Pushing to Reach New Audiences....

Valerie J. Steimle

As a published author of five books, sales wax and wane. I am in a financial slump in book sales and I need a bigger audience to discover my work. How do I do this?

From the Futurebook conference held on November 21^st sponsored by The Bookseller website there were some pretty good suggestions.  Push Entertainment’s Simon Scott talked about what authors can do. He focused on the importance of always trying to understand how to connect with people and “keep to the core fans of your work who are willing to buy” up front.  Announcing upcoming books to remind “lapsed” fans that you still exist which also helps them connect with you again is a great way to keep the sales numbers up. Authors (especially self-published ones) who go the extra mile will reap the benefits of better book sales.

Ruth Spencer, a marketing manager at Random House, suggested a concept not really known to publishers and authors: verticals or vertical integration.  Meaning authors get together with other like authors and promote each other.  Banding together to help each other promote books helps reach higher audiences. There is always power in numbers.

Another suggestion came from author and entrepreneur, Joanna Penn. She talked about what self-publishers have always known: the need to take a lot of risks.  Self-publishers “must always be writing new books (or articles) and have a consumer focus”. Keeping to one category in writing is like cutting off your availability to readers. There is a whole world out there waiting to hear what you have to say in many areas of life such as social media, speaking engagements or website articles. Using e-book promotions also help authors reach a bigger audience. They really do work.

This is a very well needed boost in the arm for authors who are trying to keep their heads afloat in the publishing world.  A well managed push into more areas of expertise helps authors reach more readers….and in reality….that is the name of the game.

See original article from Forbes.com 

Finding your Passion

Valerie J. Steimle

We are all writers. We all have families which need our care. We want to take care of both but not sure how.  We know how to take care of our families but we don't always know how to break into writing.

 After all the reading I have done for the last 20 years on writing and writers, there is a specific direction to follow. From Heather Moore's My Writer's Lair blog, there are some fantastic questions we can ask ourselves to get on track as a writer.  Check out her blog as she has an excellent collection of books she has written which are fantastic.  You can read selections of her books and they are heat warming, clean and spiritually uplifting.  As an LDS author she has broken into the secular world of publishing as well and is recognized as a clean romance writer.  So great!!

She is full of  phenomenal insight and here are a few of ideas. My comments are in maroon.



Questions to ask yourself in finding your passion to write:
*1. What are you an expert in?

If you are writing a book on parenting, why not start a blog on parenting tips/experiences and build a readership beforehand? Get articles published in magazines, newspapers. Become that expert.

Valerie: Something I have been doing for over 20 years. Families are my passion so the family is what I write about... all aspects of the family.

*2. How are you different?
This will constantly change, but what set your book, or your writing apart from all the others out there?

Valerie: This is an ongoing process that I'm even dealing with. What do I know or have that not a lot of people know or have.... hmmmm.


*3. Relationship with your readers:

Through blogging, social networking, newsletters, etc. keep growing your platform through contact with your readers.

Valerie: This one is a biggie!!!  Networking is one of the most important writing jobs you have. Whether it's social networking, blogging or networking online through groups--the idea is to get yourself out there with your writing.

*4. Join a group

Which professional organizations relate to your book topic? If you are writing historical fiction, join the historical society in your city. Become a board member. Join writers groups, volunteer to help at conferences. Find internet groups that deal with your subject matter. Become an active participant.

Valerie: Also very important. I have homeschooled for years and wrote a homeschooling book to help other parents.  I still spread the word about homeschooling and it is a great niche to be included in catalogs, speaking engagements and online websites.  Fine your niche.
*5. Volunteer

When you have joined a professional group, volunteer to be on the board, a committee, etc. When I first started going to the LUW chapter meetings, I didn’t know anyone. A year later, I was became the Chapter Secretary, then was the Chapter President. When I joined LDStorymakers, it took me awhile to even get “approved” and I only knew 2 writers. From the group, I’ve developed dozens of life-long friendships, served at the 2008 conference co-director, etc. At the co-director, I was able to work with an agent and a NY Editor on personal basis.

*6. Speak for free

When you are not in demand, you won’t get the big bucks. When you are advertising your availability, note that you are doing so FREE of charge. Until you can build up a demand, you are best off donating your time. You will go through a period of trial and error.

Valerie:  I have done this  myself at homeschool meetings and these speaking engagements not only solidifies what you believe and wrote about, you are spreading the word about your topic. Whether it's clean romance or action adventure, people will listen to what you have to say under the right circumstances.


