Control What You Can

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Much of our world is outside of our control--especially if you are going the traditional publishing route. Many authors have unrealistic expectations or myths about their publishing experience. For 10 Publishing Myths, I focused on ten of these myths and you can use this link--or the one at the end of this article to get the book for only $10 including the postage. Each chapter ends with practical steps every reader can take to control what they can in the publishing process or take their own action.

Through the years, I’ve built an active presence on social media with thousands of connections. In these articles, I’ve written about my actions where I spend limited time on the social media sites where I’m active (X or Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIN). I do not control these websites which are called “rented media” yet in general I post on these sites 14 to 15 times each day. It’s a pattern that I've been doing consistently for years. 

In this article, I want to point out two simple yet important actions I regularly take on two different social media platforms. 

First, let’s turn to Facebook. On my personal Facebook page, there is a limitation of 5,000 friends. I’m fairly close to that limit. Several times a week, people will add a comment to my post saying Facebook has suggested friendship and request a connection. Yet I don’t have room for such a connection. Here’s the actions I take each time:

1. I block this person so they will not be able to see my posts or get such a suggestion from Facebook in the future.

2. After the block, I delete their comment from my post.

This action can be done quickly but shows that you are monitoring your feed and account--or controlling what you can in this area.

Second, let’s talk about LinkedIN. I have over 19,000 connections on LinkedIN and have written about the importance of these relationships with editors and other publishing professionals. My public site says that I have over 500 connections but my number of connections is much larger.

Often I will get a request on LinkedIN to connect. In each case, I look at the profile of the person making the request. Do I know this person? Are they in a part of the world where I want to have a connection? For example, if they are in a foreign country, do I want a connection with this person? In many cases, I am not interested and will decline the request--and also tell LinkedIN I do not know this person. The notification of not knowing this person will be reported back to LinkedIN.

I also look at the occupation of the person making the request. Frequently I receive requests from real estate agents and people in the financial services industry. I do not need any connection from either industry so I decline the request. 

Some of these requests I will accept and make a connection. Then I will be watching to see what the person does with this connection. Frequently I get some standard email introduction asking for me to schedule a 15 minute phone call to “chat” with them. I'm not interested in such a chat. I rarely use LinkedIN email because with thousands of connections it is not an effective communication tool--for me. I will send a short response expressing these details. Then here’s my final step which I wanted to write about: I block this person and remove them from being a connection or being able to communicate with me through LinkedIN in the future. 

Such interaction is not worth the agony or mental anguish. Yes, build relationships on these social media sites. These relationships are important to every person in the publishing business. Each of us have the same amount of time. My encouragement is for you to control what you can and let the rest go. What steps are you taking in this area of controlling what you can? Let me know in the comments below.

Tweetable:

As a writer, much of the publishing world is outside of your control. In this article, prolific writer and editor gives some details about how to control two of the social media sites where he is active. (ClickToTweet)

Much of the publishing process is outside of the writer’s control. 10 Publishing Myths helps writers have a realistic perspective and take their own actions--no matter who publishes the book. Get 10 Publishing Myths for only $10 +FREE shipping + over $200 of free bonuses.

Practice Age-Old Wisdom

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

During this time of year, activities tend to slow down--less activity on the publishing front and phone calls are not returned, etc. I use this time to read some books and complete some online courses. While I’ve been in publishing for years, I have a great deal to learn and more improvements to make in my own storytelling and writing life. 

Many authors are looking for the magic bullet to propel their books on the bestseller list. These people are often chasing the latest shiny marketing tool or social media network. If you are listening to such information, you can easily find yourself pulled in many different directions. I understand why publishers are looking for authors with a presence on the internet and social media connections. They want authors who will use these different methods over and over to tell their readers about their work. From my view, social media is all about repeat exposure. Someone has to hear about your book at least ten or twelve times, before they will purchase your book. You tell them about your book in different ways such as through a radio broadcast or a podcast or a magazine article or ???. If you want to see or need an example, just follow my Twitter feed or LinkedIN feed and you will see how I talk about my books using diverse methods on a consistent basis. 

As I listen to training programs and learn, there is a repeated emphasis on returning to the basics--email. Why is a vital and effectively used email list much better than the shiny new platform? The simple fact is that as an author, you control your email list as far as the frequency of use and your efforts to grow and expand your list of readers. I don’t control the spaces which are commonly referred to as “rented platforms.” 

