Frances Caballo's Blog: 10 Twitter Tips Writers Need to Know, page 40

How to Get Going with MailChimp and Email Marketing

Everywhere on the blogosphere writers are hearing the admonishment, “Start an email marketing program.”

Publishers, the experts tell you, want to know that you have an email list. Even if you’re an Indie author and intend to be indie as long as you can breathe, an email list is important to your marketing efforts.

So it’s loud and clear that you need an email list, right? But did you ever notice that there’s little advice about which programs are better and how to use them? Well, I intend to clear that up today.

There are several email marketing programs available but the two most popular ones are MailChimp and AWeber. The pricing plans are similar, however, with MailChimp you can start with a free plan.

Authors: Start an email marketing program today via @CaballoFrancesClick To Tweet

Early on I selected MailChimp so that’s the program I’m going to show you how to use today. (Who could resist the adorable logo?)

Ready?

Getting Started with MailChimp

MailChimp tries to make everything about your experience fun and easy. In the early days, once I sent a marketing email I’d receive this message: “Go eat a banana.” Which I didn’t, but that’s beside the point. The user interface is clear, and that’s what’s important.

 

Sign up at MailChimp.com. Decide if you want a paid account, which comes with email-based support, or if you want to figure things out on your own.

Your first step will be to create and name a list so that you can send your readers to it. Start with one. The name for the list will only be available to you so you can call it Newsletter for My Awesome Readers or simply Newsletter List #1. You decide.

Before you work on the sign-up process, you should decide on and create a giveaway. It could be the first two chapters of your newest book or the first book in a thriller series you’ve written. If you write nonfiction, it can be an ebook or a tips sheet. Again, you get to decide on what you think would most entice your readers to turn over their email addresses.

Once you know what your giveaway will be, turn it into a PDF and either create a landing page on your website for it or use a program like DropBox as your free file-sharing service.

Next, you’re ready to tackle the signup forms on MailChimp.

How to Set Up Your MailChimp Signup Forms

To work on the signup forms, go to your list and on the far right, click the arrow, and click on Signup Forms in the drop-down menu.

You’ll arrive at a page with various form options. For this purpose, select General Forms and navigate to the page where you can edit the sign-up process for your list. These are some of the forms that we’ll focus on:

To customize the signup form, click Edit. Notice how the only piece of personal information I request is the email address. The more information you request, the less likely someone will finish the sign-up process.

Above the sign-up form template, MailChimp provides the sign-up email address in addition to the option to create a QR code for it.

Next, you’ll want to customize a sign-up thank you email. See the language that I include in mine. Notice my message to readers who use Gmail.

Next, you need to send an opt-in confirmation email. I also choose to customize this email.

Next, I send a subscription confirmed email with the link to my freebie, Twitter Just for Writers.

As a follow-up to the above email, I also send a confirmation email notice.

Now you’ll want to take the URL for signing up to your newsletter and give it to your webmaster so that she or he can create a widget for your website enticing your readers to sign up.

This is what my widget looks like:

Notice that instead of the word subscribe as my call to action, I use Get It Now!

Send Your First Email Letter

Now that you have your list and your email sign-up sequence set up, it’s time to send your first email-marketing letter.

Go to campaigns and select Create Campaign. You’ll need to name your campaign and select your campaign type. Normally, you’ll select Regular as your campaign type.

You will automatically navigate to a page where you’ll select your list. The campaign name is for internal use only. The email subject line, which you’ll select next, is what your readers will see when they go to their inboxes.

You’ll have the option to auto-tweet the campaign or auto-post to Facebook. I encourage you not to do this. Auto-tweeting and auto-posting will appear as spam posts and your readers won’t engage with them or share them.

Once you decide on the email subject, your next step will be to select a template. (Make sure the subject line entices your readers to open your email.) I use a simple text template because I can always add images to it if I want to. You can select a fancier template if you’d like. My only suggestion is that you want your email to feel like a personal letter to your reader.

The first time you create a newsletter or email marketing letter, you will arrive at your template and it will have instructions from MailChimp. Erase these and start your own letter. Click on the headline or the email text so that you can click the pencil that will allow you to make edits and write your own letter.

Once you open the edit box, your email template will appear similar to your WordPress blog post template.

When you are ready to schedule or send the email, click confirm in the lower right, send a test email to yourself for editing, and schedule the email for the date and time you prefer.

