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Category : Marketing and Platforms
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Continue Reading "Thursdays with Amanda: Authors on Twitter – Who’s Doing It Well and Who’s Missing the Mark"Thursdays with Amanda: Authors on Twitter – Who’s Doing It Well and Who’s Missing the Mark
Amanda Luedeke is a literary agent with MacGregor Literary. She posts about growing your author platform every Thursday. You can follow her on Twitter @amandaluedeke or join her Facebook group to stay current with her wheelings and dealings as an agent.
Last week, we looked at some basic rules for using Twitter as an author as well as how to write a great Tweet. But what does all of that look like when put into practice?
First, I think it’s important to note that most big-name authors aren’t on Twitter. Take JK Rowling for example. The Harry Potter author stayed away from Twitter until she got so fed up with people posing as her, she created her own account back in ’09 @jk_rowling. She’s Tweeted 10 times since, and most of those seem to be her reminding fans that she’s alive and that the @jk_rowling handle is the real her. Oh, and she has over a million followers. Pretty sure, that number is more related to sheer popularity than it is exceptional Tweeting, but the fact stands: most authors are avoiding Twitter altogether. They've recognized that it's not the medium for them and THAT'S OK. If there's anything I want you to learn from this series on platform, it's that you should choose your social media battles. Start with one medium and go from there. All is not best.
Anyway, back to the post…
There are plenty of published authors who are on Twitter and doing it well…just as there are plenty who are doing it poorly.
Good Example
Seth Godin (@thisissethsblog for those of you following along) is a marketing and social media guru. He’s published thirteen books and has most likely sold over a million copies. His Twitter account is the shining example of most everything done right.
Its sole purpose is to Tweet links to his new blog posts. That’s all, folks. No wishing
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Continue Reading "Thursdays with Amanda: How to Write a Great Tweet"
Thursdays with Amanda: How to Write a Great Tweet
To write well for Twitter, you really need to change your mindset. I’ve seen 100,000+ word novelists balk when it comes to Tweeting, and I’ve seen successful business types equally fail when they take the hard sell approach. Twitter isn’t a place for you to flaunt your knowledge of the English language or refine your author voice. It’s equally not a place where constantly telling people to buy your book or visit your website will work. Twitter takes a bit more finesse. A bit more thought. And a lot more of a marketing or sales-driven mindset.
Twitter restricts the number of characters used in each Tweet to 140. If you’re curious what that looks like, note this paragraph. Yep, 140.
It may seem like a lot to work with at first, but once you add any @ mentions or links or hashtags, it can get crowded fast. It’s this very crowdedness that hinders authors from being successful with their Tweets.
But the bottom line is if you can learn to write compelling, actionable copy for Twitter, you can write just about anything.
Just like any other social media channel, the basic rule to a great Twitter handle is to have a goal. Do you want to sell books? Generate interest in your website or blog? Position yourself as an expert on a topic? A clear goal will guide each and every Tweet, preventing you from flooding your readers with conflicting information. With a goal, you’ll be sure to attract the very readers that care about every single Tweet you throw at them. And that is where the Twitter magic happens.
But how do you construct compelling copy in 140
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Continue Reading "Thursdays with Amanda: How to Write a Great Tweet"
Thursdays with Amanda: How to Write a Great Tweet
To write well for Twitter, you really need to change your mindset. I’ve seen 100,000+ word novelists balk when it comes to Tweeting, and I’ve seen successful business types equally fail when they take the hard sell approach. Twitter isn’t a place for you to flaunt your knowledge of the English language or refine your author voice. It’s equally not a place where constantly telling people to buy your book or visit your website will work. Twitter takes a bit more finesse. A bit more thought. And a lot more of a marketing or sales-driven mindset.
Twitter restricts the number of characters used in each Tweet to 140. If you’re curious what that looks like, note this paragraph. Yep, 140.
It may seem like a lot to work with at first, but once you add any @ mentions or links or hashtags, it can get crowded fast. It’s this very crowdedness that hinders authors from being successful with their Tweets.
But the bottom line is if you can learn to write compelling, actionable copy for Twitter, you can write just about anything.
Just like any other social media channel, the basic rule to a great Twitter handle is to have a goal. Do you want to sell books? Generate interest in your website or blog? Position yourself as an expert on a topic? A clear goal will guide each and every Tweet, preventing you from flooding your readers with conflicting information. With a goal, you’ll be sure to attract the very readers that care about every single Tweet you throw at them. And that is where the Twitter magic happens.
But how do you construct compelling copy in 140
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Continue Reading "Thursdays with Amanda: What I'm Looking For"
Thursdays with Amanda: What I'm Looking For
I'm in New York right now, visiting with publishers and pitching books, and though I had every intention of continuing my "Building an Author Platform" series, it just doesn't look like that's going to happen this week. So sorry about that. I know that some of you come here specifically for those posts and I hate to let you down.