For any of these social media platforms like Facebook, X or Twitter, LinkedIN and many others, if I violate (even unintentionally), my account can be cancelled or suspended. These rules that are violated are often buried in the settings and almost impossible to appeal or get reinstated because the restoration process is outside of what the author can control. You’ve spent untold hours building a group of readers on Facebook then one day your account is suspended. Or your level of response and visibility radically drops because the site has changed their algorithm (which few people understand and almost no one can do anything about). 

Your own email list is what you can control, build and repeatedly use. Do you have an email list and are you effectively using it? Several years ago I created a simple and inexpensive ebook on this topic called List Building Tycoon. If you haven’t seen it, I encourage you to follow the link or click the small image and check it out. 

I’ve not been using my own email list with the greatest effect. Particularly in the new year, I plan to increase my use of my email list and have some specific actions that I’ve relearned from these courses that I’ve been watching. Each of us have to learn these skills then put them into practice. It’s an action step which I encourage every author to do in the days ahead. There are reasons the age-old wisdom works. 

Our life as a writer is a journey. Which age-old wise practices are you not putting into practice?   Let me know in the comments below.

Tweetable:

Is there age-old wisdom that you are failing to put into action? Get some ideas for your writing life from this prolific writer and editor. (ClickToTweet)

Much of the publishing process is outside of the writer’s control. 10 Publishing Myths helps writers have a realistic perspective and take their own actions--no matter who publishes the book. Get 10 Publishing Myths for only $10 +FREE shipping + over $200 of free bonuses.

Some Keys for Being Active on Social Media

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

For years, I have worked at developing a large social media following—over 200,000 Twitter followers, over 18,000 LinkedIn Connections and over 4,900 Facebook friends. These types of numbers do not happen overnight but are something every author can do—with consistent work. I continue to expand and develop these areas.

In this article, I want to give you several keys for doing your own social media. Yes you can hire others to do social media. 

From my experience no matter how much you train them, they will not do it like you do it. Your passion needs to show through. I have always done my own social media posts.

1. Control Your Social Media Time. It's easy to waste hours on your Facebook feed or Twitter feed or LinkedIn feed. I do go over to these places but my time is controlled and not very long at any time.

2. Have the Mindset Your Social Stream Is Like a Magazine. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn, you notice I have a great deal of variety on my social media streams. Yet everything is focused for people interested in publishing. My mindset when I put together my posts are like I am putting together a print magazine targeted to a particular audience. I will keep you on track with what you are putting out.

3. Work Ahead. I use the paid version of Hootsuite to post consistently throughout each day. The majority of my posts come from other people and each one has an image and a link to more resources, The only exception is the quotation and photo I use to begin each day. In general, once a week I fill out my plans for the entire week and it often takes me about 20 to 30 minutes for this task.

4. Create A Grid for Your Scheduled Posts. No one but me probably knows the pattern of my social media posts. I begin each day with a quotation and a photo of that person. I follow that with a couple of posts to my own material such as a free ebook or a product that I'm selling. These posts are followed by six hours of posts from others—yet to my target audience. I close the day with a couple of personal posts to a blog article or a free resource. You could create a formal grid (I haven't) but I recommend you make a pattern for yourself and then it is automatic and something you do rather than work to create.

A recent Pew Poll has proven that 80% of the tweets on Twitter come from 20% of the people. Because I tweet 12 to 15 times a day, I believe I'm in the 20%.  Here's an extra truth about social media: Not everyone reads every post but people are reading your posts. I can see from the comments and reactions.

These are some of my keys for being active on social media. What are your keys in this area? Let me know in the comments below.

Tweetable:

Learn some of the keys for being active on social media from this prolific author and editor. Get the details here. (ClickToTweet)

  

What Is Writing Success?

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Success is a pursuit for many writers, authors and publishing professionals. If we are honest, each of us will define success in different terms. In this article, I want to give you some ideas which hopefully will encourage you to keep going with your writing.

Occasionally book authors will ask me about success or becoming a bestseller. When asked, I attempt to give them my best answer—and basically it will boil down to that author's marketing activity and drive to sell books. There is no single path for each author. If there were such a path, then every book would be a bestseller and we know that isn't the case.

