Beth Greenslade's Blog, page 62

Top Tips For Author Self-Promotion

Promoting yourself as an author is not always easy. Not only can the number of ways and different avenues you can take seem somewhat overwhelming, but the idea of actually trying to convince other people that your writing is worth paying attention to when you are not even sure of that yourself can feel particularly daunting.

We all know that selling books is hard work, and if you don’t have a big publisher behind you or a massive budget for marketing, you are going to have to do the lions share of the work yourself.

Promoting your work is hugely important. You can't just post your book on Amazon and somehow hope that people will read it. The market is thoroughly saturated, and there are now more books than there are readers to read them.

Learning how best to sell yourself as a writer is the only way you can hope to stand a chance!

So what is the thing you can do to help boost your author profile and get your book noticed?

Get social media savvy

Nowadays no matter how much we might try to resist it, social media is key to building a platform, reputation and a fanbase. Open several social media accounts to tap into different niches and interests and find different followers.

Have a great and useful author website

Having a good author website is essential and a stable platform where you can promote your book. However, it is essential to make your author website not unique, exciting and eye-catching, but also useful. Make it easy to navigate, many it easy for fans to buy your book. If you don’t do this, you might attract visitors but not boost your book sales, and that’s kind of missing the point.

Write a captivating bio and introduction to your book

Spend time and make a real effort to create an author bio that says something about you, that gives the reader a picture of who you are and what you are about. The same goes for your book blurb. This is the one chance you have to get potential customers interested in what you are selling, make it the best thing you’ve ever written!

Get reviews

Keep making an effort to get reviews for your book. The more positive review you have, the more popular you’ll seem and the more new readers will trust that if they buy your book, they’ll be getting a good read.

Blog your heart out

Blogging is a great way to promote yourself as an author. Keeping a blog up to date takes time and effort, and needs promotion in itself. However, the long-term rewards of a successful blog make it so worthwhile. Every single time you create a new post you are boosting your Search Engine visibility and reaching potential new fans.

Behave like a professional

Promoting yourself can be tedious, disappointing and frustrating at times, but ranting and raving, moaning and griping or giving up before you have given it all won’t help you or your book. Always stay calm and professional and remember that perseverance is key.

Selling yourself as a writer may not come naturally, but it is an essential part of any writers road to success, so follow the tips above and start selling yourself today!

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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10 Ways To Get Motivated

Writers often find that it can be hard to stay motivated. We all have days where we get a little off track, a little distracted, and that’s fine. But when the days turn into weeks and the weeks turn into months it can be a real problem trying to find that motivation and inspiration to get back to writing once more.

So what can you do to help keep you motivated and on the right track? Here are ten ways to try.

Brainstorm

No idea is a bad idea. Give yourself the space to be creatively free by having a good old brainstorming session. Don’t censor yourself and just write down every idea, character, plot point etc. that comes to you. When you have finished look over what you’ve got, pick out the ideas that stand out and begin to develop them. You’ll feel excited and motivated once you realize you’ve got several good story ideas that could really go somewhere.

2. Go for a run.

Exercise releases endorphins so instead of staring in a frustrated stupor at your computer screen, give yourself a break, get out into the big wide world and get moving. If running isn’t your thing a brisk walk, a yoga class or any other form of exercise that takes your fancy can help you release some energy, get the blood pumping and feel motivated once more.

3. Read your positive reviews

It’s so easy to become focused on the negative and lose faith in ourselves. If you need a bit of a confidence boost read over old positive reviews or feedback you’ve been given. Even just remembering positive words form a friend or relative can help you to remember why you are doing this in the first place and inspire you to get back to work!

4. Get feedback

If you don’t have a lot of feedback now is the time to bite the bullet, put yourself out there and get some. If might not all be positive, but getting feedback is crucial to help you learn and improve.

