Customer Reviews

Red Hot Internet Publicity: An Insider's Guide to Promoting Your Book on the Internet!

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The book is very disappointing because the information it contains is very shallow. You could probably find much better information searching on Google than spending money and time reading the book. The book only gives you very basic information, for example on page 19, "... if you have a book and an audience that resonates with yellow, then you might want to have enough yellow on your site to "speak" to them without overwhelming them with a yellow..." Throughout the book, there are a lot of these obvious logic. The key point is that the book does not tell you, nor teach you, when or what "yellow" is enough for the audience. It tells you to use keywords when writing copy but it does not explain HOW and to choose them nor how to match the text with the best keywords.

Also, for a book that has only 190 pages of content, 20 pages are links to websites? Some of these linked sites are even stuck in time and has not been updated since 2005!!...

Of course the book might be helpful to someone who is totally ignorant about the web. However, if you know how to use Google (or even Amazon's book search engine) then I recommend that you find another book that contains substance because this book clearly does not.

Penny C. Sansevieri is a no nonsense thinker and writer. Beginning her career as an author ('Candlewood Lake', 'The Cliffhanger' etc) she faced the beast of competition in the publishing world, and instead of caving in, she took control, learned all the ins and outs of getting books published, and shared that hard won information and experience in such highly successful books as 'Get Published Today: An Insider's Guide to Publishing Success' and 'From Book to Bestseller: An Insider's Guide to Publicizing and Marketing Your Book!'. Now she has synthesized all of that information in this newest book that is the most complete guide to marketing books on the Internet available.

Sansevieri does not waste the reader's time with puffery or examples of her own successes. Instead she opts to jump right to the essentials, giving a nod to the importance of the Internet as a tool of communication and commerce. She doesn't merely suggest such valuable skills as creating a website for authors to attract attention, she carefully and very thoughtfully provides exact guidelines for squeezing the most benefits from the time involved in design, wording, linking, blogging, networking, virtual book events (and in the age when bookstores become less friendly as opportunities for authors to read and sell their books during spicy evenings, this is a unique concept) - all the techniques she has mined and understands thoroughly.

Sansivieri's book RED HOT INTERNET PUBLICITY contains more useful web resources, addresses of the best blog sites and web design and tool sites, and pieces of sound advice in this brief 200 pages than any on the market today. She is the epitome of a user-friendly teacher and expert and her writing contains not only valuable information and insights but wit to boot! For all authors in search of the keys to the value of Internet promotion, this excellent book will be an exceptional value. Grady Harp, June 07

For anyone looking to establish a web presence, this book is a great place to start. Geared especially for authors or publishers, the information is nevertheless highly relevant for any online entity seeking publicity. If you have something to say or to sell and you want to get your name out there (or at least your website), then getting this book is a no-brainer.
To avoid "overwhelm," I recommend that you read the whole book to get an overview and then start over and take it chapter by chapter. Ms. Sansevieri stuffs a lot onto these pages, and no matter how long you've been on line, you'll find some tips or hints you either didn't know about, or haven't utilized. My own website is going to see improvements thanks to this book, and I am going to follow my own advice and go back to chapter one to begin them. If you're thinking you've heard it all before and don't need the book, I would beg to suggest otherwise. Can you really risk not getting the latest scoop on what works and what doesn't? Do you really want to? If you've been on Penny's mailing list for a long time, you might have seen much of what the book contains; but here it is, in a nutshell. The best of her strategies and ideas, including lots of links and webpages to help. You can scrounge around the web trying to learn this, piecemeal, or you can get the book and jump into lightspeed. My copy is super marked already with things I need to do, and I look forward to having these steps in place. And, by the way, do you like armchair travel? Because Penny shows you how to do a virtual book tour and up the sales of your book as a result. Don't know about you, but I'm ready for the ride!

I had the pleasure of attending a speaking event by author, Penny Sansevieri before reading the book, but I couldn't wait to get my own tangible copy in my hot little hands. Penny's book is brimming with straight-forward, no-nonsense marketing tips specifically geared toward marketing your book over the Internet. Everything from creating web sites to the "behind the scene" tricks of drawing buyers to your web site are invaluable lessons she freely shares. You'll learn the how-to's of setting up shopping carts, to blogs and podcasting, to understanding your audience and how to connect with them. Anyone considering marketing their book on the Internet should purchase a copy BEFORE making any mistakes.
Karen L. Reddick, author of Grammar Done Right!

This is a concise, information-packed guide through the maze of the on-line world as it relates to book promotion. I found the author's ideas and tips extremely helpful and current. Recommended for any new author!

The author briefly touches on many aspects of self promotion of a book, using the Internet as your communications medium. Well, you need your own website. By now, I think most would-be authors realise this. But she points out how to effectively present your book on your own web pages. A good layout is vital, in attracting the attention span of a casual visitor. And in keeping that attention long enough that they become seriously interested in your book.

There is a quick recap of how to get listed by search engines. Which really just means Google, Yahoo and Microsoft these days. She doesn't go into search engine optimisation. Which for a brief book like this is probably correct. SEO is fine, but there is a seedy underbelly to it that authors should strive to avoid.

Another topic covered here is blogging. Where you try to build up a community of fans who will often turn to your ruminations. This way, you can test various marketing strategies against an often friendly crowd.

The volumne I had did not even talk about the use of social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace. The other suggestions were brief and shallow. Not much here.

This book opened my eyes to a whole new world of book marketing. Gone are the days of traditional approaches like expensive press releases to mainstream media outlets. We are now living in a world where book promotion can be much more effective and much less expensive thanks to the online strategies outlined in this book.

Stacie Vander Pol, author of Top Self Publishing Firms

An author friend recommended RED HOT INTERNET PUBLICITY to me, but I found the book disappointing. I'm wondering if this is because I read the book in 2010, and the information already seems dated, while my friend read it in 2008, when the information was relatively fresh. I can see that the book would have value to an author who doesn't know what Twitter is, but I wouldn't recommend it to one who does.

By Charles Jacobs, author of The Writer Within You

I've always admired the twice a month newsletter Penny Sansevieri distributes. Now with this new "red hot" book, she continues her ability to offer basic, easy-to-understand guidance that is helpful to authors of all levels and wannabes. With no fanfare, Penny outlines the essentials of each major segment of Web marketing in a well organized sequence. If I have any concerns about the book it is that at times she mentions a concept with little or no explanation leaving non-technies like me hanging. But then several chapters later, she explains the term in greater detail. All in all, I find it an excellent and helpful book that opened my eyes to several marketing avenues that I have been afraid to undertake. I recommend it highly.