Author Interviews Archives - Social Media Just for Writers

Platform Building & Media Relations for Indie Authors

October 16, 2017 By Frances Caballo Leave a Comment

Chris Well recently joined me on a Conversations with Frances broadcast. Hear what he had to say about media relations and platform building for indie authors.

Chris started young in the media; by college he was writing for national magazines. Later, he worked in radio and worked as an editor with a magazine. Over the years, he has accumulated 25 years in the media working with a number of brands. This is what he had to say:

The right email to the right reporter will get you coverage. That said, any author can find media coverage.

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How to Sell More Books with Less Social Media with Chris Syme

September 18, 2017 By Frances Caballo Leave a Comment

Last week, Chris Syme of CKSyme Media Group was my guest on Conversations with Frances. The hour-long webinar was wide-ranging but mostly focused on Chris’s belief that social media needn’t be time consuming as long as you have goal-focused strategies.

Here are a few notes from the webinar. Be sure to watch the video to hear all of Chris’s advice and suggestions.

The best ways to use social media to sell books: Use social media wisely. Social media is just another tool; a community-based tool that has revolutionized everything. It is a powerful tool for both sales and engagement. It’s the only tool that does that.

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Protecting Your Rights and Your Wallet with Helen Sedwick

June 26, 2017 By Frances Caballo Leave a Comment

In this hour-long webinar, attorney and author Helen Sedwick reviews a wide range of issues from intellectual property, copyright issues, publishers to be wary of, and fraudulent entities wanting complete control over your book and its film rights.

Here are a few notes from Helen’s presentation:

Intellectual property is a product of the mind.
You can protect intellectual property just like you can protect your car or home.
There are people and companies who will try to take control of your intellectual property from you.
Some of the worst entities are contests where the prize is the content sponsors get the right to publish your book, merchandizing rights, film rights, etc.

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Indie Author Weekly Update – June 16, 2017

June 16, 2017 By Frances Caballo Leave a Comment

In this week’s Indie Author Update, bloggers write about book launches, legal myths, how to write remarkable content, and how to pitch your book too media. Great topics, right?

Meanwhile, summer is here and I’m thrilled. In Northern California where I live, our winter and spring consisted of one rain storm after another. While our water-starved state needed those downpours, I’m so happy that summer is here and with it, warm, dry weather. What’s happening in your world?

Indie Author Update

Launch Higher: How to Get Book Reviews Before Your Launch Date by Kate Sullivan: “We all know that reviews sell stuff. After all, when’s the last time you took a chance on buying something online, sight unseen, without checking the reviews? You want to know what other people who’ve already bought it think so that you can be sure you’re making the right choice.”

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Secrets of Successful Book Launches with Howard VanEs

May 15, 2017 By Frances Caballo Leave a Comment

In this webinar, as part of my Conversations with Frances series, I interviewed Howard VanEs about successful book launches. A master at selling books, Howard shared some of his best strategies.

Here are some notes from our conversation:

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Indie Author Weekly Update – May 12, 2017

May 12, 2017 By Frances Caballo Leave a Comment

Enjoy this week’s Indie Author Weekly Update with posts from Brooke Warner, Joanna Penn, BookWorks, Rebekah Radice, and Adam Connell. You’ll find information on Amazon’s new strategy, a new app for authors, image editing tools, and more!

Summer is almost here and after the rain we’ve experienced in Northern California, I can hardly wait for the warm, dry days ahead. What about you?

Indie Author Update

BuzzTrace: New Social Media Software Review from BookWorks: “BuzzTrace is a new software program to help authors and independent publishers manage and grow their platform. BuzzTrace accomplishes this by giving suggestions about what to post online and sending alerts when someone is talking about your book online.”

How Amazon, once again, is driving down the value of books and undermining authors by Brooke Warner: “On March 1, while the only people paying real attention were hypervigilant third-party sellers and book geeks on Reddit, Amazon enacted a policy change that allows third-party sellers to compete for the Buy Box for books in ‘new condition.'”

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Blockbuster Author Kevin Tumlinson Reveals His Writing and Book Marketing Secrets

March 20, 2017 By Frances Caballo Leave a Comment

Several months ago I used Draft2Digital to convert one of my books to an ePub and distribute it to online book retailers. I was impressed by the customer service I experienced and how easy the staff made the entire process for me.

Then, I recalled hearing Kevin Tumlinson of Draft2Digital speak on Joanna Penn’s podcast about eight months ago and decided to invite him to join my Conversations with Frances webinar series.

Earlier this month I interviewed Kevin Tumlinson, marketing director for Draft2Digital and a bestselling author. We had a wide-ranging conversation about Draft2Digital and Kevin’s writing and book marketing tips. Here are some of the points we covered:

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Creative Visualization for Writers with Nina Amir

November 14, 2016 By Frances Caballo Leave a Comment

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Nina Amir, the Inspiration-to-Creation coach and Certified High Performance coach. She recently published Creative Visualization for Writers, which I had the pleasure of reading. Whether you’re just starting out as a writer or beginning a second or third or fourth book, Nina’s Creative Visualization workbook is a worthy guide. Quite plainly, there’s nothing out there on the market that compares to this book.

Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and, at last, you create what you will. George Bernard Shaw

Creative Visualization with Nina Amir

Why did you decide to write this book now?

I saw the adult coloring book trend happening and started thinking about doing one for writers. However, I didn’t think writers would want to just color—since most don’t have enough time to write.

I did think writers needed a book that helped them work through the blocks that stop them from writing, increase productivity and creativity, and move consistently toward their goals. And I could see the benefit of coloring—if focused on the end goal of successful authorship.

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Virginia Gray: One Indie Author’s Book Promotion Strategy

May 9, 2016 By Frances Caballo Leave a Comment

Feeling overwhelmed by social media? Does your brain freeze when you consider all the options?

Try my new email course, designed to take the guessing out of your online book marketing.

You’ll learn:

Which social media sites are right for you and your books
How you can save time on social media
Which posts work best on social media

Isn’t that what it all boils down to? Knowing where to post, what to post, and how to post?

My email course has you covered.

So sign up now and receive the lessons that will help you make sense of book marketing with social media.

About Virginia Gray

You rank highly in the categories you selected on Amazon. How did you decide
to select those categories? Was there a strategy or did they simply make
sense considering your topic?

Amazon is an interesting beast. Rather than an online bookstore, if you think of it as a giant search engine–something akin to google—then the importance of searchable keywords becomes imperative.

Of equal importance is your choice of relevant categories. I write romantic comedy with a serious edge; however, if I simply dropped my novels in the “romance” bucket with the hundred-thousand or so other titles, the average reader would never find them.

Targeting is crucial. My settings are in the present, so “contemporary” is important. My heroines are women, so women’s fiction is another label. They are humorous, so now we have humorous contemporary women’s fiction. In fact, I could subcategorize it even farther…get the gist? Now I’m not simply offering my title to romance fans, I’m targeting consumers who actually want to read my kind of book.

If you are wondering why these sub-categories are not options when you upload your manuscript to Amazon, then you’re not alone. The answer eludes us all. My advice is to contact the lovely folks at Author Central and ask for help. But before you do, spend some time wandering around the site. Find authors whose stories and/or styles are similar to yours, and then look at the categories under which their books are listed. This will give you a better understanding of where your book should be placed.

Think of Amazon as a giant search engine--akin to Google Click To Tweet

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