Category: Guest Posts

Inspiration Strikes at the Worst of Times

Author Greta Burroughs

by Greta Burroughs

For the last week, I have been sitting at my computer, wracking my brain trying to finish a short story. After seven days of madly typing away, only four paragraphs appear on the screen in front of me. The countless hours working on this one story and that is all I have to show for it? The right words elude me. I have deleted more material than I have saved. Where is my inspiration? Why won’t the words come to me? Have I lost my ability to write?

Desperation has set in. All I can think about is the stupid story. I need a distraction, maybe some housework. No, too close to the computer. How about yard work? Nope, I still look at the window of my office and the siren song from my computer lures me back inside. Continue reading “Inspiration Strikes at the Worst of Times”

Getting the Blurb Right by Ken Magee

Author Ken Magee
Author Ken Magee

You’ve just spent six hard months slaving over a hot computer. You’ve now written and polished your book, and then polished it a little bit more. It’s your baby and you love it. You spend another three months finding a publisher and a further three agreeing everything from the title to the cover design. So a year of your life is invested in a fantastic novel and now you’re ready to go… not quite, you need to sort out the blurb.

Is it important? YES, it is, in fact, one of the most important components of the whole book package. How can I be sure, well, I ran a poll on two well known sites for readers in the US and the UK. The poll was entitled “Top reasons for buying a book”. Once the voting was completed it was very clear what really mattered. High on both lists were things like genre, recommendations and read other books by the author. However, the blurb came number one in the US, and number two in the UK. That shows you just how important it is to get it right… your book will not succeed without a well written blurb. Continue reading “Getting the Blurb Right by Ken Magee”

An Author’s Expectations: A Real Christmas Story by Deborah L. Parker

Author Deborah L. Parker
Author Deborah L. Parker

Twas the night before my book came out “published”, and all through my network’s computers not a click was heard, yet even the send noise “swished.”

Like many I waited with anticipation that 19th day in which my POD publisher informed me my book was now “LIVE” to buy on the internet at amazon.com as well as on my personal link. This was my Christmas in July 2011, with great gifts to be had.

How could I best get the word out about this wonderful news, a miracle in my life? “Oh I don’t want to overload the ordering system,” I mused, so I did a phased email alert to my network of family, friends and organizational connections. Pulling up my group lists, emails went out at 9p.m., then 5a.m., then 1p.m… After all they knew of this forthcoming achievement since I’d sent out pictures of my book’s cover and articles to review, asking for their feedback. Checking the sites for clicks and dollars, I waited and waited. As online sales trickled in, I thought that residual purchases would soon show up as this trusted network of mine spread the word to their networks. Not! Disappointed, I thought back to those days of my youth and wondered why Santa had not come through. Continue reading “An Author’s Expectations: A Real Christmas Story by Deborah L. Parker”

Book Cover Design 101 – by Richard Sutton

Richard Sutton

Once you accept that you are now in the throes of marketing a consumer product, the first thing you need to do is get to a bookstore. Several bookstores. On the street, or online, preferably both. Booksellers are the front lines where the battle is met. How books appear “clearly” out of a jumble in the stacks, how special titles jump out at browsers and how they turn browsers into buyers is not magic. It’s careful, calculated packaging design. It is a science that has been around for quite a while now, and even a new author can make use of some of the most important precepts, learning how to be conversant in the lingo.

An effective cover is rarely chosen at random because it’s a nice picture that “reminds me of the story.” Your book is competing with hundreds, even thousands of titles in your genre and reader niche, and sometimes, only the cover will stand between a sale and an unmotivated browser. Continue reading “Book Cover Design 101 – by Richard Sutton”