Bob Baker's Book Promotion Blog

Instant Book Promotion

A couple of weeks ago Pooki and I headed to New York City for a six-day adventure.

I presented two classes on book promotion at Publishing University, we attended the huge Book Expo trade show for two days, then spent the rest of the time catching up with music friends and exploring Manhattan.

As I've done on many of my previous trips, I recorded a lot of video and audio while there. But this time I did something different -- something I recommend YOU do too, if you don't already.
Instead of waiting till we returned home to edit and post video clips/photos (which often appear weeks after the events), I uploaded and published them right away, sometimes within hours of recording them.

In addition ...

I regularly updated friends and followers of my activities on Twitter and Facebook. It was fun and immediate -- nearly instant communication and promotion.

Treat your readers and fans to the same intimate view of your activities -- when you're at home working on a new book, traveling to do research, attending a conference, giving a live talk, meeting other authors and fans, or just doing something cool or unusual.

I love meeting people (both famous and obscure) and capturing the moment with still and moving pictures.

On this trip, I was thrilled to meet Rupert Jee (of the Hello Deli, pictured above), Tavis Smiley, Cornel West, David Meerman Scott, Paulette Ensign, David Mathison, Dan Poynter, Kathleen Gage, and even Dr. Ruth Westheimer!

In addition, I saw Tom Paxton, Judy Collins, Peter Yarrow, Mary Jo Buttafuoco, Bill Cosby, Jackie Mason, and a certain hotel heiress with a French sounding name :-) We even came close to seeing President Obama!

For a quick look at some of the photos I posted from this NYC trip, go to Flickr.com/photos/bob-baker/

And here's a chronological list of the short video clips I posted throughout the journey:

IBPA's Publishing University Opening Night
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-cGzXNarG0

Book Trailers, Low-Cost Video, Book Promotion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0KcJwXX46E

30 Rock, New York City, Book Expo, BEA NYC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXejo5uGNb8

Mary Jo Buttafuoco, David Meerman Scott, Dr Ruth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JFNFZ_wijs

Tom Paxton, Judy Collins, Peter Yarrow & The Kiss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC2mh0BDArA

Espresso Book Machine & Dan Poynter at BEA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTJnUPvwl70

President Obama, Greenwich Village, Indian Food
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg3DdjttTuQ

Bob Baker's New York City Tweetup Meet & Greet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hEhEutjn-Y

Paris Hilton Outside the Late Show with David Letterman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Byv85CrzCdo

I learned to edit these videos quickly on my laptop and keep them short -- most are between 1 and 2 minutes each. Pooki recorded me using the video feature on an 8.0-megapixel Canon PowerShot A590 IS camera, which records as a high-quality AVI file direct to disk. I edited on a PC laptop using the free Windows Movie Maker program.

Also, my intention was to make these clips lighthearted, so you won't find any deep thoughts here. But a lot of people really appreciated being able to track us on our New York journey.

Online promotion is about interaction and involvement. And you can't get more involved than instant digital communication -- without actually being there!

-Bob


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