A.L. Michael's Blog, page 13

5 Reasons to come to our Marketing for Writers Workshop

People are always trying to sell you something, right? And I don’t like doing that. I’m running a workshop in collaboration with Steven Sparling that’s focused on getting authors to create a marketing plan, so their books can get the recognition they deserve. And I bloody hate having to try to flog stuff. So I’m just going to tell you straight:

1-  I have been through this whole process, with independent publishers, with big publishers, and working with self-publishing authors. I had to learn everything first hand through trial and error with absolutely no idea what I was meant to do. You can come and learn it from us and not have to feel that panic!

2- We’re creative business experts. Steven and I met whilst we were both doing a Masters degree in Creative Entrepreneurship, working on our individual ideas of how to define and ensure success in creative fields. I mostly just work with writers now, but Steven has gone on to do a PhD and work with every creative genre, from actors to singers to journalists to…anyone! He knows his stuff.

3- Creating a community. Meeting other writers and meeting other creative people is a big part of the writing and marketing experience. It’s all too easy to sit in your writing room, reply to blog comments and never truly interact. You’ll meet some great people who have different experiences to you, and that’ll be useful.

4- It’s a day out of your life. You will leave with a complete plan of how you can go about sorting out your marketing, a step-by-step, personalised plan. So you won’t leave panicked. You’ll leave with purpose. And with Christmas coming up, it means you’ve got just enough time to start that stocking-filler promo!

5- Tickets are on sale for £49!!! Come on, now! Where else will you get a whole day of personalised planning and advice from professionals, PLUS a Q and A with a London Publisher for ONLY £49?! It’s madness!

 

And they’re selling out fast. If you want more info about me and Steven and the workshop we have planned, click here. It’s 27th September in Central London. Don’t miss out. It’s going to be amazing!

Tagged: how to sell your book, london, london writers, marketing, selling your book, workshops, writers in london, writing

Books Don’t Sell Themselves (or 5 Ways to Get Your Books Into Readers’ Hands)

almichaelwriter:

So excited about this post and about the workshop on 27th September!

Originally posted on The Thriving Creative:

With nearly 150,000 new books published per year in the UK there is a flood of new titles clamouring for attention all the time. And that’s before we get to all the titles that are self-published. Whether fiction or non-fiction, there is an enormous amount of competition for the eyeballs (and wallets) of readers. Here’s 5 ideas of how to tip the odds in your favour.

1. Start as early as possible

Ideally you should begin thinking about marketing your book before you even write it.

The longer the lead time you have, the more time you have to raise awareness of your book.

It’s like the old saying about trees: the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now.

So start now to plan out how you can find and foster readers for your book.

2. Define who your target reader…

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6 Weird Things that Only Writers Would Say

 

1) ‘Be proud of me, I have checked my Amazon Central/Novel Rank for over an hour!’

2) ‘I’m not going to get upset over a bad review…but she criticised my grammar and couldn’t even spell the word “review” properly!’

3) ‘This Blog Tour planning is making my head explode.’

4) ‘I think I’m walking the thin line between enthusiasm and spam. I hope my friends don’t hate me.’

5) ‘DEADLINE DEADLINE DEADLINE. WHY WON’T YOU WORK BRAIN, WHY?’ (this one also applies to students)

6) ‘I don’t want to be difficult, but…’ (Cover changes, title changes, storyline changes etc)

If this sounds familiar, add your own in the comment box! Also, if you don’t know about blog tours, Novel Rank, or any of that stuff above, why not join me at a Marketing for Writers workshop with creative business entrepreneur Steven Sparling? It’s in Central London on 27th September, and is currently only £49! For a whole day of tips, tricks and plans to get your book promoted properly. Plus a guest Q and A from a publisher! Click HERE for more info!

Tagged: creative writing, how to know youre a writer, novelists, weird things writers say, writers do, writing

SALE! Only £49 for a full day workshop: MARKETING FOR WRITERS

I’m working with Steven Sparling of The Thriving Creative to offer a day workshop specifically for writers. It’s not all about writing the book anymore. Being an author is a full time job, what with promotions, sales, tours and doing anything and everything to get your book out there. What this workshop does is works out what bits you should focus on, based on your style, your work, and your life!

Whether you have a publisher, you’re self publishing or you’re still writing your bestseller, this workshop will give you the tools and the tricks to ensure you’re selling the way you should be.

We’ll also have a guest speaker from a London publisher, who’ll do a Q and A so you know exactly what you need to get your book selling.

And with the special sale price of £49 until 17th September, what have you got to lose?

Click HERE for tickets and info

Want to be a Creative Pioneer?

Working in the arts is much like taking a leap off a mountain and hoping to fly. If you’ve prepped, worked hard at your craft, and you’re prepared for the fall, it can be exhilarating and exciting. If you’re expecting to fly first time,then you’re in for a surprise!

