Ebooks

Articles specific to writing and publishing ebooks.

Popular Highlights On The Black God's War

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This post, by Moses Siregar III, originally appeared on his blog and is reprinted here in its entirety with his permission. It seems like the Most Popular Notes feature on Amazon’s Kindle may be a very useful tool for authors; who among us wouldn’t want to know which passages our readers felt most strongly about?

So I bought a new Kindle Paperwhite, and it’s almost an amazing e-reader (Mostly, I love it, but there are some issues with the “white” part when using the built-in lights–namely, the background isn’t a uniform color). One nice new feature (okay, I lied. It’s actually an older feature even on my trusty kindle2, but I hadn’t realized that until today) is that if you click to “View Notes & Marks” on a book, you’ll sometimes get to see the top ten most popular highlights on the book.

 

Some books show these highlights and some books don’t. And you’ll probably see more highlights on your device than you’ll see on a book’s page at Amazon.

I’m one of the lucky ones, because my first novel does show the top ten highlights. Because I haven’t had any big news in awhile–semi-kidding, although if you want to follow my author news, my Facebook Author page is the best way, or on Twitter @MosesSiregar–I’m going to paste the top ten highlights (selected by the readers) from The Black God’s War here. I’ll list them in order with the most popular highlight at the bottom of the list.

1) “I know know how to fight him. His gods are a projection. They are just as false as this world. I know that. I will win.”

2) “You are a master in a tiny field. The ultimate truth still lies far beyond you. There is no end to evolution, to the unshackling of chains.”

3) [this is one a bit spoilerish] “his domain also includes the dark processes of life, including the balancing of what you might call sin. Our concept is karma. It suggests that whatever we do returns to us because in truth there is no separation between us all. So when we act upon another, we act upon ourselves. Evil acts come back to us, while good deeds bring good karma. As I understand your Lord Danato, it’s as if he is a god of karma.”

4) “The mind is the master of the physical world. The physical isn’t observed by the mind–it’s actually dependent on the mind.”

5) “Introspection, clarity, and creative imagination must come before action.”

6) “It’s the most recent worst day of my life,” she said. “Thank you for asking.”

7) “The descent to Hades is the same from every place.” -Anaxagoras [this is a quote, not my words]

8 ) “A man must act on his conscience. I would rather die than live by no greater principle than my own survival.”

9) “This is why our desires must be questioned before we undertake any great endeavor. If our values are flawed, our actions can only produce imperfections.”

10) “I believe it is not important how long you live, but that you give yourself to living. Live as only you can, with every part of you fully engaged.”

It was definitely fun for me to see what readers have highlighted in the book. Do you have any popular highlights on your favorite books (or on your own books) that you really like?

And if anyone still manages to read my blog even after all of my updates have been going to FB and Twitter rather than here, and if you can remember–without going back to the book–which characters said each of the above quotes, give it a shot in the comments [section beneath the original post] and if you get them all right I’ll have to figure out something really cool that I can give you. Maybe a signed copy of book two?

 

Help! My Book Isn’t Selling. 10 Questions You Need To Answer Honestly If You Want To Sell More Books.

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I love answering your questions and I’m always happy to share what I’ve learned on the journey, but recently I have been receiving the same question over and over again, namely,

“Help, my book isn’t selling. What can I do?”

Most of the time people include a link to their book on Amazon and I can see immediately why they aren’t making any sales, because although I’m an author, I’m a reader first and I’ve been shopping for books on Amazon for years.

The ProWriter multimedia course ‘How To Find Readers & Market Your Book‘ covers this in great detail, but the following checklist will also help you identify your problem and solve it quickly. I have also included lots of links so you can find all the extra material on this (ever-growing!) site.

[As always, these are not rules, because there are no rules in this crazy, fast-moving self-publishing world. There will also always be outliers who get away with not doing any of the following, but these will at least help with some guidelines!]

1. Is your book available as an ebook?

99% of indie authors will not have print distribution in physical bookstores, and I would postulate that all the success stories we have heard in the last 2 years about indie authors and huge sales have come from ebook sales, not print.

I personally don’t do print books anymore because the cost/benefit didn’t work out for me and I want high quality print books (one of the reasons I am pursuing a traditional deal for my thrillers). But if you want a print book, fantastic, go ahead and use print on demand to do it.

BUT/ if you want to sell a lot of books online, then make sure you have an ebook for sale as well.

There has been an influx of ebooks (and print books) self-published in the last year, as well as traditional publishers beginning to re-issue backlists digitally. I’ve heard a lot of people complain about this so-called‘tsunami of crap’, but personally, I believe you can surf the wave and make good sales even if you’re starting now. The ebook market is growing globally as new countries come online and even within markets like the US and UK, ebooks are becoming more widely accepted.

So first off, get your ebook published.

I use Scrivener for formatting in Kindle, ePub and Word formats and then I publish on Amazon KDP, Kobo Writing Life and Smashwords or BookBaby for the rest (US citizens can use B&N Nook PubIt as well.) It’s not hard if you spend some time with the various help pages.

2. Has your cover been professionally designed?

Book buyers still shop with their eyes. If people make it to your book sales page and your cover is terrible, they will not click the Buy button.

Don’t use a painting your child did or that you did yourself. Don’t DIY based on a YouTube video. Don’t assume you can make a professional cover.

Do research your genre on Amazon and take screenshots of books that stand out in a good way.

Do take pictures of books you like with fonts and designs you like.

Do check out the ebook cover design awards at TheBookDesigner.comto see some great covers and some truly awful ones. Then hire aprofessional cover designer, give them that information and work with them to create a professional cover.

If you don’t have a budget for this, then work extra hard until you have that extra money. Seriously, I believe this is non-negotiable if you want to stand out in the crowded market.

3. Has your book been professionally edited so it reads well?

I am passionate about the value of editing and editors, especially for new writers, or books in a new genre.

editing ARKANE

Some of my own editing

You should edit your books until you can’t stand them any longer, and then you should consider hiring a professional editor to help you take it further, because you cannot see your own words after a point because you know the story so well.

You need other eyes, preferably professional eyes who will critique you honestly and tell you where the problems are, especially if the book is truly awful – and sometimes it is (and that’s ok because you can write another one).

Stephen King in ‘On Writing’ says to rest the manuscript for a while, so put it away and when you have some distance, read it again. You may be horrified by what you find but better now than when it’s out there in the world. Here’s some more articles on editing and my recommended editors.

If you can’t afford a pro editor, then you can try using a critique group of readers within your genre, or join a group like theAlliance of Independent Authors to network with other like-minded authors in order to network and potentially barter your skills. Bartering shouldn’t be underestimated in the online world.

But definitely do not publish your book if only you and your best friend, or your Mum, have read it.

4. Have you submitted the book to the right categories on the ebook stores?

Sorry, but not everyone will like your book.

You may think that everyone will, but they won’t. You might not want to put it in a box or a genre or a category, but you have to because that’s how readers find it. The category/genre reader has expectations and if you don’t ‘fit’ they will be disappointed. That’s not to say you need to follow any specific rules in your writing (let’s not get into that now!) but when you load it up to the distributors you do have to choose which categories and tags to use and they need to be meaningful.

You need some distance from your book in order to do this, but consider where your book fits within the online bookstores. This means deciding on the categories, tags and keywords associated with your book.

It’s also important to match reader expectations and the promise of what your book delivers with what your book is actually about.

There is no point having a book with a swirly, girly pink chic-lit cover in the horror section of fiction. It won’t sell, however good it is.

There are some scammy sites out there that will tell you to aim for the categories that will rank the best in order to have a Bestseller on Amazon. That’s just silly because your book won’t match the expectations of the readers and even if you get a bump in sales, it will completely dry up very soon.

You can choose a category that fits your book AND is easier to rank in, for example, I use categories Action Adventure and Religious Fiction. I rank occasionally for the former and consistently in the latter. That’s optimization, but it is still true to the book and to the reader’s expectations.

If you’re struggling with this, choose 3-5 authors your book is like, not what you want it to be like, but what it is really like. That will help you find the right category.

5. Have you optimized your Amazon sales page with a hook, quotes from reviews and other material?

I have seen some Amazon sales pages with not just typos but terrible grammar.

Some of them make no sense at all. Some are just the back blurb with no review quotes or other things that might draw a customer in.

Basically you need to treat the product description like a sales page. People will not buy your book if your description is badly written or hard to understand because it’s an indication of the quality of your book. Here’s another great article on 11 ingredients of a sizzling book description.

If you want to see a fantastic example, check out CJ Lyons Bloodstained which continues to rock the Kindle charts. That product description seriously rocks. CJ also explains all of this in our ProWriter Marketing course.

6. Have you priced your book realistically, or at least tried different price points?

It’s important to say on pricing that no one has a clue how to price ebooks and authors are having success at many different price points. Check out this great article on The Passive Voice and the comments below to get an idea of the widely different levels of pricing and success.

However, I had one author ask why his debut novel wasn’t selling, and when I checked his sales page, the ebook was priced $11.99. It was his first novel and he had nothing else for sale.

However good your book, however marvelous the cover, your first novel is unlikely to sell at that price. Most ebooks are under $9.99, and a lot of fiction is under $7.99, with many indie books being under $5.

The 99c price point still has some power even after the algorithm changes but you might go somewhere in between, changing your price with promotions as well. I have my books at $2.99 right now so I make $2 per ebook. You get to set your own prices but there’s no way you’ll sell much at those very high prices.

7. Have you written, or are you writing another book?

Sure, there are some breakout successes, but most indie fiction authors making decent money right now have 5 or more books. For non-fiction authors, you can expect to make your money on back-end products ans services and not book sales anyway.

