Tag: marketing

Categories
Mastering Middle Grade

Staying the Course – Interview with Author KA Cummins

As an occasional reader of speculative fiction, I had seen the name KA Cummins in Havok Magazine. She is the author of a number of clean fantasy/spec fic short stories for teens. This year, however, her debut middle grade science fiction, The Snow Globe Travelers: Samuel’s Legacy, has already received a Readers’ Favorite Five-Star Review.

I am thrilled to have had the chance to interview KA about her experience and share it with you.

K. A. Cummins is a math lover, techie, consumer of mass amounts of information, art enthusiast, a homeschooler, and an indie author. She also enjoys seizing opportunities for adventure, when they arise. Her work has appeared in Havok Magazine and she regularly contributes to Lands Uncharted. She was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Writers of the Future contest for the 3rd Quarter of 2016 and was runner-up in the Realm Makers Scholarship Contest hosted by Endless Press in January of 2018.  

KM: As an author who writes for MG, YA and adult, I’d love to hear your perspective on what makes writing for MG readers unique. Do you approach the MG work differently? If you do (or don’t), can you elaborate about why? Was there anything specific that drew you toward writing for this audience?

KAC: Our youngest son was a big part of why I initially gravitated towards writing middle grade. We struggled to find books that challenged his mind without challenging his morals or introducing him to concepts too early. I’ve since fallen in love with middle-grade stories.

Overall, middle-grade stories aren’t very different from teen and adult stories, and the approach to writing them is the same. Tone, content restrictions, and the intensity of emotional plot points separate them from teen and adult more than anything else. A middle-grade story needs to have fun exaggerations and comic relief to break up the more serious elements that drive the plot. Consideration should also be given to the appropriateness of content.

KM: When marketing to middle grade, many people consider not only the readers, but the gatekeepers (librarians, parents/grandparents, teachers). What have you learned as you’ve prepared to launch your debut MG?

KAC: Marketing has been a challenge for me. I think I’ve tried pretty much all of the advice I’ve encountered. My only suggestion would be to focus on how the book adds value to the lives of children and to look for avenues to cultivate relationships that align with who you are and the path on which God has you.

KM: What advice, suggestions, or encouragement would you offer a new MG writer?

KAC: Let God guide you, even if it goes against conventional wisdom. He knows you better than you know yourself and He has a plan for you. Be mindful and intentional in all of your choices (this can be a tough one, it has tripped me up before), and stay focused on God and His Word so you know when you’re drifting from the path.

Kell McKinney earned a B.A. in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and an M.S. in documentary studies from the University of North Texas. She’s a part-time copywriter, double-time mom and wife, and spends every free minute writing and/or hunting for her car keys. Connect with her on Twitter @Kell_McK or kellmckinney.com.

Categories
Book Proposals

Beef Up Your Proposal Marketing Section

When writers take personality tests, the majority are introverts. They prefer to write more articles or books instead of spending the time to market their books. Yet the marketing section of your book proposal can be the difference between rejection and acceptance. Every writer has to learn these marketing skills.

P.T. Barnum said, “Without promotion, something terrible happens. Nothing.” Publishers create well-designed and well-edited books that they distribute to bookstores. These companies make large investments in the production of these books. Yet the sale of these books or moving them from the bookstore into the hands of readers is largely up to the author. If you self-publish, then you have all of this responsibility. Even if you self-publish, you still need to craft a book proposal (nonfiction or fiction). This proposal is your business plan of how you are going to put together your book. From my years in publishing, I know the critical nature of this document and in particular the marketing section.

As an author, you have to show your passion through action. Successful authors will continue to market and promote their book long after others have given up. For example, I’m still promoting and marketing radio interviews about  my Billy Graham biography even though it released four years ago.  I continue to market this book every day.

