One of the things some authors do to promote their book is a “blog tour” which I’ve heard described as the modern day or indie equivalent of hitting the road for signings at book stores. The goal of such an undertaking is twofold. First, to get the word out that your new book exists (remember what Lynne Cantwell told us about effective frequency), selling some books while setting other readers up for future sales and second, to get a jump on the number of reviews on Amazon and other retailers. Some blog tours are review only, which helps with the second goal, but limits the number of bloggers willing to participate. Others offer different kinds of content for bloggers who are not willing to commit to a review. What these different kinds of content are will vary depending on who organizes the tour and the willingness of the author to create additional content. Interviews with the author, character interviews, and guest posts are examples of content frequently offered. Continue reading “When Is a Guest Post Like a Sausage Factory?”
Tag: author guest post
Mistakes I Made So You Don’t Have To
Guest post
by Mark Hamner
I learned a lot from my first foray into novel writing, to say the least. Most of these various lessons were, I hate to say, learned the hard way. Let’s take a look at two of my…learning opportunities…in the hope they may help some new writer somewhere to avoid the mistakes I made the first time out. Continue reading “Mistakes I Made So You Don’t Have To”
Hey! What happened to my tags?
A Guest Post
by Aron Joice
I ‘m not sure about anyone else out there, but I find it challenging to keep up with Amazon and all its policy changes. Isn’t Amazon a store? Do brick and mortar retail outlets change their policies as often as Amazon? If so, I think their vendors would consider alternative outlets. We as Indie authors don’t have many options. Of course we can upload our books to Smashwords, B&N, Kobo (you can do this independently of Smashwords btw) and ilovebooks, however Amazon is still the meat and potatoes of the eBook distribution world.
Since Amazon changed my category to non-fiction (hello sorceresses are fictional), and didn’t say a thing, I often check my sales page. A few days back as I scrolled down the page to check the current details, I noticed the absence of my little bubbles. Oh where did they go? Not a one in sight. My tags are gone, how could they do this to me? I liked those tags, mini maps to roads linking to my genre. Poof, up in smoke and not even a mention from the big A. Okay, I suppose as a little Indie I should be keeping up with all of this somewhere, but where? I don’t mean IU, heck if it wasn’t for IU we’d all be out in the cold (bows and kudos EM). So I decided to write KDP and hear what they had to say and was surprised to receive a rapid-fire response. Continue reading “Hey! What happened to my tags?”
Taking the Plunge and Writing for a YA Audience
Guest Post
by Charles Ray
I’ve been writing since my teens; more years than I care to count; and, even as a teenager, what I wrote was aimed at an adult audience.
I am constantly coming across articles suggesting that writers consider targeting the YA market. My problem was, having for so long been immersed in a world of gritty reality and often harsh speech, I wasn’t sure I could make the transition and still retain what I view as my ‘unique’ voice. Continue reading “Taking the Plunge and Writing for a YA Audience”