The more books you have available, the more virtual shelf space you have, the easier it is for people to discover you. Plus if a reader finds one they like, they may buy them all so you make more per customer.

I was as guilty as anyone of trying to hype my first novel, because it took so long and I thought it was a precious snowflake. I still believe you have to hustle those first thousand sales with everything you have, but my sales and income jumped when I released the second novel with very little fanfare because I already had an established presence on Amazon and they do a lot of marketing for you when you have multiple books, e.g. emails to people who bought your last one.

I am also fascinated by the rise of novellas and serials as a way to create more books, more quickly. Hugh Howey is a great example of someone who wrote novellas in different series and then continued the direction of the stories for the novellas that took off, Wool being his most famous and lucrative. I am definitely moving into this model in 2013 in between longer works.

8. Have you done some kind of promotion or marketing to let people know it is there?

Again, there are no rules and in fact, everyone has different results from different marketing tactics. Some hit a mega-success with none at all, but I do think that you need to hand-sell your first 1000 readers because they won’t just appear out of nowhere.

Remember: Marketing is sharing what you love with people who want to hear about it. You don’t have to be hard salesy, scammy or nasty. Just be authentic and share your passion.

Lots of marketing info here.

If you need some starter tips, you should definitely be building your email list from your own website and also from a signup at the back of your book.

If you do that with book one, you will have at least some people to market to with book 2. It’s a start, and it grows over time. This is my only non-negotiable recommendation for authors, because you never know what will happen with all these sites we depend upon for sales. If they disappear, or the terms we publish under change, then your email list of fans and buyers is all you have.

I also believe that social media can sell books, but it is a slow build over time and you have to have other goals than just book sales, e.g. networking with peers and other authors. It’s not instant sales so you can’t rely on it. The whole author platform thing is massively useful in so many ways but it is only one aspect of book sales.

If you have some budget you can pay for promotion, but be targeted and track results.

The biggest leaps I had on the Amazon charts were from paid promotional pushes on sites that market direct to Kindle readers. I have used Kindle Nation

Prophecy Joanna Penn next to Lee Child

Prophecy with Lee Child on the Action Adventure Bestseller List

Daily and Pixel of Ink and there are new opportunities all the time. I more than made my money back but the rankings were worth it. Prophecy hit the Action Adventure list above Lee Child! (of course, it dropped away but the screen-print is worth gold!)

Free is still a great option, especially if you have multiple books, as it means people can discover your work with no risk. Fantasy author Lindsay Buroker talked about this in our interview where she revealed that the first book in her series is permanently on free with her other books at $4.95. You can do this by making your book free on Smashwords and eventually Amazon will price match it.

9. Have you asked for reviews, or submitted to review sites?

reviewsThere’s been a lot of scandal about the sock puppet reviews but reviews are still critical because they give your sales page social proof and they feed into the book site algorithms.

I give away a lot of free books to people who might like my genre and ask that they leave a review if they like it. No hard sell, no pressure, no expectation. This is easy if you have built up a list from the last book, or if you have built a platform and in fact is one good reason to do this. Traditional publishing has been doing this forever so it is not a new or a scammy tactic.

Remember that not everyone will like your book and not everyone will leave a review, or a good review, but it is a start. [And remember, don’t respond to bad reviews!]

You can also contact book bloggers or Amazon reviewers to get more reviews. This is hard work but well worth it. You can listen to Rachel Abbott in this interview talk about how this strategy got her to #1 on Amazon.co.uk.

10. Are you working your butt off?

hard work aheadGenerally, I’m an even tempered type of girl, but when I get emails from people asking why they’re not successful and they’ve done nothing on this list, I get a little annoyed!

Especially when this site has over 500 free articles on writing, publishing and marketing and there’s 70+ hours of audio for you to learn from for free. Oh yes, and a 57 page Author 2.0 ebookon all this. That’s all available for free, but I also have a number of multimedia courses as well, so there is no excuse not to be educated, even just from this site.

I absolutely believe that you can be a great writer and make an income from writing.

I have to believe that for you because I believe it for me, and I have left a stable job and steady income to take a chance on being an author-entrepreneur. I’ve been on this path since 2007 when I decided to write my first non-fiction book, so I am 5 years into working my butt off to change my life.

But writing books is not a get rich quick scheme.

I look at authors like CJ Lyons, Scott Sigler, Chuck Wendig, Joe Konrath, Bob Mayer and so many others and I know they are working their butts off every day writing and getting their work out there. The recent success ofSean Platt & David Wright in landing a Serial deal with Amazon is because they work incredibly hard at writing all day, every day to produce new content for their market. They are my heroes.

These guys are pros and they know it takes hard work to get there and hard work to stay there.

So please, if your book is not selling any copies at all, go through this checklist and honestly evaluate what you have done and how much effort you have put in. Please also share this with other people who may be asking the same question.

I’d love to know what you think, so please leave a comment below. What other tips can you give for people who aren’t selling any or many books?

 

 

This is a reprint from Joanna Penn‘s The Creative Penn.

Update on Categories and Keywords: Why Authors Should Still Care

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A year ago (October 2011), I wrote a piece entitled Categories, Key words, and Tags, Oh My!: Why Should an Author Care?, which has become the most frequently viewed post on my blog. It has been reposted numerous times, and I still get comments on it weekly. There is a reason for this. The subject is complicated, confusing, and yet crucial to selling a book successfully online.

 

 

While most of the original post is still relevant, it seemed time to update it, with the special addition of a section on how categories play a role in KDP Select promotions. For those of you who never read the original, I hope this helps. For those of you who did, I hope I have clarified a few sections and added some useful information.

This post focuses on ebooks on Amazon (although the main points work for print books as well) because that is where I have the most experience and because Amazon is definitely (still) ahead of the other ebook stores in its sophisticated approaches to helping readers find books. As with much of the publishing process, there is a lot of conflicting information about how Amazon’s categories, keywords, and tags work, so some of what I say is more of an educated guess than documented fact, but I will link back to Amazon’s information pages whenever possible.

First some definitions:

Categories:

When a book is uploaded into KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing), an author (or traditional publisher) has the opportunity to choose two categories for that book. It used to be that Amazon allowed you to choose five categories, which is why some books, like my first historical mystery, Maids of Misfortune, have more Kindle Store categories listed at the bottom of their product page. (If you want to know what a book’s categories are­­––look under Look for Similar Items by Category) When you, as author, choose a category for your book, you are actually choosing a browsing path for customers. That browsing path consists of a hierarchy of categories and sub-categories and your book is available for readers to discover under each of the parts of that hierarchy. For example, in the case of my most recent book, Uneasy Spirits, one of the two browsing path/categories I chose was:   Fiction—Mystery&Thriller—Mystery—Historical 

If you browse for Uneasy Spirits in the Kindle store, you will find it under all four parts of the hierarchy. Note that each time a reader goes one step further down the hierarchical browsing path there are fewer books to browse. For example, as I write this, here are the numbers of books in each of these four areas:

Fiction [570,230]; Fiction––Mystery&Thriller [74,482]; Fiction—Mystery&Thriller—Mystery [15,240]; Fiction—Mystery&Thriller—Mystery—Historical [2,587]

The “categories” Amazon offers when you upload your book to KDP are based on BISAC categories, a book industry standard for subject headings. What authors find confusing is that Amazon converts the BISAC categories into the Amazon browsing-path categories and subcategories that show up in the Kindle store––and the two are not always identical.

To complicate issues further, the browsing categories for print books and ebooks are not identical, and Amazon creates additional browsing categories like “newly released” and “best sellers” and “editors’ pick”––some of which are separate from the browsing-path/categories and some of which are available as additional qualifiers to the browsing-paths. Are you lost yet?

Finally, to make matters even more difficult, this conversion process does not always work accurately (for a long time the historical mystery category had less than 100 books in it because of a computer glitch). However, the KDP Support system has improved in the past year in helping authors resolve these problems. If you click on the Contact Us link at the bottom of the KDP page, the menu leads to an option to email the support staff to change your categories, and if you use the Author Central Contact Us link, you can even ask for a telephone consultation.

Keywords:

When you publish your book with KDP, you can choose seven keywords in addition to the two categories. These are really key phrases since they can be more than one word. For example I used terms like “Victorian Mystery” and “cozy mystery.” These keywords are used by Amazon in its own search engine––along with words in your title and subtitle and product description. Because I used those keywords and also have Victorian and Mystery in my subtitle, when Maids of Misfortune was first published, it immediately showed up near the top of the list of book when a customer put in the key search words “Victorian Mystery.”

Tags:

These are another kind of keyword or key phrase, but many authors get confused and think that they also help a book get found using the search box at the top of the Amazon page or on their Kindle device, but they don’t work this way. Tags are listed on a book’s product page under the heading Tag this product and were designed by Amazon to help customers describe and find products using key words called “tags.” Because this is so confusing, I am going to address the question of tags in a separate post.

Why Should an Author Care?

Categories, keywords, and (to a much more limited degree) tags can be used to help readers find your books, and these are methods that are generally not available to authors of print books that are sold in brick and mortar stores. As authors of ebooks, we need to learn how readers find books in estores like the Kindle store and use the tools that are available to us to maximize our sales.

When you sell a book to a traditional publisher, who then distributes that book to bookstores, you, as author, really don’t have much to say about how readers find your books. You hope that the bookstores will shelve your book on the right shelf (and that they have separate shelves for your genre) and you hope your publisher can convince the seller (or pay them) to put your book in special places like “newly released” tables, or “best seller” tables, or under “staff recommendations.” Beyond that, there isn’t much authors can do besides cultivating booksellers at conventions and through book signings, hoping this will convince them to feature their books––a time consuming and expensive proposition.

