Tag: author advice

Forget Promotion! Think like a Reader by Kathy Meis

Author Kathy Meis
Author Kathy Meis

Be honest, book promotion is a thorn in your side. You know you have to do it, but you’d much rather be writing your next book. It’s time consuming, often expensive, and can give you that uncomfortable “I’m selling” feeling. Promoting online reduces the time and expense somewhat, but still requires creation of an ongoing stream of content (blogs, interviews, reviews). You’re compelled to build snazzy websites and attract fans and followers through regular social media engagement. It’s exhausting.

Efficient, effective promotion is key. Creating this type of promotion, however, means taking off your author’s hat and thinking like a reader. The minute you do this, the burden of book promotion melts away and you start contemplating book discovery. Browsing, sampling, exploring – the kind of experience bookstores create so well. I’m a big believer in the power of blogs, but consider this: the primary content readers encounter at a bookstore is books. They can randomly sample any page and easily peruse a book’s cover art, summary, author bio, introduction, acknowledgements and endorsements. They’re all built into the book. Continue reading “Forget Promotion! Think like a Reader by Kathy Meis”

Feedback for Writers by Harry Bingham

Author Harry Bingham
Author Harry Bingham

I run a business whose core service is simple. We offer feedback to writers. We work on everything from picture books through to memoirs, but probably ninety percent of what we deal with is novels.

Needless to say the same old issues come up time and again. They’re issues which writers could easily correct themselves. That’s not to say that getting feedback isn’t massively worthwhile – it is – it’s just that you’ll get better value from feedback if you’ve put in the hard yards yourself first.

And naturally, like all professional authors, I practice what I preach. Although I’ve had more than ten books published over the years, I still rely deeply on the feedback I get from my literary agent and from my editors. My most recent novel, probably the best one I’ve written, still benefitted from some 6,000 words of written notes from my editor. I didn’t need those notes because I’m a poor writer. I needed them because feedback makes a good book better.

But enough of that. If most writers coming to us are making the same old mistakes – what exactly are those mistakes? And how do you avoid making them? Continue reading “Feedback for Writers by Harry Bingham”

Lessons Learned by Lois Lewandowski

Lois Lewandowski
Author Lois Lewandowski

I broke out in a cold sweat.

The message from my editor was polite but clear. What I had sent her, in the single-spaced Pages format as multiple attachments, broadcast exactly what she would be dealing with if I became her client: A wet behind the ears newbie who had a lot to learn. In fact, I needed to learn everything at an accelerated pace because the book was ready for a professional look, and perhaps a professional polish.

I left my computer on that night hoping that in the morning, much like the millers’ daughter in “Rumpelstiltskin” I would find my document in the professional format I could send off to editor heaven. Alas, when I awoke the next morning my computer was as I had left it, awaiting my colorful vocabulary as I begged it to help me. Continue reading “Lessons Learned by Lois Lewandowski”

To Face the Fear – And Become by Yvonne Hertzberger

Author Yvonne Hertzberger
Author Yvonne Hertzberger

If someone had told me when I retired from paid employment at age 56 that I would be a writer, author of two books in six years, I would have laughed it off. Sure! Right! Me an author. Inwardly I would have groaned with unfulfilled longing never believing the idea anything more than a pipe dream.

Every journey starts with a first step. Many first steps are baby steps – mine were – tentative, fearful, and lacking finesse or confidence. Perhaps my journey will inspire others to take those baby steps and eventually stride with pride.

You see, when you are raised in the shadow of a man whose tyranny demands that all thoughts and actions must perfectly reflect his own view, that every behaviour must be exactly what he expects, even when you have no idea what that is, growing up, ‘becoming’, is not a viable option. Original thoughts, ones that did not mirror his became sources of ridicule or rage. I learned to see the world through veils of distrust. I distrusted myself and others others. I feared success. I feared failure. Continue reading “To Face the Fear – And Become by Yvonne Hertzberger”