Welcome to the Author Marketing Toolkit, where you can learn from 20+ years of time-tested marketing and insights expertise, translated for authors. I’m Carol Van Den Hende, an MBA and strategist who’s known for bringing chocolate when I speak at conferences (surely, we’ll get back to in-person events one day!) I’m thrilled to be joining… Read more »
Whether you’re an author, a publishing pro, or just someone who hangs out on Twitter, you’ve probably heard — and likely internalized — certain stereotypes and misconceptions about the publishing industry. Some are easily disproved blanket statements, like “you can only succeed as a traditionally published author” and “no one actually reads self-published books.” Others… Read more »
Does the idea of marketing yourself and your books make your head hurt? You are not alone! While writing books comes naturally to us, marketing seems so vague and complicated. And yet it’s a necessary evil that must be overcome if we want to be successful indie authors. We scour the internet, listen to a… Read more »
Let’s face it: Social media is a nonstop churn of content. New users are joining by the second, and most of them are spouting out posts multiple times a day. How’s anyone supposed to keep up? Let alone an author, who is already juggling writing, a job, parenting, and/or a hodgepodge of other obligations on… Read more »
A lot of you Word Nerds out there have the goal of writing and publishing a book. After you’ve accomplished that goal (and after the mandatory celebration of your awesomeness) you would also probably like someone (other than your mom) to read it, right? Of course, no one is going to read your book if… Read more »
A decade ago, most people perceived independent publishing (also called self-publishing) as a last option, something that was not so much chosen by the author as for him (i.e., no one wanted his work). But today a growing number of authors, including those who’ve been traditionally published, choose to publish independently for a part or… Read more »
In the digital age, an author’s website is among your most important assets. After all, it’s your home base online and your only truly owned corner of the Internet. This is where readers will turn to discover you, connect, and learn about your writing. Thus, it is important that your website establishes a recognizable look… Read more »
At this point, I don’t have to tell you that Amazon is a behemoth in the publishing industry. Even more so if you’re self-published. One intriguing feature that Amazon has developed in the last couple years is the Amazon Follow button. Part of Amazon’s genius has been that it finds ways that help it grow… Read more »
With the publishing landscape changing, there is a heavy focus on the author platform. As writers, we are no longer required to just write. We need to write, master social media, maintain a spiffy website, and populate a blog. We have to become real people to our readers and potential readers. The world requires more… Read more »
