Okay, let's get this party started. For the first edition of the Christian Fiction Syndicate, we'll be highlighting Chris Well's "Forgiving Solomon Long."
First Things First
Since we're just starting, we'll need to do a little extra work. But we don't want this to be too overwhelming, so let's just try two steps--things you should do right now.
1) Do you have a blog? If yes, good. You've got step one covered. If not, visit my quick online primer at http://www.tlhines.com/zoe/blog.html.
2) Now to register. We want your blog to be registered with a couple of major blog trend tracking services. In other words, you want your blog to be "watched" by these services. As an added bonus, registration should help build a bit more traffic for your blog. To keep it simple, let's just concentrate on three: blogpulse.com, blogdex.net, and technorati.com.
-->blogpulse.com registration: Is easy. Just go to http://www.blogpulse.com/submit.html and enter your email address and the url of your blog. You're done; blogpulse doesn't send a confirmation email or anything.
-->blogdex.net registration: Is a bit more involved, but not too taxing. Go to http://blogdex.net/add.asp to enter your email address and blog url. Make sure it's a valid email address, because blogdex will send you a confirmation email; you'll have to respond to the email within 48 hours, or you'll be purged from their system.
-->technorati.com registration: Is unneeded; your blog should be automatically tracked. However, it will speed up the process if you register. Go to http://www.technorati.com/signup/ and click "Claim Your Blog." You'll have to copy a snippet of code into your blog template.
Okay, you're ready to participate in the Syndicate.
Mandatory Items in Your Blog Post
Your post dedicated to "Forgiving Solomon Long" must contain two links, and must be posted July 20, 21, or 22.
Links: First, and most important, link to the Amazon page for this book at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0736914056/qid=1119372503/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-5862885-1587911
Second, link to Chris's web site at:
http://www.forgivingsolomonlong.com
Just to be clear, these links don't have to appear on your permanent blogroll or links page, merely in the post devoted to "Forgiving Solomon Long." This is important because we want a number of new links to show up in quick succession, all pointing to the same pages.
Date to post: July 20, 21, or 22 - Again, this is important, because we want a number of links in quick succession.
Information from Chris
Chris has a lot of background and press information on his web site for FSL (www.forgivingsolomonlong.com) and his publisher's web site (http://www.harvesthousepublishers.com/book.cfm?ProductID=6914056). If you have specific questions for Chris, comment on this post, email Chris, or email me and I'll get the information to Chris.
A few questions that may come up -
Where do I get a copy of "Forgiving Solomon Long?"
If you send your mailing address and contact information to Chris by Friday, July 1, he'll do everything he can to send you a reading copy. Or, buy a copy at Amazon or your favorite CBA retailer.
But, I'll say it once again: you don't have to read the book to create a post. You're a smart cookie; you'll find something interesting to say about Chris, if nothing else. I don't want to hear anybody say: "I don't have time to finish the book and do a review by July 20th." We're not asking you to buy and/or read the book. We're asking you to help us create links, and resulting publicity, for the book. If worse comes to worst, here's a ready-made post you can use for your blog:
Read "Forgiving Solomon Long" by Chris Well.
This post will be just as effective for what we're trying to do with this project as a long, in-depth analysis of the book.
Really? I don't need to make a big deal out of my post?
Yes, really. This is a quantity thing: we want to build a number of links in a short, concentrated period of time.
Okay, enough preaching. I'll step off my soap box now.
Any questions? email me.
A few questions I've received, and my answers. Please note: these are just my opinions right now, and are subject to change. Hey, I think we need to be flexible with this whole thing.
Q1. About the books we'd be highlighting on our blogs: I assume we'd have to go out and buy them? Some authors might have ARCs they could supply or even actual copies, but not all. Is that correct? Because I know people who don't have a budget for that sort of purchase, small as it may be. Like me, for instance, who has no income.
A good question, but I'm going to be daring and say this: I don't think we have to get the books ahead of time. In fact, I don't think we necessarily have to read the books ahead of time. (GASP!) I think we should have a staging area--a private blog or message board, such as this one--where we interview authors ahead of time. The authors can post something of an online press kit: bio on themselves, background on how the book came to be, synopsis/what the book's about, why they wrote it, and so on. If folks have the means and resources to get the book and read it ahead of time, great; do it. But if you haven't read the book, you could still do a number of things for your blog post: author interview, story background, a personal rumination on the story's central theme, an analysis of the book's design, or whatever. You're creative. You'll come up with something.
Bottom line: we don't need to be intimately familiar with something to say a bit about it. If you doubt this, I invite you to watch an hour of cable news programming.
Q2. Would books chosen be CBA, ABA or both?
I'm really going to campaign for doing both. This is a crossover area we're exploring, and we need to do our best to highlight work in that crossover area. If you're a person who concentrates mostly on CBA, I'd like to suggest you try to support ABA authors who write from a Christian worldview. If you're a fan of ABA, I'd like to suggest you support CBA fiction that's stretching the boundaries.
