Frances Caballo's Blog: 10 Twitter Tips Writers Need to Know, page 39
April 10, 2017
What It Feels Like to Be in the Zone with Lisa Tener
My interview of author coach Lisa Tener was perhaps the most unusual webinar I’ve ever been a part of. But to find out why, keep reading!
Lisa started us off with explaining what it feels like to “be in the zone” when writing: “You have this sense that you can be there forever. You have a heightened sense of flow. It feels inspired. You feel like you captured something.” Yes!
When you sit to write, be mindful that you're entering sacred spaceClick To Tweet
Here are her steps for getting in the zone, for which she uses the acronym WRITE:
Wipe your mind clear. (Enter the gate.) Be mindful that you’re creating sacred space. Either at your desk or in nature. Whatever gets you to clear your mind will work.
Read your intention and goals aloud. What is my intention and vision for what this book will do? Be clear about what your intention is for the day.
Invite your muse. Be clear. Connect with that part of you that has the deeper knowing: your creative source. A walk can be a wonderful way to do that.
Tune in and write.
Enjoy the gratitude. Whether you sat and thought about your characters or readers, even if you didn’t write, that’s okay. Feed that relationship with your muse. If you’re critical, that doesn’t feed the relationship with your muse.
What does a muse look like I asked Lisa? “Some people see their muse as an animal: an eagle, a dragon,” Lisa said. Others see their muse as a person and she had a client who saw it as the ocean while another saw her muse as a court jester.
How can you stay in the zone once you’re there?
Lisa says that most of the time time when you start writing you stay there. If it stops, that’s the time to walk, do QiGong, or dance. Then come back and see what you get after that. Also, write and don’t try to edit. Once you get in the editing mind you’re in a different space. If you feel stuck, it might be time to take a break. Sometimes you get a sense of your own rhythm.
Then Lisa led everyone in a visualization exercise. Try it as you listen to her during this video. And keep listening to the video to find out what special gift I received during the visualization.
How do we find a voice in our writing? Lisa likes her clients to picture their reader. Imagine the reader before the book and after the book, whether it’s someone you know or someone you made up. Have a solid outline and read it out loud. Basically, write with your reader in mind.
Write with your reader in mind Click To Tweet
Our job as writers is to let the ego out of the way. We want to bring in all the things we know about … the intellect shouldn’t be driving everything.
She shared productivity tips for getting your writing done, such as write the easiest parts first and fill in the harder parts later.
Hear Lisa Tener’s additional tips when you listen to the video.
The author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference. In addition, she’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several social media books including the 2nd edition of Social Media Just for Writers, The Author’s Guide to Goodreads, and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.
Practical tips for marketing your books on the social web
Get a free copy of Avoid Social Media Time Suck from Smashwords!
The post What It Feels Like to Be in the Zone with Lisa Tener appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
April 7, 2017
Indie Author Weekly Update – April 7, 2017
Welcome to another edition of the Indie Author Weekly Update. Below you’ll find an array of posts from social media to fake news in publishing to Amazon keywords. I hope you enjoy them.
I chose a poppy for the above image today because they are blooming all over Northern California where I live. They represent a touch of spring that’s here. I hope you’re enjoying the flowers in your world as well as your writing.
Indie Author Updates
Growing Your Presence on Social Media from Digital Pubbing: “Social media is great. You can connect with people easily, you can learn new things, and you can share awesome content. It’s also a lot of hard work, because you want to make sure you are posting high quality content that resonates with people, and it takes some effort to measure and tweak your strategy.”
How to use price promotion to sell more books: everything you need to know from Write Word: “Once you’ve written a book and published it as an eBook, how do you find readers? That is one of the key questions all authors ask. You’ve put all of this work into a story: Now what? There are a variety of tactics available to authors to help you spread the word about your book, from social media to paid advertising. The most common, and typically most effective, tactic is a price promotion.”
Fake News! In Self-Publishing from Joel Friedlander: “The world has been changed by “fake news” over the past couple of years. This odd concept came to us from the battlefield of politics, and now it seems that we all have to start learning how to tell the “fake” news from the real thing, the news you can trust. That’s a big burden to put on the individual, and many will probably just tune out. But the idea of “fake” news can reveal some truths and falsehoods in self-publishing, too. In fact, it’s undeniable that there’s plenty of “fake” news out there, and although it may not be coming from teenagers in Macedonia, the sooner we learn to spot it, the better off we’ll be. Here are some examples I’ve come across recently. I bet you’ve got plenty of examples of your own.”
