Books, Blogs & Business | Book Marketing + Self-Publishing Tips

As an author, bad reviews can be disheartening, but they are an inevitable part of the journey. While it's natural to hope that everyone will love your work, the reality is that not all readers will.
There is a reason why on this show we talk about your ideal readers and finding them. Because everyone is not your audience.
In this episode, we will explore the various reasons why authors receive bad reviews and provide examples of each reason to help you better understand the motivations behind these negative critiques.

It's November 7 which means we are 7 days into Nanowrimo, the best 30 day writing challenge i have ever participated in. For those who don't know, how you could you not, but just in case, Nanowrimo is where writers around the world gather to write 50k words in 30 days.

In this empowering episode, I do a deep dive into goal achievement. Whether you're striving for personal, professional, or academic success, this thought-provoking episode will equip you with valuable insights and practical strategies to turn your dreams into reality.

We're six months into 2023 and I want to share with you my favorite quote for the year so far, what's going on in Camp NanoWrimo and what my Q2 looked like.

Don't forget you can share your Q2 achievements by simply joining my Facebook group. Let's dive in.

A writer platform refers to your online presence and visibility as an author. It encompasses various components that allow you to showcase your work, connect with your audience, and establish your credibility in the industry. Building a platform is crucial because it helps you reach a wider audience, attract potential readers, and grab the attention of publishers and literary agents.

It's not just about who you know, but also about building meaningful connections with fellow writers, editors, publishers, and industry professionals. Networking opens doors to new opportunities, exposes you to different perspectives, and helps you stay informed about industry trends and opportunities.

Throughout this episode, we've explored various strategies to help you get noticed as a new writer. 

1. Build Your Platform: Establish a strong online presence through a professional website, active social media engagement, and building an email list.

2. Network and Collaborate: Connect with fellow writers, editors, and industry professionals through writing conferences, groups, and collaborations to expand your reach and learn from others.

3. Consider Self-Publishing: Understand the benefits and challenges of self-publishing, and utilize platforms like Amazon Kindle or Smashwords to bring your work to market.

4. Submit Your Writing: Research and target suitable publications, read submission guidelines carefully, craft compelling pitches, and follow up professionally to increase your chances of publication.

Don't miss out on this must-listen episode for new writers ready to conquer the world of marketing! Tune in now and unleash your marketing potential like never before. 🎧✍️

📚 Book Promotion on a Budget: Unleashing Your Writing Potential! 🎉

Calling all aspiring authors and wordsmiths! Are you ready to discover the secrets of book promotion without breaking the bank? 🌟 In our latest episode, we dive deep into the world of promoting your book as a new writer on a limited budget.

Join us as we unlock a treasure trove of creative strategies, ingenious tips, and practical advice that will set you on the path to success. From social media mastery and captivating giveaways to reaching out to influential book bloggers and reviewers, we've got you covered. 📣

But it doesn't stop there! Learn the art of leveraging your personal network, hosting book events, and even offering free samples to captivate readers. We'll guide you step by step, helping you navigate the marketing maze and ignite interest in your literary masterpiece. 🚀

Whether you're penning a thrilling novel, a thought-provoking memoir, or a captivating fantasy tale, this episode is your golden ticket to book promotion brilliance. Tune in to discover how to make your book shine in a crowded market, all while embracing the power of limited resources. 🌟

Don't miss out on this must-listen episode for new writers ready to conquer the world of book promotion on a budget! Tune in now and unleash your writing potential like never before. 🎧✍️

One of the things I enjoy is getting to know those within the writing community. Listening to their backstories and why they write what they write.

From aerospace engineers to librarians, writers expand the globe and beyond.

I've been talking with Ron Lamberson (on the latest episode of Books, Blogs, & Business) about outlining and how it can be done at any level in the writing process. He really explained how your outline doesn't limit you but actually helps you become and efficient writer.

We dived deeper into his books and why he choose to write science fiction humor. And Ron even shared the not so secret place he get his ideas from.

If you're bouncing between discovery writing and outlining before writing then this conversation is just for you.

Ron Lamberson is a freelance writer and novelist who has published three novels, including A Grave Invitation and The Poachers of Immortality. He holds a BA in Creative Writing from Purdue and an MBA from Indiana University. Ron is a passionate traveler, having visited over twenty countries on five continents. He spends his free time struggling to learn guitar, attending concerts, and avoiding injury on the tennis court.

