Promoting Your Book with QR Codes

by Holly Jahangiri  

I’ll bet it never occurred to you, while writing your book, that writing would be the easiest part of becoming a published author. I still remember the “deer in the headlights” look on my face when Vivian Zabel said something to me on the phone about attending a book festival and arranging for book signings. “WHA—? Oh, no, no, no… I WROTE the book. You have to promote it!!”

I still remember Vivian’s laughter on the other end of the line. After my blind panic subsided, it did start to sink in – it even made sense. What’s a good book promotion without the active involvement of the author? When’s the last time you went to a book signing and thanked the publisher for their autograph?

Book Promotion: 20 Strategies That Will Broaden Your Reach is a great list of things you can do right now to promote your book. As an introverted technical writer who writes children’s picture books by night and still wakes in a cold sweat from nightmares involving kindergarteners and flying globs of Jell-O, rotten fruit, and spoiled milk, virtual book tours are one of my favorite methods of book promotion. I also like new, cutting edge, or creative ideas.

What Are Those Squiggly Things?

One such idea involves the use of QR codes – a form of two-dimensional barcode that can be easily scanned and translated by any number of free smartphone apps. A lot of people ask me, “What are those squiggly things?” My dad would call them “curiosity generators.” The cool thing about QR codes is that, although they’ve been around for quite a while, they’re just now gaining traction as a marketing tool, and they’re actually useful because they are so easy to use and so accessible thanks to the popularity and widespread use of smartphones. Look closely, and you will see QR codes on billboards, shop windows, buildings, magazines, coupons, ads, business cards, postcards, web sites, and more. If you have a smartphone, odds are you’ve seen them as a way to quickly download apps from a catalogue or web site. Odds are, they pique your curiosity and you want to scan them – to discover the “secret message.”

Here are a few examples (if you have a smartphone, go ahead and scan them!):



Adding a QR code to your business card lets you embed your contact information in a standard format, or allows you to create a “landing page” with dynamic content that can be updated as needed. When resizing the QR code or changing colors, or when placing text or other images near the QR code, be sure to scale the graphic, preserving the original aspect ratio. Always double- and triple-check to be sure it still scans, if you make any changes to it at all. The “quiet space” around the QR code (more commonly known as “white space” to us writers) matters, and some codes have a higher amount of “forgiveness” built in (higher error checking). A higher amount of error checking results in a more complex code that allows for up to about 30% of the pixels to be replaced or altered artistically. This often comes at the cost of scanning speed, and people may give up trying if they think the code doesn’t work, so sometimes, simple is best.



You can use a QR code to make it easy for people on the go to sign up for your newsletter, or bookmark your blog. QR codes can be printed or placed on your blog. This example goes to a signup form for a mailing list I created for a blogging contest. You can use a QR code to link to your book trailer on YouTube (keep in mind that Android-based smartphones may only be able to play video hosted on YouTube).

It is easy to create your own QR codes, at no cost, online – just search for “free online QR code generator.” One of my favorites is Qurify.com. If you prefer artistic QR codes that you can integrate with your brand image, you may want to hire a designer. The following promotional codes were created using Qurify.com and Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3:

Now Create Your Own – It’s Easy!

1. Using your favorite web browser, visit http://qurify.com.
2. In the blue box, enter your text. You have 255 characters to play with – that’s 115 characters more than a Tweet on Twitter! You can use a URL shortener, too, to buy more space for your message.
3. Click the Qurify! button. Your QR code appears to the right.
4. Click the link to Download (PNG file)  |  Download (JPG file) - choose your favorite format, or download both.

You can use the black and white QR code as is, or add it to your promotional materials using your favorite illustration program.

This should be enough to get you started! Any questions? Fresh ideas for using QR codes? Share them in the comments, below.

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Holly Jahangiri is a technical communicator, social media analyticator, children's book author with 4RV Publishing (Trockle, and A Puppy, Not a Guppy), blogger, happy wife and mom living in Houston, Texas. She would really appreciate it if you would read her post, Good Goals Gone Bad on TheNextGoal.com.

Vary Your Sentences: Start with a Different Part of Speech

"Vary Your Sentences: Start with a Different Part of Speech" by Joan Y. Edwards

In the book Manuscript Makeover by Elizabeth Lyon, she gives you many ways to vary your sentences and improve your manuscript. One new way intrigued me. It was a new perspective on varying sentences for me. I've written about varying sentences by making them as long as ten words or shorter than 40 words. Make some sentences simple, some compound, others complex. Elizabeth Lyon says you can vary sentences by starting sentences with a different part of speech. Certainly you might not want to do this for every paragraph or use all ten of them on every page. But if you find yourself in a rut of the same kind of sentences in a paragraph, using her idea will help you change the pattern and add emphasis to the sentences instead of letting them disappear into a sing-song rhythm.