5. Have a mantra

Have a positive mantra that you start each writing day with. Look at yourself in the mirror and give yourself an inspiring pep talk to get you revved up and ready to start the day in the right way,

6. Meditate

Sometimes having too much clutter in your brain can mean you lose focus, become overwhelmed and give up all too easily. Try retraining your mind and finding a moment of calm to sit quietly by yourself and just let go. Meditation can be a great way to do this, but if you are not a fan try sitting quietly and taking some deep breaths instead.

7. Set goals

Goal setting is so important. If you can create some realistic but challenging goals for yourself, write these down and work out how you are going to achieve them, you’ll feel organized as well as inspired, and you’ll be able to see a clear path as to how to get to where you want to be.

8. Stick to those goals!

The more you can stick to your goal plan and achieve your goals the more motivated you will become. Start off by giving yourself some easy wins, and you’ll soon see that you feel even more motivated to continue.

9. Reward yourself

Have a reward system in place so each time you reach a specific goal or hit a particular milestone, you can celebrate your success. By rewarding yourself, or knowing a reward is in store you’ll keep pushing yourself to reach your goals and keep achieving what you want to achieve.

10 Find a buddy

Sometimes all we need is someone there by our side to keep us soldering on. Having a buddy also helps us because we don’t want to let the other person down. So if you need a little extra help to keep motivated, find a writing buddy and work together -you might find them an invaluable partner to help you along your writing journey.

So there you have it if you are feeling a little lacking in creativity, or you know you are guilty of not writing as much as you should, try using these ten ways to get motivated and become a prolific and productive writer once more!

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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Top Blogging Tips For Beginners

An author blog can be a great asset to a writer. It can be a platform from which to promote one's work, to connect with new readers, to test new material and to gain a loyal fanbase.

Or it can be a massive waste of time.

Getting your author blog right is so important. It takes time and effort to create a good one, and if you are putting your energy into it, you might as well try to make it as effective as possible, and have fun with it too!

So what are some good blogging tips to get you started?

Understand your audience

Don’t start your blog without doing some research. Think about the kind of people you want to connect with and then learn all about them. Shape your blog around the sort of things they might want to read that might interest them and then let them know the content is there.

Write what you enjoy.

At the same time, it’s no good trying to write solely for others. Your blog will be so much more natural, easy to write and enjoyable if you are writing content that you are genuinely interested in yourself. Make sure your passion and personality shine through.

Build an email list.

Remember to capture emails when you can and build an email list - this can be invaluable later when you want to promote something, i.e. your new book!

Have a purpose in mind.

Think about what you are hoping to gain by starting your blog. Give yourself goals and deadlines and work out what you need to do to achieve them. Without a clear purpose and sense of what you hope to achieve you might find you are becoming demotivated and directionless.

Connect with your readers.

Don’t ignore your readers - give them opportunities to interact with you, to contact you, to leave comments and so on. The more you connect with your readers, the more they’ll feel valued, and therefore will remain loyal to you.

Give away freebies

Freebies don’t have to be physical things, content is valuable and can be given away for free too. If you can write something that’s of value (and value can mean being informative, helpful, entertaining and so on), then your readers will appreciate that and keep coming back for more.

Write eye-catching headlines and keep them short and sweet.

When you write a blog, think about its structure. The first thing a potential reader will see is your headline so make it catchy - but also relevant to the content. Keep sentences short, break up paragraphs, use simple, smart language and don’t ramble on for pages and pages!

Don’t get impatient.

Creating a successful blog with a loyal fan base of readers takes time, and you’ll need to deliver great content if you hope to achieve that consistently. Be willing to put the effort in, don’t get impatient and keep persevering, and you’ll soon start to see results.

These straightforward blogging tips for beginners are easy to follow and will help any author new to blogging get started. Remember, blogging should be enjoyable and purposeful so try to remember that, keep working and have fun with it too!

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

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Ways To Make Your Protagonist Stand Out

Your protagonist is at the heart of your story, and having an engaging, compelling protagonist is a must. This is your main character, the person that will carry the reader on the journey, the reader will follow them and see the world through their eyes, experience things as they experience them and direct them to think and feel in a certain way.