Are you an aspiring writer struggling to come up with the perfect title for your book? Do you want to know how to create a book name that captures the essence of your story and resonates with readers? If so, you're in luck! In this episode, we dive into the art of naming your book and explore practical tips and techniques for crafting a memorable and effective book title.

From understanding the importance of genre and target audience to brainstorming with friends and analyzing successful book titles, we cover everything you need to know to come up with a winning book name. We also discuss the impact that a book title can have on your cover design and marketing efforts, as well as provide examples of successful book titles across various genres.

Whether you're a new writer just starting out or an experienced author looking to refresh your book's title, this episode has something for you. So tune in and learn how to unleash your creativity and craft a book name that will grab readers' attention and leave a lasting impression.

In this episode, we move on to tips for revising the rough draft, including how to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your work and organizing the revision process effectively.

Next, we cover tips for editing the revised draft, including the importance of grammar, syntax, and punctuation, and suggest some strategies for finding and fixing common errors. We also discuss the importance of getting feedback from others and suggest who to ask for feedback and tips for receiving and implementing feedback effectively.

Finally, we touch on the importance of checking for consistency and offer some suggestions for preparing the manuscript for submission. We end by summarizing the key takeaways from the episode and offering encouragement to revise and edit your rough drafts.

Whether you're a seasoned writer or just starting out, this episode has something for everyone looking to refine their writing skills. Join us as we explore the revision and editing process and take your writing to the next level.

A rough draft is a preliminary or initial version of a written work that is typically incomplete, unpolished, and subject to revisions and editing. 

It is a first attempt at expressing the ideas, concepts, or story that the writer wants to convey. 

A rough draft is often created with the purpose of allowing the writer to freely express their thoughts and ideas without worrying too much about structure, style, or grammar. 

It is a starting point that will undergo multiple revisions and edits until it becomes a final, polished piece of writing. 

In this episode and the next, we will discuss what to do after writing a rough draft. We will begin by defining what a rough draft is and why it is important to revise and edit it. 

Then, we will provide a step-by-step guide on how to revise, edit, and finalize a rough draft, including tips for taking a break, identifying strengths and weaknesses, organizing the revision process, checking for consistency, and preparing the manuscript for submission. 

We will also discuss the importance of getting feedback from others and tips for implementing feedback. 

By the end of this episode, listeners should have a better understanding of the process of refining a rough draft into a final, polished piece of writing.

Adeena joins us on the show to share insightful tips on how to stay committed to your writing, she shares her favorite books and we get down with a super fun game.

Adeena Mignogna is the author of The Robot Galaxy series, an engineer working in aerospace and a long-time science fiction geek with a strong desire to inspire others through speaking and writing about robots, AI, aliens, virtual reality, and more!

Tune in to learn more about Adeena has to share.

Camp Nanowrimo is here....three days from now many of you including myself will embark on another writing, editing or rewriting journey. To help you do so I want to outline some tools that I use to write 50k words three times a year.

Fifteen minutes seems like a really short time. And what possibly could someone say that will impact a person's life in just fifteen minutes? An impact so great that years later that person will keep remembering what was said.

I sat down with a fellow entrepreneur on a free zoom session. We had a wonderful conversation that I wanted to share with you and what we talked about because I believe that you can benefit from this 15 minute zoom call like I was.

It's Camp Nanowrimo where you can make the decision to write, or edit, even join a writing group. It helps you get on with your goals. However a hindrance for some maybe that they don't know what to write about. You may not be in the mood to edit but you would love to write something new, but what?

What I want to do is help you to see how you can find ideas all around you. Some writers take long showers to gather their ideas, others take a walk and allow the brain to receive fresh air, and others do chores to get the blood flowing.

Camp Nanowrimo helps with inspiration and getting the thoughts flowing but how do you come up with the initial idea?

Every time I make the firm decision to write a book, I like to do three things.

First, I redefine who my readers are. Yes I know who they are but I like to look over what I know to make sure my stories will be for them.

Secondly, I create a page dedicated to that book. I include the title, if available, description and even a button to link to my email list.

Thirdly, my email list. I tell everyone I know that I'm writing a book and if they are interested, sign up for more updates.

This has worked so effectively, that I share in more detail how I do it and what my results were.

If you want to create an effective book marketing strategy before you write your next book then listen in to the episode.

