Category: Tools for Writers

Updates

Promo Tips, Tools for Writers, Uncategorized

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by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Here’s an update on promo approaches,  platforms, etc.  that I’ve been working with.  Not only does this type of post help me assess what’s working, hopefully you might be able to find something here to experiment with, yourself.

ACX:  This remains an important platform for me (audiobook).  I think I’m just lucky to have gotten an excellent narrator there, Judy Blue.  I was at an event in western North Carolina in late-summer and a lady came up to tell me how much she enjoyed Judy’s voice acting. It really helped me realize how widespread audiobook listening is and how readers rely on it as a way to enjoy books.  I know many authors have seen a drop-off in royalties because of royalty restructuring there.  I have too, but I have so many books on the platform that it’s still a nice source of income for me.

MailChimp: Many more subscribers.  Some is due to participating in group contests, some due to the freebie for signup that I offer.  I’ve also done a better job updating my back matter in older books to mention my newsletter.Continue reading

The Tell-tale Tweet

Tools for Writers, Uncategorized

Photo shows a black and white card catalog.

by Mike Fleming, @Hiveword

Ah, mysteries. Who doesn’t love a good one?

Elizabeth does.

Have you noticed the mysterious codes in her recent tweets? This one, for example:

Or this one:

Whatever could they be?Continue reading

Creating Bestsellers

Business of Writing, Tools for Writers

Creating Bestsellers is a blog post by Elizabeth Spann Craig

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Family and friends will sometimes lightly tell me they’re sure that I’m going to pen a bestseller. I respond, just as lightly, that I don’t write those types of books.  I’m writing genre fiction to appeal specifically  to readers of my subgenre. Any bestseller status is in the confines of that subgenre.

Bestsellers, obviously, appeal to a broader audience. I’m not sure if I’ll ever even try to write something meant to be that  commercially successful.  But that’s not to say I’m not interested in hearing how to get there.

I received a free copy of The Bestseller Code  as a thank you from St. Martin’s publicist for promoting a contest on Twitter.

At the time, the buzz over the book hadn’t yet revved up as it has now.  There have been discussions sparked (and perhaps a bit of controversy) over the algorithms the authors Jodie Archer and Matthew L. Jockers ran to find common threads in today’s blockbusters, regardless of genre.Continue reading

Metadata Tools

Business of Writing, Tools for Writers

 

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by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Those who’ve been reading my blog for a while know that I’ve had something of a bee in my bonnet lately over metadata.   When I first heard about metadata, it sounded like the most boring (and confusing) thing I’d ever heard of.  I became curious as I continued hearing more and more about it.  I attended a couple of talks on metadata at a couple of different conferences.  I read slideshows on it from conferences I hadn’t attended.

And then I decided that the topic of metadata was actually pretty interesting and useful after all.  To me, it’s a way of making my books visible to readers.  In that way, it’s useful in the way that a card catalog used to be useful at the public library.  Carla King wrote a great article for BookWorks called “Mastering Metadata: the Key to Marketing Your Books,” if you want a more detailed explanation of its helpfulness.

Then I realized at some point in the process that my own metadata, or the way I label the bits and pieces of my books, was wildly inconsistent.  I might be Elizabeth Craig, I might be Elizabeth Spann Craig, I might be Elizabeth S. Craig.  That doesn’t help my visibility on a search engine….surely I’d bring in better results if I listed myself one way all the time.Continue reading

Helpful Tools and Sites for Writers

Tools for Writers

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by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

As I’m looking for helpful content for writers, I come across lots of different kinds of tools.  Some of them I immediately put into use myself, or I’ll add the article on the tool to an Evernote notebook to study for later.

Sometimes I come across things that aren’t useful for me, but because writers all have different approaches, they’ll be useful for someone.  And I think many of these things are worth a try if we get stuck or if we haven’t come up with our own tools yet.   Here are a few.Continue reading

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