Get Known Before the Book Deal

ORDER MY FORMER STUDENTS' BOOKS FRESH OFF THE PRESSES!

 

  

MORE BOOKS BY FORMER STUDENTS COMING SOON!

Writerpreneur: Build Your Platform with...Products!

By Gregory A. Kompes

Freelance writers rarely earn enough cash from a single source to finance their lives. We require multiple income streams. Creating multiple writing gigs is one way to accomplish that. Another way to add a stream, while building your writer's brand, is developing a product line. Journals, greeting cards, mugs, playing cards, and T-shirts are all popular options.
 
Having a product line serves two purposes. The first is to generate income. When I speak at conferences, high schools, and speaker associations, in addition to having my books for sale, I also offer my products. The second is to help build brand awareness.
 
You can start simply by putting your logo or Website URL on giveaway items like pens, mugs, or mouse pads. That's one way to keep your brand and contact information at client's fingertips. Or, consider something like this. I love taking pictures. I take them when I travel and when I interview people for articles and books. I snap away around town, too. I took advantage of this side interest by creating a line of art cards and gifts featuring my own photos. I use my photo journals, cards, and other products as giveaways, prizes, and for back of room (BOR) sales when I speak.
 
A company that can help you easily get started with your own product line is CafePress. CP is a print on demand (POD) product company so there's no initial investment, no overhead, and no warehousing of products. And using the service is simple. Just create a free account, upload an image or photo, choose the products you'd like to sell, add the uploaded picture, and set the price.
 
CP also allows you to purchase your own products below sales price so you can sell them BOR when you speak and present. For sample CaféPress shops, visit Writers on the Rise Online Store and my own shop of art cards and gifts. If you choose to create a CP shop, you'll help out Writers on the Rise if you use "writersontherise" as your referrer!
 
For a larger personal investment, you can create logo and promotional products even cheaper by using one of the many imprint companies around the world. My favorites are 4Imprint and Queensboro Shirt Company.
 
As you build your writer brand, adding promotion and logo products will keep you and your company in the minds of existing and potential clients.
 
 

Gregory A. Kompes, The Writerpreneur, is an Internet self-promotion expert. Gregory is the author of the bestselling 50 Fabulous Gay-Friendly Places to Live and the Writer's eBook Series that includes Endorsement Quest, Should You Write an eBook, and Your Online Media Kit. He is co-founder of the Patchwork Path anthology series, Presenters & Programs, the Writer's Pen & Grill, and Laudably Tarnished: A Poetry Workshop. Gregory is editor of The Fabulist Flash, an informative newsletter for writers, and the award winning Eighteen Questions, a Q&A series that collects and shares the experiences of published authors.

I WOULD LOVE TO MEET YOU IN PERSON!

Here's a list of 2010 events where we can connect in-person:

Digital Book World
New York, NY
January 26 - 27
Panelist: "Get Noticed! Earn Attention for Every Book"
More info


Private Workshop: Power Up Your Platform for the Internet Age
January 31st
Location: TBA
Time: 1 - 4 p.m.
3-hour workshop
Increase your visibility and influence based on your personal strengths and balancing offline and online strategies.
Info coming soon...


The Associated Writing Programs Conference
April 7 - 10
Denver, Colorado
The Colorado Convention Center
More info


The American Society of Journalists & Authors Writer's Conference
April 24-25
NYC, NY
Info coming soon...


Oklahoma Writers Federation Conference
April 29 - May 1
Embassy Suites Hotel
Oklahoma City, OK
Info coming soon...

Know Thy Self, Know Thy Audience: Test Your Market

By Sage Cohen

 

You've worked hard this year at defining the objectives and value of your book concept. You know who your audience is (and sub-audiences are), what they need, and how your book meets those needs exceptionally well. Now you even have a book blurb and proof points that explain exactly how and why your book is the right solution for the people who are seeking what you're offering.
 
It's time to get your blurb in front of potential readers and see how it lands.
 
Refer back to the list of audiences you outlined in May, and your goal for each type. As a reminder, my list was:
 
Writing the Life Poetic offers the following for each reader:
 
People already writing poetry: Fresh inspiration, new perspectives, and a wide selection of wisdom, prompts, and process tips to keep their muse infused with fun.
 
People who want to write poetry: A friendly, accessible welcome to the realm of poetry that lets them dive right into the enjoyment of reading and writing.
 
Teachers of writing: A valuable, easy-to-use guide that they can use to share the joy of poetry with their students.
 
Active creatives: A reminder that they need only translate what they already know to the delight of creating poems.
 
Individuals using the book on their own: a comprehensive, inviting companion for their poetry journey; one that encourages like a friend.
 
Students of all ages: a reference book that doesn't lecture from the front of the classroom but has fun right along with them.
 
Your turn!
 