So everyone talks about putting the link in your bio but is that really the way to get persons on your email list. Because trust me when I say that I've tried that and people don't usually click.

Why?

Because they need a reason to click. They need a reason to want to see and hear more about you and you have to give them that reason. Why should someone follow you on our Instagram? Why should someone tap into your bio? Why should they join your email list?

When you answer those questions correctly, then and only then will you as an author be able to grow your email list using Instagram.

So how exactly do you do that?

In this episode, I share 5 Instagram features that you should be using as an author to grow your mailing list.

There is nothing I hate more than when something I'm putting my sweat and blood into and it's not working. I feel like I want to rip all my hairs from my head because it's so frustrating. Have you ever felt so? You look around and it seems all these online people have their shit together and you're struggling to create a damn email list.

I had 2 people on my list for a very long while. I know it's important.

But how do I create and grow one? Nothing I am is working. I'm writing my stories and I have no time to even figure out the first step to having an email list.

And, frankly it sounds hard because I have to think about content to send and I have to do so weekly, and I feel like my brain capacity is full and I honestly can't have anything else on my plate.

But still list building is so hard. Who am I to tell me people how to do a particular thing? Who am I to request that yu join my list and listen to my words in my newsletter? Who am I assume that I am so interesting that you want me in your inbox every week? Who am I to invite you in to my community and invite you to read and buy my stories? Who am I?

In this episode, I talk about 10 different ways I as an author grew my email list and how you can to?

Do you have an author newsletter?

What exactly is a newsletter, how can you start your very own, and what the heck should you put in it to entice readers to read it?

On this episode, I share my top 7 tips for creating a newsletter strategy and 5 sure-fire things you can share with your readers that makes them looking forward to your letters.

Find out the what, why, and when about newsletter for authors.

This episode is brought to you by Mailerlite.

As a book marketing coach I'm always for practical ways to market your book. It's not a one size fits all situation and so every author has different book marketing methods that actually work. That's why if you choose to work with me we're going to actually sit together and create your personal book marketing plan for you to follow.

The thing about it is, that podcasting is a really good way to market your book. I'm celebrating one yr as a podcaster and podcast host and in that one year I've seen that my most listen to episodes are where i feature and author and that person explains their struggles and processes.

Naturally you know I'm going to tap in to that. While roaming the Facebook group streets persons were saying that when they are listening to author pods they want to hear about the author their mindset, what challenges they overcame and so on and so forth. And it makes a lot sense because as writers we don't like to feel alone or be alone on our writing journey.

Because I'm celebrating one year on the pod I'm will be sharing how i started my podcast, really to show you that its really simple and a no brainer, if you as an author wants to start one. We'll talk about the equipment i use, where i record, how i script and edit to upload. I'll also mention how much it cost to produce each episode and how i batch to not burn out.

Like many of you I struggle with social media on a whole. Not just Instagram but Facebook,  Twitter,  TikTok and the likes. Each platform is so different and requires different attention in order to grow.

Which always leads up to the saying, "I am not a fan of social media." The constant posting and analyzing of what's working and what's not, suck the energy out of me.  It sucks the joy that I could be using to write my stories, or upload new items to my shop. And it makes me want to give it a temporary break all the time.

You feel the same way? Really! Let's talk about it.

So the other day I attended a gathering, an I got to talking to a friend who wanted some advice on starting her online business. This person wanted to start her own YouTube channel and she was actually waiting for YouTube to confirm her absence account before she could get started. She thought she had to wait before starting. And not surprisingly I've been in her position as with many other persons.

Probably you're waiting to start, thinking that there is some requirement that must be met before you can start earning cash. And I don't know if there is but what I do know is that what we are about to talk about today requires little upfront cost if any to get started.

I want to share three things I've done to start earning passive income and show you how you can get yours started. I also want to talk about things you need to understand in my experience to start earning. And of course I will be sharing examples.

This episode is brought to you by Target Reader Mini Course.

I wanted to tell you a story of how I got 100+ people to join my mailing list. At the time it would seem totally random but it was definitely unexpected and I want you to know that when you are not thinking about it, that's when it happens. You know when they say the moment you feel like giving up your victory is right around the corner.

Now I didn't feel like giving up on my email subscribers, I was consistent every week delivering the information they needed. But I was still blown away by how 100+ people ended up on my list and it really reiterated to me that I need to continue doing what L'm doing and always looking for new ways to do what I'm doing.

