There are 16 lessons in Vault University’s Author Platform/Book Promotion Curriculum. We’ll open for enrollment soon, but in the meantime you can look over this curriculum description to see all that we have in store for our Author Platform/Book Promotion program.

Authors who have paid Vault listings will be granted free enrollment in the curriculum of their choice in Vault U. Vault authors will be enrolled in the Author Platform/Book Promotion curriculum by default, but can request a switch to the Publishing curriculum by sending an email request to vault@publetariat.com and including their username.

For all others, enrollment will cost just $5 per month. Each lesson more than pays for itself by giving you the critical time- and money-saving steps to take in building and growing your author platform and promotional activities, as well as by informing you of the costly mistakes in author platform and book promotion to which many authors fall victim—so you can avoid them. Think about it: would you rather spend your next $5 on a large latte, a fast-food value meal, or on a step-by-step, plain English lesson in author platform and book promotion you can immediately put to use to make your self-publishing project the best it can be? Take a look at this sample lesson to get a better idea of the quality and depth of information you can expect from Vault U.

Once enrolled, so long as you remain a subscriber (or Vault-listed author) in good standing, you will be granted access to the next lesson in the series every 30 days and you will continue to have access to any lessons you’ve previously viewed. The Author Platform/Book Promotion curriculum consists of the following lessons:

1) Establishing Your Brand - Introduction to branding, and why it’s important. How to create and establish your unique brand as an author. You versus your brand. Whether to write under your real name or a pen name, the pros and cons of each option. How to keep your brand “message” consistent across all your author platform and marketing/promotion efforts.
 
2) Your Marketing/Distribution Plan - Setting up and following a marketing and distribution plan that serves your goals. Deciding which marketing and distribution options make sense for you and your specific book. Common pitfalls and gotchas. Budgetary considerations. What goes into an author press kit.
 
3) Author Websites - How to set up an author website and blog. Survey of free, no-tech-skills-needed options for establishing a web presence. Amazon author pages. Survey of paid, no-tech-skills-needed options for establishing a web presence. Pros and cons of free versus paid author websites. Pros and cons of working with a professional web developer. How to locate and hire a professional web developer. For those with tech skills, how to work with website templates to reduce your design and coding time. 
 
4) The Power of Free - When it makes sense to release portions of your work for free. How to provide free content and free previews on your author website or blog, or on others’ sites, and how much to give away. Using the BookBuzzr widget to provide free previews of your work on your author website or blog with built-in promotional and buy-it-now links. 

5) Social Media For Authors - The most effective strategies for using Facebook, MySpace and Twitter for purposes of author and book promotion. Setting up a “fan page” on Facebook. Social reader sites (e.g., Goodreads, Shelfari, LibraryThing). When and how to effectively participate in online communities. How to strike the right balance between the personal and the promotional when using social media, to keep your audience engaged and interested, not alienated. 
 
6) Book Trailers - How to create simple book trailers you can post on your website, Facebook, YouTube or elsewhere. Free, easy-to-use tools. What types of book trailers are most effective for building traffic and interest.
 
7) Soliciting Book Reviews - Whom to approach for reviews, and how to do it for best results. Amazon Top Reviewers – who they are, how to contact them, and how to ask them to blurb your book. When and how to approach book bloggers. Paid review options (e.g., Kirkus reviews). How to turn a negative review into a positive outcome.
 
8) Working Amazon - Strategies for using all the free promotional tools Amazon has to offer. Amazon reviews, sales ranks, Listmania!, author pages, Top Reviewers, the “Amazon Rush” strategy for driving your book to the top of the Amazon bestseller list and more.

9) Selling In Stores, But Not Bookstores - Alternative sales outlets, and when it actually makes more sense to sell through those outlets than through traditional booksellers. How to approach alternative outlets, and what to expect.
 
10) Catalog Sales & Book Clubs - How to get your book listed in catalogs and with book clubs. Creating a book club guide for your book and making it available to prospective buyers.
 
11) Online Book Tours & Virtual Launch Parties - How to set up and run a virtual (online) book launch. How to set up and run a blog book tour. Strategies to try and pitfalls to avoid.
 
12) Advertising - The ins and outs of paid advertising. Pros and cons, budgetary considerations, when it makes sense to pay for advertising and where to get the most bang for your paid advertising buck. Paid showcase, bookseller and publisher-services sites.
 
13) Free Press/Publicity/Promo Opportunities - Options for getting free press, publicity and promotion for you and your book. Free online press release services and how to write an effective press release. Which free press/publicity options work best for fiction versus nonfiction. Community outreach, media tie-ins, creating opportunities for press releases and building buzz. Making yourself or your book “newsworthy”.
 
14) Selling Subsidiary Rights - When it makes sense to sell subsidiary rights (e.g., film development rights, foreign language rights, merchandising rights, character licensing, etc.) and markets for doing so.
 
15) Transition From Indie To Mainstream Author – What it takes to attract mainstream-publisher attention, and how to do it. How to determine if going with a mainstream publisher is a move that makes sense for you and your book. The pros and cons of publishing through a mainstream publisher. Keeping a positive working relationship with publishing house staff. Working with a literary agent or attorney in contract negotiations. What to expect from the time a publisher expresses interest to the day your mainstream-published book goes on sale. How promotion of a mainstream-published book varies from promotion of an indie book.

16) Tracking Progress & Managing Your Online Reputation – Using web statistics software and online tracking tools such as Whostalkin and Google Alerts. Determining which of your promo/publicity efforts are paying off based on web and sales statistics. How to keep track of what’s being said about you and your book online, when and how to do effective damage control. Dealing with internet defamation.

REMEMBER – If you already have a paid listing in the Publetariat Vault, you’re entitled to free enrollment in the Vault U. curriculum of your choice. By default, all authors with Vault listings are enrolled in the Platform/Promo curriculum, though they can ask to be switched to the Publishing curriculum if they wish (contact us at vault@publetariat.com and include your username to make this request).

The Subscribe button below is for authors who do not have Vault listings, or for authors who have Vault listings and are already enrolled in the Publishing Vault U. curriculum, but would also like to enroll in the Platform/Promo curriculum.