*7. Platform: You are a writer

Beyond your platform based on the topic of your book, you are a writer. This is a platform as well. You can be the expert on:

            Your writing journey

            How you got published

            The research you’ve done for your book (location, time period, truth uncovered)

            The “how to’s” of writing a book

A couple of years ago, I attended the LUW Utah Valley Chapter meeting. The class was taught by a gentleman who had spent the previous summer attending writers conference across the nation. His teaching topic? Which Writers Conferences were worth the time and money. He gave a very interesting run-down.

*8. Learn to teach/present

            You might be an introvert. I am. The first time I even dared to say “hi” to a boy in the hall at school was in 7^th grade. And he had been my neighbor for 7 years! (luckily he said “hi” back). The best thing I probably did was take drama in school, and work in retail in college. I had to greet customers and ask them if I could help them. This was intimidating. When you are doing a book signing, you need to be making eye contact and telling complete strangers about your book in an engaging way. Yes—you have to be a SALES PERSON.

            You’ll have to work on your teaching skills. I went to a Toastmasters meeting only one time. It was amazing. I learned a lot in that meeting, but I was too intimidated to go back.

*9. Create a one-sentence pitch

            In one sentence, be able to tell someone what your book is about. Develop your platform from there.

            In Richard Paul Evan’s book, The Gift, the main character has Tourette’s syndrome. He said, “I also have Tourette’s. The symptoms I describe in the book are based on my own.” As he was on book tour and doing televisions interviews, no one wanted to talk about the story in his book, but about the fact that this best-selling author had Tourette’s.

Valerie: A great idea for any writer with a plan.  I have been asked thousands of times, what my books are about and I can in a few words tell others about what I'm passionate about.  So important.

Heather B. Moore

http://mywriterslair.blogspot.com



Find your passion in writing....
 

Article ReWrites....

As a non-fiction writer, I'm always looking for ways to improve my article writing.... I write for several online websites and I've gotten to the point where I can get an 800 word article, essay, opinion piece or book review off in a day.  It has taken me at least 10 years to accomplish this feat and I'm still working towards perfection.

As I scanned my list of writer's tips I came across this gem but I can't remember where I got it....

I'm sure it was some website and I normally include the original place but this time it was not marked.  I think what I did was read the original article and took notes from what I learned so here it is.....

I have used almost all of these ideas to write my non-fiction pieces and they work wonderfully for fiction as well as non-fiction.

A List of Nine Strategies to Rewrite an Article

1. Write earlier. This teaches you what you already know and what you need to know. When I begged for more time on a story it was usually because I felt I needed more time to report, to understand the subject. "I need a couple more hours/days/weeks," I'd tell my editor. When I started drafting earlier, I began to see that the hole I needed to fill was already complete, but there are other gaps I wouldn't have recognized as quickly.  Revision doesn't mean more time, but rescheduling the time you have. Let's face it. Whatever time we have for a story most of us spend the bulk of reporting. After all, we're reporters. But there are ways to build in revision earlier in the process.

2. Hit the print button as early as possible. Computers are wonderful, but they give the illusion of perfection. To revise this column, I made a printout of the first draft, approximately 1,000 words written in less than an hour over two days. I began by crossing things out, penning in questions, examining the prose (which sentences held up, which need re-tooling, etc.). Then I read back over my revised version and made more corrections until it was perfect.... or near to perfection as I could get.

3. Put it away. John Fowles, the British novelist ("French Lieutenant’s Woman"), described drafting as much as 60,000 words and then putting them in a desk drawer for a few months. Nice work, I can hear the journalists out there muttering, if you can get it. Few working writers, especially those under daily or even weekly deadlines, have that freedom. But any attempt to put a story out of your mind will give your unconscious mind the chance to work on it. The idea of putting away your writing is works amazingly but most non-fiction article writers do not have the luxury of a few months.  I give this an hour, maybe six hours or even 24 if you have the time but it never fails...if I put it away, I always catch something I had not seen before and more ideas come into my head for a rewrite.  Giving the writing a rest does wonders to your brain and fantastic ideas come after some time away.

4. Break revision into manageable tasks. To me this is a no-brainer. Sometimes the sheer enormity of revisions is so overwhelming it makes my head spin. Make separate printouts — one for names and titles, another for verb constructions, a third to trim the fat from quotes helps enormously in keeping yourself on target for a finished product.