Welcome back to the Books, Blogs, & Business Podcast.
It's the end of year and one thing I learned this entire year is that I need to reach out to persons. I certainly cannot sit and wait for persons to discover me or for things to blow up.

That will never work.

In this episode, I share my journey of 2022, the struggles, goals, challenges, and wins and I invite you to come along on the journey with me.

I believe that I can inspire you this upcoming new year.

Stephen King said “When you’re writing a story, you’re telling yourself a story. When you rewrite, you’re taking out all the things that are not the story.”

When I first set off to write this episode I wanted to talk about the things that are basic, general, that everyone should, the principle lessons learned. But its not authentic. It's not me.

Recently I came into a situation, still going through it but it inspired a story for the latest 30 day challenge. The story kept cooking in my mind and I just had to tell it, 20k words of how I felt in this situation belted out of me.

What I want to talk about is what no one else talks about. The taboo side of writing. This is 5 Insane Lessons I Learned From Writing a Book. 

With the conclusion on NaNoWriMo many new writers would find themselves asking this question. Now what? You've written your first draft, so what's the next step.

Every year in December, a few hundred thousand writers breath a sigh of relief because they have completed their manuscript.

They've written 50k words in 30 days and have won one of the biggest writing challenges in the world. Probably you're one of the thousands.

After you've completed your first draft, I like to suggest taking a month off. An entire month to just rest, reflect and not think about your book. You deserve that much.

One thing I love doing is taking walks up to the stream behind my house. I like to listen to the birds singing and seeing the forest animals going by.

This is just one thing I do when I've completed my draft. In this episode I share 4 next steps plus a bonus to help you enjoy the holidays stress free.

Introducing Ruth Mini, a Special Collections Librarian and a YA romance writer who loves to branch out in other genres. She writes fiction and non-fiction. She's written two romance novellas, and a children's picture book and has plenty more books in store, including a new series. One of Ruth's favorite things to do is watch movies and she has seen over 1700 movies in her lifetime.

In this episode, we get to know Ruth a little better as she shares her secrets of being a librarian, gives us insight as to how she gets inspired and how long it takes to write her first draft.

Want to know what she believes is the most effective way to marketing? Then this episode is for you. Listen in, as Ruth shares her story.

If you want to be traditionally published, I 100% recommend doing the self-publishing route first...here's why?

Many writers have their reasons for wanting to be traditional publishing. After all traditional publishing is the oldest publishing type out there and there are a few advantages like:

1. Monetary advance before publishing - I read in a recent article that traditional publishers are paying nothing less than six figures because if they don’t think the book will sell enough to justify a six-figure advance, they don’t want to publish it.
2. Highest potential for traditional media coverage, so more eyes on your book
3. Highest chance of bookstore placement - because if your book is published y a huge publisher like Harpercollins, bookstores and libraries want a piece of that. So you're set.

But as with everything in life there are disadvantages to traditional publishing.

So Nanowrimo is a challenge where you write 50k words in 30 days. When you head across to the NanoWrimo website you have the opportunity to announce your project. 

Now when you decide to announce your project, you're able to include your title, if you already have one, genre, type of book, the project summary and your blurb or excerpt. You can even link your playlist and pinterest. And then create a cover for your book.

50k words may sound like an overwhelming task and to do it in 30 days sounds unimaginable. But remember it's only 1667 words that you have to write a day to keep track to your goal.

This is week 6 and the final week of nano prep and the nano series. In just three days you along with over 500k writers will embark on a writing journey like never before.

How do you feel? Are you excited? Are you pumped up? Are you nervous? I'm sure so many of you are getting all the mixed feelings. And rightly so.

Writing 1,667 words a day can be a challenge we know… but it’s a challenge made easier if you can find the writing time in your schedule right now.

In this episode, I'm going to outline how you can win with a 40hr work week, how you can balance school with writing, and 3 unconventional ways to make more time to write without waking up 4am.

For the last four weeks, I've been releasing episodes to help you find your perfect idea, flesh out believable characters, craft a detailed plot, and build strong worlds and settings.

And you've been hard at work preparing yourself for one of the biggest writing challenges in the world. You along with over 400k writers will embark on a journey like never before.