You say, "Explain it more. I don't understand what you mean."

Okay. Let me see if I can make it easier to understand.

Take the longest paragraph from the first ten pages of your manuscript.

Here's one I made up for this blog post:

Steve left the bar at 2:00 a.m. He locked the doors and turned on the security. He wondered if that guy was really going to come back and get the girl at the bar. That creep wasn't going to get her if he had anything to do with it. Where was Sarah anyhow? He'd seen her leave an hour ago with a friend. He looked to the right passed the cars parked near the dumpster. He saw sparkly material on the ground. He ran to check it out. He couldn't believe what he saw.

I'm sure you'll agree that this paragraph needs help with varying the sentences. Out of 10 sentences, seven of them begin with the word "he." That is boredom at its height. Help! My paragraph needs help.

To improve the sentences using this method, you have to know the different parts of speech and how to use them properly.

What are the parts of speech? Here are parts of speech, definitions, and an example of a sentence beginning with it. The University of Ottawa, Canada has a site with many parts of speech with definitions and samples: http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/partsp.html.

1. Interjection is a word or a short phrase usually followed by an exclamation point that can stand alone. Use sparingly. The English Club.com has examples: http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/interjections.htm. Use sparingly in manuscripts.

Oh my! He lost his wallet.

Yikes! The roof is leaking.

2. Preposition is a connecting word that shows the relationship of a noun or a noun substitute to some other word in the sentence, including time, location, manner, means, quantity, purpose, and state of condition. (Unbelievable information about prepositions at this link from Hunter College Reading/Writing Center http://rwc.hunter.cuny.edu/reading-writing/on-line/prep-def.html) And even more about prepositions at About.com http://grammar.about.com/od/pq/g/prepositerm.htm

On Wednesday, the bird in the tree sang a song for the children at the playground after lunch.

From the auditorium, we could hear the band rehearsing.

3. Conjunction is a word that joins words, phrases, clauses and sentences. There are three types of conjunctions: and, but, or, yet, so, for, nor. Coordinating conjunctions work in pairs: both...and; either...or; neither...nor. Subordinate conjunctions: before, while, since, because, and until.

Jane went to the store. However, she did not make a purchase.

Neither Tom nor Jack drove the truck.

Before Jake blew out the candles, he took a deep breath.

4. Verb is an action word, state of being, or a helping or linking word. The English Club has a list of 600 regular verbs: http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/regular-verbs-list.htm and also Moms Who Think.com has lists and explanations of the uses of different kind of verbs: http://www.momswhothink.com/reading/list-of-verbs.html

Run to the corner and back.

Curl your hair with the new rollers.

5. Adverb is a word that describes or limits a verb. Most of the time, it's good to use a better more specific verb than to use an adverb of manner ending with "ly." MomsWhoThink.com has a list of common adverbs: adverbs that indicate place, purpose, frequency, time: http://www.momswhothink.com/reading/list-of-adverbs.html

Yesterday he raced his car.

Somewhere lurked the cat.

6. Gerund is a noun using the ing form of a verb. Owl at Perdue University has good examples of gerunds at work in sentences: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/627/01/

Running is his favorite stress reliever.

Sewing keeps her busy.

7. Noun is the name of a person, place, or thing.

Men, women, and children filled the mall.

Newspapers featured a stories and pictures about the new invention.

8. Pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun in a sentence.

Uncle Jim backed the trailer into a parking space. He was sure the space was big enough.

9. Adjective is a word that describes and often precedes a noun. Keep and Share.com has a great list of adjectives that describe appearance, condition, shape, size, sound, time, taste, touch, quantity, and feelings: http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/12894/adjective-list

Red shoes tapped the rhythm.

Three uniforms hung in the lockers.

10. Limiting Adjectives Articles A, an, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Writing Center has great examples and explanations of the uses of the artilces, a, an, and the: http://www.rpi.edu/web/writingcenter/esl.html

A dog barked.

An apple dropped from the tree.

The mailman delivered the package on time.

Okay. Now you're very familiar with the parts of speech mentioned above. You are ready to do one or more of the following exercises to help you see what pattern of sentences you use most often and decide if you want to use a different part of speech for the first word of your sentences to improve your writing.