Here’s several ideas for the marketing section of your proposal:

  • Create practical plans which you can execute on your own timetable. From my book, I pulled 10 Facts about Billy Graham into an info-graphic. These facts became a bookmark on one side and the other side includes the book cover and a brief endorsement. Can you create this type of practical tool for your book then distribute the bookmark to bookstores for bag stuffers? 
  • Every publisher is going to want to see how many readers you can directly reach. Social media numbers are good but do you have an email list? How large is that email list? The larger the number for your email list you can include the better.
  • Commit to tell others about your book every week. Most authors do nothing so if you are actively talking about your book, your efforts will pay off. As marketing expert Sarah Bolem says, “Consumers generally need to be exposed to a new product seven to twelve times before they will purchase it.”
  • Who can you get to write the foreword for your book? Do you know people who can endorse the book (in your target market). Include this information in the marketing section of your proposal. The right endorsement for your target reader will help you sell books and the attention of a publisher.

Build these types of marketing plans into your proposal for it to shine for editors and agents.

W. Terry Whalin is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. Get his free Book Proposal Checklist at: http://terrylinks.com/bookcheck Terry is the author of Book Proposals That Sell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success  and he has written over 60 books and for more than 50 magazines. He has over 200,000 followers on twitter. http://twitter.com/terrywhalin

Categories
Guest Posts

Why Should I Market An Unpublished Book?

“Lisa, everyone is asking me when they can buy a copy of the book.”

I looked at my friend without exasperation as I explained what I knew of the process. “I know, but first I need an agent, and then a publisher.”

“But why do you need an agent and how do you get one?”

Ah, there’s the rub. The advent of self-publishing has changed how people view the process of getting an actual “I can hold it in my hands” book into the marketplace. It’s easy enough to put an e-book together, and it takes more work (and money) to hire a company to print your book. If you go that route, the general rule is you must pay for the book’s production and then you have to do the marketing and get it placed in bookstores on your own. It can turn into a tremendous outlay of time and money (See a theme here?).

When an author wants a powerhouse publication, we go the traditional route, securing an agent who then finds a publisher. To get an agent you need a book proposal, which is like a business plan. Can you say research?

When I first met with the lady who would become my agent (Yes! It happened!), she liked the premise of the book and asked me to submit a proposal. It includes three synopses of the book (of varying sizes), chapter summaries, comparable works, an endorsement list, marketing plans (There it is!), and a few chapters of the book. After all, you must show the agent that you can, you know, write.

I had no clue what was involved until I started writing Marshall’s memoir, Someplace To Be Somebody. He finally got it when he thought of LeBron James, a local young man some of you may have heard of.

“Okay, so it’s like LeBron. For him to get the best contract, he has to have an agent who looks out for him.”

“Bingo!” We finally jumped that hurdle of understanding.

“But why are we doing all of this advertising when we don’t even have a book?”

It’s a valid question because it’s imperative for an author (especially a first-timer) to be a viable asset for a publisher. They need to know we have a following of people who will buy the book. I keep Marshall busy with promotional videos, and I asked him to share news on his social media sites. We were recently interviewed by Patricia Durgin (Marketers on a Mission) about the book, and we utilize Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and blog posts.

You have to get creative when it comes to book marketing. Publishers no longer do all of that work for an author, and it’s more than just going to book stores and doing a signing. It’s thinking way outside of the box and coming up with unique ways to interest people in your adventure (Yep, we’re not in Kansas anymore).

It’s about getting name recognition, speaking engagements, email lists, viral blog posts and Youtube videos, a large following, and giveaways.

Wait. What? This is where the real creativity comes in. I have to bow to those who lead the way in this (Bethany Jett, Cody Morehead, Edie Melson, Cyle Young, e.g.). They know what entices publishers, and they share! Wow! What a bonus, too for a new author to have their excellent help and support.

As we maneuver our way toward publication, marketing serves as an essential tool. As I learn, it’s my joy to share with other authors.

