Author Archive
Determining if an author blog is right for you
October 9th, 2009 by Kimberly BrockAt latest count, there are more than 100 million blogs on the internet today. Traditionally, blogs were web based log or diary entries which included photos, insights and links about what the author found interesting. Today, more and more businesses have also used blogs to send out updates, news feeds and connect directly with consumers. As an author, is creating a blog right for you?
I recently came across a great article titled, “The Author’s Dilemma: To Blog or Not to Blog” by Claire E. White. In this article Ms. White outlines the different types of blogs, what makes a great author blog and the pros and cons of blogging. The article is a few years old, but the content is still relevant.
This article included a great quote from Jonathan Karp of Warner Twelve:
Writers have to be promoters if they believe in their work. Blogs are a way for authors to communicate directly with readers and establish a personal connection. It’s a way to reach readers who may not attend bookstore events, and it’s more convenient for authors, too. I haven’t met too many writers who were eager to fly to Houston for a day — though I’m sure Houston is lovely this time of year.
Still uncertain whether or not a blog is for you? Here are some points to consider before starting a blog:
1. You must love to write. Blogging requires frequent, interesting entries, responding to posts and leaving feedback on other blogs.
2. You must enjoy surfing the web. Having a successful blog does not end with posting your thoughts. It requires marketing, visiting other blogs, networking with other authors, and staying abreast of news that pertains to your topic.
3. You must have the time to commit to a blog. Having a successful blog requires frequent, meaningful entries that not only capture new readers, but also keeps established readers coming back for more. You must be willing to establish a set schedule for posting and be willing to follow through.
4. You must be transparent. What makes a good author blog is not just providing a platform for a given work, but the insights it provides readers into the author’s day to day struggles and successes. Maybe your dog has been sick and you finally found the right medication to help it? Maybe you struggle with migraines? Maybe you had a dream that inspired your work? Though on the surface, it appears that these topics have nothing to do with selling books, but what it does do is connect you to your readers in a very real and intimate way.
5. You must be fairly comfortable with internet technology or know someone who is. The best author blogs are constantly changing and evolving. Having a blog does require some basic software understanding. Having a blog will require a commitment to growing and learning how to maintain and improve your blog in order to provide the best online environment for your readers.
If you are ready to start a blog, here is an online article with the simplest instructions I have seen as to how to start a blog.
Here, too, is a list of some great author blogs to reference.
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Crafting Your Bio
August 24th, 2009 by Kimberly BrockI recently came across an article titled, How to Write a Killer Bio by Marci Alboher. In it Alboher mentions, “While writers should have an advantage in crafting well-written bios, it’s remarkable how few unleash their facility with language when profiling themselves.”
Having a good bio is a necessity if you want to be successful as an author. A bio should be considered one of your staple marketing tools. You will use a bio on the back of your books, websites and it will be submitted with any marketing materials for potential speaking opportunities. When considering writing a bio I always ask the question, “If you had to be introduced at a speaking event, how would you like to be characterized?”
A couple of tips to consider:
- Scale. Depending on the situation, you may need to prepare a couple of different bio options. Some publications place a limit on the amount of characters they will accept and you may need to be prepared to provide a shorter, more concise bio. Others, you could allow for a longer, more detailed bio.
- Be truthful. This is not a place to embellish. Many consider a bio to be a shortened version of your resume. Don’t say, “I’ve sold more than 125,000 books from my garage” if you cannot back the statistic up (yep, it has happened!).
- Perspective. Although a bio should always be written in third person, adopting this perspective can be particularly helpful when writing about yourself. Although it may feel a bit uncomfortable at first, this really is the place to brag about your many accomplishments.
- Contact. Would you pay to place an ad and not include where to buy your product? Although there are many approaches to writing a good bio, which ever you choose do not forget to include your contact information. Consider your bio a mini advertisement about you.
Read How to Write a Killer Bio for additional tips.
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Twitter Marketing: Joining the Conversation
June 26th, 2009 by Kimberly Brock
Twitter has become one of the newest social media tools to hit the Internet providing marketers, bloggers and Internet users a new means to communicate. Even though I had worked in marketing for many years, I have to admit–I was more than reluctant to explore yet one more shiny new Internet tool. Once I did, my head virtually exploded with the possibilities Twitter offers.
From a simple question, “What are you doing?” Twitter connects you with friends, family, coworkers, colleagues and potential customers. In 140 characters or less, I am able to keep my “followers” (those who subscribe to my Twitter feed) updated on my life. For example, I may post that I am having a business lunch in regards to a new product release. I generally tweet about my life, what I am doing professionally, when I am traveling, links to articles that may interest my followers and join in the general Twitter discussion.
If you have been hesitant to join in the Twitter phenomenon, here are some tips to get your started:
- Go to Twitter.com and sign up for an account. If you are doing this for business, it is advisable to use your real name.