Exercise 1: Print out a page of your manuscript - preferably a whole page. Underline or highlight the first word in each sentence, then put a tally mark in the appropriate column in the chart below.

Exercise 2: Rewrite that page with the purpose of varying the sentences. If you used only two ways to begin your sentences, use three more ways to vary your sentences on that page. You want the writing to flow smoothly. Sometimes you want to repeat a pattern.

Exercise 3: Copy the first page of your favorite book. Underline or highlight the first word in each sentence, then put a tally mark in the appropriate column. Does your favorite author vary the part of speech for the beginning of her sentences?

Exercise 4: When you critique another writer's work, you might think that sentence variation would improve the writing. If so, make a chart like this for them and mark the beginnings of their sentences on a random page or give them a link to this blog post. Put a tally mark beside each part of speech when a sentence starts with it.


Part of Speech Variation of First Words in Sentences on a Manuscript Page

Interjection
Preposition
Conjunction
Verb
Adverb
Gerund
Noun
Pronoun
Adjective
Article


I hope this helps you understand the work of the parts of speech, and how to use them to vary the structure of your sentences in your manuscripts. Only use this if you agree with 100 per cent that it will help you.

Please leave a comment.
1. How many ways did you begin your sentences on the page you selected?
2. Do you think rewriting your page using a different part of speech for the first word in your sentences helped improve your story? If so, why? If not, why not?
3. How many parts of speech seems natural to use on a page?


Thank you for reading my blog post.

Do something fun for you today!

Joan's Elder Care Guide 4RV Publishing: Release June 2015

Promotion: Review of Just Breeze -- The Midwest Book Review

posted by Vivian Zabel 

         Appearing on "Katherine' Bookshelf," in The Midwest Book Review for October, is Just Breeze by Beverly Stowe McClure . 
Just Breeze
Beverly Stowe McClure
4RV Publishing LLC
PO Box 6482, Edmond, OK 73083
9780984070824, $15.99

Who would want to go through life with a name like Breeze? Breeze Brannigan had no choice and her looks and personality as described by Beverly Stowe McClure in Just Breeze complement that name. This contemporary novel tells just what it is like for eighth graders through the interactions of the major characters, Amy, Cam, Tony, Allison, Sara and Noah. There are also the wise parents and other adults who are not averse to meting out sage advice to the 'harem scarem' teens.

The story centers on Breeze and her relationship with the 'new boy in town'.

"But I barely heard Tony, for standing behind was this boy I'd never seen, an average-looking guy. Not take your breath away handsome, but surprise, surprise, he was as tall as me. Correction, his spiky-like hair was as tall as me. His eyes struck me at nose level."

There are the usual teenage angst scenes as well as the interesting revelations. She is attracted to him, but has to wonder about him. Why does he like her? Or does he? Where is he from? Is he an alien? All of these questions and more are asked and answered in this rousing book. You will have to read this book to follow the metamorphosis of Breeze and her friends as they begin to grow up.

Beverly Stowe McClure lives in Texas with her husband, Jack. She is a mother to three sons, grandmother to four granddaughters and two grandsons and great grandmother to one great grandson. Her official bio says she married very young.

Beverly is a member of both the North Texas and the national Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Katherine Boyer
Reviewer
  
          Just Breeze is now part of the holiday sale found on the 4RV Bookstore.


4RV Publishing website         

The Elevator Pitch and Your Manuscript

Your elevator pitch, or simply your pitch, is a very condensed, yet concise description of your story. It can be one to several sentences long; the idea is to grab the publisher, editor, or agent’s attention and interest with the core of your story in the span of under 3 minutes.

The marketing arena’s idea of the pitch is a one sentence calling card – you’re unique selling proposal or proposition.

The idea behind the elevator pitch is to imagine that you get on an elevator and surprisingly you’re there with a potential client, or in the case of writing for children or writing in general, a publisher or agent. You are given just the time for the elevator ride, which was approximated at 3 minutes, to pitch your story. That’s the elevator pitch.

It may also happen that the time you have to pitch your manuscript may be under a minute. Suppose you’re at a conference and happen to get on the elevator at the end of the day with a frazzled publisher or agent. You want that very short span of pitching time to be as effective as you can make it, without annoying or further frazzling your target. It may be the only opportunity you’ll have for a direct, although very brief, uninterrupted pitch.

The one sentence pitch, also known as a logline, takes time, effort, and a lot of practice. You need to condense your entire manuscript into one sentence. Within that sentence you need to harness the soul of your story in a simple, concise, and hooking pitch.

