Beth Greenslade's Blog, page 105

Get Organised. Be Productive.

When it comes to being a good writer, you not only need to have talent, imagination and creativity, you also need to be disciplined, organised and seriously productive.

So many people claim to want to write a book, and yet very few manage to achieve this. Why? Because people simply don’t have the ‘time.’ Sure we all lead busy lives, but what sets writers who realise their goals and make a success of themselves from the rest is their drive and determination to find that time no matter what, to make sacrifices when they need to, and let nothing stand in their way.

The key to getting to the end of your book is being organised. If you can organise yourself properly, you’ll find that you can make time for your book each and every day. But how do you do this?

Learn when you write productively

Everyone has different times when they best write. Know when you are likely to be at your most creative and focused (this may take some trial and error) and move other commitments around so you can use that time for your writing.

Have a dedicated writing space

A dedicated writing space will help you to feel productive as soon as you sit down. It separates your writing from your other tasks and daily life, and you know as soon as you settle down in your writing space you’ve got to be productive.

Identify gaps in your schedule

If you are struggling to find time to write sit down and look at all the things you try to achieve in your day - could you delay other tasks? Find some extra time - even if it’s only for 10 minutes, it all adds up.

Get up earlier

Getting up half an hour earlier can make all the difference, and once you are into a routine of doing so, you’ll hardly notice and feel so proud of yourself for getting your writing done.

Go to bed later

If you are more of a night owl than an early bird, try going to bed a bit later instead. It's al about finding what works best for you, and the progress you make with your writing will keep you motivated.

Be efficient in your other tasks

Figure out where you could cut corners with other commitments you have. How about doing an online shop instead of going to the supermarket? Could you ask your partner or kids to cook dinner one night a week? Perhaps you could hire a cleaner once a week to alleviate having to do it yourself and free up some time for your writing?

Prioritise

Learning how to prioritise effectively will help you when it comes to writing more productively. Prioritising not only your daily tasks so you can have more writing time, but also prioritising your writing tasks will ensure you are at your most productive at all times.

Recognise procrastination

We all procrastinate from time to time, learn when you are doing this, consider why and try to focus and get back to your writing work instead.

Make people aware of what you are doing and how important it is to you

The more people that know what you are trying to achieve the better - especially close family and friends who will not only help and support you but know not to distract you when you are trying to finish your book!

Have a timetable

Create a realistic but challenging writing timetable and make sure you stick to it too.

Never leave it too long between writing sessions

Don’t leave it too long between writing sessions otherwise; it will be harder to get back into the swing of things. Writing regularly, daily if you can, will keep you progressing with your writing and it will be much easier to pick up where you left off each time.

Set yourself deadlines

Deadlines will help keep you focused and give you something to work towards - make your deadlines realistic and break tasks down into smaller goals so you can have deadlines for each - make sure you congratulate and reward yourself when you achieve each one, this will keep you motivated to continue.

By doing the above, you will run your writing sessions and your daily life like a well-oiled machine, make the most of your writing time, and get that book finished before you know it!

How do you stay organised and productive when writing? Let us know here!

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

The post Get Organised. Be Productive. appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

Easy Ways To Polish Your Novel

When it comes to editing we must face facts. Time, effort and attention to detail are all crucial if you really want to get your novel in the best shape possible, and ensure that it is ready to go to print or to be sent off to agents and publishers.

However, sometimes we are not in the mood to spend our time pouring laboriously over our books and need some short and sweet quick fixes that deliver a big impact but don’t require too much brain power!

So, with that in mind, here are some simple, easy solutions to help authors quickly polish their novels when they want to make some progress.

Find and replace

If you know or suspect you over use a word do a simple search on your computer to find all up all instances of it, then you can replace it with an alternative or delete it altogether to ensure you don’t sound repetitive!

Using an app

Use an app such as Grammarly to help you discover spelling and grammar errors. You can simply paste in chapters and it will help highlight them as well as tell you what you should do instead - a quick and hassle-free way of polishing your book.

Looking for unusual synonyms

Pay attention to the descriptive words you’ve used in your novel. If you come across something a little bland or cliched think about how you can change it to make it more unique and compelling. Using a thesaurus can help you create new, unusual ways of describing things which will surprise and delight your reader.

Reading for inspiration

If you aren’t in the mood for editing you can always do some reading and research to find inspiration for your book instead. Reading is always pleasurable and doing so is a great way to discover a new direction or exciting and unusual ideas for your own novel.

