Finding Time to Write and to Promote, That's a Puzzle Plaguing Most Authors.

Here an minute, there an hour. does that describe the you social media time? Seems like I'm always promoting one story or another.

 

I'm not the only writer I know who complains about social media gobbling their writing time. But marketing to build a fan base takes time ... or money. If you're like me, you've got more time than money.

As I write this DuoLit , a source of much good advice, seems to be on vacation ... or something, but they keep popping up on the web. One blog which I keep rereading, "Authors Who Say “I Don’t Have Enough Time for Promotion” Are Doomed to Fail", gives writers some ideas for managing their social media time.

Yeah marketing is the bane of a writer's existence. If you don't promote, you don't exist in the possible reader's mind. Lack of recognition is the bane of the pip-squeak writer's "career".

Came across a marketing article on the importance of not ignoring Amazon. I'm including it because I recently came to the conclusion that I needed to promote my for-pay books, like Troublesome Neighbors, on Amazon more ... on my own. Haven't broken the code to selling more than a few books a month, but if I study enough... ?????????? Who knows what might happen. I do have some decent reviews. 

7 Bestseller Book Marketing Strategies For Fiction Writers by Jonathan Gunson is one of the best promotion round-ups I've seen in a long time. Thought it was well worth studying. In fact, you should check out the side bars too. You'll find lots of interesting information. 

How does my promotion do? Not too well. I'm not a social being [like I'm a grumpy hermit] so the word-of-mouth thing and building a fan base is like reading cuneiform to me. But I keep trying.

Perhaps one of my greatest promotion finds: Buffer, a service for scheduling your tweets. Yeah, there are others. But Buffer has just added a new application. You can now post pictures into the body of your text when you use them. Even the computer klutz here [me] can work it. They offer a limited free service and a paid one. The cheapskate here still does the free bit. Oh, one other thing Buffer offers built in analytics of your tweets. 

You may be dismayed by the number of click throughs ... but every looker counts.

~~#~~

Promotion gobbled my time this week. Today was the perfect example. Came upstairs determined to start writing new stuff on a new story.  

First came reading my three comics. 

Then, had to check my Amazon ranking, which is sinking again ... though I got another four star review. [It was too generalized to crow about.] But when I check my reviews, my description for The Ghost in the Closet picked at me again.

Then, I went in to edit the description and post it on both Amazon and Smashwords. The story is also on Nook but it'll be a while before the changes appear. Below is the new version.

Some say seeing ghosts is a gift,

 but after losing her job, Dumdie Swartz says, "Hogwash".

Since she was a child, Dumdie has seen ghosts. Over the years, she developed several tics and quirks to hide the fact. When her boss witnesses several of these occasions, he fires her, thinking that she suffers from mental issues that could hurt his business. 

Without a job and money, Dumdie becomes just another old woman living out of her car. As winter approaches, her luck changes. Dumdie secures a room in a homeless shelter. But all isn't well. The ghost of the former owner of the converted mansion haunts Dumdie's room because she’s distressed over her lost will.

When the shelter is threatened with closure, Dumdie must make a decision. Does she continue to hide her gift or does she use her talents to save the shelter...and herself. 


Now that most of my morning is gone. I will have accomplished something, I guess. The new sales description which I hope is an improvement and this blog which has been edited four times through. I hope you accomplish more with your writing time this week.

Some Things Promotional

For the record, I still haven't given up on promoting my writing -- only I'm promoting my two free Half-Elven stories more than Taking Vengeance. Did set up a Facebook page for the novelette, not that it has many likes. Don't keep it up like I should either. Such fares the social networking when you're running behind.

At the same time, I'm thinking of setting up a new website under my author name -- M. K. Theodoratus. Grumpy Dragon says they are progressing on the artwork revisions for the vowel-controlled, color-a-comic pre-primer. How's that for a mouthful. That's the academize for Pat, the Pet.

Whatever, the ladies over at Duolit shared some info on search engine optimization: Five Things that Really Matter to Search Engines. It includes some useful tips well worth seeing if you can modify your current networking endeavors.

Once Search Engines find you, the people who searched will want to know more about you. That's where your "About Me Page" comes in.  Sonia Simone recently blogged, asking if you are making these seven mistakes with your about page. Rather than doing a major retooling here, you get a chance to improve with relatively minor revisions.

Getting Noticed, the Bug-a-Boo of Promotion

Okay, I'm still hitting my head against the big marketing wall and have the bruises to prove it. Little traffic and sales.

Yeah, "I'm promoting". An example. Just noticed that I've done over a 1,000 Tweets and over 200 followers [most of them pertinent to writing]. The first few months I visited there, my tweets and followers were in the single digits.

Surprising, how promoting your stuff adds up. I'm mentioning all three of my pubs on Twitter. I include the Independent Authors Network' hash-tag and url. They even retweet me ... for what that's worth.

Does Twitter work for book promotion? I think maybe. I know that I get more traffic when I mention my books on Smashwords. Whether or not, someone buys depends on your blurb and other marketing skills. I think writers can chalk one up for the traditional publishers here. At least, I have this dream that they have a set of guidelines to help their writers do the promotion bit.

Back to the bug-a-boo of promotion: getting people to notice your book. A book by the IBC  [the Indie Book Collective] people does just that according to Jeff Bennington at The Writing Time Bomb. Why, oh why, do I keep finding such stuff when I don't have the time to absorb it. How to Sell More Ebooks gives some great ideas on getting noticed on Amazon where probably more USA books are sold than any where else. 

