Marketing Plan: Don’t Procrastinate

Most people spend a few days at year’s end working on their marketing plan for the next year. Me? I did nothing in December, so I spent the entire month of January procrastinating and scheming. Mostly procrastinating. However, I decided early on that I needed to completely revamp my Web site and incorporate my blogs into the site.

Once I made that decision, the procrastination set in and settled on me like a stack of Grandma’s quilts on a cold winter night. I just could not make myself get started. I needed to download WordPress (free), upload to my host, find a theme (also free), and install it. I had plenty of tutorials and how-to information to support me. But, I just kept putting it off.

Finally, we had a week of bad weather, including three snow days when we didn’t get out of the house at all. I suddenly had plenty of time. I looked at my plans for the year again. I realized that procrastinating on the Web site was holding me up on the whole deal. Once I forced myself to begin, I found that the ideas flowed easily. My marketing plan for 2010 is off to a great start.

What do you think of my new site, www.emilyakin.com? I chose the new Mystique design because it has several page layout options and other custom features. I’m not finished tweaking it, so I will let you know when I consider it finished.

I have incorporated the past material from this blog into the blog on the new site. I combined the marketing posts with the content from my WiredtoWrite blog, because most of my e-mail subscribers are subscribed to both blogs.

Soon, I will stop posting on this blog and on Wired to Write. I will post only on the new site’s blog.  I’ll let you know in plenty of time so that you can subscribe to the new one. If I can figure out how to transfer the feed without your having to do anything, I will.

I invite you visit www.emilyakin.com and browse around. I welcome any suggestions to make it more helpful and easier to navigate. I’m working on the home page introduction this week. Without further procrastination, I should be able to move on to the next steps in my 2010 plan.

Free “Ask Sally Stuart” Teleseminar

In my last post, Start the New Year with Sally Stuart, I hope I convinced readers that Christian writers must own a copy of the latest edition of Sally Stuart’s Christian Writers’ Market Guide. Near the end of the post, I provided a link to the “Ask Sally Stuart” teleseminar hosted by Terry Whalin of Intermedia Publishing.

I missed the live event, but I listened to the whole recorded session this morning. Sally answered basic questions like, “Why should you get a new guide each year?” She gave hints on how to get started in the Christian market as well as tips on how to lay the marketing groundwork for your nonfiction book. She spent a few minutes on the children’s market. After a brief discussion on agents, Sally dove into questions about self-publishing. She briefly touched on social marketing for fiction and nonfiction writers.

After 25 years of producing the market guide, Sally knows a thing or two about what you need to do to get published. Primarily, she said, good writing will sell. Work to improve your craft, know your audience, and strive to become “the best writer you can be.”

I learned so much, but I don’t want to spoil it for you. It was like being in a conference workshop with Sally Stuart. The teleseminar took place yesterday (January 20, 2010). If you missed it, you can still listen to the whole thing by going to www.asksallystuart.com. Then, fill in your first name and e-mail address and click “Here’s my question, Sally.” You will receive an e-mail with a link to a Web location where you can download the entire teleseminar.

I encourage you to do the download now. It’s free! It takes about an hour to listen to the whole thing. Once you’ve got it on your computer, you can listen to it any time.

Starting the New Year with Sally Stuart

Just this week, I received my copy of the 25^th anniversary edition of Sally Stuart’s Christian Writer’s Market Guide, compiled and edited by Sally Stuart. What a great way to start the New Year and to jump-start my planning for my writing this year. I haven’t subscribed for the entire 25 years, but, since I received my very first copy, I realized that this is a must-have resource for Christian writers.

Some say that Sally’s guide is not necessary now that so many publishers offer their guidelines on the Web. However, it’s often hard to find the guidelines or even a publisher’s site unless you have the details offered in Sally’s guide listings. Sometimes the publication title will show up in a search, but you have to hunt around for guidelines. Also, Sally gives information that you’ll never find in guidelines. For example, in the magazine listings, you’ll find details like what percentage of their articles are written by freelance writers and what percentage is written by in-house writers. If the percentage of freelance is, say, 10%, then you might not want to waste your time submitting to that publication. Conversely, if the percentage is 90%, then your chances of success would be much greater.

