#MotownWriters Article: Top 5 Twitter Tips to Powerfully Market Your Books

Twitter is an important venue to reach readers, so we invited Rachel Thompson of BadRedhead Media to share her top Twitter tips for authors. To our delight, she outdid herself with a comprehensive mini-course that includes loads of insider tricks and resources. This is the (nearly) whole enchilada so bookmark it, take notes, and work your…

 Guest Writer
AuthorNovember 5, 2019

Twitter is an important venue to reach readers, so we invited Rachel Thompson of BadRedhead Media to share her top Twitter tips for authors. To our delight, she outdid herself with a comprehensive mini-course that includes loads of insider tricks and resources. This is the (nearly) whole enchilada so bookmark it, take notes, and work your way through the assignments. Whether you’re new to Twitter or just looking to up your game, here is your ticket…

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Today we’re going to discuss a few of my top Twitter tips, so you learn how to make the most of this interactive platform.

read more https://www.bookworks.com/2019/11/top-twitter-tips-book-marketing/

#MotownWriters Article: How to Reach Out to Reviewers: a Publicist’s Guide

 by Kimberley Grabas

Book publicist Ben Cameron has been in the game for twenty years, working with both traditional and self-published authors.

But he’s noticed a bigger change in the publishing world in the last five years than he has in the last fifteen. 

“That’s come down to the self-publishing revolution, and the revolution in ebooks,” Ben observes.

He recently talked to us about these changes — and what they might mean for self-publishing authors’ publicity games.

In this article, he offers his professional insights on what kinds of reviews are out there, how to find them, and how to get them. Let’s take a look at what he has to say.

read more https://www.yourwriterplatform.com/how-to-reach-reviewers/

#MotownWriters Article: Writing Tips: 5 Ways to Quiet Your Inner Editor

The Creative Pennby joanna@TheCreativePenn.com (Joanna Penn) /

Every creative person, including authors, deals with an internal critic. Children’s book writer and editor Heidi Fiedler shares five ways we can continue being creative even when our inner editor is trying to get the upper hand.

We all have that voice in our heads, the one that says, “Careful now. That probably won’t work. We need to get it perfect. Perfect means no one can criticize you. Perfect means safe. So maybe you should just wait to write until you know you can get it perfect. Maybe you’ll be ready in twenty years? Maybe then you’ll finally be able to get it right.”

Our inner editors can be incredibly harsh.

read more https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2019/12/13/writing-tips-5-ways-to-quiet-your-inner-editor/

#MotownWriters Article: How to Overcome Fear as a Writer and Embrace Your Profound Courage

300+Helping Writers Become Authorsby K.M. Weiland | @KMWeiland /

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Long ago, someone gave me a birthday card that said “Fearless.” For many years, I tacked it on my bulletin board above my desk. Even now, it’s one of the few cards I’ve ever saved. I kept it because while a part of me resonated with the idea that I might be fearless, the rest of me just yearned to be—because I knew I wasn’t. I knew I had to learn to overcome fear as a writer or a person.

I look back on my life and realize that my fears, although often suppressed, were always present. Someone once asked me in an interview what I thought made me productive and focused, and I knew the answer was that I was running, always running, from the fears that I wouldn’t measure up.

So in some ways, it’s a humorous irony that I became a writer. Being a writer means putting yourself constantly into the storming heart of the most frightening parts of existence.

Writers can’t hide. If we try to avoid authenticity and vulnerability, our writing inevitably fails—and that is a devastation in itself. To choose this life is to choose to stand naked—before ourselves and, sooner or later, before the whole world.

read more https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/how-to-overcome-fear-as-a-writer-and-embrace-your-profound-courage/

#MotownWriters Article: Promote Your Book with Local Collaborations

100+The Book Designerby Sandra Beckwith /

By Sandra Beckwith

I often advise authors to start their book marketing locally. Local “gatekeepers” – retailers, librarians, and reporters – will nearly always be more open and friendly to a new author with a great book than their counterparts in distant locations will be.

This approach applies to distribution and publicity opportunities, of course, but what if you used your local know-how to collaborate with a wider range of local businesses?

I’m not talking about getting your city guide or book on area attractions into local gift shops. I want you to think about more attention-getting ways to partner with businesses that reach your target audience.