Why Most Book Trailers Are Awful & How Yours Can Be Different from Jeff Goins: “Today, the trailer for my new book just came out. I’d love your thoughts on it. But before we do that, here’s a question we all should consider: Do book trailers matter? The short answer is no. Not really. No one ever bought a book because they saw a 60-second video on YouTube. I’m fairly confident in that. So does that mean you shouldn’t do a book trailer?”
Amazon Keywords: The Secret to Doubling Your Sales and Pulling in New Readers! from Writers in the Storm/Jenny Hansen: “As marketers, it’s a big part of our job to get more readers, but as you probably have discovered, that’s often a challenge. With so many books and so many titles competing for the same attention, setting yours apart from the pack can be hard.”
How to Use Facebook Stories for Marketing from Social Media Examiner: “Is video part of your marketing strategy? Are you wondering how Facebook’s short-form video format could help your business? Facebook Stories brings a new video format to Facebook that closely resembles Instagram Stories. In this article, you’ll discover what you need to know to succeed with Facebook Stories.”
Quote of the Week
The author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference. In addition, she’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several social media books including the 2nd edition of Social Media Just for Writers, The Author’s Guide to Goodreads, and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.
Practical tips for marketing your books on the social web
Get a free copy of Avoid Social Media Time Suck from Smashwords!
The post Indie Author Weekly Update – April 7, 2017 appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
April 3, 2017
Blogs and Podcasts I Read and Listen to Every Week
We all have our secret list of favorite blogs and podcasts we prefer. I base my preferences on whether or not I learn anything new and, especially in the case of podcasts, whether there’s an entertainment value.
Don’t get me wrong; solid information is what keeps me coming back week after week. But when it comes to podcasts, the audio has to be clear, the guests interesting, and the topics need to resonate with my struggles or interest. I listen to podcasts while I’m on the treadmill so if an episode doesn’t hold my interest sufficiently, the exercise can become unbearable.
I thought you might want to find out which bloggers and podcasters I pay close attention to. Well, here they are.
Bloggers I Read
Anne R. Allen
I adore Anne’s blog. Aside from being one smart lady, her mix of sass and education is priceless.
Buffer Blog
The folks at Buffer write in-depth posts that always teach me a new skill. I rely on this blog to keep my social media skills sharp.
BookWorks
I’m proud to be a blogger at BookWorks, but that’s not why the blog is on this list. I enjoy the other bloggers, including Penny Sansevieri, Carla King, Helen Sedwick, and Joel Friedlander, who write sharp posts. I always learn something when I read a new post, which is why I read blogs in the first place.
TheBookDesigner.com by Joel Friedlander
Blogger, author, and entrepreneur, Joel Friedlander is a masterful blogger and businessman who blogs on Mondays and has guest bloggers appear on Wednesdays. I always look forward to seeing what’s new on his site. Be sure to read his monthly reviews of book covers. You’ll learn a lot.
Jane Friedman
Jane is an author, former publisher of Writer’s Digest, and astute marketing maven. I always enjoy seeing what she has to say or one of her guest bloggers.
Digital Pubbing
Sabrina is a writer, ebook developer, and blogger at DigitalPubbing.com. I enjoy her interviews, posts, and compilation of top posts on specific topics. I wouldn’t miss an issue.
Podcasts I Follow
Serial
The reporters from This American Life are the hosts of this show. They dissect a story to its core, using their investigative reporter skills. If you can learn something from this podcast, it’s how to tell a story in an engaging, entertaining manner. But these stories are real so while they are entertaining, they can also be quite sad. I love this series. I’ve listened to the first two seasons and am eagerly awaiting season three.
Self-Publishing Formula Podcast
Mark Dawson and James Blatch co-host this podcast. Mark Dawson is a thriller author who hosts trainings on online advertising for indie authors. James Blatch is a former BBC News journalist who is currently writing his first novel. Together they form a formidable team.
