Indie Author Weekly Update – May 24, 2019

May 24, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Indie Author Weekly Update - May 24, 2019

This Indie Author Weekly Update features some posts from Rachel Thompson’s NaNoProNo plus there’s a great post on book covers. Jane Friedman featured one on how to find a publicist. They’re all great!

NaNoProNo Posts

How to Make Author Network Connections with Five Easy Elements by Guest Donna Jennings, Ph.D and from Rachel Thompson: “Some people are unaware I grew up on a farm. I took part in crop planting and harvesting when I wasn’t feeding and watering animals. I translate lessons from farming to authoring because there is a lot in common, like seasons. You plan and prepare, plant the seeds, grow the product, harvest and when it’s ready, you share with the world.”

How to Improve Your Email Newsletters Right Now by Guest Barb Drozdowich and from Redhead Media: “All the experts these days seem to focus on “growing your list,” as part of your author platform. That’s the primary message – bigger and bigger numbers seem to be the most important thing. How many email addresses can you gather up to proudly show off?”

How to Set Your Author Website Foundation by Guest BookWorks and from Rachel Thompson: “The independent author sphere is saturated with bad design and marketing—from unintentionally hilarious book covers to websites that look like refugees from the wreckage of Geocities—and you don’t want to add to it. But it goes much deeper than that. Design isn’t just how your website looks, but what it does (to very loosely paraphrase Steve Jobs), and you have to do more than just have something out there. It needs to be as remarkable as your book.”

How To Grow Your Author Platform by Guest Alexa Bigwarfe and from Bad Redhead Media: “There is nothing worse than doing all the things to have a well-written, edited, fantastic book that completely flops when you launch it. That’s all of our biggest fears as writers, right? Okay, creatives have a lot of fears, but this one: “What if nobody buys my book?” is at the top of the list.”

Book Covers that Sell Your Book

Are you looking for a new book cover designer or premade cover? This will make your search easier! by Diana Urban: “Most authors and book marketers know that covers are important — and that it can be worth spending money for a professionally designed cover. After all, a book’s cover design has a proven impact on sales. But where can you go for help with your book cover design? We’re always on the lookout for useful resources, and we compiled this list for anyone seeking cover design help. We tried to include a variety of designers and premade cover options so you can find the best match for your genre and budget. While we haven’t vetted these specific resources ourselves, we hope they’re good places to start and make your search for cover design help less overwhelming.”

Find a Publicist

Choosing a Publicist: Ruling Out and Ruling In by Guest Barbara Linn Probst and from Jane Friedman’s blog: “Nowadays, many writers elect to hire their own publicists. That’s especially true for those who publish with small, independent, or nontraditional presses, since that may be the only way for them to secure media attention. It’s also true, however, for writers who take the traditional route. Unless you’re a major name, your publisher will have limited time and resources to devote to your book. If you want more exposure, you’ll have to make it happen yourself.”

Pitch for Film & TV

How to Pitch Nonfiction for Film & TV from from Alliance of Independent Authors and by Charles Harris: “As you cast about looking for other ways to generate income from that nonfiction book you slaved over, ever wonder what it takes to pitch your nonfiction book for film or TV? Kick back and let ALLi Author member Charles Harris show you how it’s done.”

Quote of the Week

One writes because one has been touched by the yearning and the despair of ever touching the Other.

Want to know all of my best social media marketing tips? Get a copy of Social Media Just for Writers.

 

Social Media Just for Writers 2nd Edition

Well written, well researched – well thought out. This book is a must have!

Ryshia Kennie 

Frances CaballoAuthor of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She wrote several social media books including Social Media Just for Writers and The Author’s Guide to Goodreads. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. Her clients have included authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for her free email course.

