Authors: Do We Really Need to Go All In With Our Book Marketing Strategy…

Book Marketing is a Gamble for Many Authors

Fed up with doing Facebook ads that at one time gave me great reach and amazing clicks, but no buys, I decided that these kinds of ads didn’t serve me anymore. So, in March (2024), I asked for feedback from my fellow authors on what they did that works for them in their book marketing and promotional world. I received quite a lot of responses—especially from my Facebook groups—and decided to put together a list of their responses. To give you the gist, here’s the original call to action I put out on my social media accounts:

“I’m searching for other ways to market and promote my books, since Facebook ads don’t seem to be playing nice, and don’t serve my purposes anymore. So, I thought I’d ask my fellow authors what you do to get your books out there and into the hands of your readers, beyond the usual social media posts on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn I see throughout my feeds.

For example, do you pay for ads on Twitter or LinkedIn? If so, do they work for you? Have you ever hired a promotional specialist or company (which can get quite pricey) to do your book marketing? If so, what was the experience, and were they worth it? Or do you do your own marketing, scheduling your posts ahead of time? I’d really like some solid advice, and frankly I’m tired of being approached by these so-called ‘marketing specialists’ on all my social media accounts.

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions you can share. I appreciate it!”

The response was immediate. My feeds filled up with helpful advice, and other authors waiting in the wings to know what magic-marketing-bullet would be best for them. Turns out this book biz is NOT a one-book-fits-all kind of marketing strategy. I knew all along that it wasn’t. I was just interested in seeing what other authors do out there, so I could make a conscious and rational decision on what’s best for ME. That said, below is most of the feedback I received. Much of these ideas I’ve done, but there are some that I haven’t, and may give them a go. In the long run, you must decide what’s best for YOU…

·         Start an email list and newsletter. If you have done so, continue to build it.

·         Don’t pay for subscribers—instead, engage with readers in genuine ways.

·         Get out there in person. Meet other writers, go to events and conferences, especially events that include both authors and readers. Always bring a signup sheet or QR code for your newsletter signup.

·         Shop at Indie bookstores. Be a part of the literary conversation.

·        Consider doing Amazon ads. Apparently, Bryan Cohen offers free Amazon ad courses that usually happen quarterly. Check out when the next course is available here: https://www.facebook.com/bestpageforward/reviews

·         Other advertising ventures are BookBub Feature Deals (which can get quite pricey) and BookBub ads. Apparently, most authors said to stay away from Twitter or LinkedIn ads.

·        Promotional and review sites such as NetGalley, Fussy Librarian, Written Word Media, Bargain Booksy, FreeBooksy, BookFunnel, and Hello Books just to name a few. Price points vary, so do your research.

·         In-person events such as craft shows, fairs, markets, and special events like holidays.

·        Podcast interviews. An author friend pays $15 a month and gets two lists of ten podcasters weekly who are looking for guests. Here’s the link: https://podcastguests.com/

·        YouTube appearances or having your own show. Depending on your personality, helpful content, and author guests, this may be the way to go for you.

·         Guest blogging or working with book bloggers for reviews.

·        Speaking engagements based on your genre. So, if you write for children or teens, schools would be a good place to start.

·         Getting books into your local library network.

·        Book signings at your local bookstore, grocery stores, fundraisers, or anywhere else that’s connected with the setting, content, and genre of your books. Think outside the box for this. Does your book have a shelter animals slant? How about at a local pet supply store? Cozy mystery with a baker as the main character? Check out coffee shops or local bakery stores in your area. The possibilities are endless.

·         Garnishing paid book reviews through Booklist, BookPage, ForeWord, Kirkus, Library Journal, Publisher’s Weekly, and Shelf Awareness to name a few.

·         Promotional specialists or companies. A word of warning on this: if these people approach you, they’re most likely crossing a boundary or invading your virtual space. You’re the one who should be contacting them.

·         Paying a publicist. This one can get expensive, with prices ranging from $1250 to over— are you sitting down—$10,000 for a four to five-month campaign. Yikes! But, depending on the book, and if it’s worth your time and investment, then go for it!

·         Last, but not least, the tried and true method: Word of Mouth. Works. All. The. Time.    