Smarty Pants Book Marketing
Chris and Becca Syme, a mother-daughter team. Chris is a marketer and Becca is a hybrid author. Together they interview guests and share marketing strategies.
The Author Biz by Stephen Campbell
Stephen Campbell loves to analyze figures, so his guests often arrive at the show with spreadsheets noting how much they’ve spent, how much they’ve earned, and how many books they’ve sold. It’s always fun to hear about another indie author’s success.
The Creative Penn
This is my favorite podcast. I adore Joanna Penn’s personal ramblings at the beginning of the show, and she can make even the seemingly most boring topic fascinating. She’s bubbly, positive, and informative – a winning combination.
The author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference. In addition, she’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several social media books including the 2nd edition of Social Media Just for Writers, The Author’s Guide to Goodreads, and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.
Practical tips for marketing your books on the social web
Get a free copy of Avoid Social Media Time Suck from Smashwords!
The post Blogs and Podcasts I Read and Listen to Every Week appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
March 31, 2017
Indie Author Weekly Update – March 31, 2017
Here’s a new edition of the Indie Author Weekly Update. This week, you’ll find posts from Jeff Goins, Mary McLaren, Jane Friedman, Chris Syme, and Buffer. Be sure to check out my post for Joel Friedlander as well.
Are you enjoying spring? We’ve been experiencing our first round of sunny days since the pounding of rain stopped. I’m going to enjoy it while it’s still sunny. I hope you find some sun in your days too.
Indie Author Updates
3 Proven Book Marketing Tactics that You Should Probably Avoid from Jeff Goins: “Congratulations! Your “pub date” is inked on to the calendar and it’s exciting to think of this artifact, crafted in the smithy of your soul, out in the world at last. Until you realized what you’ve always known. Creating the book is easy compared to figuring out how to market and sell the thing.”
40 Ideas for Writers to Post on Social Media from Gary McLaren: “Welcome to Part 4 of Social Media for Writers. In this post, I provide 40 ideas for writers to post on social media.”
The Myth About Print Coming Back (Updated) from Jane Friedman: “When I read mainstream outlets on publishing industry issues (such as The New York Times or The Guardian), few things are more frustrating than articles that tout the “resurgence” of print—as well as the related “comeback” of independent bookstores. Most of it is wishful thinking rather than an understanding of what’s actually happening. Here are the recent data points you should know about.”
A post I wrote for Joel Friedlander’s blog: From Fun to Serious: How I Use Pinterest Differently Now: “Do you remember when word about Pinterest started to gain traction online? It was back in 2011, and everyone was talking about a “new” social media network. I recall being trained on how to use it while I waited for Pinterest to approve my request to join. Once I received the formal okay, and I began to use Pinterest, I fell in love with the images and pinboards. What a lovely “vacation for the eyes” I used to say.”
How to set up a bookstore on your Facebook author page w/covers, prices, titles right under your cover photo: Video by Chris Syme
How to Use Facebook Insights and Analytics to Boost Your Social Media Marketing Strategy from Buffer: “This complete guide will cover everything you need to know about the key sections of Facebook Insights and share tips to help you become proficient with Facebook analytics.”
How to Use BookBub to Get on The Amazon Bestsellers List from The Write Life: “In January, 2017, I gave away 60,301 books on Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble and Kobo combined. And that’s just for one title. I nearly died of excitement. Not only did it mean 60K people were willing to take a chance on my book, but it meant exposure, sales and several other big wins for a tiny little author like me.”
Quote of the Week
The author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference. In addition, she’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several social media books including the 2nd edition of Social Media Just for Writers, The Author’s Guide to Goodreads, and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.
Practical tips for marketing your books on the social web
Get a free copy of Avoid Social Media Time Suck from Smashwords!
The post Indie Author Weekly Update – March 31, 2017 appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
March 27, 2017
10 Quick Tips About Social Media
If you’re just starting out on social media, it may seem overwhelming. Even if you’ve been using it for a while, the prospect of staying up to date on numerous social media platforms may seem like a full-time job.
Don’t get disheartened.
There definitely are learning curves to social media. That’s a given. But social media needn’t be overwhelming.
Take it from someone who works in social media every day.
As the joke goes, How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Take the same approach to the social media networks you want to learn and keep up with.
