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You're an author on
a tight budget. Or, maybe you've got some money, but you're tired of
wasting it on marketing that didn't work. You've poured everything
into writing your book hoping to move thousands of readers with your
words. You've dreamed, hoped, maybe even prayed, that your book sales
would take off. But, that reality has yet to come true. It doesn't
seem fair for your dream to die just because you don't have thousands
of dollars to spend on marketing. Is selling a lot of books only
reserved for the elite authors with big budgets? No.
It's possible to
sell a lot of books - even on a shoestring budget. Like any
author, you want to sell enough books to entertain or educate a lot of
readers. You want to make enough money to write another book - maybe
pay off some bills or take an extra vacation. You want your writing to
become sustainable. But, like too many authors, you might feel
this way instead:
- You're
tired of seeing your book's Amazon sales rank languish week after
week.
- You're
tired of searching on Google for free advice that doesn't seem to
work.
- You're
tired of paying other people to do a job that you could do better
yourself.
- You
just want someone to tell you what works and how to do it - at a
price that doesn't break the bank.
Selling books isn't
a complex riddle that authors must solve. It's a step-by-step process
that any writer can follow. Simply put, if you learn to excel at these
three marketing skills, you will naturally sell more books:
- Connect
with powerful book influencers
- Use
email to create book sales that you control
- Advertise
affordably on BookBub to avid readers in your genre
Each one of these
three tactics has the power to drive a lot of book sales. Combine all
three, and you put yourself in a position of strength! Here's the
best part…
- The
first marketing tactic (influencers) is absolutely free.
- The
second marketing tactic (email) costs less than $100 a month.
- The
third marketing tactic (BookBub ads) costs less than $300 a month.
Each tactic works
for selling novels and nonfiction. Each tactic works for self-published
and traditionally-published authors. Each tactic even works if you're a
first-time author or an established writer. Not familiar with
BookBub ads? They're easy to create and a lot less expensive than
money-guzzling Facebook advertising. And, unlike Amazon ads which are
only available to KDP or Advantage users, BookBub ads are available to
all authors.
You don't have to spend crazy sums of money to get crazy good results.
Even on a shoestring budget, you can take your book sales to a higher
level.
Let one of the
most accomplished book marketing experts in the industry show you the
way. When you know what to do and how to do it right, then you become
the hero of your own author story!
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This Thursday!
December 17 - January 14
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Instructor: Rob Eagar
Learn from one of
the most accomplished book marketing experts in America. For over 10
years, Rob Eagar has coached more than 800 authors, consulted with
numerous publishing houses, and helped clients hit the New York Times
bestseller list three different ways, including new fiction, new
non-fiction, and backlist non-fiction. He even helped a book become a
New York Times bestseller after 20 years in print!
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2020 is winding down and we're all looking
ahead; this week, our authors have some advice to help you
hone your craft.
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Writers often
embark on their writing journeys with great clarity
about the direction they want to sail. They feel like
the captains of their writing ships. They know what
topics they want to cover and the types of writing they
want to do. Later, that clarity may wane, though, and
their ships may drift off course.
This can happen
in a variety of ways. They may mold their writing goals
to meet their income needs. Or, a literary agent,
magazine editor, or client asks them to write about a
different topic, and, before they realize it, that
subject is the focus of their body of work. Perhaps,
they get the chance to write white papers (instead of
novels), science articles (instead of essays), or
website copy (instead of prescriptive nonfiction
books). Years later, they discover they are docked in a
very different port than the one toward which they set
sail.
Read the full article...
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Sell Books on a
Shoestring Budget
Course Starts this Thursday!
You're an author on a tight budget. Or, maybe
you've got some money, but you're tired of wasting it on
marketing that didn't work. It's possible to sell a lot of
books - even on a shoestring budget. Let Rob Eagar, one of
the most accomplished book marketing experts in the
industry, show you the way. Learn More...
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Moriah
Richard is an editor at Writer’s
Digest with a particular interest in discussing
craft and genre. As a reader, she’s most interested in
horror, fantasy, and romance, although she will read just
about anything with a great hook. Find Moriah on Twitter @MoriahRichard93.
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In this issue, 10 authors share surprises
they discovered in the publishing process, our
definitive post on word count for novels, screenwriting
competition guide, and more!