Hmm. So many ideas, so little time to actually write those books to market. What a conundrum! With all this wealth of information listed above, I bet you’re wondering what marketing strategies I’ll be using moving forward. First, an admission – I don’t have an email list. I’ve resisted having one for so long because frankly, I didn’t want to do the extra work involved with sending out a newsletter with barely anything to say. Book marketing expert Sandra Beckwith advises to start and build an email list for the simple reason that if your pet social platform disappears or crashes, you lose everything. But not your email list. You own that sucker. Plus, it’s an excellent way to get to know your readers and have genuine conversations with them. Makes sense, but to be honest, I don’t feel this is the best use of my book marketing time.

However, If you’re interested in starting an email list or building your existing list, writing coach and speaker, Colleen M. Story has a couple of great articles to whet your book marketing appetite with HERE and HERE. Check them out when time permits.

So what am I going to do? Nothing. At least for now. I’ve decided to take a break, take a breather, and take myself out of the game of feeding all those book marketing ploys manipulating authors out of their hard-earned money. My former publisher used to say, Money flows to, not away, from the author. Wouldn’t that be nice if that was the norm? The best advice I received was from author Vonnie Hughes, a dear friend from New Zealand, who offered, “What about just writing because you can't help it and not writing to be published but just writing for YOU?” In a perfect world, wouldn’t that be amazing? I may just heed her sage advice. As a life-long learner, I strive to do better when I can, and hope what I learn, I can pass along to others. At least, that is my wish.

Does the thought of marketing or promoting your books make you cringe? Do you have an email list? Are you tired and overwhelmed with all the marketing strategies out there, that you chose to do the bare minimum or nothing? Is the continual expense of doing book promotions sucking the joy out of being a writer for you? If so, I totally understand, and would love to read your comments. Cheers and thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I appreciate you! 

Creating an Author Brand without the Hustle…

I recently embarked on an identity quest for my author brand for the purpose of purging what wasn’t working, and amplifying what was working for me in my author life. The ‘Hustle Culture’ eventually wore me down, and the Covid-19 pandemic gave me a new perspective on what was important and what wasn’t in my personal life. Though globally devastating, the pandemic forced us to look in the mirror and ask those hard questions. Am I happy doing what I’m doing? What’s my purpose? How did I get here? And many other self-reflecting questions. Yes, masks took away our ‘physical’ identity, made us all the same. However, masks did serve to keep us safe enough to allow the possibility of self-transformation during the pandemic if we chose to do so. Slowing down and reevaluating our lives was probably the best thing to come out of this global crisis. 

An article about author branding and marketing made me stop and reassess how I approached my branding. I took a few notes that would help me and other authors out there who are ready to make some changes in the way we do business. The article’s author suggests that we identify five-six interests or topics we’re passionate or excited about, and make them our keywords or phrases. You know what I mean—your go-to subjects. What lights you up. So I went back to my social media bios and began tweaking them based on what floats my boat. The following are the words/phrases I came up with: writing, reading, recipes, anything arcane, ancient mysteries, and guilty pleasures (a.k.a. single malt scotch). That’s the kind of posts I share, like or comment on in my social media feed now. If you think like the reader you are, you’ll easily figure out your branding keywords. What do you search for when you’re looking for a book? Fantasy books? Time travel? Recipes? Spirituality? Supernatural? You do you. Everyone else is taken. By hitting on common bonds of interest you create bonds with others. This is how you build relationships and your authentic brand.

Other small actions I took to buff up my brand was to purge my Facebook friends and groups. I decided
to let go of people who haven’t posted in over a year, passed on, or have nothing in common with me. So I deleted away the dead wood, and opened up space for new growth. I also chose to take a break from posting my weekly #authorlife images on my social media accounts. I started doing those posts in September 2019 and continued on until June 1^st, 2022. The reason for letting this way of connection go? I was beginning to find this task had run its course, and frankly was a time-suck. So now, I’ll only share book events and the odd personal post using the #authorlife identity.

To help Authors identify and create their brand, here are 3 questions they should ask themselves, and my personal response to each question:

What am I good at? 

Me? Uplifting and helping others. Being generous with my tweets and shares. I give back more than I take. 

What do I love doing? 

I love writing for the young adult genre—especially anything arcane like psychic teens who use their powers to help save their small tourist town. Or ancient mysteries where my time-traveling teens are sent on their incredible missions to save earth’s past. Plus, I love researching all these subjects. Wink.

What solution can I bring to the world?

I want to reach readers (a.k.a. target audience) who will benefit and be inspired by my books in such a way as to find their own voice, not be afraid to use it, and shine their light in the best way they can. In essence, I’m passing on the baton to the next generations.