What are the opportunities?

read more https://www.thebookdesigner.com/2019/11/promote-your-book-with-local-collaborations/

#MotownWriters Article: How Authors Can Blog To Success

86BookMarketingBuzzBlog 

Authors of books are writers, yet when it comes to using their best asset and No. 1 weapon – their ability to write and communicate powerfully – they often miss the boat. Plenty of authors do not blog well, often, or at all. That has to change if they want to push their brand and sell books.

Blogging can be work. It can also be fun. The key is to find a happy medium.

read more: http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2019/11/how-authors-can-blog-to-success.html

#MotownWriters Article: Seven Ways to Grow Your Resilience as a Writer

SFWAby Editor /

by Alex Woolf

No one enjoys being rejected. Writers, who are often a touch more sensitive than the average bear, may feel the sting even more acutely. Which is unfortunate, as the daily work of the writer involves rejection on an almost continuous basis.

There’s the bland “Nos” you get from publishers and agents. The standard email declines from competitions and lit mags. The implicit slow-burn rejection of a Submittable submission that hasn’t changed status for months or even years.

read more https://www.sfwa.org/2019/12/seven-ways-to-grow-your-resilience-as-a-writer/

These Detroit spaces and organizations are helping to foster the city’s literary arts community via @modeld #motownwriters

http://www.modeldmedia.com/features/literary-arts-spaces-110519.aspx

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Clarification: The headline has been updated to reflect that this is not an exhaustive list of all of the literary arts spaces and organizations within the city.

Nothing says creative writing like the month of November. Since 1999, artists across the nation have spent the month’s 30 days putting pen to paper (or fingertips to keyboard) in the name of literary arts. National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short, inspires writers to exercise their craft, write in community, and for many, author a story from beginning to end. In honor of the month’s creative excitement, we’re taking a look at some of the spaces and programs around the city that foster literary growth year-round.

read more

https://www.modeldmedia.com/features/literary-arts-spaces-110519.aspx

 

Michigan mom faces jail time after returning library books two years late @nypost #motownwriters

https://nypost.com/2019/11/04/michigan-mom-faces-jail-time-after-returning-library-books-two-years-late/

 

Book Trends for 2020 & beyond – The changes to come, my take on what’s to come and how to prepare. #bookmarket #mondayblogs

The look for 2020 and beyond publishing trends seems overwhelming, but this was my take on each point. This article 7 ways book publishing will change over the next few years was mind boggling, but these are my interpretations.

1. Sales will continue to move online – get your e-commerce and book distributor links together on your website.

2. There will be more big book retailers – make sure you make it as easy as possible for readers to locate your books there and send out reminders occasionally.

3. There are still two markets – cheap eBooks and commercial markets. But as indie authors you have opportunities to pick a side. Look at the analytics on your books and price them well.

4. Publishers will progressively shed overheads – Traditional or Indie, look to doing more marketing and sending out books next year.

5. Big publishers will see an ever-growing share of their own sales from their back-list. Pay attention to your back-list catalog and keep promoting them. New titles will be harder to sale, but for the back-list you can convert interest and awareness into sales.

6. Amazon Publishing will continue to make grow. Meaning you’re in competition with the main source you publish through. Start thinking locally, offline and even driving more exclusive sales on your website.

7. Entity self publishing will increase dramatically. This means even Netflix can come out with books now, which their thinking about. Competition is abound and we as authors have to get on the ball to write, publish and market and then repeat this process over and over again.

Even after all this takes place, there will be more changes coming, so hold on and prepare for the ride. Get a plan together to rock 2020.

 

What trends do you see coming? What are you or aren’t prepared for? 

It’s NaNoWriMo Prep Time! #motownwriters

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November is only a few short weeks away. In the writing world, that means National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is just around the corner. If you’re new to the writing community, the goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 50k words during the month of November. While that won’t be a complete manuscript in most genres, it comes pretty darn close. read more 

3 Tips for Writing Children #motownwriters

86Elizabeth Spann Craig 

by Lucia Tang with @Reedsy

Let’s start with a note of clarification. This is a post for writing child characters, not for literal children hoping to write their own books. Still, any precocious, under-12 authors who happen to read it are more than welcome to weigh in with their expertise!

Actually, fiction as a whole could probably benefit from a little more young blood in its authorial ranks. When well-intentioned adults try to craft young characters, the result can easily tip into uncanny valley or ring jarringly false.

Have you ever read an otherwise great book filled with questionably written children? Maybe the main character’s 6-year-old babbled with a toddler’s slapdash grammar, or a 2-year-old did nothing but make oracular pronouncements, like a chubby-cheeked foreshadowing machine. Either way, it probably took you out of the story.