For me, I write about topics and people which interest me. Thankfully I have a broad spectrum of interest so there is never a lack of possibilities for my writing. I learn a great deal with each article or book or writing project. Each one has built a great deal into my life and the richness of that experience. I hope writing brings that sort of experience in your own life.

I've been promoting my book about Billy Graham every day for over four years. I post different messages and links and images but have been doing this process over and over every day. Last week one of my long-term friends added a message to one of my Facebook entries about Billy Graham saying, “Wow I didn't know you wrote that book.” She purchased the book and is reading it and has told me she is going to write a review of it when finished. I'm grateful this friend discovered my book and is reading it. This one exchange is success for me and one of the reasons I wrote that book.

As authors (from my experience), we don't get lots of feedback from readers of our work. Yes you may see an occasional review or get an email or comment. For every review or comment, I expect there are many more readers who never reach out to the author.

It's the same with these articles in my blog. The people who comment are rare (outside of the spammers which I delete). Yet each week for years I continue to write and post a new entry in The Writing Life. I see these lists of the top writing blogs—and mine is not on it. These lists come from well-known and respected writing magazines. Yes I have an email subscriber list of about 500 which goes up and down but stays around that same number.

Last week I got an email about this list of ranked writing blogs. To my surprise, The Writing Life blog was the fourth rank of 100 blogs. Notice this ranking includes several criteria for the ranking—including followers. It was encouraging to see my followers and be listed on this ranking.

My encouragement to you:

1. Follow your own path with your writing and persist to reach the right publisher and right readers.

2. Understand that success varies for each piece of writing and some writing will reach people you have no idea that it reaches.

3. Continue to move forward in spite of rejection, doubts, fears and other emotions. The journey is a key portion of the reward.

Success is different for each of us and I hope in this article, I've given you some insights and motivation to persevere and move ahead with your writing. Enjoy the journey.

What is your definition of Writing Success? Let me know in the comments below.

Tweetable:


What is Writing Success? Get some ideas from this prolific writer and editor. (ClickToTweet)

Control Your Social Media

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

In recent years, I've gained a large social media following with over 200,000 on Twitter, over 4,900 Facebook friends and over 12,000 connections on LinkedIn. In other articles, I've provided details about what I am doing and how I am doing it. Today I want to talk about a different aspect of social media: control.

All of these social posts are something I personally do. I don't have an assistant or someone else doing it. I realize several things:

--consistency is important

--people are reading this information and at times responding to it

--the information will be online FOREVER (yes I understand that all CAPS is shouting but I want to make sure you see these posts are around for a very long time)

The words matter. I begin each day with an inspirational quotation and an image of this person. Today on one of these social networks, someone added a comment about the person I quoted and flamed this person because of other actions they have taken. The comment was inappropriate and very public—and I've watched these types of things escalate on social media to move in a strange direction. I immediately deleted the comment. Then I took further action: I blocked this person from this network so they can never again make such a comment on my posts. I'm in control of my own social media so I took immediate action. Yes I believe in free speech but I also understand that I can control my own social media.

When you read something you don't agree with, you can post a comment or you can move on in silence or you can write the person directly (not public). Each of us have choices in this area. The person who puts out the social media post has a choice and the person who responds (or doesn't) also has a choice.

Several points in this area:

1. Take control of your social media

2. Monitor the comments so you can respond and engage with it. Engagement is a huge reason for being active in social media and the more your audience is engaging, the better in my view.

3. Use tools like Hootsuite and others to help you easily monitor the responses to your social posts. For example, people try to send me direct messages often on Twitter and I don't read those on Twitter because of the time involved (mine is limited for social media because of other things I do throughout the day—a choice). Instead I read these messages and at times respond through Hootsuite. Find your own way to handle this aspect of social media.

4. Always look for ways to expand your readership and grow your social networks. I'm not talking about doing it artificially where you buy Twitter followers but organically where you connect with more and more people. As you increase your reach, you will increase your interest from editors and literary agents and others in the publishing community.

OK, that's my view on the necessity for us to take control of our social media. Do you agree or not? Let me know in the comments below.

 Tweetable:


Are you in control of your social media? Get insights here from a prolific editor and author. (ClickToTweet)

Increase Producivity. Get Organized.

