Tag: speaking

Categories
Writing for YA

Tips for the Spotlight Shy Author: Written INterviews

I don’t know about you, but I’m not a huge fan of the spotlight. I’m completely comfortable speaking in public as long as I’m the one asking questions, but I get a little nervous when the tables are turned. It’s probably no surprise to you that not all writers are comfortable with public appearances and interviews. After all, writers spend their days with keyboard or pen, choosing written words as a way to communicate.

Written interviews are a natural for authors, but still come with a few pitfalls. It’s wise to avoid the common mistakes and be a good interviewee. Interviewing for blog posts can feel more informal and may be a little less intimidating than other types of interviews. (I’ll talk about those other types in a different blog post.)

Bloggers may offer spots for interviews, book excerpts, guest posts, or book reviews. I’m focusing on interviews, but the same rules apply for these other types of written posts as well.

Where to Find Opportunities

Blogs and Online Avenues

Young Adult book blogs that post author interviews are easy to find by a search of wordpress or other blogging platforms, but the best bet are those with recent entries.

Once you’ve found a blog that fits, look for a FAQ page, a contact form, or an email. Some blogs will provide a link to a google form. If they do, make sure to fill it out completely and follow all the directions.

Authors can also find opportunities for mini reviews in other social media communities.

A note of caution: While there are legitimate marketing companies that use social media platforms, be cautious of those offering to do interviews or features in exchange for a fee. Research and do your due diligence before shelling out any cash.

Don’t be afraid to ask for spots or book blogs or on author blogs. Many are happy to have a guest!

Print Magazines and Newspapers

These are more “one and done”. You can find contact information in the byline of a particular columnist, or in the publication’s masthead. Make sure the contact information is up to date before emailing the columnist. Unless you know the person, I suggest sending a businesslike query at first contact, introducing yourself and explaining why they should feature you or your work.

After Getting the Interview or Post

Before responding with your answers, read over the directions and make sure you understand what the interviewer is requesting. Stick to the agreed-upon topic. Pay attention to due dates, word limits, and include any requested additional information such as excerpts, author photos, book cover images, book quotes, buy links, and social media links.

If you need to reschedule, notify the interviewer as soon as possible.

Make the Best Use of the Opportunity

Use all your writing skills to produce quality copy, answering the questions clearly while still staying within word limits. Try to let your own unique voice shine through. Remember, this is an opportunity to introduce yourself to future readers and fans! Once you’ve written out your responses, use a spellchecker, a grammar checker, and do a final proofread of your work before sending it off.

Understand that your responses or article may be edited or that there may be follow-up questions. Be sure to respond to any correspondence, taking note of deadlines. Keep in mind there may be a lead time, and exercise patience while waiting for your interview to be published.

If the interview is for a blogger—depending on the type of post—engaging commenters by replying to their comments can be a great way to make connections with new readers.

Let Your Fans Know

After the interview is published, you can get mileage out of the article by sharing a link on your social media. Another idea is to post a lead-in link on your blog or in your newsletter.

Are you an author of young adult fiction looking for an interview opportunity here at Almost an Author? Contact me at donnajostone@gmail.com

Have any tips to add? Leave a comment!

Donna Jo Stone is an award-winning multi-genre author. She writes contemporary young adult, historical fiction, and southern fiction. Many of her novels are about tough issues, but she always ends her stories on a note of hope. Finding the faith to carry on through hard battles in a common theme in Donna Jo’s books.

The first novel in Donna Jo’s young adult series, Promise Me Tomorrow, is scheduled for publication in 2025.

Her short romance, A Wedding to Remember, released Feb 1st, her adult 1960s inspy romance, JOANN: Apron Strings Books 5, released May 15th, and her Small Town Christian Domestic Suspense with Romance, The Key Collector’s Promise, released September 6th .

Stay in touch and receive the latest news by signing up for Donna Jo’s newsletter at  donnajostone.com.

Categories
Platform and Branding

How to Speak…Before You Say a Word

Platform and Branding

At some point in your writing career you’ll probably step on a stage and be expected to speak. It can be an intimidating prospect.