I'm thinking the book may be a buy ... but how to you study on Kindle? Can you underline and write notes to yourself as you read?

Yet again the ladies at Duolit have come up with some great suggestions for getting your NaNoWriMo project getting noticed by other writers: 5 Ways to Build Hype Before NaNoWriMo.  The good thing? Many of the ideas will apply to promoting all your writing.

So, happy writing ... and happier promoting if you sell something. If you are on Facebook, Twitter, etc you can promote even your short story sales. I'm sure editors appreciate all positive mentions of their publications ... just like authors do.

Random Thoughts On Writing

Color my face green for Halloween. Read Maria Zanini's blog on promoting her new book, Chain of Souls. She's running a nice little contest [+], all people have to do is mention it on Facebook and Twitter so it's easy, [+], mentions her first book [+], and feeds her dog at the same time. Seriously, you should take some time to read her past blogs. I like her energetic promotion of her books. 

[I'm the contrast for what not to do. All talk, and very little do.]

Ever wonder why so many "mainstream" writers are e-publishing their backlist? The Passive Guy ran a piece where Nina Bruhns, a romance writer [who I haven't read], discusses why she e-published. Seems her traditionally published print book delivered $42.50 in royalties. Over the same period of time, the same number of e-books sold = $1500. Don't need to think much about why there's an indie revolution.

Writing paranormal? If you can put an interesting twist o the cliches, I think you have a strong market. Picked up a paperback at the grocery store featuring five short stories by J. C. Robb and a bunch of other writers I had never heard of before, including Ruth Ryan Langan. In touch with the season, all had a touch of the paranormal.

My favorite story of the bunch was Langan's "The Unforgiven", a ghost story about a highland lord who wasn't too thrilled about have his castle turned into a bed and breakfast by a impoverished woman, who had just inherited said castle. The story was quite a bit more complicated than that but that's a good enough log line for writing of the fly. [Robb's monster was pretty neat, too, but I can't remember the other stories.]

Then, there's NaNoWriMo. The madness is almost here, and the Duolit team gives writers a strategy for successfully pounding out 50,000 words.  Look at their other suggestions on their blog: 5 Tips For NaNoWriMo Success. My comment: If I have to do an outline, I'm doomed.

Is Your Writer Bio Shopworn?

Is Your Writer Bio Shopworn?

Still using the same bio you wrote last year or the year before? If yes, shame on you. According to Duolit, your author bio is a key plank in your author platform, It doesn't pay to neglect it ... like I've been doing. [*cringes*]

My bios have been static since I sold Taking Vengeance to WolfSinger Press over a year ago. Though I had thought about rewriting my bio recently, I hadn't done anything about it because I was drowning in other marketing junk, ... sorry, duties.  Then, I read Robin Sullivan's blog about bios, asking "Is Yours [Bio] Working for You? Talk about a kick in the pants!

Her premise is you need three bios: short, medium, and long. Plus, you should change them often. Wondering what to put in them? She gives you a good example from one of her clients for your long bio. More suggestions for medium and short [Twitter] bios is to come.

Why not check your bio? According to Sullivan, your bio should (1) give your readers some insights into you, (2) be engaging, (3) be truthful/heartfelt, and (4) tell a story.

But your task doesn't end there.  The other parts of your author platform need polishing too. The Duolit team did a blog that can help you create a More Cohesive Author Brand. Their five tips threatens to give me two weeks worth or more of work to build my coherent online author image. Just what I need since I'm still scrounging for bloggers to review me ebook, Taking Vengeance.

Where do I stand? Neck deep in do and do more.  I don't think I've changed my bio in over a year. Granted, I don't have much to brag about, but marketing is all about presenting a polished image. My online image is totally haphazard. The good news? I found two links that'll help me polish my image ... if I ever get ambitious.

Fantasy Book Review: 
Derek Landy, The Faceless Ones

Found Derek Landy's third Skulduggery Pleasant, The Faceless Ones, while cleaning out some boxes under the table last week. My reward was great in new reading because I found two other books in the series, the ones that were published in Britain. I'm looking forward to a Skulduggery read-a-thon over this weekend without even attempting to progress on The Game of Thrones, no matter how much I like George R. R. Martin's character sketches. For my reading enjoyment this weekend, it's Skulduggery all the way.

Yeah, YA print books conquer the might of the TV series. The Kirkus review summed it up so beautifully I think I'll just quote them. "A high-intensity tale shot through with spectacular magic battle, savage mayhem, cool outfits, monster, hidden doors, over-the-top names, narrow escapes, evil scheme, and behavior heroic ..."  

I'd add double crosses and false trails or is that red herrings? Whatever, Valkyrie aka Stephanie and the reader are left hanging on her own devises when Skulduggery saves the day in a way Valkyrie doesn't expect.  How can I not read on to the next book, Dark Days. Skulduggery Review, continued. Look for the next episode next week ... if I'm diligent.

This book is dark enough and moves so fast, that even adults who don't groove on fantasy will enjoy. Hey, the series even tickles your funny bone. Best yet, the Mrs. Grundies haven't started complaining about this middle grade book's darkness ... yet.

Trivia:

Have a Facebook page up for Taking Vengeance, but don't really know what to do with it yet. At least I figured out what kind of stuff to add to it.  

Think I'm going to change the page to the Far Isles Half-Elven though. 

As I said, I don't know what I was doing. 

Incidently, I'm looking for people to like the Taking Vengeance page.