As I get older, I'm more aware each of us have the same amount of time in every day. We have a lot of information and opportunity coming our direction. How do we harness these opportunities and increase our effectiveness? One important aspect is to get organized and keep organized.

If I take an honest look at myself, I tend to be a bit of a pack rat. I save magazines, articles I might write some day, books people have sent to read and review, manuscripts and proposals I've been handed at conferences, and the list goes on. This material can easily flood my office and pile up. During the last few weeks, I have been vigilant about sorting, filing and throwing most of this accumulation. At the moment, I'm much more organized than I have been during other periods.

Take Time to Eliminate & Organize Clutter

For me, it is a matter of taking a hard look at what has accumulated and asking if I will ever need this again. Most of the time that answer is “no” and I can throw it. Or can I quickly store some needed information such as an email address or phone on my computer where I can search and easily access it in the future? You can increase your effectiveness and productivity if you have less right in front of you to handle.

Use Your Smartphone Effectively

Often I meet writers who have a smartphone but only use it as a phone—and little else. Whether you are aware of it or not, you have a powerful communication device that you carry. Take the time to use various features. For example, I use the calendar to remind me of meetings and phone calls. I use the reminders section to call to my attention critical deadlines.

I also use my smartphone to post on social media. For example, I use Hootsuite to time out my posts for several social platforms. For Facebook at the moment, I post them myself using my phone. It is not the most efficient way to do it (as I know) but it does get done. 

Also I use my smartphone to quickly answer some important emails when I'm away from my office. Just a brief answer shows the other person you got it and responded. Use your phone as an effective communication tool.

If you don't know how to use these aspects of your smartphone, then take the time to learn. You can even take free classes at the Apple Store (which I have done).

Be Aware of the Time Zappers

I regularly hear from writers who spend hours scrolling through Facebook then wonder where they lost part of their day. Or they binge watch a television program or spend time at a bookstore browsing. None of these things are wrong or bad in themselves but increase your awareness of how you are using your time can help you be more effective.

Create a System to Achieve Over and Over

If there is something you need to accomplish over and over, I recommend you create a habit to accomplish it. Just writing 20 to 30 minutes a day on a project can continue to move it forward toward completion. Or set a word count for your writing then do it repeatedly. People wonder how I keep up with my social media. It's pretty simple. I've created a system where I do the functions over and over (with many different purposes and reasons).

 I still have things slip through the cracks and doesn't get done. For example, several days ago I got an email reminder the judging sheets for a contest are due right away. Yes I knew I was judging this contest and had the material for it but wasn't aware of the exact due date. I handled it and met the deadline. Each of us have these types of things which slip into our day and need to get done.

What steps are you taking to get organized and increase your productivity? Let me know in the comments below.

 Tweetable:


Discover four insights to get organized and increase your productivity from this prolific reader and writer. (ClickToTweet)

Use A Writer's Work Around

In the tech world, when you run into a snag (which seems to happen with great frequency), you will find a work around. With this work around, you can achieve the same result but will have to use a different process to get there.

Often I need to find a work around when it comes to the ever-changing world of social media. As I've mentioned in these articles before, I don't spend a lot of time on my social media—but I do spend consistent time on it. Using a scheduling tool like HootSuite, I tweet about 12–15 times every day. These tweets also show up on Facebook and LinkedIn—which are other social networks where I have a lot of activity.

Whenever a social network makes changes, you have to find a work around for your activity to continue. For example, several months ago, Facebook posted my tweets but without images. Several times a day I would add the images to my posts on Facebook (which make them more attractive and read). Then without warning, Facebook began including the images with my tweets again so I didn't need to add them.

Last week, Facebook decided to stop the twitter posts from showing up on Facebook. As I understand it, this stop happened across the entire Facebook network. Suddenly twitter posts were blocked on Facebook. I had to search for a work around to get my posts on Facebook (where I get a lot of appreciation about the information I'm posting).

My current work around for this situation is to go over to Facebook several times a day. I simply cut and paste my posts from Twitter to my Facebook feed. In each case, I make sure my post and image are on Facebook. My work around is time consuming and I'm looking for some other method to get these posts on my Facebook newsfeed. Why do I care that it stopped? Because I have over 4,900 Facebook friends and I continue to get feedback that people appreciate the information. I don't want this regular marketing to stop.

