author brand – Page 2

How to Write an Author Bio When You Don't Feel Like an Author…Yet

January 3, 2016October 22, 2014 by Publetariat

This post by Anne R. Allen originally appeared on her blog on 9/9/12.

Maybe you’ve got a novel finished and you’ve been sending out queries. Lots. And you’re getting rejections. Lots. Or worse, that slow disappointment of no response at all.

Or maybe you write short fiction and poetry and you’ve got a bunch of pieces you’ve been sending out to contests and literary journals. You’ve won a few local contests, but so far you haven’t had much luck getting into print.

You may still be afraid to tell more than a handful of people you’re a writer. You’d feel pretentious calling yourself an “author.”

But it might be time to start—at least privately.

Because one day, in the not too distant future, you’ll open your email and there it will be:

The response from an editor: “You’re the winner of our October ‘Bad Witch’ short story contest. We’d like to publish your story, Glinda: Heartbreaker of Oz in our next issue. Please send us your Author Bio.”
Or just when you were giving up hope, you get that reply from your dream agent: “I’m intrigued by your novel Down and Out on the Yellow Brick Road. Please send the first fifty pages, and an Author Bio.”

You’re so excited you’re jumping out of your skin, so you dash something off in five minutes and hit “send.” Wow. You’re going to be in print! Or maybe get an agent. Let’s get this career on the road!

Whoa. You do NOT want to dash off an author bio in five minutes. Every word you send out there is a writing sample, not just those well-honed pages or stories.

Read the full post, which includes a 10-step guide to writing an author bio, on Anne R. Allen’s blog.

No Author Is Too Good for Her Amazon Critics

January 3, 2016October 20, 2014 by Publetariat

This post by Jennifer Weiner originally appeared on New Republic on 10/19/14.

Dear readers, the commoners have reviewed Margo Howard’s book … and Ms. Howard is not pleased.

A bit of background: long-time advice columnist Howard wrote a memoir called Eat, Drink, and Remarry: Confessions of a Serial Wife. Publisher’s Weekly called it a “touching” memoir by a “pampered princess” that relied heavily on name-dropping for its draw.

Amazon’s critics were less impressed—specifically, Amazon’s “most trusted” reviewers who, Howard says, are given “freebies…cold cream, sneakers, pots and pans, and…books!” and allowed to review them in advance of their publication date. She is not a fan. These reviewers—“the freebie people,” Howard calls them—are “dim bulbs,” they are “evangelical, unworldly,” “barely literate, and “deluded.”

The irony, of course, is that in trying to show that she’s not, as the “freebie people” say, a coddled, name-dropping, well-connected rich lady, Howard comes across as a well-connected rich lady. Everything from her name-dropping (both a MacArthur genius and a long-time Vanity Fair staff writer loved her book!) to her solution to the problem (it turns out that Howard knows two members of Amazon’s board of directors!) smacks of barely-examined privilege.

Still, I can feel Howard’s pain. Show me a writer who hasn’t felt savaged, misunderstood, unfairly attacked, or completely misread by an Amazon reviewer, and I’ll show you a writer whose books live in shoeboxes under her bed. I suspect that there are, indeed, reviewers who skim books looking for references of stuff they don’t have—a nanny here, a remodeled kitchen there—so their review can scream RICH LADY PROBLEMS in all caps.

Read the full post on New Republic.

Why Is Typography So Important To Content Marketing?

January 3, 2016October 14, 2014 by Publetariat

This post by Erika Schneider originally appeared on the Outbrain blog on 9/16/14. Note that while it is aimed at small businesses, the information here is just as applicable to author websites and blogs, and even book cover design.

Content marketing has become one the primary ways of retaining customers, attracting new clients, and generating leads, sales, and profit for a company. While the content itself on a website is incredibly important, another crucial aspect of content marketing is typography. Typography isn’t often given a lot of consideration, but there is no doubt it plays a role in strengthening your brand, creating interest in your product, and highlighting your central message.

What is typography?

Typography is actually a pretty basic concept, and simply refers to the way that text is arranged on a page or document. Often times, typography is referred to as an art, as typography can be incredibly creative and innovative. Typography is great for enhancing a theme, adding personality, increasing emphasis of an idea or reinforcing a thought, demonstrating emotion, creating interest, and crafting aesthetic appeal.

While straightforward black-colored text such as this is appropriate for some forums, colorful and artistic text can be a great advertising tool. Notice how that sentence caught your attention and drew you in based on its font and color scheme alone? That’s the whole point of great typography.