You’ve just sent your first email-marketing letter. Bravo!

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 How to Get Going with MailChimp and Email Marketing appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.

Indie Author Weekly – March 3, 2017

Welcome to today’s edition of the Indie Author Weekly Update. You’ll find posts on how to building a landing page, secure forewords from a bestselling author, how to incorporate storytelling in your blog and more. I hope you enjoy this week’s selection and that you have a fabulous weekend.

Indie Author Updates

8 Landing Page Design Principles You Should Never Break from Undullify: “Let me tell you something about landing pages. When you start analyzing what makes a landing page tick, you start to notice something – they all start to look the same. Optimization experts have whittled landing pages down to a core format that is pretty much universal, because it incorporates design elements that work consistently in favor of increasing conversions, no matter what the industry.”

Book Launch Tips: How to Get a Bestselling Author to Write a Foreword, Blurbs and Amazon Reviews from Lisa Tener: “A foreword by a bestselling author can help catapult your book to success on Amazon because Amazon views that foreword writer as another author. When people search for the bestselling author who wrote your foreword, your book will come up in the search! Wow, right?”

A forword by a bestselling author can catapult your bookClick To Tweet

Apps, Tools & Plugins for Indie Authors in 2017 from Joel Friedlander at TheBookDesigner.com, by Frances Caballo: “There are millions of apps, tools, extensions, and plugins available online. This is Part 2 of a big list of tools for indie authors that I’ve discovered and tested. So, let’s take a look at Part 2 which includes social media dashboards, Pinterest extensions, scheduling apps for Instagram, WordPress plugins and editing apps.”

Podcast Episode 36 – Chris Fox on How to Train Amazon to Sell Your Books from Chris Syme: “In this episode you’ll learn: How iBooks and other bookstores sell differently than Amazon. Find out when is a good time to run book promotions to get the maximum lift on Amazon. And more!”

Do you incorporate storytelling into your blog posts? Click To Tweet

11 Storytelling Formulas to Supercharge Your Social Media Marketing from Buffer: “Legendary marketer, Seth Godin, describes marketing as  “the art of telling a story that resonates with your audience and then spreads.” If you look at some of the biggest brands around, you might notice that they are often amazing storytellers. But how do you tell compelling stories? How do you tell stories that your audience wants to hear? And how do you tell your brand story?”

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 newly released second 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 – March 3, 2017 appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.

What Are the Trends in Publishing? Here Are 10 Mark Coker Identified

Mark Coker’s Publishing Observations and Predictions

While attending the San Francisco Writers Conference, I decided to drop in on Mark Coker’s session on the ten trends driving publishing now and in the future. Here’s what he had to say:

Trend 1

Look for larger, broader macro trends. Ten years ago, ebooks comprised one-quarter of one percent of the book industry. Today? Half of all books are ebooks, even though over the past three years ebook sales have been stagnant.

Mark noted that ebooks offer a more portable discovery and reading experience, the deliver is instant, and readers can adjust the font size to their personal preferences.

Trend one quarter of one percent of book industry were ebooks ten years ago

Over the past three years ebook sales have been stagnant Click To Tweet

Trend 2

Publishing has become democratized. Ten years ago publishers controlled the printing presses and access to distribution. They also controlled the fate of authors.

Ebooks broke down that barrier, and today all authors have access to retail distribution and the tools to reach a broad audience.

Trend 3

Ebooks are going global. A whopping 40 percent of Smashwords’ ebooks are from outside of the U.S.

Trend 4

Indie authorship is a global cultural movement. From this day forward, all authors are indie publishers because they are in control of which direction they go. All authorpreneurs have access to free tools and the knowledge base to publish as a professional.

Indie authorship is a global cultural movementClick To Tweet

Self-published authors also have total control over pricing, can retain their rights, and have better access to global distribution. Because indie authors have pricing control, they can offer their books at a lower cost to readers, making it more affordable for readers to enjoy books. And, self-published authors don’t have to put up with the 12% to 16% royalty rates that trade publishers offer their writers.

Trend 5

Indie authors are hitting the bestseller lists. And Mark noted that we’re just a few years away from the majority of ebooks being sold by self-published authors. Every year indies are getting more and more market share of ebooks, although this can vary by retailer and genre.