My point of this article is to demonstrate each of us face road blocks to our marketing efforts or our writing efforts. These road blocks are a clear dividing line between people who get it done and others who are stopped. The persistent authors figure out a work around or way around the road block. The authors who are not persistent are thrown off with the road block and don't get it done.

This week I asked one of my writer friends about her proposal. I learned she had sent it to one publisher (two months ago) and gotten rejected. She hit a road block but it stopped her and she had not sent it to another publisher. Some of my friends have established a rule where if they get rejected, they take 24 hours to mourn that rejection, then they fire their article or proposal or query to another place. See their work around? These authors understand rejection is a part of our writing life—yet they do not let rejection stop them. Instead, they are committed to getting their submission back into the market.

What is holding you back? Is it rejection? Is it a tech glitch? Is it something with social media? What active steps are you taking to find your work around instead of letting it stop you? Let me know in the comments below.

Tweetable:

What situation is holding back your writing life? Learn to use your writer's work around. (Click to Tweet) 

Why Every Writer Needs Persistence

Publishing is an imperfect process with many variables and much which can go off the rails in the process of making or marketing a book. For example, one of my authors launched a one-day only giveaway of her book on Amazon. She had sent emails, Facebook posts and all sorts of other means to spread the word about this one day event. The author had worked with our team at Morgan James and gotten it all set—so she thought. Then Amazon did not reduce the price.

Early in the morning, I got a call from the author about this potential disaster to her marketing effort. I reached out to a colleague who reached out to someone else to get Amazon to quickly adjust the price to zero for the day. In an hour or two, it was resolved and the author was able to continue to market her one-day special event. Morgan James does not control Amazon but we work with Amazon to make such campaigns happen and the author persisted to get it going.

Today I tried to call an author using the app which I use for my Morgan James work. The app shows my New York phone number and why I consistently use it for calling authors. In my case, the app did not work or dial the number and only gave me an error message. This app had been updated overnight and something was not working. I persisted to get it working, deleted the app on my phone and reinstalled it. Then it worked again. For this author, I only had her phone number. I did a quick search and found her website—which had no email address or phone but did have a contact form. I filled out the form so she would have my email and know what she needed to do to reach me with her submission. I persisted rather than giving up when I could not get my phone app to work. These types of actions are what we have to do as writers and professionals. Normally there is a way around the challenge—if you persist.

Or another example, I have almost reached the limit on my Facebook friends and throughout each day I post material related to publishing and writing. Facebook continually makes changes to their system and recently I noticed the images on my posts from twitter were not showing up. I figured out how to edit those posts and add the images so I made that adjustment.Then a day or so ago, Facebook removed the ability to add images to such posts when you are editing them. I had to make another adjustment to get it to work. Persistence is key to this process for every writer.

There are many strange technical things that happen every day in the process of my work. Do I let it derail me and keep me from working or do I persist and find a way around it? These challenges often have nothing to do with me but it takes persistence to accomplish the work.

How are you applying persistence into your writing life? Let me know in the comments below.

Tweetable:

Why every writer needs persistence. Get the details here. (ClickToTweet)

Don't Be an Unreachable Author

Last night I came home from another terrific writers' conference. In addition to teaching three hour-long workshops, I met one-on-one with over 35 writers.  Each of my workshops had a good attendance and after each one, numerous people came forward to get my business cards and give me their information. Besides these moments of interaction. we ate three meals together during this event.

During one of the meals, I spoke for a while with an author who works with other authors in editing and copywriting. I enjoyed this conversation and wanted to reach out to this author. The conference had a bookstore and while I didn't get a lot of time to look at these books, I noticed this author had copies of a how-to-write book on a topic I had not seen. I searched Amazon and saw this author had only three reviews for her book. Since I have written many reviews for books, I did not purchase this how-to book. Instead I wanted to reach out to this author. I intend to ask for a “review” copy of her book and offer to review this book. It is a book that I'm interested in reading. This exchange of books for my review is a common one in the publishing community.

This author told me that she had given me her business card. I dug into my business cards and located her information. It was an attractive card which included her name, a title or two of her book and her website. The card was missing an email address or a phone number or an address. One of the hardest elements to proofread and think about is something not on the page (or card). Your email address is one of the critical elements which should be on every business card.