Elements of Typography

You might think that typography is limited to font and color, but typography is actually much more than that. Here are the elements of typography that you should familiarize yourself with:

Read the full post on Outbrain.

Thinking of Rebranding Your Blog? Read This.

January 3, 2016October 9, 2014 by Publetariat

This post by Stacey Roberts originally appeared on ProBlogger on 10/1/14.

Rebranding an established and successful business? Why would you do that?

For some, the risk of changing the name of something people have grown to know and love is too big. For others, the risk of being boxed into something they no longer feel much affinity for is even bigger.

No doubt it’s a scary leap to rebrand a blog – would people still read? Would a slight shift in direction upset the established audience? Would the to-do list of technical issues be too overwhelming? Would you lose all that Google love you’ve built up over the years?

At some point, if you’ve felt the rumbling undercurrent of wanting to make a change, you’ll decide those reasons are no longer enough to hold you back. And so you research new domain names, you design new logos, you test the waters. And you make the switch – your blog (and your online identity) is something new. Something more you.

Jodi Wilson did that on New Year’s Eve 2013. She took a blog she had lovingly nurtured for six years from online journal to a much larger online place of community and inspiration, and gave it a complete overhaul. Once a place to share the milestones and sleepless nights as a new parent, the blog had evolved into a new space of a woman finding joy in a simple, humble life. And Jodi felt it required a new look and name to reflect that.

“One of the biggest factors in the name change was the fact that my blog was originally named after my son and his teddy – Che & Fidel,” she says.

Click here to read the full post on ProBlogger.

How to Get Traffic to Your Author Website: 30+ Tips for Discouraged Writers

January 3, 2016October 8, 2014 by Publetariat

This post by Kimberley Grabas originally appeared on Your Writer Platform on 10/8/14.

Sure is quiet out there.

I mean seriously, with a gabillion people online these days, wouldn’t a few even accidentally stumble across your website?

Isn’t it statistically impossible (or at least, improbable) that you should have so little traffic to this darn blog that you’ve spent hours coaxing into existence, one precious post at a time?

What? Offline rejection isn’t enough, now writers have to be rebuffed online, too?

Don’t be discouraged, dear writer, help is on the way!

Building traffic can take time. It’s not always easy to find the people who are interested in your topic and receptive to your point of view, your voice and your style.

Plus, you also need to consider the “share-potential” of your audience. Do your readers have large followings on social networks like Twitter and Facebook? Or better, do they have their own blogs or websites?

Or does your audience (or potential audience) have small networks of the usual suspects: friends, family and a few peers?

Be careful when comparing your growth with the internet gurus. If your target audience isn’t bloggers, businesses or online entrepreneurs, the share-potential of your readers will be much lower – and your growth, therefore, may be much slower.

Consider changing your goal from quickly growing your traffic, to focusing on ensuring that the traffic you are attracting is right for your author blog. You want the traffic you funnel to your site to be targeted, invested and closely aligned with your way of thinking.

And the results you seek – increased book sales, a supportive community, authority and influence in your genre or niche – are not *necessarily* linked to high traffic numbers.

To achieve those results, you must remember that it’s not traffic or “the numbers” that are most important, but building relationships with people that value what you have to say and how you say it. (Although highly targeted traffic + big numbers = the holy grail )

The more targeted the traffic you draw to your site, the better your chances of turning visitors into fans.

I Know You Want it, But Are You Ready for a Surge in Traffic?

Attracting the right people to your author website is important, but a key ingredient in exponential traffic growth is retaining as many of those readers as possible.

If you don’t stop the leaks, you end up spending a lot more time and resources than you need to.

Therefore there are two components to “getting more traffic”: ready your website and social media outposts to receive visitors AND draw the “right” people to your site. (Tweet this idea!)

You’ll need to focus on both to begin seeing an increase in traffic and to start growing your fan base.

Click here to read the full post, which is very lengthy and includes MANY specific tips and strategies, on Your Author Platform.

Distinguishing Between Straight-Up Advice and Paradigm Shift

January 3, 2016September 30, 2014 by Publetariat

This post by Jane Friedman originally appeared on her site on 5/11/12.

A couple weeks ago I wrote a column for Writer Unboxed, “Should You Focus on Your Writing or Platform?” In short, I said it’s a balancing act, but there are times when you should probably emphasize one over the other.

It generated more than 100 responses, many insightful and valuable, from working writers, established authors, editors, and agents. My colleague Christina Katz was one of the last to comment. Here’s part of what she said.

This post really makes me chuckle … I wonder how much time folks spent reading and chewing on and commenting on and spreading the word about a post ABOUT platform rather than actually spending any amount of time actually cultivating and working on their own platform?