Now that we’re in a post-pandemic world, there really is no reason to hustle anymore. It’s a virtual world, and technology is changing by the day to make our lives easier. Many people have chosen to work from home and avoid the commute. Spending time with families has moved to the top of the list for many of us. New skills were developed, while old ones fell away. It’s good to do a reassessment and reevaluation of your author brand from time to time. After all, nothing is fixed, and change is a constant. Just remember to be consistent and be authentic.

Did you get tired of the Hustle Culture? Are you in the midst of branding or rebranding yourself? What are your keywords or phrases? I’d love for you to share your comments. Cheers, and thanks so much for taking the time to read my blog. I appreciate you!

My #authorlife Experiment: Making the Unfamiliar, Familiar…

Last Photo of my Buddy and Me

I’m sure you’ve heard that getting out of your comfort zone can be a painful, often scary experience, but the end results usually end in transformation and growth. Right? Well, I recently watched a YouTube video done by Canadian entrepreneur Evan Carmichael about trying to share an image of yourself on your social media accounts for 30 days straight, and then seeing what happens after the month has ended. The thought of doing that made me squirm inside. You see, I’m an introvert at heart, and like to keep my personal life…well, personal. Sharing an image of myself—with all my winkles and flaws—a day for an entire month seemed downright weird and just a little egostical. Besides, what kind of image would I post, and what would I talk about? Then, I approached my publisher, Justine with this idea, and she suggested that I share an image of a day in the life of an author, and call it #authorlife. My eyes widened, and I resonated with her suggestion immediately.

So, choosing the month of September 2019 for my #authorlife experiment, I decided to take a shot and put myself out there for 30 days sharing what it’s like to live in my ‘author’ shoes. And yes, it was scary, and yes it was painful, but I managed to complete this task, not missing a day, but one—September 10^th, the day after we put our 12-year-old Labrador down. I dedicated that #authorlife spot to my yellow fellow, who went peacefully in my arms the day before. I was a mess and grieving for weeks after that, but plodded on, taking selfies and sharing what I was up to each day. It was awkward and hard, but I managed to make the unfamiliar, familiar, and I found it got easier to find things to share and talk about.

I'll miss you, Lorri Carpenter

Using my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts, I shared book marketing ideas, books I’m reading, a dedication to my dear author friend, Lorri Carpenter who passed away the same week as my dog, my morning exercise regime, took you grocery shopping, for a walk, paying bills, researching for my work-in-progress, flashed shameless plugs, and the list went on. After all, life if full of mundane routines too. And a writer’s life is no exception. I’m sure Stephen King still takes out the trash or puts away the dishes. Makes us human, and more relatable.

One of the most cherished #authorlife images was taken on Labor Day with my dog just before I took him for his walk. It was the last photo I have of him before he passed on a week later. You can’t get moments like that back. Ever. So I would like to think that this little experiment was a success. Personally and professionally. I managed to get way out of my comfort zone, build up my social media platforms, engaged with people who seemed quite interested in my journey, had fun, got creative, and shared a piece of myself that I would have never shared before. Did this result in more book sales? Not sure, but I really don’t care. This was about growing as a person, getting more self-confident, and seeing how much I changed throughout the month. Especially when I wasn’t wearing any makeup! LOL! How brave was that? Wink.

One of the most commented-on posts!

Would I do it again? Not for 30 days straight, but I’ve decided to keep posting my #authorlife images at least once or twice a week. It’s an investment in my self-worth, and hopefully will help other writers by giving them ideas or letting them know that they’re not alone in this crazy publishing business. Plus, you put yourself out there, and connect with people on a different level where you’re not pandering to them, but giving them a smile or helping hand instead. And that’s what I call success in any vocation. I want to thank all those who traveled this #authorlife journey with me, and commented on, liked, or shared what I’d been doing that day. Your kindness and support are so appreciated.

Is this month-long social media experiment something that you would tackle? Please let me know in the comments, I’d love to read your thoughts. Cheers, and thank you for spending time with me by reading my blog! 

A Bright Future Ahead for Canadian Author Dianna Gunn...

Fellow Canadian author Dianna Gunn is here today to discuss her hot-selling YA fantasy and what the future holds for her. So let's get to it.

Welcome, Dianna. Please describe Keeper of the Dawn in three words. Passionate, hopeful, magical.