Highlighting things to come back to

Inconsistencies, clutter, parts that just don’t ‘sit right’… when you read through your novel you are bound to come across examples of all of these. However, instead of trying to fix them right away, simply highlight them, make a few notes and come back to them later. This way you can get through a lot more of your book in one session and feel you have made good progress.

Do some cutting

There is nothing more satisfying than being brave and bold with your book and just cutting out sentences, paragraphs, even whole chapters that you know, deep down, simply don’t work. It can be hard to part with those carefully crafted words, but if you do you’ll realise how much better your book reads without them.

Polishing your novel can be extremely rewarding and these quick fixes are great for when you want to make good headway in your editing without having to use too much brain power! Why not give them a try?

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

The post Easy Ways To Polish Your Novel appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

How To Push Yourself To Write

When we first decide it’s finally time to start that novel we’ve been dreaming of writing for years it can all feel very exciting. We get all the right gear, a lovely laptop, a pretty writing desk, perhaps adorned with a plant or two, some fancy notebooks, and so on. We feel full of energy and inspiration and are so determined that this is the time we will finally start to live out our dreams and achieve our goals.

The trouble is, while so many of us start this way, as time passes by we find that we have less of it to dedicate to our writing and ‘real life’ begins to get in the way. Other tasks and chores rear their ugly heads, we get interrupted by family, by friends demanding our attention. We realise that while we might have a fantastic idea for a novel in our heads, the reality of translating that idea to the page to make it into an actual, readable, interesting story, is much more challenging than we realised.

So what can we do to remain motivated and keep persevering against all the odds? In order to push yourself to write, you must be disciplined and determined.

Here are some ways to keep you on track:

Be aware of why you are procrastinating

What is is that makes you put your book on hold? Are they really tasks that need to be done right now, or are you simply making excuses because of an underlying reason such as fear of rejection or that you won’t be good enough? If you address it rather than fighting it, and come up with solutions such as changing the time you write, you will find it much easier to get into a writing routine and stick to it too.

Develop ways to shut out the negativity

Writing a novel can feel very daunting and overwhelming at times. But anything that’s challenging and demanding will do. It can be easy to let negative, self-critical voices take over and prevent you from writing, but find ways to fight back. What’s the worst that can happen? Look at all the authors that were rejected and told they weren't good enough, then went on to become huge successes. It’s the ones that didn’t give up that made it, so you should never give up either.

Bribe yourself

If all else fails, treat yourself a bit like a child. If you dangle little rewards over your head this might just be the motivation you need to keep pushing yourself to write. Your rewards can be anything from a cuppa and a biscuit to watching a favourite episode of a tv programme, taking yourself (or insisting someone else) takes you our for dinner or booking tickets to see or do something amazing.

At the end of the day look back over what you’ve achieved and feel proud

Always take the time to congratulate yourself on your achievements. What you're doing, so many other people would love to do, yet they never quite get there. You are in a minority, and you are actually working towards your goals and dreams. Not many people can say that, so remember to give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back from time to time.

Take breaks

Don’t try to commit to writing for three hours straight without taking a break. Writing is hard work, and just like any other job, you need to get away from your desk, get some fresh air, get moving and clear your head to be at your most productive. So work in shorter bursts and you’ll find you’ll be able to keep writing for longer and be better at it too.

Have deadlines

Without deadlines, you’ll find it impossible to stay on target when it comes to getting that novel written. Work out realistically what you can do and when. Then see how long it will take you to write your book. Have a firm deadline and never lose sight of it. You’ll be so proud of yourself if you achieve it so always remember that.

Work with others

Getting other people involved in your writing can be a powerful motivator. Whether it’s joining a writing group or class, working with a friend or simply telling as many people as possible that you're writing a book so you look foolish if you don’t finish - whatever works for you.

Using the above methods to keep pushing yourself to write are so important. So if you are in need of some motivation why not give them a try and see if they help to keep you on track?

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

The post How To Push Yourself To Write appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

How To Become A Famous Writer

While not every writer out there harbours ambitions to become mega successful and famous, for most of us, let’s face it, if a massive publishing deal landed in our lap, we would hardly refuse it.

Of course, becoming a famous writer isn’t easy, and there are no guarantees that all your hard work will pay off. Nevertheless, if it’s your dream, then you should go for it! Here are the steps that you’ll need to take.

