Category Archives for Marketing & Publishing
Everyone is Doing This Wrong in Their Author Branding (But You Can Fix Yours)
As an author, your brand is more than just a cover image, logo, and design scheme.
You’re told by publishers and industry professionals to build a platform and sell your book. When it comes time to act, however, there is little guidance provided for how to do that effectively. Pumping out “buy my book” messages makes you look self-serving and turns readers off.
There’s an entire flavor to branding that a lot of authors miss, and it’s hurting their chances of connecting with their target readers!Continue reading
What Would It Look Like If I Started Replying to Queries and Pitches With GIFs?
I receive a lot of pitches and queries for submission here at Craft Your Content, for my own writing, and on a number of the client websites we help to manage.
Most days, going through these submissions is a highlight for me.
I love finding pieces that are genius and should be published and read. I adore finding pieces that need a bit of work, but I know are going to be pretty damn amazing after some polishing. I even enjoy working on pieces that have a great story and concept, but need a lot of heavy lifting to get it ready for public consumption.Continue reading
Bringing Email Marketing to the Entrepreneurs and Authorpreneurs Among Us
Does anyone else remember when getting an email was an exciting thing?
The thought of opening up a digital screen and finding a message from someone was downright thrilling. It made the ear-cringing dial-up sounds that came before it almost worth it.
I grew up in a unique time, and not only because it was the 90’s, arguably one of the coolest decades. (Fight me on it, I dare you.)
I also say this because in my life, I have seen technology (cell phones and the internet, specifically) go from relative luxuries to absolute necessities. I didn’t grow up with a cell phone in the palm of my hand as my niece and future generations will.
Our inboxes evolved from hollow spaces containing only the AOL welcome email — along with a couple Hotmail addresses of tech-inclined buddies — into a bursting capsule of content, with everything from bills and ads to newsletters and updates, and, if you’re me, countless password reset requests.
These days, it’s actually much more novel to get a piece of real mail than a digital one.
How Would Ebenezer Scrooge Do Social Media?
This time of year, you cannot be a functioning member of society and not be familiar with some adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and its infamous protagonist, Ebenezer Scrooge.
A crotchety old miser, Scrooge is reminded on Christmas Eve of the importance of cherishing the people in his life and honoring the spirit of Christmas throughout the year by his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley, and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future.
Oh! And Tiny Tim.
A Christmas Carol was first published by Chapman & Hall in December of 1843. At the time it was considered a solid social statement against the rampant capitalism of Victorian Britain and greedy industrialists that were profiting at ridiculously high margins off the work of the lower classes.
Hrmm…Sound familiar?
While some things may remain the same, the times certainly have changed 170 years later. Recently, the biggest change to human relationships and interaction certainly lies in the power of social media and networking.
Which leaves one to wonder: How Would Ebenezer Scrooge DO Social Media?Continue reading