Podcasting and Blogging for Book Promotion with Joanna Penn

We’ve got an interview with Joanna Penn, an experienced blogger, podcaster, non-fiction writer, and thriller author for you today. Read on to learn about her, her work, and to get some tips on promoting your books online.

~*~

Joanna Penn is the author of four books including Pentecost, an action-adventure thriller novel. Her blog, The Creative Penn is one of the Top 10 Blogs for Writers.

You’re a blogger, a non-fiction writer, and now a thriller author! Do you want to tell us about your path, and where you’re heading in the future?

I always wanted to be a fiction author but I spent many years crippled by the thought that I needed to write prize-winning literary fiction. That daunting block stopped me writing anything until I found myself hating my IT job and not knowing what to do with my life at 33. So my first book was “How to Enjoy Your Job…or Find A New One” and that helped me to get past my own blocks. I started the blog, shared what I had learned about publishing and finally in 2009, I started writing Pentecost and now you can’t stop me!

I’m a thriller author and happy to be one, as well as a dedicated blogger and also a speaker on the new world of digital publishing and author platform building. It’s been an incredible time and I would ever have guessed a few years ago that I would be in the Top 100 action-adventure novels on the Kindle store. In the next few years, I’ll be writing more in my series of thrillers, expanding the blog and also developing my speaking further. I do define myself as being an author/blogger/speaker so eventually my day job will drop away and I’ll be able to do it full-time (yes, I’m still in IT but I enjoy it a lot more these days!)

I’m sure my readers, many of whom are e-publishing their novels, would be interested in what you have to say in From Book to Market: Internet Marketing, Sales and Promotion. . .For Your Book. Can you talk a bit about that book and give a couple teaser tips for us?

The book has its origins when I first self-published and sat in my living room with a pile of printed books and no sales. I had made the classic mistake of thinking that books = customers. Not true! I had no way to reach people so no one could buy the books. I then tried traditional marketing and made it onto Australian national TV, radio and into the papers but I still sold very few books. So I started to investigate internet marketing and blogging and soon discovered this was the way forward. It takes time but no money (or very little) so I started learning about all the ways to market online. I then found that many authors have no clue about this so I wanted to share as much as possible, hence the book (which is only a few dollars on Kindle and my website). You can also get my most up to date marketing information for free here http://www.TheCreativePenn.com/marketing/

My most highly recommended marketing strategies are (1) blogging  (2) Twitter or Facebook (3) multimedia e.g. video or audio. Start with something and stick to it for at least three months. Blogging takes around six months before you get any real benefits. None of this is instant success or get rich quick but writers are experts at the long game, so we’re used to it!

Do you find it easier to market and sell your non-fiction or your fiction? Any thoughts on indie authors being able to make a living from their e-novels?

I have found it much easier to sell my fiction on the Kindle store and there are a number of reasons for that. Kindle readers buy a lot more books and they devour a good novel in no time so there is always demand. I wrote a mainstream, fast paced action-adventure thriller and targeted a particular market (it’s also what I like to read so I know those people!). I used pro editors, cover design and book design and I did a huge launch to get the sales rolling (read all the details of the launch here).

It’s also designed as a series and people are already signing up for it now so I have it all planned out.

I definitely see authors making a full-time income from ebooks particularly if they write genre fiction for a market that is always wanting more. One of my online friends Zoe Winters is doing that  right now, and Ruth Ann Nordin and LJ Sellers are also doing a great job (interviews with these authors and more here).

These are “normal” authors, not A-listers with huge names (although they will be soon!) We also hear of others like Amanda Hocking and Joe Konrath making huge sales but also check out John Locke who is rocking the Kindle store with 99 cent thrillers. My own sales of the last nine weeks have convinced me that with a few more books I will be in the same position.

It’s a matter of writing a great story, having a cover and a price that catch people’s interest and then getting great reviews and word of mouth marketing. It’s possible for all of us to sell direct to customers now, you just need to know which customers and what they want.

In addition to blogging, you have a podcast that covers many writing-related topics. What led you to start a podcast, and what role has it played in expanding your blog audience and selling your books?

I started a podcast because:

(a) I wanted to stand out amongst all the text only blogs and offer outstanding value to people who subscribe. You can also do this with video now and I try to blend video and audio interviews.

(b)  People need to know, like and trust you in order to buy your book. If people listen to your voice for 30 minutes per week, hear your laugh and a bit about your life, they are far more likely to buy your book.

(c)  I wanted to network with other authors and marketers and I can take contacts from Twitter, have a 30 minute conversation and have a far better bond by chatting than you can do by email. It’s also a form of favor bartering i.e. people will have you back on their blog if you promote them on yours.

(d)  I wanted to learn and asking questions seemed a great way to do it. I always try to interview people I personally want to learn from.

(e)  I wanted incoming links and people always link to their own interviews – this builds page rank critical for search engine optimization

(f)   I also wanted to support other authors and so it gives people a platform to promote by offering something of value to listeners e.g. Zoe Winters and I discussing our respective launches, me for my thriller and her for paranormal romance, offers great value to listeners with ideas for their book launch but also promotes our books.

Given all these amazing benefits of podcasting, I’m surprised that so few are actually doing it!

Okay, I know you’re excited to sell some copies of your thriller, so why don’t you finish up by telling us about it?

I believe you should write what you love to read and I am obsessed with religion and psychology, especially when the two collide. I also love to travel and read fast-paced thrillers set in exotic places. I blended all this into Pentecost, the first in a series featuring ex-Israeli Defence Force psychologist Morgan Sierra, now based at Oxford University. The back story to the book is that when Jesus rose from the dead, the apostles took stones from his tomb and wore them as pendants, a symbol of their Brotherhood. These stones were empowered at Pentecost by the fire of God, enabled the Apostles to perform miracles and then were handed down to Keepers across the millennia. Now, in the present day, the Keepers are being murdered and the stones stolen by those who would use them for evil. Morgan is an unwitting Keeper of a stone and when her sister is kidnapped, she is drawn into the hunt for the other stones across the ancient Christian world – from Iran to Tunisia, Rome and Venice to Santiago de Compostela in Spain and across the ocean to America in the footsteps of Carl Jung. She is helped by the mysterious ARKANE, a secret British agency specializing in the paranormal and religious artifacts but they have other plans for the stones. It’s aimed at fans of Dan Brown, Preston & Child as well as adventure heroes Indiana Jones and Lara Croft.

For a 1 minute overview, check out the book trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfybPq-ERoY Pentecost is available as a print book or ebook at all online bookstores. Heres the Amazon.com link.

Great, thanks for visiting with us, Joanna!

Thanks for having me on your blog!