Indie authors routinely hit the bestseller lists Click To Tweet

Trend 6

Mark noted, “The stigma of self-publishing is disappearing.” Previously, people would self-publish “in shame,” and be known as a “vanity author.” But over last ten years, once ebooks became democratized, these books started selling, and perceptions started changing.

Amanda Hocking, the author of 50 Shades of Grey, was the first indie author to sell over 1 million ebooks. “Nothing speaks like commercial success,” Mark said.

The control of self-publishing is important to some authors who want to make decisions on pricing, release dates, etc., and indie authors have this control.

Trend 7

Mark noted that presently there’s a glut of high-quality, low-cost books. He also noted that the supply of books is outstripping demand, a trend that will “continue forever.” Therefore, there’s an ultra-competitive environment for book selling, and future authors will likely sell fewer books.

There’s a glut of high-quality, low-cost books Click To Tweet

Trend 8

Mark, as the founder of Smashwords, naturally spoke about Amazon. He believes that Amazon is exploiting the glut of books on the market now. “When there is a glut, sellers compete on price … and Amazon is driving prices down,” Mark said.

While some authors prefer the KDP Select program, Mark noted that  KDP Select comes at a price to other online retailers. KDP Select now has more than 1 million books in its program. Mark believes this program is “training readers to devalue books” and is driving the “commoditization of books.”

The benefits to an author of the KDP Select program is that Amazon will give you a preferential sales advantage and discoverability. If you don’t select the program, your book will be less discoverable on Amazon’s website.

Finally, Mark added, Amazon has access to 70% of readers.

Trend 9

You can go to any product page for a book on Amazon in the KDP Select program and Amazon will first advertise that the book is free under the Kindle Unlimited program. Large publishers recognize that Amazon is devaluing books.

Trend 10

Self-publishers are driving the industry. As an indie author, you can decide when and how you want your book to be published. He said, “The future is up to what authors do next.”

He also noted that Amazon isn’t evil; it’s just feeding our gluttony for books and that Amazon’s tactics come at a cost to authors and publishers. “We need to find a way to tame the beast,” Mark said.

Mark encouraged authors to say no to exclusivity. “If you select exclusivity, you are putting other retailers out of business.”

Regarding trade publishers, Mark noted that they need to reinvent themselves and start serving authors first. Mark feels that if trade publishers were capable of publishing every author that submitted a manuscript, they could help to undermine Amazon’s power.

Presently, Amazon has 70% of the book market share. Amazon is followed by Apple in sales and then by Barnes & Noble and Kobo. He feels that if the B&N and Kobo are unable to sell sufficient books, they will be forced out of business.

Interestingly, he noted that Apple and Google don’t need to make money in book sales. As long as they break even, they’re happy and that they are in the business of books for the long run.

What do you think of Mark’s insights and predictions about the publishing industry?

The post What Are the Trends in Publishing? Here Are 10 Mark Coker Identified appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.

Indie Author Weekly Update – February 24, 2017

Here’s another edition of the Indie Author Update. This week’s topics include book marketing, Facebook advertising, and blogging.

I hope you join me for the next  Conversations with Frances when I interview Draft2Digital marketing director and blockbuster author Kevin Tumlinson. Kevin is considered a prolific author, and was named one of Shelf Media Group’s 100 Notable Indies in 2016. I hope you’ll join us on March 1st at 1 pm PST as he shares his marketing tips.

Indie Author Updates

10 Tips To Up Your Book Marketing Skills Right Now by Rachel Thompson: “The basic premise of book marketing is this: write great books that people want to read, then effectively market them. If you’re self-published, use professional editors, designers, and formatters so your book looks amazing. I self-pub’d my first three books and invested in those services through scrimping and saving. Now you can crowdfund. It’s doable.”

Write great books and then effectively market them. Click To Tweet

7 Book Marketing Trends Authors Should Expect in 2017 from BookWorks: “The world of book marketing is moving and shaking, and as with all things, change is inevitable. Part of my job is to embrace change and ensure that we are on the front edge of book marketing trends so that we can be the most effective marketing team for our clients. And although change doesn’t mean the “old ideas” no longer work, it does mean that there are some exciting new ways to do things. Here are 7 changes you can expect to see this year.”