Can't we all just get along?
Q3. Can I get in on it later? I'm not sure I can devote the time right now.
Sure. But with a commitmentn to only one post per month, I'm hoping it won't be too much of a time commitment.
Q4. I don't have a blog.
If you have 10 minutes, you can have a blog. Try my quickie online tutorial at http://www.tlhines.com/zoe/blogging.html
I'm always available via email (willieeverlearn@yahoo.com) to answer questions.
Q5. How are you going to promote this?
I'm not. Given three or four dozen members, it doesn't matter a whit if anyone outside the Syndicate knows of its existence. This isn't a blog ring, or a link exchange, or any of those other things designed to get exposure for your blog. It's a numbers game, designed to move the needle on Blog Pulse, Technorati, Blog Lines, and similar blog trackers--on behalf of the books and authors highlighted.
That said, the more members we have, the better. Once again, three or four dozen would be the magic number, and anything above that would be icing. For that reason, I'd like to keep membership always open: invite anyone you want to participate. There's no need to put a badge, or a link, or anything like that on your site. Just do the blog entries on the assigned days. Easy enough, huh?
-Tony
If you're reading this, you've somehow heard about something I'm calling the Christian Fiction Syndicate.
Does this mean we'll be fitting people with concrete shoes and sending them to sleep with the fishes? No, it's not quite that kind of syndicate. Instead, it's an alliance of blogs working in concert to generate buzz, build links, increase search engine rankings, and--ultimately--sell more books. With just a bit of coordination and dedication on the part of syndicate members, we could help sell more of the kinds of books we all like to read (and write).
Basically, here’s how it would work: Syndicate members would agree to highlight a pre-selected book in their blogs once a month. We would schedule which author/book to be featured ahead of time (this is important for a few reasons, outlined below). The feature could be a review, an interview with the author (who we could interview as a group ahead of time), or anything else we can dream up--as long as the blog post for the pre-determined date is devoted to that particular author/book, and goes to an agreed-upon link.
Now for the big question: why? First, it helps harness the power of blogging on behalf of authors. I'm sure you're familiar with places like bloglines.com, technorati.com, blogpulse.com, and other sites offering a somewhat real-time snapshot of what’s being talked about in the blogosphere. Many, many bloggers use these sites to see “what’s hot” for discussion topics. (One of the topics specifically tracked by Technorati is books, as you can see at www.technorati.com/live/products.html.) Again, with a coordinated effort, I think we can get books regularly pushed onto these lists, and therefore explored/talked about/bought by other bloggers. Also, numerous mentions of a book/author--especially on blogs--will help search engine rankings.
In essence, the syndicate creates a blog publicity tour for individual books and authors. I think three dozen or so dedicated bloggers would give us the critical mass we need to make a one-week splash for each book featured. It can take many different forms, but the things we need to aim for with every book are: 1) Coordinated postings - everyone posts content on the day assigned, to help rankings on blog trackers; 2) Selection of a single link for all bloggers to use in their posts, again to help rankings on blog trackers.
Now, you might be saying, "What if I don't like the book? I can't write about a book I don't like." Well, why not? Surely, we can all find something interesting about the story (or the author, or the cover design, or the paper stock, or whatever) that's worthy of a post. If worse comes to worst, you can do a simple post that says, "This isn't my cup of cocoa, but such-and-such book by such-and-such author is out now," along with the link. No one will tell you what the content should be; we'll merely be asking for a once-a-month commitment to provide content.
I hope you can see the possibilities for such an arrangement. This could really become a nice marketing tool for Christian authors, and hopefully, a tool for getting more folks to start blogging. With enough participation, it will help launch books. And, it supports an industry that's near and dear to our hearts.
What if you don't have a blog? No problem. I can help you set one up in about 10 minutes, and I have a couple of fairly easy-to-follow online primers I can point you toward.
Leave a comment here, or email me. I've also cross-posted this at Dave Long's faith*in*fiction discussion board; you can reply to the post there, if you prefer:
http://p220.ezboard.com/ffaithinfictionfrm9.showMessage?topicID=191.topic
So, whaddya think? Would you be willing to join a syndicate?
-Tony
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Links for further reading
Author MJ Rose talks about the power of a "Virtual Book Tour," similar in many ways to what I'm proposing:
http://mjroseblog.typepad.com/buzz_balls_hype/2005/02/betting_on_blog.html
The original Virtual Book Tour site itself:
http://vbt.typepad.com/virtual_book_tour/index.html
Various blog tracking services, which keep track of new links and posts in the blogosphere:
http://www.bloglines.com
http://www.technorati.com (and technorati.com/live/products.html)
http://www.blogpulse.com