I hear it all the time. Authors complain that they’re fed up with book promotion. They want to spend their time writing and not marketing their books. In many cases you can cut down on marketing time significantly. All you have to do is stop making some common book marketing mistakes, doing things to help … Read more
Have you considered taking part in a virtual book tour to promote your book or e-book? Have you put it off because you’re worried a virtual publicity tour might take too much time? It’s true. There are a lot of ways these promotional events can waste time. But the biggest waste of time is to … Read more
One of the things I love about this field of ours is that there are few backgrounds one can’t leverage into a freelance commercial writing career. Over the years, I’ve crossed paths with commercial writers who started out as doctors, nurses, lawyers, teachers, engineers, bankers, software salesman, PR people, undertakers, farmers, accountants, scientists, and many … Read more
As a follow-up to my recent post and infographic, Twitter tips for authors, I’d like to share a resource from another author. Anne R. Allen shared this post with me on Twitter, which she wrote last fall. Social Media Secrets for Authors, Part IV: How Not to Spam I hate spam. You hate spam. We … Read more
In traditional e-book publishing, authors sell their e-books predominantly on their own websites (mostly in .pdf format, although you aren’t limited by that). Despite changes in the publishing world and Amazon’s perceived takeover attempt of all things e-publishing, selling your e-books on your own site can still be important. That’s especially true when you have an existing … Read more
Got an email recently from a budding copywriter with a big worry. She wrote: What is the language of marketing? What kinds of jargon can I expect when I talk to marketing execs? I am concerned that in meetings or conference calls, I might find myself up against a foreign language of sorts because I … Read more
When I first wrote the original piece noted below, it struck me as a subject on which I’d love to get some feedback from you guys. Look for other such posts (I know, recycling content, but all for a good cause…;) In the November 2013 Well-Fed E-PUB, my Appetizer course shared a recent client experience … Read more
More often than not, when I tell someone (say, at some social or networking event) how long I’ve been a commercial freelancer, people are impressed, often saying, “I could never work for myself; I’m just not disciplined enough.” Course, my standard answer (somewhere in my book as well) is something like: “Once you get a … Read more
Interview on nonfiction book indexing with Virginia C. McGuire Have you ever considered writing a nonfiction book? Whether your goal is simply to be a published author in a certain niche or you want to publish a book to promote your overall freelance writing business, your book might need an index. How do you create … Read more
So, a few weeks back, I get an email from one of my favorite graphic-design partners*, asking for a favor. This is how we roll, by the way. We trade out services: she designs my book related business cards, flyers, and even some of my sites, and I do copy for her sites and promo … Read more