Many writers prefer to sit behind the screen at the keyboard. But stories are meant to be told. Audiences love to hear from the writer, and sometimes being onstage is the best way to communicate your message.

But nerves are understandable! To help you get over those nerves, leverage your personal brand to help you communicate before you even say a word.

Published or not, you have a brand. What you wear is part of that brand. So yes, let’s talk fashion.

Your fashion is the first impression your audience receives as you step onstage. What you choose to wear speaks for you before you ever say those first words. It communicates something about you: Are you laid back, professional, artsy, creative, relaxed?

Here are a few tips to help communicate your brand, while making you feel more at ease in the process:

Wear Something You’re Comfortable In

This is not the time to follow the old adage, “no pain no gain.” You want to put your audience at ease and you can’t do that very effectively if you yourself aren’t comfortable. A few days (or weeks, if you’re type A!) before your speaking engagement, look through your closet and notice the types of styles you usually wear and feel most comfortable in. Base your outfit off these styles.

Reflect Your Writer Brand

If you write books on how to be a standout business leader, you probably don’t want to show up in a multi-colored sweater with a mismatched scarf. However, if you write fantasy, this isn’t the worst choice you could make. Take note of what you write and who your audience is, then choose your fashion accordingly.

If you write children’s books and are going to speak in a classroom, maybe pass on the business suit and choose the teddy bear sweater instead. But imagine showing up to a conference to talk to CEO’s wearing the same outfit. Choose your fashion based on what you write and who your audience is.

Don’t Leave Your Personality Behind

While your fashion should reflect your writer brand and enhance rather than detract from your message, at the end of the day your brand is based on you, the individual. At the risk of being cliché, there’s only one you. Don’t let assumptions or your own nervousness keep you from being yourself. This doesn’t stop at fashion. Wear something you’re comfortable in so you can set your audience at ease, let your clothing reinforce your brand, and choose something you simply like wearing.

And then enjoy!

Enjoy the opportunity to share your passion with a live audience. Enjoy capturing the room. And enjoy vocalizing what you’ve worked so hard to take from your head, to the page, to the stage.

Best wishes out there!

Sarah Rexford is a Marketing Content Creator and writer. She helps authors build their platform through branding and copywriting. With a BA in Strategic Communications, Sarah equips writers to learn how to communicate their message through personal branding. She writes fiction and nonfiction and offers writers behind-the-scenes tips on the publishing industry through her blog itssarahrexford.com. She is represented by the C.Y.L.E Young Agency.

Instagram: @sarahjrexford
Twitter: @sarahjrexford
Web: itssarahrexford.com

Categories
Devotional/Christian Living

The Cold Call: How to Approach a Church or Women’s Group for Speaking Opportunities

Recently in a devotional/Christian living blogger Facebook group, a woman asked how she could find speaking engagements. She has spoken in several places by invitation but wanted to know how to branch out into new places. 

I remember being in her shoes wondering how I could make the transition from speaking to people I knew in real life to entirely new groups of people. Warning: this transition requires cold calling! But you can do it 🙂 It’s not as scary as you think! 

Here are the different kinds of speaking engagement cold calls I have tried so far and how they worked for me. 

In-Person Cold Calls

I created a one-page flyer with my picture and bio and a description of several possible speaking topics. Then I drove around town to hand out my flyer. The librarian was excited, but she wasn’t sure how she could fit in something that religious into her programming. Next, I went to a church and the pastor met me at the door. She and I had a nice conversation and said that she didn’t have a women’s group but they had been thinking about having some kind of event so she would keep me in mind. The next two churches were less receptive. One secretary scowled as she took my flyer and reluctantly said she would put it on the bulletin board. That was not exactly what I was hoping for. Later a friend of mine said she noticed it on the bulletin board so that was good! The last church was similar. Someone met me at the door and I gave them the flyer. She wasn’t interested in chatting. Oh well. 