Lisa Kibler is a writer/blogger and international speaker. She has been published in Celebrate Gettysburg, CBN.com, and contributed to Heart Renovation by Lighthouse Bible Studies. She has just completed Someplace To Be Somebody, the memoir of former Black Nationalist, Pastor Marshall Brandon. Lisa is represented by Hartline Literary Agency. Her website is lisakibler.com

Categories
Book Proposals

DON’T SLAP THE DOCTOR WHEN YOUR BABY IS SICK

Editors are like doctors.

People entrust their precious baby to them. Their beautiful, chubby, and well-loved child. Doctors must examine the infant to find every pimple, wart, and imperfection.  Some babies have a few blemishes while others have the chicken pox.

What’s a doctor to do?

Tell the parent of course and give the advice to cure the ailing child.  The parent leaves, script in hand, determined to nurture the child until every spot is gone.

Proposals are our babies. We find it difficult to hand our precious to someone we barely know, let alone allow them to pick it apart!  We know the checkup is necessary to ward off serious ailments, but some disorders can be cured prior to the visit.

During my examination of many proposals, I found the top three glaring blemishes that can be remedied at home.

The top three blemishes:

Format: The standard format is  1″ margins, double-spaced in New Courier 12 or Times New Roman 12 font.

I’ve seen proposals with cursive fonts, bold fonts, and centered on the page. It looks artistic and captures my eye but the agent or publisher will reject it.  Always check the submission guidelines just in case the agent or publisher uses a different format.

Editing: Weed words are choking your message. Weed Words are unnecessary words and slow the reader. Here is a link to a list of these invaders.

Weed words are the major problem I encounter when editing a proposal. Take the time to pull them before you hit send. The agent and publisher will be thankful.

Marketing: Nike-Just Do it!

Agents and publishers want action. The words they dread: I will. I will get a website, I will call churches, I will tell my friend, I will get a Facebook page. NIKE! Do it before you send your proposal. It shows initiative and is mandatory to most publishers before they will sign you. Invest time into marketing like a parent invests time into the health of their child.

Just like babies need a regular checkup, our proposals need an examination.

If the editor finds something you didn’t,  listen and learn.

We don’t hit the doctor if our child is sick, so please don’t slap the editor if your proposal needs work.

Your success is our success.

What blemishes do you encounter while writing or reading a proposal? What’s the remedy?

Cherrilynn Bisbano is the founder of The Write Proposal book proposal services.

As managing editor of Almost an Author, she helped the website earn the #6 spot on the Top 100 best writing websites for 2018 by The Write Life and Top 101 Websites for writers with Writers Digest.

Cherrilynn is a speaker with Women Speakers. Her topics include leadership, book proposals, and the Bible and a member of American Christian Fiction Writers ACFW.

She is a two-time winner of Flash Fiction Weekly. You can find her published in Southern Writers, More to Life (MTL), Christian Rep, Christian Voice, Refresh and other online magazines. Cherrilynn is a contributor to Selah nominated, Breaking the Chains, Heart Reno, and Chicken Soup for the Soul-Miracles books.

Cherrilynn proudly served in the Navy and Air National Guard, earning the John Levitow Military leadership award.  She lives with her sixteen-year-old son, Michael, Jr., and husband of 19 years.

Cherrilynn loves Christ, Chocolate, coffee, and Cats.

www.truthtoshine.blogspot.com  Fulfilled Prophecy Friday

www.thewriteproposal.com  The Write Proposal

https://www.womenspeakers.com/united-states/east-greenwich/speaker/cherrilynn-bisbanoSpeaker

Categories
Dear Young Scribes

Insta-Savvy for the Socials: 5 Tips for Boosting Instagram Growth – Guest Post by Caroline George

Social media provides a new frontier ready for settlers. We gaze at its complex landscape of influencers, followers, and likes, and we often elect to spend our time at a coffeehouse, lost in the dip of an overused lounge chair and writing session than develop our online presence.

Writing matters most, right?

Spoiler alert: Publishers want authors with platforms.