I continued my process to try and reach this author. I looked at her website.  It was a clean and crisp site but included no contact page and no contact information. Some sites have a form you can fill out and it goes to the author's email. I've filled out these forms in the past to reach authors but this one didn't have such a page or form. I searched for her on Facebook and noticed we are Facebook friends. I have over 4,900 Facebook friends (almost the maximum of 5,000). I wrote her a little Facebook message.

Finally I thought about LinkedIN where I have a lot of publishing connections (over 5,200). I signed on to LinkedIN and searched for her name. Turns out we were connected there so I downloaded her profile and finally located her email address. I will reach out to her in a bit with my request to review her book.

I'm writing about this experience because I want you to look at your own situation as an author. How easy are you to reach? Is your contact information on your website? If not, are you using a contact form which goes to your personal email address?

I understand how you may be a private person and don't want everyone to have your contact information—but you do want people to be able to reach you when they have a legitimate need or request. This situation of the unreachable is not unusual and you'd be surprised how often it happens working with authors and going to conferences. After the editor or agent returns home, you want them to be able to reach you and follow-up. It can't happen if your contact information is not easily available. Don't be an unreachable author.

Are others able to easily reach you? What techniques are you using? Let me know in the comments below.

Tweetable:

Is it easy to reach you? Learn about the unreachable author. (ClickToTweet)

How to Move When Feeling Overwhelmed

Whether we acknowledge it or not, it is easy to feel overwhelmed as an author. The realities of the publishing world can be daunting. 

Every day thousands of new books enter the market. In addition, authors and publishers are promoting existing books to consumers. Every consumer has to hear about your book seven or eight or more times before they reach into their wallet and purchase your book. The average self-published book sells less than 100 copies and the average traditional book sells about 1,000 copies.

Yet as an author you have a much bigger vision than selling 100 or 1000 books. When it comes to book marketing, there are dozens of books—and each is filled with great ideas. Maybe you have read a few of these books and are stuck in the “shiny object” syndrome where you are buying the latest and greatest tool for marketing your book. While it may be good to purchase that tool, are you using it and then measuring to see if it is working for you?

If you are feeling overwhelmed (and everyone has these feelings from time to time), here's several ideas for you:

1. Change gears to a different type of writing project. If you have been writing a novel, switch to a nonfiction magazine article or writing a blog post or an Ebook or some other type of writing. The experience can get you moving again.

2. Plan a series of social media posts using Hootsuite or some other schedule tool. When you put these posts into your tool, you are doing something active—building your platform and presence in the marketplace.

3. Follow some new people on Twitter or Facebook. Why? With the idea that some of those people will follow you back and you will grow your social media following—a good thing to do if overwhelmed.

4. Get more friends on Goodreads. There are 55 million registered readers on Goodreads. As an author, you need to be spending a little time there on a regular basis. Use the friends section (see this link) to get more friends. Many authors only have a few hundred friends. I used these tools and built up to the maximum (which I learned when I hit it) of 5,000 friends. Now everytime I write a review on Goodreads (for a book that I've read or heard), it shows up on all these pages. You can have many friends if you faithfully use the tools from Goodreads.

5. Look for someone to review your latest book. Maybe it is someone you are corresponding with on email.Ask them if they are interested or willing to write an honest review and get their commitment. Then mail them your book. It's part of the publishing world to continually look for new reviews and feedback about your book.

6. Write a query letter to a magazine editor and pitch an article idea.

7. Read a marketing book like Online Marketing for Busy Authors and take one idea from the book and put it into practice.

My key point with this article is to take a small yet measured step in the direction of action. The worst thing you can do when feeling overwhelmed is nothing.

Tweetable:

Why writers need to do what they don't want to do.  (ClickToTweet)
 

Keep Yourself "In Sight" and "In Mind"

“Out of sight. Out of mind” is a common saying. When you are a writer or an author, you want to continually work at the complete opposite of this saying. You want to keep yourself “in sight and in mind”. You take these actions for your readers, for booksellers, for librarians, for members of the media, for leaders of book clubs and many other segments of the population. How do you accomplish this simple goal of being visible in the marketplace?

