Short stories used to be more widely loved. They’ve been a bit misunderstood of late, but I’m confident they’re making a comeback. As an author, short stories can actually be a brilliant part of your marketing plan. Here are a few ideas for making short stories work for you. (Note: for the purposes of this […]
Marketing
The Reviewers I Have Known
So you’re starting to get reviews on your book. EXCITING, right?! Did you know there are several kinds of reviewers out there and they will all have something different to say about your work? And did you know you’re perfectly welcome to take some kinds with a grain of salt? Let’s talk about some of […]
Best Free Stock Images for Author Graphics
Authors need fabulous, eye-catching graphics to share in their blog posts and on social media. Sometimes, though, even the least expensive image subscription is just not in the budget. Today, I want to share with you a Pinterest board I’ve been creating. It contains all kinds of free writing- and reading-themed stock images. All you […]
Blog Tours & Why Blogger Reviewers Are the Best Ever
“Wait, how many people reviewed your book on that blog tour?” A fellow author stared at me—stunned. “Forty. I think. Maybe thirty-nine. Something like that.” I think I got a few blinks. A curious look as if to see if I might be teasing—or lying. I offered to show him the blogroll. People ask me […]
When is the best time for a tour?
Welcome back to my Blog Tour series! Unless I get more questions about blog tours, this will be the last installment for now. I hope it’s been helpful so far and that this post will be as well. When is the best time for a tour? This is probably one of trickiest parts of the […]
How to organize a tour
Last week, I talked about what a blog tour is. Today, we have a few how-tos of a blog tour. Feel free to ask me questions in the comments below. How to Create a Sign-up Sheet The best way I have found for sign-up sheets is to use Google Forms. These can be found here. […]
Beginning Your Street Team
Street teams are an essential marketing tool in an authors tool belt. Street teams can help spread the news of your book to thousands of readers. Many authors ask me how to start and maintain a street team so for the next few months, I will be breaking down the basics of implementing a […]
What is a Blog Tour?
I have a side business orchestrating blog tours for authors. One of the most common questions I get–from experienced and inexperienced authors alike–is “What is a blog tour?” Over the next three weeks, I’ll be talking about the whats, hows, and whens of blog tours. Today we have the “Whats.” What is a Blog Tour? […]
Is Your Author Blog Working?
An author blog can have many functions, but I would say for me it boils down to two: 1) a landing page for my writing endeavors so there’s something to see when a reader Googles me or my books 2) a way to build a tribe, a following, a fan base, a group of readers […]
How to Publish Your Blog to Kindle in 3 Easy Steps
Did you know you can publish your blog to Kindle? Kindle Publishing for Blogs is in beta right now, and it’s currently a very simple tool. However, if it makes your posts more easily accessible to your readers by sending them straight to their Kindles, why not give it a try? It’s super easy to […]