I’ve rounded up a couple of success stories for you this week along with some great advice on the importance of style sheets and author branding, and an example of a long-term marketing plan. I hope you find these articles not only interesting, but helpful.
Kristen Lamb on Kristen Lamb’s Blog
The Secret to a Powerful Author Brand
“Last time we talked a little about our author brand and why, these days, our brand is almost as important as the books we write. It is an awesome time to be a writer, but also a scary one. Why can’t it be like the good old days when all we had to do was write the book?”
Alan Rinzler on Alan Rinzler Consulting Editor
New author sells 80K books in 1 year. Here’s how
“When John J. Davis set out to market his first self-published thriller Blood Line, he thought he did everything right. He hired an experienced book publicist, arranged readings at bookstores, went on a 30-day cross-country author tour. The results were dismal.”
Ruth Harris on Anne R. Allen’s Blog …with Ruth Harris
Style That Doesn’t go out of Fashion: Style Sheets, Style Guides, and Why Audrey Hepburn Style is a Writer’s Best Friend
“If you plan to self-pub, a style sheet will save your sanity while you’re writing—and after because a style sheet will save you time and money when you hire a copy editor.”
James Rose on Live Write Thrive
A 12-Month Strategic Plan for Marketing Your Book before Release
“Marketing does not come naturally to me. It has been a struggle to get my mind wrapped around the many facets of marketing a self-published book. I made many mistakes and wasted a fair amount of money.”
Virginia Gray on Indies Unlimited
How My Novel Became a #1 Bestseller
“My goals in writing The Carrot were that it be seen and read, but after nearly a year of posting, sharing, tweeting and pinning and Google Plussing, hoping to catch a reader’s eye, I found my novel drearily hovering around an Amazon sales rank of 200K (I don’t even want to talk about B&N, Kobo, or iBooks). After perusing some interesting blogs, banging my now concussive head against the social media marketing wall, and discussing strategies with other authors, I decided to do what all major publishers do: pay for advertising.”
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