Due to changes within the publishing industry, authors bear the responsibility of marketing their work. If they don’t have an audience for their marketing endeavors, they won’t sell their books. And if they don’t sell their books, they risk losing future publishing opportunities.

Most social-savvy individuals agree Instagram dominates the media world. With its diverse methods of content delivery and communication, the platform offers users the chance to engage with their audiences and expand their reach.

Authors, we need to take inventory of our social media tool-belts and decide which instruments best suit our target audience. For example, each social media platform caters to a specific demographic. Facebook tends to reach more users over the age of 30. Twitter also houses a mature demographic and presents business-geared content. Other platforms (Snapchat, Pinterest, etc.) inhabit the social media world, however, in this post, I aim to provide tips to help you boost your Instagram growth.

Some Instagram features to note . . .

  • Insta-Stories: Temporary posts that appear when a user clicks on an illuminated profile image. Each post lasts 24 hours.
  • Highlight Reel: Insta-Stories saved on a profile’s page, beneath the bio. These posts do not expire.
  • Profile: A user’s main page that houses images, highlights, and stories.
  • Business Profile Analytics: Information stored in a profile’s upper right-hand corner. Shares demographic, best times for posting, content engagement, and more.
  • Linked Accounts: Other social media platforms connected to the Instagram page. Linked accounts share content with each other.

These features combine the experiences of Snapchat and Facebook, which is why, according to Statista, Instagram currently has over 1 billion active users. The platform welcomes various age groups and focuses on engaging audiences with image-centered content.

What does this mean for authors?

  • Potential for tremendous reach.
  • Ability to grow platform with self-curated content.
  • Chance to connect with readers and build community.

I write for young adults, so Instagram helps me share my content with a teen and millennial audience, book-bloggers, fan girls, and other authors. Using the following 5 tips, I managed to boost my Instagram @authorcarolinegeorge from 500 followers to over 12 thousand followers in 2 years.

5 Tips for Boosting Instagram Growth . . .

Find your niche.

The first step of growing your audience is knowing your audience. What’s their age range? What type of content do they like? How do you reach them in a unique way?

Create your brand.

A brand can simply include color scheme, type of content posted, and overall message.

Know your voice.

Determine how you want to sound on social media. Are you fun and friendly? Do you write blog-style captions or share puns? Will users recognize your writing style? Consistency is key, so once you find your social media voice, stick with it.

Use Instagram’s tools.

To reach your target audience and grow your following, harness the power of hashtags. Sites like Top-Hashtag.com share the most popular hashtags for the type of content you publish. More ways to garner engagement:

  • Use the Business Profile Analytics to pinpoint the best posting time for your account,
  • Follow accounts like yours,
  • Add gifs, polls, and such to your Insta-Story. The more Instagram features you use, the more likely your content will appear in users’ feeds.

Collaborate.

Team up with similar accounts to boost your following! Idea for a collaboration: Offer bloggers a free copy of your book in exchange for a book-themed photo and honest review.

Anyone can become Insta-Savvy with these 5 steps!

Want to know more about social media marketing for authors? Follow me on Instagram @authorcarolinegeorge and Twitter @CarolineGeorge_ for more platform tips.

About Caroline:

A 2017 Belmont University graduate with a double-major in publishing and public relations, Caroline aims to pursue a career committed to helping authors, publishers and organizations project their stories to their publics. She spends her time blogging, writing for various magazines and authoring young adult fiction books (her current publications include “The Prime Way Trilogy” and “The Vestige”). She considers herself a not-so-southern Georgia peach, coffee-junkie and delights in being best known for writing the phrase, “Coffee first. Save the world later.”
Categories
Copywrite/Advertising

The Top 12 Principles of Copywriting According to the Voices on LinkedIn

Are you on LinkedIn? If so, let’s connect. If not, please join us.

LinkedIn is your online watering hole for conversation about business, work, marketing, entrepreneurship, communication, and more. I get a kick out of how the most business-oriented social media platform is also the most personally supportive.

