The Internet offers many opportunities for authors to promote their books. One of them is online readings. They are very easy to organize and audiences love them. Why? Because they can see the writers and interact with them.
Below is a list of tips that will help make the most of your online readings.
Video Streaming
If you have a webcam, two great resources will help you take your reading to the next level: Livestream and Ustream. Signing up is free. Each service gives you access to your own studio, where you can broadcast shows after activating your camera. You may also record them and make them available as archives for later viewing. And people can interact in a chat room and use Twitter and Facebook to leave comments or invite others to join them.
Livestream also lets you upload YouTube videos and embed your channel almost anywhere. As such, you can even host your reading directly on your Website. It is a great way to keep people on your page and allow them to discover your work.
Choosing extracts
Once you are familiar with Livestream or Ustream, it is time to choose extracts from your book. No one else knows it better, so make sure that your selection is a good reflection of the message you want to put across.
For a novel, select four passages that do not give away the plot. For a poetry book, eight to ten poems is a good number. And for a collection of short stories, pick up your favourite story.
Make sure that you are able to introduce each extract to your audience. So write a quick outline with a couple of paragraphs as well as answers to potential questions from attendees.
Announcing your event
Start to promote your event a week or two prior to the date of your online reading. Three social networking sites let you do that very easily: Facebook, Twitter and Myspace. If you have a newsletter, send a message to your mailing list too.
With Twitter, use CalTweet. Once you have entered all the relevant information, you may send the invitation to all your followers in their direct message stream. They cannot miss it that way.
Continue promoting your event once a day on all your networks.
The day before your reading, make sure that you can access your studio and that your webcam is activated. Invite a couple of friends to visit your page and check if they can see and hear you on the screen.
Day of the event
A lot of people promise to attend events and forget. So, to avoid that problem, send them a quick reminder with the time and the link to the event. And make sure that you have practiced reading your extracts and answering some potential questions.
During the event
Log into your studio an hour prior to the event to welcome any early visitor in the chat room. Introduce yourself and leave a few links for people to check out while they wait.
During your event, be relaxed and make the experience fun for your audience. Invite attendees to ask you questions and share their thoughts about your extracts. Ask them questions as well and open up a discussion. Also, take regular breaks by playing some of your videos or videos that you have uploaded from YouTube.
Give your listeners some insight into your book: Share anecdotes as well as funny and inspirational moments.
Every 10 or 15 minutes, remind attendees of the title of your book. And if you have created a trailer, play it within the first half of the reading.
Conclusion
There is no time limit with Livestream and Ustream. Before you are ready to conclude the show, do not forget to give important links: your personal Website, where to find your book and how to subscribe to your newsletter. Also, offer something special as a thank you to your listeners. They will love it.
As you can see, organizing an online reading is not too difficult, and it can yield great results.
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