What part of the story came to you first? Lai started out as a character in a fantasy parody project which will never see the light of day. She quickly became the most interesting thing about the book, so I scrapped it and wrote her story instead.

What was the biggest surprise when you were writing Keeper of the Dawn? That it was a book at all. I started with a short story of about 6,000 words, focused mostly on the priestess trials that are now the first third of the book. Every draft made it longer, sometimes only a couple thousand words longer, once or twice 10,000 words longer. The final edits brought it almost to 40,000 words. So it's still a short book, but it's a book. It's still kind of weird to me, to be honest.

If you could have lunch with any one person, alive or dead, who would it be? Definitely Sir Terry Pratchett. I haven't read anything close to the entire Discworld series, but I've read enough to be astounded by the quality of his work. Being funny in fiction, especially novels, is hard, which is why I never wrote that parody project. I am astounded by his ability to remain funny until the very end.

What's next for you? So many things! I've actually started writing a non-fiction book with the working title Self Care for Creative People, and I'm about to start editing Moonshadow's Guardian, a full length fantasy novel I plan to release next fall.

Here's a little about Keeper of the Dawn for your reading pleasure...

All Lai has ever wanted is to become a priestess, like her mother and grandmother before her, in service to her beloved goddess. That's before the unthinkable happens, and Lai fails the trials she's trained for her entire life. She makes the only choice she believes she can: she runs away.

From her isolated desert homeland, Lai rides north to the colder, stranger kingdom of Alanum – a land where magic, and female warriors, are not commonplace.

Here, she hears tales about a mountain city of women guardians and steel forgers, worshipping goddesses who sound very similar to Lai's own. Determined to learn more about these women, these Keepers of the Dawn, Lai travels onward to find their temple. She is determined to make up for her past failure, and will do whatever it takes to join the sacred order.

Falling in love with another initiate wasn't part of the plan.

Keeper of the Dawn is a story of new beginnings, second chances, and the endurance of hope.

EXCERPT

Lai practiced until well after dark, ignoring the call for supper. She tore a massive hole into one of the dummies with a training sword in her rage, but it didn’t make her feel better. She had spent most of her life training for this day, and Kaiden ruined it with a few words about their father.

Eventually she gave up and collapsed in a heap on the ground, pulling her knees up to her chest so she could rest her chin on them. She forced herself to breathe deeply, using all her willpower to push the rage into the ground. Bit by bit it drained into the soil around her, dispersing harmlessly.

She sat like that in the clearing until clouds engulfed the stars and rain started pouring, one of the last rains before the dry weeks of summer. Lifting the hood of her robes to cover her head, she rose and hurried towards the temple.

Her left foot caught on something and Lai flew through the air, losing her grip on her sword and landing face first in a puddle. Her nose shattered when it smashed into the tough ground, and when she grabbed it to feel the damage her hand came away covered in equal parts mud and blood. Her stomach churned as she picked herself back up, her whole body aching.

Something sharp pierced her back, tearing into her skin and muscles like sharp fire. She screamed and fell face first to the ground. She caught herself on her forearms, avoiding bashing her head against the rocky path.

Lai's attacker pulled the knife out of her shoulder. She screamed as warm blood flowed freely down her back, mixing with the rain. Fiery agony filled her body, blurring her vision. She gritted her teeth and flipped over to face her attacker.

She froze at the familiar sight of white robes with golden cuffs. Another initiate. Her hood hid her face completely.

Lai gathered her strength with a deep, ragged breath and reached for her training sword. The initiate kicked Lai in the back then stomped on her wrist, grinding bone under her boot, sending sharp waves of pain up Lai’s arm.

“You understand, it has to be me.”

Lai knew that voice, but she couldn’t focus on it through the pain, couldn’t remember who it was.

The initiate seized a clump of Lai’s hair and yanked her head backwards. She knelt and raised her knife towards Lai’s exposed throat.

Something knocked the initiate into Lai’s back. Black spots appeared at the edges of her vision as agony surged outward from her wound. The other initiate didn’t move, suffocating Lai with her weight. Lai tried to lift herself up with her elbows, but a fresh wave of pain knocked the wind out of her. She collapsed onto her stomach and closed her eyes, willing her body to die quickly.

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Dianna L. Gunn is a freelance writer by day and a fantasy author by night. She had known she wanted to be a writer since she was eight years old. Dianna wrote her first novel for Nanowrimo at the age of eleven years old, but quickly discovered that writing books is not an easy way to make a living. So she decided to broaden her horizons, seeking another career that still allowed her to work with words.

