T is for Thesaurus

You thought I was going to say Twitter, didn't you? Yes, Twitter is a very good marketing tool for authors and you should certainly look into using it. But there are a lot of posts about Twitter and not so many about a marketer's best friend: a Thesaurus.

A lot of marketing is about having a clever, catchy phrase or keyword. If people can remember you/your book/your event/your whatever, then you have accomplished half your marketing goal.  I'm sure most of you writer types are used to using a thesaurus for your writing, but have you considered it for your marketing?

Do you use a Thesaurus? I have it on a quick link.


And don't forget to enter to win a $15 gift card from 
Barnes and Noble or a pre-order of Gennifer Albin's Crewel. Contest ends Wednesday.

Q is for QR

QR codes stands for Quick Response codes. They are those funky little boxes on EVERYTHING these days that, if you take a pic of it with your smart phone, you are led directly to a website. They are the all the rage in the marketing world. You see them on mailers and billboards and bus shelter signs. Do you know what I'm talking about? There's a picture of one to the right.

Yeah, now you know what I'm talking about. Let me tell you what's cool about QR codes - they are an easy way to get people to your website without them having to type in the address.

And they aren't just for the big marketing people. You can easily get your own QR codes for FREE to put on your own marketing materials. You can put them on your business cards, bookmarks, postcards, t-shirts - anything - and whenever someone scans the box with their smart phone, they will be taken to your website, or wherever it is you want them to go. Let me clarify, your smart phone has to have a QR app, but lots of people have that app.

Here's a website I have used for QR codes. If you want to better manage your codes and track them you can purchase a plan for as little as $25 a month, but I doubt that any of us will really need that. When we get to that level, our publishers should be handling it for us, right?

Do you use QR codes? Do you have the app? Have you even seen QR codes?

P is for Promotion

Promoting yourself is hard. That's why I started this blog - so that I, or, we, rather, could practice promoting ourselves together. I haven't really encountered a need to actively work on my promotion seeing as how I don't have a book to send out to the world, but my amazingly talented critique partner, Kimberly Ann Miller, does.

This is Kimmy! Kimberly Ann Miller, I mean.

Remember how I said yesterday that you should always look for opportunity? When Kim got the deal to publish her book and began to ask me a few marketing questions, I thought, what a great opportunity to share the process with the blogosphere. I told her I'd love to give her some ideas and asked if she'd let me share here. She said yes! Welcome to another occasional series following Kim's book promotion from contract to launch.

Today is for introductions only, but I am very excited to give you my crit partner, Kim.


So Kimmy, tell us about your book and publishing deal: 
Triangles is a young adult contemporary fantasy. Here is the blurb from Spencer Hill’s website:

A cruise ship. A beautiful island. Two sexy guys. What could possibly go wrong?

In the Bermuda Triangle—a lot.

Hoping to leave behind the reminders of her crappy life--her father's death years ago, her mother's medical problems, and the loser who’s practically stalking her--seventeen-year-old Autumn Taylor hops on a ship with her sister for a little distraction. When she wakes up in the Bermuda Triangle, she fears she's gone nuts for more than one reason: that loser’s suddenly claiming they're a happy couple... a hot guy is wrapping his arms around her and saying "Happy Anniversary"... and suddenly, she’s full of bruises, losing her hair, and getting IV medication. Autumn visits the ship's doctor, hoping for a pill or a shot to make the craziness go away. Instead, she's warned that these "alternate realities" could become permanent.

She just has to ask herself one question—how the hell is she going to get out of this mess?

I had an interesting journey leading me to Spencer Hill Press. I entered a query contest on Kate Kaynak’s blog, Disgruntled Bear, last October. She is an editor and author at Spencer Hill. She liked my query and invited me to send it in when they opened to submissions on December 1, 2011. I had it ready and sent it per their submission guidelines on that exact date. A few days later, Kate requested the full manuscript. On February 21, 2012, I received an email from Kate offering me publication! They have been fantastic to work with since day one. I have already spoken to three editors and a cover artist! I am thrilled to have such a great publisher behind Triangles.

