Jo Parfitt » author

Ten Steps to a successful virtual blog tour – guest post from Anne O’Connell

Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:34:49 +0000

Here we are at the start of a new year and every blog I read is reflecting back on the year gone by. I have to say my biggest highlight was the launch of my new (and first) book, @Home in Dubai…Getting Connected Online and on the Ground. I’m still on the high that comes from seeing your name on the cover of a book!

As I was planning the launch and developing my marketing strategy I decided to do a virtual book tour. In my previous life as a PR professional, very often I would include a media tour as part of the recommended PR strategies so I intuitively knew the nuts ‘n bolts of what should go into a ‘blog tour’ and went about making it happen. Honestly, as I was going through the planning and implementation it was refreshing to see that all of the elements were really the same… they just took place in cyberspace instead of in person.

So, in a nutshell, here are the 10 steps to a successful virtual book tour:

When you first sit down to write your book (yes, the planning starts as early as that), really flesh out your target market.
Make a list of blogs and other online media that reach the same target audience you’ve identified for your book. These will be the ones you’ll approach for your virtual book tour.
Start following and subscribe to the blogs and online magazines on your list. Leave relevant comments and get involved in the conversation.
Once your book launches, develop your pitch. Why should they be interested in your book and promote it to their followers, readers, viewers and listeners?
Pick dates for your tour (usually simultaneous to your book launch since it should be a key element of your marketing plan).
Make sure you have a website, active blog, Facebook and Twitter account (essentially your online platform) for people to visit and interact with you once you start promoting your book.
Develop several different ideas or angles so you have fresh content for each stop on the tour.
Send an introductory email to all bloggers/editors/creators on your list announcing the launch of your book, keeping step #4 in mind, and inviting them to participate in the virtual book tour. Offer a review copy of the book and say you’re available for interviews and/or would be pleased to provide a guest post (typically 200-400 words).
Prioritize the list and send personalized emails with specific topic ideas to your top 10
Start scheduling and have fun with it. Tweet, blog and post on Facebook (giving reciprocal exposure) about anyone who joins the tour, before, during and after. And, don’t forget to thank them.

Even though my ‘official’ virtual book tour was December 12-17, I am still receiving inquires and requests for review copies and guest blogs. I’m happily accepting any and all offers! Something you really must keep in mind is that promoting your book is a never-ending process. So, just put it in your diary and accept it as part of your daily life now. Happy writing!

Authors – your own story is important too

Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:53:41 +0000

For years I have been banging on about how important it is to share your own story if you are to have a good chance of attracting a publisher, an agent and later readers.

Your story matters.

Would you even consider reading Jack Scott’s Perking the Pansies, about his move to Turkey as a gay man, if he were neither gay nor lived in Turkey?

Would you pick up one of Dr Phil’s books if you did not already trust he was a good psychotherapist?

Would you buy a cookbook written by someone who couldn’t boil an egg?

Exactly!

When I first read the manuscript for The Thinking Tank, by Jae de Wylde, I knew her ‘back story’. I knew she had lost a daughter and that she suffered from a painful, debilitating illness. When I cried with the protagonist, Sarah, I cried all the more for knowing Jae’s story. When I laughed, I laughed louder. But Jae did not want to dwell on her ‘back story’ and we omitted some facts from her about the author page.

As sales of The Thinking Tank grew, and I watched Jae sell hundreds of books at each of the many book signings she set up in England, I recognised that this was indeed a good book, and that it was selling without the readers knowing about her grief and pain.

But, here in Holland, as people who had read the book came up to me to talk about it, I found myself sharing some of Jae’s real story with them and watched their eyes widen. I realised that had they known some of this before they read the book, like mine, their experience would have been even better.

Since the launch of The Thinking Tank, Jae has bravely decided to start a new blog, entitled Life’s Crappy Stuff, and in which she shares stories of how she has overcome many set backs. She does this in an upbeat, self-effacing and witty style that inspires her readers. Slowly, Jae is realising that her truth does matter – a lot.

Then, this week, she did the bravest thing yet and shared her story, her real story, about her divorce, her illness and losing Rowena, in Gulf News, Friday magazine. She also shared how a move to Dubai and discovering bellydance changed her life.

If you have not read The Thinking Tank, then be sure to read this article before you do. And if you have read it, then, reflect back on the novel in the light of what you learn. You will be enriched and inspired. Trust me.

On finding inspiration – guest post from Matt Krause

Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:28:56 +0000

Today, I am happy to welcome Matt Krause here to share his insights on getting inspiration. Matt is the author of a Tight Wide Open Space, inspired by his life as an expat in Turkey.