Online Book Marketing Strategies for Writers

 

Indie Author Weekly Update – April 17, 2019

May 17, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Indie Author Weekly Update

I think this Indie Author Weekly Update is the longest one I’ve ever compiled. Rachel Thompson’s NaNoProNo is in full swing and I like to bring the best of those posts to my weekly roundup. Anne R. Allen wrote a dynamite piece of the author persona. I start with the most important post: the one on MailChimp by David Gaughran. Read it. Enjoy all the posts in this week’s edition.

MailChimp

Time To Ditch Mailchimp? by David Gaughran: “Mailchimp attracted extreme criticism this week when it became clear how its new marketing services would impact its core email offering — particularly in terms of pricing — leading many long-time users to start explore alternatives (including this one).”

NaNoProNo Bog Posts from Rachel Thompson

Why Writing Your Truth Is an Effective Marketing Strategy by Guest Jackie Cioffa and from the Bad Redhead Media blog from Rachel Thompson: “When Bad Redhead Media’s Rachel Thompson reached out to me to write a post about promoting and marketing my books, my immediate thought was is she kidding? I have been an avid follower and fan of Rachel for nearly a decade, trying to emulate her badass self-publishing skills and as much of her marketing expertise as I could.

How to Make Your Book Marketing Plan a Success by guest Maureen Joyce Connolly and from Rachel Thompson: The very core of my approach was to learn as much about launching a book as quickly as possible, to compile a strategy and to execute it with support if I needed, but for me to be the driver of my plan. I also understood instinctively, that I would need to identify my personal strengths and use them to my advantage since I had no social media presence – nada, zip – as my business had flourished via referrals.

This Is How to Use Harder Working Links to Sell More Books by Guest Jessie Lakes and from Rachel Thompson: “Let me quickly introduce you to what we call “intelligent links,” the hardest working links on the internet. These aren’t the links you copy out of your browser window or a shortened bit.ly links, but rather supercharged links that can help you sell more books and unlock a new stream of revenue. And the best part is that you are already doing the hard and time-consuming work, swapping in the use of “intelligent links” doesn’t take much extra time at all.

How to Best Prepare for Book Marketing by Guest Frances Caballo and from Rachel Thompson: “Book marketing involves so many steps. When people come to me, they erroneously think that all they need is social media marketing. Au contraire. Social media alone won’t cause your books to start flying off the proverbial bookshelf. So, take this quiz and see if you’re ready to tackle book marketing on your own.”

This Is How to Sell Your Book in 20 Seconds by Guest Sharon Goldinger and from Rachel Thompson: “Picture this: You’re in an elevator, your book cupped in your hand, the title clearly visible to the other person in the elevator. While riding from floor 1 to floor 19, she asks, “What is From Fat to Fit about? You respond: “You’ll be inspired by the amazing Community Meltdown, which motivated 1,000 people to have fun while losing 8,000 pounds in 8 weeks, and my personal story as I went from fat to fit and lost 62 pounds.”When the elevator lands at her stop, she says, “Sounds great. I’ve got to get a copy.”

Your Author Persona

What’s Your Author Persona? How to Be Yourself Online—Only Better by Anne R. Allen: “I blog often about an author’s online presence and the importance of keeping your image squeaky clean, especially when you’re starting a writing career. That image is sometimes called your “author persona.”

Book Readings

How to Plan a Book Reading That Delights Your Audience from Jane Friedman and by James Navé: “The audience is on your side. They love writing just as you do; that’s why they’re there. These wonderful people have taken time out of their lives, probably traveled some distance and spent some money, just to hear you read. They’ve come to witness your imagination at work. They’ve come to be moved, entertained, motivated, validated, informed, provoked, stimulated and inspired. In short, they’re receptive.”

 

Quote of the Week

Indie Author Weekly Update - Toni Morrison quote on writing

 

Want to know all of my best social media marketing tips? Get a copy of Social Media Just for Writers.

 

Social Media Just for Writers 2nd Edition

Well written, well researched – well thought out. This book is a must have!