5. Read aloud. Listen to your story and you can hear where it flags, where a quote runs on or echoes the previous phrase (The mayor said he's dissatisfied with the council's action. "I'm just not satisfied," Mayor Naughton said). I read out loud to myself all the time!!!! Sometimes my children ask me who I'm talking to.  This idea is a great one for catching mistakes and rewriting sentences.

6. Diagnose, then treat. As you read, make quick notes ("cut," "move up?" "boring?" "stronger evidence?") Then go back and make the necessary changes. I once read that many writers will use different marks from the keyboard and colored text markings to go back and fix after reading through the entire piece first.  I have done this as well and the notes help to keep your ideas on target.

7. Test your story against your focus. If it's about a young woman's fight against cerebral palsy, why does it begin with an anecdote about her grandfather's experiences in the California gold rush?  Keep the focus on what is the main thrust of your piece. What drives your article and what questions does it answer? This is all very important.

8. Find a first reader. Editors are our first readers--and our last line of defense. Show your draft to an editor--or a colleague. Ask them to tell you what works and what needs work. Ask for a movie of their reading. Better to turn in something to an editor that we know isn't perfect with an eye to finding the promise and the pitfalls in it and the path to a clear, concise, readable story than letting the whole world see our mistakes. My editors have done wonders with some of my work and I trust them to help me improve my writing. 

9. Develop patience. When I begin to write, the ideas often flow in a flood, leaving the landscape obscured by mountains of impenetrable mass, uprooted trees, houses and everything else in its path. Instead of a tidy piece of prose, what I have is a mess that makes my spirits droop. I wanted it to be so good and instead it seems so bad that I fear I can never get it to  the point where anybody else would want to read it. I have to keep telling myself it will come if I keep at it and it does. I cut paragraphs, reword sentences, change my focus because sometimes my brain puts out ideas faster than I can handle and I have to keep my focus.  But with practice and patience, you can become a pro and write for newspapers, websites and blogs....

Writer Burnout

This has been a first for me.   When I get burned out on writing I take a couple of weeks break and then get back into it. This time it’s been over a month and I’m happy just not writing.  Until now ….when I needed to post on the blog…..

What causes writer burnout you ask?? A series of several experiences:

From Tess Marshall’s article called Recover from Writer Burnout from a blog called Write to be Done, she says that with these time crunch symptoms, burnout is not far behind:

Lack of down time
Feeling overworked and undervalued
Too much responsibility
Lack of monetary rewards for your work
Doing unchallengeable or tedious work
Failure to socialize
Consistently working too many hours
Lack of support
Demanding perfection
A negative view of yourself
Unwillingness to delegate
The need to control everything
Feelings of overwhelm

Don’t get me wrong writing is a love of mine but having too much on your plate can cause the best of us to really come to a screeching halt in our writing.    I didn’t even write in my morning pages…..  But now after over a month of NO writing and getting involved in other activities, I can get back into the swing.

This summer I have a manuscript to finish and articles to write for my online column
Bonds That Tie the Family

Plus other articles I write for other websites I contribute. Taking care not to get burned out again—here are some suggestions for writers to avoid writer burnout.

1. Get rest:  It doesn't do me any good to write way into the night on a daily basis.  Sometimes I'll write late but to repeat this constantly over days can really wear you down and is not healthy.  Set a limit in your schedule of writing and include sleep.

2. Include down time:  I know you want to get that book written but down time helps break up the writing time and helps to keep writers going in the creative process.

3. Exercise: If writers find time to get out and do some exercising, this will help the physical body to feel better.  Schedule some exercise into the day.  It really helps me when I take 45 minutes to walk in the morning.

4. Read Books: Reading helps to keep writers on track and is soothing to the mind.  A good story or a good book about writing better breaks up the writing time and helps prevent burnout.

5. Switch Interests:  There are so many things to accomplish in our short time here on earth. Finding other interests to break up the writing helps tremendously.  I garden and watch movies. There is other art media to join such as watching a live concert or visit a museum or festival.  I attended a quilting show last week and it was so relaxing, I didn't think about writing at all. Participating in other interest is a must for all writers.

6. Do service for others:  Finishing for a deadline is one thing, but spending every waking minute writing is just a difficult task. Find ways to do service for others to help your emotional well-being.

With the heads up on writer burnout and a way to prevent it--you will be on your way to more writing and better polished manuscripts.....