Recent Writing Gems

I’ve attended a bunch of classes and seminars lately, and here are some of the gems that I picked up that can help writers…

Writing Dialog with Andrea Johnson:

• Johnson reminded writers that dialog is more than just a conversation. It advances the plot and establishes the tone.

• Dialog is faster for readers to process than narrative, and it’s a way to show the point of view and personalities of your characters.

• She suggested that authors avoid long physical descriptions of characters in dialog.

• Johnson also suggested that writers avoid having characters having long philosophical discussions with themselves.

Podcasts to Add to Your Favorites’ List:

• Pick Your Poison

• Dark Predators

• Murder in the Hollywood Hills

• Missing in America

• Check out Sarah E. Burr’s post on Writers Who Kill about her favorite true crime podcasts.

Book Marketing:

• Book Funnel is a way that authors can distribute their ARCs (Advance Reader/Review Copies) and book giveaways to readers.

• It does require a subscription, and several tiered options are available. Make sure you review the features available with each plan.

• Some plans have options for authors to join newsletter swaps, email builders, and book sales with other authors. This is a way to expand your audience and add followers to your email list.

Newsletter Content Ideas

New writers often ask me what they should include in their newsletters. Here are some ideas that have worked for me.

• Announcements and What’s New with You

• Give-aways and Do Shout outs to Previous Winners

• Invitation to Join Your Street Team

• Ask for Reviews/References (e.g. book clubs, speaking events, etc.)

• Highlight One of Your Interesting Blog Posts

• Recipes

• Craft Projects

• Your Hobbies

• Your Pets

• Your Favorite Things

• Feature What You’re Reading or Watching

• Interview Other Authors

• Pictures of Where You’ve Been Recently

• Highlights of Blogs, Take-overs, Podcasts, and Interviews That You’ve Done Recently

• Where You’ll Be Next

What would you add to my list?

Ways to Expand Your Facebook Presence

It takes some time and a lot of care and feeding to build a steady following on social media. Here are some ideas of things you can do to expand your social media presence.

• There are lots of specialized Facebook groups for books, reading, and all genre imaginable. Find these and join them.

• Join in discussions.

• Many book groups on Facebook offer author take-overs. This is a chance for you to meet new readers in that genre and to introduce them to your books.

• Post interesting/entertaining content on your site. This keeps people coming back.

• Make sure your posts have some sort of picture, graphic, or video. Avoid huge blogs of text. Facebook often only shows the first few lines, make sure the important information is first in your sentence.

• Follow the 80/20 rule. Only about 20% of your posts should be about your books. Readers want to know about you and your interests.

• Be social. Don’t just post and run. Make sure you respond to comments.

• Spend some time scrolling your newsfeed and comment on others’ posts.

• Celebrate others’ accomplishments on your site.

• Put your key social media links in your email signature, website, and newsletter.

• Use your Search button. Look for topics that interest you for ideas of people or groups to follow. You can also search by key words for subjects like librarians, book bloggers, cozy mystery, etc. to see what is available.

• When you meet new people, check out their social sites and follow them.

• When you post group or event photos, make sure to tag the other folks who are with you. Your audience expands when they share it with their readers.

I'm a New Author - What Should I Work on First?

New authors often ask what part of their platform they should work on and when? Here’s what has worked for me.

Website: Purchase your domain name for your site and start creating the pages. This is the hub of all of your marketing efforts. I would create it first. If you don’t have a book to highlight yet, start with a blog and build a following. Blog about things in your book, your research, your hobbies, what you read/watch, or anything that catches your fancy. Try to have a regular schedule if possible.

Link to your social media accounts to your webpage and have a place where visitors can sign up for your newsletter. You can add pages and update the look as you add new books.

Email/Newsletter List: Start collecting names as soon as you start doing events or appearances. Have a sign-up sheet where people can register. Decide how often you want your newsletter to go out and what kind of content you want to include. I do mine quarterly with some kind of contest. I include announcements, events, photos, and interviews of other authors.

There are all kinds of free and paid email services that you can use to build your newsletter from templates and to house/maintain your list of followers. Remember, you can be banned from social media platforms, or the site can shut down. When this happens, you have no way of contacting those followers. You own your email list, and that’s why it’s important to have and cultivate.