Her freelance writing career started when she became a marketing intern at Musa Publishing (now defunct) in September 2011 and quickly became a staff writer in charge of multiple imprint blogs. Since then she has worked with a variety of small businesses and non-profits to improve their online brands and create long term marketing strategies. Some of her most notable work has been for the tech education non-profit STEAMLabs and natural dog care company ProPooch. She is dedicated to helping her clients build successful brands and making their dreams come true.

Need help creating awesome content for your business? Send an email to diannalgunn@gmail.com explaining what your needs are, and she will help you.

When she isn’t helping her clients bring their dreams to life, Dianna can be found working on her own dream of being a successful fantasy author. Dianna blogs about writing, creativity, and books at The Dabbler.

Learn more about Dianna on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Author Branding: Developing a Logo for a Book Series…

As many of you know, I recently signed a contract with Mirror World Publishing to do another book series called Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls. The first book in this teen psychic mystery series, Lost and Found, is slated for release July 17^th, 2017, and I’m so excited! But…there was a lot of work and preparation ahead of me to get this new series off the ground, including wanting to create a new logo for branding purposes. Enter Mikey Brooks—illustrator extraordinaire!

I knew exactly (in my mind) what I wanted for a logo for this new series, so when I emailed Mikey, I told him to visualize those colorful signs you’d see driving northward for a visit to ‘cottage country’ while on vacation. I wanted a nostalgic, good old days, happy memories sort of feeling. Then, hanging underneath this welcoming sign, have a small sinister-type sign to give a foreboding, eerie presence. Cue the scary music…

So, here’s the first concept:

Not bad. My illustrator was on the right track. Next, I told Mikey to add bright, primary colors. Here’s the second concept:

I pursed my lips and shook my head. Not exactly what I was looking for. I wanted the sign to have a brown background, not gray, with a welcoming feel. I needed this logo to literally POP! Here’s the third concept:

Getting so close I could feel my feet wading in a cool, spring-fed lake, smell the fresh country air, and taste those gooey campfire marshmallows. Next, I wanted the hanging sign to have a burnt wood look to it, to give it more of an ominous tone. This is the fourth, and final concept:

I did the happy dance. Mikey knocked it out of the park. When creating a logo to pull a book series together and make it part of your author brand, you need to have a set idea in your mind—a premise of the series so you, as the author can make your audience (readers) feel how you want them to feel. In my case, Fairy Falls is an inviting small, nostalgic northern tourist town, but there’s something about this place that has an air of mystery, of something secretive and uncanny. A place, I hope, that will have readers wanting to visit again and again.

Have you ever designed or hired an illustrator to create a logo for your book series or author brand? If so, what was your experience? What do you think of my new logo? Would love to read your comments. Cheers and thank you for reading this post!

Six Things Writers Can Learn from Harley-Davidson…

Harley-Davidson logo

Brand building. It’s the backbone of any company or person. It’s how consumers identify with you. Know you. Want you. Need you. What does this have to do with Harley-Davidson? Plenty.

Recently, hubby and I watched a three-part movie about how the Harley-Davidson company was born on the Discovery channel. Boy did I learn a lot about running a business and branding just by watching that movie! The story focused on three partners: William (Bill) Harley (the engineer/creator), Arthur Davidson (the salesman/marketer), and Walter Davidson (the risk-taker, promoter). Together, these entrepreneurs gave the world of motorcycling an experience that felt like ‘an explosion between your legs’. Bill Harley’s words, not mine! LOL!

Here are six things I learned from Harley-Davidson…

Create buzz. To build excitement and promote their product (think about this in terms of your book/books) Harley-Davidson sponsored a racing team named ‘The Wrecking Crew’ whose seat-in-their-pants racing style got the press the company needed to get on the map and stimulate sales. Okay, writers don’t need a Wrecking Crew. But what about a Street Team, or a legion of super fans waiting in the wings for your next book? Use your website, blog or email list to create the buzz your book(s) need to get them flying off the shelves.

1907 Harley-Davidson

Find your tribe. Arthur Davidson worked hard to generate sales. He started bike clubs, opened free beer tents at events to loyal customers, and had special offers/incentives to returning buyers. He was a trail-blazer of social media one hundred years before social media was even born. He engaged first, then sold. That’s what writers should be doing on social media—connect and engage with their target market first. If they trust you enough, they’ll ask about your book.