Creating a protagonist who stands out and rivets your reader is essential and a key ingredient in any good story. So how do you do it? Here are some helpful tips:

Have a solid idea

The premise for your story must be well crafted, as this is the base from which your protagonist will develop and grow. You might struggle to get to know your characters if you aren’t sure what your story is about or where it is headed, so it is crucial that you are clear on certain points before you begin writing your story. Ask yourself questions such as:

Which character will take the lead role in your story?

What is the goal of this character, and why are they motivated to achieve this goal?

What are they afraid of? What obstacles might prevent them achieving the goal?

What actions will they take and what are the consequences of these actions?

Know your characters

Getting to know all the characters that appear in your novel is so important. The better you know them, the more naturally you’ll be able to write, and you’ll know instinctively how they will react to particular situations and events that occur in your story. To get to know your character ask:

What is their history, what has led them to this moment?

What drives them?

What is the chip on their shoulder, their Achilles heel?

What makes them stronger?

What beliefs and values do they hold dear?

Your protagonist needs to be relatable, so it is essential that readers feel as though it is a real person they are reading about and connecting with. So make them human (even if they are a superhero), make them flawed. Add in quirks and idiosyncrasies that make them unique and endearing and noticeable and memorable.

Make sure your protagonist changes and learns something.

A protagonist can’t stay static; they can’t be the same at the end of your story as they were at the beginning. It is vital that they go through a profound and meaningful change. If they don’t, your readers will soon lose interest, and your story will feel meaningless. Throughout the story they must have had to make difficult decisions, they must have made mistakes, and they must have had to sacrifice something important to them to achieve their goal.

A good writer will be able to empower the protagonist through their writing, make them able to make important decisions and to decide their fate. Doing so will make them exciting, readable and leave your readers on the edge of their seat hoping that they make those decisions wisely and get what they want in the end.

A great protagonist really does make a story come alive, and without one your book will be in trouble, so use these tips to make sure that you create a protagonist that stands out!

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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Are You Publishing Too Soon?

We all know how wonderful that feeling is - where you’ve finally finished your book, and you realize all the blood, sweat and tears you’ve poured into it are totally worth it.

Finishing one's book is a considerable achievement and not something that should be taken lightly. However, the excitement of doing so can lead many writers to get ahead of themselves.

Of course, it’s not surprising that writers can’t wait to see their book in print, and want to get their story out there and shared with the world as soon as possible. However, publishing too quickly can dramatically reduce a book’s chances of success.

So how do you know if you are publishing too soon?

How many drafts have you written?

No author, however talented, can produce a glittering, flawless manuscript the first time they attempt to write a book. You will probably go through several drafts and see your story change quite dramatically before you have the final document in hand. Don’t rush the writing process. It can feel slow and frustrating at times, but you’ll be so much happier with the result if you put the effort in now.

Has your book been edited by a professional?

No matter how grammar-savvy you are, it just makes good sense to have your book checked over by a professional. Having a fresh set of eyes look over your manuscript - ones that are trained to notice mistakes, inconsistencies and errors will mean you can feel confident your story is error-free before you publish - something your readers will thank you for!

Has your book cover been designed by a professional?

The same goes for book cover design - unless you are a professional designer by trade, leave it to someone who is. Forking out to have your book cover designed by someone who knows what they are doing is so worth it. Readers can tell the difference, and if your book looks unprofessional, they’ll assume the content is the same.

Have you got a marketing plan?

Marketing for your book should begin long before you publish. Researching your audience, reaching out to potential readers and coming up with a solid pre and post-marketing plan will make all the difference when it comes to sales. You can’t expect to publish your book and for people to find it without doing some serious legwork, so put a pause on publishing until you’ve got your marketing plan together.

Have you decided on what success means to you?