Before you landed your deal with Spencer Hill, what social media were you using?
I had a Facebook page and was fooling around with Twitter. I also had read along the way that it was a good idea to have a website, so I set up a basic site using my internet service provider.

What advice has Spencer Hill given you? What have you done since signing?
Since it’s early in the process, we haven’t gotten too deep into marketing, but my editor told me we will be working on a comprehensive marketing plan soon. So far she has made some suggestions such as becoming more active on social media, joining Tumblr, and improving my website’s look and color. We also talked about the importance of a great cover and captivating jacket copy. She’s interested in hearing what your suggestions are and coordinating our marketing efforts!

Isn't that cool? Her editor is interested in hearing what I have to say!! This is very exciting to me, especially since I have known Triangles for awhile now and feel very close to its success (it's a GREAT story!). So I typed up a bunch of suggestions and the team is looking them over now. As Kim and Spencer Hill move forward, I will share with you our ideas (as I'm able) so make sure to check back often. 

Find Kimmy at:
Twitter: @KimberlyAnnNJ: https://twitter.com/#!/KimberlyAnnNJ
Facebook: Kimberly Ann Miller: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000972287894
Email: KAMillerWrites (at) aol (dot) com
Website: kimberlyannmiller.com
Tumblr: http://kimberlyannmiller.tumblr.com/

Your turn, readers: what aspects of promotion do you find the most difficult? 

O is for Opportunity

So much of good marketing is just recognizing opportunities when they arise. Good recognition of opportunity requires you to be a bit self-centered about your viewpoint. How can this (or that or whatever) benefit me? 

Yeah, it doesn't sound so good, but it doesn't have to be mean or selfish. For example, if the coffee shop in your neighborhood starts doing open poetry nights, will they also let you read a book excerpt? You don't know unless you ask.

The difficult thing about opportunity is that it isn't like I can give you a list of them for you to seek out. They come and go in many forms and the ability to recognize them takes thought and creative thinking. And always being on the lookout.

I'll leave you with some of my favorite opportunity quotes:

"Opportunities? They are all around us?there is power lying latent everywhere waiting for the observant eye to discover it."

- Orison Swett Marden

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
- Thomas Edison

"It is not often that a man can make opportunities for himself. But he can put himself in such shape that when or if the opportunities come he is ready.” 

- Theodore Roosevelt

"Even when opportunity knocks, a man still has to get up off his seat and open the door."
- Anonymous

"Once an opportunity has passed, it cannot be caught."

- Anonymous

What opportunities are around you? Do you take them when you see them?

N is for Need

The best way to market anything is to create a product that fulfills a need. Generally, people don't know what it is that they need so you have to tell them.

Successful author marketing will tell consumers why they need your book or blog. That doesn't mean you specifically come out and say, "You need to read my book because blah blah blah." Think about the best advertisements. You have to drink a Coke to be All American. You have to buy an iPad to change the world. You have to eat at McDonald's because you love it. All of those address needs of consumers - they need to feel All American. They need to change the world. And so on.

The needs that are usually fulfilled through books are: Consumers need information or they need to be entertained. But we, as authors, can still pinpoint even more specific needs.

Why do you choose the books that you do to read? Because other people reviewed them and told you all the reasons you needed to read it. Because you saw a book trailer that told you why you needed to read it. Because you saw a display at Barnes and Noble that said "On the NY Times Bestseller List" and you felt like you needed to be up on the latest.

When you are deciding how to market your book or your blog, focus on the needs that your product could fulfill. The more specific you are the better. It's just like when you write your query and you tell agents why they should request your material. Tell readers why they should read your book. Why is it different than every other dystopian? Why is this romance the best of the century?

Even if you aren't yet published, it is never too early to start thinking about this.

Are you thinking about the needs your book fulfills? What about your blog or website? Do you address a need that readers are looking to fulfill?

M is for Market

Know your market.

When I - or anyone, for that matter - says "know your market", we mean that you need to know exactly who your book or product is FOR. Not just YA or MG but YA readers who like paranormal romance or MG boys who want potty humor and drawings.