Five Things You Must Know Before Advertising with Facebook from @sitsgirls: “Many of you have likely thought about getting yourselves and your business out there more in the new year by working in a modest advertising budget. Thanks to a lot of research and trial and error, I can confidently confirm that the advertising experience with Facebook doesn’t have to be a nightmare. In fact, if you do things the right way, you will find yourself getting way more than what you paid for. There are five things to keep in mind when it comes to launching a successful Facebook ad campaign.”

 

The #1 Mistake We All Make on Twitter (It’s Probably Not What You’re Expecting) from Buffer: This is how most companies tackle Twitter: start an account, follow a bunch of people, send a few Tweets about their business and hope for the best. And in some ways there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. These steps are necessary to get up and running and learn the ropes on Twitter. But, the biggest mistake we’re all making is not using two extremely simple Twitter features to their full potential.”

How Traditionally Published Authors Market Their Books from BookBub Partners: “With the high volume of books launching each year, competition for readers’ attention is skyrocketing while publicity teams’ bandwidths are stretched thin — so publishers these days are asking their authors to take on more and more of their own promotional activities. In fact, many of them expect their authors to be active marketers. For example, at DBW 2017, we learned that Hachette and Perseus Books examine an author’s platform and follower engagement on social media, and report their findings in acquisition meetings before deciding whether to sign that author.”

15 of the Best YouTube Channels for Writers from The Write Life: “You may currently know YouTube only as that place you go to watch far too many cute animal videos rather than facing your writer’s block. (No judgment from me; have you seen the one with the tiny hedgehog birthday party?!) But YouTube also contains a wealth of useful advice on everything from novel writing to marketing your work, and you’d be remiss if you didn’t tap into it.”

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 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

 

The post Indie Author Weekly Update – February 24, 2017 appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.

Getting lost in time online? 4 Tips to Keep You Focused

4 Tips to Keep You Focused (And So Much More!)

Instead of my usual text-based blog, this week I present a vlog for you. It’s the session I gave at last week’s San Francisco Writer’s Conference. If you were unable to attend the conference or  my session, you can see and hear it now. I hope you enjoy it.

 

The basis of my presentation was a book I published late last year titled Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day. To have access to the apps I recommend and the cheatsheets, purchase the book.

 

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

The next free webinar, Conversations with Frances, featuring Kevin Tumlinson of Draft2Digital, is March 1st. Plan ahead by signing up now.

 

 

The post Getting lost in time online? 4 Tips to Keep You Focused appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.

Indie Author Weekly Update – February 17, 2017

Today’s Indie Author Weekly Update includes posts on several topics from Pinterest to book marketing to attracting more traffic to your blog. I hope you enjoy this week’s selection.

Today I’m in San Francisco at the San Francisco Writer’s Conference. It’s my favorite conference and I’m fortunate that I get to present every year. Meanwhile, the rain has returned to Northern California so wish me luck as I drive to and from San Francisco

Indie Author Updates

Not Writing for Writers from Writer Unboxed: “The best idea I had for my first book came while I was raking leaves the backyard with my dog and realized that my main character also needed a dog. And then, to the soothing sounds of my rake scratching through the grass while I gathered cottonwood leaves into piles, I worked through the all the ways my character could and couldn’t acquire her new best friend. When I sat down to write, I knew exactly what she would do.”

The best idea I had for my first book came while I was raking leaves Click To Tweet

How To Use Tailwind For Massive Pinterest Growth from Louise Myers: “Looking for Pinterest growth? Smart move. Pinterest is a long-term source of quality website traffic. Unlike other social media posts, Pinterest pins can reappear in the Pinterest feed for months – even over a year. I’m still getting floods of traffic to a blog post that was first pinned in January 2016.”

Best Writing Apps for Increasing Productivity by Carla King and from BookWorks: “By the time I get through all my emails, my social media posts, and my to-do lists, I have little energy for writing. Over time, I’ve found some great writing apps that help me manage time and tasks, keep and organize my ideas, and create harmony out of chaos. Here are the writing apps I love, that I wouldn’t want to give up, despite their cost. All of them offer free trial periods so that you can make sure they’re right for you.”

Pinterest is a long-term source of quality website traffic. Click To Tweet

Create a Loyalty Marketing Program as Good as the Airlines from BuildFire: “I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty darn loyal to my airline. The fact that I booked a round-trip flight to Rio de Janeiro for approximately $60 in taxes just from points I’d earned from being “loyal” to them pretty much did it for me.”