Ryshia Kennie 

Frances CaballoAuthor of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She wrote several social media books including Social Media Just for Writers and The Author’s Guide to Goodreads. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. Her clients have included authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for her free email course.

Online Book Marketing Strategies for Writers

4 Dirty Little Secrets About Social Media Marketing for Authors

May 13, 2019 By Leave a Comment

4 Dirty Little Secrets About Social Media Marketing for Authors

Think social media marketing for authors is hard to learn?

Hardly.

Sure, there are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of blog posts published every day explaining how to accomplish some aspect of social media.

But guess what?

It’s mostly been said and done previously.

Sure, some things are new, such as Facebook’s new focus on Groups and Facebook Messenger chatbots.

But a lot of what you read about social media marketing for authors has been said before.

Really.

Okay, I just explained the first secret to you. Let’s review secrets two, three, and four now.

Secret Two: You Don’t Have to Be Everywhere

I’ve mentioned this on my blog before, but it bears repeating.

For some reason, when we publish our first book, we seem to believe that we need to be everywhere.

You don’t. Why?  Because your reading demographic isn’t everywhere.

Where do you think Young Adult readers hang out? Mostly Snap, Tumblr, and Instagram.

Where do you think romance readers spend their time online? Mostly Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

You can have a bio on LinkedIn, but most authors don’t need to spend a lot of time there – especially not romance and YA readers.

What if three social media platforms are too many for you to handle? Pick one and learn it until you can rock it. Then take on a second. Then, if you want to take on a third on but stop at that point. No one needs to be on more social media platforms than three.

Well, that’s my opinion, and you can probably find people to disagree, but that’s what I think.

It’s simply too much of a hassle to devote a lot of time to more than two or three social media platforms. And if you want to hire someone to handle the platforms for you, fine, but you’ll be paying a lot of money.

So, streamline your social media and put energy into writing and blogging.

Secret Three: Subscribe to One Great Social Media Marketing Blog

If you subscribe to one blog that covers social media marketing for authors (hint: mine!), then you don’t have to read any others.

Why spend hours reading a massive list of social media blogs? It doesn’t make sense.

Instead, you should spend your time writing your next book.

Secret Four: Secret Media Is Actually Simple to Use

Yes, it really is.

Let’s start with Facebook. Signing up is super easy, and Facebook has simplified the creation of Author Pages.

Basically, all you need are the basics.

Instagram may be the easiest of them all. Create quotes, snap pictures of where you write or hike and upload them to Instagram with a caption and hashtags.

On Twitter, set up your username and password, use Canva to create a header image, and you’re on your way. Know that tweets can now be up to 280 characters.

My point is this: learn the basics of the social media networks you need to be on and then over time, add more skills.

All you need to start are the basics.

So, you think that’s easy for me to say? Well, it’s not. In fact, it’s harder for me because I’m expected to be able to master every innovation as it’s introduced.

How do I keep up? I read blog posts, and I take a lot of courses – courses that you can sign up for as well.

So don’t let anyone try to convince you that social media marketing for authors has a dreadful learning curve. If I can do it, so can you.

Want to know all of my best social media marketing tips? Get a copy of Social Media Just for Writers.

Social Media Just for Writers 2nd Edition

Well written, well researched – well thought out. This book is a must have!

Ryshia Kennie 

Frances CaballoAuthor of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She wrote several social media books including Social Media Just for Writers and The Author’s Guide to Goodreads. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. Her clients have included authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for her free email course.

Online Book Marketing Strategies for Writers

Indie Author Weekly Update – May 10, 2019

May 10, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Indie Author Weekly Update - May 10, 2019

I hope you enjoy today’s Indie Author Weekly Update. The seven (yes seven!) posts I reference below offer you the kind of strategies you need to sell more books.

Note that this month Rachel Thompson, social media expert and founder of NaNoProMo (to help authors market the books they wrote during NaNoWriMo) is featuring a lot of ideas on how to brand yourself and sell more weeks. Be sure to follow her on twitter (@BadRedheadMedia and @RachelintheOC) to keep up on the posts she’s adding to her website this month.