The reason you need to know your market is because step #2 is to BE where your market is. My book is an MG for girls (mostly) ages 8-12 who like magic, friendship, and happy endings. This blog is not where I'm going to find those readers. Facebook is not where I'm going to find those readers. Researching where those kids hang out and get their reading recommendations from is crucial. I'm imagining that librarians, school events, and interactive websites are going to be top on the list of places that they are that I can also be (or my book can be, when I finally have a published book).

Being where your market is takes research and thinking outside the box. You may need to get your creative little head going to figure out how you can afford to be where you need to be, but you can totally do it - you wrote a book, after all. Well, you will have if you are at this stage of the game.

Know your market. Be where your market is. Any questions?

J is for Joint Ventures

Joint ventures in author marketing are hip and happening. They're also very effective.

I'm talking about the blogs, contests, and other marketing efforts that are taken on by more than one author. Here are some examples of these joint ventures:

The League of Extraordinary Writers

Friday the Thirteeners

March Madness Agent Pitch

A to Z Blogging Challenge 

The hosts who put on these websites, contests, and challenges have joined up with other bloggers and authors to make the event bigger than they could manage on their own. 

Joint ventures make sense. The work load is manageable and the exposure is farther reaching than a person can do on their own. You also have a team of marketers and a team of ideas. 

These joint ventures don't go without work, though. And other people are relying on you so the pressure can be on. But, especially if you have a book to sell, I recommend the efforts. Find a group of others that have a similar work and similar goals. 

Have you been a part of a joint venture? If not, will you do them at a later time?

While You Wait and I've Been Tagged

I, as I have mentioned, am in this horrible period of waiting while the agent who requested my revisions reviews my newly revised manuscript. It's much like the query waiting, it seems, but it also feels a little more intense.

Of course, the advice from everyone while you wait is to write (which I am doing). But I have some advice of my own: Prepare your marketing.

Here's the deal. If you have faith in your book, or even if it's not this book, there are things you can do now, before you are agented. If you get signed - when you get signed - you will be busy with edits and other marketing then, why not give yourself a leg up and get some of it done now?

Last month, Lynette Labelle had an EXCELLENT post about this very topic: Before THE call: Ten Tasks to Complete Before an Agent Calls. Go read it now. Seriously.

I've been working on #6, Grow Your Marketing List, in case you were interested.

On another note, I was tagged. Twice. So you get to find out about me and my manuscript whether you want to or not.

First, from Freya Morris, I was tagged in Jaycee's Lucky 7 Meme.

The rules:
1. Go to page 77 of your current MS
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next 7 lines - sentences or paragraphs - and post them as they're written. No cheating
4. Tag 7 authors
5. Let them know

Here's mine: 

“Memory Transportation?” Mina scoffed. “You can’t do that!”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Porter said.
“I just mean you’re only a marvel,” Mina said. “A marvel can’t do Memory Transportation. Can they?”
“I think I can. With the wand.” He held his right hand out to Mina, still clutching the wand. “Porter, we can’t use that! There’s a SCUM in the building. Don’t you think she’s going to notice?”
“That’s why we’re going to have to do it quickly. Now shut up and hold our hands.”
Mina obeyed, the wand held firmly between her and Porter’s clasped hands.

Then Krista from I Take the Pen tagged me. Here's my answers to the tag questions:

1. What is your dream vacation?

I want to take a cruise with my husband that starts in Spain and ends in Venice. It was our goal to do it when we'd been married 10 years, but I think it's going to have to wait until another big anniversary.

2. Are you spontaneous or do you like to plan ahead?
I'm pretty laid back about things that I know will just happen and be fine. But if I'm at all worried about something, I'll plan.

3. Tell us one thing you want to do but don’t dare to do.
Skydive.

4. What's your biggest phobia?
Hmm. I'm not sure. I guess spiders. I really don't like spiders.

5. If you were stranded on a desert island – what 3 things would you want with you (not including laptop, or family).
A pen, a notebook, and lots of diet A&W rootbeer.

