Nadia Janice Brown's Blog - Posts Tagged "authors"
VI-SION
1 something seen in a dream; especially : a supernatural appearance that conveys a revelation b : a thought, concept, or object formed by the imagination c : a manifestation to the senses of something immaterial 2 a: the act or power of imagination b (1):mode of seeing or conceiving (2): unusual discernment or foresight {a person of vision}
Every Vision Begins with the Ending in Sight
To be a person of vision, you must have a vision for where you want to be as a writer and author. It is important for both aspiring and established authors to have goals for the New Year! This is the time to write that new manuscript, to apply for a writing grant, or start your writing-related business. But you must have FOCUS, PATIENCE, EXCELLENCE, PERSEVERANCE & COMMITMENT to accomplish any GOAL....
If you have accomplished goals you set prior to the start of the year-- set new ones this year! With a new decade upon us, 2011 provides us with an opportunity to begin with a renewed focus and a fresh vision. Once your vision is clear, be sure to write it down. Writing it on paper is a way of holding yourself accountable for your vision. It also serves to remind you of what you set out to accomplish. After you have written it, keep it in sight.
What is your vi-sion? There is power in our words, and how awesome it is for the words you create to be an avalanche of hope for a stranger in another town, city, or continent.
When I was in seventh grade, I was moved by the words of one of my classmates. She didn’t know it; but, her words compelled me to ACTION. Immediately, I realized I wanted to have that same influence. I wanted my words to create a positive impact and inspire others in the way her words had inspired me—this was my dream!
Don't Be Afraid Of Change
Things you can do to start the New Year off RIGHT! Give your web site a face lift. Make your home on the web attractive to the eyes of readers. Don’t keep your site stale -- add current information, updates, events, and photos; or create a brand new site! Moving through your web pages should be simple to navigate and not a journey. It is also important to serve your audience with relevant information. Does the content on your site inform, or offers some form of value to readers? Web sites with good content are the sites readers come back to and keep in their favorites.
Don't do the same thing expecting a different result. Authors should always be willing to change. What haven't you done before? Try something NEW.
-Change your marketing approach
-Diversify your marketing plan
-Implement new ideas for the new year
The book promotion process is a difficult one, and there is no one-size-fit-all marketing plan to selling your novel. And while promotional resources are useful and necessary for creating a web presence—promoting this way alone also has its limits. Authors are required to multi-task, which basically means doing more than one thing simultaneously to market your book.
For example, an author might consider doing both a virtual book tour, a traditional book tour, speaking engagements, at the same time also getting assistance from a book promotion service. It is best not to rely on just one way or method of marketing. Authors should also try something they haven’t done before. For example, put up signs around their neighbors about their books. Or they can put their book information on a bumper sticker and place it on their vehicles.
When it comes to selling books, presentation matters; so you must do whatever it is you decide to do to market your books well. If writing is your purpose then do everything to the best of your ability—whether you are writing, public speaking, or engage in other forms of book promotion. Be a person of excellence!
Find marketing tips & articles, resources, awards, contests... on www.author-promotion.com – one of the largest promotional resources for authors on the Internet!
What Authors Should Know
I spoke to Chris Anderson who is the editorial assistant to Booklist. After speaking with him by phone he sent me a link with information on how authors can self-market their books to libraries (the information is provided on Author-Promotion website). Many of the reviewers mentioned on that list including Booklist only provide pre-publication reviews (once your book is out you are no longer qualified for a review). Many libraries nationally look to Booklist and those reviewers mentioned on the list when it comes to buying books. In other words, a good review by them helps your books get into libraries.
It is important for authors to start promoting their books "before" they are published! I’ve provided many resources for authors to make their marketing a tad easier. If you take the time to go through the site daily, read the articles, research, develop a marketing plan… the website should be beneficial to those who really make use of it. Your publisher can provide galleys to reviewers that only review your work before it is published. A galley is a proof of typeset matter especially in a single column before being made into pages.
Any author who has yet to be published should find out from their publishers about providing galleys for review. That way you can add professional reviews from PW, Booklist and others on the back of your book covers. Libraries look to those reviewers in particularly when deciding to order books. How you start off makes a huge difference! Although, all-is-not-lost for authors who are already published. But it does make a difference.
Also read: What is My Purpose!
AUTHOR & BOOK PROMOTION NEW BOOKS:
The Green Bronze Mirror
Drunk for 27 Years
View All Featured Books
What is lunacy? It is for authors to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result.What is your strategy for success?
Those who aspire to being bestselling authors must have a plan, and their success must be on purpose. You must be strategic and be willing to analyze what works and what is ineffective. The writing industry does not afford you the opportunity of going without direction. And if you don’t know by now, planning how you will promote your book should begin before your book is in print! Authors should research the marketing process ahead of their book’s publication. Book promoting is a game of chess—your moves (decisions) must be contemplated and thought through thoroughly in advance.
