Marketing experts say it takes an average of seven marketing touches before a consumer buys a product. Advertisers who run a couple of ads and give up are giving up too quickly. As writers with a book (or service) to sell, we need to keep this in mind if we want to maximize our success. […]
Tag: book marketing
Having our book rejected stings. Here are seven common reasons why this happens. 1) The Writing Isn’t Ready: Everyone is a new writer at some point. It takes time for our writing to mature, our voice to emerge, and our style to become consistent. Some say this takes 10,000 hours or requires 1,000,000 words before […]
Fellow writer and cyber-friend Robin Mellom just self-published her new book, Perfect Timing. I first heard about Robin through Writer’s Digest when they highlighted her as a debut novelist for her book, Ditched, a YA (young adult) romantic comedy. Although intrigued, I figured I was too old to read YA, but soon the compelling storyline […]
I hate asking new authors, “What’s your book about?” They panic; they stammer; they ramble. Five minutes later, I’m still not sure. Telltale signs that communication is not occurring are phrases like, “Then in chapter two…” or “Oh, I forgot to mention…” or “I haven’t worked this part out yet.” When my eyes glaze over, […]
In five steps to write back cover copy for your book, I acknowledged that most writers struggle producing compelling back cover copy. I also encouraged you to write two versions and to save unused copy, content you didn’t use, and your brainstorming session. Here’s why: You also need to write promotional material for your book. […]
The purpose of back cover copy is to sell your book. It’s essentially ad copy, a pitch to entice people to read your book. You must hook the reader, telling them enough to intrigue them without revealing too much. If your book will be self-published, you need to write the back cover copy yourself. If […]
Authors need to know their audience. We must determine who will be the typical reader of our book. Too often writers naively assume— or arrogantly claim–that everyone will like their book. While having the whole world clamor to read our work would be a great outcome, it’s not going to happen; no book has universal […]
The production of books is only the first step of book publishing; the second—and more important part—is selling them. To sell books, whether we traditionally publish or self-publish, we need a platform. This is something most authors struggle with. Fortunately, many people will tell us how to build a viable brand-building, book-promoting, product-selling platform. Most […]
Last week I asked, “Do you have a professional headshot?” and urged you to take care of this now and not put it off. Here are seven tips to have a successful photoshoot, many of which I learned the hard way: With proper planning, having a headshot taken can be an enjoyable time and produce […]
In “Every Author Needs a Bio,” I said the best time to write our author bio is now,before we need it. The same holds true in getting a professional headshot. Not only will we need one for our book jacket, but we’ll also need one prior to publication for PR, marketing, online profiles, promotion, and […]