Maintaining Blog Traffic On Days You Don’t Post from The SITS Girls: “We all know the highest traffic to your blog comes when you publish a post. Makes sense. Now unless you are a full-time blogger (I’m envious of you), not all of us can post five days a week. So what do you do on the days you don’t blog? How are you maintaining blog traffic?”

[Podcast] Episode 34 – Michael Anderle on Hacking the Book Marketing Process from Chris Syme: “In this week’s episode Chris and guest co-host author Michael Anderle discuss the process of hacking book marketing methods to match your goals and skills.”

Quote of the Week

People on the outside think there’s something magical about writing, that you go up in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a story, but it isn’t like that. You sit in back of the typewriter and you work, and that’s all there is to it. ~~ Harlan Ellison

 

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

The next free webinar, Conversations with Frances, featuring Kevin Tumlinson of Draft2Digital, is March 1. Plan ahead by signing up now.

The post Indie Author Weekly Update – February 17, 2017 appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.

Want in on a secret? Email marketing rocks!

Would you like to know a secret? One that social media managers might not freely reveal?

Here it is: Email marketing is in some ways more effective than social media.

Really? Let me backtrack a bit.

Admittedly, they are two different animals. If you send too many emails to your list or the information isn’t relevant to your audience, you’ll lose your subscribers fast.

But, if you send promos, freebies, and relevant information, they will love every email you send.

Social media can refer traffic – it certainly sends traffic to my website. But what social media is best at is engagement. By its very nature social media is social so if you’re not making time in your day to socialize with your readers, well, you’ll losing out on a huge benefit of the social platforms.

Social media is best at engagement - email marketing at traffic referralClick To Tweet

But back to my original assertion: Does email outrank social media?

Let’s look at what a post by MailMunch had to say on this topic:

About 60% of the internet marketers we asked told us that they believe email marketing outperforms social media.

The theory is that if you send an email to 2,000 subscribers, 2,000 people will receive the message. That’s theoretical because as we know not all 2,000 people will open your email. Maybe 51% will or 21%.

But if you write a status update on your Facebook author page and you have 2,000 fans, unless you buy advertising you’ll be lucky if 4% of your fans see the message.

Either way, email marketing outperforms.

But with email marketing, you lose the immediacy of interactions. Someone tweets you a question, and you answer right away, right? Someone responds to a Facebook post and you reply. All of this can happen in a matter of minutes, boosting engagement and increasing the connection between you and those readers.

4 Ways to Build Your Email Marketing List

So how do you grow an email list? There are several ways:

Offer a freebie on your website, enticing visitors to reveal their email addresses in return for a PDF or cheat sheet. I offer two different freebies on my website.

You’ll find the first in the right-hand column. The call to action for a PDF on the four keys to successful social media marketing for authors will add you to my blogging email list. Here’s the call to action:

You’ll encounter the second call to action as you leave my website. The trajectory of your mouse to close a window will trigger my popup, which will ask you to enroll in my free email course. As a surprise, enrollees receive an ebook for free, too.

Insert a call to action at the front of your books. Before the table of contents in several of my ebooks, I add a call to action. In my Goodreads ebook, the call to action says, “Pick up my FREE ebook Twitter Just for Writers and get monthly updates on what’s new in social media and book marketing strategies.” (At the end of the book I have a second call to action asking readers to leave a review.)

Add a Tab to your Facebook page. On my author page, I created an email sign-up tab. I note that when readers sign up for my free email course, they’ll receive a free ebook.

Create a Facebook ad. You can also use Facebook advertising to boost subscribers on your blog subscription or another email list. I haven’t done this, but I know that Mark Dawson has done this quite successfully.

Create a simple template for your email marketingClick To Tweet
3 Tips on Email Marketing for Authors

Here are my best tips:

Sign up for an email application such as MailChimp (that’s what I use), Constant Contact (I don’t like it, but plenty of people do), or AWeber (many people love this application).
Offer a premium for signing up for your newsletter or blog. People these days are more willing to turn over an email address if they receive an item – a book, a list of best practices, a template, a free first chapter of your new novel, a free short story, etc. – of value in return.
Use your email list to send quality content to your readers on a regular basis and include one call to action per newsletter. The content you select will depend on your genre and niche. Make sure that your call to action has a focused objective and the link should lead to a landing page where there won’t be any distractions.

