Need feedback from all you readers/writers

[M-M]

It's been almost a month since I mentioned AllTheseBooks.com here. Since then I've made many changes and added a blog - BookHuntersBlog.com. Add to this our MySpace and we have a nice triangle going on here. We also decided to concentrate on promoting new authors.
Things are still a little slow - that's where you come in. I'd love to hear suggestions/criticism from all you readers and authors here. What works? What doesn't? What else could I do? How do you like the tagline "Hunt for your new favorite author"?

Here is what we have planned:
A "virtual hunt" where visitors have to hunt for a password that will unlock a page on the blog. The lucky winner gets an Amazon gift card (or something like that).
Articles on various topics (tbd)
Book give-aways (contests)
Each month one subscriber wins books (signed)
I'm trying to get our reviews/interviews onto other sites/blogs (book and genre-specific, i.e. anything horror or romance)
Behind-the-scenes series: Creating a published novel - from conception to the book shelf.

Any other ideas? Any help (even harsh criticism) is very welcome.

 

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[CarrieW]

I really like the idea of the virtual hunt!

It reminds me of way back in the day on one of the bulletin boards I used to belongto... it wasnt a hunt to a password tho it was a little quest you had to go all over and pick up clues(from stuff on the board) to figure out where to go next and eventually figure out the answer to win.

Also maybe make a way for people to join up to swap out books(like renting a movie) and to buy the ones they want to keep. give credit for books they want to get rid of from their own library ect.

 

[AroundTheWorld]

In addition to your myspace page, I would consider gather.

It is where the artsy folks hang out... writers, readers, and photographers....

It is focused much more on the content - - - and interacting through content then just the "be my friend so I can be cool" that you see on myspace.

 

[M-M]

Thanks for the tips so far, would love to hear more.

I actually just had another idea that I might make it a portal for other sites to post their content. I'll have to think about that in detail.

 

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[kimberland]

Did you contact the big writing groups?
(the Romance Writers, Mystery Writers, etc)

Have you promoted on the Yahoo! Loops?
That is where the writers hang out.
(I belong to about 20 of them.)

Writers are readers
and most readers are aspiring writers.

 

[kimberland]

Okay, I don't know if I quite understand your site.
Are you charging authors to post their blurbs, author profiles, etc?

'Cause your competition gives that away as freebies.
What we are usually charged for is advertising, not info sharing.
The sites snag us with the free promo days
and then we end up buying banner and cover ads.

Not saying that you can't go that route
but that this will make member build more challenging.

BTW... I LOVE how you can possibly sell banner ads
to specific portions of your forum.
I think that is clever.

 

[kimberland]

More thoughts...

Why run the contests yourself?

Many of the book promo blogs offer free guest posts to authors
but in return, they're strongly encouraged to run a contest.
The host picks the winner (from the commenters),
gets their details,
and passes that along to the author.
The author then pays for the postage.

Cost to the host?
Nothing.
And they get more readers for it.

 

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[M-M]

No, I don't charge for blurbs or profiles and the like. What I charge for is taking all the information and taking it to the readers (various sites/forums/blogs/MySpace groups), as well as genre-specific (i.e. horror-only forums), because that is very time-intensive on our part.

As far as contests, there is room for more than one way - but I like your idea and I will make it available.

Is this the Yahoo Loops you mean?

Thanks for all your feeback Kimber!

 

[kimberland]

Ohhhh... so you're really in the online PR business?
That's where you're going to make your dollars?

This is the master url for Yahoo! Loops
http://groups.yahoo.com/
If you search under writing,
there are over 100,000 groups.

Most of the loops have promo days
where you can post blurbs or perhaps info about new sites
(grinning)

 

[kimberland]

You know what?
I'm swinging hard into my book launch publicity
(advertising and other promo)
and am directing everyone to my site
http://businessromance.com/

I could do a guest blog for you towards the end of May
and your blog would be listed on my sidebar all month.
Let me know if that interests you.

 

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[M-M]

Don't know if I'll make big dollars there, but it's a start. My wife's passionate about books (reader for 40 years) and I like doing this kind of work, so we'll see where it takes us. But I am serious about it, that's why I ask so many questions (wink).

Can you recommend any groups in particular?

 

[kimberland]

I just posted about it on Marketing For Romance Writers
so you don't have to hit that one.
It only has 400 members
but the members there are VERY noisy.

I'd reco picking the big memberships first,
from a couple of the genres.

Oh, and have you considered changing
the Press Release folder
to Book Blurbs And Excerpts?
Very few authors do press releases
(they SHOULD but they don't,
they post blurbs and excerpts instead).

 

[M-M]

I just posted about it on Marketing For Romance Writers
so you don't have to hit that one.
It only has 400 members
but the members there are VERY noisy.

I'd reco picking the big memberships first,
from a couple of the genres.

Oh, and have you considered changing
the Press Release folder
to Book Blurbs And Excerpts?
Very few authors do press releases
(they SHOULD but they don't,
they post blurbs and excerpts instead).

Thank you so much!:3some:
I've put all of this on my ever-growing to-do list.
For the press release: I encourage all of our members to post experts and blurbs in their profiles.
I'm working on one for a very special book right now. It's a very touching and eye-opening story. I'll have more on that soon. If you want to you could read the release before it goes out, I value your opinion.

So much to do...:smx4:

 

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[kimberland]

Well, you're going to have very big profiles,
especially when it comes to romance.
Many authors have hundreds of books.

Plus excerpts and blurbs are value adds for readers.
Some readers want only that
(that's ALL they want to read).
There are blogs and sites set up to accommodate them.
If you separate those out,
you could spin off that section
when it got big enough.

Ahhh... here you are,
trying to build the site up
and I'm already thinking of how you could divide it up.
LOL

 

[M-M]

Keep it coming! I always think ahead myself and I have ideas what I could do once it gets bigger (or should that be if?).

I've had so many failures the past years that I am more than ready for success. I know my wife is - she's been incredibly supportive of me, so I really owe it to her to do this right.

The separate blurb-section idea is good. I could then cross link my different sections and sites.

I will set up a Gather account today and join some Yahoo groups. Then once I have worked out the other changes I'll contact other blogs to see if they are interested in sharing content (that's where the portal idea comes in). Then I'll see who's interested in guest blogging and contests. Then...