As a writer, the idea of promoting your books might leave you feeling uneasy. After all, your books are not generic consumer goods that have been mass-produced at a nameless factory. Your books are your babies. You have worked long and hard to bring them to maturity. So, everyone else should naturally adore them just as you do, right? Wrong. Writing and publishing a book is only the beginning of a long and arduous journey. To get people excited about buying and reading your books, you have to actively promote them. Unlike in the past, when most of your book’s promotion had to be done through the publishers, the internet has made it possible for almost all authors to actively …
Should I Use A Free ISBN?
Why free or discounted ISBNs (International Standard Book Numbers) are a bad idea Free and Discounted ISBNs An ISBN is a code that tells several things; among those things is who bought the code. The owner of the code is the person or business who will be contacted when a purchase is desired or, in the case of Sasha Black, a resource to go to when there is a dispute about book ownership. More about Sasha’s situation in a bit. On the chance that you don’t know what an ISBN is for or what it looks like, it’s the numeric code that goes above the barcode on the back of your book and it’s used by publishers, booksellers, libraries, …
Creating Reader Magnets
How do you entice readers to give you their email? Through one or more reader magnets. That’s a good start, but how do you keep them coming back to see what’s new on your website? The answer is that you need to create a reader magnet initially, then develop a system that keeps readers engaged. This can be fairly straightforward for non-fiction writers, but fiction writers may scratch their heads and come up blank. Fiction author Lorena Angell does an excellent job of keeping her readers engaged and begging her for more. To explain how she does this, let me share a bit more about her books. Lorena writes a young-adult fantasy series called “The Unaltered”, and in each book …
How To Find Keywords For Your Book
Finding keywords to enter for Amazon’s keyword choices is a challenge for many writers. Writers generally fall into one of three camps when it comes to keywords. 1. Either they don’t fill in anything at all for keyword selection because it’s not required to do so by Amazon and they haven’t a clue what kind of information to enter. 2. They do their best to fill in something. Their choices are guesswork . . . and forget about keyword phrases, that’s far outside their knowledge base. 3. Then there are those who know what to do and their books rank well because of this. If you find yourself resonating with one of the first two camps, you’re among the majority. …
Capitalization of Titles
Topics: Capitalization of Titles; Webinars to Promote Your Books I have a confession to make. (That got you wondering, didn’t it?) No, nothing too juicy. It’s just about being an editor. Even as someone who’s written uncountable headlines for newspapers and newsletters, I sometimes have trouble remembering the rules for what’s supposed to be capitalized in a heading and what’s not. I don’t think I’m alone with that confession. If you’re a self-published author or editor, you’ve likely rubbed your noggin’ a time or two over capitalization of titles. Here are some examples of words that might or might not be capitalized in a heading. See if you can pick which of these words should be capitalized: after from out …
Essential Elements for Writing Success
In this video I cover the 5 Essential Elements for Writing Success 1. Don’t treat writing like a hobby Set up a time to write and write consistently at that time, no excuses Here are some links to tools that help keep you from being distracted: https://freedom.to/ or for mac users there’s a free version at http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/ Another good one is https://www.focusboosterapp.com/ Put your writing schedule on your calendar to make sure you carve out that time. Perhaps you set aside an hour a day, or maybe you reserve all your Saturdays like best-selling author Phillip Margolin did while working full-time as an attorney. Set your time up and then respect that time as much as you would any other …
Power Habits for Writers
1. Understand Your “Why” Knowing what your reason is for writing will give you momentum when times are tough or you don’t feel like writing. Maybe you want to make enough income from your writing that you can stay home with your kids, buy a new car, or build up income for retirement. That “why”, if you use it to remind yourself, will help you make choices about your time that you might not make otherwise. 2. Plan Your Writing Time Don’t wait until the mood strikes you or the house is in perfect order—or whatever it is that you think has to happen before you sit down and write. The circumstances you think you need before everything can come …
10 Things A Writer Should Know
1. You’re On Your Own For Publicity Unless you’re one of the top income producing writers for a publishing house, you’re going to need to do your own publicity. The days where publishers devoted time and money to promoting each author are over. Don’t despair. The good news is there are more ways than ever to get word out about each book you write and about who you are as an author. The best news is if you’re doing this as a self-published author, you can keep your books visible for a long, long time. 2. Beware The Cheap Route Many writers are on a budget. There are ways to keep to a tight budget, but getting a lower priced …
28 Steps to Writing Success
Twenty-Eight Step Success Plan For Platform Building, Book Sales And A Winning Book Launch The best time to start would be when you’re first thinking about becoming an author! That’s unlikely to happen, nor will you necessarily begin these steps when you first start writing your novel or your non-fiction work. Don’t despair if you’re coming to this list late in the game. Just pick up where you can and go from that point forward. Everything you do makes a difference! (When dates are shown, these are indications of ideal time allowances before book releases.) 1. consider adding in elements to your book that will assist you with targeting specific demographics 2. have your book professionally edited 3. make sure …
Point of View
Easy Guide to Point of View Mastering point of view (POV) is one of the basics all writers should tackle. Knowing how to properly mix, or avoid, blending viewpoints, is something that, once learned, will become second nature to you. Okay writers, having read that opening statement, how many of you know there are two points of view in that paragraph? “All writers” is third person, as it signifies who is being written about, without using the actual words (he, she, they, their or a list of proper names). When I wrote, “second nature to you,” the “you” identifies this sentence as being written in second person. You can see how using the word “you” narrows down the audience to …
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding For Writers Yes, sometimes there is such a thing as the kindness of strangers. It’s called crowdfunding. So how does crowdfunding work? You ask for money in a spellbinding way (or as close as you can get to that effect) and then people give you money to pay for all the things you may need for your book or eBook, such as editing services, cover art, purchasing an ISBN, etc. One person may give you a dollar or two, another throws $50 your way, and yet another may give you thousands. The sum of all these individuals forms the crowd. I think you get the funding part. I’ve highlighted the three sites I deem most writer-friendly and then go …
Getting Reviews
Need Book Reviews? Start Here Thirteen Starting Points for Getting Reviews for your eBook or Print Book Email It should go without saying, you want to tap into your own email list to see who might leave a review. Business associates, connections to groups you might belong to, etc., are perfect candidates. Amazon frowns on reviews left by relatives, so if your cousin or sister with the same last name leaves a review, Amazon might pull the review or even close your account, albeit temporarily. Even without the same last name, you want to exercise caution when asking those who are close to you to comment on your book. You might want to say something along the lines of, “Please don’t …
Rules For Using Commas In Books
Did you know the Chicago Manual of Style is what should be used as your punctuation and grammar guide when writing a book? Rules for article writing can be different and everyone knows you get a lot of creative leeway with blogs. Even so, the rules for using commas are consistent and make a big difference to the reader. Think of commas as little signals on how to read each sentence. It’s as important to know when you shouldn’t use commas as it is to know how to use them properly. Below are some basic rules and some examples. Use a comma to set off quotes. In her book, she writes, “The way to discover this is tough.” Use a …
Tips For Getting On TV
David Perozzi, producer of Anderson Cooper’s new daytime show, offered a few tips on getting your national TV pitches noticed (in an interview with Arielle Ford, developer of the Everything You Should Know program). Check out David Perozzi’s tips here: 1. Help out. When pitching a TV show, add value. It’s not your job to sell your book or be a star when pitching. At the beginning, prepare to help the producers in every way you can. 2. Research the show. Know the audience, the people who watch the show. Each show has a different audience. Each day part in TV land is different. “If you’re pitching a morning show, for instance, your story should appeal to stay-at-home moms and seniors, …