Since I’ve also secured several paying clients on LinkedIn, I try to hang out there. Not long ago, I asked my marketing friends on the platform for their top 12 principles of copywriting.

Here’s what we came up with.

  1. Write with your reader in mind. (Holland Webb) I kicked off with this one. If you want to pour out your soul, keep a journal. Copywriting isn’t about you and me. It’s about them – the customers.
  2. Avoid confusion. Clarity trumps persuasion. (Jasper Oldersom) In most modern copywriting, we aren’t trying to convince people. Instead, we are inspiring and informing them so they will trust us with their business. Leave the clever prose behind, and focus on being clear, accurate, and honest.
  3. Omit needless words. (William Strunk and Mike Robinson) Here’s what Mike actually wrote, “Never say any more than you absolutely, totally, completely necessarily need to, lest you end up using far more words than it actually takes to convey your point, which may have been lost in the maelstrom of complicated, multitudinous words that really saw you just dancing frivolously around the main point, which, as you already knew from the beginning but had a word count to fill, is, in fact, a century-old dictum: Omit needless words.”
  4. If you got more ‘we’ than ‘you’ in your copy, you’re doing it wrong. (Becky Stout) It’s hard to get clients off the “me, me, me” message, but when they make the shift, the results are immediate and amazing. Plus, isn’t business more satisfying when it’s about others instead of yourself?
  5. Increase your life experiences, and always carry a notebook. (Justin Oberman) Writing gurus often give this advice to budding novelists, but it works for copywriters, too. Your varied life experiences give you more points of connection with your readers.
  6. Get rid of (horse hockey). (Sayantan Sen) I edited this one to keep within Almost An Author’s family-friendly guidelines. Sayantan’s original language is more accurate, though. Say what you mean. Cite your data. Stop talking.
  7. If you have to use the words “storytelling,” “brand,” or “program,” you’re doing it wrong. (Ebin Sandler) Yes, please! Jargon, hip language, and cliches have no place in your prose. Use them in the rough draft, but on the rewrites, ferret them out ruthlessly. Replace them with meaningful words and phrases.
  8. Think benefits, not features. (Yetta M.) This one is hard especially since clients will push back on it. They’ve designed something they want to tell the world about, forgetting that few people care about its every bell and whistle. Instead of listing what makes a product good, set up scenes that show the customer using the product in ways that make life better.
  9. Read what you’ve written, edit, rewrite. Repeat. (Naheed Maalik) This one shouldn’t need to be said, but it does. It definitely does. Because there’s no editor standing between you and the “publish” button on a WordPress blog, you have to be your own editor. I like to submit articles a week or two in advance, and then I ask the client to let me at it with the red pen before they publish it.
  10. Speak the truth. (Sara Miriam Gross) Have you seen those old snake oil advertisements from the 19th century? Apparently, those elixirs could cure everything from the vapors to smelly feet. Of course, they were probably either poison or 90 proof grain alcohol. The advertisers lied. Don’t do that. Today’s readers are sophisticated and will see right through you. Besides, it’s unethical.
  11. Use social proof + rich testimonials whenever possible to support the claims you are making. (Michal Eisikowitz) Credibility is the king of content. Trust is hard to build and easy to lose. Put everything you have into making sure you’re words ring true no matter how your readers test them.
  1. Use action words, and make claims that won’t be future disappointments. (Tzvi Zucker) Avoid the passive voice, linking verbs, and bland pronouns whenever you can. In that respect, copywriting is like every other kind of writing. Keep it interesting; keep it truthful.

So that’s it from the voices over at LinkedIn. What would you add to our list?