Social Media Sites: I would also start to build a following on these as soon as you can. Agents, editors, and publishers often look at your website and social media sites to see your content and what kind of following you have. I started out years ago with three Twitter followers. It takes time to build an audience. Choose the one or two sites that you want to focus on and follow at least 10 people a day.

I write cozy mysteries. Most of my readers are on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, so that’s where I focus most of my time, but I do have a presence on a variety of other sites. Make sure your readers can easily find you. Make the look and feel of each site (photograph and banners) similar. To build (and keep) an audience, you need to be social. You need to interact with those who comment, post interesting content (that’s not all “buy my book”), and share other’s celebrations.

A business page on Facebook and Instagram gives you access to metrics and insights about your page and activity and access to the business tools. I can see when my followers are most active, and I can schedule posts during those times. Some authors use their personal Facebook accounts. There is a limit to the number of friends you can have on a personal account, and once you hit that number, you can’t expand your reach. The business page isn’t limited.

I would focus on these three key parts of your author platform as soon as you decide to start your writing journey. There is a lot of waiting when you query agents or publishers or while you wait for publication. I would use this time to work on your website, newsletter, and social media sites.

What else would you add to my list?

Some Strategic Planning Tips That Can Help Your Writing

I recently completed a Strategic Training course for the day gig. A lot of the concepts, designed for planning and prioritizing IT work also translate to the writing world. Here’s what I learned.

You need to know who your customers are: Writers need to know who their readers are, and it’s not everyone who likes books. Authors need to look at their followers, their web and social media metrics, and their reviews to see if they can categorize who is buying and reading your book. Sometimes, it’s hard. If you don’t have data to look at, look at other authors who write books that are similar to yours. Look at their reviews and see which book bloggers and bookstagrammers are reading their work.

This helps you target your advertising and marketing to the groups who would be likely to be interested in your work. For example, from my metrics and demographics data, I can see that my readers are usually females between 20 and 60 who like animals, cozy mysteries, and humorous mysteries. I can create events, give-aways, and other promotions that would appeal to folks who have similar interests.

Wave your own flag: Sometimes, authors have trouble with promoting themselves because it feels like bragging, or they don’t feel comfortable being in the spotlight. Marketing, promotions, and building your author platform often force writers to step out of their comfort zones. It’s important to celebrate your wins and news. Try to keep your posts balanced. Your news/marketing items on social media should be 10 to 20% of your overall posts. And don’t forget to celebrate the successes of others!

Spend the time you have to on necessary tasks, but no more: This one is important for your time management. There are thousands of tasky things we have to do that don’t relate to your writing. The rule is to spend the time you have to on these things, but keep it limited. Remember that your job is to write your next book and to promote your work.

Plan for crisis situations to minimize risks: Always have a backup plan for emergencies. Make sure that you can get to your contact lists if your phone or email go down. Make sure that you backup your files. Your writing is precious, and there is nothing that will make a writer cry faster than to lose something you’ve been working on. Make sure that you keep your computer and phones updated regularly. These patches and updates contain security fixes. If you don’t apply them, your device is vulnerable.

Scan the environment and know your competition: Authors need to know what is going on in the industry and their genre. Read everything you can get your hands on. Peruse online or physical bookstores and see what is on the shelves and how books are categorized. Join writing groups for knowledge shares and training.

Apply lessons learned: Some critiques, rejections, and bad reviews don’t feel good. After you calm down, take the time to understand what the person was telling you. If there is something valuable in the feedback, take it as a lesson learned and find ways to incorporate it. Continuous improvement is a key part of your growth.

I know these concepts are for technology projects, but the concepts apply to writers and the work we do.

Idea Banks - Time Savers for Writers

Authors are often asked to provide ideas or proposals for programs, workshops, and panels. These are some ways authors can create idea banks or files to help you save time and stay organized.

Program Proposals

• Many times libraries or other groups will ask for a workshop or program. I keep a folder on my computer with each topic. This make it easier when I have to put together a new proposal. (I file them by title and group, so I make sure I don’t repeat a topic.)

• You need a catchy title. It helps when you market the event. Just make sure people can tell what the subject is from your title.

• I also have a Word document that has a description of what will be covered and any key details like other speakers, what type of equipment is needed, etc.

