Using YouTube to Develop your Platform by Karla Akins

Are you using video to gain interest in your writing and build your platform? Author Karla Akins provides her experience and reasons why you should consider it. -- Sandy

Karla: It’s no mystery why people have been drawn to TV and movies since the 1950s. Video on the web isn’t any different. People love relaxing and pulling up a short video to enjoy. A lot of people I know don’t watch TV anymore. They’re getting their news and entertainment exclusively from YouTube. I’m one of those.

Using video in your marketing strategy is an ingenious way of connecting with users. That doesn’t mean you have to abandon written content. Kristy Cambron is an author who combines both mediums beautifully on her blog. In fact, she is who inspired me to jump on the YouTube bandwagon.

If you want to stand out in today’s competitive book market, consider video. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Video is shared 1200% more often on Facebook than pictures (via simplymeasured.com).

2. Video is the best way for your readers to get to know you personally.

3. Video is more memorable than written copy. Our Internet culture is making us blind to ads. We have learned to ignore them. It’s harder to ignore a good video.

4. Video appears in 70% of the top search engine results.

5. Videos increase the time people spend on your website pages.

It’s relatively easy to start a YouTube channel. Here’s how I did it:

1. I chose a name for my channel other than my own name. Some people advise this. Others don’t. But since I wanted my channel to be more than for promoting myself, I chose a name (Sparrow Song Radio) and Logo. However, I always, always put a link to my website IN the video and in the video description, no matter what the topic.

2. I hired the cool video intro to my channel at Fiverr. It cost me a whopping $25.

3. I decided what topics I would cover on my station. I have many more episodes to be edited that aren’t yet posted.

4. One of the ways I develop video content is by interviewing other authors or people that fascinate me.

5. You don’t have to edit videos or have an expensive camera. You can start with simply talking into your phone’s video camera. Most YouTubers start this way. As my own channel grows, I plan to buy better equipment but for now, I’m using what I have. You have to start somewhere!

6. Later, you can learn to edit videos to make them “fancier.” Explore video editing software. It isn’t as difficult as you think! I started out with Windows Movie Maker and graduated to Camtasia. I love Camtasia. It’s very user friendly, but it’s not for advanced users. Still, for me, it’s perfect. (Price: $299 for PC; $99 for Mac.) One caveat: editing videos is very time consuming. Especially when you’re first learning. At first you may want to block out a substantial amount of time for this. 

7. I embed my videos into my blogs but I also have a dedicated “channel” site for them: SparrowSongRadio.com. 

Really, the possibilities are endless with video! My channel has a talk show launching soon. It’s tons of fun building a platform this way.

If you'd like me to interview you for your book, let me know! We love authors at Sparrow Song Radio!

Yours for writing on and on! Karla

Have you used videos for building your platform? Any questions for Karla?

 

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 Karla Akins is the author of The Pastor's Wife Wears Biker Boots and countless short stories, biographies

and other books for middle grades. She currently serves as President of ACFW-Indiana Chapter and resides in North Manchester with her pastor-husband, twin adult sons with autism, and her mother-in-law with Alzheimer's. Her three dogs and two cats are attentive editors.

5 Benefits of Making a Debut Novel Delivery Video by Keli Gwyn

I came across a fun video of historical romance author Keli Gwyn celebrating receiving the first copies of her debut novel A Bride Opens Shop in El Dorado, California (one I recommend reading, BTW). I asked Keli to relate her experience. Please take a few minutes to watch the video, then she'll explain some of the benefits she's received from it. -- Sandy

Keli: I love reading blog posts and seeing Facebook status updates written by writers who are holding their debut novels in their hands for the first time. Their joy is evident.

In the days when I was a newbie writer dreaming of publication, such messages inspired me, encouraged me, and spurred me on. I have a hunch others feel the same way.

Reasons for the Video

When the day of my debut novel’s delivery drew near, I got to thinking about capturing that milestone moment in action. So many people had supported me, helped me, and prayed for me that I thought it could be a way for them to share in the culmination of my dream, one they helped foster and bring to fruition.

Reactions to the Video

A good number of my friends watched the video on Facebook, liking it and commenting on it, both writer and non-writer friends. Several thanked me for sharing, with many remarking how watching me tear up had them reaching for tissues as well.

Results of the Video

Sandra asked me what marketing effects the video had. I don’t think it attracted any new readers. Those who said they planned to buy the book already intended to. Thus, making a video like this isn’t a very effective marketing strategy.

So, what good is a First Look video?

Here are five benefits.

1. A First Look video captures an author’s excitement and serves as motivation for those who dream of holding their debut novels in their hands. Since I’m all about encouragement, this aspect is important to me.

