To Everything There is a Season
Well, the season hasn't changed yet, unfortunately. The weather forecast says winter storm for the rest of the night. However, today the season did change for my website. I've been agonizing over the new layout (the old one was just awful) for the past three weeks, and I think I've come up with one that is both functional and visually appealing. I've never used brown and pink together in a layout before.
Let me know what you think! You can view the site here: http://www.worderella.com
The plan is, eventually, to convert the blog over to a similar layout. I also plan to put the random writing quote functionality back into the website because I love quotes and I love writing, and quotes about writing just make my day. And I want to replace the old research/writing tips files with an updated and more organized structure that will also point to similar blog posts that I have made.
So there are a couple of things left on my list to do to make this layout complete, but overall, I'm pretty pleased.
Mini-card Marketing
My plan is to leave cards in books that have a similar topic to my writing, as bookmarks, magnets, gift tags... etc. When I make the new set, I want some with my book cover on them. The only thing is that each set has the same text on the back, so I'll have to plan well.
And they come in the coolest little carrier for the packs of 10, as you can see...
*I don't get any kickbacks for talking about this product, I just like it.
Writer’s Digest Website Contest
I was just notified that I am a finalist for the Writer's Digest Best Writer's Website Contest! I'll be in the October issue, so look for me, Belinda Kroll at www.worderella.com! This is very exciting, as I was certain I wouldn't even place.
In other news, I'm a little over 40% complete with First Draft B. It's pretty amazing how these characters are taking over.
I have a couple more book reviews to post, as I'm inhaling my summer reading almost as quickly as I inhale food...and I'm planning on posting more notes from my notebooks. I just got my Dickens's Dictionary of London 1888 in the mail today, so I might post a few of my notes from that as well.
Things are looking up! I hope your works-in-progress are coming along as you want them to!
Overdone and Cliche Titles
Titles, unfortunately, are usually not within the realm of control an author has (if traditionally published). The title is considered a part of the marketing of the book, same as the cover and back copy. The thing is, titles, same as covers, are at the whim of the current trend...and trends get old. That's why they are a trend to begin with.
BookEnds, LLC the other day made a post about titles that are overdone and should never grace bookshelves again. Their list included:
- SECOND CHANCES
- anything with “DESTINY” or “CODE”
- MIDNIGHT CROSSINGS
- DEEP (or STILL) WATERS
- THE LONG WAY (“ROAD” is interchangeable here) HOME
- HOME AGAIN
- FOOL’S GOLD
- SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME
Their readers added such things as:
- THE ______'S DAUGHTER
- vague titles
- THE _____ AND THE ____
- anything with DARK
- anything like THE GREEK'S MISTRESS or THE ITALIAN'S SECRET...
I am tired of such titles like:
- TO ______ A ______ (MARRY, CATCH, LOVE, HATE, SEDUCE; DUKE, EARL, ROGUE, JERK...whatever)
- THE _____ AND I (you guessed it: DUKE, EARL, ROGUE, JERK...)
- anything playing with Shakespeare's titles...MUCH ADO ABOUT YOU, THE TAMING OF THE ______
- anything with "UNLIKELY" or "SCANDAL" or "BELOVED"
- BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (how many beauties does it take to tame all the beasts in this world, anyway?)
What do you have to add to the list?
Down in the Marketing Trenches
Let's talk about some down and dirty, yet cost-efficient marketing. This is also known as Guerilla Marketing. Using resources around you to make a local impact is bigger news to any agent looking at your work to pitch it to the big publishing bosses. How do you do this? How can one author get their name out there? AuthorHouse has a couple of good ideas that I've seen implemented, even before I knew what the techniques were, and they worked on me, at least. So give them a try. It can't hurt, right?
Guerrilla Marketing
Marketing your book doesn’t require you to become a high-powered salesperson, advertising executive, or seasoned promoter. Your personal involvement and commitment to the process are the most important factors for a successful book marketing campaign. Your creativity, imagination, and energy will also contribute to the success of your marketing efforts. Use the low-cost and unexpected ideas outlined below as a launching point for crafting your own “guerrilla marketing” campaign.
Unique Selling Propositions
To be honest, I'd never heard of a USP until the other day. I kind of thought maybe they were trying to say USB, as in a USB port in a computer. Such is life as a computer science student, I suppose. Anyway, a USP is actually a Unique Selling Proposition , and it's basically the best and only way to a strong marketing plan. See the below article from the AuthorHouse author's resource blog.
Defining and Delivering Your USP: A Crucial Step in Developing a Strong Marketing Strategy In a market where consumers have so many product choices, it can be difficult for a product to grab mind share when it doesn’t explicitly convey a unique selling proposition (USP) to the consumer. Think about your own personal shopping experiences. When there are 10 different products staring you down from the shelf in front of you and they all sell the same general idea/concept, how do you decide which product will meet your need? Taking the time to define your own unique selling proposition will help you target market and make your product stand out among the others jockeying for position in a consumer’s shopping cart.
The First Thing a Reader Sees is the Cover
If you're trying to make it big as a self-publisher, investing in your marketing is key. Don't just slap a picture as your cover or use some template, hire a design team! Not only will they give you a great cover, they'll also give you ideas about bookmarks and business cards (which you can leave in library books similar to your own book), posters, postcards, etc. Look at the following companies for a headstart to a great marketing plan.
Dunn+Associates Design: book cover design, speaker material. From start to finish, we design so that you SELL. You not only get a dynamic cover look, you walk away with a powerful set of marketing tools. It's the way we design your cover and your self-publishing brand that gets readers, reviewers, distributors, bookstores, and more, to all say YES! You hit the streets running with proven tools for promoting your book straight to the top.
Hey, John Edwards went through them, why not you?
Book Cover Express: book cover designer, book cover artists. Book Cover Express offers a full range of services, including free Bookland EAN barcodes. We can create any size book cover and format it to your printer's specifications. All this, with an author-friendly, work-for-hire contract.
Dan Poynter from ParaPublishing says this company should be "added to your production company," and I must admit, the covers do look pretty nice.
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