Red Hot Internet Publicity

Red Hot Internet Publicity: An Insider's Guide to Marketing Your Book on the Internet (Revised edition) by Penny C. Sansevieri
Cosimo Books
ISBN: 978-1605207247
Published June 2009
Trade Paperback, 320 pages

Red Hot Internet Publicity is the kind of book you must read using a highlighter and post-it notes. Warning: You will spring into action less than five pages into the first chapter. And it won’t stop. Sansevieri’s book promotion advice is meant for you to get out there and do it. She expertly leads you by the hand and shows you the way.

Red Hot begins with a compelling introduction explaining exactly why the book marketing industry has shifted because of the Internet and why authors need to understand this explosive change. This grabbed me immediately because most people, including authors, still have the notion that author events and book signings are all one has to do to get one’s book noticed. This is no longer the case.

If you’re not Internet market savvy, you will be once you’ve studied this book. I say studied because this isn’t the kind of book one can read once and put away. It is a loaded resource book that packs a powerful punch. And best of all, it’s up-to-date because the latest copy is a newly revised edition. And because of the Internet’s ever-changing, expanding nature, this would be expected of a quality book about Internet publicity.

As an author with a Web site and two blogs, and active in the social networking world, I still learned an amazing amount of new stuff. As a matter of fact, I realized how much I didn’t know. Sansevieri covers a multitude of topics including: how to build a Web site (these chapters had me scrambling to my computer, making simple but effective changes that enhanced and improved my site considerably); keywords, search engines, online selling, and how to generate traffic to your Web site (more scrambling to the computer); everything you might possibly want to know about blogs, blogging, videos, and podcasting ( I wasn’t doing too bad in this area, but I learned great tips about working in blogosphere); social media, especially Twitter (if you haven’t embarked on this bandwagon, you’ll most likely do so after reading this section); virtual book events (I absolutely loved this part of the book!); virtual networking with articles, autoresponders, and email newsletters; ebooks, and so much more.

The chapters are short and to the point, and Sansevieri makes skilful use of bullet points, boxes and numbered points in articles, rendering the book easy to read and to search for specific topics. In addition, the book is sprinkled with sections that cover quick tips, Did You Know?, quotes, statistics, links, and tons of helpful tidbits. Speaking of links, I can’t wait to visit all the recommended sites, and there are many. Some information is repeated, but I certainly didn’t mind as topics overlap. The more one hears or reads of something the better it will be retained.

Bottom line: this book is worth every penny and more. If you’re an author who wants to get your book out there, don’t look any further. Read this book today and start selling your book.

Note: This book was first read and reviewed on October 17, 2009 on Library of Clean Reads.

Disclosure: This book was sent to me by Author Marketing Services in the form of a galley proof for reviewing. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.