Carma Spence's Blog, page 105

Halloween/October bookish fact #2

October is National Book Month.

What are your favorite books?

Have any books made important impacts on your life?

Here is a list of a few of mine: https://www.carmaspence.com/some-favo...

Halloween/October themed bookish fact #1

The first vampire novel ever published was The Vampyre by John Polidori. It was written during the same stormy night contest that resulted in Mary Shelly’s famous novel Frankenstein. At one point in time, people thought Lord Byron wrote The VampYre, although he hated it.

You can get a copy on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3paNGA7

Do you have an idea for a book?

Your idea might sound great and excite you in the moment ... but how do you *know* if it's worth pursuing or not?

The good news is that there are some ways that can help evaluate your book idea and decide whether to move forward with writing it or not!

I share them in this blog post: https://authorneering.com/how-to-eval...

Podcasting is blogging ... with some tech

You're an author who wants to get more exposure for your books. You’ve tried different strategies, but may not be getting the results you are looking for. Have you tried podcasting? Podcasting is one of many content marketing options you can try, and it is not much different than blogging -- just with sound and a bit more tech. Check out this week’s blog post on BookMarketingClub.com for more info on this topic and other content marketing tips for authors, as well: https://bookmarketingclub.com/ultimat...

Do you have a content marketing plan for your book?

Do you have a content marketing plan for your book?
Answers:
- Yes
- No
- Not sure

If you answered yes, awesome! If not, you might be interested in the blog post I published earlier this week. It could give you some good pointers: https://bookmarketingclub.com/ultimat...

It's OK

The first book I ever wrote has yet to see the light of day. It is currently huddled in a set of folders and notebooks in the darkest reaches of a storage unit in Wisconsin. It’s a novel about a young woman who goes on an epic space adventure and becomes a leader of nations. I wrote it in Junior High, which probably tells you all you need to know about why it sits there in the dark. It's OK to write things and then set them down never to publish them. Just because you wrote it, doesn’t mean you have to make others read it. :-)

It’s also OK to revisit them later and use them as springboards for new and improved projects, which I might do with this novel some day. None of this work is ever wasted. It is all part of the process of learning, growing and becoming a better writer.

Is it just me? Or has this happened to you?

Have you ever had a day where you feel great, you go to the mirror and you wonder why the image there doesn’t match what you feel inside? Often, the truth lies somewhere in the middle, but we let our doubts and nit-picks bring us down.

That same can be said when we have high hopes for a book launch and the sales just don’t go as planned. Eventually, they probably will, but today they didn’t and that can be disheartening.

Don’t let those moments bring you down. Realize the valleys are as transient as the mountains, and you just need to keep looking for the silver linings, bright spots, and pearls for which to be grateful.

A must read blog post for authors

Many authors struggle with creating a content marketing strategy that works for them. Content marketing is important, but it can be really hard to figure out what type of content will work best for you and your audience. And you don't want to waste time or money on content that doesn't work, right?

That’s why I wrote The Ultimate Guide on Content Marketing for Authors! In this comprehensive (dare I say epic?) blog post, I provide an overview of the key elements every author should consider when developing their own content marketing strategy. It covers topics such as blogging, guest posting, podcasts, social media and more. Read the ultimate guide now:

https://bookmarketingclub.com/ultimat...

Do you believe your own words?

“If the book is true, it will find an audience that is meant to read it."
- Wally Lamb

Whether what you are writing is fiction or nonfiction, it should be based in a universal truth that is rooted in your core. If you don’t believe the words you are writing, your readers won’t either.

Are you clear?

The first and most important step in building an author platform is getting clear about your brand. I did not do this work up-front, and it has presented me with many challenges that I’m still trying to work out!

For some authors, this clarity may mean forming a single cohesive brand and only writing books that fit that one brand. For others, it may mean having a set of several sub-brands that either relate and interlock or not.

Only you can decide what works best for you and what your goals as an author are. But I can tell you that doing this branding work upfront — even if it changes later — will make your life so much easier.