Holland Webb

Holland Webb is a full-time freelance copywriter and digital marketing strategist living near Greenville, SC. His clients are leaders in the online retail, higher education, and faith-based sectors. Holland has written for brands such as U.S. News & World Report, iLendX, Radisson, Country Inn & Suites, MediaFusion, Modkat, Great Bay Home, IMPACT Water, and BioNetwork. He is a featured writer on Compose.ly, and his monthly copywriting column appears on Almost An Author. You can reach him at hollandwebb.com or at hollandlylewebb@gmail.com.

Categories
Book Proposals

Come to the Table-of Contents

Congratulations, the agent, and publisher liked what they read in your Cover Letter, and opened the door to the rest of your proposal. Now, you want to make their experience easy and rewarding.

The top three pages most busy agents and publishers look at are the Biographical Sketch, Marketing Plan, and Story Synopsis.  Your Table of Contents is the map to get them there fast. A happy agent is a signing agent and publishers like an author who is thorough.

(Always follow the submission guidelines for agents and publishers. You can find them at their website.)

Below is an example of a fiction proposal:

Table of Contents

 

One Page Sell Sheet…………………………………………………………………………………3
Biographical Sketch………………………………………………………………………………….4
Synopsis…………………………………………………………………………………………………..5
Marketing Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………..9
Competetive Analysis……………………………………………………………………………….10
Marketing Plan…………………………………………………………………………………………12
History of the Manuscript…………………………………………………………………………14
Sample Chapters………………………………………………………………………………………15

 

In a non-fiction proposal, the “Synopsis” pages will be replaced with, “Chapter Outline.”

Double check your page numbers against the proposal each time you edit.

Next month we look at the One Page Sell sheet and discover why it’s different than a One Sheet.

Meanwhile, if you have any questions about book proposals, email me at editor@thewriteproposal.com.

Cherrilynn Bisbano is an award-winning writer. Her goal is to assist authors on their writing journey.

She is the founder of The Write Proposal book proposal services.

She is managing editor of Stand Firm-Reasons column and co-hosts Fulfilled Prophecy Friday with prophecy speaker Jake McCandless.

She’s the host of Genre Chat where she’s privileged to interview expert writers.

Cherrilynn was Managing Editor at Almost an Author –Top 100 writing websites for 2018.

She loves to teach leadership, book proposals and the bible. Find her biblesSpeakers page at Women Speakers

Leadership Certified and studying Chaplaincy and Business at Christian Leaders Institute

She is a two-time winner of Flash Fiction Weekly. She’s published in many online magazines and contributes to Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers blog.   She’s also published in Chicken Soup for the Soul- Miracles, Breaking the Chains and Heart Reno books.

Cherrilynn proudly served in the military for twenty years, earning the John Levitow Military leadership award.  She lives with her sixteen-year-old son, Michael, Jr., and husband of 19 years, Michael, Sr.  She loves Christ, chocolate, coffee, and cats

www.TheWriteProposal.com

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Dear Young Scribes

How to Create a Marketing Plan for your Book—Before it’s Contracted

Marketing isn’t exactly an author’s favorite job. After all, aren’t writers supposed to keep producing books and rely on their publishers to sell their books for them?

That used to be the case. But now, agents and publishers search to sign with authors who understand how to market a book. They want to trust that the writer will be committed and work hard toward placing their book in front of its target audience.

This is why it’s vital that aspiring authors don’t just learn how to write a book; they must also learn how to create a marketing plan. And yes, it’s smart to do this even before your book is contracted.

For my clients at Hartline Literary Agency, I like to walk them through the process of creating a marketing plan in their proposal. A plan they can put into action when the book releases.

Most writers, I’ve noticed, only include brief promotional ideas under the “Marketing” section of their book proposal. But rather than writing a brief paragraph about a few of your marketing ideas, why not create an action plan—just like you’d do if the book were preparing to release?

Doing this will do 3 things:

  1.  Prove to the editor that you know what it takes to market a book.
  2. Increase your chances of selling the book to a publisher.
  3. Make marketing easier for you once the book is released. How? Because you’ll already have your plan in place.