I need to learn how to use most social media networks because I write about them. But that doesn’t mean that I use all of them every day. In fact, I don’t. However, I do follow my own advice and only use those social media networks that will bring traffic to my blog and specific landing pages.
When you start using social media, you can quickly develop a shorthand or method to making the process less cumbersome and more of a natural part of your day. Make posting on Facebook, if that’s one of the networks you use, as much a part of your day as brushing your teeth – except far more pleasant.
Use the same avatar across all social media platforms Click To Tweet
Now check out my menu of quick tips.
Short List of My Favorite Social Media Tips
Use the same avatar (your profile picture) across all the social media networks you use. This will reduce the time you spend sorting through pictures of yourself and bring consistency to your brand.
Be consistent with your bio. Each social media network will allow different character lengths for your bio, but you can develop a basic recipe for all of them. For example, mention that you’re a writer of a particular genre and include information and the link to the giveaway you use to build your email list.
Use the same banner or header image across all platforms. The dimensions will change on each social media network but keep the image the same.
Use a social media scheduling application. This type of automation will free you from the computer and help you to plan your day – or your week – online. Buffer is probably the easiest scheduling application to set up and use.
To find and schedule images for Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest, considering using an application such as PostPlanner. It’s an all-in-one application that will save you time.
Get in the habit of starting your day by finding and posting content. Don’t spend more than 15 to 20 minutes on this task.
Develop the habit of socializing on your designated social media networks every afternoon.
Use Pixabay to find copyright-free images for your marketing.
Use Canva to create images for your blog and social media accounts.
Set up a daily scheduling calendar. Here’s an example:
Facebook profile – two status updates daily
Facebook page – two status updates daily
Twitter – at least three tweets daily
LinkedIn – at least one update daily; add one blog post weekly to LinkedIn’s publishing platform
Google+ – one update daily
Instagram – at least one image daily
Pinterest – six pinned images daily
Tumblr – 1 post or shared post daily
Use a social media scheduling application to save you timeClick To Tweet
What tips do you use?
The author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference. In addition, she’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several social media books including the 2nd edition of Social Media Just for Writers, The Author’s Guide to Goodreads, and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.
Practical tips for marketing your books on the social web
Conversations with Frances
Want to learn more about “writing in the zone”? Learn more when I interview Lisa Tener during the next episode of Conversations with Frances tomorrow at 10 am PT/1 pm ET.
The post 10 Quick Tips About Social Media appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
March 24, 2017
Indie Author Weekly Update – March 24, 2017
Today’s edition of the Indie Author Weekly Update is jam-packed with seven posts across nearly the entire spectrum of information that indie authors need to know.
Don’t miss Joanna Penn’s podcast interview of Mark Dawson or Self-Publishing Relief’s tips on how to make your book stand out on Amazon. There are great tips in these posts.
Indie Author Updates
Everything you need to know about hashtags from Lilach Bullock: “Ever since the first hashtag was used back in 2007 on Twitter, the popularity of hashtags has continuously grown and they have become a huge part of some of the biggest social networks. So in this blog post, I will be covering everything there is to know about hashtags: the do’s and don’t’s, how, where and when to use them, and the top hashtag tools on the market.”
Google Analytics: 5 Reports You Need to Know About from Constant Contact: “If you have a website, you should be using Google Analytics. Why? Google Analytics is one of the most valuable tools available to website owners and it’s completely free. Adding a little bit of code to your webpages opens you up to a wealth of invaluable data that allows you to measure how well your website is meeting its goals and find insights into how to improve it.”
Your Author Blog: What Should an Author Blog About? from Anne R. Allen: “The most common question I get from authors who are thinking about starting a blog is: “What should an author blog about?” My answer isn’t the same as what you’ll hear from the major blogging gurus. That’s because 90% of the advice on blogging is about business blogs—ones that sell advertising. Most of their rules simply don’t apply to authors. We’re blogging to sell our own books, not other people’s products.”
5 Ways To Make Your Self-Published Book Stand Out On Amazon from Self-Publishing Relief: “In the twenty-odd years since Amazon was founded as an online bookstore, the world’s largest Internet retailer has transformed the publishing business. Amazon is now responsible for about two-thirds of all sales of print books as well as eBooks. With that much power, maximizing the Amazon book page for your self-published book is a savvy marketing move.”
