormously adept factcheckers and editors in their own right.
• Like the primacy of personal relationships in a small industry

I’m sure you have your own example, don’t you?

So, come chat with Colleen (@ColleenLindsay) and me on Twitter from 4-5pm today about the aspects of the industry we should be sure to carry with us into the digital age. 

Quick, let’s spark some inspiration before we throw out the proverbial baby with the bathwater!

To join the #followreader conversation, here’s what to do:

1. Just before 4pm ET today,  log in to Twitter or whatever interface you prefer. (We recommend Tweetchat, which refreshes quickly and automatically loads your hashtag when you are in the discussion.)
2. To follow the discussion, run a search for #followreader
3. I’ll start by asking a few questions, before opening up the discussion to the group.
4. To post a comment to the discussion, make sure that the hashtag #followreader is in each tweet you write.

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Networked Bloggers Sell More Books

From the keys to a successful book blog tour to the importance of joining social media, blog and bookstore networks, last week’s fast-paced #followreader discussion on Twitter was full of insights on how bloggers can increase their clout.

Our guest, book blogger Candace Levy (@BethFishReads), adeptly commented on every turn of the conversation, following up on some of the points in our recent Q&A.

As you’ll see, the discussion also addressed ways that bloggers can partner with booksellers – a topic we’ll revisit in more detail on July 8 with Rebecca Schinsky (aka @bookladysblog) – so save the date!

Meanwhile, here are the highlights of last week’s chat:

Ways Bloggers Impact Sales

@charabbott: Wow, @myfriendamy! Your blog prompted sales of 60 books by Beth Kephart? That’s equivalent to medium bookstore event!

@myfriendamy: I could only measure how many reported buying the book during time frame of sales drive

@katiebabs: An author came up to me once and said because of my review 30 people told her they would buy her book

@mitalperkins I have also heard bloggers suggest that they helped push THE HELP into bestsellerdom – a lot wrote about it

@BethFishReads: Most bloggers have links to bookstores and we see many click throughs to those stores

@nishadoshi: It’s difficult to link sales with traffic to our blog, as people go to amazon etc to buy

@AaronsBooks: Haven’t seen anyone come in store & say “I’m buying this cause of abc blog”, but doesnt mean it doesn’t happen

@bookladysblog: Bloggers add to sales by building awareness, extending publicity cycle for books. Hard to track, but real.

@dsaarinen: Study by Jupiter research & Buzzlogic found blogs influence consumers more than social networks.

The Importance of Being Networked

@NetGalley: Bloggers need to be concerned with their reach (as opposed to hard sales), to make them relevant to publishers

@BethFishReads: Most bloggers link to a bookstore site and an social bookstore site. Many to FB.

@bookfaredelight: My reviews are automatically linked to Twitter, Facebook, and I post the reviews on Goodreads as well

@toofondofbooks: I link on Facebook, Twitter, Glue & LibraryThing, plus email/tweet to author and/or pub when practical

@katiebabs: Linking other blog reviews with your own review helps support the blogging community

@BethFishReads: Do people really read those linked reviews? When I want multiple reviews, I go to Goodreads/Amazon

@lenoreva:GoodReads is convenient to find out general consensus about a book, but linked reviews are usually cream of crop

@gamesafoot: I get about 70-80% of my book suggestions from bloggers. The rest I discover w/ store displays or Twitter

@YAaddict: Before I was into bookblogging I only read books from big publishers. Blogs opened me up to small publishers

Blog Tours – Pros and Cons

@BethFishReads: Tours can work if the book deserves the buzz and the excitment is sincere

@lrpresley: Blog tours work for me – I’ve bought five books that Ive seen advertised through tours

@CarnelianValley: I think book tours work best when posts aren’t all at once and when there’s a variety of types of post

@BethFishReads: Flexible tours are great. I understand that pubs want to pin down date, though

@BethFishReads: Down side of tours: Bloggers all read same things. I challenge bloggers to share the lesser-known gems

@CheekyReads: Blog tours that #fail for me: Multiple blogs on same day – no way is author interacting with readers

@BethFishReads: A variety of reviews of same book can convince someone to read it; but too much saturation can be turn-off

@nethspace: I’m not a fan of blog tours. It just seems to cheesy and insincere to me

@nethspace: If a blogger appears too close to publishers, they lose credibility with audience

@VintageAnchor: We love guest posts. The problem is that sometimes authors are so swamped w/ tour, etc.

Bloggers – Bookseller Partnerships

@BethFishReads: I would like to see bloggers have stronger relationships with indies like @TooFondOfBooks and @BookLadysBlog

@thebookmaven: Linking to indie store isnt same as partnering and innovating w/one. Wish more of us (me incl) did latter.

@BethFishReads: Even small bookstores can post a card on a shelf saying recommended by XX blogger w/ URL

@gamesafoot: My favorite book bloggers are booksellers. It gives me hope that the author has a better chance for success.

Positive vs. Negative Reviews

@BethFishReads: All reviews should be honest — pos and neg. Neg reviews are necessary for building trust with your readership

@AnnKingman: I disagree that negative reviews are necessary, if blogger states that they only cover books they like

@subtlemelodrama: Sometimes I think I far more enjoy my angry critical reviews. I do enjoy ripping a book to metaphorical shreds!

@BethFishReads: Have had authors thank me for my less-than-enthusiastic review — I always say why book didn’t appeal & link to pos. reviews

@LizB: I think its a difference, even if subtle, whether i write thinking “who will read book” versus “who will buy book”

@BethFishReads: Individual bloggers have fav style: interview, spotlight, review, giveaway. What works for each person

Working with Book Publicists

@VintageAnchor: As readers, we understand 100%. But as books have limited shelflives, prompt reviews are dire, you know?

@VintageAnchor: Bookbloggers should always feel encouraged to reach out to publicists if interested…OR BUY US LUNCH!

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