Category: Promo Tips

Writers and Social Media

Business of Writing, Promo Tips

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraigblog 3

I recently read an interesting post, “My Social Media Mid-Life Crisis” from writer and publishing consultant Dan Blank.  In it, Dan talks about how he went from being an early-adopter of social media, to becoming somewhat disenchanted with it, to finding a good solution to help him enjoy using it again.

I’ve experienced similar transitions in my relationship with social media. I started out much more gung-ho and on quite a few channels.  I expanded into more channels, more group blogs, more exposure.  Then, after several years  I started trimming down my activity on sites and blogs. At one point I had social media platforms under my name and a pen name, was forcing myself to be active on sites I didn’t enjoy, and was part of four or five group blogs.  I was overextended to the point where the overwhelm spilled over into everything I was doing.

If you’re new to building an author platform, a few tips:Continue reading

Book Pages

Business of Writing, Promo Tips

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I decided to make a couple of changes to my website, mainly regarding my Books page. I realized that, in the last couple of years since the site was set up, I’ve written quite a few more books (six? Seven?)  I had all of my titles on one page, by series. But at the NINC conference I attended in October (still trying to implement what I learned there), Jane Friedman recommended a separate page for each title. A lot of Jane’s tips are in her post “The Basic Components of an Author Website.” The page of books that I had created was ungainly, cluttered, and disorganized. Having a separate book page for each title definitely made sense to me.Continue reading

Preorders

Business of Writing, Promo Tips

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraigCruisingforMurder_ebook_Final

I’m not one of the front-runners, ever, on promotion-related things.  I tend to be a lot more cautious.  Or, really, it’s more that I’m super-protective of my time and jealously guard it.  I want to make sure there’s plenty of data that something works before I spend the time figuring it out and pursuing it.

I’ve been hearing for the last year or so about the importance of preordering.  But I didn’t see how it would be something I wanted to pursue. When I was on the trad-published email loops, authors would complain about how preorders killed their chances for the bestseller lists and watered down their release day/week sales.

I also kept reading that preorders on Amazon didn’t make any sense because the visibility we gained on the site was only at the time of the order…not accumulated and toward release day sales.Continue reading

Communicating Indirectly With Readers

Business of Writing, Promo Tips

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraigsw_BacklitKeyboard_FFP10036

At the very start of this blog back in 2008, I tried to figure out who I was writing for.  I’d read a lot of advice at the time that blogging was a good way to connect to readers.

Instead, I decided to stay in my comfort zone and make my blog writer-focused.

I took a class on building a social media platform.  It recommended interfacing with readers instead of writers.

Instead, I decided to stay in my comfort zone and focus on connecting with writers on social media.

Despite my complete disregard of all the excellent advice that I’d gone searching for, this reader avoidance on my part worked really well. I built a large platform online.  Readers could easily find me because of good SEO. They’d message me on Facebook or email me if they wanted to connect and  communicated directly with me. I care a lot about my readers and I answer their messages promptly.  But I was very shy about seeking them out.

It’s been a couple of years now that I finally started thinking about ways to connect with my readers.

I originally went about it the wrong way.   I asked “where are my readers?” and then set out to join them.Continue reading

10 Items for a Successful Book Event

Business of Writing, Promo Tips

by Trace Conger, @TraceCongerTSB Cover copy-lowres

Book events are a great way to sell books. You’re in a target-rich environment, surrounded by buyers who are eager to find their next favorite book.

Aside from sales, book events are a fantastic way to raise awareness of your work, engage with readers/fans, garner signups for your author newsletter or email list, and talk shop with other authors.

If you’ve never participated in a book event (or even if you have) you might be wondering what items to bring to maximize your sales. Keep the following 10 items in mind and you’ll be on your way to selling more books and winning more fans at your next event.Continue reading

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