Jen's Writing Journey

I’ve been working for the last few months to plan a virtual tour to promote my book The Best of Learning & Leading with Technology. It is a lot more work pulling it all together than I would ever have dreamed. I’ve learned a few lessons about this monumental organizing task that I hope will help you.

1. Start early. Pick a date that seems really, really early to start planning. Count back one month. That is when you should start seeking out blogs to host you on your journey through the Internet.Okay, I may be exaggerating a little here. But a very early start is a good idea, because potential blogs may drop out, and you will want to spend a good amount of time building relationships before you pitch a post.
2. Hit up your friends. Chances are, you have met some bloggers through Facebook, Twitter, or other social media. Would their blogs be good hosts? If so, approach them with a solid pitch. Focus on what is in it for them, not just what is in it for you.Also look at your friends’ blogrolls. You might find some good high-profile sites that would be a good fit. In your pitch, let the blogger know how you found him or her.

   If you have a collection of articles, see if the authors whose work you featured have blogs that can host you. I’m visiting two of my authors’ blogs: Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk Blog and Stacy Bodin’s Footnotes of a Retired Teckie Teacher.

3. Include a giveaway. You can ask the publisher to provide free copies of your book for giveaways. Or you can look for related giveaway items. A netbook would be a great giveaway to support my book. A gift certificate for my publisher’s catalog or Amazon might also be good.Think about the topic of your book and go wild with ideas. Larissa Ione just held a giveaway to celebrate her new web design, and she gave a way copies of her books, a demon ducky (she has a great series about demons), and other related merchandise. The sky (and your budget or negotiating skills) is the limit.

   I will be giving away one copy of my book at each blog that hosts me. Some are doing a random comment giveaway, and others are doing more elaborate options. My publisher is providing the copies, and I am taking care of the mailing.

4. Come up with good ideas for your posts. You can’t just send out a summary of your book to every site and call it good. Some sites will want to interview you. Some will want you to give some background on the writing process. Some might want you to relate the topic of your story to the real world.As an example, I will be talking about what editors look for in publishable work, why I wrote the book, how teachers can use the National Gallery of Writing in their writing instruction, and whether netbooks are the answer for one-to-one computing.
5. Have fun. Visiting other people’s blogs can be a lot of fun. You’ll get the chance to interact with a new group of online readers, and the sheer volume of posts you have to come up with can be invigorating.

I’ll keep you all up-to-date on my travels through the blogosphere here and on Ed Tech Jen.

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