MARKETING YOUR BOOK

There are quite a few options to market your book. I have listed only a few. There are some options you will be comfortable with and some perhaps not. You can start off with what you are comfortable with and as your confidence in marketing grows you can venture out of your comfort zone and give the other marketing options a go!

I’m probably stating the obvious, but it is vital to the success of your book that readers become aware that you and your book exist. No time like the present - some publishers provide a pre-release price and an author website where your book can be ordered; use this as an opportunity to begin marketing your book.

Blogging: There are blog sites that are free and take you through the process of starting up your blog page; like this blog site. (If I can blog, anybody can blog.) Blog about your book, about writing and about yourself. Make friends by joining other blogs and this will help you gain a following. Paste links to your author website and other sites that are helpful to writers.

Social Networking Sites: If you haven’t already, join a social networking site such as Facebook. Post about your book and post your blog and website links. Get people interested in you and your writing – build on your following and before you know it more people are interested in you and your writing.

Forums: Join writing forums and help out those aspiring writers who are keen to learn from published writers. (I remember when I craved this kind of information, I still do!) Post your link to information in your blog that may encourage or inspire them. Join forums that have some relationship to what you have written about in your book (especially if you have written a non-fiction book). Respond to other people’s posts; as long as your posts are helpful and informative people will visit your links. But don’t forget, post those links!

Article Submissions: Write articles for writing magazines, fiction magazines, forums and your blog. You’ve learned a lot on your writing journey; share that knowledge and in the process you are getting your name out there.

Author Websites: If your publisher hasn’t set up an author website for you, set one up for yourself. Include the cover art of your book, a synopsis, a photo of yourself, your other website links and a link to your email address. If this sounds too overwhelming, there are professionals out there who will design and set up a website for you. Do some ‘Googling’ and research website designers and author websites to get some ideas.

Local Media: Contact your local media and let them know you and your book exist. The local community is always interested in the achievements of one of their own.

Book Stores: Once your book is out there go to the book stores and introduce yourself. Go to the bookstores that are carrying your book and sign as many copies as you can. Leave a good impression and make some fans. Email or go to independent book stores and let them know you and your book exist. Turn up with a box full of books and leave them on consignment. Let them know you will be happy to sit there and sign books. Even buy something while you are there. Whatever it takes!

Book Reviews: Get your book reviewed. If you have had short stories published in magazines send your novel to that editor you have built up a professional relationship with and let them know you value their opinion and would be grateful if they could do a review on your book. Have your book reviewed by other bloggers who can post on their site.

Contests: Enter your book in a contest. Google and find out what competitions are out there for novels that have been published. What a great marketing positive that would be for your book if it is placed or wins a competition!

Whether you have a traditional publisher, you have entered into a joint venture with a publisher or you are self-publishing; the success of your book depends on the success of your marketing!

Happy Writing …. J

DREAM KEEPER

It has taken me a while, but finally (with a big smile on my face) I have some happy news to share with you. My first novel, DREAM KEEPER, is available at a pre-release price on my official author website.
PLEASE check it out at http://sbpra.com/dianefordham/
Thank you all for your past encouragement and support. I truly appreciate it.
Happy Writing.....

FREELANCE WRITING FOR MAGAZINES

Magazine publishers pay well, and if we can do something we’re passionate about and get paid for it – Why not? What a bonus!

But before you sit down to write something brilliant or dig out those stories you are eager to find a home for, research your market. Read what the magazine publishes and study the guidelines. There are a lot of good writers out there. Let’s not fool ourselves – competition is fierce and the supply of stories exceeds the demand. Be smart and give yourself the best possible chance in the first place. Be confident too; don’t be afraid to give your story an edge. I’ve said it before: TAKE A CHANCE AND CHALLENGE YOURSELF! Explore your writing and see where it takes you. Trust your ability as a writer. Trust your muse. Whether you change the perspective or tense of the story, explore different emotions, ask yourself a ton of ‘what ifs’, come up with a clever twist that impresses the reader or something entirely different – give it a go! When you finish your story and read it out loud, you will know if that chance you took is a winner.

Keen to write something but don’t know where to start? I have discovered a useful tool which stirs up those creative juices. Writing from Life (2^nd Edition) by Lynne Hackles is a creative writing book which inspires and motivates. I am impressed with the way Lynne has managed to create a book which is not only informative and entertaining; it gives you somewhere to go when you’re not working on a writing project and need to be inspired, or when you are working on a writing project and get stuck. Writing from Life not only guides you through the processes of writing it provides exercises which enable you to explore another depth of creativity. Writing from Life helps you to unlock a treasure trove of material that you can record and use when it’s needed. You soon learn your life provides an abundance of material for your writing. Writing from Life is truly a writing tool worth obtaining. www.lynnehackles.com

Here are some short story markets you can obtain guidelines from and who are currently accepting submissions:-

fastfiction@pacificmags.com.au

take5@acpmagazines.com.au

womansday@acp.com.au

peoplesfriend@dcthomson.co.uk

Take a Break and Take a Break’s Fiction Feast:-

Basic Fiction Requirements:

• TAB 1000 - 1200 (max words). Looking for a strong plot with a twist in the tail.
• FICTION FEAST – All lengths, all types of story.

Norah McGrath

Fiction Editor

4^th Floor

Academic House

24-28 Oval Road

London NW1 7DT

Woman’s Weekly Fiction

For the weekly magazine:

Short stories of 1,000 and 2,000 words

Serials in 3 parts of 3,800 words each

For Fiction Special (25 stories 8 times a year):

Stories of 1000 – 8000 words

Fiction Department

Woman’s Weekly

IPC Media

Blue Fin Building

110 Southwark Street

London SE1 0SU

READ, READ, READ, WRITE, WRITE, WRITE AND READ AND WRITE SOME MORE!