However, authors, by their choice of categories, keywords, and tags, can increase the chances that a reader will find their books in an ebook store. I am going to discuss two strategies an author can use to achieve that end.

The first strategy is to choose, at least for one of your two categories, a browsing path that ends up with a relatively small number of books at the end of the path.

For example, when I first published my second historical mystery, Uneasy Spirits, I could have chosen as one of its two categories, the browsing path of Fiction—Historical Fiction. However, this would have placed this book in a final pool of over 24,000 books in the Kindle store. As an indie author without a big promotional campaign behind me, it would be easy for this new book to get lost in that pool. Few people are going to scroll down through hundreds if not thousands of books of historical fiction books to find mine.

Instead, I chose to put Uneasy Spirits into the Romance–Suspense category [8,000 books] and, more importantly, I chose to place both of my books, Maids of Misfortune and Uneasy Spirits in the Fiction—Mystery&Thrillers—Mystery—Historical category/browsing path. There are only 2600 books in the historical mystery category, and with a category this size I have been able to keep my books continuously on the list of top 100 bestselling books. This means both books are always visible when someone browses, which means both books sell well day-after-day. To date, I have sold 35,000 copies of Maids of Misfortune and 10,000 copies of Uneasy Spirits.

Obviously you don’t want to put your book in a list just because it is small. It has to make sense to the reader.  My books are cozy mysteries, and if I chose the hardboiled mystery sub-category just because of its size, I would end up with either few sales or nasty reviews. However, you should take the time to learn what categories are available that might fit your book. For example, look at the categories successful books like yours are found in, and then think about how to use your 2 category choices wisely.

The second strategy is to use keywords in combination with categories to help when the category is too large to be effective under the first strategy.

Take, for example, that large category, Fiction––Historical Fiction. Since this is really a more accurate description of both of my books than Romantic Suspense, once Uneasy Spirits got enough sales to be more competitive (helped along by its placement in the Historical Mystery category) I changed its second category to Historical Fiction. However, on a day-to-day basis, neither Uneasy Spirits or Maids of Misfortune show up high enough in this large category to be visible. This is where your choice of keywords can help.

When I was coming up with keywords for Maids of Misfortune and then later for Uneasy Spirits, I could have used the term Gilded Age as one of my 7 choices. It is actually a very precise definition of the time (1877-1880) and place (U.S) where my series of books are set. However, if someone was in the Historical Fiction category and put in the term Gilded Age, only 28 books come up. While I am sure if I had used this as a keyword, that my books would have been near the top of this category and search list, how often would a customer bother to check a list so small? But if you put in the term Victorian (which is used for the entire 19th century in England, Europe, and the U. S.) you get 367 books. This is a list of books that is large enough for a customer to find it a useful place to browse, but small enough for my books to do well in. Therefore, I chose the term Victorian and made sure I put this keyword in my subtitle as well. Maids of Misfortune and Uneasy Spirits are at the top of that list of 367 books.

A third strategy for using categories includes considering what category you want your books to be in if you do a KDP Select free promotion (something that didn’t exist when I wrote my original piece.) While it is good to have your book listed in at least one relatively small category, where it is visible to the casual browser, if the category is too small, or has no sub-categories, it can limit your exposure when you make the book temporarily free.

Let’s take, for example, Of Moths and Butterflies, a book by a V. R. Christensen, a fellow member of the Historical Fiction Authors Cooperative.

Of Moths and Butterflies is currently in the two categories, Fiction­­––Historical Fiction [24,000 books] and Fiction––Drama––British & Irish [2500 books]. The choice of the second category makes a good deal of sense since it is a much smaller category. As a result, the book is currently listed as #21 in the bestseller list for this category and is much more visible to browsers.

However, when Christensen does a KDP Select promotion, I would recommend that she try shifting the book temporarily from British & Irish Drama to Historical Romance. The reason for this is that the British & Irish Drama free list is filled with public domain books that are always free, and this means it isn’t a list where people would regularly go to find free books. Historical Romance, on the other hand, both because of its subject matter and robust free list, will be a place that people routinely look for free books to download. In addition, the book would show up on the Romance Free list as well (since a book shows up on all the stages of a browsing path), which is an even more robust free list.

This means Of Moths and Butterflies would be seen, and possibly chosen, by a much broader pool of potential customers. More downloads means a better ranking when the book comes off of the free promotion. Christensen could then keep Moths and Butterflies in this category if her sales are strong enough to keep her in the top 100 Historical Romance bestseller list, or she could shift it back to British & Irish Drama. I have followed this pattern with Uneasy Spirits, shifting it between Historical Romance, Romantic Suspense, and Historical Fiction, to good effect.

In Summary:

As an author, you need to choose categories and keywords carefully when you publish or promote. Social media and traditional marketing can only do so much to drive potential customers to find your book. You need to make sure that the person who is just browsing in the Amazon or Kindle store has a good chance of finding your book (and then your cover, description, reviews, and excerpt will hopefully do the rest). You need to take into consideration not only what best categories describe your books, but also what will maximize the chances that a reader who is browsing will find your books. You also want to make sure that readers who find your book are the ones who would be most likely to buy it and enjoy it. Careful uses of categories and keywords can also increase your chance of having a successful free promotion, which in turn will help boost your sales. Carelessness in using these strategies can condemn even the best work to the backwaters of the Kindle store––undiscovered, unbought, and unread––and that would be a shame.

 

 

This is a reprint from M. Louisa Locke’s blog.

Note-Taking And Writing Apps For iPhone and iPad

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Sometimes it’s hard to find ideas for a new blog post, short story or a poem. That’s why it’s so important to catch them at the moment they come to mind.

Mobile devices are a great way to capture ideas, no doubt about it. You’ve got a mobile phone always with you. It’s much quicker to start writing ideas on a tablet than a computer.

Most smartphone or tablet users will probably agree that those devices are not meant to write and publish a complete piece of work. You can write draft posts, scratch new ideas, or list topics to be included in a presentation. You can and should develop them on a computer if you want to work with text effectively.

That’s why syncing is one of the most important features of any note-taking or writing application. It gives the opportunity to access your work from any device and to make your writing as productive as possible. 

 Notes

Available for: iPhone, iPad | Syncing: Gmail | Price: free | Default app

The default iOS note-taking application. Users usually neglect it as it’s very basic. Many still don’t know that the app can sync files via Gmail account. All updated notes are stored in a Gmail account, under a Notes tab. More details in this post.

If you write notes from time to time and need a simplest possible way to do it, you won’t need probably anything more advanced than Notes.

EvernoteEvernote

Available for: iPhone, iPad | Syncing: Evernote | Price: free | App Store link

The most powerful and advanced note-taking, idea-grabbing solution for iOS. You can add not only text, but also audio and photo notes. Access them via web browser and Mac or PC applications.

To start using the app you have to sign up to Evernote. A free account allows for 60MB of data transfer per month. Offline note-taking is not enabled, but you can send notes to your account via e-mail, to a special address created for your Evernote account.

With Evernote, you are either a powerful user or don’t use it at all. Premium account costs $5 a month or $45 a year. A comparison of features is available on this page.

SimplenoteSimplenote

 

Available for: iPhone, iPad | Syncing: Simplenote | Price: free | App Store link

Evernote made easy. The app is very simple to use, yet has all the features you would need. You can access and edit your notes from a web browser as well as many third-party apps and add-ons, listed here. You can publish a note and it will be available at a unique simp.ly url address. You can also share the note with others by tagging it with their e-mail addresses.

A free account is ad-supported. The ads are not intrusive, but if you want to remove them, you have to spend $19.99 a year or $1.99 a month for an upgrade to Premium account – which also enables Dropbox sync and writing notes by e-mail.

Awesome Note (+Todo)Awesome Note (+Todo)

 

Available for: iPhone, iPad | Syncing: Google Docs, Evernote | Price: iPhone – free or $3.99, iPad – $4.99 | App Store links: iPhone, iPad

Note taking application and to-do manager in one. Out of all applications featured in this post this one has the best design and richest personalization options. You can change not only a font but also a theme to match the type of note.

I’ve used the app for some time as I’m very keen to be connected with Google Docs ecosystem – and Awesome Note can sync with it. It’s not perfect, though, as you can only do it manually. It’s good to remember to sync before you open and after you finish your note to make sure you don’t lose anything.

To use Awesome Note on both iPad and iPhone you have to buy two separate versions.

MoleskineMoleskine

 

Available for: iPhone, iPad | Syncing: no | Price: free | App Store link

The official application of the legendary Moleskine notebooks. It’ll surprise you with a modern UI concept and design. You can draw sketches as well as add pictures and labels from a large selection of Moleskine icons. You can also geotag your notes.

There is no sync functionality, so the only way to use notes on another device is to send them as an e-mail to yourself.

ElementsElements

Available for: iPhone, iPad | Syncing: Dropbox | Price: $4.99 | App Store link

This is how I think a writing application for mobile devices should look like. Once you open a note you can focus on writing. The design invites to write longer forms, but you can always use scratchpad to write a quick idea.

You can check word, line and character counts for every note, send a note by mail or print it. The notes are synced back to your Dropbox account as .txt files.

iA Writer for iPadiA Writer

Available for: iPad | Syncing: Dropbox | Price: $0.99 | App Store link

The application makes writing on the iPad serious. It helps you focus on writing by providing features no other app has. You can use FocusMode to concentrate on one sentence at a time.

The keyboard is tailored for writing needs – word and arrow keys as well as most used punctuation marks are available without switching. Word count and reading time is shown at the top bar. You can manually sync notes with a Dropbox account.

The overall design, typography and care for details make this app a great choice for professional writers.