NanoWrimo is like a marathon. You've got to pace yourself, prepare for the obstacles ahead and inform everyone you know that coming November 1, you'll be locked up in your writing cave, creating a masterpiece.

Since Nano is a challenge where you write 50k in 30 days, you need to organize your life, including those around you. In this episode, I'll outline some practical steps you can take to organize your life for writing and get your community involved to.

A great story is based in vivid, bright descriptive settings.

A story setting is when and where the action takes place. Your story’s setting establishes the environment of the fictional world that you have created that will be planted in the reader’s mind.

Most stories have multiple settings, an overall, large setting and then smaller settings.

In this episode, I explore the reasons for having a great setting and how as a writer can create great settings that creates mood.

There are many different types of plotting methods to choose from and as a writer, you need to figure out exactly which plotting method is right for you. In NanoWrimo there are 5 plotting methods that are discussed.

NanoWrimo also has a plotting method quiz that you can take to decide which plotting method is best for you.

In this episode I want to help you plot your way to 50K.

"Steve Goodhold was a good kid. He got good grades and was never late to class. Little did everyone know that he spent his nights working as an internet hacker for a modern Mafioso who he met through his older cousin, Peter."

"Steve didn’t need much sleep, which was a good thing. He slept maybe two hours a night, and spent the rest of his time stealing identities,wiring funds, and making more money than both his parents combined. He told himself he was saving for college, but the thrill of his secret life of crime was steadily eroding his interest in an Ivy League education." - Nano Prep Workbook

Did that pique your interest? Would you like to more about Steve and whether or not his secret life will turn out for a good or bad?

Most people think that an intriguing plot is what makes a story good, but the truth is that exciting plots are made up of original and well-developed characters.

In this episode, we will dive deeper into how you as the writer can create believable complex characters, that's going to move the emotions of your readers and allow you to create a page turner.

And I have some bonus questions for you that's going to help you create intriguing characters.

Are you ready? Let's dive in!

Today marks episode number 29 on this podcast and we are one episode away from celebrating 30 episodes on the Books, Blogs, & Business podcast show. And while most podcast shows never cross the episode 7 mark, I'm thrilled to say with almost 30 episodes down and 52 more to go, I'm confident we'll enter 2023 on a positive note.

In this episode, I share with you my top accomplishments for the third quarter of 2022. I also share five tips that has helped me to increase my downloads on the show and how you can too.

I share my goals for the final quarter of the year 2022 and I invite you to share with me what your third quarter look like.

National novel writing month starts November first. And for those who don't know, it's a challenge where you attempt to write 50k words in 30 days. Now I've taken part in this challenge so many times as well as Camp Nanowrimo and the goal is basically to just get writing done.

It's all about focus and determination and most importantly community and fun.

I want to walk you through step by step the process to writing your book in 30 days or less. And I'm going to share with four ways to get your idea as well as a bonus way that has allowed me to generate 13 solid ideas for thirteen different books.

I feel like if we change our perspective a little if can make a huge difference. Something I did. If we look at book marketing from an aerial or birds eye view everything will look jumbled up and difficult.

Book marketing is building a relationship with your ideal readers. How do we formm relationships? If I'm trying to get to know you then I would find out your name, probably where you're from and as I get to know you better, ask questions like your interests, wants, desires, & fears.

The more I get to know you the better we become friends. Then I start looking looking out for you. If I see a solution to a problem you have then I'm quick to tell you about it.

All this helps me to build a relationship with you.

The same goes for book marketing.

Having an author website is on the most important things an author can possess. It's also part of the trifecta of book marketing.

Without your website you can lose out on potential sales, building your community, and perfecting your author craft.

However, having the website is one thing, but many don't know how to maintain it.

What's the do's and dont's of website building and designing?

In this episode, I had the pleasure of talking all about web practices with my very wonderful friend, Tiffany and I thought why keep the fun to ourselves.

So I'm sharing with the do's and dont's, and I do have a few surprises thrown into this epsode as well.

So one thing I like to ask when my students are not get sales on their books is what have you done to market their book. What are some of the marketing strategies you've implemented and what has worked and what hasnt?

Now you would be surprise how many times authors would tell me that they published the book on Amazon and shared the link a facebook group. Or they tried the "buy my book strategy", a salesy promotional Instagram page, or they simply wait for them to come. Or persons would go the traditional route to avoid having to market the book.