Before you publish, be clear about what you hope to achieve. You may want to feel the weight of your very own paperback in your hands, or you may want to get on the bestseller lists. Determining what your hopes and dreams are before you publish, will allow you to figure out what you need to do to get there and enjoy the journey as you make your way towards whatever your version of success is!

After all that hard work you've put into completing your book, you owe it to yourself to make sure that is really is ready to be published. So just slow down, step back, take a deep breath and think about whether you are ready to do so. Delaying it a little makes much more sense than publishing too soon, and you’ll no doubt kick yourself if you do.

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

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Pinterest For Writers

When it comes to marketing your book, it’s good to have a plan. Using online platforms to help promote your book is a cheap (often free) way to connect with new readers and gather fans.

While some authors find these platforms challenging to manage, one of the simplest and arguably most pleasurable to use is Pinterest.

While it might not seem the most obvious place for book promotion, Pinterest can actually be quite helpful. Here are some reasons why:

Pinterest is great for traffic and requires less effort. While some platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, for example, need constant updating to stay fresh and exciting and relevant to your readers, Pinterest is different. You can get referral traffic from pins and boards you created months, if not years ago. You don’t have to continually add new information, so if you want to take the week, even the month off, your account isn’t suddenly going to look unloved and out of date.

Pinterest can be better for business. With other social media platforms, you have to be more strategic. If you just self-promote, this can turn readers away. On Pinterest however, there is an opportunity to be more direct. No one minds if you comment or not, add your link, pin thirty things all at once and so on. You don’t bombard your followers or come off as needy and desperate. This means you can manage your time more effectively too.

Integrated buy buttons. You can add buy buttons directly onto your pins if you opt for a business account. This means people could buy your book directly from Pinterest which could boost your sales.

So how can you use Pinterest as an author?

Write about writing, and teach people your skills. Writing, marketing, and social media tips type pins seem to do well on Pinterest. Naturally helping people and solving their problems is always going to be popular. You could also share more personalized stuff such as how you write, your mood boards for character creation, mood boards for the worlds you create and so on. This will give readers an insight into the way your mind works and allow them to get to know the author behind the story, which they will love.

Be creative. People love clever quotes, jokes, poems, beautiful sentences. Put your creative skills to good use and come up with some of your own.

Do you think Pinterest could work well as another author platform? Do you already use it? Share your experiences with us here!

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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How To Be Realistic About Your Writing Goals

Writers need to set goals for themselves, we all know that. Without goals it’s all too easy to start procrastinating and to find that other things in your life begin to take priority. Without goals you may make such slow and frustrating progress that the whole writing process becomes unenjoyable and you may start to question whether it’s worth continuing with it at all.

Yes, having goals is essential. But perhaps even more so is setting goals that you can actually achieve. It might seem obvious, but many writers don’t give themselves the opportunity to really think about what it is they need to do in order to achieve what they want to achieve. They don’t consider the time it will take to get there and don’t give themselves any clear action plan on how to make their dreams a reality.

Being realistic about your writing goals is essential. Intentions are meaningless if they are vague, they don’t have deadlines attached to them, and they are simply too massive to comprehend. If writers don’t make the time to think about their goals and break them down, they may as well not bother setting them in the first place.

So how can you create simple, smart, actionable writing goals?

Do the math.

Goal setting is all about the numbers. You need to figure out the quantity of work you want to produce and when you want to create it.

To do so, you need to figure out how many words, how many blogs, how many articles etc. you need to produce to make the progress you want to make. You then need to work out if you really have enough time to achieve this. If you don’t, you need to adjust those figures and start again.

Create a schedule.

Realistic writing goals should be time-bound, and giving yourself arbitrary deadlines is pointless, so you need to set yourself a schedule. Being realistic about when you intend to write and how much writing you can get done is crucial to your success.

Be honest about your commitments.

Some things in your life are non-negotiable in terms of being able to move them or juggle them. There are also some things that you know you like to do and will have a hard time giving up.