Look outside of the box. Always looking for ways to market his motorcycles, Arthur Davidson approached the U.S. Postal Service and convinced them to trade their bicycles for Harley-Davidsons. He followed through with the Fire and Police Departments and eventually won them over. When the three partners met with the military during WW1, Arthur suggested that they send mechanics (for FREE) to teach the soldiers how to fix their motorbikes in case they broke down while they were overseas. This strategy worked, and they shared the contract 50/50 with Indian Motorcycle, the number one motorcycle company at the time. BTW—Indian went bankrupt in 1953. Writers need to look outside the box too. There’s plenty of opportunity around, even if you have to offer your first book (or a short story) for free.

Focus on those little extras. Walter Davidson recognize the allure of the motorcycle look and culture, so he launched a campaign to sell Harley-Davidson accessories and clothing which remains a major part of the company’s success to this day. Writers can open a ‘store page’ on their website (you have a website, right?) and sell items that are connected to their books, like T-shirts, coffee mugs or water bottles imprinted with their book cover, or even jewelry.

Re-brand or face-lift when the unexpected happens. The stock market crash of 1929 hit Harley-Davidson hard. There was no disposable income, and barely any sales. Bill Harley decided to give his motorcycles a much needed face-lift during the Depression. He redesigned their block-letter logo, and added a stylized eagle. The company also started offering their motorbikes in an array of different color schemes too. So when book sales are down, this gives writers an opportunity to redesign their book covers, or pull books off the virtual shelves and re-edit them. After all, Harley-Davidson built their company on a quality product, so shouldn’t you?

Continue to develop. By the late 1930s, Bill Harley developed a new model that ended up being a breakthrough for the company. Sales soared with this bigger, badder, and more powerful machine. By the time WW2 began, Harley-Davidson had gained the respect of the military, and were asked to ship over 90,000 military-style motorbikes overseas to be used by the Allies. When the war ended, people returned to motorcycle riding with a deep respect and trust for the Harley-Davidson brand. So, while you may have one or more books out there for sale, it’s best to work on the next one, and continue to develop your brand and author platform. You never know. Your next book may be your ‘breakthrough’ book!

Is there a company out there that you’ve learned some tricks and techniques from to help build your writing career? How are you building your brand? Please leave a comment and share what you’ve learned. Cheers for reading my blog, I truly appreciate it! 

Shredding what doesn’t Work for a Writer…

I’ve gotten into this purging habit. Around the middle of February, I clear out my filing cabinet, and shred any papers that are useless or I don’t need anymore. Bills, sales receipts, accounting documents, and manuscripts that should have never seen the light of day. This got me to thinking how I could apply shredding to my writing career. What am I doing that isn’t working anymore? What book marketing strategies need to be purged? What type of book promotions are a waste of time? Is blogging worth the effort?

Does any of these questions sound familiar?

March is the month I revise my business and life plan. So I thought, what better way to shred the old from my life (things that aren’t working), keep what’s working, and start up with new ideas. I love it when I’ve gone through the filing cabinet, cleaned out the files, then either shred any bills older than 2 years, or file the rest in a plastic container for a period of one year. The exception being our taxes, which I keep for the recommended seven years. The filing cabinet seems so much lighter after this task is done. And for some reason, so do I.

Sitting down to revise my business and life plan this year, I went through the document page by page, striking what I’ve accomplished under the WORKS IN PROGRESS subtitle (and feeling good about it), to eliminating what I thought were time wasters (blog hops, certain social media groups, dropping Tumblr) under AUTHOR BRAND AND PLATFORM. Blogging is time consuming, but I believe my name (BRAND) is getting enough weekly Google Alerts and views to continue creating posts. When it came to the subtitle PROMOTION AND MARKETING STRATEGY I added a few new ideas, and kept the old tried and true. Goodreads Giveaways and Book Blog Tours (only for new releases) seem to work well for me. I’ve recently joined Pinterest, so I’ll see how this pans out for me in the future, creating boards based on my characters, time travel historical settings, and personal interests. Wink.

I’m also very happy with the freedom I have with my new publishers, Mirror World Publishing, who have promised to keep a yearly slot open for my ongoing time travel series The Last Timekeepers. This year, I will have Book #2: The Last Timekeepers and the Dark Secret out sometime in the fall. I’ve already started gathering research for Book #3, and I'm looking forward to delving into a fresh story. I know the key is to focus on what I enjoy, and build for the long term. That’s what a lot of writers forget—they’re building a career, and careers take time.