Pages for iPadPages

 

Available for: iPhone, iPad | Syncing: iTunes File Sharing | Price: $9.99 | App Store link

The ultimate text processor for iPad. It includes Apple-designed document templates, several formatting options and advanced layout tools. You can style text, set intents and margins and insert tabs with ease.

You can import and work with Pages ’09, Word and text files. Share your work as Pages ’09, Word and pdf.

Pages includes most of the features of the desktop word processor. The only question is, whether you really need them on an iPad or iPhone.

* * * 

If you are looking for ways to write and edit Google Docs on your iOS device(s), there are applications like Go Docs ($4.99) or Documents ($0.99). Use them with care as you can lose formatting of your original document when you open it in the app and start editing. This happened to me a couple of times. When I really need to change something in one of Google document, I’m using either Safari browser or Safari-powered G-Whizz.

My favourite app is Simplenote. You can’t write for a long time on an iPhone. iPad is not for writing a content but for curating a content. What I really needed was a simple, fast, reliable app which syncs notes across all devices seamlessly. Simplenote matches those needs perfectly. 

If you liked this article, please share it with your friends. Get free updates by e-mail or RSS, powered by FeedBurner. Let’s meet on Twitter and Facebook. Check also my geek fiction stories: Password Incorrect and Failure Confirmed. 

 

This is a reprint from Piotr Kowalczyk‘s Password Incorrect. 

Quick Tips for Contests & Giveaways

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When authors think about book marketing, they often begin with a groan. It seems like an endless trudge from one social media site to another, trying to spark interest in readers who have hundreds of offers, ads, and other promotions coming at them every day.

That’s not a pretty picture.

But it doesn’t have to be that way, and authors who find ways to stand out from the crowd get a lot more eyeballs on their books than those who sink without a trace.

One of the easiest ways to generate some interest and enthusiasm is by making your promotion more fun, and more rewarding for people who participate.

That’s where contests, giveaways, and freebies can boost your marketing to a whole new level. Let’s take a look at some ways you can use these reader-engagement and promotion tools to gain more attention for your books.

Contests Engage Readers

Like most of these promotions, contests are mostly used around the time authors are launching a new book and trying to get some attention while it’s new.

But you don’t have to be limited to just running contests during your launch. You can also tie them to holidays, special events, and any other time when there’s some link to the subject matter of your book, or just for fun.

And who doesn’t want to win something? What you give away is up to you, but you might be surprised how many people will enter your contest even if the prize is something modest like a $25 Starbucks gift card.

Contests bring traffic to your site, put names on your email list, and help spread your brand.

Tips for using contests: 

  • Choose a prize or prizes for your contest carefully. Most authors want to give away a copy of their book, but you have to ask yourself whether that’s going to motivate people to enter. Consider giving an e-copy of your book to everyone who enters your contest and you might get a head start on your word of mouth marketing by putting your book into the hands of a lot of people over a short period of time.
     
  • Keep the entry time limited, since our attention spans seem to be shrinking all the time. A contest that goes on for a month will likely lose steam.
     
  • The bigger the prize, the more interest and attention your contest will generate. If your budget is very limited, get some other authors together and run the contest jointly, with everyone contributing to the prize and sharing in the excitement on their own blogs. You can amass a lot of books in the same genre from different authors, for instance, for a more impressive prize, or chip in and give away a more expensive gift than you could manage on your own.
     
  • Clearly state the rules and deadlines for the contest when you ask for entries. Make sure your rules and deadlines are simple to understand.
     
  • Entries can take any form you like. For instance, if you want more comments on your blog, make commenting the way people enter. If you want links back to your blog, make the entry a blog post on the entrant’s own site that links to yours.
     
  • Be careful what you ask for. Don’t make posting a review a condition for entering your contest, as e-retailers have to be careful about authors trying to “game” their ranking system. You don’t want to run a contest and end up getting banned or demoted.
     
  • When the contest is over, get those prizes out right away. Follow up to deliver the goods, and make sure you post an article telling everyone who the lucky winner was.

Freebies and Giveaways

Besides being declared the “winner,” the next best thing is to get something for nothing. Giving stuff away is one of the most common marketing techniques, and it’s easy to see why.

If I offer to give you something of value in exchange for a few minutes of your time, or your email address, or for taking a survey, you’ll balance what the cost is against your own perceived value of the “freebie.”

Most authors want to use their book as what they’re giving away but, again, think about whether your new, and therefore mostly unknown book, is really the best thing to motivate people to take part in your promotion.

More on Contests and Giveaways

There’s a whole science to running contests that focuses on social media sites. If you have a good-sized following on Facebook or Twitter, a contest can be a great way to engage with your readers, spread the word about your books, and make a lot of new fans.

For instance, you might run an entire contest on Twitter and gain a lot of new Twitter followers at the same time.

If you decide to use Twitter for your contest, you’ll want to create a unique “hashtag” so people can follow your contest. This is a way to tag tweets so they can be filtered out of the stream of all tweets, and it will allow people following the contest to stay up to date with developments.

On Facebook, the most common request is to ask readers to “like” your fan page in order to enter. That’s a very low barrier and, depending on what the prizes are in your contest, you may want to raise the bar and ask for a comment, a suggestion for topics for your next book, or for results they’ve achieved using your ideas or your program.

These forms of feedback can be very helpful to your other promotions down the road, since you are soliciting testimonials at the same time that you’re running your contest.

The best guides for authors who want to incorporate contests and giveaways into their book promotion is to see what other authors are doing, and to approach it as if you were going to enter the contest yourself. Is it worthwhile? Will the prize motivate you? Is it fun?

Be creative, and use these proven promotional tools in your book launch. Your readers will thank you.

What results have you seen from contests or giveaways? Were you happy with the result? Got any tips for us?

Originally published by CreateSpace in a slightly different form as Promote Your Book with Contests & Giveaways.

 

This is a reprint from Joel Friedlander‘s The Book Designer.

5 Fanbase-Boosting Facebook Secrets

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Do you want to know something that makes me feel old?

Facebook has been around for eight years.

I was a sophomore in college back in 2004 when Mark Zuckerberg first launched the social media site that changed the world. Back then, only college students could have profiles on the site — making it easier for us to stalk meet new friends.

Now everyone (including your grandma) is on Facebook and happy to overshare every detail of his/her life.

But with the launch of the new timeline feature and the addition of in-page apps, Facebook has also become an essential, powerful tool for business owners (including us career-minded indie authors) to connect with fans.

 

Best of all? It’s FREE.

If you’re not harnessing the power of Facebook to promote yourself, find new readers and chat with fans, you’re missing out!

There are a MILLION ways to build your fanbase with Facebook fan pages and, to get you started, I’ve nailed down 30 tips you can start using today (15 here and 15 more I’ll tell you about later).

First, a few pointers!

As much time as I’ve spent on Facebook (read: a lot) there are still a lot of terms and such that I stumble over when making changes to my fan page especially.

Just to be sure we’re all clear on the lingo, here’s a quick look at the main components of your Facebook fan page:

Your Facebook fan page is broken up into a few different key sections — the cover photo, profile photo, apps/tabs and your about area (the ad pictured above is just to give you an idea of how big they are and where they appear on the website).

A couple of quick bonus tips on the Facebook basics:

  • Cover Photos: Update yours often (once a month, at least) but don’t ever include your website address in your cover photo (Facebook doesn’t like that, and can ban you for doing it — yikes!)
     
  • Profile Photo: This should always be a picture of you, so that when your updates appear in someone’s news feed they’ll see your smiling face right beside it! You can update it periodically, but it’s not as crucial to update your profile photo as it is your cover photo.
     
  • Bio Area: Make sure you DO list your website address in your about section.
     
  • Apps/Tabs: This the major area where you can get the most out of your Facebook page. Your photos tab always has to go first, but you have 11 other spots to add tabs with custom images, links, contests, etc. (See below for more!)

If you’re unsure about the difference between Facebook fan pages and personal profiles, shoot me an email and I’ll help you out with that one (took me a while to get it straight, too!).

1. Maximize your reach with Agora Pulse

Sign up for a free Agora Pulse trial to find out when most of your fans are online so you can maximize the views of your post (ours is Thursday morning between 7 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.!).

2. Grow your likes with WooBox

Use an app like WooBox to create a custom page with content hidden behind a “fan-gate.” That means it requires someone to be your fan before they can access the content, which then gives them that extra incentive to like your page! You can also choose a “friend-gate” option where someone has to get a certain number of their friends (you choose between 1 and 100) to like your page before they can see your special content.

3. Promote Facebook in your e-mail signature

Add your Facebook page link to your email signature, encouraging anyone you interact with via email to visit your Facebook page!

4. Host a contest on your Facebook page

Run a fan-only contest like a photo competition, trivia, giveaway, etc. with an app like SweptIn or WildFire. (Note: Facebook does NOT like users to have contests using only Facebook’s functionality — you MUST use a third party app to run a contest!)

5. Share a video

Upload video directly to Facebook to share with your fans. You could:

  • Answer some frequently asked questions
  • Share insight into how you developed your latest novel
  • Dish about what you’re working on now
  • Read a sample chapter of your book

Also consider sharing a book trailer or other promotional video for your book release!

6. Create an event on Facebook

Create a Facebook event for an appearance, book signing, Q&A or any other upcoming event and share it on your fan page!

7. Direct traffic to your page with a QR Code

Have you ever used your smartphone to scan a QR code? It’s a fun, easy way for people to go straight to your website on their smartphone, and you can get one for free!

Use your code in your paperback, media kit and any other print materials (like flyers and bookmarks) you use to promote your book. You can send people to your Facebook page or straight to your website!

