When did you last blog about your book?

Do you blog about your work in progress so potential readers can learn about your book; creating desire to purchase and read it.

It is easier to let readers know what to expect if you keep them informed about the progress, a hint about the subject, and a possible availability date.

Blogging about your work in progress is not about hype, but a journey with your followers, capturing new followers, and growing your list of potential readers organically, the only way to grow a real list of followers.

Building a growing list of legitimate followers over time is part of marking and promoting your book to people who read. You are trying to grow interest in what you do, write.

Unfortunately, social media is becoming a den of iniquity with people on almost every platform wanting to sell you followers.

When or if an agent searches you on Google, is he going to see real followers, or is he going to see fake followers, which will be a detriment to your reputation?

There are no short cuts to building a following; it requires work and time to establish a following organically.

Even working with traditional publishers, authors need to market and promote their work. What better way than building a following or people waiting for your book.

All authors need some type of platform for building a following of readers following along the journey from concept to publication.

The point is to build a large list of potential purchasers and readers for your book. One way to do this is by blogging. Another is with an author’s page, a website, or some other platform used for building a following for your books.

For any author to succeed in publishing books, authors need to publicize their books, find readers, promote the book, marketing the book, and schedule signings.

As an author, blogging about your book’s progress is a way to engage readers to follow you, while they learn more about your book, and when they will be able to purchase a copy.

Author
Robert Medak
Freelance Writer, Blogger, Editor, Proofreader, and Reviewer learning ethical Marketing
follow the author at http://xeeme.com/RobertMedak

If you need help making your copy better or have any questions, please use my contact form and we will work together.

Kindle Publishing vs.Traditional Publishing

First, accept the fact there are pros and cons to publishing your book via either method.

There is no reason to create a litany of the differences, in addition, how they are similar.

Either method requires an author’s platform, and a following. A literary agent will Google the author, the question is what will they find.

An author’s followers are potential purchasers and readers of the author’s book or books.

With a blog, an author’s followers can grow, and followers can track the progress of books, purchase books, and learn about upcoming products, learn about the author, and even about the writing journey of the author.

What will an agent find when he searches you?

Whether you publish on Kindle or Publishing House, authors need to have a presence, followers, marketing strategy, promotion strategy, and be willing to schedule book signings, and PR.

It is up to the author to sell the book, not the publisher. It is also up to the author to find honest book reviewers to obtain posted reviews to spread the word about the book. In addition, where readers of the review may purchase a copy of the author’s book.

Publishing via either method requires the author to edit their manuscript to create the best manuscript possible converted into a book for readers. Authors do not want to disappoint readers with a book containing grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, tense, or word choice errors.

If an author decides to publish on Kindle opposed to traditional, the author would have more creative control, and pricing of their book.

With Amazon being the 900 pound gorilla in the mix, can you publish on Kindle and POD simultaneously?

This would depend on any type or agreement the author enters into with Kindle publishing.

Authors need to read the fine print before any type of publishing or any type of agreement before committing their book to any publishing platform, of which there are many and new ones opening up to self-publishing almost daily. 

Author

Robert Medak

Freelance Writer, Blogger, Editor, Proofreader, and Reviewer learning ethical Marketing

Follow the author: http://xeeme.com/RobertMedak

If you need help making your writing better or have any questions about how to improve your writing, please use the contact form and work together to make your work better.

Why Authors Need a Platform

Like it or not, let’s start with the fact that writing is a business for better or worse. Authors are entrepreneurs with a product. Whether self-published or traditionally published a book is a product or commodity in search of customers. That is what business is about, finding customers.

Authors need readers and they need a platform for readers to find them and their books.

Does building a platform take time away from writing?

Anything that authors do other than writing is time away from creating the story. Unfortunately, platform building comes with the territory of the author. Either the author builds the platform or they must outsource the platform building to someone else.

When building an author’s platform it would be nice if one platform were enough, but never rely on just one to work for you. Authors just like businesses need more than one platform to inform potential customers what you have to offer by online platforms.

What are the platforms?

Platforms come in many varieties. One is a Web site; others are social media (Facebook, Blog, Twitter…), newsletters, video trailers (YouTube or posted on a blog...), any way for readers to find out about an author’s book.

Platforms are a way for authors to promote and advertise their books as well as a way to sell books. A blog is a good way for others to build interest in their book as they blog about the creation of the book by writing about the book on their blog and keeping potential readers up to date on how the book is advancing.

