Carma Spence's Blog, page 31
February 12, 2024
Unleash your author voice
Struggling to find your authentic author voice? This week on The Author Switch Podcast, I share tips for identifying your author archetype. Discover your unique voice! AuthorSwitch.com/authorarchetype
February 11, 2024
What can William Castle teach you about book marketing?
William Castle was a director of low-budget horror films with a flair for self-promotion and best known for the gimmicks he created to go with films like The Tingler, Macabre, and Thirteen Ghosts. His antics can inform your book marketing. Watch this to see how!
https://youtu.be/EwKtaAYxYIY
https://youtu.be/EwKtaAYxYIY
February 10, 2024
Lessons from Toho
Godzilla, King of the Monsters has taught me a thing or two about being an author. I recently did a video sharing 5 of these lessons. Would you like the link?
February 8, 2024
Could this be the key?
Understanding your personality type can help you be more authentic in your writing. I can also help you tap into strengths you may be ignoring. My new Entrepreneur Author Archetype quiz may help you write a better lead-attracting book:
Authorneering.com/author-archetype
https://youtu.be/qNYCafnERr0
Authorneering.com/author-archetype
https://youtu.be/qNYCafnERr0
February 7, 2024
Real-Life Case Studies of Effective Short Books
Do you still wonder how effectively a short book (less than 200 pages) can benefit your business? Check out my latest blog post in which I share 7 real-life case studies of short books that have successfully helped individuals become thought leaders and grow their businesses.
Authorneering.com/case-studies-examples
Authorneering.com/case-studies-examples
February 6, 2024
Use visceral words
Using strong, specific, visceral words makes your prose more readable and easier to read. These words help you get to the point more quickly. This is just one tip from a recent Coffee with Carma episode. Drop “give me the brief” in the comments for a link to the full episode.
https://youtu.be/0O3pE521m6M
https://youtu.be/0O3pE521m6M
February 5, 2024
Don’t fall for these lies!
Do you believe that self-published books don’t sell? That’s simply not true. Many self-published books have achieved significant sales and success. The key is effective marketing and producing a high-quality product. This is just one of 11 myths about self-publishing that I debunk in today’s episode of The Author Switch Podcast:
AuthorSwitch.com/selfpublishingmythsd...
AuthorSwitch.com/selfpublishingmythsd...
February 4, 2024
Write your intros tight
The introductions and conclusions of each chapter and section within a chapter are the glue that holds your book together, as well as the breadcrumb trails your readers follow from one page to the next. To keep them turning, make sure these transitions are tight!
https://youtube.com/shorts/2zkqpkUbQk8
https://youtube.com/shorts/2zkqpkUbQk8
February 3, 2024
Go deep
If you’re married, have ever been married, or been in a long-term relationship, you’ve likely had an experience like this: You meet someone. They seem nice, attractive enough and share a common interest. You go out for a cup of coffee or a drink … and from those 30 or so minutes spent together, you can look back from your current vantage point and say, “That deepened X-years of my life.”
If we think about it, the world is full of opportunities to go deep—to take advantage of the structure of things—relationships we want to improve or create—businesses we want to improve or create—and books/ideas we want to improve or create.
In my most recent book, I wrote that a book is most profitable when we recognize that it starts with an idea—a fleeting thought. However, you can’t stop there. The thought has to be nurtured—it has to be cultivated—it has to grow from a passing moment to something tangible, impactful, and (one hopes) profitable.
The work is in the “going deeper.”
And it strikes me that, far too often, in the book world we think that the work isn’t in these depths—it’s in the sell. We think that the systems we’re taught (book launches, SEO’d titles, guesting on podcasts, and so on) are the “trick” to success in the book publishing world.
In my experience they do help—but they are not complete answers. There is only one complete answer: Go deep into the idea and explore what you find there.
Ensure that the depth of that idea is investigated in such a nuanced way that your audience can’t help but see that it benefits them to buy the book, and to start a relationship with you.
We need help, often, in exploring the depth of our ideas. Simply writing social media copy or even 100-page books that function as (suboptimal, too often) explorations of ideas to benefit either the reader or establish the credibility of our businesses doesn’t quite cut it fully.
We have a depth issue, not necessarily a book-marketing issue. And depth begins with the framework I try to explore in my own book writing, and in my coaching: Who is the target market? What is the thing you understand about that target market that they miss—and that all your competition misses?
IF your book is written around those ideas—at that depth—the book suddenly has nuance, and potential virality, that truly establishes you as an expert.
Our lives can change in a moment. This is true when we meet our spouses. This is true when we meet ideas worth writing about—but the process of developing a book, or a relationship, is not momentary—it is deep work.
And if we understand that it is deep work, and take on that deep work, we reap the benefits of the effort.
If I hadn’t done the deep work, I wouldn’t have been ready for my current husband, whom I’ve been blissfully married to for heading into 8 years. And, if I hadn’t done the deep work, I wouldn’t have unearthed the framework I share in my book.
If we don’t do the deep work—the spouse, and the reader—recognize it. We fall flat.
I encourage you to go deep … your future clients will thank you.
If we think about it, the world is full of opportunities to go deep—to take advantage of the structure of things—relationships we want to improve or create—businesses we want to improve or create—and books/ideas we want to improve or create.
In my most recent book, I wrote that a book is most profitable when we recognize that it starts with an idea—a fleeting thought. However, you can’t stop there. The thought has to be nurtured—it has to be cultivated—it has to grow from a passing moment to something tangible, impactful, and (one hopes) profitable.
The work is in the “going deeper.”
And it strikes me that, far too often, in the book world we think that the work isn’t in these depths—it’s in the sell. We think that the systems we’re taught (book launches, SEO’d titles, guesting on podcasts, and so on) are the “trick” to success in the book publishing world.
In my experience they do help—but they are not complete answers. There is only one complete answer: Go deep into the idea and explore what you find there.
Ensure that the depth of that idea is investigated in such a nuanced way that your audience can’t help but see that it benefits them to buy the book, and to start a relationship with you.
We need help, often, in exploring the depth of our ideas. Simply writing social media copy or even 100-page books that function as (suboptimal, too often) explorations of ideas to benefit either the reader or establish the credibility of our businesses doesn’t quite cut it fully.
We have a depth issue, not necessarily a book-marketing issue. And depth begins with the framework I try to explore in my own book writing, and in my coaching: Who is the target market? What is the thing you understand about that target market that they miss—and that all your competition misses?
IF your book is written around those ideas—at that depth—the book suddenly has nuance, and potential virality, that truly establishes you as an expert.
Our lives can change in a moment. This is true when we meet our spouses. This is true when we meet ideas worth writing about—but the process of developing a book, or a relationship, is not momentary—it is deep work.
And if we understand that it is deep work, and take on that deep work, we reap the benefits of the effort.
If I hadn’t done the deep work, I wouldn’t have been ready for my current husband, whom I’ve been blissfully married to for heading into 8 years. And, if I hadn’t done the deep work, I wouldn’t have unearthed the framework I share in my book.
If we don’t do the deep work—the spouse, and the reader—recognize it. We fall flat.
I encourage you to go deep … your future clients will thank you.
February 1, 2024
Start with a bang!
A strong, powerful beginning is one of the best ways to set your reader on the right path to finishing your book. This is just one of 5 tips I shared in a recent podcast that keep readers turning the page. Want the other 4? Comment “hooked” and I’ll send the link.
https://youtube.com/shorts/Qjdclfotzcw
https://youtube.com/shorts/Qjdclfotzcw