8. Join a Facebook Group

Back in the day it was all about joining groups like “I *heart* Josh Groban” and “I’m addicted to Sims 2,” but now Facebook actually has groups that can help you network. Check out Authors Helping Authors, Authors, Agents and Aspiring Writers, and Authors & Writers Co-Op. (Note: Those are all open groups that anyone can join, but there are some closed groups which require an invitation to join.)

9. Announce your fan page to your mailing list

Use the power of your mailing list to drive traffic to your Facebook page by promoting it in your next newsletter or e-mail. Don’t just relegate it to the sidebar either — make an announcement, promote Facebook-only content, or advertise a Facebook contest.

10. Take advantage of a captive audience via SMS

Next time you have the attention of a group of fans at a signing event, appearance or speaking engagement, encourage them to pull out their smart phones and text “fan [yourusername]” or “like [yourusername]” (without the quotes, obviously) to 32665. This will automatically make them like your page – abracadabra!

11. Use your Facebok link to leave blog comments

When you’re commenting on another blog, instead of using your website link in the URL space, why not leave your Facebook fan page URL instead? Other commenters will be able to connect with you immediately via Facebook, instead of going to your website where they might have to search for a way to contact you!

12. Install a “Like” Button for your posts

WordPress has several plug-ins (like this one or Digg Digg, which we use) that will let your readers “like” a specific post directly from your website. Using a feature like this (to cut out the extra step of your fans going to Facebook to share your post) is a win-win!

13. Connect your Facebook fan page to Twitter

Cross-promotion between your social media networks is a must! WooBox has a free app you can use to add your Twitter account to your Facebook page. It brings your Twitter profile and latest tweets right into Facebook, so fans can easily check for updates, follow you and see your newest activity without leaving Facebook.

14. Connect your Facebook fan page to Pinterest

Ditto the above for Pinterest — this is an awesome way to showcase your boards on your Facebook fan page and again, WooBox has a free app to make that happen.

15. Connect your Facebook fan page to GoodReads

Do you see a pattern? This one is little different than Twitter and Pinterest, however. GoodReads has its own app you can add to your personal profile to share your latest activity on that social network, but I wasn’t able to find one specifically for fan pages. BUT, you can use WooBox’s regular HTML page and drop in the link for your GoodReads account. We’ll even help you out with this GoodReads tab image that you can download and use for the custom image!

But wait…there’s more!

We have 15 more tips for using Facebook, but we hid them — guess where?

On our Facebook page, of course!

Do us a favor and go like our Facebook page (if you haven’t already) and you’ll see the full list of 30 Facebook tips for authors!

Have you had success with other Facebook fan page add-ons, tips or tricks?

Share with the class, please!

Facebook is developing so quickly that it’s hard to keep up with everything that goes on there! If you have some ideas or insight into other apps, strategies or tools for getting the most out of your Facebook fan page, share them in the comments.

 

This is a reprint from Duolit.

Pricing Your Novel

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This post, by Robert Kroese, originally appeared on the New Wave Authors blog on 10/3/12.

 

When you self-publish your first novel, I recommend pricing the e-book very low. Currently $0.99 is the lowest price Amazon will allow for a Kindle book, and I think this is a good starting price. Smashwords allows free downloads, but I think most authors are better off not giving away their books (except as a limited time promotion). Even if you get a lot of downloads, it’s hard to know how that’s going to translate into actual sales if you start charging later on. 

Free-book-downloaders are a whole different market segment than book-buyers. People who seek out free books are likely to continue doing that, whereas someone who pays $0.99 for your book and loves it probably won’t blink at the idea of spending $2.99 or even $4.99 or more for your next book.

At $0.99, you’ll make next to nothing per book, but you’ll have a good chance at catching the interest of a lot of potential fans. If you just can’t stomach pricing your baby that low, you can try setting the price a little higher. Currently, $2.99 is the minimum price that qualifies for Amazon’s 70% royalty option (at $0.99, you’ll make only 30%, less delivery costs), so you’ll make significantly more per copy at that price. $2.99 is still low enough that people will be willing to take a chance on an unknown author, but I wouldn’t go any higher than that.

I’ve heard many writers argue that they shouldn’t be expected to work for free; that their book is worth more than $0.99; that if authors keep giving away their work, it will depress prices overall, making it impossible to make a living as a writer; etc. I urge you to drop all these idealistic delusions right now. Besides being misguided, these sorts of notions are NOT helpful when it comes to trying to sell books. You can’t afford to be a snob or an idealist if you expect to make it as a writer. Before you draw a line in the sand, ask yourself whether you’re going to be content with your principles and less than a hundred sales.

Reality check: no matter how good your book is, or how long you worked on it, your book is worth what someone will pay for it. There is no minimum wage for authors or other artists (just ask Van Gogh, who sold exactly one painting while he was alive). Furthermore, it isn’t your job to worry about shaping the future of the publishing industry. The publishing industry is going to roll on, in one form or another, with or without you. It isn’t waiting breathless to find out whether you’re going to price your book at $2.99 or $4.99.

 

 

Read the rest of the post on the New Wave Authors blog.

Should Authors Blog Or Not?

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This post, by Misti Wolanski, originally appeared on her Another Author’s 2 Pence blog on 5/3/12.

Should the modern-day author blog or not?

Though that seems like a straightforward question, it really isn’t. Some say authors should be on every social media site possible, pimping their book out for sales—and, to be fair, trade-published authors often do have a limited amount of time to make the majority of their sales. Some say authors should just spend their time writing the next book, not worrying about marketing. 

And some of us just shrug, pick a few social media techniques we enjoy, and work on our next stories. *twiddles thumbs*

That said, I’ve kept an eye on online media and publishing information and all that jazz for… well, at least 7 years. I’ve seen very few folks (other than John Locke in his much-debated How I Sold 1 Million Ebooks in 5 Months) say that blogging nets them a worthwhile number of sales for the time spent.

Even if I speak as a blog reader or commenter, I haven’t actually bought many books by folks whose blogs I’ve read. I could count on my fingers the folks for whom appreciation for their blog (or helpful online presence) led to me buying books I wouldn’t have otherwise. I’d need more than one hand, granted, but we’re talking over 7 years’ time, here.

So, since I know it’s usually ineffective marketing, why do I blog?

Short answer: I enjoy it.

Long answer: I have a big mouth and like having a place where I can share what I know (or think) and folks can listen (or not) as they prefer. I’m the type of person who will be shopping for a cupcake, hear the person behind me cough, and offer them a horehound candy, after checking if they’re allergic to corn, fish, or mint.

(Horehound candies make fantastic cough drops, by the way, and they don’t close your throat up like menthol. And genetically modified corn has a fish gene in it, so corn and corn syrup can trigger some folks’ fish allergies.)

Back on topic…

Should an author blog?

Before I answer this question, I have a definition to share, as well as a small confession.

copy: writing that seeks to trigger a particular action in the target reader

(That’s why ad text is called ad copy.)

Blurbs are copy. Queries are copy. Blog posts meant to trigger a comment or a sale are copy.

And that is the difference between a blog that successfully leads to sales and one that… doesn’t. Its copy.

Some blogs are all information, no copy. Some have little (or downright bad) copy. In fact, my guess is that most blogs neglect to actually encourage their readership to take the action that the blog owner wants them to take.

 

 

Read the rest of the post on Another Author’s 2 Pence.

My Response To "That" Sue Grafton Quote, And Self-Pub Philosophy In General.

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This post, by A.J. Pearson-VanderBroek, originally appeared on Apology to John Keats on 8/28/12.

So, I’m a little late on this topic, but I feel it’s time that I sat down and assembled my philosophy of self-publishing in wordage. And the topic/quote is a springboard for just that.

So, bestselling author Sue Grafton made a lot of independent and self-published authors angry when she basically called self-publishers lazy wannabes. I originally saw the quote in this Forbes article by David Vinjamuri, and soon after on writer’s blogs. Grafton has since issued some damage control and explanations about her quote, but the embers still burn.

 

Here is the quote, I found here:

"The hard work is taking the rejection, learning the lessons, and mastering the craft over a period of time. I see way too many writers who complete one novel and start looking for the fame and fortune they’re sure they’re entitled to. To me, it seems disrespectful…that a ‘wannabe’ assumes it’s all so easy s/he can put out a ‘published novel’ without bothering to read, study, or do the research. Learning to construct a narrative and create character, learning to balance pace, description, exposition, and dialogue takes a long time. This is not an quick do-it-yourself home project. Self-publishing is a short cut and I don’t believe in short cuts when it comes to the arts. I compare self-publishing to a student managing to conquer Five Easy Pieces on the piano and then wondering if s/he’s ready to be booked into Carnegie Hall."

So, here we go. 

Honestly, getting mad about "wannabe" writers is the third in the Big Three, as I like to call them, of Things Every New Writer Thinks. One is needing to put a © symbol on everything they submit/don’t submit for fear of having their work stolen. Two is honestly believing that their book’s themes are universal themes, so everyone will want to read it. Third, I reiterate, "Omg, I bleed ink better/harder/longer that that guy. I’m mad now." (And I’m speaking from experience as well as observation.)

I ran into the same thing in college. I was a lit major, and I took lit classes. I had peers who never read the books assigned. (That’s all lit classes are. Reading books. And they didn’t. Why. No idea.) Or the scope of their literary criticism/critical thinking was, "Yeah, I didn’t really like that book. That wasn’t a good book." Well, guess what. I loathed "Cry, the Beloved Country" but that thing is underlined and noted on every other page, and I learned a lot from reading it. At the end of the day, it didn’t really matter that they just read Sparknotes and got C’s or B’s, when I stayed up every night reading 300 pages and got A’s. We graduated with the same degree. And since it doesn’t really matter if you can list Dante’s circles of hell when applying for jobs in telecommunications or customer service, I guess everyone wins. (I mentioned writing literary criticism as a hobby at my interview for the grocery store. Express cashier, baby.)

