Booktrib knows that books live and die by promotion in today’s world. A great book with bad promo is dead in the water, no matter the depth of its substance. Thank the lord for the good folks at Booktrib for making book promotion dreams come true! Authors who are looking to promote their next release should not miss the opportunity to look into this magnificent service. BookTrib simply makes the life of the author a whole lot easier.
The BookTrib Mission
BookTrib.com is a hub for emerging and established authors to showcase their work to a hungry fanbase waiting for the latest releases. It’s a robust book community and a discovery zone for readers and a marketing engine for authors and publishers. Here’s the proof–BookTrib.com rakes in more than 70,000 unique visits per month and almost as many views on social media.
Traditional news outlets have seriously neglected to cover emerging authors over the last 20 years. Booktrib.com helps forge a path for them. The BookTrib mission is to keep “books alive and relevant, featuring under-the-radar authors who deserve to be noticed and who readers would enjoy discovering.”
Well, just who is worthy of making such a call? What kind of person could claim to know which rising authors people will be interested in reading? Who else but a literary publicist with over 25 years of experience working with debut, midlist, and bestselling authors!
Meet the woman behind BookTrib.com
Meryl Moss is the founder and president of Meryl Moss Media Group, a literary media relations, and marketing firm. Meryl has been in the game for a quarter of a century, working with new and established authors alike. We caught up with her to find out more about the origins of BookTrib.com and what she’s currently doing to promote emerging voices.
1. How did you get started working in literary PR?
Memorial Day Weekend was our 28-year anniversary and it’s been a winding wonderful journey. Before I started Meryl Moss Media Group (MMMG), I was working at a boutique New York City publicity firm that handled books. I fell in love with book publicity and pitching ideas to the media. Today, we are an international literary media relations, marketing, and social media firm. From our little black building in Westport, CT our MMMG team promotes and brands authors and their books through media exposure, speaking engagements, social media, influencer introductions, creative marketing initiatives, and solutions. I recently created a new initiative called SmartWorks Collaborative. This is a gateway program specifically designed for business authors and provocative thinkers to present their ideas to a corporate audience.
2. I heard that you originally wrote the idea for BookTrib.com on a napkin. What’s the story behind that?
Ideas just happen sometimes, and the hard work is translating those ideas into reality. BookTrib.com: The Leading Source of Book News and Reviews, was created 17 years ago and yes, the idea was first sketched out on a napkin. When traditional media outlets started reducing their coverage of books and authors, I wanted to put a stake in the ground with a website featuring under-the-radar authors who just weren’t getting media coverage. Whether debut writers, midlist or even occasional bestsellers. Rather than focusing totally on the household names you read about everywhere, BookTrib.com’s mantra is to give voice to those authors that really need to be heard – and read.
3. Why did you decide to focus specifically on promoting the voices of emerging authors?
From the beginning we wanted to help emerging authors, way back we started as a site that did just book giveaways. Today, we cover fiction, non-fiction, thrillers, YA, romance, audiobooks, self-help, and children’s books. On BookTrib, we write reviews, interviews, and stories about bestselling authors as well as emerging authors. It’s challenging for new authors to get coverage with so many books on the market. They need help and we’re here to help them.
4. How does BookTrib work to promote authors?
We offer many programs for authors. An essential component is a full-length book review that we blast on our social media channels that can be leveraged to secure other media and influencer attention. Our BookTrib BookBites syndicated column goes out to 10,000 small newspapers across the United States and gets picked up by at least 2,000. The book club program provides new books to our book club network and influencers. These are just a few of our programs to help authors get on the reader radar.
5. BookTrib.com has an impressive list of partners. Can you explain how BookTrib’s partners help promote the authors you represent?
We want to offer the best-in-class win-win promotion options for our authors and Film-14 is a perfect example of that kind of partnership.
6. What are your views on self-publishing vs traditional publishing?
That’s a complicated question. It depends on the author, and it also depends on the subject of the book. For example, fiction is very competitive but if the author has a huge social media following it can work. It’s challenging for an author with zero platform to self-publish and gain traction when it comes to fiction. The promotion programs on BookTrib help. It’s a different story when it comes to non-fiction because solid credentials go a long way when it comes to promotion. The Meryl Moss Media Group has a concierge publishing division that started about 10 years ago to make sure those who wanted to self-publish were doing it as professionally as possible. It’s a team approach with a lot of client contact and education.
7. Can you give an example of an emerging author you’ve represented who went on to have some success?
Ed Hajim the author of On the Road Less Traveled — An Unlikely Journey from the Orphanage to the Boardroom. Ed led a very private life but at 84 years of age with the support of his family, he decided to write his memoir. His book has taken off because it is an unusual and compelling rags to riches story. The review coverage, which we helped him with on Amazon, has been a huge component of the campaign. Today he has over 125 5-star reviews. We have scheduled many speaking engagements and we are starting to get books sold by the box, instead of one by one. Ed has another book he is working on.
8. What genres are really killing it these days? Which are you most interested in personally?
Thrillers are always “killing it” and continue to do so. Historical Fiction is also very strong, as is romance. I personally like literary fiction and non-fiction.
9. How has social media helped shape what you do? Which platform is most beneficial for promoting authors?
Social media is part of a mosaic of important elements in promotion. You must remember that social media is “social” which means 80% of your information on social media should be about something other than yourself. Inform and entertain. Our BookTrib.com social media channels are robust, and we continue to grow them. Instagram is growing very rapidly and personally, it’s my favorite because images are so much fun.
10. What does it take to become a contributing writer for BookTrib?
To become a contributing writer, we typically ask to read a few sample book reviews or other articles relating to book topics. Authors who participate in our marketing programs are always invited to contribute and write reviews or do interviews to help with their continued publicity and to stay in front of our community.
11. Who are some new authors we should look out for in 2021?
Susan Shapiro Barash, the author of A Palm Beach Scandal, and, A Palm Beach Wife, is a writer to watch. As is Jon Land, the author of many thrillers, and Gary Grossman & Ed Fuller, who recently wrote Red Deception, a follow-up to the well-received Red Hotel.
12. How do you work on branding an author? Is it a collaborative process between your team and the author?
Yes, it’s always a collaboration. The Meryl Moss Media Group clients are usually part of a four-six-month publicity, marketing, and social media campaign. During that time we spend a lot of time getting to know the author and determining their POV, their preferred messaging, and target audience. We seek out influencers and media with whom to introduce them and meaningful connections are created.
13. What are some unconventional or innovative techniques you use to promote your clients?
We started the SmartWorks Collaborative, a thought leadership initiative for business authors because we wanted to do something disruptive with guaranteed results. Our programs on BookTrib.com also deliver guaranteed results. I think the concept of guaranteed results is very 21st Century.
14. Do you have any advice for new authors who have recently finished a book and don’t know which step to take next?
New authors should absolutely consider whatever publicity or marketing they can afford because a book without promotion is guaranteed to sell very few copies. When the book is finished the real journey begins by cultivating an audience and getting on the reader radar.
BookTrib Networks
BookTrib.com partners with some of the leading names in the publishing industry, including Barnes & Noble, AudioFile, Penguin Publishing Group, Random House/Signature Views, Film 14, and many more. Check out their site for emerging authors, news, reviews, and more.
Patrick Salway is a writer, musician, and actor living in Los Angeles. Follow him on social media @blone_noble and @veneer_publications. Listen to VENEER.
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