6. Name three blessings in your life.
My husband. My daughters. My talents.

7. What was your nickname in High School?
Fuji was one. Larla was another. You could call me Larla now and I'd still answer. Don't call me Fuji, though, because it brings back some pretty crappy memories.

8. If you could meet the President of the United States, what would you say to him?
Probably not much. I'm a bit of an introvert.

9. If you could be any literary character for a day, who would you be?
Ooh, I don't know. Most of the books I like, the characters are in some pretty dire straights. So maybe someone who's got cool things going on. Like Anna from Anna and the French Kiss.

10. What is your favorite quote?
I have many that I love and can never remember them. But I love this line from an Ingrid Michaelson song called Keep Breathing that really seems to sum up my wants for the world versus what I actually do, "I want to change the world, instead, I sleep."

I am tagging the first 7 people in my reader. You can choose if you do the Lucky 7 or answer the questions. Or both! Or neither. :)

1. Shannon O'Donnell

2. Sher A. Hart

3. The Golden Eagle

4. Miranda Hardy

5. Jaye Robin Brown

6. Krista

7. Melissa Sugar

What are you doing while you wait?

Fire in the Blogosphere: CassaFire Release

An interesting phenomenon took place yesterday. I went to my Google Reader to do some blog reading and the first blog that pulled up was spotlighting Alex J. Cavanaugh's CassaFire release. My first thought was, Whoops! I guess I forgot to write a post about that, myself...

Then, as the next blog I pulled up was also spotlighting CassaFire, and the next, and the next . And about forty more. I'm not kidding. The blogosphere was on fire. I was in awe of the incredible support that Alex had through his blogging friends. Not surprised, but in awe. It was beautiful.

Alex has done what we should all aspire to do. I'm not talking about great marketing, that's the side benefit. Alex has built real, honest friendships through consistent blogging, response to comments, and visiting and commenting on other blogs. This is not the reason that we blog, but this is what agents and publishers are looking for when they are interested in a writer's platform. Take some notes, folks. Reread my interview with Alex about how he built up such a great support system.

And congrats, Alex. It's a day late, but here's CassaFire!

CassaFire
by Alex J. Cavanaugh

CassaStar was just the beginning…

The Vindicarn War is a distant memory and Byron’s days of piloting Cosbolt fighters are over. He has kept the promise he made to his fallen mentor and friend - to probe space on an exploration vessel. Shuttle work is dull, but it’s a free and solitary existence. The senior officer is content with his life aboard the Rennather.

The detection of alien ruins sends the exploration ship to the distant planet of Tgren. If their scientists can decipher the language, they can unlock the secrets of this device. Is it a key to the Tgren’s civilization or a weapon of unimaginable power? Tensions mount as their new allies are suspicious of the Cassan’s technology and strange mental abilities.

To complicate matters, the Tgrens are showing signs of mental powers themselves; the strongest of which belongs to a pilot named Athee, a woman whose skills rival Byron’s unique abilities. Forced to train her mind and further develop her flying aptitude, he finds his patience strained. Add a reluctant friendship with a young scientist, and he feels invaded on every level. All Byron wanted was his privacy…

Available now!

Science fiction - space opera/adventure
Print ISBN 978-0-9827139-4-5, $15.95, 6x9 Trade paperback, 240 pages
EBook ISBN 978-0-9827139-6-9, $4.99, available in all formats
CassaFire is the sequel to Cavanaugh’s first book, CassaStar, an Amazon Top Ten Best Seller:

“…calls to mind the youthful focus of Robert Heinlein’s early military sf, as well as the excitement of space opera epitomized by the many Star Wars novels. Fast-paced military action and a youthful protagonist make this a good choice for both young adult and adult fans of space wars.” - Library Journal

Book trailer available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa6VINRGtyE.

Barnes and Noble - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cassafire-alex-j-cavanaugh/1034742568

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/CassaFire-Alex-J-Cavanaugh/dp/0982713940/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329417150&sr=1-1

Amazon Kindle - http://www.amazon.com/CassaFire-ebook/dp/B007A2TSNG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1329663355&sr=1-1

Blog Critique: Callie Kingston

In this series I give constructive feedback about the look and function of an author blog from a marketing perspective. As always, I rely on help from graphic designers Tom Barnes (my hubby) and Joe LaRue. To review the blog elements we look at or to submit your own blog for critique, go here.