But it’s everywhere. In every job I’ve had, in every hobby I’ve seen, there are people standing around lamenting over the wannabes. Fearing they may be thought of as a wannabe. Pointing the finger at the wannabe, haha, wannabe! But let’s not dwell on the wannabes. Wannabe’s gonna wan..na.

The main point that has ruffled so many feathers is "Self-publishing is a short cut and I don’t believe in short cuts when it comes to the arts." Like many of the angered self-pubbers out there, I do not see self-publishing as a shortcut. I have spent hours (Blood! Tears!) teaching myself formatting. I have honed my skills as an editor, because, honestly, good editors are very hard to find. I’ve read graphic design and art books to learn about cover design and have actively been trying to sharpen my skills in photography. Not to mention that I spend hours in between my three jobs reading fiction, non-fiction, blogs and articles. I take notebooks with me everywhere I go. I write on napkins, in texts, on my breaks, late at night. And many self-publishers do that. They work diligently to polish their product and get better at their craft. But it doesn’t matter to anyone else that I’m sitting at my patio feverishly trying to get a page written before I have to go to work. No one’s life is changed by me staying up too late again to write this blog post. We’re all doing our own thing, to cope, to live, to survive, to escape, to whatever. And we get great books out of it all, that we all enjoy and share. We also get bad books. 

 

Read the rest of the post on Apology to John Keats.

eBook Marketing: How Do You Target Your Reading Audience?

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This post, by James Moushon, originally appeared on The Self-Publishing Review on 9/28/12.

 

One of the first questions a new indie author must ask is what audience will buy my book? The second question is how will I market to this audience? Both questions should be asked way before you get to the publishing stage of your book.

In the old days, there was a very standard set of rules and procedures. If you were fortunate enough to get picked up by a publisher, you got the finished product to the editors and off your book went into the market place.

On the other side, if you had to do the publishing yourself that added a lot of extra action points to get your book to the reader and getting your book into bookstores was a major component in determining whether your book was a success or not.

Well the whole process has turned upside down. Now the marketing targets are all different and the bookstore is no longer the primary focus in marketing your book. It is a turkey shoot, as they say.

Marketing using social media and the Internet are becoming the top choices for marketing for self-publishing authors.

The author must determine their audience, what they read and where to find them all online.

Knowing your audience will be the key in how you approach the marketing of your book.

Multiple Reader Audiences

The first thing you must realize is that there are multiple audiences to address and each will require a different approach. I view audiences in three distinct groups, all separated by experience with online media.

1.      Mature (55+)
Most of this group is new to electronics. Ebook readers and tablets are all new to them. They are accustomed to paper reading. Some have adapted but still fall back to paper. They look for the Deal of the Day or a low priced ebook. Their first selection maybe by genre or an author they like. They have no real online community involvement. Reaching them will take a more direct approach.

2.      Working/Family Group (30-55) 
These are readers that are established adults. They grew up reading traditional books but they are more computer-savvy than the mature group. They have adapted to ebooks because of the time and convenience factor. An online approach could work with this group but they will seek advice from more than online sources.

3.      Mobile, On-the-Move Youth 
They make quicker decisions. They can’t go anywhere and do anything without their cell phone or their iPad or some electronic device at the ready. They would rely almost entirely on online communications to make their buying decision.

They won’t read a book on their iPad but they may use the ebook for an information source. You see this in the resistance to accept e-textbooks. About 60% of this group does all their communication via cell phones exclusively.

In contrast, only 25% of the mature group use cell phones exclusively (No landline phone). (34% overall)

It’s like being in the right place at the right time to be successful. In this case, you need to be in the right genre and target the right audience.

Shooting at the wrong target

 

 

Read the rest of the post on The Self-Publishing Review.

Professional Distance and Protecting the Reader Experience

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I think one of the things I’ve tried to express (often unwell) is that blogs, twitter, facebook, goodreads, etc. have started to cause problems for the author/reader relationship. Before the Internet, there was distance. I think probably on both sides (authors and readers) we didn’t realize the value of that distance until we stopped having it.

Ideally I should read a book and have my own private experience with that book. If I want to talk to some friends about it, that’s totally normal. But traditionally the author and the reader have stayed in their separate corners. (Aside from things like fan mail, but you know what I’m saying… I hope.) Books are magic. Nothing kills magic faster than TMI.

Unfortunately… most authors do NOT get special training in this. We do trial and error until we figure it out. Some authors are able to maintain a sort of social closeness with their readers with no problem because they are never controversial or highly opinionated. (Though how that is possible for a writer, I have no idea. We write because we feel COMPELLED to write. There are some pretty strong emotions fueling that IMO.) It’s not natural for me to not have strong opinions. So, in truth, I’d rather keep a professional distance than be inauthentic. It’s also too much energy to be inauthentic but too much drama and cost to be authentic. At least with strangers on the Internet. Friends both IRL and online are a different matter.

For a long time I’ve largely avoided following anybody whose fiction I read mainly because I want to be able to read and enjoy their fiction untainted by their personal views about anything. I come to them for a story. I don’t care about their politics or their religion or their hobbies or any opinion they have about anything really. I know that sounds mean but I don’t mean it that way. (And by the same token, probably no reader of my fiction cares about my thoughts/views on any of that.)

Our culture has a fascination with celebrity and TMI. So we break down all these sane barriers and instead of just wanting a book, we want a book and to know what our favorite author’s favorite color is. Even while holding this opinion I’ve still been the author who overshares. I don’t know why.

Now I feel like it’s my responsibility to protect the reader experience by not ranting and raving about every subject under the sun because I want a reader to be able to read my work untainted by something they may disagree with me on that has nothing to do with my fiction. Or… who may not like my “tone”. Personality clashes are real. Why should it harm someone’s experience of fiction?

I’ve always been better about this on my other pen name. It’s easier to start out with the right habits or break bad habits early on than it is to live in a pattern for several years and then try to break it. Nevertheless I HAVE succeeded for over a year at not running around to other people’s blogs and commenting/getting into debates. I do lurk on a lot of blogs, but I never comment anymore. If I can do that, I can do this. I think it’s important, because at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if you agree or disagree with my opinions on anything. What matters is the fiction. I want you to be able to read it without ambivalence because one time I stepped on a hot button topic of yours.

I feel I owe the reader a good story, but I also owe the reader the space to be able to read that story without extra crap layered on top of the experience. In the past I believed that if I didn’t “go to them” and bother them in their own spaces that that was enough. But we all have natural curiosity, so people are going to come to my blog or my twitter or my facebook. When they do, it’s still my job to not do anything to interfere with their experience of story.

Zoe Winters is a business and a brand. It’s not “me”. Projecting too much of me into it can only be bad for everyone.

This is a reprint from The Weblog of Zoe Winters.

Lessons Learned From 1 Year As A Fulltime Author Entrepreneur

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It’s just over a year since I gave up my job as an IT contractor and became a full-time author-entrepreneur. I initially gave myself six months to meet some specific financial targets and after making those, I didn’t return to the day job.

I am seriously happy in my new life, but there have been some real challenges and lessons I’ve learned along the way that I wanted to share, as well as some action points if you’re considering making a similar move.

  

Joanna Penn making videos

Joanna Penn making videos at the British Museum, London – just part of the job!

As ever, I just try to share honestly with you guys so I hope this helps you on your journey. I’d love to hear from you so please leave a comment at the end of the post with your thoughts and ideas.

How do I currently make a living as an author-entrepreneur?

I’m not going to share figures but suffice to say, I earn around the average wage for a UK female. It’s a good start for Year 1 of business, but it is a lot less than I am used to earning, so I have some aggressive goals for Year 2. Here’s the rough percentage split of my income.

 

revenue splt 201250% Ebook sales and 95% of this is fiction, skewed towards the second half of the year when Prophecy came out and I had 2 books at $2.99. Ideally I want to be at 80% book sales for my income, so clearly writing more books is the main goal.

 

25% Speaking. I do full day and half day courses where I teach digital publishing and marketing as well as online entrepreneurial skills. I’ve also done multi-day events as the main speaker and I’ve spoken in Australia, Bali and London – and next month, in Zurich, Switzerland. Yes, I’m available for hire!

 

25% Courses and Consulting. From this site, I sell multi-media courses on writing, publishing and book marketing, and I also offer 1:1 consulting sessions for more targeted help.

So you can see why I describe myself as an author-entrepreneur. I could not have given up the day job based on my fiction sales alone, but with an established platform (3 years blogging, podcasting & social networking) I was able to make the jump. I share a lot more about the challenges of being an entrepreneur in my non-fiction book, How to love your job or find a new one, which is focused on career change.

Lesson 1: It’s much easier to have a day job

I have to say up-front that it was easier to work for a company than it is to work full-time for myself. I was a contractor so I worked for a daily rate but I had a steady employer for years so there was little risk.

meditateThis may be the dirty little secret of being an author and an online entrepreneur!

Because the money was better, the social life was pretty fun and I was well regarded in my field. Back in Jan 2011, I wrote about the mixed blessings of the day job and how it meant I didn’t have to worry about cashflow and I still stand by those words.

However, I have wanted to change my career for over 10 years because of a nagging sense inside that what I did was pointless and didn’t benefit the world, let alone satisfying my creative soul. I am also aware that it takes the average company 3-5 years to make a profit, and I am in this for the long term.