So shred what’s not working for you, and lighten up your load. Remember: slowly but surely wins the race. Do you have a yearly shredding ritual? Have you removed what isn’t working for you in your life or career? Would love to hear your comments. Cheers and thank you for reading my blog!   

Hit your Readers in the Heart…

In order for an author to be successful, he or she must have a successful author brand. Your brand is your name. It’s what people connect you with or think about when your name is mentioned. For example, Stephen King = horror, Rick Riordan = young adult myths and legends, JRR Tolkien = epic fantasy, Kelly Armstrong = paranormal romance, and Diana Gabaldon = time travel romance. I could go on, but you get the picture. Each name evokes a genre or a series, and each brand is high concept.

So how do you develop your author brand (name) into a household word that conjures creepy clowns or teen demigods or hobbits or sexy werewolves or time traveling standing stones and kilts? You need to hit your readers in the heart. Create a positive emotional experience so that they’ll become loyal readers and word of mouth heralds for each book you publish.

This strategy is the basis of social media. You connect with others because of what they say, pictures they post, or the experiences they share. Somehow, an emotional cord is struck, and you want to reach out to people and give them your support or a kind word or thank them for making you laugh your ass off for posting a cute dog or kitten video. Emotion connects us all, makes us human. And depending what you share or post, if people like what they read or see or hear, they begin to trust you. If you’re an author who writes books with animals as main characters, you can bet you’ll grab the interest of animal lovers all over the world.

One way to help figure out your ‘brand’ is to create a tagline for yourself, just as you would for a book. I did a lot of soul searching on this and decided that I wanted to conjure feelings of nostalgia with each book I write—give my books that ‘good old days’ spin. Who doesn’t like happy memories of their childhood? So I came up with: Escape to the past and have a blast. Simple and direct. I want my readers to escape from the mundane and be drawn into a familiar world where they’ll have a pleasurable and exciting experience. At least that’s my hope!    

When you find out what makes your audience tick, you’ve hit their sweet spot. You give them more of what they want. They need it. They crave it. Write it for them. Make them feel through your words. It’s what authors do. It’s what we crave.

So what about you? When it comes to reading, what hits your heart? What do you crave? Would love to hear your comments! Cheers and thank you for reading my blog!

10 Ways to Grow a Blog by Susan Gourley...

Thanks Sharon for having me as a guest on your blog. I’d like to share ideas that have worked for me in growing my blog audience. I’m not an expert, but these things have worked for me.

10 Ways to Grow a Blog

1.      Follow a variety of blogs, not just other writers. It will expose your name to an entirely different audience

2.      Always provide links to help others find some interesting content.

3.      Return comments. If some comments on your blog, visit theirs in return. They were interested in you so show you feel the same way.

4.      Keep your posts short. Most bloggers are looking for quick, interesting posts. They will skim your long post and not really get the point you were trying to make.

5.      Do more than shout, ‘buy my books.’ That leaves them no reason to comment or come back for the next post.

6.      Be yourself so people actually get to know you. If they know you, hopefully, they will like you. I’ve made some true friends through blogging.

7.      Add pictures to your posts. Book covers, the snow-covered tree, your cat or dog, make it a little bit personal.

8.      Host guest on your blog and hope their friends follow them to your blog. (Thanks, Sharon).

9.      Promote your posts on other media such as Twitter and Facebook.

10.  Participate in blog hops. I’m administrator in two big blog hops. Insecure Writer’s Support Group had been around for more than three years. We blog the first Wednesday of every month and share our woes, successes and offer support and advise. The even bigger blog hop I help run is the Blogging From A to Z Challenge. Last year over 2,000 bloggers participated. For 26 days in April, we post blogs where the content starts with a letter of the alphabet. Letter A on April first, you get the picture. I highly recommend both.

These are a few ideas that have helped me. Can you add a few more ideas in your comment? Any blog hops you recommend.

Susan Gourley writes high fantasy and also writes science fiction romance as Susan Kelley. She is the author of the bestselling science fiction romance series, The Warriors of Gaviron and The Recon Marines series. Her latest release is The Warrior and the Governor. You can find her at Susan Says or follow her on Twitter and like her page on Facebook.