I’ve also heard writers say that the Stuart guide is outdated because it needs to be online. Recent editions have included a CD with the entire guide in Word format. It’s not as efficient as a database, but you can do searches on the CD. The CD also includes 70 pages of resources that are not included in the printed guide at all. Stuart has changed publishers this year, and she states that the new publisher intends to have an online version in the future.

And—writers new to publishing want to buy or borrow an older version to introduce themselves to the Christian market. Especially for the beginner, the market guide is a critical tool. It costs less than $30, about the same price as a year’s subscription to many magazines, so save yourself a lot of time by using the newest guide. At a conference session, Sally was asked if an older version was suitable for beginners. She stated that, if there were not so many changes each year, she would not bother to put out a new guide each year. So, don’t waste your time trying to update and use old information when Sally has already done it. Stuart posts regular updates to the printed guide in Christian Communicator and on her blog at http://www.stuartmarket.blogspot.com/.

See sample of the guide, including table of contents, introduction and how-to info at Google Books.

Don’t spin your wheels in 2010 trying to succeed in the Christian market without Sally Stuart’s guide. Order your copy direct from Sally on her Web site. You may find the book in your local bookstore, and you can also order from Amazon or ChristianBook.com.

See also:

See Lettie Kirkpatrick Burress’ review of the 2009 edition on my book review blog. Lettie teaches beginner classes in how to write for publication in the Christian market.

5 Minutes for Books

Teleseminar featuring Sally Stuart at http://www.asksallystuart.com/.

Marketing Article Roundup

I haven’t had a lot of time to devote to this blog this week, so I’ve consulted my list of recent online articles to share with you.

Marketing Lessons from the World of Retail (by T. L. Higley on Christian Author Network blog). This one offers some specifics about Facebook.  Higley has other posts by the same title here and here.

Marketing Principles: Agent Rachelle Gardner features writer and marketing consultant Jim Rubart in a three-part series. Scroll to the bottom of the link to read the first article and work your way back to the top.

Lots of good information in all these posts. I’ll be back soon.

Should You Publish Your Own Book?

Have you developed a book proposal and had no luck selling it to a traditional publisher? Have you written a book but haven’t taken the time to prepare a proposal and market it? If you can answer “yes” to either question, you’ve probably thought about self-publishing.

There’s been a lot of discussion about self-publishing on the Internet lately because of recent announcements by royalty publishers that they are going into the self-publishing business. That must mean that self-publishing is the wave of the future. Or, it could mean that the royalty publishers are just looking for another way to enhance the bottom line.

If you are considering self-publishing, ask yourself these questions:

• Is your work really ready for publication? Even if you answer “yes,” you should submit your work for a professional critique. Most of us cannot really be objective about our own work. You may need to hire a “book doctor” to get your book into “saleable” shape.
• Are you ready and willing to sell your own books? The answer to this one must be “yes,” because nobody will sell them for you. Having a listing on Amazon or other sites is not going to yield enough sales to recoup your investment.
• Do you have a speaking ministry or other platform to help you sell your books? If not, perhaps you’re better off building a platform before you invest in your book.

If you know you’re ready to self-publish, choose a reputable company that is recommended by other writers. Do not look for bargain basement deals. Look instead for value and dependability. See the resource material I’ve listed below as you expand your research on self-publishing. If you don’t read anything else in the list below, read Jim Watkins’ article.

Recent Online Buzz about Self-Publishing:

Chip MacGregor’s Blog (Agent)

Rachelle Gardner (Agent) has two posts, “A Rant and a Q4U” and “My Final Comments on Self-publishing.”