A little heads up just because you're doing it traditionally doesn't mean your publisher is going to market your book. They are not repsonsible for the marketing of your book. Thats your job as the author.

But one of the ideal ways to get sales on your book is to find your ideal readers.

This episode is brought to you by Mailerlite.

Mailerlite allows me to do split testing, send campaigns and my favorite, create workflows and automation. This means that once a user enters my email list they get send a series of emails automatically that provides value to them. All I need to do is create the workflow once and it's automatically sent for each subscriber.

What's the first thing you do when you hear of an author's name?
You Google them. We all do. Why? Because you want to see what they've written and who they are.

When I hear about an author it's what I do. I head across to Google and search for them or I head to their social media pages and I click the link in their bio. I want to get onto their website as fast as possible because I want to see what other books have they written, who are they and what are their likes, what's their personality like, what they actually look like.

I navigate through the pages looking for inspiration and consuming the content they have on their site. And the more I do this the more I feel closer to them, the more I want to know who they are, the more I want to be part their community.

So I go to their Facebook groups and Goodreads accounts, and Amazon pages and I follow them and join their communities and start posting in the groups and following those following them. And just like that I am a huge fan or probably a lowkey stalker.

Which ever way it all started with your author website.

A few years ago I wrote my first ever mystery thiller book. It's a psych thriller and one my most proudest accomplishments. Now it took me 60 days to officially prepare for that book.

This was around the time of NaNowrimo and usually nano is where you write 50k words in 30 days. To help ith that you have the two months to prepare starting sept 1.

Now before I did that, this was in 2019, earlier that year I rejoined the Wattpad platform and I was honing my writing skills. I entered competitions and won awards in different categories and I played around with the genres that I wanted to write.

Then one day I reading a magazine and the cover is what inspired me to write this book. The front cover was of a woman looking through the water stained glass looking depressed. And from that image I got the idea to create a psychological thriller.

Now one thing you should know about me, I can turn any situation into a thriller. I see death and destruction everywhere and I love turning everything in murder, mayhem and mystery. I am also a romance author under a different name with my sister and if you leave it up to me I would literally murder the characters in the romance book. Another good reason why knowing the expectations of your genre is important.

So I was very set on creating this psych thriller and that's when the real research started.

I remember back in 2019 I told myself that at the end of 2020 either I will have a thriving business or I would learn from the journey. I'm three years in and my business has transformed. My ultimate goal back then was to help writers with their writing, today I do that in a totally different way.

When December 2020 reached and I had made money from my business, enough money to buy groceries and take care of myself I smiled and thanked my past self for just starting.

The journey I have been on has opened so many doors for me, it's frightening and exciting at the same time. But I would have never met so many authors, get interviewed by others and even write my stories if I didn't just start.

For those who are afraid of where the journey will take you, be afraid but at the same time, be excited and just start. What's the worst that can happen?

Email marketing is the number one most effective way to promote oneself and their books to their audience. And its because it allows you to have a one on one in touch experience with your audience. You have direct access to their inboxes, you’re cutting through the noise of social media and there are less distractions in their inbox.

However the truth is that many writers still do not use emails as a way to get their books visible and into readers hands. Many prefer to use social media and third party platforms like Amazon to get their books sold.

And while nothing is wrong with these platforms, if email marketing is not part of your sales strategy then you’re missing out on big opportunities to get more income.

You can use your email marketing strategy with your Amazon platform to increase your sales on your books. You can use social media to grow your email list and of course make more sales on your books.

In today’s episode im sharing some tips on how you can build your list fast but for free.

As was discuss in episode 12, building your email list is the number one way to establish a relationship with your audience. Those who sign up to your email list are your target readers or ideal audience and these are the persons that you can convert into book buyers.

Because only 3% of your content gets seen on your social media platform, having an email list allows you to send emails directly to your subscribers inbox. On your email list you can send out newsletters and with that you don’t have to rely on social media platforms like Facebook Twitter or Instagram, to get the word out there.

That being said, if any social media platform will to disappear tomorrow and you did not have an established and growing email subscriber list you would find yourself in hot water.

Probably you already have email list but its inactive or you just started list building because you followed the steps in the previous episode. So now you’re wondering what is it you can do to grow your list.

So the strategies i’m going to share with you today are tested and proven to produce results, but I dont want you to be trying all the strategies and then messaging me to say they are not working. Choose one or two, start small and go from there.