I love me some Callie Kingston. And she's today's blog critique. And I've got some different stuff to talk about in regards to her blog. So go run your little mousies over to her blog so we can get discussing below. 

Callie, I'm just going to quickly make some remarks about your actual blog so I can get to the good stuff:

• You have a nice palette. I particularly like how it relates to the emotions and colors of your book, Undertow. 
• But there is an awful lot of purple. Consider pulling some of pink from your sunset into your post headers.
• Funny story about your header: Your name is in a really nice font. But older computers don't always have that font. Joe's computer had to download it and until it did, it showed your font in Comic Sans. The graphic world seems to have an intense hatred toward Comic Sans. Go ahead and google "Comic Sans" and you'll see what I mean. Joe's initial feelings to your blog were, let's just say negative, until the real font loaded. There is a way to fix that - Consider making your header a graphic. Then everyone will see the same thing no matter what. While you're at it...
• I would love to see that background swirly feel of your cover incorporated in your header. It would make it so much more vibrant.
• Your blog is really clean and contains pertinent info so I don't have a lot to suggest here. I do think that you need to clean up the bottom of your template. It's obvious that you just stuffed all the extras down below. I'd get rid of the networked blogs. That's not necessary when you already have a follow button. And I'd put your labels higher on the sidebar - those are important, don't bury them. 
• Oh, one more thing: Put a link to buy your book on your sidebar under your profile. This is important! People need to see your product right away when coming to your blog.

Okay, on to the good stuff. Callie is interested in how to attract readers who don't write and who don't blog.   First, let's all take a moment to laugh out loud, because that really is the million dollar question, isn't it? 

Now that we're done laughing, it is a real valid question that all of us face. And just because there isn't one great answer doesn't mean that there aren't strategies. Many, many strategies in fact, and too many to list here. In my not-so-humble marketing expertise opinion, the reason there are so many strategies is because marketing is a very individual and personal and that is why people like me make a living by researching and giving you personalized results.  But all you creative writer types are the perfect type of people to do this yourselves. Let's walk through where I would begin this process using Callie's book.

1. Ask yourself - who reads my book? what other books do they read? what other subjects interest them? Callie answered:  Undertow's target audience is an older YA audience and what some are calling "New Adult," so around ages 16 - 22. I also believe there's significant cross-over potential into women's fiction. If a reader enjoyed Wintergirls, they may also enjoy the combination of contemporary serious topic and a touch of supernatural in Undertow. Finally, readers who have experienced mental illness or have interest in psychological issues will appreciate the strength the protagonist displays in dealing with her circumstances.
2. Now we get Googling.What do other authors do that attracts readers? Where are my readers on the internet? For Callie, let's start with Wintergirls. 
1. First stop is the official website. My favorite thing to check out is the author blog. Why? Because if readers are directly communicating with the author, it's here. This is where we can learn more about them. This is also true of Author or Book Facebook pages. But before we step over to the blog, I see that Laurie Halse Anderson has info for Students and Teachers. Callie needs to read everything on these pages and steal, steal, steal! I mean, um, get ideas!   Some ideas I get from perusing this: Make a study guide for your book. Post it on your blog or website. Spam  Email teachers and university professors a blurb about your book and include a link to your resources. You can find emails on most school websites. YES, THIS TAKES WORK! MARKETING IS WORK!
2. Now to Laurie's blog. Laurie blogs a lot about the subjects of her books. We can't all do this very successfully, but some authors can do this very well. Laurie's books are about serious subjects like anorexia and rape. By making her blog a supportive environment for these topics, she will attract potential readers through Google searches on those subjects. Some ideas for Callie: start a weekly post on psychological issues that are related to your book. You can talk about some of the things you discovered in your own research. Or, find blogs on the topics you want to discuss and ask for those bloggers to guest post. Use keywords in your blog post titles so that people interested in these subjects will find you.
3. Next stop, Amazon. Search for Wintergirls and see what other books are recommended in that little bar that says Customers Who Bought This Also Viewed... Then do steps 1 and 2 with those books that turn up. Callie should check out If I Stay by Gayle Forman, Willow by Julia Hoban, Cut by Patricia McCormick, and so on.
3. Back to Google.  I would now want to find out where people who read Wintergirls and these other books are posting. So this time when I search for Wintergirls I'm looking for blog posts, etc. And not author blog posts, but reader posts or comments. This is harder and may involve going several pages deep into Google results. I see Wintergirls has a MySpace page. I would peruse the comments and see if you can track down what type of people those readers are. Spend time on the sites where the fans are like this site. Reading through these posts may give you some inspiration to attract these same fans.
4. Whew! We're tired now. And we really haven't come up with any specific strategies. But this is where we start.  This is what I would do to begin any internet marketing campaign for any book. 