Even if you haven’t reached the book proposal creation stage, I highly recommend that you go ahead and begin crafting the first draft of your marketing plan.

That way, once it’s time to put your marketing section together for your proposal, you won’t be tempted to write the following paragraph:

“To market this book, I’ll hold book signings at bookstores and sell the book at writing conferences. Some other ideas include: hold giveaways and contests on my social media accounts, do a blog tour, and speak at schools and libraries.”      

Please do not write that into your book proposal. If you really want to stand out and impress the editor, then you’ll want to create an actual marketing plan.

Here’s how:

  1. Categorize your plan into the type of marketing.

For example…

ONLINE MARKETING

PRINT MARKETING

TV/RADIO MARKETING

CREATIVE MARKETING

SPEAKING

PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS

  1. Beneath each category, list about 3 – 7 steps you’ll take once the book is published. Be specific by listing the newspapers, magazines, radio stations, etc. that you’d like to reach out to once the book is published.

For example:

ONLINE MARKETING:

  • Arrange a 10 – 30-stop blog tour surrounding the release of the book
  • Submit articles to teen websites, such as [list here]
  • Hold a 15-day Instagram challenge using the hashtag #PursueYourDreams
  • Invite my street team to read an early copy of my book in exchange for an honest review
  • Plan a book cover reveal with my street team members

As you create your marketing plan, keep in mind that you are not expected to do it all. If your marketing plan is too extensive, then the editor probably won’t take it too seriously. Be sure to write a plan that you will put into action. Make it realistic and reasonable by giving ideas that you know you can follow through with.

Only choose marketing efforts that 1) you’re passionate about, 2) you can logistically put into action, and 2) that will reach your target audience. Even better if your marketing strategies can intersect the three!

My advice? Familiarize yourself with how to market a book. Don’t wait until you have a contract. Not only will this impress an agent/publisher, but it’ll also take pressure off of yourself once you do sign a contract and begin navigating the intimidating waters of marketing.

Who knows? You might even discover that you enjoy the idea of marketing more than you thought you would!

What are your favorite marketing strategies? Do you enjoy the process of marketing, or would you prefer to spend the time writing instead? Let me know in the comments!

[bctt tweet=”How to Create a Marketing Plan for your Book—Before it’s Contracted #writerslife #amwriting @TessaEmilyHall ” username=””]

Categories
Writers Chat

Marketing Your Personal Brand with Bethany Jett

Bethany Jett on Branding almostanauthor.com

It’s hard getting traction as a writer without an audience. If you’re new to this noisy world of publishing, you’ll want to watch this jam-packed episode of Writers Chat with Bethany Jett to see how you can market your personal brand so your message doesn’t get buried. You won’t want to miss it!


Join us!

Writers Chat is hosted live each Tuesday for an hour starting at 10 AM CT / 11 AM ET
on Zoom. Participants mute their audio and video during the filming, then we open up
the room for anyone who wishes to participate with our guests. The “After Party” is a
fifteen-minutes of off-the-record sharing and conversation.

Additionally, you can grow your network and add to the conversation by joining our
Facebook Group.

Categories
Guest post archive

PENCON, Fifth Annual Editing Conference By: Tisha Martin

The best investment is a good investment, but what is a good investment? One that has lasting personal and professional value.

As a writer, you may also edit part-time or even own your own publishing imprint and operate a small publishing press. In addition to writing, perhaps you edit professionally. No matter your place in the industry, you value the authors and publishers and clients you work with, as well as the readers you write for. And, you value your professional editing skills.

PENCON is a professional conference for editors, and it’s also for anyone who desires to strengthen their personal editing skills. This includes but is not limited to self-publishers, small presses, publishers, authors who are also editors, homeschool groups whose high school students are interested in the editing industry, and educational institutions whose departments focus on the publishing industry.

At PENCON 2018, we guarantee you lasting personal and professional value. Value in friendships. Value in a community that thinks—and speaks—just like you. Value in professional networking. Value in continuing education. Value in stretching your business—and yourself—as you meet new professionals in your field of expertise and learn from their experiences.