In today's episode I answer all your burning book marketing questions and then some. We go through a list of frequently asked questions and I show you how you can increase books sales and hone in your writing skill.

Human interaction is what builds relationships. And book marketing is all about building relationships with your target audience.

Yet many of us struggle to actually make connections and build long-lasting sustainable relationships.

Why is that?

Because we use social media as an avenue to advertise, promote, and market our books. When in reality social media should remain social by trying to connect with our visitors and readers in a relatable way.

So one of my biggest goals for this year is to take back my social media and post when I want and how I want and what I want. Because for me social me should be fun and exciting and I should feel pumped when I want to post and interact with my fellow authors.

So on that note, you may think this episode is about how to take back your social media and it is to a certain extent. Today I'm going yo share with you three huge mistakes I see writers make when book marketing. I'll share with you some simple tips to promote your book on social media without being salesy.

Soo is social media working for you?

In any stage of your business, career or 9to5 an email can be a very useful tool to have.

Not sell to them, form a relationship. And because relationships take time to build and grow I always suggest you find your readers before you start writing.

However is never really to late to find them.

Unlike social media that only shows your content to 3% of your audience, email list is more direct. You need a place where you can have direct contact and track how many eyeballs see your content. This way you can also help you to build a relationship with them.

And this where you email list comes in.

In this episode I'm going to show you how you can build an email list from scratch and have success right from the beginning. This is a step by step guide that's easy to follow, and at the end you will you will learn the what and why of list building and the six steps to follow to get started.

In today’s episode I wanted to talk about your readers pain points. I want to push some buttons. Get to know what makes your readers tick, what makes them happy, what do they desire and what fears are preventing them from achieving their desires.

Remember that when you write you’re either creating and experience or an escape for your readers. Books and reading becomes their entertainment, a time to escape reality and dive into the world that your characters live in.

Persons read out of mere pleasure or comfort and they use your stories to help then fantasy or daydream. Identifying a pain point of your readers and writing a story that addresses the pain point allows your readers to relate or identify with that character.

If you guys have been following for the past few episodes, you would have realized there is a common theme with regards to finding your readers.

We talked about the reasons and your why behind finding your ideal readers, we talked about using IG & FB to find your ideal readers, how you can optimize those profiles to attract the right audience, and next week, I will be discussing questions that you can ask to find your audience pain points.

In today’s episode we are talking about using social media to find your audience. Or specifically I will be doing a basic rundown of the social media platforms and giving you an idea which platforms can be the best for you to go looking for your readers.

This episode is brought to you by the Target Reader Book Marketing Mini Course. This course delivers step by step, the approach you need to take in order to lay the groundwork for your marketing efforts in the future. You can’t build your book writing future on rocky ground or on sand. It’s got to have a solid foundation. So if you’re struggling with making sales on your books or you find that what you’re doing, the information you’re following is still not working, or you’re already worried that the book you’re writing might not sell, then this mini course is for you.

If you think you can't write because...then this episode is just for you

This week on Journey to Published, I talk about how a tree crash landing into my house sparked inspiration to write over 3000 words in 2 writing sessions.

I share the lows of the week and how it didn't stop me from writing but actually gave me the boost to finish my rough draft.

And I'm sharing all the wonderful details with you with a special invitation at the end.

The Facebook algorithm prioritizes content that sparks conversations and meaningful interactions between people. This means Facebook is a prime spot or platform for you to find your readers and connect with them. It’s a great place to form a community and to bond with your readers.

So how do you find them?

In today’s episode, I discuss three places you can optimize on Facebook to find your readers. That is through your own personal Facebook profile, your Author page, and a Facebook group.

This episode is brought to you by the Target Reader Book Marketing Mini Course. This course delivers step by step, the approach you need to take in order to lay the groundwork for your marketing efforts in the future. You can’t build your book writing future on rocky ground or on sand. It’s got to have a solid foundation. So if you’re struggling with making sales on your books or you find that what you’re doing, the information you’re following is still not working, or you’re already worried that the book you’re writing might not sell, then this mini course is for you.

If you're struggling to write your book, you need to hear this!

This week on Journey to Published, I talk about how my full time job is sucking the life out of me and making it extra difficult to find time to write in my book.

I also share where my happy place is currently and why I love is so much. Despite not spending much time writing this week, I think it was still a fruitful week.