No matter where you go, there are usually plenty of other people around. If you learn how to draw inspiration from them, you’ll never run out of ideas.

Listen carefully to the details people mention in passing in conversation, little incidentals they blow past as they talk about something else. These details can be opened up and explored and turned into full-blown stories.

For example, in Perking the Pansies Jack mentions there is a picture of a former lover displayed in his home. Jack only mentions this picture once, giving it a sentence or two in an entire book. But the presence of this picture suggests there’s a fascinating story to tell about Jack’s husband Liam, and about Jack and Liam’s relationship. I think back on my ex-wife and previous girlfriends, and not one of them would have stood for me displaying a picture of a former lover in our home. So when I hear about this picture, I start wondering what unique abilities to tolerate and understand Liam has that few of us others do.

Another way to find inspiration is to toss out an idea and see how people respond to it. In a conversation people will grab an idea and take it in directions you didn’t know existed. If you throw one idea out to 10 people, you’ll get 6 or 7 different kinds of responses, and a couple of those responses will surprise you.

For example, when I first mentioned my upcoming project (a 1500-mile walk across Turkey and the Middle East, see heathenpilgrim.com for more info) to my grandparents, they were puzzled. They couldn’t figure out why their grandson would want to do something like that. But then they saw a connection between my project and a Bible story they already knew, Paul’s journey in Acts, and my project began to resonate with them. Within an hour they were telling their friends their grandson was following in the footsteps of Paul, and their friends, also familiar with the Paul story, began buzzing with excitement and couldn’t wait to hear me talk about the project.

After my journey, when it comes time to tell my story, I doubt I’ll tell it from that Biblical angle, since I don’t see it that way and so coming from me it would sound hollow. But in seeing how others interpreted my idea, how they grabbed hold of it and quickly reframed it in a way that exploded with life in their minds, I learned another way to look at my project.

A third way to find inspiration is to give your work away. I don’t mean sell your books for free, I mean recognize that your work does not belong to you, it belongs to the people who inspire you. Acknowledge those people by name, and when someone praises you, deflect the praise onto the people who inspired you. You are simply a scribe who puts a finishing touch on stories other people start. Remembering this helps you step outside of your own head, which is the worst place to look for inspiration.

We writers don’t have to look far for inspiration, because the people around us are already providing it. We are just polishing the mirror so when they look into it, they will see something about themselves they didn’t see before.

Interview with brand new author, Wendy Williams, on The Globalisation of Love

Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:40:09 +0000

Wendy Williams is the author of the brand new, just released, hot off the press The Globalisation of Love, a book about multicultural romance and marriage. She has lived in six different countries and worked internationally for 18 years. Canadian and with an Austrian husband, she has been married for thirteen years, lives in Vienna, Austria and has one daughter.

See: www.globalisationoflove.com.

www.Facebook.com/globalisationoflove.com

twitter @globalisationoflove

Tell me about your book. What is it about? Can you describe it in just a few sentences?

The Globalisation of Love is about the whirls and twirls, the quirks and perks, the frustrations and the fun of a multicultural relationship. The book is based on dozens of interviews with multicultural couples from around the world. It includes chapters on multicultural weddings, religion, race, food, language and children. It is both humorous and factual and I include personal anecdotes from my own experience in a multicultural family. There is a world of romance happening out there and it is all captured in The Globalisation of Love.

Why did you write it?

Three reasons. Firstly, globalisation has been the buzz word of the past 20 years, yet little attention is given to the most profound influence of globalisation, which is the effect it has on people. People from everywhere are falling in love with people from everywhere else. Secondly, multiculturalism is another term that is bandied about to describe some kind of pesky nuisance to society, yet multicultural couples and families are constantly increasing and becoming a social norm. Thirdly, multicultural couples, what I call GloLo couples, get a lot of negative attention, like they are all destined to fail. In fact, most GloLo couples describe their multicultural relationship and experience as enlightening, enriching and the most amazing journey to take through matrimonial life.

What qualifies you to write this book?

I grew up in a multicultural family – a British-Ukrainian-Canadian family. I have been married to an Austrian for 13 years and have been living and working internationally for 18 years. What really qualifies me to write the book however, is the ability to see humour in the challenges of a GloLo relationship.

Why do you think your book needed to be written? What will it do for other people? How will it help? Did you have any competition?

It needed to be written for two main reasons. Firstly, it is important to recognise that a multicultural relationship is inherently different than a monocultural relationship. Multicultural couples have all the issues that exist in monocultural relationships, as well as whatever colourful combination of culture, language, religion and ethnicity the couple bring into their marriage. Secondly, the book outlines the issues in a multicultural marriage, so it helps GloLo couples to identify hot spots in the relationship that are culturally based. I wanted other GloLo couples to know that they are not alone and that there is a funny side to a GloLo marriage.