That’s why I’m so passionate about letting young people know what having a creative career actually means! I don’t want to put them off, I want to inspire them, help them create their very own road map to get to where they want to be.

But how do you first commit to a life in the arts? Well, you talk to people who know that world.

That’s why I’m really excited to be working with the Watford Palace Theatre to present:

Curious Pioneers: A Creative Careers Session

On Saturday 30th August, at 4.15pm we’ll be hosting a special creative careers event for young people who want to work in the arts!

This will include a backstage tour of the theatre, a talk on creative careers from award-winning theatre company Curious Directive and the chance to meet other creative people! Plus raffles and discounted theatre tickets!

I’m really excited to be part of this chance for young artists, actors, writers and theatre fans to find out what goes into a creative career and how they can get involved!

For more info, check out the Rumour website, or this Ideastap Event Page.

Marketing for Writers: London Workshop

There’s a lot of talk about what it takes to be a writer. But no-one really tells you that writing is only the beginning. What about once you’ve created it? Maybe it’s up on Amazon, maybe those books are sitting in your living room. Maybe you have a publisher, but you’re still looking at those sales figures and sighing.

Sales are not necessarily about quality. It’s about how you get the word out there.

When I published my first print book, I had no idea what I was doing. By the time I joined Carina, I realised that the life of an author is the life of a marketing manager, a social media guru, an advertising exec, a salesperson, and a whole lot more.

I remember how awful it was to feel panicked about your book not doing as well as it deserved. It’s your baby after all.

So I got together with creative business genius Steven Sparling, and we decided to run a workshop for writers, that was specifically about how to promote your book. It’ll be personal to you, of course. There’s no point approaching Chick Lit bloggers when you write crime! It’s a day of useful tips, marketing tools, and we’ll create a personalised plan for you about how to go forward, based on your limitations and strengths, and what you want to achieve! PLUS we have the chance for a Q and A with a publisher, so you can ask them what they want from authors, and what’s expected of writers in the digital age!

It’s 27th September 10am-5pm

Central London

only £89!!!

For a day packed with tips and tricks, a detailed marketing plan created for you, the chance to ask questions of a publisher, and much more, we hope you’ll join us and get your book the recognition it deserves!

Writers Bootcamp Poster2

BUY TICKETS THROUGH EVENTBRITE HERE

Six Lessons I Learned from Writing ‘The Last Word’

The Last Word wasn’t my first novel, but it was the first novel that became part of the literary world. It got reviews, it was tweeted about- it made me feel like an author. Here’s a collection of things I learnt by writing it.

You have to write something you’d enjoy reading. You need to write stories for you, things that you find engaging and exciting and fun. It comes through in the writing if you’re just following a formula for ‘What I Think A Book Should Be’ and not actively engaged in it. Also if you’re the audience, it’s easier to figure out what type of people will like to read your book, because they’ll be just like you!

Love and cherish your characters. You have to know them, know exactly how they’d react to things, and why they do the things they do. More than that, you have to love them. You have to really feel for them when you cause them pain, have to worry about them when you make them make terrible decisions, and root for them when they need to rally themselves. If you’re not on their side, your reader won’t be either. You need to be both a god and a parent- get them into trouble, but want to protect them too!

-No-one likes everything. There is no point trying to adapt your storyline, characters or themes to fit in with a current trend. There is no point trying to pick a catchy title that plays on something famous, when the story doesn’t relate. Don’t waste your concept on a cheap marketing ploy. Instead, work on creating a story that is coherent and you can feel proud of, and then when someone doesn’t like it (which will inevitably happen, even if it’s a work of genius, there will always be a critic) you can feel safe knowing you created something that was true to you.

Writing what you know is a rule for a reason. I’m not a journalist who fell from grace and fell in love with an editor. But I do know what it’s like to be a writer. I know what it’s like to be a twenty-something who’s worried about making ends meet. I stole some of my favourite memories and put them down on the page. Silly things, like watching Queer As Folk for an entire weekend, having Nothing Days, watching VHS tapes from the charity shop, those are things from my life, with my friends. When readers related to them, because their friends are like my characters, it’s this wonderful affirming connection, and it feels like you’re representing a part of yourself in your work.

Write to discover your stories, your characters and yourself. You don’t have to plot everything out in one go, it doesn’t have to be certain. You’ll often find when you’re writing that you discover new avenues, that things about your characters are ‘revealed’ to you as you go along. That themes develop, problems appear, and you can learn things as you go. Trust in yourself and your process. Don’t feel like you have to rush it.