Don’t put your readers in that position. The children you write shouldn’t trample over their delicate suspension of disbelief — they should make the world you’ve built feel richer and more real. Follow these 3 tips, and you’ll be able to bring realistic, compelling young characters to life.

read more https://elizabethspanncraig.com/writing-tips-2/3-tips-for-writing-children/

What Makes For A Great Author Website? #motownwriters

52BookMarketingBuzzBlog

An author’s website is his or her storefront.  It both tells and sells.  It’s your brand.  It’s your foundation for your books, blog, social media, and marketing materials.  Your site anchors your message and persona.  So how will you make sure it is very good at what it is supposed to do?

Authors do not have to have flashy, $10,000 websites, but they can’t settle for bottom-of-the-basement free sites either.  But I’ll leave that up to authors to find a decent hosting platform and web designer. Let me tell you of the things you should think about, including best practices.

Let’s start with the core basics.

You will likely have these following elements on your site:

read more http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2019/09/what-makes-for-great-author-website.html

Wow! Is it September already? Pamela Hilliard Owens: YB2C and Detroit Ink Publishing @DIPLLC #motownwriters

Wow! It’s September already?!? It’s September already?!? Well, yes it is. It’s also the 3rd month of the 3rd calendar quarter of the year. What it is not is the “end” of the summer. Although Labor Day in the U.S. is considered the “unofficial end of summer,” we still have almost three weeks of “official summer” to enjoy! This week’s newsletter is very short, just a couple of quick announcements. But watch this space, the YB2C Companies are busy as usual with great products, services, and programs to assist you with achieving your goals. Follow Me on Medium! As I briefly mentioned in a previous newsletter, I am moving the majority of my content writing to Medium. Because I have websites/blogs for the two main companies, AND the podcast, AND the branding/marketing training course, AND I’m active on all of my social media accounts, my blog posts and articles were in several different places. By moving just about everything to Medium, my readers can now read all of my writing in one place. Medium has over 60 MILLION readers per month; a much larger following than all of my blogs and social media outlets put together! Medium is free, offering the reading of up to three articles a month to all members. As an additional benefit to its members, Medium has a paid membership that allows members to read an unlimited number of articles each month on all kinds of interesting topics. The Medium paid membership plan is a very affordable $5/month or $50/year. From the membership fees, Medium pays its writers for most of their articles. So if you enjoy my blog posts and articles, please follow me on Medium to receive notifications when I have posted stories there. Much appreciated! If you would like to have a paid Medium membership, you can join the community here. I look forward to seeing YOU on Medium! Thanks!   It Takes Ten Years to Become an Overnight Success! We just celebrated eleven years in business last July, and now we’re celebrating eleven months since the publishing of my book that details the year-by-year story of my first ten years as a freelance business owner! Here is the information from the back cover: In the middle of 2008, a determined woman who is a former teacher, a former college professor, and a former sales manager decides to start a business so she will no longer have to work for others. It was also the middle of the Great Recession, but she wasn’t thinking about that. She was really just thinking about opening the next month. Relying on her writing and editing skills, and her sales experience, she opens her doors on July 7, 2008. One year passes, and then another and another. As a freelance business owner, she experiences the highs and lows that all business owners go through. But one day, she looks around, and it has been TEN YEARS since she started and she’s a success, with three separate but related businesses and a podcast! Success just didn’t happen overnight, but it did happen. The book is available on Amazon in both print and Kindle editions. An audio edition will be added soon. If you haven’t purchased your copy yet, it’s available here. Thanks for your support!   Don’t Forget! You can keep up with everything we’re doing by following us on all of our social media outlets: YB2C Marketing System Facebook YB2C Twitter YB2C Live! Podcast for Entrepreneurs Facebook Detroit Ink Publishing Facebook Detroit Ink Publishing Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Please take a minute to “friend” me and “follow” us. Thanks! That’s it for this week’s “YB2C on Wednesday!” See you next time!

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How to Overcome the Fear of Coming Out as a Writer #MOTOWNWRITERS

Write To Doneby Mary Jaksch

Are you nervous about coming out as a writer? Maybe you just want to write for yourself and not share your words with others? It can be scary putting yourself out there. I have that fear too – even after writing and publishing hundreds of posts and a range of books.

READ MORE https://writetodone.com/coming-out-as-a-writer/