14 Unseen Instagram Tools To Grow Your Audience from Jan Orsula of Week Hack: “Whether you’re looking for a way to grow your audience, engage with your audience or get traffic to your product, service, or affiliate offer, Instagram is one of the best places to go. But growing our page and engaging with my followers would be impossible without automation. I can’t imagine doing it manually.”
3 Ways to Create a Video Studio on Any Budget from Social Media Examiner: “Interested in delivering quality video content to your audience Wondering what equipment you need? You don’t need to spend a lot on high-end camera gear and equipment for your studio to create top-notch social media videos. In this article, you’ll discover how to set up a video studio without breaking the bank.”
Podcast Interview – Advertising for Authors with Mark Dawson and by Joanna Penn: “It’s a crowded book market, and even if you have a quality product with a great cover, you still need to get attention for your book somehow. Amazon Advertising opened up to all authors who publish on Amazon in Dec 2016, and I’ve been trying them out with some success. In today’s show, Mark Dawson goes into detail on how and why to advertise on Amazon.”
Quote of the Week
The author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference. In addition, she’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several social media books including the 2nd edition of Social Media Just for Writers, The Author’s Guide to Goodreads, and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.
Practical tips for marketing your books on the social web
Conversations with Frances
Want to about “writing in the zone”? Don’t miss my interview with Lisa Tener during the next episode of Conversations with Frances March 28th at 10 am PT/1 pm ET.
The post Indie Author Weekly Update – March 24, 2017 appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
March 20, 2017
Blockbuster Author Kevin Tumlinson Reveals His Writing and Book Marketing Secrets
Several months ago I used Draft2Digital to convert one of my books to an ePub and distribute it to online book retailers. I was impressed by the customer service I experienced and how easy the staff made the entire process for me.
Then, I recalled hearing Kevin Tumlinson of Draft2Digital speak on Joanna Penn’s podcast about eight months ago and decided to invite him to join my Conversations with Frances webinar series.
Earlier this month I interviewed Kevin Tumlinson, marketing director for Draft2Digital and a bestselling author. We had a wide-ranging conversation about Draft2Digital and Kevin’s writing and book marketing tips. Here are some of the points we covered:
Draft2Digital is a book aggregator that uploads manuscripts and converts them to epub, mobi, and PDF formats.
Draft2Digital used to distribute to Amazon and hopes to do so again. Meanwhile, authors can take the mobi file and upload it to Amazon themselves.
Once the conversions are made, authors can use the ePub, mobi, and PDFs they’d like. The conversion is a free service.
Draft2Digital chooses to stand out in how they serve the community of writers. It is a service-oriented company that was founded by authors to help independent authors succeed.
Kevin Tumlinson is an award-winning copywriter, especially in video work. Copywriting is his “staple” skill. We discussed how copywriting is an important skills for indie authors to learn. If they don’t learn this skill, they should hire someone to do the copywriting for them.
Copywriting is a brain shift. It’s a specific skill you write to promote your work.
Kevin is the author of 30-Day Author.
Waiting to write until you’re inspired is ridiculous. The 30-Day Author explains Kevin’s process. The book basically explains how you write a book in any given time frame.
Kevin changes his daily word count but for a time he wrote 5,000 words/day. He has a bare minimum target of 500 words/day.
Kevin once wrote a 60,000 word novel in one day.
He doesn’t outline his books.
He has written professionally since he was 12 years old.
Kevin spends 98% of his marketing dollars on Facebook advertising to promote his list. His list now has 26,000 subscribers.
To entice readers to join his list, he gives away books.
Here’s the entire interview:
The author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference. In addition, she’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several social media books including the 2nd edition of Social Media Just for Writers, The Author’s Guide to Goodreads, and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.
Practical tips for marketing your books on the social web
Get a free copy of Avoid Social Media Time Suck from Smashwords!
The post Blockbuster Author Kevin Tumlinson Reveals His Writing and Book Marketing Secrets appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
March 17, 2017
Indie Author Weekly Update – March 17, 2017
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Indie Author update. On deck today are posts from Joel Friedlander, Jane Friedman, Digital Pubbing and others. Don’t miss Joel’s interview of Dan Blank; it’s terrific.