I am a person who does not distinguish between writing, selling, specializing, self-promotion, and continuing ed, and also a person who sees all of these things as essential and necessary to my writing career success. …

For me, there is no separation. Writing is the center. (If you read The Writer’s Workout, you saw the diagram.) But it’s all critical. There’s nothing to debate.

Read her entire comment here.

I’m (mostly) in the same boat as Christina. I find it impossible and irrelevant to distinguish between writing activities and platform building activities. My approach is far too holistic.

So why did I write a post splitting them up?

Because most writers don’t and CAN’T see them as one activity. They’re still asking questions that show they need some concrete ideas on how to manage what they perceive (and what can be) a very real split in one’s life.

Click here to read the full post on Jane Friedman’s site.

Book Marketing 101: Don’t Sell a Book; Build a Brand

January 3, 2016September 21, 2014 by Publetariat

This post by Derek Murphy originally appeared on CreativIndie.

For a lot of authors, “book marketing” still means something like advertising or publicity.

In other words, you put something in front of people that tells them about the book, and that they should go buy it.

Here’s why that doesn’t work:

– People need repetition before they notice, then take action. So they’ll need to see whatever it is you’re doing many times (usually 7 or more) before it even registers. That’s why something like a one time radio appearance or newspaper review isn’t likely to sell many books.

– People buy based on trust. They’re much more likely to buy the book if a friend recommends it, or somebody else online that they’re following that they already know, like and trust.

– People hate advertisement and promotion these days. That’s why the biggest, million-dollar companies avoid it in favor of content marketing, which means, you they make other really cool and interesting content that their target buyers will enjoy and appreciate. There is no hard sale or call to action, except indirectly.

Coke has been doing this for years. When was the last time you saw a Coke ad that said “On sale for only 99cents right now!” Coke doesn’t need to sell it’s product. They don’t need to offer discounts. Pricing is irrelevant. Coke sells a lifestyle. Everything cool that they do makes people like them more, which, in turn will actually sell soda.

So here’s what you need to do to sell more books:

Click here to read the full post on CreativIndie.

How Not To Respond To A Bad Review

January 3, 2016September 10, 2014 by Publetariat

This post by John Dugdale originally appeared on The Guardian on 9/5/14.

Stephan J Harper’s litany of angry comments about a critic is a textbook demonstration of the reasons why wounded writers should keep shtum

If it’s not the craziest response ever by a novelist to a negative review, it’s almost certainly the longest, most obsessive and most ridiculous. When Michael E Cohen reviewed an interactive ebook called Venice Under Glass on the Apple-related site TidBITS.com, he can’t have expected that underneath it would eventually appear more than 50 responses from a single commenter: the book’s author, Stephan J Harper.

Seemingly unembarrassed by the incongruity of mounting a vehement defence of a detective story in which all the characters are teddy bears, Harper initially penned a series of comments (many of them over a single night between 1am and 4am) in which he quoted passages from the book, hoping to persuade Cohen that his criticisms of its “workmanlike” prose or “juvenile” plot were unjustified.

Click here to read the full post on The Guardian.

A Guide to Pinterest for Fiction & Nonfiction Writers: 15 Best Practices

January 3, 2016August 24, 2014 by Publetariat

This post by Frances Caballo originally appeared on Writer.ly on 8/8/14.

Pinterest and SEO

It can be tempting to get lost in the floral images, funny quotes, and pictures of dreamy kitchens on Pinterest, and that’s okay. However, there’s more to Pinterest than collecting DIY, wedding, and craft images while you sip a cup of tea or glass of wine at the end of the day. Pinterest is also a powerful network that can improve the SEO of your blog and website. Here are some tips:

Always categorize your pinboards. Pinterest has gone to great lengths to assist search engines that crawl the Web looking for new content. By using the platform’s own categories, you will alert search engines to the content of your boards.

A common pinboard title is Favorite Books. Search engines crawling the Web will notice the word Books and tie some of your entries to the more general category of books. For example, if your book cover is on your Favorite Books pinboard, search engines may link your book to the category of Books and in turn index your book, improving your SEO.

You can drive traffic to your blog with Pinterest. Use the Pin It Button in your browser to add images from your blog to your pinboards. When another user clicks on the image, they will immediately be directed to your blog.

Best Practices

Click here to read the full post, which includes 15 specific best practices tips, on Writer.ly.

Creative Entrepreneur: Business Models For Authors

January 3, 2016July 27, 2014 by Publetariat

This post by Joanna Penn originally appeared on her The Creative Penn site on 7/25/14.

