Search Results: marketing platform
| Publishing
How Does a Publishing Auction Work?
One of the things that always generates excitement among authors is the prospect of an “auction” between publishers for their book. But there’s also a mystique surrounding auctions, and many writers wonder how they actually work. So let’s pull back the shroud of mystery and peek at what an auction looks like. Why are auctions…
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| Marketing
Novelists: Stop Trying to Brand Yourself
In a blog discussion about author platform, reader Carol commented: “What challenges me is creating my brand. I write contemporary women’s fiction. Branding seems easier with non-fiction where you’re an expert on something. How do you do that with fiction?” Carol and other novelists: I advise you to STOP thinking about branding. If you’re blogging…
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| Popular Posts, Submitting
How To Write a Book Proposal
There are several books available on writing book proposals. My favorites are: Write the Perfect Book Proposal by Jeff Herman. I like this one because it contains ten real-life proposals that sold. The Literary Agent’s Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal by Andy Ross. This one’s short and to-the-point, and the last time I…
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| A Writer's Life
First Things First
(Repost) If you’re a writer, here’s what I want to ask you today: Are you getting ahead of yourself? There are seasons in a writer’s life: Seasons for focusing on the art and craft of writing, and seasons for focusing on the business of writing. And seasons where it’s appropriate to do both. If you’re a…
Read More | Contests
Poetry Contest Winners!
Thanks to the 100 people who contributed poems in Friday’s contest! They were all very entertaining and it was difficult to narrow it down. First, let’s start with some honorable mentions. In no particular order… Best Concise Overview of Publishing:Glynis No thank you, thank you no,We enjoyed the giggle,Now off you go. Best Brief Rejection…
Read More | About Me
Memoirs of Overcoming Adversity
Dear Rachelle, I’ve heard you talk about how difficult it is to sell a “personal story of overcoming adversity.” You’ve mentioned you won’t consider this kind of memoir unless the author has a significant platform and the story has built-in marketing potential and an obvious media hook. Would this include being a cancer survivor (two completely separate cancers) at…
Read More | Publishing
Myth Busting – Our 3rd and Final Day
Money! Marketing! and More! Myth: It’s all about the bottom line. Truth: Yes, in the end, the publisher exists to make money. And the people who have the most say in whether your book gets published are the directors of sales and marketing. Everyone is looking for the books they can sell. And yet…those on…
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Myth Busting – Day 2
Myths About Agents Myth: Agents don’t read submissions. Truth: Most agents who are accepting queries actually read and consider them. If they don’t want to read queries and they don’t need new clients, they’ll usually close to queries (like I have). Myth: Agents have reading software that scans query letters. If the query contains a…
Read More | Marketing
A Million Screaming Fans
or… A Platform is More than a Bunch of Twitter FollowersPeople are always asking me, “What constitutes platform? How many Twitter followers? How many Facebook friends?” Listen, a platform is not all about those numbers. Take a step back, look at the bigger picture, and ask yourself: What have I done to bring potential book…
Read More | A Writer's Life
Torn
A couple times recently I’ve asked you questions that encourage you to decide why you’re writing. (See If You Had to Choose, and What is Success?) I’ve been asking you to identify the goal at the heart of your writing journey—are you seeking to reach a wide audience with your words, or is it more…
Read More | Self-Publishing
Are You a Do-It-Yourself Type?
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about self-publishing. My thoughts have been evolving – things are changing fast and sometimes our thinking has to change, too. Seems like these days, lots of people are into D-I-Y, and that includes the book world. My latest (but still subject to change) opinion is this: Self…
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Managing Expectations
(Encore presentation.) A big part of dealing with this business of publishing is managing your expectations. If your expectations are out of whack to begin with, your publishing journey will disappointing. I realize there is so much information and misinformation out there that it’s hard to know what realistic expectations are. And when you first…
Read More | A Writer's Life
Just to Say Thank You
Sorry, I don’t have an April Fool’s post for you. Encouragement Week continues. I’ll be back next week with all-new posts. *** Hey… you. Yeah, you, the one sitting alone in your basement hammering out a thousand words every morning before you go to work. And you. The one filling out your registration for a…
Read More | Publishing
Word of Mouth – Who Knew?
So our poll on Friday (see sidebar) led to some spectacularly predictable results. Exciting! It appears we find out about books mostly through various recommendations, either online or from friends or acquaintances. Otherwise known as word of mouth. We also find a lot of our books through browsing the stacks (physical or virtual) and picking…
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