I met reader and street team captain Priscilla “Book
Maniac” Johnson for the first time years ago at a Romance Slam Jam conference.
I was always impressed by her support of my friend, author A.C. Artist. I
thought to myself, “Wow. What I wouldn’t give to have that type of support
system.” At this year’s RSJ in Dallas, I sat in on a workshop conducted by Priscilla
aka Cilla. Since she gave away so much valuable information, a simple recap
wouldn’t do justice to anyone reading this post, so I asked Cilla to share her
tips for starting a street team on my blog, so here you go.
What are Street Teams?
“I want to be on a
street team”. “Should I have street team?”
More and more
readers are asking to be a part of street teams and authors are questioning how
do I start a street team. Yet, no one really knows what a street team does or
how do they works.
Here’s a little
history. Street teams originated in the late 1980’s with rock and roll
bands. Band members and producers would give records and tapes to fans to
take to radio stations and record stores in exchange for concert tickets.
Groups like Nirvana became overnight success. This was a great marketing tool
because the music went directly to the fans. It also eliminated the high
cost associated with advertisers, radio and television promotors.
As more authors
enter the realm of self-publishing and eBooks, street teams are becoming more
popular. Authors use street teams to announce up-coming releases,
introduce their books to new readers, increase written book reviews and get
their work in book stores and libraries. Street teams are
extremely instrumental on social media sites, such as Face Book, Twitter, and
Good Reads in letting readers know what is hot and on the verge of hitting the
literary street. It also allows the
author to spend time writing instead of promoting and marketing for themselves.
Keep in mind that
members of any street team are VOLUNTEERS who are passionate about the work of
an author and they are willing and eager to talk about how wonderful and great
the author stories are. Members have
read every book by an author and can usually recite the characters better than
the author. And what does the team get
in return? Some authors reward members with Advance Reader Copies (ARC)
of new releases, in-side information on releases, swag, gift cards or other
unique gifts.
Being on a street
team is a lot of work. But it is also lots of fun and very rewarding. I have
had the pleasure of being on several teams and the experience has been
rewarding. You build lasting friendships
with readers and authors. Who could ask
for anything more?
Priscilla C. Johnson
aka ‘Cilla
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