Everyone is burned out these days. But authors tend to be especially busy people, even in non-crisis times. But now, we’ve had two years of pandemic on top of everything else. Are you burned out? I’m burned out. And yet. The platforming machine demands to be fed. The Pressure to Platform Let’s be honest: For… Read more »
Whether you are a novice writer or an experienced author, branding yourself—preferably early—will help you in the long run. This may be challenging at first. As there are so many facets of you, it is sometimes difficult to decide what knowledge, character trait, or wisdom could help you reach your ideal target audience. If you are… Read more »
As we end one year and start another, it’s a great time to take stock of what we’ve done, and where we want to go next. Yes! Resolutions! I know these days a lot of people are over resolutions. And I get it—why set goals based on a milestone in time when time hardly even… Read more »
In this column, Life of a Writer, every 8 weeks or so I will share the next episode in my journey as a middle-aged woman who finally gets serious about her dream of becoming a published author. In Episode 3 of this column, I wrote about how I completed the manuscript of my first novel… Read more »
No stone should remain unturned when it comes to finding ways to stand out in your industry. The digital world presents ample opportunity to claim your business’s rightful place in the professional world, especially on social media. Establishing your presence on social media can take many forms, but livestreaming is increasing in popularity. It is… Read more »
After several conversations with bestselling authors and those making full-time income as indie authors, I knew it was time to pivot my marketing strategy. Sure, you can still use older methods to gain visibility for your book and increase your sales. You can slap a permafree novel on your website, then upsell to your new… Read more »
Posting and browsing the feeds on social media is fun, but if you’re working to build a professional platform for your author career, you need to do more. For that, you want to keep an eye on your analytics. And when it comes to analytics, no matter what social networks or other digital channels you… Read more »
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 »
Seven summers ago, I walked into a small conference room at the Writer’s Digest Conference, wondering what I was doing there. The topic was YA literature, and while I was interested in YA, the novel I was working on was for adults. I think it’s safe to say that if there had been anything more… Read more »
There’s nothing like the clean slate of a new year about to start—especially after a year as all around rough as this one has been. Time to cut free and start over! Along with that excitement, I’m a huge geek for resolutions and big, hopeful plans. Yes, even now. I cannot squash my new-year optimism…. Read more »