2. Most people have a dream. Watching the joy another dreamer felt when that dream became reality can serve as inspiration. If my video encourages one person to pick up a paintbrush, enroll in a photography class or seek a piano teacher, it will have served an important purpose.

3. Many non-writers don’t understand all that goes into getting a book into readers’ hands. A First Look video like this lets them get a feel for the glee reaching our goals means to us.

4. A video is a way to become a real person, instead of a two-dimensional image on a screen. Some of those who watched the video remarked about how fun it was to get a feel for what my dear Gwynly and I are really like.

5. A First Look video captures an important moment in a writer’s life. We writers know there can be down days when we doubt we’ll sell a book. Published authors may doubt we’ll sell another book. I know. It’s been three years since my debut novel was contracted. During those times when discouragement came calling, I could watch the video and remember why I’m writing: for the pleasure it brings me and my someday readers.

What was your reaction as you watched the video? Can you see other benefits to making one?

(By the way, Keli just signed a contract for a Love Inspired Historical. Congratulations, Keli!)

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Keli Gwyn writes stories that transport readers to the 1800s, where she brings historic towns to life, peoples them with colorful characters, and adds a hint of humor. A California native, she lives in the Gold Rush-era town of Placerville at the foot of the majestic Sierra Nevada Mountains. Her debut novel, A Bride Opens Shop in El Dorado, California, set in the heart of the Gold Country is currently available at all major booksellers.

When Keli’s fingers aren’t hovering over the keyboard of her newfangled laptop, she enjoys strolling past stately Victorian houses in her historic town, burying her nose in reference books as she unearths interesting facts to include in her stories, and interacting with other romance readers. Her favorite places to visit are her fictional worlds, historical museums, and the Coach Factory Outlet Store.

YouTubing For Details by Melissa Jagears

Hands-on research is a great way to add those details and senses to your story, but sometimes hands-on research isn't practical or possible. Fortunately, there's YouTube. Author Melissa Jagears provides some tips for using YouTube videos for your research. -- Sandy

Melissa: How do you write about something you’ve never experienced, like milking a cow, shooting a Gatling gun, skinning a rabbit, jumping from an airplane, sitting on a beach in Hawaii? Of course, the best way to authentically write about such things is to do them yourself, but a writer’s time is limited!

You could ask an expert or read a book, but these instructions often aren’t given with the fiction writer in mind. These resources may leave out interesting sensory details: the visual, the audio, and perhaps even the tactile you might glean from watching the process. Also, they’re unlikely to volunteer the nuances of how an excited, anxious, angry, unsure, annoyed, etc. character might interact with the props and go through the procedures that you as a writer would cue in on if you watched or did these things yourself.

So what is the next best thing to scheduling a trip to Hawaii and putting your toes in the sand yourself? YouTube. This is one source I think writers often overlook.

There are many videos on YouTube that can help you write about things you may never have seen or done AND to check your assumptions. You may have an idea of how animals are skinned, maybe you’ve even skinned an animal yourself, but if you’ve never skinned a rabbit, are you sure it’s the process you think it is? (You know there are readers who’ll call you out on being wrong!)

But don’t look up just one video! Follow good research advice and verify with multiple. There is more than one way to skin a cat! (Um, I don’t recommend looking up those YouTube Videos!!!!) You can learn from several experts on YouTube often in less time than you could travel to your nearest one.

I recommend typing “how to” or “tutorial” in your YouTube searches. Tutorials not only let you watch an activity, but the expert explains what they are doing as well.

YouTube videos also make great pins for your book on Pinterest. The Pinterest board for my novella (Entitled Love by the Letter which came out free a few days ago) includes YouTube pins on how to tat (the heroine’s sister’s hobby) and a video of a man playing a Jew’s Harp (my hero plays this instrument). For my debut novel’s Pinterest board (Entitled A Bride for Keeps), I included YouTube videos on how to strain milk and make dogbane cord, both of these activities are mentioned in the novel. These YouTube pins provide interested readers with bonus sensory material.

And for those interested in the experiences I listed above for fun: Milk a cow by hand, Hear a Gatling Gun, Skin a rabbit, Paratroopers preparing to jump (Shout out to the 82^nd Airborne Division; my husband was 82^nd and did countless of these jumps!), Beach sounds in Hawaii.

Have you used any YouTube Videos for your writing research? What is the most unique place/thing you've researched using YouTube?

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Melissa Jagears, an ESL teacher by trade, is a stay-at-home mother to two small children on a tiny Kansas farm with a fixer-upper house. She's a member of ACFW and CROWN fiction marketing, and her passion is to help Christian believers mature in their faith and judge rightly. Her debut novel, A Bride for Keeps, will be released Oct. 1, 2013. The novel’s prequel, Love by the Letter, is available as a free ebook download. Learn more at www.melissajagears.com