Author: K.S. Brooks

K.S. Brooks is an award-winning novelist, photographer, and photo-journalist, author of over 30 titles, and executive director and administrator of Indies Unlimited. Brooks is currently a photo-journalist and chief copy editor for two NE Washington newspapers.  She teaches self-publishing and writing topics for the Community Colleges of Spokane, and served on the Indie Author Day advisory board. For more about K.S. Brooks, visit her website and her Amazon author page.

Book Marketing Tips for Authors

K. S. Brooks
What’s it gonna take to get you to buy this book?

There has been a lot of complaining recently about authors who “overmarket” their books like used car salesmen yelling full blast in our faces. This, of course, raises the question: what exactly IS acceptable? Technically, only you can answer that – if you care not to alienate or oversell, the key to making that determination is really “treat others as you would like to be treated yourself.”

That said, I do have some tips for newbies and all authors which will make your efforts more tolerable for those receiving them, and more rewarding for you in return.

#1 – Post book excerpts. Choose a day each week as your book excerpt day. This works great for Twitter and even better if you have Twitter set up to post automatically to your Facebook and other profiles. One Tweet, many social platforms. Not sure exactly what type of excerpt to use? I like to mix it up. Some weeks I’ll just tweet all prepositions or adverbs. Sure, anyone can tweet a sentence. What’s the point in doing that? Continue reading “Book Marketing Tips for Authors”

Be Prepared

K. S. Brooks' Desktop Folder
K. S. Brooks’ Desktop Folder

One thing I’ve learned about this industry is that opportunities come up in a flash, and usually the first people to respond get them. The difference between being prepared and NOT being prepared can cost you. And it’s literally as simple as being organized.

I have a folder on my desktop with all my book cover jpgs, my two author photos and a couple of other folders with high resolution versions and thumbnail size versions.  I’ve made sure they’re all named clearly, so it’s easy for the recipient to identify. It also helps, if they don’t rename the file, with search engine optimization. It never hurts to take advantage of every opportunity to get your title in front of someone. Plus, it looks far more professional to have the book cover for Night Undone labeled as “NightUndone.jpg” instead of “niteundonecoverartsmall.jpg”. My author photo is labeled as “AuthorKSBrooks.jpg” instead of  “DSC00013”.

You may think “whatever, the name of the file isn’t that big of a deal”, but honestly, it’s how you’re being represented to whomever you’re sending the files. I’d say about 90% of the files I receive (and I receive a LOT of them on a daily basis) are not properly labeled.  So when I save them to my desktop before uploading them for a post, many times I’m forced to rename them. When I go to look for them, if they’re “DSC00013” – that makes it a little more difficult to find. If you’re sending these files to a reporter or editor, do you REALLY want to make more work for them?  I’d say no. Continue reading “Be Prepared”

Tuesday Tutorial: Shorten that Link!

Let’s just say you’ve been asked to do a blog interview, or your sending out a press release, or you’re sending out a e-newsletter. In each of those cases, you want to provide a clickable purchase link to your book. Of course you’re more than happy to do that, right? You want people to buy your book – who doesn’t? So why would you give them THIS UGLY LINK????  http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Book-ebook/dp/B007SAVB7G/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1335018955&sr=1-1-fkmr0

Ugly, isn’t it? Then don’t do it. Not only is it hideous, it looks unprofessional. But Kat, what choice do I have? you ask. First of all, you may refer to me as Czarina. Secondly, there is an easy and free option: TinyURL.com.

BITLYNow before everyone jumps down my throat for not saying the popular Bitly.com – if that’s what you’re more comfortable with, use it. Bitly does offer quite a bit of functionality, reporting and more. Continue reading “Tuesday Tutorial: Shorten that Link!”

Flamenco Dancing on a Dead Horse

K.S. Brooks by Richard Kridler
K. S. Brooks firing a Sig Sauer 2022 9MM by Richard Kridler

I’m not going to beat a dead horse. I’m going to Riverdance on that carcass. That’s right. Because I don’t bang my own head against a wall anymore. Shooting things is far more rewarding. And productive. And fun.

There’s been a lot of complaining going around lately. Some of it’s good, some of it’s annoying. This past Friday, my buddy Ed McNally wrote a brilliant post. If you missed it, read it here. Ed pointed out how much negative energy was being spent complaining instead of banding together and working towards a common goal. So I shall now add my two cents to the compendium. Continue reading “Flamenco Dancing on a Dead Horse”