Stephanie Barko - Marketer
Transforming adult nonfiction writers and historical novelists into award-winning authors for 16 years.
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Overview
If you are an adult nonfiction author or pre-pub historical novelist who wants to build a brand that readers and the media are keen to follow, I can help. It’s never too early to build your platform, and debut authors are especially welcome here.
The marketing I do for you is built on what I call author infrastructure. After the elements of this infrastructure are in place, you have places to meet with your following and attract the press. Although building is not magic, sometimes magic happens because of what I build for you.
My expertise has been published in Writers’ Digest and Southern Writers Magazine, and I have spoken on book marketing at agents & editors conferences held by Historical Novel Society UK and HNS North America, Nonfiction Authors Association, and Oklahoma Writers Federation. In 2017, I was named a SXSW Interactive Mentor, perhaps in recognition for the technology I created that helps authors who cannot afford a publicist.
Here’s what a few clients have said about my work.
- As debut co-authors of a multi-category nonfiction, we were able to rely on Stephanie for her guidance and connections. More importantly, she met her commitments in a timely manner and contributed good exposure for our book, such as a video interview at Huff Post.
- As a result of Stephanie’s promotion, I have picked up speaking engagements, consulting work, and radio interviews. I highly recommend her and will definitely use Stephanie in the future.
- One of the characteristics I cherish most about Stephanie is the quality of who she is, for which no amount of money could adequately compensate. She is a cheerleader for the possibility of my work being extraordinary and making an impact in the world.
The marketing I do for you is built on what I call author infrastructure. After the elements of this infrastructure are in place, you have places to meet with your following and attract the press. Although building is not magic, sometimes magic happens because of what I build for you.
My expertise has been published in Writers’ Digest and Southern Writers Magazine, and I have spoken on book marketing at agents & editors conferences held by Historical Novel Society UK and HNS North America, Nonfiction Authors Association, and Oklahoma Writers Federation. In 2017, I was named a SXSW Interactive Mentor, perhaps in recognition for the technology I created that helps authors who cannot afford a publicist.
Here’s what a few clients have said about my work.
- As debut co-authors of a multi-category nonfiction, we were able to rely on Stephanie for her guidance and connections. More importantly, she met her commitments in a timely manner and contributed good exposure for our book, such as a video interview at Huff Post.
- As a result of Stephanie’s promotion, I have picked up speaking engagements, consulting work, and radio interviews. I highly recommend her and will definitely use Stephanie in the future.
- One of the characteristics I cherish most about Stephanie is the quality of who she is, for which no amount of money could adequately compensate. She is a cheerleader for the possibility of my work being extraordinary and making an impact in the world.
Services
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Management
Career Guides
History
New Age
Psychology
Religion & Spirituality
Self-Help & Self-Improvement
Fiction
Historical Fiction
Certifications
- BBA, Marketing
- BA, Sociology
Awards
- 2020 Best Promotional Firm, Site, or Resource--Critters Annual Readers Poll
Work experience
Book Marketing Shepherd
Self-employed
April, 2006
–
Present
(over 16 years)
Pre-pub book marketing for adult nonfiction authors and historical novelists, including custom platform creation and execution. Virtual tour creation and promotion. I believe in helping authors, so even if I cannot add value for you, I'll refer you to someone who can.
Product Marketer
Motorola Semiconductor
September, 1995
–
November, 2004
(about 9 years)
Marketed high-end semiconductors for what is now NXP Semiconductors.
Projects
Up the Hill to Home by Jennifer Yacovissi
Complete campaign for debut historical novel from university press
results in a Kirkus review and a Foreword Indie Award.
Culture Without Accountability by Julie Miller and Brian Bedford
Complete campaign for indie nonfiction results in a Small Business Book Award.
Baffled by Love by Laurie Kahn
Complete campaign for debut nonfiction from a hybrid press results in review by Library Journal.
The Roses Underneath by CF Yetmen
Complete campaign of debut indie historical novel results in an IPPY Award.
Come and Take It by Landon Wallace
Complete campaign of debut historical time slip novel. Won Shelf Unbound Notable Indie award.
Walking the Llano by Shelley Armitage
Virtual tour for eco-memoir through university press that made Kirkus Best Books of 2016.