So, to make up for the lack of a post this week, I thought I'd share a list of projects that I'm looking for. I'm hoping this is a satisfactory trade. 🙂
Right now, I'm primarily looking for authors who have published with a traditional house. However, if you're an unpublished author, don't lose heart. The best thing to do there is to try and meet me at a conference (I'm attending roughly 12 this year, and you can find the list on the info tab of my Facebook page). If I like you and I like your book, I'm much more willing to try and make room for you.
Here's what I'm currently acquring:
Adult Fantasy
Adult Urban Fantasy (especially geared to women)
Adult Paranormal Romance
Adult Science Fiction
Any of the "weird" genres, like Steampunk, Dystopian, Horror, etc.
African American Romance
Young Adult Fiction (open to just about anything)
Nonfiction projects from authors with great platforms
Nonfiction for the 20 and 30-something crowd
Have a genre in mind, but you're not seeing it on the list? Leave a comment below and I'll let you know whether it would be a fit.
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Continue Reading "Thursdays with Amanda: Why Authors Should Be On Twitter"
Thursdays with Amanda: Why Authors Should Be On Twitter
I was on a plane yesterday with a gentleman who found out I was an agent and started asking me about the industry. He had a book idea, and a bunch of questions to go with it, and eventually he started asking about formatting the manuscript and design and all of that stuff.
“You don’t have to worry about that,” I said. “An author has two responsibilities: Deadlines and marketing. They have to get their manuscript turned in on time and then market the heck out of their book.”
And that’s where the conversation took a turn.
“I didn’t know authors had to be marketers,” he said. “I thought they just sat in their homes and wrote and wrote and didn’t talk to a soul.”
Twenty years ago, he would have been right. But Al Gore’s Internet changed everything. It made the world smaller.
And Twitter is as small as it can possibly get.
Ten years ago, celebrities were untouchable. If you wanted to know about their lifestyles, you read the tabloids or watched Cribs. If you wanted to meet them, you stalked their tour buses or started working out in LA gyms. Or, you’d stand outside of MTV studios in Time Square or set up camp in LAX, studying the faces of passersby. But even these strategies would fail. Meeting a celebrity was an occurance left to chance.
But these days, it’s as easy as sending a text message.
I follow Zach Braff (@zachbraff) on Twitter. He’s an actor/director/writer, most well-known for his work on Scrubs and Garden State. He’s a big-time celebrity, but on Twitter, he's just a regular guy. He dispels tabloid rumors, shares
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Continue Reading "Thursdays with Amanda: Why Authors Should Be On Twitter"
Thursdays with Amanda: Why Authors Should Be On Twitter
I was on a plane yesterday with a gentleman who found out I was an agent and started asking me about the industry. He had a book idea, and a bunch of questions to go with it, and eventually he started asking about formatting the manuscript and design and all of that stuff.
“You don’t have to worry about that,” I said. “An author has two responsibilities: Deadlines and marketing. They have to get their manuscript turned in on time and then market the heck out of their book.”
And that’s where the conversation took a turn.
“I didn’t know authors had to be marketers,” he said. “I thought they just sat in their homes and wrote and wrote and didn’t talk to a soul.”
Twenty years ago, he would have been right. But Al Gore’s Internet changed everything. It made the world smaller.
And Twitter is as small as it can possibly get.
Ten years ago, celebrities were untouchable. If you wanted to know about their lifestyles, you read the tabloids or watched Cribs. If you wanted to meet them, you stalked their tour buses or started working out in LA gyms. Or, you’d stand outside of MTV studios in Time Square or set up camp in LAX, studying the faces of passersby. But even these strategies would fail. Meeting a celebrity was an occurance left to chance.
But these days, it’s as easy as sending a text message.
I follow Zach Braff (@zachbraff) on Twitter. He’s an actor/director/writer, most well-known for his work on Scrubs and Garden State. He’s a big-time celebrity, but on Twitter, he's just a regular guy. He dispels tabloid rumors, shares
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Continue Reading "Thursdays with Amanda: 10 Steps to Growing a Public Speaking Platform"
Thursdays with Amanda: 10 Steps to Growing a Public Speaking Platform
When I first met Chip, I’d occasionally run a book idea by him just to see if anything sparked his interest. I remember at one point, I came up with this GREAT idea for a book all about making your wedding your own. It was about ditching tradition and going for something that reflected your uniqueness as a couple. But when I pitched this future bestseller to Chip, he kind of glazed over. He gave me a few pointers, patted me on the back and sent me on my way. And I couldn’t figure out why.
But now, years later, I know exactly what he was thinking: I’m not a wedding expert. People don’t ask me for wedding advice and I certainly don’t have an all-things-weddings blog. Heck, I’m not even a wedding planner. I’m a “no one” in the wedding biz, so who in the world would ever pick up my book and listen to what I have to say?