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10 Surprises
in the Publishing Process
Writing a book is
serious business. There are so many things to keep in
mind, including character development, setting, world
building, pacing, and more—and I didn't even get to the
revision process. But writing a book is still focused
on the craft. The process of submitting your work and
getting published is the next level.
(Our
definitive post on word count for novels and children's
books.)
Many writers who have been published
multiple times still don't understand all there is to
know about publishing (and big secret: Even many
publishing pros are constantly learning and trying to
keep up with developments). So one of my favorite
questions to ask recently published authors is
something along the lines of, "What was your
biggest surprise in the publishing process?" The
answers are sometimes completely unexpected. Read the full article...
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Need help getting
your work ready to submit to agents, publishers and
contests? Join the PNWA for a 2-day Writing Intensive
to jump-start your career.
www.pnwa.org/events
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Craft & Business of Writing
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The Rock
& Roll of Non-profit Publishing
I started off writing
about rock music in high school, reviewing albums and
concerts—Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith. I wanted
to be a rock writer.
(20 Best
Songs for Writers and About Writing.)
Instead, I did something that paid a
little better, writing about technology and innovation
for magazines, then later in five published books. But
I had never tried writing a novel.
Until four years ago. I began thinking
about why music often tells lasting truths. And I
started to write a novel and set it in the time I went
to high school, on Long Island, 1978-81. The characters
in a real town would be fictional, yet there could be
mystical twists that involved the music. Read More...
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Screenwriting
Competition Guide
The sure-fire path to
getting discovered in Hollywood mystifies most emerging
screenwriters—as it should, because the path is more
zig zag than Oz’s yellow-brick road. The industry
continues to evolve at an alarming rate, and your
career strategy needs to as well. Query letters alone
just don’t cut it anymore.
(Check out
Writer's Digest competitions.)
When an agent or manager receives a
query, they typically read the logline first. If it
doesn’t grab them as something they can sell, your
query flies into the virtual trash bin. Wave goodbye to
those months, or years, you bled on the pages.
What is a writer to do? Cast as many
nets as possible, including the most-traveled path of
an undiscovered screenwriter—the screenwriting contest. Read More...
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Why Do Agents
Take So Long to Respond?
Why do literary
agents take so long to respond to submissions? I know
when I was younger, I often tried divining what a long
response time from an editor meant. Did it mean my
piece would be rejected? Or did it mean the writing was
moving deeper in the publishing process? Of course, I
often worried the submission got lost—or worse, it was
so bad that no response would ever make its way back to
me.
(20
Literary Agents Seeking Writers and Their Writing.)
What I've learned over the past two
decades in publishing is that the reason behind long
response times is probably not what you think. And it
can change from agent to agent. Read More...
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Send Your Work to 2nd Draft
Critique Services!
No matter your style or genre, Writer's
Digest Shop offers a high-level view of your writing.
After an evaluation of your submission, one of the
professional 2nd Draft critiquers will provide feedback
and advice. You'll not only learn what's working in
your writing, but what's not, and—most important—how to
fix it. Gain a critique of your manuscript, query
letter, synopsis, and more! Click to
continue.
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Plot Twist
Story Prompts: Helping Hand
For today's prompt,
have a character offer a helping hand. The character
offering the help could be a main character or
secondary character. Also the offered help could be
freely given or volunteered after a guilt trip. Plus,
there's always the possibility the offered help is
rejected by the person who may need it.
(Tapping
Your Inner Villain.)
If the help is offered and accepted,
then the plot could conceivably cut both ways. The
person who receives the help could take advantage of
the person offering it. For instance, helping someone
with their groceries could turn into cleaning their
entire house. In the end, the person who offered the
help may come to regret being such "a nice
person."
On the other end of the spectrum, the
person receiving the help may come to regret letting
someone else help. In one example, the helper may not
do things the way the person receiving the help would
prefer. In another example, the helper may start off helping
with the groceries (example above) and then
"helping" with everything else until it seems
like they're upending the other person's life (for an
extreme example, check out Stephen King's Misery). Read More...
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Robert Lee Brewer is a senior editor for
Writer's Digest and former editor of the
Writer's Market book series. He is also the author of Smash
Poetry Journal and Solving the
World's Problems. Find him on Twitter at @RobertLeeBrewer.
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