Enjoy the posts below!

Readers

Reader Targeting Influences Everything by David Gaughran: “Reader Targeting is yet another concept we have to juggle. It’s no wonder many writers take to the drink, or otherwise lose the run of themselves. Or can be a little… kooky. We have to wrestle with a number of contradictory notions all the time — it’s enough to make anyone batty.”

How to Bring Value to Your Readers from Jane Friedman’s blog and by Paulette Perhach: “What’s the difference between these two writers: David Sedaris, who people pay fifty dollars to see read out loud for an hour, and the open-mic writer, who is allowed five minutes to read before the timer interrupts him to get off stage? In business speak, the difference is value. Specifically, the power to create value through art.

Branding

Three Reasons Why Branding Shouldn’t Make You Lose Your Mind from Bad Redhead Media and by C. Streetlights: “Imagine you have always had a dream to, I don’t know… let’s just say for argument’s sake you always wanted to become a writer. Unfortunately, Reality can be a real jerk and you couldn’t be a writer or a ballerina so you ended up being a bus driver. However, in our imaginary scenario, you are able to maintain a blog about your adventures and have a large following. When confronted about you do in your spare time, you somehow manage to stammer, “I’m sort of a writer.”

Author Blogs

4 Ways You Can Make Time To Blog Right Now by Rachel Thompson: “Time, writers say, is the biggest challenge when it comes to blogging. We are writing books. We are marketing books. We are thinking about writing and marketing books. We are parents, spouses or significant others, single parents, workers bees, pet puke cleaner-uppers, grocery-shoppers, housekeepers, laundry-do-ers, mental illness sufferers/survivors, advocates, and the beat goes on.”

Book Marketing

How Recommending Books Can Grow an Author’s Audience
from BookBub Partners and by Catherine McKenzie: “As writers, we’re in a unique position to both spread the word about books we love and to benefit from the subsequent engagement this gives us with readers. Recommending books I’ve loved has brought me new readers and has allowed me to engage in the enthusiastic online book community.”

How to Make Time for Book Promotion by Pauline Wiles and from Rachel Thompson: “As authors today, we’re compelled to juggle more tasks and responsibilities than ever before. Given the colossal effort you’ve invested in writing and publishing your book, you know you’d be crazy not to dedicate some energy to promoting it. But with all that’s going on in your life, how do you make the time for this?”

So, You Want to do Author Events? Tips to Get You Started from Indies Unlimited: “Many authors make public appearances, or outings, in an effort to connect with more people. For those who have never done it and are interested, I thought I’d put together some pro tips for authors who would like to do a public event.”

Quote of the Week
I want to tell the truth. That’s where my storytelling comes from.

 

Want to know all of my best social media marketing tips? Get a copy of Social Media Just for Writers.

Social Media Just for Writers 2nd Edition

Well written, well researched – well thought out. This book is a must have!

Ryshia Kennie 

Frances CaballoAuthor of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She wrote several social media books including Social Media Just for Writers and The Author’s Guide to Goodreads. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. Her clients have included authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for her free email course.

Online Book Marketing Strategies for Writers

 

Indie Author Weekly Update – May 3, 2019

May 3, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Indie Author Weekly Update - May 3, 2019

Here’s another edition of the Indie Author Weekly Update. Think social media has gone to the dogs? Well, not yet. Take a look at this week’s posts and you’ll find new ways to market your books.

Indie Author Weekly UpdateBy the way, my dog Paisley (pictured to the right) now has her own Instagram account. I’d love it if you’d follow her on her very own Instagram account. You can also follow me here. See you on the ‘Gram!

Book Marketing Tips

Let’s Get Meta by David Gaughran: “When should you cut names from your mailing list? Why should you do it at all? How to you actually go through the process of doing it? Are there any risks involved? We’ll cover all that today using this list as an example. Told you it was meta!”