Portfolio (22 selected works)
For three decades, Laurie Kahn has treated clients who were abused as children―people who were injured by someone whom they believed to be trustworthy, someone who professed to love them. Their abusers―a father, stepfather, priest, coach, babysitter, aunt, neighbor―often were people who inhabited their daily lives.Love is why they come to therapy. Love is what they want, and love is what they ... read more
Austin writer-historian Mike Cox explores the origin and rise of the famed Texas Rangers. Starting in 1821 with just a handful of men, the Rangers' first purpose was to keep settlers safe from the feared and gruesome Karankawa Indians, a cannibalistic tribe that wanderd the Texas territory. As the influx of settlers grew, the attacks increased, and it became clear that a larger, better trained... read more
Mayhem: Three Lives of a Woman
Elizabeth Harris
Winner of the Gival Press Novel Award A violent and unusual crime is committed in a frankly imagined rural Texas of 1936: two ranchers attempt to castrate a neighbor under circumstances deriving from standard gender and social relations. The daughter of prominent landowners, regarded as the cause of this crime, is outcast from home and family, rescued by clergy in the role of plot angels, and ... read more
Survival Lessons
Alice Hoffman
One of America's most beloved writers shares her suggestions for finding beauty in the world even during the toughest times.Survival Lessons provides a road map of how to reclaim your life from this day forward, with ways to reenvision everything―from relationships with friends and family to the way you see yourself. As Alice Hoffman says, “In many ways I wrote Survival Lessons to remind mysel... read more
Supervision is a critical function of leadership that is often overlooked, and yet the quality of supervision is often what makes or breaks a leader―and an organization. Supervision Matters is full of bite-size ideas for how to become a more effective supervisor, including advice on how to be clear about expectations, giving helpful feedback, manage yourself, and more. Each chapter is structur... read more
Walking the Llano: A Texas Memoir of Place
Shelley Armitage
When American explorers crossed the Texas Panhandle, they dubbed it part of the “Great American Desert.” A “sea of grass,” the llano appeared empty, flat, and barely habitable. Contemporary developments—cell phone towers, oil rigs, and wind turbines—have only added to this stereotype. Yet in this lyrical ecomemoir, Shelley Armitage charts a unique rediscovery of the largely unknown land, a jou... read more
The memoir of one of the most recognizable contemporary artists in the world, a book filled with the biggest celebrities in twentieth-century sport, art, sexy dames, music, film, and more, by LeRoy Neiman, who was a principle contributor to Playboy for years, who covered the Playboy beat “Man at His Leisure,” who was chronicler and confidant of Muhammad Ali (and artist to all of sports!), and ... read more
The Way of the Mysterial Woman: Upgrading How You Live, Love, and Lead
Suzanne Anderson MA, Susan Cannon PhD
The Way of the Mysterial Woman is for every woman who feels the call into greatness, authenticity, and meaningful living. This is The Way for women who are stepping into their lives with mind, body, heart, and soul fully engaged, ready to awaken to their true potential. We hear the clarion call, but how will we meet it? It’s almost like we need a completely new internal operating system. The M... read more
Come and Take It: Search for the Treasure of the Alamo
Landon Wallace
In the early morning of March 6, 1836, the Mexican army storms the Alamo and kills every one of the defenders except William Barret Travis's young black slave named Joe. Although General Santa Anna vows to keep him alive, a fearful Joe escapes away in the night carrying a prize far more valuable than anything inside the creaky Spanish mission. Fast forward to September 2013. Joe's modern desce... read more
Up the Hill to Home: A Novel
Jennifer Bort Yacovissi
Family. Home. Memories. Lillie Voith holds these values most dear. Family: Cherished only child of Charley and Emma Beck, she is the unlikely issue of an improbable union. Beloved wife of Ferd Voith, she is the happy mother of a tribe of nine, and newly expecting her tenth. It is the family of her earliest dreams. Home: Seven forty-one, the house that Charley built on his little plot of farmla... read more
Out from the Underworld
Heather Siegel
Heather Siegel was six years old when her mother disappeared, sending her father into a tailspin that took Heather and her siblings down with him—from a comfortable suburban home to a barely habitable basement apartment, a dark world they soon found themselves fighting to return to from the exile of foster care, then fighting even harder to escape. Forty years later, Heather Siegel tells the r... read more