Here are ways you can create buzz for your books: (This takes into account that the author has created a good book and is continuing to improve in his/her craft.)
• Be innovative in your marketing approach
• Submit your book to major book awards that provides monetary prizes
• Apply for writing grants
• Submit your book review to prominent book reviewers
The mind is a powerful instrument and can get you what you desire.
It is not about working harder, but being able to promote your book more effectively. The keys to marketing are the abilities of authors in being innovative and their abilities to maximize their exposure (how best authors can generate exposure). Authors must use their imagination to expand their fan base, establish a writing career, or to become a bestselling author. This will require authors using their creativity and their ability to think outside of the box to generate the kind of exposure they desire. For example, author Seth Harwood used free audio podcasts of his novel and built a huge fan base online. His novel is now published with Random House. It is important for authors to also look at nontraditional ways to selling books.
Authors should concentrate on submitting their novels to major book awards; apply for writing grants, and submit their books to prominent reviewers. These suggestions should be implemented throughout your book marketing process. In other words, don’t settle for the small stuff! This is not to say, that you can’t or should never do anything else. But a majority of your time should be spent doing the type of marketing that will give you the best chance to create a book worthy book.
Marketing Myopia: I have said it before and I will probably say it again -- marketing the same way again and again, or marketing too little, is maybe the biggest mistake a business can make.
The point of marketing is to expose new people to your business. But if you continue to market the same way, only the same eyeballs will see your ad. By trying some new tricks, by adopting some low cost shoestring marketing techniques, you ensure that new people will learn about your business.
By Steve Strauss, AOL Small Business
Tips for Aspiring & New Authors
1. Create a marketing plan that includes a budget and your marketing strategy (how you plan to promote your book). Remember to write down your marketing plan.
2. Make it easy for readers to purchase your book on your Web site by adding a direct link to your Amazon page and/or to your bookseller.
Example: www.amazon.com
Not: www.amazon.com
3. Research! You must do your research. How do I submit my book to contests? How do I apply for writing grants? How do I promote my book? How do I find an agent? The Internet can help you find the answers to your questions, so you must spend time researching and learning about the book marketing process.
4. Have long and short terms goals. Why? Goals keep you focus and enable you to accomplish things you wouldn’t otherwise by being aimless. What are your goals for this year? What are your goals a year from now? Be sure your goals are realistic for the time frame you make them.
5. Go Big! Promotional resources are good, but are limited in the exposure it creates. Submit your novel to prominent book reviews: Publisher Weekly, The New York Times Book Review, The Library Journal.... Be sure to contact the appropriate department or person before sending your books.
Follow Me On Twitter
I recently joined twitter and would like to meet some Goodreads friends. I tweet mostly things that are writing related or can be useful to authors. Don Wallace who is a writer/actor/producer and my cousin starred in "Blue", a movie he wrote and produce in 2008. Check out a clip of it on my Twitter page .
publish in WOW! Women On Writing's Blog We all know authors must wear many hats. We are booksellers, designers, webmasters, speakers, marketers… and when you are an author who owns her own business, multi-tasking becomes tricky and gets that much more difficult to accomplish. Which is why of late it’s been unsettling that I’ve missed quite a few of my deadlines – discouraging me to the point that I seriously contemplated no longer pursuing a writing career and instead concentrate exclusively on my company.
Not only am I an author of two poetry books, I also run and operate a day-to-day business that has grown considerable over the past few years; and it’s been rather difficult for me to
walk this balancing act of poet, writer, author and entrepreneur.There is a great deal of responsibility that comes with being an author, and when you add to that, actually running a small business with little staff to shoulder the work load makes it that much harder.
I reached a point I’d had enough! I was ready to call it quits out of sheer frustration at how things were going. One right after the other, writing deadlines came and went while I was preoccupied by clients, newsletters, ads, and all things business-related. It came to the point where I thought I could not possibly go on like this anymore. I was on the verge of nearly quitting when I heard the most incredible words that really stuck with me and changed my way of thinking. A pastor on television said that sometimes to accomplish your goals you have to go through a bit of discomfort. Right then and there I agreed with what was said, and those thoughts stayed with me and provided hope and encouragement.
I realize I wanted to make it work, I wanted to continue to write; and I didn’t want to give it up! I recognize how important it was to work smarter and not just harder, that I should better prioritize my work. I had to focus and be more discipline in order to accomplish what I wanted at the moment. I’ve been steadily focusing on one thing at a time and not a million stuff at once. I’m now writing more and most importantly I’ve gotten my groove back!