5 Marketing Tips from Amazon that Deliver [Infographic] by Meg Carpenter: “Looking for marketing inspiration? Look no further – the team from Talkwalker have pulled out 5 marketing tactics from one of the top 10 most valuable brands in the world: Amazon.”

Book Promotion: Do This, Not That – May 2019 by Amy Collins: “When a store turns us away when we offer them a book for sale, that is not usually a solid “no.” It is an answer to our first question. Perhaps we are not asking the right question. We were asking them to give us money in exchange for our books before we have proven that our books will make them money in return.”

News from Books2Digital

Introducing Reading Lists from Books2Read! by Kevin Tumlinson: “When we created Universal Book Links, we change the game — giving authors a tool that lets them send readers to everywhere a book is sold online …”

Author Websites

Step By Step Tutorial: How To Build Your Own Author Website In 30 Minutes  by Joanna Penn: “I currently write under three different author names, including one new pseudonym that I demonstrate in these tutorials. I’ve built a multi-six-figure business off the back of my author websites, so I know how important your site and email list are. Whether you’re just starting out with your first book, or you want to improve your existing author platform, this tutorial should help you along the way.”

Twitter

Twitter for Authors: How to Connect with Readers and Writers from BookBub Partners and by Julia Hansen: “Social media sites like Twitter are great for helping writers build and interact with a loyal, enthusiastic following. When used effectively, these platforms can help you expand your reach and boost engagement. Before jumping into the fray, it’s important to know how to effectively use Twitter to promote your books, connect with readers, and build a community (hint: it’s not all about marketing). So here are some of our top tips for making the most of Twitter!”

Of Note

36 Writing Contests in May 2019 – No entry fees

Quote of the Week

Writing is like painting with words, the paper is the canvas, the pen is the brush

 

Want to know all of my best social media marketing tips? Get a copy of Social Media Just for Writers.

Social Media Just for Writers 2nd Edition

Well written, well researched – well thought out. This book is a must have!

Ryshia Kennie 

Frances CaballoAuthor of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She wrote several social media books including Social Media Just for Writers and The Author’s Guide to Goodreads. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. Her clients have included authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for her free email course.

Online Book Marketing Strategies for Writers

Indie Author Weekly Update – April 26, 2019

April 26, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Indie Author Weekly Update

Looking for new strategies for your book marketing? Check out today’s Indie Author Weekly Update. You’ll find plenty of book marketing tips. I hope these posts help you to sell more books!

Social Media

Authors, Don’t Run From Social Media: 10 Tips to use it Efficiently and Avoid the “Cesspool by Anne R. Allen: “A lot of writers are talking about quitting Twitter and Facebook (and FB’s subsidiary, Instagram) because social media has become a “cesspool.” I hear you. Politicians, celebrities, and their mindless minions use social media to trash-talk and stir up negativity and chaos. Plus scammers and sadistic trolls lie in wait to pounce on the innocent and vulnerable.:

Book Marketing Tips

14 Fantastic Marketing Tips for Debut Authors by Diana Urban: “Marketing a book as a debut author is vastly different from marketing as a seasoned author with a large backlist. For one, you likely don’t have an existing fan base — and you also lack the experience to know what tactics work best to reach the right audience. So if you’re a debut author, what promotional strategies should you try when preparing for your first book launch?”

This Is How To Create A Pre-Launch Strategy For Your Book by by Rachel Thompson by Rachel Thompson: “In a previous post, I discussed how to pre-market your book and create buzz. Many writers are tentative about this process: how can I market a book that doesn’t exist yet?”

Seven Steps To Maximum Exposure For Your Self-Published Book from Self-Publishing Review: “It’s a very competitive market out there. Here are some more direct tips from SPR’s marketing team to get your book sold and seen.”