Platforms are free advertising for authors; and create interest in potential readers making them customers.  

Platforms like blogs and Web sites are a great place to post chapter excerpts and receive feedback from the people who visit our blog or wherever you post an excerpt from your book building interest and creating a list of potential purchasers and readers waiting for publishing of author’s book.

Finally, there is no question that authors need more than one platform; the question is whom is the one building it. Either the author must take on the job or outsource it.

Robert Medak

Freelance writer, blogger, editor, proofreader, reviewer, marketer

http://www.authorsden.com/robertmedak

http://rjmedak.wordpress.com/

http://twitter.com/RJ_Medak

Competition

As a writer, do you compete against yourself?

Every time you set pen to paper you should be competing with yourself; this is the only way to eliminate stagnation in your writing.

By competing with yourself, each new piece should be better than your last.

Readers expect to read a story that resonates with them on some visceral level. They want their emotions to ride along with the roller coaster ride of the characters in the story.

This is what writes do. By writing and competing against your last piece, the writing should improve.

For example, when you were younger did you ride a bike like an expert the first time you sat on the seat, and used peddles for the first time? Most of us would say no. it takes practice to improve.

As you learn more, write more, you are practicing writing. We all improve by doing, not just going through the motions.

Your readers will let you know how you’re doing by either purchasing your books or not.

If you are a writer, you want people to read what you have written unless your writing is a hobby and you just write for yourself.

Most writers write so others will read them.

Nathaniel Hawthorne said, “Easy reading is damn hard writing.” This is very true.

Writers work hard so that readers will have an easy time reading our work and escape the outside world during the time we take them on a journey through our words.

Work hard to make your reading easy.

Robert Medak

Freelance writer, editor, proofreader, book reviewer, marketer

StormyWriter.com

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What not to market

If you choose to self publish your book, before you send it out, proof the book as a reader reads your book.

As a professional book reviewer, I hate seeing books that have formatting errors, typos, the wrong word choice, and more.

If the only reason you are publishing is to see your name on a book and stroke your ego, than forget about errors and look like an amateur, that’s up to you. If you take writing and your book seriously, than you need to make sure that what you make available for readers is as error fee as possible.

How to make you best book the best book possible:

• Have an error free manuscript
• Before you print the book en masse, get a copy to proof
• Have a second person read the book
• If you notice any errors, have the printer fix them
• If the book is reprinted, check it again for any errors
• Repeat steps to ensure that you book is as error free as possible

If you follow these steps, your readers will enjoy your book more than if you don’t. Most authors want to have readers for subsequent books; you won’t if you turn them off by errors and wrong word choice.

Mark Twain said about articles, which is also true for book authors, "The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is that you really want to say." Just substitute book for article.

The idea of a story is for the reading pleasure of the person who spends money on your book.

Do you have a marketing plan?

Once you’ve written your book, how do you plan on marketing it? Today’s publishers will be asking about your following, various platforms that you use for promotion and sales. This is part of the process that will be part of your advance from publishers. The better your marketing plan the more money, it’s that simple.
An author must wear several hats in today’s publishing environment. The author is marketer, PR person, promoter, and book seller. It is up to the author to do all of this today. The publishing houses won’t. In fact, they may not work with you at all if you don’t have some platform in place.

You will also have to begin establishing a following before your book is completed. The time to begin promotion and marketing is before you begin writing your book. There are social media sites where you can begin, but consider creating a website for the book and promote the website everywhere you can. Network with people; establish relationships, and market, market, market without being pushy of salesy.
Welcome to the publishing world. Bet you didn’t know that you need to be a salesperson as well as an author, did you?

You must also ask yourself if you want to go the route of a publishing house of self-publish. This is the author’s decision. There are numerous places to self-publish or POD to get your book on the market.

Amazon has be playing hardball with printing houses as far as having a buy button for your book if the particular house doesn’t want to follow Amazon’s rules; Amazon also has their own publishing brand.

One of the problems with self-publishing is how much the author is willing to spend for an editing package. Also, some of the publishing houses for self-publishing create books that are sub-par in design, illustration, formatting, and printing. The books are easily recognizable as self-published and that will make them hard to sell in bookstores.

Whoever you chose to publish your book, make sure you have a marketing plan and followers to entice the publishing house if you choose to traditional route to publication, and if you choose to self-publish be wary of who owns the ISBN when publishing via this route. The person that owns the ISBN technically owns the printing and how/when the book is published.

Good luck with your book.