3 Email Marketing Best Practices

HubSpot is a top-notch tech company. Check out these three parameters before venturing into email marketing.

Create and use a simple template. You want to focus on your content, not the form.
Keep your template within 600 pixels. This way your recipients, if they use Outlook, can see your content in the vertical preview pane
Don’t neglect to follow CAN-SPAM rules. All of your marketing emails, including your series of gratitude emails, must contain the word “unsubscribe.” In addition to providing an unsubscribe option in every email, you must also include your  name and address.

Have you started building an email list yet?

 

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

The next free webinar, Conversations with Frances, featuring Kevin Tumlinson of Draft2Digital, is March 1st. Plan ahead by signing up now.

The post Want in on a secret? Email marketing rocks! appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.

Indie Author Weekly Update – February 10, 2017

This week’s Indie Author Update covers a gamut of topics, from marketing plans to blogging and from Twitter to blogging.

I normally schedule one Conversations with Frances each month but in March and April I’m breaking the patter and featuring four guests instead of two. I hope you check out the lineup and sign up for these free webinars.

Indie Author Updates

How I Became a Bestseller with a Coordinated Marketing Plan from BookBub Partners: “When my first novel, The Fairy Tale Bride, was traditionally published in October of 2000, I had all the usual hopes and dreams of new writers — letters from readers, great reviews, and, of course, becoming a bestselling author.”

Do You Need To Blog? What Authors Need to Know Now from Rachel Thompson: “If you are an author, you should be blogging. Plain and simple. Why? Blogging increases visibility, creates connections with readers, builds relationships on of social media, boosts SEO, and helps to promote your book(s) without having to resort to “Buy my book” spam.”

Twitter Headers for Authors: Do’s & Don’ts from BookWorks: “There is wasted space on the internet. Have you noticed it? I’m specifically talking about Twitter headers. How often have you visited an author’s Twitter profile only to discover that the header image is solid blue, or green, or a picture of an author’s dog?”

Don't leave your Twitter header blankClick To Tweet

Author Blogs: 5 Bad Reasons for Authors to Blog and 5 Good Ones by Anne R. Allen: “Nothing infuriates me more than those books and blogs promising writers they can make a gazillion dollars of “passive income” with a blog in the next month if they take this overpriced course or buy that book of rehashed advice from 2005.”

How To Get More Social Shares: The Definitive Guide For Bloggers from Adam Connell: “Have you ever wondered how the top bloggers get so many social shares? We’ve all asked the question at some point. And sure, social share counts are a bit of a vanity metric but that’s only part of the story.”

Want more social shares of your blog posts? Read @adamjaycClick To Tweet

Why You Need a Media Kit, Even If You Aren’t Published Yet from Writers in the Storm: “Have you ever known exactly the information you want to put out into the world, but then draw a blank as to how to do it properly?  Would you believe that, strangely enough, that happens to authors a lot.  Like a really lot.  You’d think that those of us that fancy ourselves talented with words wouldn’t be faced with that issue, but alas, it happens.”

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 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

The next free webinar, Conversations with Frances, featuring Kevin Tumlinson of Draft2Digital, is March 1. Plan ahead by signing up now.

The post Indie Author Weekly Update – February 10, 2017 appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.

Come to the San Francisco Writers Conference

Have you ever attended the San Francisco Writers Conference? It’s the premiere writer’s conference on the West Coast.

It’s held in San Francisco at the historical and gorgeous Mark Hopkins every year. What a beautiful setting.

Even if you can’t attend the regular conference this year, there are pre- and post-sessions that you can take separately, some free events, and an auction you can participate in.

So there’s really something for everyone.

I’ll teach two sessions and serve on two panels. I’d love it if you could drop by and say hello if you’re around. It’s always great to see a friendly face.

Here’s the scoop on what I’m teaching:

50,000,000 Can’t Be Wrong: Making Goodreads a Great Sales Generator

Actually, Goodreads now has upwards of 70,000 readers. I’ll be sharing my top and newest Goodreads tips so if you attend the conference, be sure to drop by.

Managing Your Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day

I teach this session every year, and it seems to get better. I always have a full house – about 80 attendees – so if you plan to attend, arrive early.