Most nonfiction writers are like I was a few years ago. They think that just because they have this great idea or a fabulous success story, people will want to listen. But think about it…
When we have money troubles, we look to Suze Orman or Dave Ramsey.
When we have health troubles, we look to Jillian Michaels or Dr. Oz.
When we have political confusion, we look to … Jon Stewart.
We will always pick the expert over the nobody. So how do you cross that divide? How do you become an expert?
Become a speaker, my friend. Become a speaker.
Speaking has gotten a bad rap lately because there’s not really any money in it anymore.
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Continue Reading "Thursdays with Amanda: 10 Steps to Growing a Public Speaking Platform"
Thursdays with Amanda: 10 Steps to Growing a Public Speaking Platform
When I first met Chip, I’d occasionally run a book idea by him just to see if anything sparked his interest. I remember at one point, I came up with this GREAT idea for a book all about making your wedding your own. It was about ditching tradition and going for something that reflected your uniqueness as a couple. But when I pitched this future bestseller to Chip, he kind of glazed over. He gave me a few pointers, patted me on the back and sent me on my way. And I couldn’t figure out why.
But now, years later, I know exactly what he was thinking: I’m not a wedding expert. People don’t ask me for wedding advice and I certainly don’t have an all-things-weddings blog. Heck, I’m not even a wedding planner. I’m a “no one” in the wedding biz, so who in the world would ever pick up my book and listen to what I have to say?
Most nonfiction writers are like I was a few years ago. They think that just because they have this great idea or a fabulous success story, people will want to listen. But think about it…
When we have money troubles, we look to Suze Orman or Dave Ramsey.
When we have health troubles, we look to Jillian Michaels or Dr. Oz.
When we have political confusion, we look to … Jon Stewart.
We will always pick the expert over the nobody. So how do you cross that divide? How do you become an expert?
Become a speaker, my friend. Become a speaker.
Speaking has gotten a bad rap lately because there’s not really any money in it anymore.
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Continue Reading "Thursdays with Amanda: Blogging as a Fiction Author"
Thursdays with Amanda: Blogging as a Fiction Author
The thing that’s going to make every fiction writer reading “Thursdays with Amanda” let out a big sigh of relief is this: publishing houses don’t expect new fiction writers to have huge platforms. In fact, for the most part they don’t expect you to have any sort of platform.
But before you shut down your blog and Tweet your good-byes to social media, know this…while they don’t expect you to have anything impressive, they do expect you to have a social media presence. And to that, I say if you’re going to do it, you may as well do it right. Because you never know when the thing that tips a house toward publishing your great American novel is the fact that you have a devoted following. Even if the following is a mere 1000 (In his book TRIBES, Seth Godin talks about how 1000 devoted followers are all you need).
For the past two weeks, we’ve talked about blogging. First, we went over some of the rules of a great blog and a great blog posts. Then, we discussed what makes your blog searchable and how to get readers to find it. So this week, we’ll wrap up the blogging portion of this author platform series by discussing how to blog as a fiction writer.
Blogging as a fiction writer is difficult. So difficult, that if I were in your shoes, I’d probably choose something else to build my platform. Maybe Facebook or Twitter. Something easier. Because unlike nonfiction authors, fiction authors aren’t really experts at things. They don’t have people coming to them, looking for answers or solutions or world peace. They don’t have that clear topic to drive their blog. They just have themselves
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Continue Reading "Come One, Come All (a marketing guest blog)"
Come One, Come All (a marketing guest blog)
Janice Thompson is the author of numerous novels — most in the "romantic comedy" genre. When she read some of the discussion we've been having about book marketing, she sent this in…
When one is known for her comedic writing, she thinks twice about taking on a story about the sinking of the Titanic. Imagine my surprise when the team at Summerside/Guideposts Publishing fell head-over (pun intended) for my story idea involving the great ship. Queen of the Waves is a twisted tale, loaded with all the elements—romance, intrigue, and a cast of characters with more luggage than the kind one can carry aboard. Writing is done, and the story is set to release later this year.
So how does one go about promoting a story like this when one is known for comedy? My answer came from a Facebook friend who suggested I take an anniversary cruise. On the morning of April 10, exactly 100 years to the day after the Titanic set sail from Southampton, the Balmoral will set sail carrying 1309 passengers. She will follow the path of the Titanic, pausing in the spot where the great ship struck the now-infamous iceberg on April 15th.My response to my friend’s suggestion? No thanks! However, the wheels started turning in my brain as I thought the idea through. I might not be interested in boarding a real ship, but what about a “Virtual Titanic” cruise to commemorate the 100-year anniversary? Now, that sounded like fun. I put my feelers out, and within minutes had a response from several readers: “Yes! We want to board your cruise!” With their enthusiasm building, I quickly created a “Queen of the Waves” group on Facebook and put out the following invitation to all interested parties:
Please join me for a "Virtual Titanic" cruise of the Atlantic, leaving April 1st and ending on April 15th. Meet with me in my "Queen