Using Improv Techniques for #Creativity plus Facebook Ads with Andrea Vahl and by Joanna Penn: “Andrea Vahl is a social media speaker and consultant who is passionate about helping businesses understand and leverage the power of social media to actually grow their business. She’s the co-author of Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies, and she’s also been an improv, stand-up comedian for 10 years. You can listen on iTunes or Stitcher or watch the video here, read the notes and links on Joanna’s website. She Joanna’s website for the complete transcript and links.”
Be the Gateway: The Dan Blank Interview by Joel Friedman: “Dan Blank, who has been helping both traditionally published and indie authors for many years, has gained an incredible amount of experience and detailed knowledge about how authors can best navigate the often confusing world of modern book publishing.
“Dan and I pretty much agree on how authors can avoid the overwhelm and the chase after “magical” solutions to book writing and marketing problems. What I especially like about Dan’s approach is his complete devotion to the author’s vision, and his concentration on helping authors find solutions that are authentic to them.”
Hear Joel Friedlander's interview of Dan Blank about Dan's new book Click To Tweet
How (and When) to Develop Multiple Streams of Writing Income from Ali Luke: “One big danger in the writing life is only having one or two sources of income. If allyour money comes from one particular client, you’ll really struggle if that client suddenly no longer needs your services.”
7 Emotional Triggers to Hook Your Subscribers from Convince & Convert: “Over the years, I’ve managed the creation and analytics of nine email newsletters, each with over 1,000 subscribers, with varying success. An average engagement rate has never been good enough for me. Through trial and error, all-nighters spent on A/B testing, and strategy building, I’ve created a more-or-less accurate picture of what works and what doesn’t. And when it comes to improving open and clickthrough rates (CTRs), I can tell you that emotional triggers are the secret to successful email campaigns.”
A Look at Amazon: Timeline and Indie Author News from Digital Pubbing: “It’s been a while since I’ve posted about Amazon, but as usual, I’ve been collecting links. Here are some items that explain what Amazon has been up to (you may notice it covers a wide range of topics, which is fitting, since Amazon covers so many industries now).”
Stop Focusing on Follower Count: 5 Better Approaches for Improving Social Media Use from Jane Friedman: “As an author and social media marketer, I spend a lot of time thinking about the intersection of books and social media. I also know intimately the fatigue and overwhelm that comes from feeling like you have to be not only creating great work, but forever seeking new and ingenious ways to promote it. The quickest way to tire yourself out in this process is to set your eye on the wrong target, creating a Sisyphean struggle that is more likely to leave you feeling defeated than accomplishing even the most modest of marketing goals.”
There are better social media metrics than follower countsClick To Tweet
Quote of the Week
The author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several social media books including a new edition to Social Media Just for Writers, The Author’s Guide to Goodreads and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.
Practical tips for marketing your books on the social web
Get a free copy of Avoid Social Media Time Suck from Smashwords!
The post Indie Author Weekly Update – March 17, 2017 appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
March 13, 2017
5 Tools Every Indie Author Should Use
When I first started using social media, confusion quickly set it.
I read a lot of blog posts and tried every application I learned about. I signed up for more than I needed and registered for apps before they were even available. Some that come to mind are Strawberry Jam and BrandBuilder and its precursor, none of which exist today. I tried out SocialBro, and it doesn’t exist today either.
In fact, sometimes I write about apps, and six months later, well, they’re kaput! It’s an embarrassing at times and can get frustrating.
There are some applications that I know aren’t going to abandon me, and so today I am taking the risk of suggesting that there are five tools that indie authors can’t be without.
Ready to see which ones they are?
5 Must-Have Tools for Indie Authors
Social Media Dashboards
If you’re going to use social media and you want to be efficient, you need to start using a social media dashboard. There’s no way you can post to Twitter three to five times daily – or more often – unless you use a social media dashboard. Otherwise, you will be glued to your seat with your eyes on your social media accounts instead of writing your books.
Here are four dashboards that I recommend.
Buffer is another popular choice. You can use Buffer for free. If you’d like to schedule images to Pinterest, you’ll need the Awesome plan, which is $102/year. What’s fun about Buffer is its integration with other social media applications, such as its curation app, Daily. Buffer is one of the easiest scheduling programs available.