Getting You and Your Book a Hearing: Podcasting

I first taught this session soon after my podcast went live. Although I no longer podcast, I have plenty of suggestions about equipment and apps, marketing tips, and pitfalls of jumping into podcasting too quickly. I will definitely share my lessons learned!

Marketing for Self-Publishers: Strategies that Work for Creating and Selling Books

Carla King will moderate this panel that will include Julia Drake and Steven Spatz. I’ll focus on social media marketing and other strategies that indie authors can use to sell more books.

As I review the schedule for this year’s conference, I’m amazed by the diversity of topics and the new presenters.

You’ll learn how to best launch a book, meditate, write deep characters, build a website, and more. I’ve never seen these many topics under the umbrella of one writer’s conference below.

If you’re a fan of Joel Friedlander – and how could you not be – he’ll be co-teaching an a la carte class on Monday with Orna Ross on free writing. Like I said, the range of courses at this year’s conference is amazing.

See you there?

 

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

The next free webinar, Conversations with Frances, featuring Kevin Tumlinson of Draft2Digital, is March 1. Plan ahead by signing up now.

The post Come to the San Francisco Writers Conference appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.

Indie Author Weekly Update February 3, 2017

Today’s Indie Author Weekly Update encompasses every topic, from increasing ebook sales to book promotion and from Facebook to building a website. I hope you enjoy these blog posts from across the internet from experts in publishing and social media.

On a personal front, I’m busy getting ready for the San Francisco Writers Conference, where I’ll be teaching two sessions and participating in two panels. If you’ve never been to this conference, you should check into it. Even if you can’t attend the entire conference, there are pre- and post-sessions that are available separately. Besides, you can’t beat the setting: the conference is at the Mark Hopkin Hotel. I hope to see some of you there.

Indie Author Updates

A Powerful Shortcut for Discovering Keywords to Increase Ebook Sales  Digital Book World: “Indie authors and ebook publishers have a powerful tool for increasing book sales that costs nothing and already exists in their online book selling setup: keywords. The keywords associated with an ebook in an online store can help drive readers to your sales page. When you attract more people to your book’s sales page, the more opportunities you have to make sales.”

Book Promotion: Do This, Not That – February 2017  by Amy Collins and from TheBookDesigner.com: “Bryan Cohen of Selling For Authors fame and I were talking the other day about what he calls The Selling Trilogy. It is a way of looking at the three different stages of drawing a reader towards you and your book. The stories he was sharing and the authors he mentioned were RIPE for the “Do This Not That” treatment! I found myself guilty of a few of these blunders and was wondering if any of you saw yourself in these items?”

Keywords can help drive readers to your ebook sales page Click To Tweet

What to expect when you’re publishing on Amazon Kindle Store AC de Fombelle: “Whoever you are, publishing house — independent or not, author — self publishing or not, there are many ways you can get your book into Amazon. Here is a bit of information to help you figure out what to expect from this retailer.”

Why There’s No Perfect Time to Post on Facebook from the Buffer Blog: “There’s a long tradition of studies that have attempted to uncover a ‘best time’ to post to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and almost every other social media marketing channel, with each study finding a wide range of results (we’ve even created our own studies here at Buffer).”

When's the best time to post on Facebook? Check your page's Insights Click To Tweet

139 Tools and Resources for Building Your Author Website and/or Blog

by Sabrina Ricci of Digital Pubbing: “Author websites and blogs are important components to building an author platform. With that in mind, here is a list of resources that can help you set up and optimize your site.”

Converting your #website to SSL is NOT a matter of IF but WHEN by Paula Gregorowicz: “As Google steps up its efforts to ensure a “secure web” in 2017 it adds complexity to each and every business owner’s life.  It doesn’t have to give you a headache though, because I will help educate you.”

20 Ways Authors Use Videos to Engage with Readers from BookBub: “Video is a great way to grab readers’ attention and engage with them in a personal way online. It could lead to an increase in book sales, as shoppers who watch videos are 1.81 times more likely to purchase than non-viewers. And since 92% of mobile video consumers share videos with others, it’s also a great way to gain exposure to new potential readers.

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 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

Free Webinar Series

Be sure to check out the lineup of speakers in my free webinar series, Conversations with Frances. Space is limited so sign up soon to hear these talented experts.

The post Indie Author Weekly Update February 3, 2017 appeared first on Social Media Just for Writers.