Poetry + Abuse Survivors = Marketing Success.... say what?

It seems that Georgia poet, Alice Shapiro, has no creative limits.

With a new book of poems out this month, a poetry reading with David Axelrod and writing well under way for her next book, you'd think she'd filled her time quite well and used up all of her creativity. Well, not so it seems. Here's the BizBuzzz.

Alice has been working on the marketing of her book, Cracked: Timeless Topics of Nature, Courage and Endurance. Alice's creative marketing methods prove that you don't have to have a huge budget. With a little time and a well-laid plan, marketing your own book can be productive and even a little fun.

READING TO SURVIVORS: Alice is one of those wonderful people who give back more than they receive, only in this beautiful marketing example, everyone benefits. Alice coordinated a reading for residents of SHARE House, a shelter for victims of abuse. She read to these brave women and to their children. They heard poems of endurance and courage. Alice was comforted by the hope that she saw in their eyes. She was also able to build a press release to submit to area papers, which will help in the marketing of her book, Cracked, and raise awareness of the good work of SHARE House at the same time.

GETTING LINKED: Networking is nothing new, but these days a lot of it is done on-line. "I have used social media to great advantage," Alice tells us. She has found LinkedIn to be helpful in finding other poets, and some like her work enough to contribute a blurb for the back cover of the book. "I got some great comments," she continues, "including one from the Livermore Poet Laureate, Connie Post. The people on LinkedIn are so generous with relevant, professional advice on marketing, blog/website development, and life lessons."

TWEET-TWEET: And what's all that Twittering you've been hearing about? Was Alice able to figure it out and use it advantageously for her book marketing? Yes, she tells us, "I found a Florida Journalism teacher who helped her students submit poems to my website." Alice Shapiro is not a teenager having fun using the latest technology--she's a real live grown-up, who's managed to identify her market and learned how to use the latest technology to raise awareness of her book through this technology.

RED ROOM FOR WRITING: Alice says that on redroom.com she was "able to develop an extensive profile with audio and article-linking features," and adds that this helped her to build a strong connection to other writers. "It has given me good exposure to the writing community," she says. So what's to stop any of us from using social media to build networks on-line and get the media and marketing bang we need for the buck that is harder to part with these days? Absolutely nothing! If you're in the greater Atlanta, Georgia, area this June 21st, stop in and meet Alice. You'll find yourself inspired by the poetry, and quite possibly by the can-do marketing attitude of a Long Island-transplanted Georgia writer named Alice Shapiro.

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AFTERNOON WITH AUTHORS: Poets Alice Shapiro & David Axelrod
Sun, June 21, 3pm – 5pm
Cultural Arts Center, 8652 Campbellton Street, Douglasville (map)
Hosted by the Douglas County Writers Group
Free & open to the public.

CHILDREN'S POEMS from Alice's website. http://aliceshapiro.com/childrens-poems/

TWEET ALICE by joining up at http://www.twitter.com/crackedpoems