The in-person cold calling didn’t do well for me, but I should have followed up with the two that seemed somewhat interested. After my book is published next year, I will try again with topics related to my book and give a copy of my book for free if they seem interested. Having a freebie might be more attention getting and give me some clout with a total stranger. 

Email Cold Calls

Since the in-person cold calls didn’t pan out and took up a lot of my precious kids-are-in-school time, I decided to try email cold calls next. 

I typed in “church” on a Google maps search. I looked at the websites of all the churches within an hour drive to see who had a women’s ministry or MOPS group leader listed. Then I emailed the leader with this rough outline:

1. “I know you always need speakers for your group….” 

2. An introduction of who I am including my speaking/writing experience and why I’d be a good fit to speak to their group.

3. A list of possible speaking topics and an offer to make something new. I also provided a link to the full list of my speaking topics on my website. Now that I have a YouTube channel with a playlist of some of my teachings I would also include that as well. 

4. Contact info including social media links for them to check out who I am and what I am passionate about. 

This method worked for me to get speaking engagements for a MOPS group. They were complete strangers to me, but I think an email was effective because the leader had time to check out the links and get a feel for who I am. An in-person cold call puts a leader on the spot. But an email gives the leader time to look everything over during a time that is convenient for her. 

Online Cold Calls

Although not technically a cold call, it’s important to have an online presence with your speaking so that women’s ministry and group leaders can cold call you. I recommend having a page on your website that lists your speaking topics. (Hint: You do not have to have the whole talk prepared before listing it. Just list the idea and if someone is interested, then develop the idea into a full talk.)

I also recommend having a profile on womenspeakers.com. There are different levels of membership. I have the free membership, but it has worked for me to find speaking engagements. I also appreciate the emails I receive from the owner of the website with encouragement and teachings about speaking ministry. 

I also include my upcoming speaking engagements in my weekly email to my subscribers and post on social media when I have an engagement coming up. Although I haven’t gotten any engagements because of this listing (yet), I know that I am getting lots of prayers for the events! I also run into people who say “wow! You’ve been speaking a lot!” The listing helps solidify in people’s minds that I am a speaker. What I imagine will happen in the future is that when someone says to them “I need a speaker for our women’s group” my name will come to mind. 

No matter which cold calling avenue you travel down, make sure to start the journey with prayer. Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide you to the right group of women who need to hear the message God has laid on your heart. 

Has cold calling worked for you to get speaking events? Is there another way you have received speaking engagements? Comment below! 

Rachel Schmoyer is a pastor’s wife who is loving her church life. She writes about the hard parts of Scripture at readthehardparts.com. She has had devotionals published in the past, but now she is looking forward to getting her first Christian Living book published. You can connect with Rachel on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Categories
Copywrite/Advertising Devotional/Christian Living

Step Out in Front of the Crowd: How to Add Speaking to Your Writing Life

As a devotional or Christian living writer you have a burden to share the message God has laid on your heart. Your blog, books, and articles can help you reach your audience. So can speaking.

My Read the Hard Parts blog started because I want to encourage women to dig into the hard parts of Scripture, the ones we usually skip like Revelation or Ezekiel. Although I have taught children at our church for my whole adult life I never thought about speaking to adults until I had to give an announcement about social media to two hundred men at our denomination’s pastors conference. After this short announcement I got a lot of feedback about how well spoken I was. I was surprised! Then on the drive home I felt the Holy Spirit say to me “it is time to speak.”

Shortly after that experience, I learned what I could about how a writer can find opportunities to speak. And now I have spoken to almost a dozen ladies groups.

Here are some tips that worked for me for starting out as a speaker:

Develop a couple of topics

Have about three talk topics that are related to your writing. Since I write about the hard parts of Scripture, I started out with a talk on Revelation, one on Proverbs, and then one on how to read and understand the hard parts. I came up with a talk title and a short paragraph of explanation for each topic. I did not develop all the details of the content of my talks until I had a group request that topic in particular. I also decided that I would be willing to create a new talk that would fit the needs of any group that requested one on a particular topic. If I develop a new talk for a group then I can offer that talk to others.

