Category: On Book Marketing
Promotion Is Pay, Pay, Pay as You Go
When you’re a published author, whether self-published, with a small publisher, or with one of the big boys, you find out pretty quickly that promotion, for the most part, falls on your shoulders—and stealthily slips its sticky fingers into your wallet. Business cards, bookmarks, Facebook ads, magazine ads, Website ads, Kirkus Reviews, BookBub, any number […]
My Eight Book Deal
I can honestly say that I spent the first fifteen to twenty years of my writing life constructing stories that burned inside me but using characters I thought publishers and agents would like. Over the years the majority of rejections stated ‘we liked it but we just didn’t love it’. This comment caused me to […]
A Day in the Life of a Publisher, with SilverWood Books
SilverWood Books (silverwoodbooks.co.uk) provides self-funding authors with professional book production services, wholesale and retail book distribution, and a high level of support. Publishing Assistant Rowena Ball takes us through a typical day in the life of a dynamic publishing team… Morning Continuous communication is vital, and the day begins with running through our production schedule […]
A Day in the Life of a Book Publicist
When I first daydreamed what it would be like to be a book publicist I imagined myself introducing an author to a packed Barnes and Noble book signing. In my daydream I also look like Angelica’s Mom from Rugrats. The reality turned out to be a bit different. When I’m asked what it’s like to […]
Shouting From The Rooftops: Self Promo
Way back in the mists of time (2000) at the instigation of author Margaret Murphy I was one of seven northern crime writers who clubbed together to launch Murder Squad. We created a website, produced a brochure and were soon appearing at libraries and festivals throughout the country to promote our work. The impetus for […]
The Kindness of Strangers
Three years ago the opportunity came my way to interview Fay Weldon for the Historical Novel Society. To say I seized on the chance would be an understatement. Weldon is a household name, a woman whose writing career spans 5 decades, who has written 34 novels and many short story collections, TV dramas and plays […]
Asking Questions, Finding Community
“You ask the best questions,” Kristy Woodson Harvey exclaimed, if you’ll lend me the liberty of saying people can exclaim via email. Working at home as a writer can be a lonely business, and I’ll take human contact and emotion in any form I can get some days! But through the beautiful world of the […]
The PHD I Didn’t Do and the Digital Apprenticeship I Did
‘Are you going to enrol for a Phd?’ As a longterm author with a varied back list, learning digital skills was a higher priority. ‘No. I’m going to do an e-apprenticeship instead.’ I opted for a digital apprenticeship to revitalize my literary output. Mistake or a significant learning experience? I needed to re-organise my literary […]
Becoming a Publisher: Patrician Press
Publishing has always been my main career but I have written several children’s books over the years. Having, however, always wanted to write for adults, in 2012 I completed my MA in Creative Writing at the University of Essex. It was then that I was inspired to create Patrician Press. I starting publishing my own […]
The Dos and Don’ts of Promotional Blog Tours
When I invited my blog followers to host a guest post to publicise my forthcoming novel, I never imagined I’d be embarking on a marathon tour of twenty-five posts over five weeks. I’m not sure if that makes me someone to emulate or a narcissistic masochist but, for what it’s worth, here are some suggestions […]
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