Of Note

#NaNoProMo Starts Next Week: Rachel Thompson started NaNoProMo (National Novel Promotion Month) to help authors promote the books they wrote during NaNoWriMo. Learn more about this month-long event and the specials you can win. (I’m offering a social media audit worth $297 for just $99!)

Quote of the Week

David Foster Wallace - Good writing isn’t a science. It’s an art, and the horizon is infinite. You can always get better.

 

Want to know all of my best social media marketing tips? Get a copy of Social Media Just for Writers.

Social Media Just for Writers 2nd Edition

Well written, well researched – well thought out. This book is a must have!

Ryshia Kennie 

Frances CaballoAuthor of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She wrote several social media books including Social Media Just for Writers and The Author’s Guide to Goodreads. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. Her clients have included authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for her free email course.

Online Book Marketing Strategies for Writers

7 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Instagram Account

April 22, 2019 By Leave a Comment

7 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Instagram Account

The five-part series on Instagram is over, but for some reason, I can’t stop thinking about Instagram. So, if you now want to know how to rock your Instagram account, keep reading.

Be as Original as Possible

There’s a camera on your smartphone, right? Use it. Take pictures as you walk the dog, hike in the woods or along the coast, or as you walk through your city’s downtown.

Whatever is iconic or beautiful to you, snap it and share it.

Creating memes is another way to be original. Add quotes to your own images or sign up for a paid photo service.

Don’t use the images that scream “I’m a stock photo.” Find great pictures and use those.

Focus on Your Demographic and Theme

If you write genre, you’ve got your theme, and you have your reading demographic.

Let’s say that you write romance. You needn’t fill your profile with covers of your books. Go to a lingerie shop and take pictures of sexy outfits.

Go to a shoe store and take pictures as you try on sexy shoes.

So just use your imagination.

Show that You Care

Don’t just go to Instagram to upload an image. Hang out awhile.

In fact, do what you do elsewhere on social media …. Be social.

Like other people’s images, leave comments, and follow your followers.

Use Hashtags

Hashtags on Instagram are huge. You can use up to 30, but 11 are the minimum you should use. The more hashtags you use, the more easily people will be able to find you.

Now, here’s a nifty trick you can use if you want to use more than 30 hashtags. On your 29thhashtag, type &# before your next hashtags. The rest of the hashtags you use won’t count.

Sneaky, right?

Create Instagram Stories

Now, this is a biggie. If you want to have success with your Instagram account, you must absolutely create Instagram Stories.

They are not hard to create. Just read through my blog post on Instagram Stories, okay?

Highlight Your Best Stories

Once you create Instagram Stories highlight the best ones. All you have to do is tap the plus sign below your bio ,and you’re set.

Instagram Highlight

Create Videos

Don’t forget that videos are hot and an essential part of your Instagram experience. You can even add them to your Instagram Stories so don’t be afraid to show yourself live.

What are you best tips for rocking your Instagram account?

7 Simple Secrets to Totally Rock Your Instagram Account

 

Want to know all of my best social media marketing tips? Get a copy of Social Media Just for Writers.

Social Media Just for Writers 2nd Edition

Well written, well researched – well thought out. This book is a must have!

Ryshia Kennie 

 

Frances CaballoAuthor of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She wrote several social media books including Social Media Just for Writers and The Author’s Guide to Goodreads. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. Her clients have included authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for her free email course.

Online Book Marketing Strategies for Writers

 

Indie Author Weekly Update – April 19, 2019

April 19, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Indie Author Weekly Update

This week’s Indie Author update is chock-full of wonderful tips and strategies to help you with your book sales. As always, David Gaughran wrote a terrific post. There are also blog posts on Twitter, Instagram, content marketing, search engine optimization, and lastly, BookBub ads. Whew! Enjoy the posts.

Author Platforms

How To Build An Author Platform by David Gaughran: “What is an author platform? Which elements should it contain? And is any of this stuff more important than just writing another book? Perhaps not. But certain aspects of an author platform are important tools for reaching readers and, especially, for holding on to them.”