Carving out your writing time has to come from being honest with yourself. Responsibilities such as other jobs or picking up the kids from school can’t be budged. Commitments such as Friday night drinks with your friends can be, but if you know that realistically you won’t want to give that up then don’t factor it into your schedule as an opportunity to write. Chances are you’ll keep breaking your promise and then feel as though you are letting yourself down.

Break it down.

Goals need to be small, specific and precise. If you have a big target such as finishing your book, break it down so instead, you have ten small goals with clear steps on how to achieve each one. Spending time breaking down your goals in this way will help you understand exactly what you need to do to accomplish each one and make them seem much more realistic and much less overwhelming too!

Track your progress.

Whether it’s a simple checklist or a fancy tracking app, keeping yourself informed about your progress will allow you to see how far you’ve come. Reminding yourself of how much you’ve already achieved will help to keep you on the right track and feel inspired to do more.

These simple tips can help any writer set realistic, manageable and achievable goals. Doing so will help you feel confident in your progress and help to manage your expectations about how quickly you can finish that book/ that blog/ that article. Realistic writing goals will help you make steady, quantifiable progress towards what you want to achieve and will keep you motivated to keep pushing yourself to get there.

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

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What Is The Anti-Hero?

We all know that if we want our books to be successful, we must create a compelling and engaging hero that leads us through the story. One that we root for, and that we desperately hope will achieve their goals.

However, as well as this heroic character, a successful novel also needs a cast of additional ones who play both large and small roles in creating a robust, exciting story that captures your reader's attention from beginning to end. 

One of these that is perhaps lesser used is the anti-hero. In fact, some authors use the anti-hero as their main protagonist. Doing so keeps readers on their toes, sometimes loving the actions and feeling secure and confident that this character will do the 'right thing,' then having their world turned upside down where the character doesn't follow suit, doesn't play along, and instead acts selfishly, or downright immorally instead.

Take your typical hero, someone like Superman, for example, who always acts morally and selflessly and for the greater good, and is a character readers can rely on for this. Compare him to a character such as Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones who only sometimes does the right thing, and often, even then, not necessarily for the right reasons. This leaves readers unsure of what he will do next or how he will act or react in any given situation.

A protagonist who readers can rely on is safe and comforting. However, one who is more unpredictable can be exciting and make for a far more interesting read.

The anti-hero has moral 'grey areas' and can sometimes act more like the villain than a conventional hero. They don't always display courage or integrity, and though they often end up acting in the right way, their motivations are often not due to positive characteristics.

So what's the difference between an anti-hero and an anti-villain?

While an anti-hero usually ends up doing the right thing, they often act this way not out of the goodness of their hearts, but because of selfish or underhand reasons. An anti-villain, however, is the opposite of this. They often make bad decisions or act in a way that most people would consider to be deplorable, but despite this, they actually have some traits that show them to be noble, or they display sympathy or empathy which is unexpected of a typical villainous character. 

A typical anti-hero is full of self-doubt, anxiety, and weakness. However, during the course of the story, they are put in situations that require them to become the opposite of all these things. They may have started out as cowardly and selfish but end up brave and with a deep understanding of why it is better to act for the greater good rather than one's own personal interests. 

There are a considerable number of examples of anti-heroes in literature who readers have grown to love. Sherlock Holmes and Bilbo Baggins are two well-known examples. Using an anti-hero as your protagonist can be a great way of adding depth, intrigue, and excitement to your story, are you brave enough to write one? 

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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The Perils Of Being A Successful Author

Think being a successful author is the ultimate dream in every writer's life? Have you ever considered that there might be a downside to getting that publishing deal, or seeing your book sales snowball? No? Well, let's entertain the idea for a moment, and consider what the perils of being a successful author might be. 

