Category Archives: Writing

Scattergun Promotions (Guest Blog with Bev. Cooke)

Posted on May 10, 2012 | 4 comments

…Not the best choice

Everybody tells you to promote – you have to get your name out there, make sure the entire world knows who you are, that you’ve got zillions of followers on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook and a Klout number in the high 80s.

If you’re not careful, you can spend all your time promoting and have nothing to show for it, including new and better writing. What most experts propose is a “scattergun” approach: throw a lot of stuff around all over the place and you’re bound to hit something. But is that the best way to get your name out there? Probably not, especially when you’re writing for kids.

You have to be careful about how and where and what you promote. Targeting carefully, planning ahead and looking to the long term are probably better strategies than simply putting yourself all over the place.

Ask yourself why you write, and why you write for kids. Lots of money and fame? Your books in print for generations? Awards and recognition for your quality? Movie and TV deals? All of those are legitimate goals, but each of them needs a specific marketing strategy. Take some time and define what success means to you. Once you know that, you’re in a much better position to adjust your promotion to fit your writing goals.

For whom do you write? There’s a big difference between writing board books for toddlers, picture books for kindergarteners and novels for young adults. Your readers are the people you promote to. If you write young adults, why aren’t you on teen sites, teen forums and teen places on the net? Do you do volunteer work with teens? Why not? If you’re writing picture books and books for younger kids, then why aren’t you on parenting sites, writing for parenting and grandparenting magazines, hooking up with parenting groups and grandparenting groups? And why aren’t you, whichever group you write for, hooking up with librarians, schools and bookstore owners? Promoting to other writers can help you broaden your audience reach, as they promote you to their readers, but promoting only to other writers is a bad mistake.

A lot of marketing strategies are designed for and by extroverts – people who love people and can talk easily and well with strangers about just about anything. Their twitter posts are always funny, pointed and brilliant. Status updates are layered, elegant and erudite. They stand in front of a room full of kids wearing silly costumes, make a fool out of themselves and love every minute of it. Introverts can’t do that.

One thing that comes through clearly whether you’re in person or on the web is how relaxed and genuine you are when you’re talking to strangers, acting a role you may not be used to or taking risks with your personality type. If you’re not the kind of person who can wear a lamp shade and do the fandango on the dining room table while sober, chances are you’re not going to be able to don a costume, act silly and make a fool out of yourself to promote your book. So don’t try. Find ways that let you be you when you promote your book and yourself. It’s the same on the web. If you have a knack for coming up with pithy phrases, great puns or plays on words and fantastic one liners, then twitter is probably a good venue. If not, don’t go there.

If all you’re doing is following the advice of experts without thinking about who you are, what you want to accomplish with promotion and how long it’s going to take you to reach your writing goals, then you’re not doing yourself any favours, and you may even be doing yourself harm. In all the frenzy of getting your name and your books out there, you’re forgetting why you’re promoting. As a writer friend of mine pointed out: we are writers. If we don’t deliver the content after all the hype, no amount of promotion or marketing is going to sustain us for the long term.

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Meet our guest:

Bev. Cooke is a young adult writer and writing coach whose books appeal to both teens and adults. Her marketing strategies are tailored for her audiences – writers, teens and adults. She’s published “Feral” from Orca Book Publishers, about street life seen through a cat’s eyes, “Royal Monastic” the first book length biography of Princess Ileana of Romania, and Keeper of the Light, an historical fiction for midgrade and young adults about an early Christian saint, both published by Conciliar Press. Bev and her family converted to the Eastern Orthodox Christian faith in 2003, and she’s been active in that writing and religious world ever since. She blogs at Bevnal Abbey Scriptorium http://bevnalabbeyscriptorium.wordpress.com/ and is on Facebook at Bev. Cooke, writer.

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Posted in Blatherings, Guest Bloggers, Just for Fun, Marketing, Writing

Tagged authors, Bev. Cooke, Marketing, promotions, teen readers

When Life Gives You Lemons

Posted on April 18, 2012 | 4 comments

You’ve heard the old saying, but reactions come in all shapes and sizes. Lately, my reaction has been…

When life gives you lemons, find the guy who planted the tree and kick his ass.

Many years ago I decided I wanted to be an author. I’ve been a writer for as long as I can remember knowing how to form words. I love words and stories. I love the way they make me feel. I love the way other people’s words can make me feel. I have written many books and stories, and for the most part, I feel good about them. Sometimes writing is difficult, but I can’t imagine not doing it.

Several years ago, I became a bookstore owner. It was the most glorious day in my life. I remember always wanting to own a bookstore. I love books. I adore books. I think they are among the most blessed things in existence. I loved my bookstore and I loved each and every book in its tiny little space. I did not like the day to day business of it. But I was good at it, for the most part.

