Whether you’ve been busy with writing projects this month for NaNoWriMo (fiction) or NaNonFiWriMo (nonfiction), or your writing project is ongoing, among the great articles I’ve picked out this week are many tips that will be very helpful with your marketing efforts.
Ed Cyzewski on Jane Friedman
Can You Promote a Book without Making Yourself Miserable?
“Almost every author I know jumps into book marketing with very mixed feelings. Authors are committed to the long, slow process of writing, so the fast-paced, socially awkward, time-sensitive demands of promotion prove difficult and draining for many authors. Even worse than that, many new authors know next to nothing about marketing and feel slimy when jumping into it, but we’re still tempted to measure our personal worth and the value of our books based on our sales numbers.”
Anne R. Allen on Anne R. Allen’s Blog …with Ruth Harris
5 More Delusions That Can Block a Writer’s Success
“Writers need to be a little delusional to embark on a road that we know is fraught with obstacles. It’s the only way we can keep our spirits up for the long haul. We shouldn’t think of them as mistakes, but rather stages we need to go through. But the time comes when we have to let the delusions go or our careers will come to a dead halt.”
Melinda Clayton on Indies Unlimited
Create a Book Trailer Using Microsoft Office’s PowerPoint
“Here at Indies Unlimited, we’ve got an entire resource page dedicated to trailers. We even have a video trailer-fest from time-to-time. So yes, the video trailer is still going strong. Yet – one of the most overlooked tools for making a book trailer is Microsoft Office: PowerPoint. Stick with me, and I’ll show you how easy it is.”
Sandra Beckwith on Build Book Buzz
Author email list lessons
“A writer I know recently sent a message to his author email list using the subject line, “I’m cleaning up my list.” … It caught my attention because I didn’t add myself to his list — he added me.”
Carla King on BookBaby Blog
Creating Your Brand as a Self-Published Author
“Part of promoting your book and career as a self-published author is creating a public persona, including identifying images, graphics, words, and photographs that work in harmony with your author voice. The ideal time to start this process is years in advance, but it’s never too late.”
Photo: bigstockphoto.com
Thanks for the shout-out, Joel! Loved Ed’s piece on Jane’s blog. Now I’ll check out Sandra’s post on email lists. I get so annoyed by the barrage of author newsletters that land in my inbox–none of which I’ve subscribed too. Often there’s no “unsubscribe” or there’s a passive aggressive “If you never want to hear from me again, go ahead and unsubscribe but I’ll hate you forever” note. I don’t even bother to unsubscribe. I just mark them as spam and remind myself never, ever to read their books or interact with them again. Lots of authors are only making enemies with their aggressive newsletters.
Couldn’t agree more, Anne, I get them several times a week myself. I think it’s just a case of people not knowing better, but it’s pretty irritating. I’m not reviewing any books on “Best Wedding Dresses of 2015” so why mail to me?