Category: Book Marketing

Tips and discussions about marketing your books.

Spring writers’ conferences in NC

With the weather heating up (at least in the southeastern USA!) and the flowers starting to bloom, it’s a great time to think about upcoming writers’ events! In North Carolina, we’re fortunate to have lots of creative writers — of both fiction and non-fiction — who are really motivated and ready to learn.

Please share any upcoming conferences you know of (wherever you live) in the comments section!

NC events coming up …

JoCo Writers Conference 2020

March 28 — the Johnston County Writers Workshop in Selma looks fun and very affordable! If you are in the area, I’m sure it will be well worth the visit — but sign up soon, as seating is limited!

WF2020POSTERJPG

April 17 – 19 — Asheville Word Fest offers a whole weekend of speakers and workshops with a spiritual and cultural slant. Prices for tickets start at $25 and are based on what you can afford. Presenters get 80% of funds, so be generous if you can!

April 18 — Charlotte hosts the 2020 North Carolina Writing Workshop, a full day of classes with the theme “How To Get Published.” Literary agents will be on-site! Seating is limited, so call head to make sure there are still places available.

April 27 — the NC Writers’ Network have their one-day spring conference at UNCG (Greensboro). I’ve been to this before, and their workshops are in-depth and focused on improving your creative writing. Limited scholarships are available.

May 2 — Write Now! is an excellent one-day conference hosted by the Triangle Association of Freelancers in Raleigh. I try to attend every year — the classes are very practical and are geared for writers who want to sell their articles and creative work.

So, that’s just a taste of upcoming events — there are sure to be many more! Keep writing and reading, y’all!

 

0

Patreon for creative types…

Have you heard of Patreon? I started hearing about it a year ago during my favorite podcasts. They would say something like, “Please support us on Patreon.” So, I checked it out, and it’s pretty cool.

1-1234699141PRLF

Basically, it’s a website that lets you collect donations for your creative work. It’s kind of like crowdfunding, but I like Patreon better because you offer “rewards” for your subscribers. For example, if you donate $2/month to your favorite podcast, they might give you access to ALL their episodes, rather than just a few.

Or your favorite YouTuber might reward a $5/month subscription with behind-the-scenes videos that only patrons can see. You set up your own subscription rates and your own rewards. I’ve seen Patreon sites for writers, podcasters, illustrators, people who create video games… there’s seems to be no limit!

money pink coins pig
Photo by Skitterphoto on Pexels.com

I recently set up a Patreon page for my kids’ magazine, JUMP! My goal is to raise enough money to print out lots of copies for children in Alamance County, NC. My mag is tiny — more of a newsletter — but I pack pictures, book reviews, craft ideas, science stuff, and much more in there. I’d like kids (and their guardians) anywhere in the county to be able to pick up a copy for free from the library or their doctor’s office. The overall goal is to promote learning in a fun way!

If you’re a writer or other creative type who needs to raise funds for a project, you might want to have a look at Patreon and see if it’s right for you. I’ll keep you posted on how my page does!

 

0

Finding the right book cover…

I just read an excellent post by author Sandra Hutchison about her journey(s) to find the perfect book covers for her works. If you’re an indie author, it’s definitely worth reading her article. She also makes some great points about copyright that you’ll want to check out. For example, did you know that tattoos can be copyrighted?

Louisa Cover2In the guide that my fellow-writer Lisa Logan and I published in 2018, we have a section on creating book covers and another section on copyright. We give good overviews of both topics, but I would also suggest checking out Sandra’s article and recommended sources for a more in-depth look at copyright and ways to create covers.

What I like about Sandra’s article is that she explores all the different ways you can create covers — from self made to pre-made to professionally designed — and she even combines some of those methods.

If you’re like me and love the process of getting your hands dirty and creating your own book cover, you’ll want to pause and think first. Is that “free” clip art from the Internet really copyright-free? If you’re photographing a model for your cover, does he/she have too much skin showing? Advertisers can have strict “decency” rules that sometimes defy logic!

What has been your experience with creating or choosing book covers for your work? If you work in the publishing industry, please feel free to share your insights, too!

0

Free ebook giveaway!

Louisa Cover2Don’t miss the chance to get our guide to epublishing for FREE!

From June 12 to Friday, June 14, we’ll be offering Make It Happen: The No-nonsense Guide to Publishing and Marketing Your Ebook for free! Learn the basics of how to publish your ebook using Amazon’s KDP and other platforms. Learn how copyright works, how to create a clickable table of contents, how to use Twitter to help promote your book, and much more!

Try it out. If you like the book and find it useful, you may want to buy a paper copy so you can mark it in, turn the corners over, etc… If you do pick up our guide, please leave us a review so we know what you think!

 

 

0

EMBRACE THOSE REJECTIONS — Southern Writers – Suite T

This is a re-post from the excellent website Southern writers – Suite T.

By Vicki H. Moss, Contributing Editor for Southern Writers MagazineOn May 2 on the Suite T blog, I wrote about the children’s writer Madeleine L’engle, author of the children’s book A Wrinkle in Time; how she kept writing after rejections because she couldn’t stop. Most of you know that A Wrinkle in Time, a young adult novel in…

via EMBRACE THOSE REJECTIONS — Southern Writers – Suite T

0

The Importance of Informative Book Reviews — Southern Writers – Suite T

Below is a re-post from the excellent Southern Writers blog. Do you read reviews before buying a book? More importantly, do you leave reviews for books you like/dislike? If I’m online, I tend to scan both the good and bad reviews to get a balanced feel for a book. But what if you’re browsing in a bookstore? Sometimes the best books are ones you just stumble upon and take a leap of faith based on the back cover!

By Vicki H. Moss, Contributing Editor for Southern Writers MagazineSo many books—so many hours in one lifetime to read them. There’s no way to plow through them all. And that’s the reason book reviews are so important.I recently bought a couple of books recommended for a trip I was soon to take. Since I was going…

via The Importance of Informative Book Reviews — Southern Writers – Suite T

0

Copyright myths…

Yesterday, I saw a commercial on TV for a “publishing company” that will publish authors’ books and “handle” all copyright issues for them. I thought, “What copyright issues”? When you put pen to paper, your creative work is automatically covered by copyright law.

If you see a publishing service that charges money to “obtain” the copyright for your work, be aware of this red flag! If you do chose to register, you can do it on your own for as little as $35. But it’s not really necessary.

The only reason you would need to register is if you decide to file a lawsuit against someone for infringing on your copyright.

And copyright has nothing to do with your ISBN. Even if you publish with Amazon or Smashwords, who assign their own numbers, your work still belongs to you. ISBNs and ASINs are ways to keep track of your books. They have nothing to do with copyright.

So, don’t get suckered by companies who charge to do services that you can easily do yourself. Check out our new book, “Make It Happen: The no-nonsense guide to publishing and marketing your ebook.” We talk more about copyright, ISBNs, and lots of other important info. you need to publish your book yourself!

0

Freelancing in the new age…

Lisa holds down the fort…
We are not as prolific as some other members of TAF!

A couple of weekends ago, Lisa and I hawked our new book Make It Happen at the Triangle Association of Freelancers (TAF) annual conference. They are such a great group! I’ve been going to the TAF conference for at least five years, and everyone is always super friendly and helpful. I’ll be posting some more about what I learned at the conference in the next week or so.

So, if you are a freelance writer in NC (or beyond), consider joining TAF. You are instantly connected with a group of experienced, professional freelance writers who are on the cutting edge of the freelance industry — they know the trends, inside and out. Plus, they are encouraging and welcoming. (And you get a really good discount at the conference!)

 

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