According to the website, the company’s mission “is to create the most personalized and authentic fan experiences in the world.”

You are probably seeing already how you might use celebrities for book promotion. Imagine a celebrity saying something positive about your book. It’s a fun and intriguing idea, isn’t it?

Who influences your ideal readers?

Before using it, though, give careful thought to the type of personality you hire to read your message. Ask yourself these questions:

• Who influences my target audience – my ideal readers?
• What well-known personality represents what I want to communicate about my book?
• Who might alienate my target audience?

If you don’t select just the right celeb to represent your work, you could harm both the book and your brand.

Be thoughtful about who you hire

Prolific author Laura Lippman (not her real name) used a CAMEO video to  promote one of her books online.The quasi-celeb she paid, and another she was considering hiring, are well-known in large part because of their polarizing personalities.

In an online discussion, an author noted that the celebrity Lippman paid, and the other she was thinking about hiring, could alienate potential readers.

It makes sense — imagine seeing a book promoted by a celebrity whose values are the opposite of yours. Would you be inclined to buy the book? Probably not.

And that was the unintended beauty of this author’s celebrity choices.

The people she thought best represented the book helped readers decide if they should read it. The outcome might have been the opposite of what she wanted, though, which is why it’s important to be thoughtful about who you hire to represent your book.

How to use CAMEO

Once you know which types of personalities will help, not harm, your book, search for them in the CAMEO database. (CAMEO refers to them as “talent.”) Search for a name, or scroll through categories ranging from actors and athletes to reality TV stars and YouTubers.

Each person’s fee for a personal video is in the upper right of the person’s head shot. Comedian Gilbert Gottfried charges $150; Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte’s fee is $100. Lesser-known influencers such as YouTuber Chris Dodd charge as little as $5.

Promotional videos can cost more. Learn more about promotional videos on the FAQ page. See who offers them in this list on the site.

Click on the headshot; on their profile page, select “book now” and fill out the form. CAMEO doesn’t charge your credit card until your video is done.

The personalities, I mean, “talent,” have seven days to do the job. If they don’t, your request expires and you aren’t charged.

The frequently asked questions page on the service website will answer most of your questions.

How to use your video

You can request a generic promotional video that says all the right things about your book and share it widely.

Or – and I think this would be really fun – you could use a pesonal video to thank your top fan or fans. Select your biggest fan (or two or three) and address your video to that person by name, thanking them for always supporting your books.

There’s lots of potential here. The videos are novel enough to get your audience’s attention.

Know your audience

Because of that, it’s important to be careful about who you hire. That individual has the potential to either delight or dismay your target readers.

The more you know about your target audience, the more likely you are to pick a winner. If you need help with that, our video training program, “Who Will Buy Your Book? How to Figure Out and Find Your Target Audience,” walks you through the process of learning as much as possible about your ideal readers.

Have fun exploring the possibilities with this unusual resource. And be sure to tell us if you give it a try!

What other ways would you use CAMEO to market your book? Please tell us in a comment!

Tip of the Month

I like to share a “Tip of the Month,” a free resource or tool for authors, on the last Wednesday of the month.

This month it’s my new, free, downloadable “Platform Building for Authors Cheat Sheet.”

In book publishing, “platform” is that built-in audience waiting to buy your book.

Think of it as the seat of a stool. You need at least three legs to hold up that stool, but the more you have, the more solid and strong that seat will be.

This free PDF download gives you 13 platform elements to consider as you build your stool author platform. Download your cheat sheet immediately!

With the news that newscaster and talk show host Hoda Kotb released another children’s book yesterday, philanthropist Melinda Gates is about to publish a book about empowering women, actress Ellie Kemper recently published an essay collection, and Martina McBride and Chrissy Teigen have new cookbooks, it’s no wonder that authors who lack fame and fortune are a bit discouraged.

If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em

How can an “ordinary” author compete with the publishing platforms of the rich and famous?

By taking the advice of this old expression: “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

Instead of getting discouraged, frustrated, or disappointed when you discover that a celebrity has written a book like yours, step into the spotlight the celeb is shining on your topic or genre.

Use their celebrity to your advantage

Here are a four ways to be opportunistic when you and a celebrity have a book in common:

1. Flag a trend.

Let’s say you make a living as a fashion stylist. As you’re cracking open your first carton of The Fashion Gurl’s Guide to Finding and Defining Your On Fleek Style (“SQUEE!”), you look up to see yet another gorgeous Hollywood glamour girl plugging her new “you can be stylin’ like me” book on “Entertainment Tonight.”

Instead of complaining about it on Facebook, see the trend — two new books on finding your own fashion style.

Write and distribute a tip sheet-type press release offering advice for finding your own unique fashion style. Refer to the celebrity’s book as an indication that this is a popular topic. Note that the tips are from your book, which is written by someone who provides style advice for a living.

2. Pitch yourself to the local media as the hometown version of the famous person.

Contact local reporters to provide the hometown angle. Summarize the national media attention the celebrity is receiving and explain that you’ve written a book on that subject, too. Highlight that you’re local.

Identify article or segment topics the celebrity is discussing and offer to provide similar, helpful information in an interview. Stress how your local ties will make your information more relevant to their audience.

3. Comment on online articles and interviews about the celebrity’s book.

It’s quite likely that the big morning programs will interview the celebrity at some point soon after the book’s publication date. When the interview is posted on the show’s Facebook page, comment on the video in a way that shows you are knowledgeable and informed about the topic. Include a link to your book at your preferred online retailer.

Use this approach for articles that run on online news sites that allow comments, too.

Always comment in a way that’s relevant and adds to the discussion — no “I wrote about this, too, here’s where you can buy my book” messages. Demonstrate your knowledge and your book’s value through your comments.

4. Give the celebrity’s book a little love.

Interview the celebrity (or the celebrity’s ghostwriter) on your blog (get contact information at my affiliate link for a celeb database).

Review the celebrity’s book on your blog or Medium.com.

Announce the celeb’s book in a blog post that outlines how your views compare and contrast.

Rather than worry about the celebrity taking attention away from your book, find a way to take advantage of the interest the celebrity is generating for your topic. It might be easier (and more productive) than you think.

Has a celebrity written your book? Tell us about it.

(Editor’s note: This article was first published in February 2013. It has been updated and expanded.)