Writing can be a rollercoaster. Some days the words are flowing and you are completely in the zone. Other days it’s the opposite. Your book is floundering and your willpower appears to have packed up and left town. Some days you just don’t feel like writing. If you are having one of those days look no further. We’ve compiled 17 nuggets of writerly wisdom in the hope that you’ll move on inspired, motivated and ready to write.
400 million users a day means you can’t afford to ignore Instagram Stories any longer. For authors, Stories can be a fantastic way to take your readers behind-the-scenes in your writing, show them what you are currently working on and keep them updated on upcoming events. In this post we cover all the Instagram Story content ideas, tips and tricks you need to reach readers, increase follower numbers and boost book sales.
Last week I had an author tell me that they would love to properly market their book but they felt that they had to be a millionaire to do it. Um, what? While no-one is going to tell you that some savvy advertising investment won’t help build your author brand, do you have to have a million dollars to make it happen? Definitely not. Here are 7 totally free book marketing ideas that you can get started on today.
Minimalist book marketing is simple. It is about eliminating the non-essentials, honing in on your ideal reader and doing away with what isn’t working. It is about ignoring overly complicated marketing approaches, setting out a simple plan that fits your needs and establishing genuine relationships with your readers.
Stuck for what to post to Instagram? Last week I had an author contact me asking how they could make their written work visual. Chefs can display mouth-watering photos of food, they explained, but how can I make sitting at my desk for hours on end visually interesting? The answer is: in a ton of ways. To prove it to you I have compiled a list of over 30 of the best Instagram post ideas for authors. Let’s do this!
Want to sell more books? Try collaborating with authors in your niche. Networking with authors in your genre is an invaluable way to reach new readers and build a supportive writer network. Yet many authors fail to actively seek collaborative opportunities, seeing other writers as their competitors. It’s time to change that mindset and we’ll show you how.
Being an author can be stressful. From long hours huddled over a desk to the mental pressure of producing creative work, handling competing demands on your time and juggling multiple roles. Self-care is key to producing your best work and should be part of your long-term strategy for author success. To help you recharge those batteries, we've put together a list of self-care tips, so you can stay healthy, productive and creatively inspired.
Ah social media, the great double-edged sword of book marketing. On one hand, it is a fantastic tool for reaching readers, building a following and promoting your books, on the other, it can be a major source of distraction and wasted time. Here's how to market your book without frittering away those precious writing hours.
The impact of your book title on sales cannot be underestimated. Along with your book cover and blurb, the title is a key factor in any reader purchase. An effective title should captivate your readers, drawing them into the story and giving them a glimpse of the magic that is to come. So, what to do if you need a title, but you are coming up blank? Don't worry, we've got you covered.
All successful authors do one thing: they write. The more consistently the better. While you don´t have to stick to a daily writing habit to be productive, it certainly helps. So, if you are a binge writer wanting to give daily writing a try here are 5 sure-fire ways to get started.
Writing a book is hard, yet even more difficult is admitting that you might be the biggest obstacle standing in your way. Whether you have allowed self-doubt to take over or you're simply failing to prioritize, it's time for some serious self-reflection and readjustment. Here are 5 common ways that authors sabotage themselves and how you can avoid them.
If you are an author then you are also a marketer. Long gone are the days when you could just upload your book to Amazon and it would sell itself. Increasingly author life is one of entrepreneurialism. You are responsible for not only writing but also the marketing of your book and balancing both is an ongoing juggling act. So before you self-combust from overwhelm at all the tasks you have ahead of you, here are our tips for mastering the balance between writing and book marketing.
What is an author brand? And how do you create yours? Branding is something many authors gloss over or completely ignore, leaping into creating a persona that alienates and confuses their readers. In this post we look at how to define your author brand and leverage it to create a beautifully consistent reader-attracting author platform.
All authors face rejection at some point. It’s a soul-destroying, humbling experience that can lead to writers putting down their pen altogether. Yet for all the pain, rejection can be reframed as a tool for growth. I always ask authors in our interviews how they stay resilient in the face of rejection and here is the advice they shared.
If ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’ is your mantra for book marketing then it’s time to replace that with ‘Just do it’. You know it needs to be done, yet day after day it’s there at the bottom of your to-do-list and you haven’t started on it. We all have tasks we procrastinate on, jobs we should be doing but search for any excuse not to. We tell ourselves we’ll do it when we are in the perfect mood, the right time of day, when we have oodles of time for the task. Well that time is now! Let’s get rid of that guilt and get started on your book marketing.
Promoting my book felt like showing-off at a time when I was especially vulnerable. I’d put my name to a novel. Telling people about the work was tantamount to suggesting they buy a copy. Describing it as Romantic Comedy not only suggested I thought I could tell a story but that I was funny. Who did I think I was? As you can tell, I was apologetic, and, I’ll admit, slightly neurotic, and yet I really wanted people to read the story.
Your Instagram bio only features one precious link. One chance to direct your readers where you want them to go. So, how can you best optimize this link to make it as easy as possible for your readers to get to your best content?
Twitter has been the social media author platform of choice for years now and despite competition from newer social media (Instagram, anyone?) Twitter’s popularity continues to increase. Twitter now has 330 million monthly active users and that number is growing by 4% annually. With so many people in the literary community on Twitter it’s a fantastic place to connect with fellow authors, agents, publishers and industry professionals. In this post we look at the top Twitter tips to increase your tweet visibility and connect with more readers than ever before.
Dream of being able to have adventures in exotic lands while simultaneously writing your book? Trip coming up and worried about it clashing with your book marketing plans? Or already working overseas, laptop perched precariously on hotel pillows? It’s a blessing to be able to travel and work at the same time and it brings it’s own set of challenges. Here are my top tips for maintaining your book marketing and writing momentum on the road.
Every day we are bombarded by a constant stream of book marketing tools, techniques and trends. Added to this is the highlight reel of social media, making us feel that everyone else is hustling so much harder and smarter than we are. It’s enough to make even the most persistent author feel like giving up. So how to succeed in book market when it feels like you are trying to eat soup with a fork? Here are our straight-forward strategies for beating book marketing overwhelm.