The general writing consensus is to do your best and create one sentence that tells what your story is about. Once you have it nailed, expand it into a few more, adding only the most important aspects of the story. This is excellent practice for tight writing.

This way you’ll have two different versions of a micro pitch. It’s important to always be prepared – you never know when or where you may come upon an unsuspecting publisher, agent, or editor . . .  maybe you’ll have a few seconds, maybe you’ll have 3 minutes.

Here is an example of a one sentence pitch from RockWayPress.com:

Two brothers and their female cousin decide to track down a serial killer themselves, not realizing that one of them may be the very killer they seek.

Here’s another one from the blog at Buried in the Slush Pile:

The Emerald Tablet -- In this midgrade science fiction novel, a telepathic boy discovers that he is not really human but a whole different species and that he must save a sunken continent hidden under the ocean.

And, here’s my own one sentence, 28 word pitch for my children’s fantasy chapter book. The 99 word version of my pitch hooked a contract with a publisher:

Children 7-10 love fantasy and magic and Walking Through Walls has just that; twelve-year-old Wang decides he’ll be rich and powerful if he can become a mystical Eternal.

Obviously, if you have a scheduled pitch you will need to adhere to the publisher or agent’s rules. You may be able to provide a pitch with 100-200 words. But, it’s a good idea to have that one sentence pitch on hand for that you-never-know moment.

~~~~~
Karen Cioffi is an author, ghostwriter, and editor. For more on writing and marketing visit http://karencioffiwritingandmarketing.com and sign up for her FREE newsletter, A Writer’s World. You’ll get TWO free e-books on writing and marketing in the process.

Promotion: Review of Priscilla Homes and the Case of the Glass Slipper -- The Midwest Book Review

posted by Vivian Zabel

         Appearing on "Katherine' Bookshelf," in The Midwest Book Review for September, is Priscilla Holmes and Case of the Glass Slipper by John Lance and illustrated by Diana Navarro .

Review by Katerine Boyer:


Priscilla Holmes and the Case of the Glass Slipper
John Lance
4RV Publishing LLC
PO Box 6482, Edmond OK 73083
9780982659496 $14.99

John Lance has done it again! He has written an amusing children's book with a new twist in Priscilla Holmes and the Case of the Glass Slipper. There are some curious references to a familiar fairy tale that has to do with a beautiful girl who went to a dance at the palace and danced with the prince, then left in a hurry and lost her magic glass slipper.

Priscilla, the Ace Detective, is called on by the prince to find the beautiful princess he danced with at the ball. So she gets to work. She begins to follow the clues and comes up with 3 clues that she has to sort out to solve the mystery of who the missing princess is. They are:

"1. A pumpkin coach

2. A magical glass slipper

3. A pair of mysterious strangers. One wears the same size shoe as the missing princess."

She follows the clues to Gary the Glassblowers, then to The Magic Bean to talk to Merlin. This leads her to Aunt Mag's house and the two mysterious strangers. Because of her Ace Detective status, she soon puts the clues together and finds the princess just as the prince shows up. Then comes the twist. For this review, suffice it to say that they all lived happily ever after. You will have to read the book to find out what happens that is a little different from the story you may remember from your childhood.

The illustrations, so aptly done by Diana Navarro, as she did with the first book about the ace detective, provide the reader a definite idea of the characters in the book. The background she depicts in her art is also very well done.

John Lance lives in Massachusetts with his wife, two daughters and two slightly-crazed Labrador Retrievers. He enjoys spending time with his family and reading, writing and working in his garden.

Kathleen Boyer
Reviewer



          Priscilla Holmes and Case of the Glass Slipper is now part of the holiday sale found on the 4RV Bookstore.


4RV Publishing website

Promotion: Gunther the Underwater Elephant - The Midwest Book Review

posted by Vivian Zabel 

          The first children's book both illustrated and written by Ginger Nielson is reviewed in the November issue of The Midwest Book Review on Katerine's Bookshelf.


Gunther, the Underwater Elephant
Ginger Neilson
4RV Publishing LLC
PO Box 6482, Edmond OK 73083
9780983274025 $15.99

Ginger Neilson has written and illustrated an adorable book about Gunther, the Underwater Elephant. The story is different from the normal children's books in that Gunther does not get into terrible trouble that he cannot get out of himself, but he does show his courage and intelligence when a tragedy occurs.

Gunther, the little elephant, is accidently separated from his family and ends up floating out to sea where he learns how to use his trunk as a snorkel and meets a creature who helps him return home.

"When the bright morning sun woke Gunther, he found himself in the middle of a swirling sea.

Alone and afraid, he called and called for his elephant family. Suddenly, his tiny island came to life!"

When he gets close to home, he is met by a tropical bird who tells him of a tragedy involving his mother.