Yes, there is competition. There are many wonderful books about multicultural dating and marriage however The Globalisation of Love is the first book that is deliberately written with humour and wit.

Who do you think will read your book? What made you think that there was a market for it? If your book has been out for a while, what proof do you have that you were right?

Multicultural GloLo couples, and their friends and family will be interested in and benefit from reading The Globalisation of Love. Almost every knows someone or is related to someone in a GloLo relationship, therefore the book has a broad appeal. It is a topic that is starting to receive more media attention on multicultural royal weddings and GloLo celebrities, so it is becoming very chic to have an international marriage.

It does not matter how good a book is, or how good your writing is if no one knows about it. What steps have you taken or do you plan to take to promote your book? Are you a speaker or trainer? Do you have a blog? A website? A newsletter? Do you use Facebook, Twitter or other social media tools? What about press releases and sending out review copies and free articles? Have you had any other ideas? Which methods do you think work best and can you give me any examples?

The book is literally ‘hot off the press’ so the media promotional plan is still in the design phase. I haven’t even had time to have a book launch party yet! There is a new website and blog at www.globalisationoflove.com and you can follow The Globalisation of Love on Facebook and Twitter. I will be interviewed for different ezines and radio talk shows. I also look forward to the book signing and reading events. It is nice to be with people and talk about their experience in a GloLo relationship. All the events will be posted on the website calendar.

How did you publish your book? Did you find an agent, a publisher or did you publish it yourself? Please describe your process and tell us how you found the experience. Is there anything you would definitely do again or never do again?

I took a middle road between self-publishing and traditional publishing and hired a book mentor and publisher. It was the right route for me to take because I had a ‘book coach’ to help me ‘find my voice’, develop a consistent writing style and create a format for the book and then to deal with the administrative side of publishing by listing the book on Amazon and writing the press release. Writing a book takes a long time and it is also a ‘personal journey’. Having a coach along the way was a great help!

What was your biggest challenge regarding the writing of your book? How have you overcome that?

The biggest challenge for me is that writing a book is a lonely path to go in life. I loved conducting the interviews with GloLo couples from all over the world but I spent most of my time writing, re-writing and re-writing some more. I overcame the lonely factor by taking my ‘office’ to the Vienna coffee shops, hotel lobbies and even Starbucks. It’s a book about people and I liked having people in the background while I worked.

Now you have written this book, what has writing it done for you, your family, your self-esteem or your business?

The most noticeable difference for me and my family is that since I finished writing the book, I now take weekends off!

If you were to give advice to someone else who is thinking about writing a book, what would be your number one tip?

Write about something that you are passionate about and like to talk about or read about all day long.

And finally, how can people buy your book, in what formats, and what does it cost? Please include any links if you have them.

The Globalisation of Love is available on Amazon and via www.expatbookshop.com for €19,99. An ebook will be available soon too.

Writers Abroad radio show 27 – Jae de Wylde of The Thinking Tank

Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:03:05 +0000

Jae de Wylde began life as a French and German teacher and was a bit of a closet expat and writer. But when her daughter died in 1999, Jae found herself reassessing what she wanted to do with her life and began a new career as a writer. Life has taken her to Spain and Dubai where she found both time and inspiration for a move into fiction. A debilitating illness led her to yet another reassessment and inspired The Thinking Tank, a truly gripping novel, influenced by what she calls Life’s Crappy Stuff. Her blog of the same name shares Jae’s amazing positive outlook and you will find more from her at JaedeWylde.com

Hear how Jae lured people to a recent booksigning too, in this inspirational interview. Listen to it here.

Guestpost from Wendy Williams – Write with Passion

Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:42:44 +0000

In this the first of three guest posts from new author, Wendy Williams, author of The Globalisation of Love, we explore her number one tip

Three Writing Tips from a Newly Published Author

Tip #1

Jo Parfitt recently invited me to write three blogs about my experience writing The Globalisation of Love, just published and my first book ever. What did I learn, she wanted to know. I should jot it all down in blog format – Three Writing Tips from a Newly Published Author. I groaned like a truculent teenager being told to clean her room.

I fancy myself to be a writer you see, and writers don’t like being told what to do. We create you see, and you cannot instruct someone to create. It has to be inspired. It has to come from within. You have to have a deep and burning passion.

And funnily enough, in my adolescent creative rebellion, there it was, Tip #1, jumping up and down in front of me kicking its legs in a can-can dance: Write with passion.