Make sure it’s what you really want.

Are you sure you want to be a famous writer? Before you make this the number one priority in your life, it’s a good idea to make sure it’s all its cracked up to be. Do a little research to find out what the life of a famous writer is really like, as well what it takes to get there - you might find it’s not actually what you want after all!

2. Keep a journal

A journal is a great way to helping you get into the habit of writing frequently. You can also use it to write down notes and ideas for your book. Keep it with you at all times and make sure you write in it every day.

3. Read as many books as you can

Reading is one of the best things you can do as a writer. Devour as many books as you possibly have time to. They will help ensure you and help you learn what you love. If you know what sort of books you love to read, you know what sort of books you’ll love to write.

4. Write all the time

All famous authors have something in common - they wrote. A lot. Writers write - that’s the simple truth of the matter. If you really do want to be a successful writer you need to put the hours in.

5. Obtain feedback

Every writer needs impartial and constructive criticism to help them improve. Be prepared to get lots of feedback, and know that it won’t always be positive. Learn what constitutes constructive criticism, and accept that sometimes people do know better than you!

6. Find your niche

Your voice needs to be unique if you want it to be heard. Find a way to stand out from the crowd, to tap into a niche market, to do something no-one else has. If you can do that you might just stand a chance.

7. Understand the elements that make a great story

There are millions of different stories out there, but they all have similar elements and themes in common when you boil them down to their bare bones. Learn what these are, and you’ll understand the very basics of good story writing at least.

8. Never stop learning

There are always new things to learn, methods to experiment with and ways to improve. Always be open to learning something new - even if you do get famous!

9. Get good at social media

In this contemporary society having a good social media following, one that is engaged and interested in what you have to say can be a massive boost when it comes to trying to sell your book. So learn how social media works and use it to your advantage.

10. Never give up

Rejection sucks, but if every writer gave up after their first rejection, there would be hardly any books out there. What one publisher doesn’t think will work another might think is fantastic. You might have to write 5, 10, 15 books before you get noticed. You might not have any success for decades. But the most likely way you’ll become famous is just to keep on trying!

We’re not saying this is a foolproof plan that will lead you on the road to fame and fortune. However, these are all tasks that every writer must undertake if they want to give themselves the best chance of becoming a famous author - do you have what it takes?!

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

The post How To Become A Famous Writer appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

How To Juggle Freelance Writing and Novel Writing

For many of us, it simply isn’t feasible to only work on our creative writing, and expect to earn a living solely from that. Of course, it’s wonderful if you can, but even authors who are reasonably successful often have other jobs to ensure that they can make ends meet.

Freelance writing is a popular career choice for many authors and creative writers. It’s still in their field of expertise and allows them to keep on writing, despite it perhaps not always being about topics they are passionate about!

However, as with any freelance role, juggling the time spent working and the time spent concentrating on other passions and pleasures can be tricky. There are a huge number of benefits to being a freelance writer, but of course, working hard, ensuring a constant flow of money is coming in and making sure you hit deadlines and please editors means sometimes your creative work can get pushed onto the back burner.

So how do you ensure that you can successfully a juggle freelance writing career while keeping up with your novel writing at the same time?

Here are some useful tips:

Make time for each

This might sound obvious, but what you really need is a strict writing schedule. Have allotted times for each and always be prepared to stop what you are doing and switch when the time is up. If you aren’t strict with yourself it will be easy to spend far more time on one or another - which will either hurt your pockets or hurt your novel - neither of which would be ideal!

Work out how much money you need

Work out how much you need to do the things you want to do and feel comfortable with your income, then try to secure the freelance work you need to achieve that. Once you have, use the rest of the time to write your novel. If your novel writing is important to you you don’t need to push yourself to the limit with your freelance work, no matter how much money you might earn.

Figure out how you work best

Understanding how you work is key to juggling freelance writing and novel writing. For some authors, the idea of writing in the evenings is too difficult. They are tired and drained and don’t feel creative. For others, sitting down with a glass of wine at the end of the day as dusk falls is ideal. Most freelance writers however, find that getting their ‘work’ out of the way first helps, as then they are able to concentrate on their creative writing with a free mind and not have the pressure of deadlines looking over them.

Never miss deadlines

Talking of deadlines, it’s important not to miss them! Remember, your freelance writing is your bread and butter so you need to work hard and build up a good reputation. If you do then you’ll start to find you can be more selective about the work you take on and demand more money for the work you do. Doing so will give you more time to concentrate on your creative writing too!