Then I became a publisher. The idea of going out and being able to pick the stories that other people got to read, without the stress of having to write them, or sell them enchanted me. Seeing a pattern here? I have been running Echelon Press for more than a decade. Now, like the above activities, being a publisher is quite difficult. The days are long, the stress level is high, and the payoff is very low. But in this case, I cannot imagine not doing it.

Being a publisher is much like being on a roller coaster that dips and curves and rolls upside down, only you don’t get to wear a safety harness. You do get a rope with a loop on the end to hold onto so you can climb back into your seat when the car goes right side up again.

There are those people out there who are asking themselves, “What the hell can be so hard about being a publisher? You get to read books all day.”

Yeah, that”s it. We just read all day. ::snort:: There are so many things involved in being a publisher.

My top five favorite things about being a publisher are:

IRS Audits.
Authors who accuse you of cheating them out of royalties.
Large numbers of bookstores going out of business.
Authors who think their only job is to write, and the rest is up to the publisher.
Retailers who don’t pay for the books they order and sell.

Okay, hopefully you got the sarcasm at the beginning of the list. There are so many other reasons I love publishing. The above list brings to mind the saying I started this post with. But I would be lying if I left it at that. Another saying comes to mind.

Thank God for:

Authors who never stop trying to learn about the industry.
Readers who aren’t afraid to try new authors.
Bookstores that support ALL authors and publishers.
Authors who write the stories from their hearts.
Every person who ever took a chance on something unfamiliar to them.

I meant what I said about the guy who planted the lemon tree, but after you are done kicking his ass, try the lemonade, it’s almost perfect!

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Posted in Blatherings, Business, Just for Fun, Marketing, Writing

Facing the Facts of Social Networking

Posted on April 13, 2012 | 5 comments

Hello again. Let’s revisit what we were talking about earlier. I’ve given you my thoughts on GoodReads and Pinterest. You don’t have to agree with everything I say; I do hope that you are at least giving some consideration to my points.

Today I want to talk about Facebook. This is one of those networks that seem to offend the most people with regard to social networking time sucks. Let me start again by saying that it is only a time suck if you allow it to control you. We all make choices and that goes for online activities as well.

As a person, I enjoy the hell out of Facebook. I get up every morning and look forward to turning on my computer. I go straight to Facebook. Have I lost my mind? No, I am just anxious for a few smiles and a friendly word or two. I have a lot of friends on Facebook, and not just people who friend me randomly. I mean real friends. Friends who, despite having never met them face to face, have helped me through some very bad times in my life. I have some others who just make me laugh on a daily basis. The best part of my Facebook account is that I have reconnected with members of my family I had lost touch with, and found others I did not know. It is extraordinary fun.

Now, let’s talk about Facebook for authors. Facebook has one of the largest groups of viewers and a good portion of them are readers. They also have a wonderful advertising venue that isn’t horribly expensive. Just like in any other situation, there are certain rules, unwritten, but important, that should be followed by authors when marketing their books to their Facebook friends.

First and foremost, you must know how important common courtesy is on any social networking site. I encourage you to pay careful attention to the “do unto others” rule. Don’t say or do anything that you don’t want to be remembered for forever.

Pay careful attention to what you post. The Internet is overflowing with religious and political opinions. We all have them, but make certain that if you decide to voice yours on your page that you are prepared for the responses. As an author, you must also carefully consider how your opinions will affect your potential readers. It is not unreasonable to think that you might lose conservative readers when you express liberal views.

This can also work to your advantage. If you take the time to know the people you are friends with (just like in real life), you can use that knowledge to share information with them that they will find useful or amusing. You can use your newfound knowledge to engage fellow knitters, quilters, beaders, singers, hockey fans, dog lovers, etc. Even if these things have nothing to do with your book, it is common ground. It is a way for you to get to know people and make them want to support you. It’s not about manipulating, it is about genuinely communicating with like-minded people.

Facebook is a great place to share the news of your books, your reviews, your Blog tours, etc. The good news is that a lot of people will want to know what you have to say. But be careful how you say it and how often you say it. There are some things you simply do not do.

Do NOT post your promo notes and reviews on other people’s pages or sites. This is kinda like parking your truck in someone else’s front yard.

Do NOT send auto responders with your buy links and web page links to people who ask to be your friend.

And for the love of Pete and Mike, if you set up a Facebook group. Do NOT, I repeat do NOT add people to your group without asking them first. When you set up a group, you will get a link for that group. You can copy that link into a public invite in your feed that will tell people what you want them to know and then let them make their own choice.

One of the most important things to understand about Facebook as it differs from other networking sites is the amount of information that can be shared on it. Twitter has 140 characters, Good Reads is all books, and Pinterest is an image with a link. Facebook can combine all of those things together and so much more. You have more character to use, images, links, and videos. If you abuse these things it will turn around and bit you in the butt.

Social networking is a wonderful thing, and it can be an exceptional marketing tool. Just don’t let it control you and your time. A social networking schedule is not a bad thing.