Here’s a pretty good overview of how to approach blogging as an author. Of course, it’s equally valuable to anyone who blogs for any reason!
Blogs for Writers
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Tag Archives: nonfiction
Effective Press Release
A video can enhance your press release. Even if you’re a novelist, chat with your webcam about some topic or theme in the book. You don’t need more than a few minutes to have a big impact. More info available in this article.
Amazon Reviews
If you’ve been following the recent controversies about Amazon’s reviews (and the reviews that show up on other sites), you know the problem: marketers and/or authors are paying for good reviews to help boost their ratings at Amazon and/or sales.
Here’s the flip side of that review process. This article talks about how fans of Michael Jackson are hitting a new biography with one-star reviews to sink the book’s ratings.
The author calls the attack a way to use the right to free speech against the right to free speech. The reviews themselves aren’t flawed. But the engines that rank according to the number of stars on the review clearly is flawed. Any author who’s works are sold on Amazon or other e-retailers needs to be aware of the kinds of social movements that can impact their sales.
Book Contract
Here’s a very brief overview about book contracts.
One thing to keep in mind when reviewing your contract is when the book is considered out of print. Make sure that you are able to produce ebooks (or even printed books) within a reasonable amount of time after the printed version is no longer available. If publishers retain all the rights through the creation of an ebook version, you can be hung up forever waiting on their publicity department to do anything.
Marketing: Content is King
Content marketing for authors doesn’t have to be challenging. Consider making a chapter of your book a free download, writing articles based on the themes in the book (and yes, that includes novelists!), informal chats about the book or its themes, etc. Also try this article for more ideas on how to think about content.
Oprah’s Next Big Thing
The Oprah Channel has struggled since day one to reach the numbers it had hoped for. Part of the reason is that Oprah doesn’t show up in much of the programming. Another very real issue is simple oversaturation…the channel can’t offer the same thing all the time.
She’s trying a reboot by building on this interview with Armstrong. The struggle she’s facing is just a reminder that even the biggest celebrities can’t market just anything…and they can’t rely on their name along. Quality must always come first.
Takeaway: Know your audience and what they want. When you deliver it, you’ll automatically provide quality content.
Conde Nast magazines like Wired, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair have a new contract that changes the film option agreement (think about films based on articles like Argo, Brokeback Mountain, and Eat Pray Love This article warn writers about some of the pitfalls.
Writing as a Business
Very good overview article on thinking about your writing career. When the time is right, my clients and I discuss the business aspects of writing. This ranges from our first contact when they’re wondering whether their work is marketable to considering their audience’s needs during editing or rewriting. When the final product is done, we then discuss market trends that will impact their choice of agents and publishers.
Publishing is a business and, as the author, you must consider yourself the CEO of your book. From start to finish—the germ of a book idea to publication (and beyond)—you must take charge. If you make good business decisions, you will surely experience greater success. If not, then, you could be one of the nearly 78 percent of authors who fail.
Workshop: Query Letters in NC
Writing the Perfect Query Letter with Laine Cunningham, presented by Alice Osborn
Location: Center for Excellence, 3803-B Computer Dr. Suite 106, Raleigh, NC 27609
Saturday, March 9 Time: 1:30-4:30pm
Fee: $55 (Early Bird till March 1st)/$75 after
Registration: Click here
Your query letter is every bit as important as the opening pages of your novel. It’s your first opportunity to show your writing skills to a prospective agent or editor. Make it count! Make it shine! A good query letter should make that editor and agent want to read your material…and it should grab their hearts in the thirty seconds or so they give each query in their pile. In this class, publishing consultant and owner of the Writer’s Resource Laine Cunningham will discuss the three important elements to inject into your query so you can get published. Fiction and nonfiction authors writing books, stories or articles will benefit from this class.
Laine Cunningham’s clients consistently garner attention from the nation’s top publishers and agents. Several of her clients’ books have been shopped around Hollywood and have received film options. She has been quoted on CNN Money, Media Bistro, and The Writer Magazine for her opinion on the end of the Harry Potter series, the “Oprah Effect,” and Sarah Palin’s ghostwriter. She has presented workshops and lectures for The Loft, the nation’s largest independent literary organization; the National Writer’s Union; The Writer’s Workshop in Asheville and writing conferences across the country.
Contest
Short story and nonfiction contest.
The First Place winner will receive a $200 cash award and consideration for publication in the Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC’s upcoming anthology, entitled, Once Around the Sun: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Tales for All Seasons.* Our previous anthology, A Christmas Sampler: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales (2009), won two Next Generation Indie Book Awards: Best Anthology and Best Short Fiction.
Contest
Writing contest for nonfiction.
Workshop
Writing workshop from Alice Osborn
Immerse yourself in a weekend of writing without interruption in the mountains of Western Carolina. This is your answer to, “I’ll write when I can find the time!” Empowered women are powerful writers—grab your power so you can dream and accomplish your dreams of writing your story! Together over the course of this weekend, we’ll delve into our stories of defining moments, healing and self discovery.
Conference and Contest
PAMLICO WRITERS CONFERENCE
When: Saturday, March 2
Where: Washington Civic Center, 116 N. Gladden St.
Information: Marni Graff, bluevirgin.graff@gmail.com
Writing in Our Time is the conference theme. The Saturday conference keynote speaker will be Bland Simpson, Kenan Distinguished Professor of English and Creative Writing at UNC-Chapel Hill. An author and playwright/composer/lyricist, he is a longtime member of the Tony Award-winning Red Clay Ramblers and is a recipient of the North Carolina Award in Fine Arts (2005), the state’s highest civilian honor. The conference will start with a panel discussion on Publishing in our Time. Three morning and three afternoon writing workshops/lectures will follow, each with timely writing themes. Leading local and area writers will participate in the discussion and host the working sessions. A box lunch will be served before the keynote speech. A Pamlico Writers Competition awards ceremony and reception will be held at 6:30 pm following the conference.
Conference
The 2013 Carolina Writers Conference
The Anson County Writers’ Club and South Piedmont Community College are pleased to announce the 2013 presenters: Robert Dunn, Marjorie Hudson and Robert Macomber.
Marketing
Shelf Unbound is a magazine that is distributed to booksellers nationwide. They accept books from independent, small and self-publishers, which is can still be difficult to find.
Writer's Resource/Sunspot Lit 