In this article, I want to give you several strategies that I use on a regular basis. I confess that I'm still learning new insights and work every day at increasing my visibility. I understand being visible is a challenge for everyone. To be honest, there is a lot of noise in the marketplace and you have to continually work at visibility.

Here's some actions to take:

1. Follow-up with your connections. That follow-up is critical and can be through email or phone or the mail but you have to create a regular connection with people. I've written about this issue in the past so check this link for more information.

2. Create an email list and use that list on a regular basis. There are easy to use tools but every author needs to select one then faithfully use that tool. If you don't have a list check out this resource. For example, I have a number of free ebooks that I give away online. The back of my business card has a small cover of my ebook, Straight Talk from the Editor and says, “Free Ebook: www.straighttalkeditor.com” I'm inviting anyone who receives my business card to get this resource. When they request it, they give me their first name and email address. They join my email list in this process. What types of free giveaways are you using to collect this information and touch your audience? 

3. Use social media and continually expand your network and presence. Being on Twitter, Facebook,  LinkedIn and other social networks is important to remind others about your expertise and books. I've written about the steps I take every day here.

4. Always be trying new ideas to reach more people. I encourage you to set up your own online press room or create infographics or bookmarks. You can also reach out to booksellers with a specific reason. 

For example, Billy Graham turns 98 on November 7th. I've reached out to a local bookstore to see if I can set up a signing around that date. Also look at this press release related to this event (which has already garnered several more forthcoming radio interviews about Billy Graham). There are an endless range of ideas you can take to get in front of more people. My key point is to be taking regular and continual action.

This weekend in church I met someone new. We exchanged business cards. It wasn't until later in the day, that I read the information on the business card and focused on this person's background. I learned he was a retired Brigadier General in the United States Air Force. I imagine someone with this background has incredible personal stories (if he can tell them). I took a couple of minutes and sent him a follow-up email. Will something come from it? I have no idea. I'm certain if I fall off his radar and out of his immediate sight, then I know exactly what will happen—nothing.

For every writer, it is your responsibility to keep yourself in front of other people. Are you using the tried and true methods or something new? Tell me in the comments below.

Tweetable:

As an author, how do you keep yourself “In Sight” and “In Mind?” Get specifics here. (ClickToTweet)

Authors Need A Practical Plan

Authors know the online world is important to their book marketing efforts. Yet many authors are overwhelmed with the possibilities. The majority of writers want to write instead of market their books. Every busy author has limited time and resources to market their book. Where do they begin and how can they create an effective in their online marketing strategy?

From my many years in publishing, when you face such questions, it is best to learn from someone who knows the world of online book marketing intimately and can give you sseasoned direction. Long-time publicist Fauzia Burke is one of these experts. Recently I read Fauzia's new book, Online Marketing for Busy Authors, A Step-by-Step Guide. This an eye-catching book is easy to read and loaded with practical information.

The book is organized into three phases. First, you need to get organized, then you need to turn your thinking into action and finally, you need to learn to stay the course. In the first section to get organized, you have to dream big, know your reader (target), set realistic goals and have a priority list.

The second section helps you turn your ideas into action with step-by-step information to create an online marketing plan, build a website, create a mailing list, blog and social networking. I found each section to be straightforward and easy to apply advice. In order to cut through the confusion, Burke encourages authors to focus on six priorities: website, mailing list, blog, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and video. Her detailed recommendations are in the book.

In the third section, Burke encourages authors to promote without being promotional. I understand it is a fine distinction.

 Scattered throughout the book are a series of “Tip for #BusyAuthors” and each one is simple yet full of insight. For example, “You don’t have to be an early adopter and chase every social media tool. Use tools that have a track record for success.” (Page 40)

In the final pages of Online Marketing for Busy Authors, A Step-by-Step Guide, Burke writes, “The famous line said it all: “You gotta be in it to win it.” If you are not available online when people are searching for information, the chances of them finding your book and buying it are slim. Remember: Every reader who takes the time to seek information on a related topic is an interested, and qualified buyer—a warm lead. Just the kind we like.” (Page 140-141)

I loved the simplicity yet power in Online Marketing for Busy Authors, A Step-by-Step Guide. I highly recommend it.

Tweetable:

Busy Authors Need a Practical Online Marketing Plan. Get details here: (ClickToTweet)