Is this helpful? Do you have some other ideas for Callie or advice on her blog?

Promotion Before Publishing

Well, hmm...I was supposed to have a Savvy Sensation today, but I didn't get her interview questions back in time (hint, she's a very busy woman!). So, instead, I'm sharing a lovely link that all you UNpublished authors should check out:

9 ways to promote your book BEFORE you publish by Laura Pepper Wu

It's great advice. How many are you doing? (I'm asking you instead of telling you what I'm doing because I'm sort of failing, myself!)

Blog Critique: Shannon McMahon

Blog Critique Day: In this series I give constructive feedback about the look and function of an author blog from a marketing perspective. As always, I rely on help from graphic designers Tom Barnes (my hubby) and Joe LaRue. To review the blog elements we look at or to submit your own blog for critique, go here.

Today's blog critique victim is Shannon McMahon of Shannonigans.  Actually, it's a whole website. Take a look.

I have one word for Shannon's blog: Love. 

Shannon's website is perfect from the design to the profile location to the title. I know who she is, I can contact her, I know when she posts, I can search for old posts, she uses appropriate color, I know about her writing. She also does a great teaser technique where she puts part of blog post on her blog and then has a read more link to another site (the site she really wants you to visit). Seriously good blog. Learn from her.

I only have one minor peeve - I hate it when comments have to go through moderation before being posted. I do understand if you've had trouble from hecklers or spammers, but really they aren't that big of a problem. If you can bear it, make it as easy as possible for people to comment. I'd appreciate any readers' thoughts on this if you have them, guys.

Shannon's on the next step of blogging - building blog readership. Shannon, for such a tight blog, you should have a bigger following.  Because you're really busy at work and still working on your manuscript you may not have the time to focus on this yet, but when you're ready, here's some suggestions:

• Participate in blogfests.
• Run contests for followers. To enter they must tweet, facebook, or blog about your blog.
• Ask the people you review for if you can do any joint promotions. You probably have contractual agreements prohibiting this, but if you are allowed to ever get people from those blogs to your blog, that's a huge way to increase your followings. Ways to do that would be, for an example, "If you enjoyed this movie, check out Shannonigans where I tell you five other movies you'd probably like." Another good one would be to say "For a meal that would go good with this wine, visit Shannonigans" and have a good recipe there. Make sense? You could actually do that last one just within your blog. At the end of a recipe post or a wine post, put a cross-reference link from your own blog to a a wine or recipe to go with it.
• Search your peeps out. Where do wine lovers visit on the internet? What do movie-goers read? Who wants amazing recipes? Find those blogs and leave comments that always include your website address. When possible, say things like, "I do a wine review on my website; I hope you check it out sometime." 
• Have guests. Guest bloggers can really build your numbers. Invite people from those blogs you found that your peeps frequent to post. 
• Steal followers. It's not really stealing, but what I mean is go to those blogs that have the people you know would love your blog and get them to follow you. Like if I were going to "steal" your followers, I'd start clicking on pics in your follower box and first, follow their blogs, and second, comment on their blogs with your website address.

Okay, this isn't much, but is it helpful? What do you think readers? Any thoughts/comments/suggestions for Shannon?