REJECTION

Being an expert on this (I have had more than my fair share of rejections) I feel quite comfortable commenting on this topic.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every piece of writing we created got accepted for publication? This could happen – maybe in some galaxy far far away, but on planet Earth this would be a very rare phenomena indeed!

Rejection is part of the writing process, and eventually we do learn to accept this and write on. But the question remains; why did this particular piece of writing get rejected?

These are some of the reasons I believe we need to consider:-

i)              A similar story/theme had already been published recently. (Resubmit your story in a few months)

ii)         The story submitted didn’t particularly suit the market it was sent to. Was the submission guidelines followed correctly – genre, presentation and word count? Do your research.

iii)    Be true to yourself. Have you created a piece of writing that you are proud of? Is the story the best that you can make it be? Sometimes even changing the view point from third person to first person can make a difference.

Rejection does not mean failure. In our world of writing supply exceeds the demand. Find your edge and make your piece of writing stand out. Recently I had a short story idea that I experimented with. I asked myself; what if I told this story on the perspective of both of my characters? It was something I hadn’t done before. I took a chance and challenged myself. On this occasion I was rewarded. I emailed that story, and it was accepted by That’s Life magazine on the same day!

Rejection will always be a part of writing and I accept that. I read my story out loud. I ask myself; does it flow? I acknowledge that if something doesn’t sound right to me, it won’t sound right to my reader. What I have learned over time is that I can minimise the rejections I receive, by giving my story the best possible chance in the first place!

THE WORD ON THE STORY

I thought I would start my first post by posting an article that has been published in Writers Voice, which is a quarterly bulletin of the Fellowship of Australian Writers NSW. They are a great writing resource and have been a tremendous help to me. Their website is http://www.fawnsw.org.au/ :-

THE WORD ON THE STORY

I am an ordinary person living in an extraordinary world. I live on the mid-north coast of NSW. To my east are the wonders of the ocean and to my west is the brilliance of the rainforest. I am passionate about writing. Words creating images and stirring feelings; powerful stuff!

     My aim is to guide and encourage someone to pursue their passion of writing.

Story Ideas - There are no hard and fast rules about where to get these from. Here are a few ways how ideas come to me:-

Be still. Whether you are sitting in a quiet garden, going on a relaxing walk, lying in bed or meditating, be still and let your mind wander. If you are writing for a specific market whether it is a story with a twist, a romance, a ghost story or a mystery, focus your mind on that and listen to your muse.

Reading can get you in the mood and put your mind where it needs to be. Read the stories out loud and notice how they flow and the emotions that stir inside you. Pay attention to the different writing styles, whose perspective the story is being told by, the tense and the voice of the story.

What if? – Never underestimate these two words. Observe the world you live in. No matter where you are every person, incident or scene is a potential story. Ask yourself, what if? You see a man standing by the river looking as though the weight of the world is on his shoulders. What brought this man to this point in time? What if he saw a small child struggling in the deep water? What if someone came up from behind him and stole his wallet? What if two police officers came up on either side of him and dragged him away? What if any of these things happened?

You may be reading a story, take the time to ask yourself, but what if this happened instead? Where would the story take you then?

Ask yourself questions, challenge your mind to create and the seed of your story will be planted.

The Evolution of your Story - A word becomes a sentence becomes a paragraph becomes a page becomes a story. It is important to accommodate your muse. Whether your words come out one at a time or flow like a fountain, write them down. As ideal as it would be for your story to come to you in order from word one to word two thousand, it rarely works that way. Once you know the basics of your story, write it all down as it comes. The order of your story can be worked out later. Trust the process of your writing. Read your story out loud and re-work your story until if flows. Nurture your seed and it will flower!

Submit your Story - Know your markets. The internet is a researcher’s dream come true. If you don’t have access to the World Wide Web at home; visit the library, an internet café, family or friend’s house. If you don’t have access at all to the internet, The Australian Writers Market Place is a good reference book. Writers’ Centres, newsletters and magazines are invaluable too. If dollars is a problem some of these resources can be accessed from libraries. The newsagent is also a great place to see what magazines are publishing which stories. It is important to familiarize yourself with the markets available for your writing, and to contact the publishers to obtain a copy of their submission guidelines. This way you can give your manuscript its best possible chance by preparing it accordingly.

     Writing is a gift which should be nurtured, practiced and enjoyed. When I first pursued my passion of writing I yearned for some guidance and encouragement. I read all I could about the art of writing and articles from published writers inspired and encouraged me. I wanted to give myself the opportunity of developing my craft and becoming a published writer. Above all I persevered and I never ever gave up. To date my publications include 40 poems, 13 short stories published in literary magazines and 48 short stories published in general circulation magazines; these include That’s Life, Woman’s Day, and New Idea. I have written two novel manuscripts, yet to be published! (Since this article was published my novel, DREAMKEEPER, has been accepted by an American publisher – fingers crossed all goes well and I will have more news on this in the New Year – Woo Hoo!)

     READ, READ, READ, WRITE, WRITE, WRITE AND READ AND WRITE SOME MORE! Arm yourself with loads of persistence and determination. Remind yourself that rejection is part of the process of writing. Use rejection as a challenge to become more determined. I can assure you the reward for not giving up – PUBLICATION – is a very sweet reward indeed!