This is a continuation in the author entrepreneur series of articles. Recently, I posted the arc of the indie author from first book to CEO of your global business.

Today we’re focusing on the various business models that authors can use to generate revenue and satisfy customers.

Of course, many authors have day jobs which is a great way to pay the bills and writing can then be for fun or extra income, but this article is aimed at authors who are intent on going full-time in this business.

Why do you need to define your business model?

Defining your business model can help keep you focused. Opportunities expand as your profile grows and keeping your business model top of mind can help you say no to things that distract you. [I need to remind myself of this all the time!]

For example, renowned indie author JA Konrath states, “I gave up on public appearances a few years ago, because of diminishing returns. They were indeed fun, but the cost and time away from writing wasn’t worth it to me.”

My business model includes professional speaking as well as being an author, but recently I have started to turn down speaking work in order to focus more on the writing and only taking interesting speaking events, like Sweden in September. I’ll be sharing my business plan at some point soon, but in considering where to focus my efforts, these were the most common business models I discovered – and some people mix and match between them.

Business model 1: Non-fiction books with info products, speaking and consulting

Click here to read the full post on The Creative Penn.

Censorship War: Website Unmasks Links Google is Blocking From Search Results

January 3, 2016July 20, 2014 by Publetariat

This post originally appeared on RT.com on 7/17/14.

A subversive website has been launched to keep track of news and other webpages Google has “censored” from the search engine’s index, following the European Court of Justice’s controversial Right to be Forgotten ruling.

The tech giant has reportedly been inundated with 70,000 requests to remove sensitive information from its search results in the aftermath of the ECJ’s decision. While this data may be accurate, it is considered “irrelevant” and possibly defamatory under the EU policy shift.

In a mark of protest against online censorship, a new site ‘Hidden From Google’ has begun archiving links censored by search engines intent on complying with ECJ demands. The site was set up by US web developer and transparency advocate, Afaq Tariq.

The New Jersey developer asserts the removal of links from a search engine’s index amounts to censorship. So in an effort to preserve transparency in Europe’s online realm, he invites visitors to log data that has been removed from Google on the site.

“This list is a way of archiving the actions of censorship on the Internet,” Tariq states on the site’s about page. “It is up to the reader to decide whether our liberties are being upheld or violated by the recent rulings by the EU.”

Click here to read the full post on RT.com.

Four Important Questions About Your Brand

January 3, 2016June 29, 2014 by Publetariat

This post by Joe Wikert originally appeared on his Joe Wikert’s Digital Content Strategies on 5/20/14.

Publishers tend to take their brands for granted, especially when they feel it’s well defined and doesn’t need attention. Since the core meaning of a brand needs to remain consistent it’s hard to argue with leaving things as is.

Nevertheless, there are times when every organization needs to take a step back and make sure their brand conveys the right message. This is particularly important for an industry like publishing, which has experienced several years of disruption.

Here are four questions leaders and brand managers should ask themselves from time to time:

What’s the first thing that enters a consumer’s mind when they see your brand?

This is the most important question of all. Regardless of what you want your brand to convey, consumers have their own interpretation. I’m not a big fan of focus groups since they sometimes lead to “New Coke”, but this is a customer survey that’s worth the time and effort to conduct.

Click here to read the full post on Joe Wikert’s Digital Content Strategies.

3 Strategies For Repurposing Content

January 3, 2016June 5, 2014 by Publetariat

This post by Alyssa Kritsch originally appeared on the Hootsuite blog.

One of the biggest challenges for marketers today is how to create great content. Quality content is not only an effective tool to acquire new customers, but increase brand awareness and position your organization as a thought leader in your industry.

To develop valuable content means having a content strategy that leverages your brand’s core ideas and the ability to repurpose content allows marketers to produce more collateral with less research.

Here are a few quick strategies to think about when repurposing content:

Create Longevity

The goal of evergreen content is to create something thats lifetime extends beyond the time taken to write it. This means, the time you spend writing will be made up in months of content value.

Start With an Idea

Start with a core idea, usually as a solution to either a common customer question or a vertical target audience. As an example, let’s say the core idea is data and metrics analysis.

Visualize a mind map of all the possible mediums and audiences the idea could be written for. When you create content with the specific purpose of repurposing it, you allow yourself to effortlessly add value each time you re-work the piece.

Leave Room to Build

Click here to read the full post, which includes more on the Create Longevity bullet point as well as two additional content repurposing strategies, on the Hootsuite blog.

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