Myth Busting Time: Online Reputation Management Is Not Just For Plumbers On Yelp. Authors Need It Too

By Steven W. Giovinco, @recovreputation

8 Online Reputation Management Tips for Authors, Books, Novels, Fine Art Photography Publications, With Sample Task List

Authors–not just plumbers on Yelp or lawyers on Avvo.com–need a positive online reputation. It helps show the writer as an expert, connect them to readers, drives traffic to their book site and makes it more likely that “content”–bits of the book–will be shared on social media. This all leads to more sales.

Since advertising and traditional promotion don’t work as they did, a writer should strive to be a trustworthy “knowledge leader,” or key source in their niche, whether it be non-fiction, fiction, biographies, poetry, business books, essays, etc. Reputation management helps by building excellent sources when searching online.

1. Create Goals

Come up with clear online reputation goals. This sounds simple enough, but breezing through this initial step can lead to problems later if unclear. “Sell more books,” might seem to be obvious answer.  But how?

Drill down further. Building an excellent online reputation could, for example:

1. Show the writer as an expert in their specialized field.

2. Generate interest from new prospective publishers.

3. Schedule additional talks at book stores in specific and as-yet unscheduled cities.

4. Create direct connections to readers through social media.

5. Generate interviews from bloggers and traditional media.

6. Lead to translations of the book into other languages.

7. Conduct podcast or radio interviews.

8. Connect with screenwriters, film producers or television executives.

It could be one or all of the above.

        2. Identify Readers

Next, identify the book’s readers. Again, this could seem obvious, but be as specific as possible. Identify who they, where they live, what they do, things they like, how old they are, etc..

For example, perhaps for a historical novel set in England, readers would be:

• Educated couples or the parents of established families.

• Anglophiles.

• Those interested in related historical events local to the area.

• Historical groups and museum stores.

Or, for a fine art photography book:

• High net worth individuals, interior designers, luxury brand followers.

• Museum goers and art students.

• Those found in international or European urban areas.

• High end gifts shops, including summer or beach vacation spots as wholesale buyers.

• Art galleries, photo agents, high level editorial magazines.

             3. Online Reputation Strategy for Authors

Besides building trust, the online reputation management strategy engages with readers, connects with them on a personal level, and showcases the author’s work. No hard selling–rather use “the law of attraction” to draw in readers. Again, this is key for creating a good online reputation.

The strategy is made up of:

1. Search engine optimization including finding good key search terms.

2. Content creation in the form of blogs, other articles, videos, photos.

3. Social media platforms to share the content and connect with readers.

4. Website development or updates.

5. “Off-line” actions, such as speaking engagements.

               4. Optimize for Google Searches

Develop key search terms. These are phrases that search engines like Google use to find content, i.e., the book. Research to find the optimal and most effective search terms. For example, ,”mystery novel English countryside, or, “historical Nineteenth Century British novel,” are better and more specific than, “history novel”. The same goes “summer gifts photo book Hamptons,” “fine art photographers New York,” which are better than the too broad phrase, “summer photos”.

Take these key search terms and naturally incorporate them into the website’s pages and social media platforms.

                  5. Content Creation

Developing engaging content is one of the best ways to build an excellent online reputation for authors.

Take key topics from the book and write blog posts. They could be from chapters themselves, characters, locations from or mentioned in the book, concepts from the publication, or other topics related to the book or author.

Longer form articles, white papers and essays are very useful as well.

Don’t forget about creating presentations, videos from talks or interviews, podcasts, or photos at events or signings.

              6. Website Creation of Update

The website for a book or publication doesn’t need to be complex. The best are simple, easy to navigate and load quickly. WordPress have thousands of free templates for authors; some advanced ones cost only about $50. These can be easily updated or administered by the author or editor.

Be sure to include:

• Home page, with a call to action button to buy the book, as well as excerpts, accolades, brief reviews.

• About page describing the book in a few sentences, with some key search terms. Go into more depth about the overall topic, chapters, sections, etc. too.

• Author page that highlights the biography of the writer and previous works.

• Blog that includes media updates and and frequent posts geared for readers.

• Contact page with key contacts, editor, and social media links.

Or, for the example of the fine art photography book:

• Home page, with call to action button to Amazon, and select images.

• Photographer page with biography and more images with descriptions. If it’s a collection with other photographers, include their images and links back to their site.

• About page highlighting the biography of the photographer(s) and links to previous works.

• Blog that includes frequent posts geared for readers, including other images.

• Contact page with key contacts, editor, and social media links.

               7. Deploy on Social Media

Being active on social media helps build an excellent online reputation.

Send frequent and consistent engaging content that resonates with readers. The tone could be light, friendly, conversational, casual; scholarly and very informative; or playful and sardonic. The author should make their own posts, and share other’s relating to the book.

Crucially, take the content already created–blogs, presentations, interviews–and post them frequently on social media. Follow key topic leaders in the nitch, engaging with them and readers.

General social media platforms for authors include:

• Facebook

• Instagram

• Twitter

• Wikipedia

• Medium

• Goodreads

• YouTube

• Reddit

• Amazon

• Tumblr

• Pinterest

• Google +

• Vimeo

• Academia.com

• LinkedIn

• Alumi Sites

For photography books, include:

• Flickr

• Behance

• DeviantArt.com

• 500px

Also, be sure include specialized platforms based on the subject and location of where book is set or it’s focus.

                    8. Take “Off-line” Actions

Give talks, lectures and interviews. This helps spread the word about the book, but also generates social media activity. These could be at bookstores, libraries, local reader’s groups, foundations, even at related businesses or shops. Reach out to key bloggers, publications, editors, and publishers and create a mini social media campaign around each event.

Bottom Line

Managing an online reputation for a book author is time consuming but helps to generate more contacts, connections, and book sales.

I’ve shared some of my tips and real world experiences. If you find this helpful, I’d be grateful if you’d share it.

Feel free to reach out to me directly at Recover Reputation, or leave a comment.

Sample Online Reputation Management Tasks for Book Launch

Create Excellent Content

• Write brief one page bio of author, contributors or editor.

• Summarize these into two paragraph and brief three sentence versions.

• Craft press release.

• Take photos of the book.

• Organize all existing JPG photo images.

• Create video slideshow of most images.

• Make video of author, or brief interviews of contributors or editors.

• Create brief sound interviews of author, contributors or editor.

• Capture images of book in bookstores.

• Photograph book held by readers.

• Write several blogs initially and at least two per month on related topics.

Make Social Media Platforms

Create for the book, author, contributors and editor, if necessary:

• Twitter account.

• Instagram account.

• Tumblr account.

• G+ account.

• Facebook Page.

• YouTube account.

• GoodReads account.

• Other related social media platforms.

SEO and Website Creation

• Develop basic WordPress website.

• Determine list of key search terms based on intended readers.

• Integrate into site.

• Add select images to site.

• Research blogs, authors, publishers and other pertinent sites.

Social Media Deployment

• Post initial content to blogs.

• Share on above social media platform.

• Send Press Release, with link back to website.

• Contact related publishers.

• Reach out to magazines.

• Share with other blogs.

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Steven W. Giovinco is an online reputation management and repair specialist in New York, holding Master’s degrees from New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program and Yale University. Interviewed by the New York Times, Inc., and interviewed by Tribune Media/WGN, Inc., Martindale/Lawyers.com and have given numerous talks on online reputation management, Steve has 20 years experience connecting people through technology, and have gained direct experience in finance, law, television, and the arts.

LinkedIn:     https://www.linkedin.com/in/onlinereputationmanagementny/

Twitter:        https://twitter.com/recovreputation

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