Monday, November 23, 2009

Online Plaforms: Why They Work!

Today, I'd like to share a real-life story of how an online presence/platform can lead to book sales!

On Friday, I wandered into Borders on my lunchbreak, not intending to buy anything, but just hanging out in the warmth with my husband, killing some time (we work together, which rocks.)

He stops at the bathroom, and Lo and Behold I'm near the Romance section. I have read the occasional Paranormal Romance, so I'm tooling around when I think "Wait a minute. Don't I know someone whose book came out recently? Lisa Dale? Doesn't she write romance?"

I scan the shelves and sure enough! There she is, sandwiched between Claudia Dain and Jacquie DAlassandro: IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, by Lisa Dale.


I peer in closer and think "Hey, I think I saw the book trailer for this, and it looked pretty good." I pick it up and begin to thumb through it.

Phrases like "An author to keep an eye on" and "A haunting debut" pop out from her book blurbs. At this point, I'm totally excited. I feel like I know this person from my interactions with her online--I follow her blog and Twitter account, and am emotionally invested in her being successful.

She seems very cool, so I am overwhelmed with the sudden
need to pay it forward and support her. My credit card pops out of my wallet like a pop tart from a toaster!

My husband is back by my side rolling his eyes, because I swore I wasn't going to buy anything, and here I am clutching a book and grinning. Oh, well!

I sat in the tub that night, reading through a contemporary romance (something I never thought I'd buy), and LOVING IT. I'm not done yet, but so far the book is very emotionally real, the characters full of depth, and the tension is high. I've already put Lisa's first book, SIMPLE WISHES, on my Christmas list for Santa. It's made of awesome.

My point? I swear, there is one :)!

After finally putting the book down, I went to find out how I'd first heard of Lisa and why the heck I knew about this book in the first place. It turns out, she'd started following my Twitter account (@twoheadknight), and I'd followed her back (@LisaDaleBooks.) She send me a really nice message at first, we tweeted a tiny bit, and then I followed a link to her blog. Her blog is awesome, so I stuck around, saw the book trailer, and the rest is history!

Isn't it amazing how such a small thing like following someone on Twitter can lead to a book sale? And a book sale to someone who doesn't normally even read in her genre?

I can honestly say, too, that I felt emotionally invested when I saw her book there because she'd made such a cool impression online. I cheered when I saw the book and snapped some pictures, either to send to her as a "yay, I bought your book" or to post here. Hooray! It feels great to support authors, and even better to get a good read out of it.

So, brush off your blogs and your Twitter accounts, people!

It definitely pays off to put yourself out there :).

My question to you:

Have you bought a book based on something you've heard online or because of an author's blog/tweet?

7 comments:

Mother in Zion said...

Read Aprillynne Pike's blog...told my friends about it and two of them ended up buying WINGS. I feel like a charlatan for not having bought it yet. At least I've read it...

Mother in Zion said...

Hopefully that will happen more with this online writer/agent/editor blogging thing. Not like we alone can save each other and the publishing industry, but it would help,yes?

lisa and laura said...

I love this story! It gives me hope that even though we're two complete unknowns that there will be people out there who will buy our book!

Tess said...

hooray! I love stories like this. And, yes - I have bought books of blogging friends before .. you do feel invested in them somehow. very fun :D

Paul Greci said...

I haven't purchased a book yet based on blog or twitter interactions but I plan to buy Tara Kelly's book Harmonic Convergence when it comes out. I found her through twitter.

Bethany Wiggins said...

I found a book at the library by one of my online friends. I couldn't believe it, would have purchased it in a flash if I'd found it in a bookstore. So I totally get this post!

Rebecca Knight said...

Sammy: That is awesome :D! Every little bit helps.

LiLa: It gives me hope, too :). Gotta love it!

Tess: Good to know I'm not alone!

Paul: It blows my mind that Twitter actually leads to booksales, but here you are backing it up again. Very cool!

Bethany: That is awesome! :D