Start Local

Next I created a flyer with my contact information and the topics of my talks. I visited local churches in the area and the libraries. I was nervous every time I did one of these cold calls, but I prayed each time that God would guide me and direct me where He wanted me to go. I also contacted churches in my denomination and let them know I would be available to speak at any event they may be having. I also asked to teach in my own local church and we created a women’s Sunday School class so we could study Revelation together.

Online Presence

In addition to handing out my flyer, I also added a speaking tab to my website with the talk descriptions. I would also highly recommend creating a free profile on womenspeakers.com. There is a location based search on this site so this is especially a good way for nearby churches and Christian groups to find a speaker who they don’t need to fly in from out of state.

Use Video

When I started to get some requests for more information about my speaking, I was often asked for a video clip of my speaking. At first I didn’t have any, so I improvised by sharing my Instagram TV videos and Facebook live videos and even some audio of myself as a guest on a friend’s podcast. Once I got a speaking engagement lined up, I invited a friend along to take pictures and videos to use as examples for future requests. You don’t need to video the whole presentation. Just a clip will do. The organizers just need to know that you are confident as a speaker and pleasant to listen to.

Build Some Excitement

Once you have a speaking engagement lined up, post pictures of your preparation. Share pictures on social media of your travels to the engagement.  Share pictures from your actual engagement. Hopefully some others in the crowd will share, too. All these social media postings will help build excitement around your speaking and will pique other’s interest as well. Take along some freebies and a sign-up sheet for your email list so that those who hear you speak can have opportunity to connect with your writing, too.

Writing life can be isolating. Speaking gives me the opportunity to connect with my audience in person. At my speaking engagements I listen to the questions the ladies have about the hard parts of Scripture so I can address them in my future writing and speaking. Plus I love the “a-ha” look on their faces when they understand a part of Scripture in a new way. Speaking reminds me why I am writing to begin with—to help women find simple truths in hard parts of Scripture.

Rachel Schmoyer is a pastor’s wife who is loving her church life. She writes about the hard parts of Scripture at readthehardparts.com. She has had devotionals published in the past, but now she is looking forward to getting her first Christian Living book published. You can connect with Rachel on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Categories
Writers Chat

Writers Chat Recap for August, Part 1

Writers Chat, hosted by Jean Wise, Johnnie Alexander, and Bethany Jett, is the show where we talk about all things writing, by writers and for writers!

“Because talking about writing is more fun than actually doing it.”

Researching and Writing Children’s Nonfiction with Wendy Hinote Lanier

Wendy is an author, CLASS certified speaker, and a former elementary science teacher. She draws from her experience with children and a wealth of knowledge as she shares with us tips on how to research and write nonfiction for children. If you write children’s nonfiction, or would like to, this is the episode for you.

Watch the July 30th replay.

For more information and great resources, check out this week’s Show Notes and Live Discussion.

Bio

Wendy Hinote Lanier is an author, speaker, CLASS certified speaker, former elementary science teacher. She has written fiction and nonfiction books for children. Wendy has also written for both online and print magazines such as Clubhouse Magazine and Highlights for Children.

The Writer as Speaker with Stephanie Jones

Stephanie is an inspirational speaker and author of The Giving Challenge. She shares advice for writers who want speaking opportunities to promote their books. If you want to build platform for your book through speaking, check out this week’s episode of Writers Chat.

Watch the August 6th replay.

For more tips and great resources, see this week’s Show Notes and Live Discussion.

Bio

Stephanie L. Jones is an inspirational speaker, philanthropist, life coach, and award winning author of The Giving Challenge. She’s been a private investigator, a police officer, a professional organizer, and a senior manager for a Fortune 100 company. Stephanie is living out big dreams and when not working, she enjoys fishing and kayaking with her husband.

JOIN US!

Writers Chat is hosted live each Tuesday for an hour starting at 10 AM CT / 11 AM ET on Zoom. Here’s the permanent Zoom room link. 

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 fifteen-minutes of off-the-record sharing and conversation.

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