I just wanted to be clear that this is not an easy option and I still have some wobbly days where I look at the contract market and think about what could be. Then I remember the stress headaches, the anger and the frustration and I smile and recommit to this path. On my wall is this quote from Steven Pressfield’s ‘The War of Art‘

“On the field of the self stands a knight and a dragon. You are the knight. Resistance is the dragon. The battle must be fought anew every day.”

Action Point 1: Understand the why behind what you are doing. Weigh up the pros and cons of leaving the day job and write them down. Do a lot of research about your chosen path and get educated.

Action Point 2: Save at least 6 months income, preferably a year. Do a financial plan for the first 3 years and aim to hit specific targets every month. Both of these were important for convincing my husband that this could be a good idea, and that over time, with more books, my income should grow.

If you want to know more about the money side of being a professional writer, check out Secrets of a Pro Writer with me and NY Times bestselling author CJ Lyons who seriously knows what she’s talking about in terms of making a very successful living at this.

Lesson 2: Defining your own life is a huge adjustment

I was amazed how the change affected me emotionally, and I have renewed appreciation for people who are retiring after a life of work, or women putting their careers on hold for children. When you give up a structured job, the routine you have lived your life around is suddenly broken and you have emotional adjustments as well as the practical aspects that go along with this.

My self-esteem plummeted.

I went from a high status, highly paid  job where I was near the top of my field after 13 years as a financials IT contractor to being the bottom of the ladder in an entirely new career. Yes, I had spent over 3 years building an audience online but that doesn’t mean much to family and friends. It also doesn’t pay the bills.

ipad setup at the London Library

How I write at the London Library

I also found it hard at first to sort out a working routine that produced enough material and focused on writing first, then marketing as well as creating new products. This took me ages to get sorted but I am pretty happy with how I’m working now. I rarely have a full day off though, but that’s normal for new businesses and this is my passion as well as my job!

 Action Point 1: Treat it like a job and set some daily routines. I diarize days when I work on fiction and others that I work on courses, consulting, blogging etc. I set deadlines for producing specific pieces of work. I have a routine around my email, twitter etc. I make sure that I have new income streams coming in at regular intervals, whether it’s a book, a new course or a speaking appearance. The little trickles of income will expand over time but only if there is more product :)

Action Point 2: Find somewhere to work that is not your home. I find that getting out of the house and doing a form of commute into the city really helps me as I can separate from the house, leave the chores and be productive. I also get the benefit of a commute, so I can feel part of the city vibe, I can buy myself a coffee or meet writer friends. I am a paid member of the London Library which is excellent and I try to spend 1-3 days a week there in order to write in a different environment.

Lesson 3: You need support through a physical network

I love my online friends and I could not have made this change without all of you who I have never met in person. But when you have a job that is basically all virtual, you can get quite lonely so you need physical support.

My husband is my primary #1 fan/support along with my Mum but I also have a network of writer and entrepreneur friends that I meet in London for coffee and brainstorming around our challenges. It’s a like a pro-author-entrepreneur-circle.

coffee cupI met most of these people originally online or at networking events and cultivated friendships in the real world as I moved back to London in June 2011 after 11 years in New Zealand and Australia.

I make sure I schedule coffee/lunch at least once a week in order to break up the time spent writing and being virtual. I also go to various networking meetings to expand my circle of friends. This is crucial to my sanity!

Action Point: Make an effort to go to networking events, writing groups and conventions where you can meet people physically and build a network of like-minded supportive people. Actively aim to meet people who are going places in their career.

Lesson 4: It’s absolutely worth it!

I love my new life, now I have settled into it and I can see how things will (hopefully) change in the coming years. I know from past experiences that the beginning time is often the hardest and that every year things will be different but my skills will grow and so will my number of books & products and so will my audience. When I started this site, I had nothing and a lot has changed in the last 4 years so making a start is critical.

hourglassMost of the authors making the big money have been doing this for many years, and most indies making $5000 – $10,000 a month have at least 5 books. Success in any field takes some time to achieve, as does learning the craft and the business of writing. So don’t expect to make it with novel #1, but keep at it.

On the entrepreneurial side, the mega blogs making a lot of money from online products generally started on the internet back when blogging didn’t exist and when geeks were not cool. Nowadays they rule the (online) world :) but it has taken many of them a lot of years to make it. I particular like this video by Chris Brogan, who is an A list blogger, speaker and business author (it’s at the bottom of the post). Overnight success gets up at 5am after getting to bed at midnight. Overnight success doesn’t watch a lot of TV. Overnight success is gained inch by inch when no one is watching.

Action Point 1: Look at the writing careers of people you admire and see how hard it was for them at the start as well. Read Stephen King’s On Writing – he was working nights in a laundry when he finally sold Carrie after trying for many years. It’s not easy to make this change so go easy on yourself at the beginning.

Action Point 2: Keep writing, keep producing, keep learning – and do it for the rest of your life :)

My plans for Author-Entrepreneur Year 2

Often, life doesn’t quite turn out the way we plan it, but it’s certain that nothing happens unless you have some written goals! I also believe in stretch goals and not aiming too low.

So, in Year 2:

  • I want to move into the hybrid model of publishing – with my agent helping me to get a traditional book deal for my thrillers. I will also continue to self-publish but possibly under a different brand and do some work for hire to pay the bills. This will bring in income monthly from Amazon sales but also in spikes from traditional book deals.
  • I want to double my income and move my % split to be 60% fiction, with 20% digital courses and 20% speaking & consulting. My aim is to be at 80% scalable income, which means you create once and sell multiple times. So books are scalable as are online products but speaking and consulting actually take time every time you do them so they are not scalable. But I enjoy them so I do want them as part of the business – I don’t think I ever want to be 100% author only because I love the business/entrepreneurial side of things and I love helping people.

OK, that’s a bit of a mammoth post but this is my life nowadays and I do think sharing the journey with you honestly is important. I always want to save you time, heartache and money so lessons learned are critical!

What do you think? Any questions or lessons you have learned?

Please do leave your comments [section of the original post] as I’m really keen to hear what you think about this.

Images: my own, iStockphoto and Big Stock Coffee Cup 

 

 

This is a reprint from Joanna Penn‘s The Creative Penn.

Twitter – How to Use It Effectively

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This post, by Gwen Fitzgerald, originally appeared on Publishing Geek.

I recently published an article for Red Sofa Literary, the agency where I intern. I’m pretty proud of the information, so I’m including it here:

Every author wants to put him/herself out there, and it’s important to build an online base. But it’s hard to get noticed on a website crowded with people doing the same thing. Twitter is a powerful tool that allows one to give updates consistently, meaning that connections are made and maintained.

For an author, this makes it easier to build a platform while writing a book.  In the long run, this effort and attention will help with promotion and networking. Yes, it can be intimidating and confusing to begin building a Twitter “empire.” The end result is a marketable writing presence before finishing one’s book.

 

1. Work Your Profile:

Fill out your bio with interesting information. Make it just a few lines long, but include your genre, your book’s title (or working title,) your passions, and profession. Including this information allows other Twitterers to find and add you.

Link your Facebook and website.  It’s quite normal for people to not use their real names on Twitter, so your Facebook friends might not think to look for you unless this link is established.

Use a relevant photo. Even if you don’t put in a self-portrait, it’s better to put in something that will catch your followers’ eyes. Use your book cover, or find some interesting focus of your writing a la vintage Penguin covers. It can seem tempting to use a photo of your dog in a Santa suit, but when people are browsing their home page, the picture is the main thing drawing their eye. The photo only adds to the recognition.

 

2.  Follow the Right People:

The best way to get followers is to follow people who will follow you back. While they’re interesting to read, celebrities probably won’t return the favor. Instead, imagine you’re at a networking event, and think about who you’d interact with. Try adding local writing clubs and bookstores; then look through their followers and find other writers, readers, agents, editors or publishers to follow (and interact with them).

If you’re writing non-fiction, find people who are experts in your subject, as well as people who share the same interest. You can find them by searching via hashtags and profiles. At that level, most people will follow you back. Twitter is a better use of time when interacting with people who are helpful vs. falling into the trap of playing the numbers game. 

 

Read the rest of the post, which includes two more Twitter tips and a special note, on Publishing Geek.

Angst And Other Things Authorly

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This post, by Peg Brantley, originally appeared on the Crime Fiction Collective blog and is reprinted here in its entirety with that site’s permission.

When I slid over to the serious side of writing in 2004 and began learning a little bit about the craft, it became necessary to suck “Id” up and let other people read the words I’d written. The wait was terrible as my critique partners made their way through what was certainly mangled and bruised and very purple-y colored prose.

 

Fast-forward eight years to the beginning of 2012 when my first novel was published. I was torn between wanting everyone to read it and hoping no one would. People who knew me and had certain expectations of my abilities would read my book—and I would no longer be able to fool them. They would shake their heads at how easily they’d been conned. Publishing a book that proved I was not really as talented as I pretended was a very different way to come out of the intellectual closet. Almost as bad was the thought that complete strangers would read my novel and pass judgment on me within minutes. They wouldn’t even give themselves a chance to get to know the phony me. The angst loomed so large that I questioned any positive comments believing they were merely politely phrased pity.

So now, here I am, less than two weeks away from the release date for novel number two, The Missings. (No, I don’t write that fast. This was a manuscript that was written prior to Red Tide. I just needed to go back and apply things I’d learned.) I’m sure I’m going to disappoint some people who have been waiting for a series. (Go figure. I guess they did like the book.) I’m using the same fictional town but different characters. I’m going to disappoint some people who expect another thriller. Number two is a police procedural. And there’s only one dog in it and he’s not exactly in the spotlight. (Red Tide has some hero-dogs.)

