Not every author can schedule book signings into their promotional plan, but thanks to technology, there are easy and convenient alternatives to this traditional event. It can be as simple as an author signing her name on a plain label and mailing it to the reader, or as complex as organizing an online chat with [...]
Sometimes an extra touch to your query letter will help create a positive first impression. Sometimes it can even get you past the first read. However, there are times when an author goes too far and the extra touch backfires. Those times occur when the author has crossed the line from assertion to aggression. Jennifer Manguera, an office manager [...]
Which query letters make a good first impression? I asked this question to Jennifer Manguera, an office manager for a literary agency. Reading query letters is one of her responsibilities. She’s usually the first to read them, deciding which ones are passed on to the literary assistant or agent. Manguera said that a clean, error-free letter [...]
If you visited an editor’s or agent’s office, the first thing you might notice is the amount of paper on the desk, chairs, floors, and on basically any flat surface. With that many queries, partials and fulls vying for attention, how are you going to get noticed? Here are some ideas from the people who [...]
After working as the book signing coordinator for my local romance writers group, I realized that signings are not about selling books, but about building awareness with booksellers and readers. I also realized that in my career I would keep signings to a minimum. Why?
Signing Aren’t Effective: If you want to cultivate relationships with booksellers, [...]
Jump Start Your Book Sales by Marilyn and Tom Ross offer countless marketing and publicity ideas for authors and publishers. They argue that by increasing visibility and having your book available in areas outside of bookstores, you will acquire more sales. The Rosses give ideas and instructions about printed promotional materials, book signings and media publicity. [...]
If you don’t brand yourself, someone else will. That’s what Robin Fisher Roffer discovered while working as a television marketing executive. Now a brand strategist for the digital age, she wrote Make a Name for Yourself for businesswomen to gain control over how they are perceived. The eight steps include developing your brand description, creating [...]
Anyone who is interested in writing should read Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. It doesn’t matter whether you write literary or popular fiction, for personal or professional reasons, as a form of expression or as a way of life. This is a necessary resource for every writer. The book is broken into [...]
Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, dealing with big publishers or small presses, Guerrilla Marketing for Writers serves as a springboard of ideas for all authors. Written in an easy-to-read format filled with lists and sidebars, authors Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman and Michael Larsen offer 100 ideas to market you and your work. Many [...]
What do you expect from your published book? What does your publisher expect from it? Perhaps more importantly, what marketing strategies do you expect from your publisher and yourself? If don’t have answers to those questions, you will after reading Publicize Your Book! by Jacqueline Deval. Deval guides you through the planning stages of a [...]