Twitter

Saying No to Twitter: What Authors Need to Know from Jane Friedman’s blog and by Daniel Berkowitz: “Tell me if this is a situation you’ve been in before: Your agent just sold your book to a publisher, and now you want to do everything you can to ensure your book’s success. The publisher tells you to get a website and to get on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. You have a Facebook profile, and you’re not opposed to creating a separate author page, and you really enjoy Instagram—but you don’t like Twitter.”

Instagram

10 Instagram Hashtag Hacks Tricks You Definitely Want to Try from Later and by Benjamin Chacon: “If you’re searching for some great Instagram hashtag hacks to get more followers and boost your engagement, you’ve come to the right place!  Whether you want to find out which hashtags are generating the most interactions on your account, hide your hashtags in your Instagram Stories, or add more than 30 hashtags to your post’s caption, we’ve got a hack for you.”

Content Marketing

Sell More Books With Guest Blogging from TheBookDesigner.com and by Sandra Beckwith: “There’s no question in my mind that guest blogging helps sell books. But it’s a powerful book marketing tactic for other reasons, too.”

Search Engine Optimization

SEO for Authors and Other Search Ranking “Secrets” by Jenny Hansen: “SEO for authors … It’s a catchphrase that makes all my writing pals shudder. As one of our gals at WITS said, “I know how to spell it, but that’s about all.” SEO doesn’t have to be hard. In fact, some of the best techniques are the easiest for writers, because they involve writing.”

BookBub Ads

8 Ways to Target Readers Using BookBub Ads: “With BookBub Ads, authors and publishers can promote any book to BookBub’s millions of power readers at any time. While this is a valuable audience of book buyers to begin with, BookBub Ads’ targeting options let advertisers refine their audience even further.”

Quote of the Week

Don't write about what you know -- write about what you're interested in.

 

Want to know all of my best social media marketing tips? Get a copy of Social Media Just for Writers.

Social Media Just for Writers 2nd Edition

Well written, well researched – well thought out. This book is a must have!

Ryshia Kennie 

Frances CaballoAuthor of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She wrote several social media books including Social Media Just for Writers and The Author’s Guide to Goodreads. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. Her clients have included authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for her free email course.

Online Book Marketing Strategies for Writers

Get to Know These Instagram Apps

April 15, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Get to Know These Instagram Apps

In this five-part series on Instagram, we reach the fifth installment. Here, you’ll read about Instagram image and video apps.

Instagram Apps for Your Images and Stories

Canva 
Of course, I first have to start with Canva, my favorite image-creating app. It’s so easy to use, and fortunately, you can even use it to create your Instagram stories.

Also, you can use Canva to create images for your blog and to resize images for social media.

Canva offers ready-made templates, or you can create your own. I used Canva recently to create a two-page Instagram Story about my Pinterest ebook. Then I highlighted it so if you go to my profile, you’ll see it below my bio.

You can learn how to use Canva by watching some of their tutorials.

Canva is free to use; however, there is a paid version. All you’ll ever need is the free version unless you work with teams or want to access its paid features.

Buffer Stories Creator 

Buffer, the social media scheduling app, has Pablo, an image creating app, and now Stories Creator.

Creating Stories with Buffer’s app is super easy so try it out.

PiktoChart 

You can start using PiktoChart for free, but the fees are $24.17 a month for it’s Pro plan.

If you want to hit your following with data-driven Instagram Stories, PiktoChart can help.

Framatic – Collage Editor 

The app has 36 adjustable layouts, 32 vintage borders, and 92 effects to apply to photos. You’ll find it in the app store for iPhones and iPads.

Using my favorite model, my dog, I can show you how it works.

Go to iTunes and pay $1.99 for the Instagram app. Be sure to connect it to your camera roll.

