Category Archives: Marketing & Promotion

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I’m Bout It Bout It aka Marketing & Promotion Month 5…

Hello World,

Santa & Mrs. Claus! Aren't they precious?!!!

Have you got your Christmas decorations up? I’ve been known to procrastinate, but I’m happy to say that I put up my Christmas decorations yesterday! Yay! I know a lot of people put their decorations up the day after Thanksgiving, but I’m making progress…baby steps…

Okay, on to the subject of this post…If you’ve been checking out my blog for a while, you know that my book, After the Altar Call: The Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship With God, is coming out in just over two months (I’m SUPER EXCITED!!!). And since I started my marketing and promotion activities back in August, I’ve been writing a monthly recap of my progress….If you haven’t read those posts, check them out here…

“I’m Bout It Bout It aka Marketing & Promotion Month 1…”

“I’m Bout It Bout It aka Marketing & Promotion Month 2…”

“I’m Bout It Bout It aka Marketing & Promotion Month 3…”

“I’m Bout It Bout It aka Marketing & Promotion Month 4…”

The Riverdale Middle School orchestra got down...

 And so now I’m recapping month 5 or November! (I should have posted on this topic on Wednesday, but I had to meet a writing deadline…) The first order of business was to get help! As I mentioned in last month’s post. I’m a a full-time reporter, a part-time fitness instructor, a sometime market reasearcher, a freelance writer, a blogger and an upcoming author/marketing & promoting professional…and it was getting to be too much…But I’m happy to say that I now have secured help for my marketing & promotion and the planning of my launch party…Did I mention PARTY? Yes, I did…As Bishop T.D. Jakes says, “Get ready, get ready, get ready…” We are a planning a fabulous launch party for Feb. 14, the release date of my book, that will be the spot for you and your boo on V-Day…But if you are not booed up, that’s okay too because there will be something for erebody 🙂 More details to come…

Since I do have help, this has cleared up some mental energy to complete the final edits of my book AND line up my book tour…More details on that to come as well…In addition to editing and planning my book tour, I’m still freelance writing and blogging…In October, I told you I attended Blogalicious 2011, and now I have started networking with and supporting other bloggers! I’m proud to say I’m a part of Social Fabric, a community of bloggers, and I’m looking forward to expanding my blog and making it the best it can be…Expanding my blog is one of my marketing & promotion goals plus I just love blogging!!! And look out for awesome posts (if I say so myself) in the months to come…

Pointe South Elementary School chorus!!!

I also learned that tweeting is a marketing & promotion must at Blogalicious, and I’m trying to up my Twitter game…Last month, I only had 74 followers, but now, I have reached over a 100…and of course, I still need more…so follow me @jackiehwrites…

These two second graders sat next to me at the tree lighting...They were so much fun..I almost felt maternal...

As I have said in previous marketing & promotion posts, I still have some stuff up my sleeve and in the the months to come, more will be revealed…

And since I wrote this post in December rather November, I’ve included some photos from the City of Riverdale Annual Christmas Tree Lighting & Holiday Celebration I attended last night…Enjoy!

Any thoughts?

 

 

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I’m Bout It Bout It aka Marketing & Promotion Month 4…

Hello World,

It’s that time of the month! Time to update you on how I have been marketing & promoting my book  After the Altar Call: The Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship with God! And if you haven’t read my previous posts on this topic, check them out here: Month 1, Month 2 & Month 3.

First of all, I’ve got to thank God who has blessed me to take on this Herculean task! In true Jamerican form, I’ve got plenty jobs. I’m a full-time reporter, a part-time fitness instructor, a sometime market reasearcher, a freelance writer and an upcoming author/marketing & promoting professional…I’m so thankful that God has given me the energy to have all of these jobs…

However, to that end, I have decided to seek assistance as I continue to market & promote this book. No one accomplishes anything great without help anyway! And I sure could use some help! Another tactic I’ve decided to employ this month is to have my book postcards with me wherever I go – that’s right if you happen to see me at the dry cleaner, the hairdresser, the grocery store, you might get a postcard from me about my book. So you betta act like you know me when I walk up to you! 🙂

I met Demetria Lucas, the author of the book "A Belle in Brooklyn: Your Go-To Girl on Living Your Best Single Life" and a blogger at Blogalicious! Follow her @abelleinbk...

