Content Creation

Ebook publicity idea: Name fictional characters after your fans–they’ll help you promote

When sci-fi novelist Chris Kennedy writes an ebook, he names characters in his novels after real people, many of them his fans. He calls the characters “Redshirts,” a term that originated with the Star Trek TV series. Starfleet security personnel who frequently died during episodes wore red shirts. “If you want to be in one… Read More

‘Cut and paste’ software eliminates tedious typing, makes marketing easier

By Barbara Florio Graham One of the ways I keep a diversified business running smoothly is to have carefully-crafted responses to common questions and news items pre-writtten. Years ago, this would have meant a series of separate documents on my computer, but now it takes just a few seconds to locate what I want to… Read More

Panda 4.0 didn’t kill the press release, it just refocused it

This is a response not only to this article, but to many others like it, too. By Mickie Kennedy The constant algorithm changes Google is rolling out continually spawn “the sky is falling” mentality from people on message boards and blogs across the net. Don’t believe me? Just Google SEO is dead, linkbuilding is dead,… Read More

5 cool tools I learned about at #AuthorU Extravaganza

I love learning about free or dirt-cheap tools that make my job easier, and I know you do, too. Here’s a quick list of five tools I learned about today, during the second day of the AuthorU Extravaganza. 1. Video Hive At VideoHive you can buy and sell royalty-free footage and motion graphics as well… Read More

Book signing pushes author’s book to top of best-sellers list

By Gail Mencini The Boys of Summer are on the field. The smell of hot dogs, beer and peanuts waft through stadiums. The sound of the crack of a bat and cheers of the home team crowd resound. What does that have to do with being an author? Everything. Imagine the new baseball rookie in… Read More

Develop a crowdfunding marketing plan for your book

By Justine Schofield Crowdfunding is a way to raise funds for any creative project or business venture from a large group of people, typically via the Internet. Reward-based crowdfunding is a system in which the project creator offers rewards at various support levels ($1, $10, $25, $100, etc.) in exchange for the supporter’s financial… Read More

Author U Extravaganza: $100 off registration and other ways to save

Become Seriously Successful at Book Publishing by Registering Here Here’s a fun video I created to whet your appetite for the Author U Extravaganza in Denver May 1-3. This is the Number One event for authors and publishers because it’s big enough to attract a terrific lineup of speaker experts and publishing stars, but not… Read More

5 tips for getting fiction or nonfiction books into Costco, Walmart, Target

A quick trip down the aisles of your local Costco might leave you wondering how—or if—you could ever get your book onto the store’s shelves. Most of the books I saw at my local Costco in Grafton, Wisc., yesterday have “New York Times Best Seller” on the top of the cover. That makes sense. Competition for… Read More