Reprinted from this blog, Sept. 9, 2013 I’ve got a bit of advice for writers, publicizing themselves on blogs or social media: engage your target reader. Many writers find themselves talking to other writers when they blog, perhaps using writers’ jargon or handing out writing advice. What’s wrong with that? It’s quite possible that other […]
Authors: Four tips for carefully crafting your mailing list “carrot”
Your author e-mailing list needs a good, solid carrot. That’s a freebie you give to those who sign up to be on your newsletter list. So, what do you need to know about choosing a carrot? Make it something that your true fans would love to have. You may not even have one true fan […]
What’s a fiction author to say on social media?
I have always wondered what a great topic would be for engaging the public on social media, for an author. I had an “aha” moment when I was listening to a podcast recently. Tom Corson-Knowles, a successful indie author, had a suggestion. He said novelists should post excerpts of their work that they’re not too […]
Get busy on that email list, authors!
Setting up an email list seems like a lot of bother to many authors. They’d rather use Facebook, Pinterest, or whatever. It’s easier and more fun. Who needs an email list? You do. Marketing experts tell us the email list is the key to success, as I’ve said before. Here are some reasons: People reading […]
Increase your SEO IQ: One key way to making your website more findable
To make your website better-known, you need to get some better-known websites to link to your website. Google and other search engines rely on page rank signals in their algorithms. You can increase your page rank (and likelihood of getting found) by getting higher-page-rank websites (loosely translated as “better-known” websites) to link to your website. […]
A strategy for growing your fan base through your author newsletter
Here’s a suggested strategy for gaining more followers for your author newsletter. Declare that new signups for your newsletter are eligible for a monthly drawing. The winner gets a coupon code for choice of free audiobook or free ebook. Until the free audiobook codes run out, that is. Then ebook only. This strategy works, people […]
Do authors need author websites?
What’s an author website for? Do you really need one? Do you need one if you aren’t published yet? Here’s what an author website is for: engaging potential readers. Yes, you really need an author website, and you need it as soon as you can do it–that is, as soon as you can identify who […]
Is blogging necessary for authors?
Some writers just aren’t cut out for regular blogging. In fact they can’t think of something they’d less rather do. Publishers seem to want it though. What to do? Author and writing educator Susan May Warren has a thought: don’t blog. Instead, have a website with a newsletter signup on the first page. And use […]
Ask your friends for marketing help
Marketing tip for today: Writers, today we’re going to ask you to consider who you may know, or who your family may know, who could help you market your book. Maybe there’s someone in your circle of friends and acquaintances who is in the media. A radio DJ? A regular blogger? An editor? What if […]
Marketing: SEO for novelists
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a topic most writers don’t want to touch. It’s bad enough that someone is making you put up a website. Now they’re talking about tweaking it so a computer can understand what it’s about. Who wants to bother? You do. That’s because the better the Google search bots can […]