Being typecast

If you are successful in a particular genre, being able to easily transfer that success to another is much harder than you might expect. Your loyal readers will be clamoring for more of the same and will be disappointed if you don't deliver. If you switch genres, you can expect that the vast majority of your fans will disappear even if your new book is brilliant. You'll have to rebuild your audience from scratch, and that's no mean feat. If you do want to write in a new genre, you will have to consider what is most important to you, sticking to your creative principals or continuing to enjoy success? Changing your author name can be a good idea, or alternatively slowly but surely evolving your writing so that the majority of your readers are gently lead along with you.

A two-book deal with no ideas

Often new authors who are signed will get a two-book contract. However, they may find that when it comes to coming up with a whole new story, they are totally out of ideas. Most authors are just focused on getting their first book finished! When they are then expected to then write another, and a good one at that, the pressure can become too much all too easily.

The pressures of staying successful

Some writers manage to come up with a formula that works for them. They essentially write the same book over and over, and their fans continue to buy them. However, most authors only have a couple of good books in them, at most, and then they start to see their success dwindle. This can be a hard pill to swallow. 

Keeping your fans

Readers are fickle creatures, and keeping your fans loyal to you takes considerable time and effort. Not only do you have to keep producing books that they enjoy, but also engage with them in-between that. This means getting involved with social media, doing book signings, writing blogs, and responding to comments and communications from fans. This can be challenging for some authors who really only want to write!

While landing a publishing deal can be an incredibly exciting time for many authors, it doesn't come without its pressures, expectations, and stresses. So it's a good idea to prepare yourself, and while you deserve to pop that champagne and celebrate, make sure that you are ready for what's coming next!

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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Understanding foreign rights

If your books are successful in your own country, it is well worth considering how to sell them in others too. Selling foreign rights can make a massive difference to the amount of money you make on your book.

If you have written science fiction or a fantasy novel, there is a higher chance that this will translate well to audiences in other countries internationally. Romance and thrillers can be a harder sell, though if they are set in the U.S. or Europe, this makes them more relatable and therefore easier to pitch. 

If you have a publisher, chances are they are already looking into or negotiating foreign rights on your behalf. They will assess which markets you are likely to do well in and try to negotiate deals for international rights in various countries. Your publisher is much more likely to be able to sell your books at foreign book fairs. They will have the contacts, influence, and reputation to get a good deal. They can also avoid common tax issues that some authors run into when trying to negotiate these deals themselves and setting up a mutually beneficial, legitimate business deal is also more likely, so you don’t have to concern yourself with chasing an agent in a different time zone because you haven’t been paid.

If you are self-published and your book is doing well in your own country, you might have to do the groundwork yourself, but by securing a foreign agent in the desired country, you can negotiate deals to ensure that your book has the best possible chance of success.

There are about 195 countries in the world, and within those countries, thousands of different languages are spoken. Being published in over 20 of these countries means your book is up there with the best of them. The likelihood is, you’ll be lucky to secure deals in a few additional countries, though it may well take off in these which could lead to further expansion down the line. 

While foreign publishing rights tend not to be worth a huge amount of money, if you are only enjoying moderate success as an author, they can be well worth doing if your book does happen to snowball.

Typically the US, Germany and the U.K. are the most lucrative, though you are unlikely to get a more substantial advance than you have already secured with your current publisher. Even then, unless you are a bestselling and well-known author if can be challenging to sell to even the most developed countries such as France and Japan. The U.K., U.S., and Germany are usually your best bet 

Unfortunately, authors can run into difficulties when trying to secure and obtain royalties for books sold in other countries and often find their requests to be paid falling on deaf ears. This can be very frustrating, but it can be a challenging enforcing payment and is often a risk that authors have to take. 

Just because you land a U.K. or U.S. deal, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll end up hitting the big time. These markets are extremely competitive, and because they are so vast, and there is so much choice, fighting for a top position is incredibly tough.

Selling foreign rights can be worthwhile. However, it is a good idea to weigh up whether it is worth your time and effort if you haven’t got an enthusiastic publisher behind you who is willing to put the work in. Saying that, some authors find that their books become much more popular in other countries, and that’s when things can get really exciting!

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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