Helping Writers Go from Unpublished to Published
Let’s face it, coming up with email ideas to engage our subscribers is often a hurdle for writers, especially fiction writers. So today, I’ve got some ideas to share for both fiction and nonfiction writers.
Writing mails can generate a sense of dread for many writers. Maybe they see it as marketing. It is, but it is essential to building a following and is much more than “selling.”
The typical questions include, What do I write about? How long should it be? How often should I send one? What if they unsubscribe? The list goes on, but if you don’t get past asking questions, you’ll never get any emails written.
Make the decision to write emails and the how and ideas will show up.
So let’s look at things you can do to reduce your apprehension and dread about the task.
[Read more…] about 8 Steps to Overcome the Dread of Writing Emails
Characters that captivate the reader are essential to all good novels. This workshop discusses a 3-step method to build your characters as well as utilizing elements outside the norm such as cultural communication differences and temperament devices like Myers-Briggs and Keirsey. Then putting it all together into a character profile as a guiding document while writing.
Invest in yourself and grow your writing skills.
Early last month I talked about a selling mindset. I encourage you to read that post again (or for the first time, if you missed it) since today’s post discusses preparing for holiday shopping.
We are approaching a big buying season, and now is the time to prepare. But if you dread marketing and selling, then this season is going to pass you by and your sales will continue to be dismal. Instead, learn what’s behind your dread and learn to overcome it.
Let’s take a brief look at some definitions.
[Read more…] about 6 Steps to Prepare for Holiday Shopping
Budgeting—not a task that many like. And I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve always struggled to make a budget work.
The most important part of budgeting is establishing what things cost. We do it in our personal lives by knowing how much the rent, the utilities, groceries, car payment, etc. is each month. Those numbers tell us how much money we need to bring in each month.
And we need to do the same for our author business. Yes, your writing is a business. If you’re just starting out, it’s likely that money you spend toward getting your book ready for publishing is going to come out of your own pocket. That’s exactly how I started.
[Read more…] about Budgeting for Publishing Expenses
Most writers are thrilled to see their books earn big sales on Amazon. But I can count on one hand the number of writers who’ve said to me, “I enjoy marketing.” For many writers, marketing, aka asking people to buy your book, makes them cringe. Why? This is a question on which you want to spend some serious time to discover the answer.
This dread (or excitement) is what I term your selling-mindset.
Reason number 1: Selling often means getting in front of people in some way, and you’d rather not be seen.
Why not? Are you afraid of something? If so, what? It might be you’d feel rejected if they say no. I want you to dig deep for an answer. If you don’t, that fear is going to continue to control you, and you’ll always struggle with selling your books.
[Read more…] about What Is Your Selling Mindset?Amazon ads is one of many ways we can get our books in front of readers. I’ve talked about Publisher Rocket before and how it helps me find the right keywords for listing on KDP and in Amazon ads.
Well, Dave Chesson, the creator Kindlepreneur and Publisher Rocket, has made some amazing changes to this tool along with updating his free Amazon ads course.
[Read more…] about Amazon Ads and Publisher Rocket
What are anachronisms? Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online Dictionary defines anachronism as: “a person or a thing that is chronologically out of place especially : one from a former age that is incongruous in the present.”
Anachronisms tend to occur primarily in historical fiction. It happens for various reasons, one of which is the writer failed to do the proper research needed.
[Read more…] about Watch Out for Anachronisms