Tuesday Drop-In

I'm here on a Tuesday to direct you to a great 2 part article about author marketing on The Bookshelf Muse featuring Janice Hardy. Check it out.

And how goes NaNo for you all? I am not faring that well on the word count, but I'm still enjoying myself! Besides, did you notice I have a NaNo rebel badge? That's because I started before November. I really want to finish this book I'm working on. I have about 30,000 words to go. Wish me luck!

Blog Critique: Susanna Leonard Hill

Only one week in, I am going to change the format of today's blog critique.  Published author Susanna Leonard Hill has a beautiful website and blog. Go ahead and check it out.

By beautiful, I'm talking from a marketing perspective. She's doing nearly everything on my critique list 100% right.What Susanna would like, however, is for her blog to bring in more of her readers: librarians, parents, and teachers. So instead of speaking to her individual blog elements, I will post some suggestions to marketing to her desired readership.

First, Susanna, a couple of little technical suggestions:

1. I would make the link from your blog to your website more visible right away. Make it a page link on your blog navigation bar. Your website has invaluable information and people need to see it.
2. Even more important than your website, your blog doesn't have an easy link to your teacher/parent resources. I don't even know you have them without looking. It's even hard to find them on your website. If you really want to draw these people as readers then make your resources to them more evident.

Now on to the real meaty suggestions. (Really it's just one suggestion, but hopefully you can find something worthwhile in it and adapt it to you.)

• Create a weekly post series for teachers/parents/librarians. If you really want to, you could create a whole new blog, but I have to say here that I don't think it's necessary.
• In your series, you could choose a different picture book each week and focus on ways to use it in an educational setting. A rough example follows in blue (your choice if you include the printable resources or not):

Book: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See by Eric Carle

Good for: One-on-one

Skills focus: Matching, interacting, attention building, animal identification

Activity: Print clip art pictures of each of the animals in the story. Pictures do not have to exactly match the look of the pictures in the story. In fact it's better if they don't to enforce that animals of the same species do not always look the same. Place all the pictures in front of the child. As you read the story, have the child hold up the picture that matches the animal on the page.

Small group adaptations: Hand out one or two pictures to each child. When the story gets to their animal, have them stand up and show the animal to everyone. 

Ok, sort of blah, but you get the picture. You have more experience with this than me :) The point is to create a series that will be informative and interesting to the people who are buying your books so they will come back over and over. But creating the series is only the first step. Now comes the hard part: Getting the readers to your blog in the first place. I'm not going to lie; it's going to be work. Some ideas:

• Get on the computer and google libraries and teachers. Search across the nation. Pick a city a week and just tackle that one. This will be an on-going project, obviously. Most school and library sites have emails these days. Draft a form letter and send it to all the emails you find telling them who you are and that you feature FREE resources on your blog each week. 
• In your email, on your blog, and/or at your school and library visits, invite librarians/teachers/parents to share their own activities and resources on your blog via guest posts. This is great because it gives them a vested interest in your blog and makes them more likely to return.
• Search for blogs and websites that have teacher resources. Here's Scholastic's list of the Top 20 Blogs to start. Wherever you can, leave comments stating that your blog features a weekly resource series and invite them to visit.
• Search for mom blogs (there's millions), friend the bloggers and invite them to follow you. We do this with other writers, do it with moms!
• Invite other authors to guest on your series with their own educational ideas. Though they may not bring more of the readers you want to your blog, it will create more awareness about your series in general.

Don't forget to:

• Be sure to occasionally include your books in your series rotation.
• Include in each post title the title of the book and use the word "activity" or "resources" in your post so that it is easily searchable for people looking on Google. Ex. Title: "Stories in Action: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See by Eric Carle." Then have your first line be something like: "Educational resources for Eric Carle's classic book." You want people to be able to find your post when they search for resources relating to specific books.
• Advertise your series in a prominent place on your blog and website so people can find it.
• When you email the people near you, make sure you offer personal visits. And always include links for people to buy your books!

Ok, that's what I got. Is any of this helpful, Susanna? How about the rest of you - any suggestions for her regarding drawing different readers or her blog in general? I can't wait to hear your ideas!