I have also decided to use Twitter more this month…I’m more of a Facebook fan myself, but I am learning that the power of the retweet is infinite! So I’ve been tweeting more, and following more folks in an effort to step up my Twitter status…so y’all please follow me @jackiehwrites….Right now, I only have 74 followers so I need some support. To that end, I attended Blogalicious 2011  in Washington, D.C. in which bloggers were identified by their Twitter handle so I can clearly no longer ignore Twitter…

.And speaking of Blogalicious, attending the convention was also a part of my marketing & promotion strategy for October. I started this blog in 2008 partly because I heard you could get a book deal through your blog, but I didn’t anticipate that I would love blogging almost as much as I love book writing! So I’ve decided to make this blog the best it can be so hopefully y’all will see some positive changes here as I incorporate what I learned at Blogalicious. If you haven’t seen my post about the convention, check it out here! And one of my new blogger buddies Ananda Leeke (@DigitalSisterhd) interviewed me at Blogalicious! Take a listen here….

I’ve also been working on some other behind-the-scenes stuff that I will share in the days to come…Very exciting stuff, I must say! God is good all the time, and all the time God is good….Let the church say “Amen!”

Any thoughts?

P.S. From time to time, head on over to the News & Events & Gallery pages on this blog…As T.I. says, big things poppin’! 

 P.P.S. I’m always interested in new marketing & promotion ideas, if you have any, e-mail me at jacqueline@afterthealtarcall.com.

 

 

 

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I’m Bout It Bout It aka Marketing & Promotion Month 3…

Hello World,

Well, y’all, if you have spent even a minute perusing my blog, you know that I have a book that will be released on February 14, 2012 – that’s right…the holiday of love…Valentine’s Day…which I think is cool as my book is about developing a personal relationship with God…Now, I’m not one of those Christian women that believes that God is my husband, but I do believe that having a personal relationship with God is more important than any other relationship you will ever have period…

And although I’m more of an introvert by nature, I have realized that I must market and promote the book so the people that need to read this book will actually know it’s out there…So once a month leading up to V-Day, I will be posting about my marketing and promotion efforts…Your feedback is very much appreciated…

Miranda Parker at the AJC Decatur Book Festival

So to recap my marketing & promotion efforts for September…As I have said in previous posts, one of the main thrusts of my efforts involves supporting other authors and just getting out and about in the A to meet people and tell them about my book. So on Sept. 3 (Labor Day Weekend), I attended the AJC Decatur Book Festival where I went to see Miranda Parker, author of “A Good Excuse To Be Bad” and Dr. Pamela Thompson, author of “Surviving Mama: Overcoming Strained Mother-Daughter Relationships.” Both of these books were released this year, and I actually featured Dr. Thompson on my blog.

I also attended “For Sisters Only”  on Sept. 17 where I was able to go to the Urban League Empowerment Summit. Hands down, it was one of the best events I attended this year. I attended two seminars. My favorite seminar was “Transforming Your Life, Reclaiming Your Power.” One of the panelists Tirrell D. Whittley, who is the executive leader of Liquid Soul Media, a lifestyle marketing agency, offered some really good advice for combatting fear on the way to success…

Tirrell D. Whitley of Liquid Soul Media

  1. Become excellent.
  2. Accept criticism.
  3. Be self-motivated.
  4. Understand who you are (your unique selling point).
  5. Trust God.

I could dedicate a whole post to what I learned, but I have to move on for the sake of this post. Last Saturday, I attended the “Talk Back Series: The Sex Kitten v. The Super Brain” in which a panel of etablished women in the field of media and entertainment discussed the politics of women and sexuality in the media. The event was held at Spelman College. It was another invigorating and educational discussion.

From left to right - Saptosa Foster, Angela Gomes, Renee Knorr, Nicci Gilbert, October Rose, Nina Brown & Jazzy McBee

Of course, I still have some other things in the works, but I cannot reveal them all just yet…stay tuned…

My favorite verse as I get out of my comfort zone and really go hard at this marketing and promotion thing is…

Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:8-9

It has taken some real courage to get out there, but thankfully the Lord is with me wherever I go…

Any thoughts?