Jim Watkins Article

Writer Beware Blogs!

Web Sites for Self-Publishing Companies

Some of these companies offer print on demand services, too.

ACW Press

Intermedia Publishing

Thomas Nelson

Winepress (POD division Pleasant Word)

Note: I have not had personal dealings with any of these companies, so please do not take their listing on this blog as a personal recommendation.

Accepting Your Role as Salesperson

“Writing is an art. Publishing is a business.” These words jumped out at me in a workshop given recently by Lawrence Wilson, pastor and former editorial director at Wesleyan Publishing House. This simple statement encapsulates the aspiring writer’s problem with getting published.

Writers see themselves as artists, resisting the idea of putting a dollar value on their writing. Perhaps you write because you are passionate about a particular subject or about writing itself. Once you begin the quest for publication, though, you have entered the realm of business. For any business to be successful, somebody must sell something to someone. In my experience, writers abhor the whole idea of “selling themselves.” You, the writer aspiring to publication, must sell your work to publishers who, in turn, sell their publications to the end user (reader).

Does the idea of selling your work conjure up images of door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesmen or network marketing gurus? You’re not alone. Intrusive and manipulative sales techniques have given sales a bad name for most people. I think that’s why some prefer to call it “marketing” rather than “selling.” The term “marketing” suggests that you put your work out for people to see in hopes that someone will see it, like it, and buy it—like at a flea market.

Flea market vendors don’t sell much unless they offer quality products that shoppers want. They must know the market, the customer demographics. They must also interact with the shoppers to convince them to buy the product (selling). As a writer, you submit your work to publishers, making sure that you have followed the guidelines. Your customer, the publisher, states the demographics and preferences of his customers (readers), along with the technical requirements of the documents they are willing to consider. Still, you may need to “sell” the editor on your work. Extra-mile features will entice the editor to buy your work instead of someone else’s with identical specifications. For example, including sidebars and pull-quotes will make your article more attractive. For book proposals, mention an established speaking ministry or other platform for selling your books.

If you believe in the quality and value of your product, selling it is an honorable pursuit. You won’t sell to every customer, but you won’t get your work published unless you try.

Promotion/Networking: Twitter for Writers

Continuing the series on social media for writers, today I’ll share what I’ve learned about Twitter, the micro-blogging tool. If you are not familiar with Twitter, go to this article on Wikipedia now.

Instead of having friends as on Facebook, Twitter users have followers. I’ve used Twitter for several months now, following people mainly in the Christian publishing industry. Some of the same people are friends on Facebook. As of today, I am following 49 people, and 56 people are following me. Some say that you should follow everyone who follows you, but I don’t follow people unless it appears that their content will be of interest to me.

What I Like About Twitter

• Posts (tweet) are short and often provide links that I can access if I want to know more. It doesn’t take me long to scan the list and read the things I’m interested in.
• I can post announcements about new blog posts to help build my readership.
• I can follow people I want to know more about and ignore the ones that are following me in order to sell me something.
• The new Lists feature allows me to separate my preferred follows from the ones I’m just following as a courtesy.

What I Don’t Like About Twitter

• Some people resort to text message language in order to get a longer message in the 140 character limit. Besides having trouble interpreting some of it, I see this as cheating!
• Some people must just tweet all day long. There’s a limit to how much I want to hear from any one person, no matter how much they know about writing and publishing. If you have that much to say, use a blog.
• I’m following publishing professionals for information about writing and publishing, not about where they’re going, what they’re having for dinner (breakfast, lunch, snack), or what the weather is like where they live.

Twitter Marketing Effectiveness

Although there are things I don’t like about Twitter (and other social media, for that matter), I have to admit that they can be effective. I do see an increase in the traffic on my blogs for a day or so after I tweet about a post.

Recently, a family in Vermont needed funding for medical treatment for their special needs baby. The mother let friends know about the problem via Twitter. Someone set up a page on her Web site where people could make donations through Paypal. The message went out on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media. See the details in this article, “How Social Media Saved Jaeli.”