• I keep any promotional flyers, social media posts, and pictures in my file, too. That way, I can use them on my website or on the socials.

Question Banks

• If you’re organizing or moderating a panel, you often need to create the questions.

• I have a Word document (filed by title and group) with the questions for each event. When I finish my question draft, I rearrange them in the order that makes sense for the flow of the panel discussion.

• In my Word document, I indicate which speaker the question is for or whether it’s a group question. (Not all panelists need to answer every question.)

• I review the draft with the panelists and get their input.

• Always have extra questions in case you have time to fill.

• You can often reuse some questions at future events.

Slide Decks

• I keep copies of all the classes and workshops that I teach. (These are also filed by title and group.)

• It is helpful to have a starting point when you’re creating a new class, and sometimes you can reuse some of the slides, handouts, or the content.

• I always brand my slides and handouts with my author logo and website.

Graphics

• I’m sure you’re seeing a pattern here. I keep a folder of graphics that I’ve created for my blog, newsletter, or social media sites. I file these by subject. I use these on the original post and on the socials to market it.

• Studies show that Facebook and Instagram posts that are noticed more have an eye-catching graphic or a video.

• I use BookBrush to create images for my books (especially seasonal ones).

• I use Canva to create images for my website, newsletter, blog, and social media sites.

Story Ideas/Names/Place Names

• I was drowning in little scraps of paper and sticky notes. I jot down ideas wherever I happen to be (and on whatever paper is handy).

• To get organized, I created giant idea spreadsheet. I have different workbooks for each topic, and I can sort them by any of the columns.

• I attend a lot of training and workshops and put my notes of and the source in my idea spreadsheet. I also add the contact information if the subject matter expert offered to answer questions after the training.

• I made a spreadsheet for my book promotions that includes bloggers, reporters, book reviewers, bookstagrammers, podcasters, librarians, bookstore contacts, and other bookish events and promotional ideas. Since I write multiple series, I have a workbook for each book in each series. When I start my launch planning, I look at what I did last time and update it with any changes or new ideas.

How do you keep yourself organized? Let me know what works for you.

What Have You Done Lately for Your Author Journey?

Every year, I help my team write their annual goals, and a big component of this is their developmental work. I work in IT, and technology and best practices are constantly changing. As an author, you need to continue your learning experiences to stay current with trends and to hone your skills. Here are some ideas:

• Take a class. Many libraries, writing organizations, and other organizations sponsor courses that appeal to writers. There are also thousands of YouTube videos that will show you how to do all kinds of things.

• Learn a new technology that will help you with your marketing (editing videos, creating memes, putting together a newsletter…).

• Learn how to use a social media platform that you haven’t joined yet.

• Attend a workshop or an author panel. There are so many available in-person and online.

• Attend a conference.

• Find the SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) online. Many have websites, tutorials, podcasts, and newsletters.

• Check out your local library’s website and look at all the programming and opportunities they offer.

• Many alumni associations, neighborhood associations, and civic groups offer programs for their members.

• Visit your local bookstores and check out their program calendars.

What else would you add to my list?

What's Your Author Brand?

What is your author brand?

Branding helps readers identify you as an author and sets expectations for your readers. It helps you create a visual identity. Your colors, fonts, photos, graphics, and logo need to match your writing style and your genre.

My first traditionally published piece was a short story in an anthology that had a red and black cover, so I matched my graphics to that color palette. I talked to a publicist years later, and she asked why my sites looked dark because my writing style is light and humorous. Now, I use pastels. If you need help, Google color wheel. There are tons of them out there. It helps you choose complimentary colors.

Things you need:

• Know who your audience is. It’s not everyone who reads. You need to figure out who reads what you write.

  • Look at authors who write you like you. Who follows them? Who reviews their books?

  • Look at your website and social media metrics. These can help you narrow down age groups, countries of origin, and genders of your followers and visitors.

• Know who else is writing in your genre. Check out their websites.

• A logo - This helps readers identify your social sites, newsletter, blog, and website. It needs to match your style of writing and your colors.

• A tagline - This is a short statement that describes your writing.

  • Mine is Mysteries with a Southern Accent.

• A professional photograph - You need a professional photo (no selfies). That was one of my first investments. Your readers need to be able to know that they’ve found the sites of an author.

What else would you add to my list?