by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Tue Oct 13, 2015
Newsletters seem very 1990’s don’t they? They don’t have the flash of “new media” or the shimmer of a shiny new social media site just waiting to be discovered. What they do have, however, is visibility. In some cases, more visibility than you’re getting on all of your social media sites combined.
I speak at a lot of writer events and in the last year, the buzz has really increased around the need for a newsletter. Why? Well, Facebook has declined in reach; in some cases only 1% of your posts reach your fans. If you’re not paying for placement on Facebook, it’s very likely your stuff isn’t being seen. With everyone on sites like Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Twitter (which also will start monetizing posts) it’s really hard to get your audiences’ attention.
by Rochelle D. Carter
Bowker | Tue Sep 29, 2015
In my Brand Your Expertise with a Book™ workshop I talk about creating content quickly, and this is another one of those great tools that can help you do that! As an award-winning publisher and award-winning author I get lots of questions on an almost hourly basis about the business of writing and publishing.
How do I put a book together? I have ideas and some written stuff, but nothing concrete as my topic.
This part is simpler than you think. First, when writing any book you have to start with the end in mind. What is the overall goal for your book? You should create your promise statement (aka mission statement) from the beginning so when you get confused with too much content or too little, you will know where to focus to pull it in. Your statement should have the following framework since the idea is to keep it short and sweet:
by Sharon C. Jenkins
Bowker | Tue Sep 15, 2015
“Hello, my name is Sharon and I am a Powerful Choleric.”
Writing as a child, was an extension of my controlling nature. I was raised in an era where children were spoken to and no response was required or desired. Your opinion did not count and if you felt that it did, you might be searching for your teeth. So, being the little “control freak” I was, I had to find a way to express my view without losing my life and I choose writing as my medium; it became my therapy at an early age.
As a prissy little girl, I decided my writing should be pretty and rhyme, so I embarked on becoming a poet. During my teens, I began to read about poets that looked like me who were popular in the 1960’s and well I became a literary revolutionary. Couple that with the fact that I was cute and you can change my name to TROUBLE.
by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Tue Sep 8, 2015
When I was first in the industry, discovering a book was easy and pretty uncomplicated. Back then, publishing had seasons, and if you wanted readers to find the book, you stuck to the rules. Big books in the Fall; change-your-life titles in January; and summer reads, smaller books and fluff-type titles the rest of the year. Now, however, there are no hard and fast rules. Other than news or seasonal tie-ins, there’s little rhyme or reason to when a book is published. The landscape has changed, and we’re all just trying to figure out the rules.
by Sharon C. Jenkins
Bowker | Tue Aug 18, 2015
We’ve all taken a personality test at some point in our life. Maybe you took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and discovered that you are Introverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging. Or perhaps you’ve taken the DiSC test and now you know that you lean more towards steadiness than dominance. Maybe you just saw a quiz on Facebook that tells you your personality based on your favorite song.
Whatever the test, more and more people are putting stock in what your personality is. So the question is, how can you use your personality to help you become an author?
by Rochelle D. Carter
Bowker | Tue Jun 30, 2015
There are many things that publishers wish authors knew before they signed their contract or even submitted their books. I know that I have had a few head-scratching interactions with potential authors, from being told "I don't read books" to "I didn't know I could talk about my book". Here are 7 Things Publishers Wished Authors Knew, and sometimes are a little perturbed at having to explain:
[youtube=http://youtu.be/mkTW8AEcIGs]
by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Tue May 26, 2015
Okay readers, listen up. This one is for you. Being an author isn’t easy – in fact it’s a pretty tough job. It’s not easy being an author in a world where everyone can get published. We write our books for you and, in return, we’d love a little help now and again.
Most of my articles focus on advising authors on marketing and social media. I am sure authors read these pieces and feel like they need a nap. Yes, there’s a lot to be done, but you shouldn’t go it alone. Your readers can be your best ally to help you market to other readers.
Often readers do want to help, but aren’t really sure what to do. There’s a bit of a mystique around authors. Many readers think, “Well, the book has been published, they probably don’t need my help.” But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Authors (especially those who are starting out) do need our help.
by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Tue Apr 14, 2015
It’s happened to all of us at one time or another. You write a great article either on your blog or as a guest post, and one day you find it on someone else’s site with no credit to you whatsoever. In the case of what happened that prompted this piece, an article I wrote was lifted and tinkered with *slightly* and then reposted onto someone else’s site. What do you do if that happens? Well, it’s certainly a hassle but it’s one you should consider following up on because stealing someone else’s work – especially stealing it and repurposing it, is not right and certainly a copyright infringement.
by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Fri Mar 13, 2015
If you’ve ever had a review removed from Amazon you know how frustrating that can be. I’ve spoken to some authors who lost one and others who lost dozens. Each time it’s assumed that Amazon is the devil and that they get a certain amount of enjoyment from just randomly pulling reviews. While I was pretty certain this wasn’t true, I decided to call Amazon Author Central and get to the bottom of this.
The rep there was helpful and clear about their guidelines. Let’s look at a few:
by Arthur Q. Gutch
Bowker | Tue Feb 17, 2015
There's great joy in getting your first royalty check, but an equally large letdown when it comes to tax time. The government considers royalties income, and you've got to claim it on your tax form at the end of the year. Fortunately, writers are allowed a large number of deductions for expenses incurred in the act of writing. Obviously, the best advice is from your tax accountant, but here are some of the most common deductions a self-published author or writers can take to decrease their taxable income.
Subscriptions - Most writers subscribe to writer's magazines, journals and newsletters. They're necessary research, including topic magazines nonfiction writers need for their research.