Other Articles About Twitter

Seven Twitter People Every Author Should Follow

Nine Ways to Promote Your Book Using Social Media

See my previous posts on Facebook here and on social media in general here.

Read my post on Twitter, Facebook, and Tweetdeck.

Promotion/Networking: Facebook for Writers

In my last post, I promised to share my experiences with social media. I have not experimented with all of the possible methods. I primarily use Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Follow the links in the previous sentence to see my home page for each site. I’ve found that I have more to say on each method than I originally thought, so I will limit this post to Facebook. Others will be covered in future posts.

My Facebook friends include long-time friends, family, and writers/editors/publishers. I joined because a writer’s conference I planned to attend had set up a Facebook group. At first, I thought I would limit Facebook friends to writers, editors, and publishers. However, I soon found out that I had many long-lost friends on Facebook, so I decided to include them. Since I joined Facebook to promote my writing, it stands to reason that I want everyone who knows me to know about my blogs. So, why leave anyone out just because they’re not involved in the publishing industry?

Promote your blog: I have several blogs, and I often post an announcement that there’s a new post on a blog. This nets me higher traffic on the blog for a day or so after I post. I’m not getting many e-mail subscribers for my blogs from Facebook as I had hoped. It’s possible that I may be getting subscribers by RSS feed, which I cannot track. But, the increase in traffic, even if temporary, is worth the effort.

Promote your published work: Many published authors use Facebook to keep readers informed by setting up a group. Check out Rita Gerlach’s group for her recent novel, Surrender the Wind. I’m not sure whether you’ll get to see comments of fans unless you log in, but try the link anyway. For fiction writers, building a fan base like this is a must. You want your fans to be ready and willing to buy your next book when it comes out.

Non-fiction writers can post announcements about articles published in print or provide links to work published online. In addition, a non-fiction write can use a topic-based or cause-based group to build contacts. As group owner, you can post updates on your topic or cause, thereby keeping your expertise in that topic in front of your readers. See United Methodist Committee on Relief and Power of Prayer.

Priming the pump: In commenting on other people’s posts, I’ve had interesting Facebook conversations on topics that I’d never have a chance to discuss in person. Just yesterday, a friend posted a comment about an experience she had. I commented on it and received updates throughout the day. By the end of the day, I had an idea for a new article based on the topic that was discussed.

I welcome comments about your experiences marketing yourself and your work on Facebook. Next post: Twitter

Promotion/Networking: Social Media

Most aspiring authors know they need to build their network of writers, editors, and publishers. They know that they need to understand the publishing industry so that they can be positioned to sell their book or articles. In my previous post on networking, I discussed what networking is and how word of mouth marketing builds your network. See that post here.

Social media are a great way to build your contact list. Although there are several options, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn seem to be the most popular with writers. The first two can be used to network with publishing industry folks as well as friends and family. LinkedIn is more for networking with other professionals. There’s a great article on the Writers’ Digest site entitled “A Writer’s Guide to Social Networking” that covers these three social media. Take a look at this article this week, and I’ll write about my own experiences with them in my next post.

Meanwhile, for those of you who have not tried social media, follow the links below to how-to information on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin:

Ehow/Facebook or Butterscotch.com/Facebook

Butterscotch.com/Twitter

Butterscotch.com/LinkedIn

Marketing Article Roundup

T. L. Higley has an interesting article entitled “Marketing Lessons from the World of Retail” on ChristianAuthorNetwork.com blog this week. Read it here.

Author Tech Tips blog featured a good one by Rob Eagar, founder of WildFire Marketing. His article is “Marketing Mistakes Top Level Authors Make.”

Literary agent, Chip MacGregor has a great article about marketing and fiction. I also found his article on “Blogging as Marketing” interesting. Read it here.

Next post will be about social networking (blogging, Facebook, Twitter).