author without social media presence

So You’re an Author Without a Social Media Presence: Now What?

Social media is just one component of your author platform, and not necessarily the most important component. It works best as part of a holistic book marketing and promotion strategy.
The Difference Between a Press Release and a Pitch (You Need Both)

The Difference Between a Press Release and a Pitch (You Need Both)

The two biggest mistakes in book publicity pitches: they are too long in length, and not pointed or provocative enough.
Aleatha Romig

Fan-Friendly Marketing and Kindle Worlds Licensing: Q&A with Aleatha Romig

Primarily an indie published author, Aleatha Romig participates in Kindle Worlds, which allows other authors to write about the characters in her work.
bestsellerdom

How Do Books Become Bestsellers? (Can Authors Increase Those Chances?)

Is a book's success all luck, even if 'luck' includes hitting the right subject matter at the right time, or is it marketing—and can an indie author in any way compete with a publisher?
Indie Author Fringe

Improve Book Sales Through Better Descriptions and Keyword Targeting

Is it better to have a long or short book description on Amazon? What should go in the first line? How do you research appropriate categories and keywords? Learn principles and tools to master the power of descriptions and reach your target market.
Using NetGalley and Goodreads

Case Study: Using NetGalley and Goodreads for Book Marketing and Publicity

Sarah Miniaci at Smith Publicity and Kristina Radke at NetGalley review the marketing and publicity strategies that can help increase your book's discoverability, word-of-mouth, and reviews, using NetGalley and Goodreads in particular.
amazon kdp select

Is Amazon Exclusivity Right for You?

There are advantages to selling ebooks only through Amazon, and makes most sense for authors who are just starting out or who are relatively unknown.
marketing roundup

Book Marketing Resources for Authors: The Best of 2016

Every year, I share hundreds (even thousands) of articles and reports on book marketing. Here, I look back on the best of what I found in 2016.
princess saves herself

A Self-Published Poet’s Path to Her First Book Deal

How a self-publishing poet achieved visibility for her book—and landed a book deal with traditional publisher Andrews McMeel.
checklists for publishing

Marketing and Publishing Checklists for Writers

When embarking on a process that is new or unfamiliar, often you don't know what you don't know. A checklist helps you recognize what you don't know, so that many months later, you're not beating yourself up for complete ignorance. Without further ado, here are some of my most favored checklists, from sources I trust.
get 10000 visits

How to Get 10,000 Visits to Your Blog in One Day with No Platform

Getting traction for your online presence—especially a new blog—can feel like an impossible task when you're an unknown writer. But it can be done.
author-publisher disappointment

3 Things Your Traditional Publisher Is Unlikely to Do

The No. 1 disappointment of published authors is the lack of marketing support from their publisher. Here's how to prepare for what will—and won't—happen.
Reddit book marketing

How to Use Reddit to Market Your Books (Carefully)

Reddit is an online community where you can get your book in front of hundreds of thousands of readers for free. That is, if you have the right strategy.
short term campaigns

How to Run Short-Term Social Media Campaigns

A short-term marketing campaign is a series of strategies designed to reach a goal in a defined period of time, and include projects such as book launches. A short-term campaign has four definite phases: planning, pre-launch, launch, and follow-through.
call-to-action

What Writers Too Often Overlook: Having a Call to Action

Just about every writer would love to have more readers—more readers of their books, their blog, their articles, or whatever creative work they’re producing. But few writers have given much thought to having a call to action that's associated with their work.
push-or-pull marketing

Are You a Push Marketer or a Pull Marketer?

If you want to be successful at selling today, you need to quit pushing your needs (please buy my book) and messages at potential readers and concentrate on figuring out how to pull them in by putting their needs above yours. Give them something valuable.
social media for writers

Why You Should Join All Social Media Networks

I think it's fair to say that most of us are not looking to add more social media activity to our lives.
paying for book reviews

Are Paid Book Reviews Worth It?

The majority of authors will not benefit from paid book reviews, and should invest their time and money elsewhere. Here's why.
author business

5 Observations on the Evolution of Author Business Models

As publishing becomes increasingly digital-driven, how are the business models for authorship changing?
I Heart Social Media

Beware of One-Size-Fits-All Advice for Social Media

Be careful before applying someone else's social media advice to your situation.
Email newsletter

5 Ways to Quickly Improve Your Email Newsletter Performance

How to improve the effectiveness of your email newsletter through very specific changes to your sign-up forms and content.
Book marketing on Pinterest

Using Pinterest to Market Children’s Picture Books

A children's author shares her strategies for promoting her picture books on Pinterest—as well as what adult fiction marketing techniques haven't worked for her.
by Niklas Wikström

My 5 Philosophies of Social Media

If you need a place to start, then focus on talking about or posting about others you admire.
Author Hangout with Jane Friedman

Platform Building for Authors [30-Minute Video Interview]

In a 30-minute video interview, I discuss the basics of author platform.
Facebook for Authors

Facebook for Authors: Getting Started Guide

This 101 guide describes best practices for authors using Facebook for book marketing, with tips on when you should set up a fan page.
Red Hot Internet Publicity by Penny Sansevieri

3 Ways to Improve Your Website Design

Today's guest post is adapted from Red Hot Internet Publicity by Penny Sansevieri. Between Los Angeles and Las Vegas there’s
Kitty Cornered by Bob Tarte

How One Introverted Author Successfully Markets His Work

The following Q&A is with author Bob Tarte. Bob lives in Michigan with parrots, ducks, geese, parakeets, rabbits, doves, cats, hens,
Facebook strategy

Facebook Strategy for Authors: In-Depth Discussion

If you're like most authors I know, you've wondered about how to best use Facebook. Should you stick to your
Avery Monsen & Jory John

What Is an Author’s Marketing Responsibility With a Traditional Publisher?

It is a pleasure to share this interview with two authors who are also marketing geniuses, Avery Monsen (@averymonsen) and
Beatrice by Ron Hogan

The Tension Between Art and Commercial Realities

Today's Q&A is with Ron Hogan. For anyone who's worked in publishing for more than two minutes, Ron hardly needs an