Write in separate environments

To help get you brain in the right frame of mind have different working environments for novel writing and freelance writing. This way you’ll help yourself naturally understand when it’s time to focus on one or another.

Juggling a freelance and novel writing careers can be tricky, however, if you are able to get the balance right this can be the ideal way to earn a living! Do you have any tips? Share them with us here!

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

 

The post How To Juggle Freelance Writing and Novel Writing appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

How To Stay Sane While Writing A Novel

It’s no wonder that so many authors are considered a little ‘quirky.’ Writing a novel is a pretty tough undertaking. The hours are long and lonely, the self-doubt is overwhelming at times, and then there’s the possibility that you might be rejected over and over and over again.

Any writer that has taken on the mammoth task of writing a novel knows that there are times during the process where they feel as though they are on the edge of a precipice - one step closer and they’ll fall, and descend into a madness from which they cannot escape!

Immersing yourself in a fictional world, waking up in the middle of the night overcome with an idea, or sweating with anxiety because you’ve realised something doesn’t work or you’ve got to kill off a character that you love, can all make you feel a little crazy.  Let's also not forget those days that turn into weeks that turn into months when you realise you’ve barely spoken to anyone else, washed properly or eaten something other than sandwiches too!

So what can you do to stay sane when writing a novel? Here are some handy tips to help you step back from the edge of that precipice and remain firmly in the real world.

Go outside every day

Make sure you make an effort to get outside every day. Even if it’s just for a brisk stroll or to head to the shops. Being cooped up inside your home for days on end is not healthy. Plus there is lots of inspiration out there in the big wide world, so go and experience it!

Have a good sleep routine

Don’t let your writing take over your life so much that you end up falling asleep at your desk at 4 am every morning. You need to have a good sleep routine to stay at your most focused and productive - never underestimate how important this is.

Get up early and start being productive right away

Start each day on the right foot by getting up early and getting to work straight away. If you’ve achieved loads by mid morning you’ll feel great!

Stay healthy

Eat good, nutritious meals, get some exercise, stay hydrated, lay off the caffeine and the wine! It can be easy to let your health slip when you spend hours hunched over your desk all day, but when it all catches up with you you’ll end up feeling sluggish and miserable - so pay attention to your health and you’ll be doing yourself and your writing a big favour in the long run.

Don’t abandon your family and friends

Believe it or not, there are some things that are more important than writing a book. Don’t let your relationships with family and friends suffer -they will be your support network and biggest fans when your book is finished after all. Always make sure you spend quality time with family and friends and don’t make it all about your writing all the time.

Stay positive

It can be so easy to feel disheartened when we suffer rejection or simply let those critical voices in our heads take over. Try to stay positive, and if you feel yourself getting too worked up and overwhelmed take a break, read experiences from other authors. This will help you realise you're not alone and remind yourself you are doing something pretty awesome and should be proud, whether you become a famous author or not.

Step away if you need to

Remember, your novel isn’t going anywhere, so if you need to take a break from it for a few days, a week, perhaps even longer, then that’s fine. Consider it giving yourself a much needed holiday. You’ll probably come back to it feeling refreshed and inspired, which will only help to make your novel even better anyway.

It’s important to stay sane during the writing process! If you do find yourself going a little crazy, try to follow the above tips and you’ll feel all the better for it - plus your writing will be better too!

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

The post How To Stay Sane While Writing A Novel appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

Great Novel Openings (And How To Write Your Own)

A great novel always starts with a great beginning. Your novel opener is your way of saying ‘hello reader, you will not regret buying this book.’ It should be exciting, intriguing and make your reader want to keep on turning those pages to find out more.

Here are some of the best opening lines from famous novelists:

"The war in Zagreb began over a pack of cigarettes."

—Girl at War by Sara Nović

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

—Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

"Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice."

—100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

"Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed."

—Ulysses by James Joyce

. "He—for there could be no doubt of his sex, though the fashion of the time did something to disguise it—was in the act of slicing at the head of a Moor which swung from the rafters."

Orlando by Virginia Woolf

"I was born in the city of Bombay...once upon a time. No, that won't do, there's no getting away from the date: I was born in Doctor Narlikar's Nursing Home on August 15th, 1947. The time matters, too."

—Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

These novels have all been praised for their fantastic opening lines and chapters - and of course, as the reader reads on, they continue to thrill and excite. So what is it that makes the opening of a book fantastic? Let’s take a look.

A good book opening will:

Introduce the tense and the point of view.

Set the scene and immerse the reader in the book's unique world

Start naturally. The story should flow from your beginning and continue right until the very end. Don’t be exciting or horrifying for the sake of it, particularly if that doesn’t really make sense for the rest of your book.

Set the tone

Introduce the strongest characters and direct the reader to like or dislike them, trust or distrust them, find them funny, boring, sad or thrilling.

Create immediacy. Readers want to feel as though they have been drawn into the story right away. Good, authentic, arresting details will help.

Hint at what’s to come. The opening chapters should help the reader understand what is to come. Be clever with the details you give away, allow each chapter to have its own mini plot, and make sure the ends are all little cliffhangers to keep readers desperate to find out what happens next.

Be full of action, and allow the main character to take decisive action that’s bold and brave.

Your opening chapters can make or break your book. Of course, your entire novel needs to be exceptionally written, gripping and engaging and full of exciting characters, but the opening is what will determine whether agents and publishers decide to accept it and whether readers decide to buy it. So make sure you give your all to your novel opening and make it the very best it can be!

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

The post Great Novel Openings (And How To Write Your Own) appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

What Does Your Writing Future Hold?

So you want to be a writer? Or perhaps you just love to write as a hobby on the side? You might be interested in writing articles, a blog, short stories, poetry or a novel. You might have a particular genre that you are obsessed with, you might want to be rich and famous because of your writing, or simply find satisfaction by sharing you work with your family and friends, or perhaps even no one at all.

Whatever kind of writer you are, it’s always good to consider your writing future and think about what kind of writer you want to be. Are you content with how much writing you currently do? With how much success you currently have? If you want to push yourself and improve it’s a good idea to think about what you want to achieve, and then how to make that possible.

When thinking about your writing future it’s all about establishing the big goals, about really searching your soul and determining what would make you feel proud and satisfied that you have done your best and got to where you want to be. Once you have established these big goals, it’s then time to work out all the little goals you need to set out in order get there.

One thing that we do know for certain is that whatever your goals, the most successful writers do have things in common. So if you want to learn and grow as a writer in the future, you must have:

Dedication

To have a rosy writing future you need to be dedicated to your writing, you need to prioritise it, you need to make progress. It’s fine if you don’t really want to be a writer, or you have other more pressing goals, but if your writing is important to you, you must give it the care and attention it deserves.

Willingness to learn

No writer writes perfectly all the time, and there is always more we can do. To become a better writer in the future you should be willing to learn, to experiment and to practice. Never think you know everything and always be open-minded and excited about trying new things.

The ability to take criticism

Writers have a tough time, and no matter how good they are and how hard they work they will receive criticism at some point. Your ability to handle this, to brush it off or learn from it, is what will separate successful writers from the ones who simply give up.

Perseverance

At the end of the day, all writers need to persevere. You will hit many setbacks and come across many obstacles in your writing career, but if you keep going and never give up, you’ll get to where you want to be in the end.

Remember, our goals don’t happen to us, we make them happen, so if you want your future writing career to be something amazing (and that’s whatever amazing means to you) make sure you remember to establish your aims, work out your path and then set out on that amazing writing journey, making progress, staying focused and never losing sight of your goals.

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

The post What Does Your Writing Future Hold? appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

10 Minute Writing Exercises To Kickstart Your Writing

We all need a little writing boost from time to time, and it’s important for writers to keep exercising their creative brains and practising and improving their craft.

Writing exercises don’t have to be taxing, time-consuming or laborious, in fact, these 10-minute writing exercises are simple to do, very effective, and dare I say it, even quite fun!

Finding 10 minutes in your day to kickstart your writing will help you feel as though you are always improving, that you are progressing with your work, and make it so much easier when you do sit down for a longer writing session.

So if you are looking for some quick and easy writing exercises to give you a bit of a boost, give these a go!

Random lists

Let your mind go completely empty. Then give yourself 1 minute to write a list of random words. They can be absolutely ANYTHING. Once you’ve finished take a look at them. Pick out 5 or 6 and use them as the basis to form a story. Alternatively let someone else do the hard work for you. Websites such as randomlists.com will produce lists of random words for you!

Word association

Start off by writing down one word. Again don’t think too much about it. Then use word association to write more and more. Once you are finished you’ll gain an insight into how your brain works, and have some interesting links to things you might not have thought of before.