My book, just published and my first book ever by the way, is about multicultural romance and marriage. I love, and you could even say live, the subject matter. Therefore I loved researching for the book. I think I’ve read everything written on the subject, even the footnotes, even things that are not available on the internet. I loved interviewing multicultural couples for my book. I loved talking with them about multicultural marriage, international weddings, interfaith holidays and biracial children. I loved hearing about ethnic differences, cultural faux pas, language bloopers and random acts of multicultural love. I loved hearing their stories.

I loved talking to experts in the field, hearing their opinions, their wisdom, and their experience. I loved how they agreed on some points, disagreed on others, and how they built their entire careers, decades long, based on multicultural love.

I loved writing The Globalisation of Love. I loved sorting through the masses of information I had acquired in my research and creating a framework and an outline for the book. I loved writing, and editing and re-writing over and over again.

Now don’t get me wrong, writing The Globalisation of Love was hard work. It was long, lonely hours, it was writer’s block, it was working weekends while everyone else was having fun, it was even gruelling at times and it was always too much chocolate. But I could do it and I loved doing it because my passion for the subject matter never wavered. I wrote about a passion and therefore I could write with passion.

So that’s my lesson learned and my Tip #1: write with passion, and the only way to do that is to write on a topic for which you have a deep and burning passion. Make it a labour of love. I did, and it is just published and my first book ever. The title is The Globalisation of Love. How’s that for passion?

Love & peace & globalisation,

Wendy

www.globalisationoflove.com

wendy@globalisationoflove.com

Collaborative writing – guest post from Kate Cobb, editor of Turning Points

Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:39:18 +0000

Writing can be isolating. If you have ever thought you wanted to write a book but wanted to do so in a team, then read what newly published, Kate Cobb, has to say about her experience:

‘Writing collaboratively’ seems to me to be an idea fraught with difficulties – how can you actually write something jointly and handle each of your ideas/fears/egos? But writing a collaborative book is really something else. I’ve just done this with “Turning Points: 25 inspiring stories from women entrepreneurs who turned their lives and their careers around”.

Published by Summertime Publishing, it wouldn’t have happened without Jo Parfitt’s excellent coaching and advice. Together we developed the idea and the way that each author would contribute their own unique chapter about how they dealt with a challenging situation in their past and came through smiling (and successful). So that doesn’t sound so difficult does it? Just get everyone to write a chapter each and then put the chapters together in a book. Well I’m here to tell you that, one year on from the original idea and one week on from the successful launch, it wasn’t exactly easy! If you want to work on a collaborative book you need to have patience, determination, faith, persistence and effective leadership skills. You must be organised and willing to support and encourage less experienced writers. There will be times when you think “this was a really bad idea” and times when you want to jack it all in and get an easy job like coal mining instead. However the rewards are great and I will never forget the moment I opened the package that brought my proof copy out to me in France and I could finally hold this real book in my hands for the first time. I immediately sent out an email to all the authors saying “IT’S HERE” and I knew that they would share my joy and satisfaction –writing with others means you have a ready made support group!

One key thing I’d like to share with anyone thinking of embarking on a similar adventure:

Be clear what your overall vision for the book is and choose carefully other authors who share that vision and who enlarge it by adding their own interpretation of the message.

Kate can be found at Moving Forward Your Way and Turning Points Book

Writers Abroad radio show 24, Wendy Williams, author of The Globalisation of Love

Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:36:09 +0000

Canadian, Wendy Williams, has been married to an Austrian for 13 years and lives in Vienna. Her new book is published on her wedding anniversary, 13th November. In this interview we discover how she created a new term to apply to those in a multicultural marriage – GloLo – and how Williams cleverly chose to include the wisdom of intercultural and relationship experts in order to ensure her book was well-researched and had the authority it needed. This is a book, rather like Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus, in that it is written to be used and enjoyed by real people and not by academics. It is also very, very funny.

You can listen to the show here.

Writers Abroad Radio Show 19 – Suzanne Kamata – a hugely prolific expat author in Japan

Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 09:13:14 +0000

Suzanne Kamata of www.gaijinmama.wordpress.com @shikokusue and www.suzannekamata.com is one of the most prolific expat writers there is. An American, from Michegan, Sue has been in Japan for 23 years now, is married to a Japanese and has biracial twins, one of whom has cerebral palsy and is deaf. Drawing from her experience and her go for it attitude, Kamata has had many books published by a range of publishers all over the world and continues to be inspired by all she experiences. Her anthology of writings from other multicultural mothers, Call me Okaasan, is probably her best known work.

To find out how she achieved such success please listen to her interview here.

Six of the best – Ask The Authors and celebrate the launch of Sunshine Soup

Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 09:41:16 +0000