- Create your profile page and post a photo of you. You will also want to write up a small bio. Do also link any other pertinent information such as personal and professional websites, blog, linked-in page and any recent write-ups. I do recommend creating a custom background for your page. The website twitterbackgrounds.com has a great selection of FREE designs to choose from. The more people get to know you as an individual, the more likely they are going to return to you or click through to see what you are working on.
- The next big question is “Who do I follow?” You want to start with friends, family, coworkers, and colleagues [Ed- and @BelieversPress too!]. Then go to wefollow.com. WeFollow is a directory of Twitter subscribers. You want to follow tweeple who have similar interests. Twitter, after all, is a social media tool; finding people with similar interests will help facilitate meaningful conversation. [Ed: Check out the ECPA tag for people in the Christian publishing industry]
- Next, I recommend visiting crazybob.org/twubble. “Twubble” is a service developed by Google software engineer Bob Lee. It recommends new Twitter friends to you based upon whom your friends follow. This is a great means of increasing your Twitter bubble (twubble). I have found many great Twitter feeds to subscribe to from this site. [Ed: Mr. Tweet is another popular service that recommends followers]
- Do enter in the conversation. Do not bombard followers with constant posts about your product. Ensure that the content for which you are posting is relevant, interesting and noteworthy so that your subscribers look forward to your posts. It is incredibly tempting as a marketer to want to get the greatest visibility for my product, but posting spam too frequently will turn off my followers and they will no longer click through.
- Encourage conversation. Twitter is not just a source for content. Try posting a thought provoking question, run a survey, or get honest feedback to an idea you have been kicking around. Ask questions that encourage your followers to engage with you.
- Follow relevant Twitter feeds. If I find someone who consistently posts interesting content, I will comment and let them know. This introduces them to my existence and that builds traffic for my campaign as well.
Still need a little nudge to get started on Twitter?
You may want to check out the June 2009 issue of Time Magazine that features an article titled, “How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live.”
Excerpt:
Today the language of advertising is dominated by the notion of impressions: how many times an advertiser can get its brand in front of a potential customer’s eyeballs, whether on a billboard, a Web page or a NASCAR hood. But impressions are fleeting things, especially compared with the enduring relationships of followers. Successful businesses will have millions of Twitter followers (and will pay good money to attract them), and a whole new language of tweet-based customer interaction will evolve to keep those followers engaged: early access to new products or deals, live customer service, customer involvement in brainstorming for new products.
If you would like to follow me, you can find me at @kimberlybrock
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Self-Published Novel Wins Major Literary Award
April 9th, 2009 by Kimberly BrockThat’s a headline we’ll be seeing more of in the future. The barrier erected by agents on behalf of publishers has come back to haunt them. In this instance we are talking about Carol Buchanan’s historical thriller God’s Thunderbolt: The Vigilantes of Montana which has already been reviewed by SPR. It just won the 2009 Spur Award for Best New Novel.
In these tough economic times, self-publishing is proving more and more viable.
Kimberly
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Down from the ivory tower: Has self-publishing come of age?
April 9th, 2009 by Kimberly BrockGreat series of articles from booksellers.com about the impact self-publishing is making on traditional publishers. Also includes some interesting approaches to self-promotion.
Some Highlights
“For many authors self-publishing has become a fantastic marketing tool to garner attention from the industry’s big players. By proving that they are both ambitious and serious, and have sales figures to boot, self-publishing gives new authors even more ammunition; their work stops being just an unsolicited manuscript on a slushpile and becomes instead a viable product with its own CV.”
[Andrew Lownie] set up Thistle Publications in 1996, and produced 1,000 copies of each volume at a unit cost of £4 a book. Following adverts in the Spectator and some decent press coverage Lownie sold the complete run, making five or six pounds profit for each copy. He says: “It is even easier nowadays with the internet, you can set up a website and sell your book straight to readers…”
Set up in September 2008, authonomy lets unpublished and self-published authors post their manuscripts on its site, where they are ranked by fellow users. The most highly ranked manuscripts are then considered for publication by the publishers’ editors.
Interestingly, Steve Dunne, one of the authors to be signed up by HC had self-published his novel The Reaper before he put it on authonomy. Malcher explains: “I think he had sold several thousand copies, and although we wouldn’t have spotted him if he wasn’t on the site, once we found him we thought, ‘what else backs this investment up’, and his self publishing sales did.”
Wannabe author Vineet Bhala has caused a stir on authonomy.com. More commonly known as the blogger Klazart on the gaming website Starcraft, Bhala has used his 8,000 loyal subscribers to push his novel Lesser Sins to the top of Authonomy’s charts.
In 2006, Jill Bolte Taylor sold almost 4,000 copies of her self-published memoir My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey through Lulu.com, and the book was subsequently acquired by Viking US.
I welcome your feedback.
Kimberly
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We tend to think that we are first ministers with a pen. However, before we can minister, we must learn to worship and regard all our writing as an act of worship, done for God’s pleasure.
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