Story cubes

Story cubes are a helpful way to inspire any writer who is suffering from a bit of a creative drought. Roll the story cubes, look at the pictures and use them to create a story about anything you like!

Writing on the go

Often it’s hard to get inspiration when we’re stuck inside, so instead, why not head into the great outdoors and see if you can find it in the big wide world? Sit on a bus or a train and focus in on something that’s happening around you, perhaps a conversation you can hear, or something you can see out of the window. Make notes about it, expand on it, and see if you can create a story around it. Or sit in a park or cafe and focus on a particular person. What do they look like, what do they sound like, what is interesting about them? Doing this will help you to practice picking out what you actually notice about someone, and what makes them stand out.  Use this when next describing a character and you’ll create a much richer and more vivid impression of them for your readers.

Character questions

An easy way to get to know your characters is to create a list of questions to ask them. Spend 10 minutes answering them on behalf of your character and by the end you’ll already feel you know them better, that they have more depth, are more real - than when you come to write about them in the future you’ll find it a lot easier to know what they’ll say and do next.

Remember, the key to doing any of these writing exercises is to try not to censor yourself, just have fun with it and see where your imagination takes you. If what you’ve written is complete rubbish it doesn’t matter, in fact, it’s good to get that out of the way before the real writing begins. Sometimes, however, you just might find a true gem or two - your next book idea, your next lead character - you never know!

Have you tried these 10-minute exercises? How did you get on?

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

The post 10 Minute Writing Exercises To Kickstart Your Writing appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

Sell More Books Today!

All authors have had that moment, where they press the ‘submit’ button and their book goes live. Suddenly all the months, or even years of hard work, seem totally worth it. Your book is out there! People can buy it! The excitement and adrenaline and sense of achievement you feel is like nothing else.

But then nothing happens.

OK, so perhaps you get a few sales at the start from loving family members and friends, but after that initial hit, you only get the odd sale here and there, and then, as the weeks and months go by, those sales become less and less frequent, your book plummets down the rankings, and you start to feel understandably disheartened.

Of course, there is lots you can do to try and boost your book sales, and many authors don’t realise just how many options they have when it comes to marketing their work. Much of the groundwork should be done before you actually release your novel, that way you already have a solid infrastructure in place and readers eager, ready, and perhaps most importantly, aware, before your book comes out.

Things to do before you release your book:

Set up an author website

A good author website is your brand, so taking the time to make this professional and exciting is well worth it.

Write a regular blog

If you can get people reading your blog you can use this as a way to gather contacts and then market your book to those you know already like your style.

Get established on social media

Choose the most appropriate social media networks for you, and then try to gather a good following. You can do this by posting useful, interesting content, commenting, sharing and liking fellow users posts and not talking about yourself too much!

Things to do after you release your book

Get reviews

Word of mouth is so important. Encourage people to leave reviews for your book, the more positive and detailed they are, the more helpful they will be to others. Contact bloggers and see if they will read, review and blog about your book. Get in touch with local media too.

Put your book in the right categories

Make sure you have selected the right genre for your book. Getting the categories right will ensure your book reaches the right readers.

Communicate with fans

Make sure you always reach out to your fans, not just to tell them about things you are doing, but to thank them and let them know they are massively appreciated too.

Give your book away for free

While you may think giving away your book for free is counter intuitive, a book promotion of this nature can actually be very helpful in boosting your book sales overall. People love to get something for free and will be more likely to leave reviews and recommend your book to others. This will also boost the popularity of your book, and therefore people will be encouraged to buy, even after your promotion has ended.

Get SEO savvy

By identifying keywords for your website, your book description and your blogs, you can make your presence better known. You can write the best book in the world, but if no one can find it then no one will buy it. Understanding SEO can help make you much more visible and reach the right people too.

Pricing strategy

Make sure you’ve priced your book correctly. If your book is too expensive people won’t be willing to take the risk. If you’ve priced your book too cheaply, they won’t think it’s worth reading.

Be patient and willing to experiment

Good book marketing is all about trying different things, understanding what works and what doesn’t, having lots of patience and perseverance!

By following the above tips you will constantly be pushing and marketing your book, finding new ways to increase sales and giving it the very best chance of becoming a success. Remember, just keep trying and don’t give up!

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

The post Sell More Books Today! appeared first on Writer's Life.org.