People new to social media tend to start with the free version of Hootsuite. It’s easy to set up and will allow you to post to Facebook, LinkedIn and LinkedIn groups, Twitter, your Google+ page, and Instagram. You can set up your feeds and use Hootsuite to keep in touch with your friends, fans, and followers by aggregating your social media news feeds on this application. What this means is that you can navigate to Hootsuite to see all of your friends’ and followers’ posts in one place. The paid version provides analytics.
With this free Twitter application, you don’t have to be on the Internet to check your account. Once you download it to your desktop, you can check your Twitter account and respond to Mentions, Direct Messages, and Retweets as they arrive. It’s an easy tool to set up and use, but it allows scheduling only to Twitter.
An application designed just for Facebook, PostPlanner enables you to schedule your status updates. This application will show you the newest content trending in your niche, help you target your readers, and provide you with real-time analytics. It also has a cache of thousands of updates that you can select from on those days when you absolutely can’t think of anything to say. Depending on the payment plan you choose, you can post images to Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Book Sharing Application
The best book sharing application and the one that I use is BookFunnel. You would use BookFunnel whenever you offer a free book or free chapters as a giveaway to your email subscribers.
Or you can use BookFunnel when contacting your launch team and providing a free link to your newest book.
BookFunnel costs just $20/year. It’s best if you convert your book to a Mobi, epub, and PDF. You can use Google Docs to create your epub, but you’ll need to use Draft2Digital or hire an ebook professional to convert your Word doc to a Mobi.
Maintain an Email List
The email list provider that I rely on is MailChimp. MailChimp provides a free plan to start. Once you accumulate 2,000 subscribers, you’ll need to convert to a paid plan.
All indie authors should maintain an email listClick To Tweet
To learn how to use MailChimp, read this post I wrote last week, How to Get Going with MailChimp and Email Marketing.
MailChimp is a popular plan among email marketers and provides email-based tech support once you convert your plan to a paid plan.
Unfollow those Twitter Unfollowers
Once you start following users on Twitter, you’ll quickly realize that not everyone will want to follow you back. You need to use an app to flush out the “unfollowers” as well as the spam, bot, and fraud accounts. Here are some apps that can help you with these tasks.
Use this application to find new followers, unfollow spam accounts and bots you hadn’t suspected, and unfollow those users who simply aren’t following you back. You can also use this application to send a tweet at the times of the day when ManageFlitter determines most of your followers will be online. You can also whitelist individuals users so that you never accidentally unfollow them. Also, you can whitelist entire lists you create.
Tweepi will let you unfollow as many people as you’d like. Use Tweepi to follow someone else’s followers, find followers by interest or name, unfollow spammers, clean up inactive lists, and force unwanted followers to unfollow you.
Image Tools
What would social media be like without images? To support your giveaways online and to share quotes from your books, you’ll need an image application. Here are two that I suggest.
Canva and PicMonkey are my go-to image creation tools Click To Tweet
Canva is a free application. Sign up with an email and password, and select the correct templates or banner images, headers, posts, blog images, Tumblr images, etc. Canva’s templates will already have the dimensions, so there’s no need to memorize them or look them up.
On Canva, you can select a template, search for appropriate images, upload the covers of your books, add the perfect background color to match your brand, and find your favorite font. There are numerous free templates on this website, and Canva is amazingly easy to use. You can even make your book cover for free.
To learn more about Canva, check out its free tutorials.
With PicMonkey, you can edit a picture, touch up an image, create a design, and create a collage of visuals. PicMonkey now has templates, which you’ll find at https://www.picmonkey.com/#templates. Similar to Canva, you can make a selection from PicMonkey’s list of fonts. The fee for PicMonkey is $35/year.
If you use an application such as Canva or PicMonkey to create images for your blog, you’ll soon see the load time for your blog posts slow to a crawl.
The problem is that images created with these apps are notoriously large. With either TinyPng or Compressor, you can reduce the bytes in your visuals without tampering with the dimensions. So whenever you use Canva or PicMonkey, don’t forget to use TinyPng or Compressor before adding those visuals to your next blog post.
Which tools do you rely on as an author?
The author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference. In addition, she’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several social media books including The Author’s Guide to Goodreads and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.