Follow Gunther as he figures out how to save the day with some of the things he found on his underwater trip. Children will love this story and stare in wonder at the lovely illustrations that are important in telling his story.

This is a wonderful book to read to your children as a bedtime story and will also be great for any time reading.

Ginger Neilson is a full time children's book illustrator and author. Her home and studio sit at the top of a hill, near the edge of a forest in semi rural New Hampshire. There is a magic wand on her desk and a dragon in her basement. Everything else is nearly normal. She has illustrated over 25 children's books. This is the first one she has written as well as illustrated.

Katherine Boyer
Reviewer


          
4RV Publishing Bookstore
4RV Publishing Website

Book Promotion: 20 Strategies That Will Broaden Your Reach

While most of us already know the book promotion basics, there are also a number of other avenues you can take to broaden your book promotion reach and make your promotional efforts more effective.

20 book promotion strategies you can use to promote to a wider range of potential customers:

1. Make use of your website’s opt-in box. Provide a weekly or monthly newsletter that offers information your reader/subscriber will value. Along with the information, you can offer your books for sale. Building your subscriber list is a key marketing strategy.

2. Use article marketing and social networks to broaden your reach, and be sure to provide links that go directly to a designated landing page for the sale of your book/s.

3. Book virtual book tours with tour services or create your own. Try to get guest spots on sites that are geared toward your target market.

4. Create trailers for your books and post them on sites such as YouTube. You can try your hand at creating a trailer for free at http://OneTrueMedia.com. If attempting this seems a little overwhelming, you can hire someone to do it for you.

5. Create postcards, business cards, and flyers with your book information and cover. Include the link to your book’s site or your author site.

6. Contact your local newspapers and request they do an interview or a feature on you as a local author.

7. Request book reviews from reputable reviewers and ask them to post the reviews on your Amazon and B&N selling page, Goodreads, Shelfari, and other sites that can help promote your book. Post them on your own site/s as well.

8. Enter competition. Winning a contest, or getting second place or mentionable awards is a great way to increase interest in your book/s. Be sure to enter reputable contests. Also, check out your state book lists

9. Put out a request in your groups to be a guest on blog talk radio shows that feature authors. While it’s good to find those that feature authors in your genre, it’s also a good idea to broaden your reach and shoot for shows that are diversified.

10. If you’ve established yourself as an expert in your field, you can give teleseminars or webinars. This is a proven strategy for increasing your subscriber list, thereby increasing your selling reach.

11. Give free or reasonably priced workshops. Again, this is a proven strategy to increase your subscriber list with people who are interested in your topic.

12. Create a how-to-course and offer it in daily or weekly segments through emails. You will easily boost your subscriber list through a course. It also guarantees that those who subscribe for it will open your mailings.

13. Have a 2 for 1 sale and promote the sale through all your social networks and a press release. Everyone loves a sale.

14. Create and publish press releases on a regular basis. You can report on your teleseminars, how-to-courses, workshops, news, sales, etc.

15. You can also look into associations, businesses, groups, schools, and other avenues that may be interested in your book. This is also a great way to sell in bulk.

16. Sell through catalogues. This may take a bit of research, but the benefits may be more than worth the effort. Do an online search for ‘your genre’ book catalogues.

17. Become a part of joint ventures. Publicists may be looking for authors to be partners in their book promotions. You help promote their authors’ books, and you’re listed in their content, usually by offering a free or discounted book, or e-book. There are also different situations. Again, this can be worth the effort.

18. Think about having your book included in book clubs. Again, do an online search.

19. Look locally. If you’ve written a children’s book see if your local toy store, baby store, or children’s clothing store will be willing to offer your book for a percentage of the selling price. If you’ve written a cook book, talk to the local bakery owner or coffee shop. And, don’t forget doctor’s offices, dentist’s offices, beauty salons, and so on. Don’t be afraid to seek out facilities that may not be an exact match. Establishing this type of partnership is a win-win situation.

20. If you have the funds, find out what a publicist or professional book marketer can do for you.

Remember: nothing ventured, nothing gained.

~~~~~~~~~
Karen Cioffi is an author, ghostwriter, and editor. For more on writing and marketing visit http://karencioffiwritingandmarketing.com and sign up for her FREE newsletter, A Writer’s World. You’ll get TWO free e-books on writing and marketing in the process, and two more free e-books just for stopping by.