How much value do you want?

We’re celebrating our fifth anniversary and are meeting in the heart of Grand Rapids, Michigan, May 3–5, 2018. Collectively, our faculty comes prepared with more than 100 years of experience in the publishing industry and backgrounds in

  • indie publishing,
  • marketing,
  • business,
  • children’s and YA editing,
  • graphic design,

Our faculty also represents several Christian publishing houses. And our keynote speaker is Robert Hudson, the author of The Christian Writer’s Manual of Style.

You want to sign up! We know you do—and we’d love to talk with you. Early-bird registration ends January 31, 2018. Get a deal and snap up more than a handful of value by registering early for PENCON. We can’t wait to see you there!

Visit us online at www.penconeditors.com. Check out our faculty. Review the sessions. And register now.

Like and share our Facebook page, and keep up to date with upcoming sessions and PENCON news.

Contact us with any questions.

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Bio:

Owner of TM Editorial, Tisha Martin specializes in historical fiction, academic editing, and creative nonfiction. An active member of American Christian Fiction Writers and The Christian PEN, she appreciates the writing and editing communities. Tisha is editor and proofreader for beginning and best-selling authors, professional editing agencies, and publishing houses. As Assistant Director of PENCON, she enjoys organizing the conference, networking with others, and creating advertising content for the Facebook and LinkedIn pages. Connect with Tisha on Facebook or follow her Pinterest board for writers and editors.

 

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Writers Chat

Personal Branding & Marketing Best Practices

In this Writers Chat episode, award-winning author and MFA student in Communications: New Media and Marketing Bethany Jett shares tips and best practices on how writers and authors can utilize marketing tips and create a stellar personal brand.

Join us!

Writers Chat is hosted live each Tuesday for an hour starting at 10 AM CT / 11 AM ET on Zoom. Participants mute their audio and video during the filming, then we open up the room for anyone who wishes to participate with our guests. The “After Party” is a fifteen-minutes of off-the-record sharing and conversation.

Additionally, you can grow your network and add to the conversation by joining our Facebook Group.

Categories
Writer Encouragement

The Power of a Literary Paintbrush

Elaine Marie Cooper

We’ve been doing quite a bit of painting at our house lately. A lot of painting. Our goal is to put our house on the market and a fresh coat of paint makes a big difference in rooms that haven’t felt the strokes of a brush in some years. The fact that our unique home is nearing its centennial makes the need for fresh color even more important. First impressions matter.

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But it’s been hard work! Can you say “aching muscles?” Even the tendons in my fingers are complaining. But add my neck, arms and seemingly every other muscle in my body and I know that I have labored. But the results will be worth it when it’s ready to present to the public and that “For Sale” sign appears in the yard.

Have you ever thought of your work-in-progress as a piece of art that needs readied for the marketplace? Our first, second, and even third drafts need the stroke of words that describe setting, emotion, and artistic flair that reflects our writer’s voice.

Consider the difference in these phrases:

“He felt ashamed” vs “His cheeks burned as he avoided the professor’s gaze.”

“He was angry” vs. “The veins in his neck bulged as he pointed his finger in his enemy’s face.”

“She was hurt” to “She clutched her stomach and moaned.”

“She felt guilty” to “She stuttered her words as her face flushed.”

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The first phrase in each example is what they call “telling.” The second phrase is “showing.” These phrases paint a picture for the reader that brings the characters alive.

These examples of showing are just a few of the suggestions from “The Emotion Thesaurus” by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. These authors have a series of books on ways to describe characters and setting that can be artistic strokes of life for your book.

Like the strokes of my paintbrush will, hopefully, help my house be more marketable, so the goal of your artistic edits should be to help your novel or book be a better seller. And ultimately, that is the reason for edits: To create an unforgettable manuscript, beloved by many.

Happy editing!