-Have a message. This is hard to cultivate if you don’t think you have one, but it often comes from the last point. You’re saying something every time you tell a story. If the good guy beats the bad guy, it means there’s justice in the world. If the girl chooses the nerd over the typical hero, it means that true love is based on people truly connecting. Your story is going to have a message, so once you know what it is, make sure it’s something you’re happy to stand behind!

Tagged: A.L. Michael

On Leaving Your Writing Room

Being a writer is a pretty solitary activity. For the most part, it’s just you and the voices in your head. In a good way. You’re imagining, you’re typing, editing, blogging, using social media…but none of this would make any sense without other people.

I like being solitary. I like sitting with my laptop and tapping away, or sitting with a notebook in a coffee shop with nothing but the worlds I create. But…that gets a little lonely after a while.

There are so many wonderful communities for writers to interact with, mainly bloggers, reviewers and readers. But I always wonder about how writers view the writing community.

I’ve had varied thoughts about the writing community and it changes depending on who I meet and where I meet them. I’ve always wanted to be around writers. When I went to university and started my creative writing degree, I was overjoyed to be surrounded by people who loved doing what I loved doing! Here were people who *got* what it felt like to make stories, about how choosing certain words was important. But… sometimes, a bunch of writers hanging out (especially in a workshop scenario) can be pretty brutal.

I remember my last year of university, there was a girl who was intent on tearing everyone’s work to shreds. I don’t know whether it was to prove she had a decent ‘critical eye’ or whether it just made her feel better. But writers have egos, and putting a bunch of people all holding their stories out before them, like these breathing little birds, waiting to get shot down or fly high; it can be dangerous.

Since then I’ve worked with writers, and been best friends with them, but it’s always the ones that I can actually talk about other stuff with that works out the best.

I was lucky enough to meet up with some very lovely authors from my publisher, Carina. They are all supremely talented writers, and more than that, lovely people. And that’s when I realised that the writing community is absolutely necessary. Meeting up with others who know about that stress before a deadline, or the obsessive copy editing. Being in wonderment and bewilderment and not believing your luck all at once.

Writers can be one of the most supportive groups of people, because you’re all striving for the same thing. And in many ways, we’re all sort of social outcasts. Wanting to prioritise time on your book in many ways is seen as a selfish desire to focus on yourself. And being around other writers reminds you that it’s work, plain and simple.

I wish I’d taken a photo of us all, but a big thank you to Annie, Jill and Paul, it was wonderful to meet you in the real world!

Festivals, or Why My Little Hippie Heart Sings Whilst I’m Camping

So I worked at Larmertree Festival again this year, and there’s a bunch of reasons why it’s still my favourite festival. It’s just so relaxed, and everyone’s lovely, and there’s always something new to discover.

On the first day, I premiered my Writing for Wellbeing Session, (after getting stuck in traffic and arriving late- not so great for my wellbeing!) and it was a perfect afternoon start. Relaxed, we explored the ideas of names, what people call us, our nicknames, our titles and what they mean to us. We discovered a lot about each other in our little group, and I really felt like everyone ‘got’ what we were trying to achieve.

Over the next few days there were stories about pig-butterflies, feathers, girls from unpronounceable cities and a lot of laughter. Workshops at festivals are always such a joy, because there’s no expectation. You can turn up and have a go, and everyone’s just so pleased to try something new!

Now I’m back in the real world again, and it’s on with editing my next book, (and plotting the one after that), teaching a variety of workshops, for wellbeing, around the centenary, or just for fun, and I’m really pleased to be working with Watford Palace Theatre in my new town.

And Don’t Forget- If you want a little help promoting your book, or planning for your promos, I’ll be hosting a workshop with creative business genius Steven Sparling in Central London on 27th September.

Cross-Overs and Thereafters: Not ready to say goodbye to characters?

After The Last Word got some very nice reviews, I was asked if I’d do a sequel. Originally, I said no. I was done with those characters, they’d lived their story and it was their turn to chill out and live happily ever after (which is what happens if you reject a sequel).

I’ve been thinking recently that I miss Tabby and Harry, that I wonder whether Rhi still works in the library and how Chandra’s life’s going now she’s met Mr Right. I wonder if there are going to be fights and kids and work issues. All I can be sure is that Tabby is not allowed to suddenly be publishing a book of her articles a la Carrie Bradshaw, and that I do not go in for introducing another yummy male lead. No-one’s better than Harry.

So I’d been thinking I might return to these characters in their thirties. Time has passed, things are changing, life is just…different. But I’ll have to wait until I’m a little closer to that myself to write it.

However, upon working on my latest WIP The Young and Bitter Club, I accidentally created some connections with my characters. Some of them know each other, some bump into each other. Because, of course, the North London creative scene is sure to let you bump into people. And that whole six degrees of separation thing. So for those of you who are wanting just a little more Harry and Tabby, there’s be a few little snippets in The Young and Bitter Club! Exciting!