Practical tips for marketing your books on the social web
Get a free copy of Avoid Social Media Time Suck from Smashwords!
The post 5 Tools Every Indie Author Should Use appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
March 10, 2017
Indie Author Weekly Update – March 10, 2017
In this wee’s Indie Author Weekly Update you’ll find posts on blogging, branding, author bios, social media, and more. I hope you enjoy this week’s selection.
Meanwhile, after several days of rain and hail we’re enjoying a few days of respite, sun, and warmer temperatures. The warmer temps are always inviting to pursue a hike or bike ride. Don’t you agree? I hope you find your time in the outdoors as inspiring as I do.
Indie Author Update
Why Do I Need a Media Kit? 5 Reasons (+ FREE online workshop series March 13-24!) from Chris Well: “The media kit is an essential tool for every author who wants to leverage the power of the media to build their brand. This set of PR materials gives media influencers and others a clear snapshot of what you have to offer.”
The No.1 Reason Why Bloggers Fail (And What To Do About It) from Write to Done: “Every blog starts with a dream. A dream of expressing yourself and getting your message heard. A dream of gaining recognition. A dream of standing proud. But the sad reality is, most new bloggers fail. Depressing, isn’t it? So many hopes dashed. So much energy wasted. So many important thoughts lost to the world.”
The media kit is an essential tool for every author Click To Tweet
Facebook tests reactions and Dislike button (!) on messages from TechCrunch: “Facebook finally has a Dislike button, but it’s not where you’d expect. How do you reply to a specific message in a rapid-fire chat thread? Facebook wants you to attach emojis to your friends’ messages the same way you do with News Feed posts.”
Your Author Bio: Does it help your Book Sales or Stop Them Dead? from Anne R. Allen: “No matter how great a book’s cover and blurb, one thing can stop me from buying yet another ebook for my Kindle: an author bio on the buy page that screams ‘amateur.'”
Taking Yourself Seriously as a Writer—Before Anyone Else Does from Writers in the Storm: “For the past ten years, I have written steadily and quietly. While my friends, family, and colleagues all knew I wrote, only a few close writer friends knew the extent of my writing life. Only a handful of people knew that I had written four unpublished novels. When I would somehow let this slip in conversation, I would receive looks of marvel, looks that made me inwardly cringe. What others viewed as a major accomplishment, I viewed with embarrassment. After all, I’d been trying unsuccessfully to get an agent for years. Telling people that I kept writing despite anyone recognizing my work felt like admitting publicly to my failure as a writer. Without the external approval of an agent or publisher, I couldn’t take myself seriously as a writer, beyond a narrow circle of writing colleagues. (This need for approval speaks to many things in my life, but let’s just stick to writing, shall we?)”
Know What’s Working on Social Media: 26 Free Social Media Analytics Tools from Buffer: “Where do you turn for meaningful stats on your social media marketing? I’m grateful for the insight from some truly incredible tools that help make sense of the actions I take on social media. How have my followers grown this month? Which posts seem to perform best? Which times make the most sense to post? The answers are out there, and there are tools to help you find them. I’ve collected a bunch of my favorites here in this post. Feel free to give them a try and see what insights you can find!”
Here’s How They’re Building Their Author Platform, Case Study: Angie Viets from Lisa Tener: Last fall, I posted about how important the author platform tends to be in interesting publishers and getting a publishing deal. I shared some examples of clients who signed book deals after they worked on their author platform. Today, I’d like to start sharing stories of some clients who may be closer to where you may be—just starting out in developing an author platform.”
A case study of one writer's author platformClick To Tweet
Also of Interest
Writing Contests in 2017 Curated by Reedsy
Discover the finest writing contests of 2017 for fiction and non-fiction authors of short stories, poetry, essays and more. Updated weekly, these contests are vetted by Reedsy to weed out the scammers and time-wasters
Quote of the Week
The author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference. In addition, she’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com, and blogger and Social Media Expert for BookWorks. She’s written several social media books including the 2nd edition of Social Media Just for Writers, The Author’s Guide to Goodreads, and Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.
Practical tips for marketing your books on the social web
Get a free copy of Avoid Social Media Time Suck from Smashwords!
The post Indie Author Weekly Update – March 10, 2017 appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.
10 Twitter Tips Writers Need to Know
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