Select a collage style. I chose the three-image style. Using Framatic, I took three pictures of my dog.

Framatic - Instagram Apps

Next, I decided whether I wanted to create an Instagram Story or just add the collage to my feed. I chose only to add it to my feed.

Instagram Apps

Next, there were various options to add filters. I almost chose the black-and-white filter, but in the end, I decided not to add a filter and tapped Next.

Framatic

I think that Framatic would be a great app to use for Instagram Stories. My only complaint is the watermark.

Layout

Instagram also has a collage creator. You can use images from your camera roll or ones that you take live. It also includes filters.

Just go to iTunes if you have an iPhone and look for Layout from Instagram.

Square Sized  

Square Sized is another app you can find in the iTunes store. Basically, it allows users to import photos from personal albums on Facebook and optimize them for Instagram. You can also use this app to edit your images.

LiPix – Photo Collage Maker, Picture Editor 

LiPix has 90 adjustable templates, 54 different borders, and 20 photo effects.

[Read more…]

Indie Author Weekly Update – April 12, 2019

April 12, 2019 By 1 Comment

Indie Author Weekly Update

This week’s Indie Author Weekly Update has a whopping six suggestions for you to read. Learn to write a memoir that sells, set up automated emails (it’s easy!), and ponder your purpose. I hope you like all of them!

Memoirs that Sell

How to Write a Memoir: 14 Tips for Writing Memoir That Sells by Anne R. Allen: “It is true that memoirs are problematic. They’re devilishly difficult for a new writer to do well, but they’re what newbies usually write. The urge to put our own life story on paper is the most common reason people start writing. Adult education programs and senior centers everywhere offer courses in “writing your own life.” And there’s the old adage that says everybody has a book in them—their own life story.”

Marketing

5 Ways to Market Your Audiobook Without Ads from Jane Friedman’s Blog: “Some authors and publishers seem to believe that by the simple act of making an audiobook available for purchase, there will be numerous purchases. Yet, as with all types of books, yours is merely one of many thousands published each year. You must make listeners aware that your product exists. Here are 5 different ways to do that without advertising.”

13 Email Marketing Statistics That Are Shaping 2019 and Beyond by Convince & Convert: “Email has been around since the 1970s, but it’s still extremely effective, even with younger audiences. It’s sure to remain an integral part of your marketing strategy this year and into the future.”

How to Set Up Automated Emails for Reader Magnets  from Alliance of Independent Authors: Self-Publishing Advice Center and by Rachel McCollin: “It’s nice to give your reader fans the personal touch. However, in this blog post, Rachel McCollin makes the case that a little automation is a good thing. And she takes us through a step-by-step process to set up automated emails delivering your reader magnets, so you never have to lift a finger again.”

Beta Readers

Where to find beta readers for your book by Sandra Beckwith: “Last week, I had a conversation with a client about what he referred to as “peer reviewers” for his next book. That gave me pause, because peer reviewers are usually used with academic or scientific works, and his is neither. I asked if he meant “beta readers.” While peer reviewers read for factual accuracy, beta readers aren’t limited to “peers” and can be from your target audience. “Beta readers” was, in fact, the term he meant to use.”

Find Your Purpose

This is How To Find Our Purpose by Rachel Thompson: “Many survivors (and people in general) tie our jobs with our purpose. One does not have to equal the other, though it can. This is a Western way of thinking – we equate what we do for a living with our purpose in life. However, the two can be entirely different.”

Quote of the Week

The art of writing fiction is to sail as dangerously close to the truth as possible without sinking the ship.

Want to know all of my best social media marketing tips? Get a copy of Social Media Just for Writers.

Social Media Just for Writers 2nd Edition

Well written, well researched – well thought out. This book is a must have!

Ryshia Kennie 

Frances CaballoAuthor of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She wrote several social media books including Social Media Just for Writers and The Author’s Guide to Goodreads. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. Her clients have included authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for her free email course.

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