The angst began early for this one and it’s building. I’ve sent the book out to beta readers. Their feedback came in and when there were pages and pages without comment I was sure they were bored and had skipped entire scenes. I had lost the pace or the story or whatever and therefore, I lost a reader. Never mind that I asked my enlisted volunteers to watch for that sort of thing in particular. Never mind that they told me they loved those pages. I was convinced I was doomed.

The next item on the agenda was a professional edit from Jodie Renner (who was a joy to work with, by the way). It’s now been formatted for Kindle, has been endorsed and reviewed and soon it will be time for that huge and final, no-going-back step. The step that requires me to jump off a cliff and knit wings on the way down.

The step requires me to trust the process. Trust that my meshing of words will find the audience they were meant to find. Trust that my book will provide as much entertainment as the next authors. Trust that I will live to take another breath and write another book and have the wonderful opportunity to be just as unsure about everything all over again.

Whatever it is you do in your life, if you feel moments where you are vulnerable and scared, then you’re doing something significant. It might be as large as saving thousands of lives, or as small as writing a book that gives people a few hours of escape into someone else’s life.

I’ve come to embrace my angst. Well, sort of. But I’ve pretty much concluded that if the angst leaves entirely, it might be time to move on.

How about you? Are you ever filled with angst? Or a little bit of dread? I’d sure love to have some company.

 

Peg Brantley’s debut thriller, RED TIDE, has found its way into the hands of more than 35,000 readers in the six months since its publication. THE MISSINGS, a police procedural, will be available soon

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Email Updates (Your Fans Actually Read)

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The average person receives 147 emails every day.

When I first read that statistic, it seemed like total hooey. Almost 150 messages every day? Maybe fancypants famous people get that many, but definitely not me.

I was debating between feeling relieved or unloved, when suddenly, it hit me: I probably DO receive that much email every day.

Between spam, the latest sales at Hobby Lobby, updates from family and emails from our lovely indie author friends, the amount of mail adds up quickly!

The process of filtering through my emails has become so automatic, however, that I disregard at least half of those emails before even opening them.

I’d be willing to bet that you do the same.

With that in mind, would it surprise you to know that, as an indie author, your mailing list is your biggest asset?

 

Your Mailing List is Gold, Baby!

It’s true: more than website visitors, more than Twitter followers, more than Facebook likes or Pinterest repins, the amount of folks on your mailing list gives you an instant snapshot of the state of your fanbase.

Are you rolling your eyes? Maybe the thought of sending obnoxious email newsletters feels sleazy, or perhaps you’ve tried it before but haven’t had good results.

Bear with me. Forget everything you think you know about mailing lists and email updates, and let’s explore the easy, fun and *effective* side of email marketing.

1. Set Up Your List

Before we can create those awesome email updates, you have to have a mailing list, right? So, sign up for Mailchimp. The basic features are free and suit the needs of indie fiction authors nicely.

If you have a self-hosted website or WordPress blog, learn how to add a signup form to your site. If you’re on WordPress.com, it’s a little hackier, but can be done.

2. Encourage Fans to Join Your List

Now that we have a list, it’s time to add your readers! While this could be a whole post in and of itself (and probably will be eventually), the major actions that encourage readers to join your list are:

1. Giving something away (that your readers actually want).

When readers join your list, send them some sort of freebie as a “thank you.”

This could be a short story, excerpt, alternate POV piece — whatever. But make it short and awesome; something a reader could finish in a few hours or less. Think of this as your “audition piece.” If they like what they read, they’ll stick with you!

2. Creating an awesome, convincing signup page, then linking to it instead of your website’s homepage.

If this goes against your natural leaning, I understand, but here’s the deal: over half of the people who visit websites only view one page (that’s a stat from this site, but the pattern is similar across the web).

You know how it is: our attention spans are super-divided nowadays. Linking to your signup page directly:

  • Offers the visitor a peek into who you are and what you write.
  • Gives them a reason to entrust you with their email address (remember that freebie?).
  • Puts them on the road to becoming a fan.

The Checklist for Writing Fun, Effective Email Updates

Now that you have a list in place, it’s time to start interacting with those fans! Woot!

Timing

How often you send out your email updates is up to you, but my advice is this: send them as often as possible without sacrificing quality and value. I suggest weekly (gasp! I know!).

Don’t get overwhelmed. You don’t need to create exclusive content for every update. While that’s nice now and then, the format I’m about to share is tailor-made to point to content already on your website.

No matter what you decide, be consistent. Unless you’re getting close to launch time (when things get crazy), choose an update schedule and stick to it — this way,your fans used to seeing you in their inbox.

Look and Feel

When you create your email, your eyes will be bombarded with dozens of pretty themes to choose from.

Wanna hear a secret? I hate them all.

Seriously, I used to be all about email newsletters with those fancy colors and images, but no more!

Use the most bare-bones formatting you can find (here’s a stripped down template I made for Mailchimp and how to import it).

With this basic template in place, you can format your emails so they look like a regular email to a friend. Because, in a way, that’s exactly what you’re writing!

Subject Line

After you’ve selected your template, decide on a subject line. Think of this is a headline for your email – it’s that important.

To do this, first choose the point of your email. You’re not just sending out random updates, but using your emails to build relationships and encourage your fans to take some sort of action, such as:

  • Reading/commenting on a blog post
  • Leaving a review
  • Purchasing your book
  • Answering a question
  • Sharing an opinion

Choose one purpose for your email, a single action you want readers to take. This gives your email focus; the last thing you want is confusion!

After you decide on your action, compose a subject line that grabs your reader’s attention. You can use common headline-writing tactics, but be sure to throw in your own flair!

Caution! Whatever you do, don’t make your subject line “May 2012 Newsletter” or “Newsletter #5″ or “Author Namehere’s Newsletter.” There’s nothing fun-sounding or attention-grabbing about those!

Your Email’s Opening Line

Now we can move on to the email itself! First thing’s first: the opening line.

Most email providers (like Gmail) show the first sentence of an email in the inbox itself, so it’s important to sound personal and non-spammy. Some options:

  • If users share their name when they sign up for your mailing list, use that information here, like “Hi Toni!”
  • Use a typical opening you’d use in an email to a friend. We’re fans of “Hey there!” and “Happy [Day of Week]!” This is totally dependent, however, on your personality (and what your readers are familiar/comfortable with)!

The Body of Your Email

Write the body of your email like you’re writing to one person. While you’re writing, picture a single reader in your mind and write the email directly to him:

  • Write like you speak, NOT like you’re writing your novel. It’s okay — no one will be grading your grammar!
  • Use short paragraphs to break up your email. Long walls of text overwhelm readers!
  • Want a few bonus points? Read your email out loud!

Inserting Your Call to Action

Remember that single purpose we decided on before you started writing your email? Now it’s time to add it in!

  1. Add your call to action in at least two spots. Since most readers skim emails, it’s important to repeat yourself.
  2. Craft the link or action in a conversational way, like it’s a natural part of the email. Use “Click here to check out my short story” not simply “click here”

Add Your Closing

Like your opening, your closing line is up to your personal taste, but consider this excellent post on the “familiarity index” of different email closings.

PS: Don’t Forget the Post Script

Those fun asides commonly found at the end of letters and emails are actually the second most read part of your message!

While including a PS in every email could dilute its effectiveness, it is an excellent spot to restate your call to action or leave a closing thought.

Author Email Example

While it may seem like a lot to remember, seeing the concepts above in action makes the crafting engaging emails easy as pie. Here’s a sample I whipped up:

SUBJECT: NEW Halloween-y Short Story Inside (I’m eager to hear your thoughts!)

Hey there!

October is already here — are you breaking out the fall decorations? Even though there’s not the slightest hint of a chill in the air here in Florida, I’m already plotting out the design for my front porch Halloween display!

Believe it or not, Halloween is my favorite holiday. Everyone assumes that it’s Christmas (perhaps because of my awesome Christmas village), but Halloween is first on my list. Something about it signals the beginning of an exciting holiday season, and I’ve always been drawn to that.

Plus, you know, all the candy. I can’t lie, I’m a sucker for the candy (pardon the pun).

Anyways, I was struck by a bit of inspiration over the weekend, and whipped up a short story about new beginnings, old candy and the costumes we wear year-round. I’d love for you to check it out:
Click here to read ‘Did They Make All The Candy Corn in 1976?’

It’s a bit of a departure from my normal fare, so I’m interested to hear what you think. After you’ve read the story, would you leave  a short comment and share your thoughts (be honest!)?

I’ve been stressing over whether I should flesh it out, and your feedback will help a ton :-) 
Click here to read the short story and leave a comment!

Thank you for taking the time to check it out and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

Happy October,
Toni Imnotanauthor

PS: Did I mention that the story involves a costume made completely out of candy corn? You know you can’t resist finding out more about that!

That’s all completely made up, of course, but it gives you an example of the principles I discussed above. The best part? It took me less than 10 minutes to write!

The Number One Rule of Emailing Your Fans

The biggest rule of mailing list etiquette is this: write emails that you would like to read. If it sounds boring to you, your readers will likely skip it: make those emails entertaining and action-oriented!

No matter how awesome your emails are, however, some folks WILL complain or unsubscribe — that’s okay. Don’t take it personally. Your real fans will stick with you!

Download the Super-Duper Author Email Checklist!

Even if you’re skeptical, give this style of email updates a try. It’s fun, fast and helps you build personal relationships with your fans. I’m so passionate about this stuff that I created a handy checklist to keep you on track!

Soon, you’ll be an emailing pro, interacting with your fans one-on-one — no sleazy feeling involved!

Talk Back

I’m curious: do you have a mailing list? Has it helped your indie career? Did the tips above give you any ideas or make it seem more do-able to you? Do you have other tricks to share? Let’s discuss in the comments!

 

 

 

This is a reprint from Duolit.