Unless you’ve been living under a rock since 2006, then you probably already have a Twitter account. But, are you using it to its full potential? It’s a sad fact that most writers don’t. There is slightly more to it than keeping track of what people you’ve never met are having for breakfast. When used […]
You’re depressed. You’re confused. You’re thinking about giving up writing altogether. Why? Because the only people who have bought your book are your mom and your Aunt Bertha. With more than a million books published each year now (most of those self-published), there is lots of competition. However, many authors earn enough in book sales to feed their families. How do they do it?
Some of this may be hard to hear (I mean read) but, if you clicked on this article, you’re obviously seeking the truth. So, here it is…
After I started publishing content online, I got emails from visitors telling me how much they liked my websites. I smiled, sometimes responded, and hit “delete.” Later, subscribers to my email newsletters sent complimentary comments as well. I smiled, sometimes responded, and hit “delete.” It was almost two years, after I started putting websites and e-books together, before I realized I should save these testimonials. I then added the appropriate language to the “terms of use” pages on my sites, allowing me to use a few lines from any email received, and I set up files to sort the e-mails worth saving. From that point on, I carefully saved hundreds of testimonials, and even used a few once in a while.
As the owner of WritersWeekly.com and BookLocker.com, writers and authors frequently add me to email notifications they send out when they update their website or blog. I’m happy to receive these and I often find interesting and intriguing tidbits in these individuals’ posts. Unfortunately, some of them have great blog posts or website articles but very boring email notifications so nobody opens them…
The confusing thing for me about Facebook ‘likes’ is that Forbes prefers us to encourage ‘friends’, which can be done with my personal FB page. I created a writer page (a business one), but it just feels redundant….so I’m still not sure what the importance of it is.
It seems to me there is a fine line between a press release and a promotional item. Wouldn’t you say that a press release is generally promoting something? Maybe the definition of “promoting” is the key.
Can I send press releases to anyone or only to journalists?
Today, authors can buy reviews and social media followers with the hopes of fooling a publisher or agent into believing they’re a hot commodity when, really, they’re not. In the online world it’s known as black hat SEO. It’s the process of artificially inflating web visibility either for social media accounts, websites, or blogs using unethical techniques. Now granted, places like Amazon or Facebook won’t throw you in the slammer. They will, however, ban your account…
My first grade teacher just bought my book.
She’s hardly my target audience and I hadn’t seen her at least since I left elementary school more than 30 years ago, but I was happy to make the sale. I even charged her full price, rather than the insider’s “friends and family rate.”
A few simple Internet searches and a plan – developed in large part through guidance from fellow WritersWeekly writers – helped me make the sale.
We’ve seen it at WritersWeekly as well as in other magazines for writers: bookstores are not necessarily the best place to sell your books.
An author told me the other day he found a typo in his proof, adding “I’ll probably leave it and send $5.00 to the first three readers that spot it and tell ’em it was test to see if they actually read the book…” I was completely honest, and told him that would be a HORRIBLE idea.