Rediscover the benefits of a real-life social network!Although today's technology allows you to communicate with people all over the globe, it can also leave you feeling disconnected and unhappy in the real world. The Loneliness Cure helps you rediscover the power of socializing in person and finally find the affection you've been longing for. Written by communication expert Kory Floyd, PhD, t... read more
SILVER MEDAL WINNER of the 2016 Global eBook Award (Business: Employment) and RUNNER-UP FINALIST for the 2016 International Book Award (Business: Careers). Becoming the hiring manager's candidate of choice is not a matter of luck--it's how well your accomplishments and the benefits of your expertise can contribute toward an organization's strategic objectives. Author, consultant, and former Fo... read more
The Roses Underneath
C.F. Yetmen
2015 Gold Medal for Historical Fiction, Independent Publisher IPPY Awards 2014 Finalist, Foreword Reviews' INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards 2014 Notable Indie Book, Shelf Unbound Writing Competition for Best Indie Book It is August 1945 in Wiesbaden, Germany. With the country in ruins, Anna Klein, displaced and separated from her beloved husband, struggles to support herself and her six-year o... read more
The US has a long history of independent thinking, innovation, and creativity—a culture that is evident in an economy largely driven by small businesses and entrepreneurs. Creating and growing a successful business is incredibly challenging. Only about half of new businesses survive 5 years. Just one third survive 10 years or more. What causes this high level of failure? Certainly there are mu... read more
War Babies: The Generation That Changed America
Richard Pells
War Babies: The Generation That Changed America examines the lives and careers of Americans born between 1939 and 1945. No one has written such a book about this generation. War Babies deals especially with musicians and composers like Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Simon and Garfunkel; with film directors like Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese; with actors like Al Pacino and Robert De Niro;... read more
Gathering Strength: Conversations with Afghan Women
Peggy Kelsey
Professional photographer, Peggy Kelsey traveled to Afghanistan in 2003 and 2010 to photograph and interview women. In Gathering Strength, these interviews come together under different topics creating conversations that illustrate the women's different stories, concerns and issues. Peggy's own story and comments serve as a bridge between the reader and Afghan women. Although the book addresse... read more
The Patterer
Larry Brill
The Patterer is a hilarious romp through jolly old England. It imagines what today s TV news would have looked like if it had been invented by a smart-aleck news guy back in the days of Charles Dickens.It's London, 1765. Leeds Merriweather is scratching out a living as a common street performer, a patterer, using his wit and storytelling skills to sell newspapers and all manner of literature. ... read more
Warrior Mother: Fierce Love, Unbearable, Loss, and Rituals that Heal is the true story of a mother's fierce love and determination, and her willingness to go outside the bounds of the ordinary when two of her three adult children are diagnosed with life-threatening disease.
Tasting Home: Coming of Age in the Kitchen
Judith Newton
If Julia Child had cooked Italian for a gay husband, used sugar to sweeten a sour childhood, and hosted buffets for a better world, she could have written Tasting Home: Coming of Age in the Kitchen. In this food memoir, Judith Newton shares the unforgettable story of a life on the front lines of activism and in the kitchen. During a difficult childhood, food and cooking were sources of comfort... read more
The founding of Austin sparked one of the Republic of Texas's first great political battles, pitting against each other two Texas titans: Lamar, who in less than a year had risen to vice president from army private, and Sam Houston, the hero of San Jacinto and a man both loved and hated throughout the Republic. The shy, soft-spoken, self-righteous Lamar dreamed of a great imperial capital in t... read more
The Wiregrass: A Novel
Pam Webber
Reminiscent of the stories and styles of Harper Lee, Sue Monk Kidd, and Jan Karon, Pam Webber’s The Wiregrass is an extraordinary tale about a magical time in an ordinary place full of lovable and unlovable characters. Infused with laughter, tears, love, loss, and hope, the story follows fourteen-year-old cousins Nettie, J.D. Eric, and Sam as they navigate the summer of their discontent, str... read more
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