Find three-to-five people in each of your defined audience segments and ask them to read your book blurb. When they're finished reading, ask them to write down answers to these four questions -- as candidly as possible:
 
1.   What is appealing to you about this book?
2.   What do you expect you'd learn or accomplish by reading it?
3.   How is this book like or unlike other books on this topic that  you've already read?
4.   Why would you choose or not choose to read this book?
 
Gather the results and make note of how the feedback matches or diverges from your own expectations and research.
 
Be grateful for all feedback, even when you don't get the affirmation you were hoping for. This is a great time to be learning about how your book idea sits with potential readers -- before writing it. You only stand to gain by any surprises that come your way at this stage.
 
Then sharpen your pencils and get ready to polish that blurb next month into the rock-solid foundation on which your proposal will be written.

  

Sage Cohen is the author of Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry (Writers Digest Books, 2009) and the poetry collection Like the Heart, the World. An award-winning poet, she writes three monthly columns about the craft and business of writing and serves as Poetry Editor for VoiceCatcher 4. Her poetry and essays appear in journals and anthologies including Cup of Comfort for Writers, The Oregonian, Oregon Literary Review, Greater Good and VoiceCatcher. Sage holds an MA in creative writing from New York University, co-hosts a monthly reading series at Barnes & Noble and teaches the online class Poetry for the People. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and awarded a Soapstone residency. To learn more, visit www.writingthelifepoetic.com.

For Your Book Shelf

  

Get Known Now! Nine Things to Clarify About Your Platform (Part One)

By Christina Katz

Like most professionals, I spend quite a bit of time online these days. Perhaps this explains why I have less spare time than ever. The more time we spend spreading our "real" life out into our online life, the more important it becomes for writers to communicate concisely and precisely who we are and what we are all about.
 
If you strive, in all of your online communications, to save folks time, then they can learn all they need to know about you as they go clicking by. You might even gain someone's respect, admiration or strike up a conversation, by keeping what you need to get across short and to the point.
 
But if you your communications online are muddled, scattered (a little bit of info here and another little bit way over there with no links in between), and poorly composed, then you will repel folks rather than attract them. I can't tell you how many times I have become curious about someone online and then tried to follow their trail of links to learn a bit more...only to end up clicking and clicking and clicking without learning any of the key pieces of information I'm looking for.
 
In my book, Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow Your Author Platform (Writer's Digest 2008), I outline what every writer needs to clarify in order to make smart choices about what to communicate and how.
 
Your Name
Let's say, because it's such a popular name, that you name is Jennifer. This means that you have one of the most common names around (It's true, I can vouch that the most popular name of moms who take my classes is indeed Jennifer.) Are you going to go by Jennifer, Jen, Jenny, Jenni, or something else? You might think this is a minor consideration but not according to search engines like Google, who will find you a lot faster and more accurately if you pick one name as your "writer name," make it as original as possible (use a middle initial if necessary), and stick with it over time.
 
Your Identity
Remember that song by The Who: "Who are you? Who? Who? Who? Who?" I always think of that while I'm clicking links trying to figure out who the heck somebody is. And guess what? If I can't figure it out in just a few clicks, then I don't care anymore! What these mystery folks really need is an identity that they can spread around the Internet making it easy for someone like me to figure out quickly who they are and what they are all about.
 
Now some people like to substitute the word "branding" for identity, but I'm not partial to the former. Are you a writer or a pharmaceutical company? Are you a writer or a can of soda? Are you a writer...you get the idea. Be who YOU are and spread the word in a professional manner. This takes more thought than you might expect because it's part of the story that precedes you, goes with you, and lingers behind you, everywhere you go. For more on this topic, start reading on page 175 and don't stop until you figure out your Otherwise Known As.
 
Your Tagline
My tagline is: Make the most of what you have...to author! A tagline's job is to communicate in one short line what you offer. As you can see, my tagline is even a play on the word "offer." Instead of the common phrase, "Make the most of what you have to offer," I use author instead. The substitution is intended to get your attention and spark your thinking about what you might author. Does it work?
 
[Continued next month...]

 

   
Christina Katz is the author of Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Build an Author Platform and Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids (both for Writer's Digest Books). A platform development coach and consultant, she teaches writing career development, hosts the Northwest Author Series, and is the publisher of several e-zines including Writers on the Rise. Christina blogs at The Writer Mama Riffs and Get Known Before the Book Deal, and speaks at MFA programs, literary events, and conferences around the country.

Podcasting 101: 5 Strategies to Sustain the Momentum

By Kati Neville

 

It's challenging to produce new podcasts when you're also working on multiple projects, building your platform, and running a business. Despite the best intentions, other priorities could eclipse your show. It happens to everyone.
 
Do your best to sustain your podcasting momentum with these five strategies.
 
Editorial calendars
Magazines use editorial calendars to provide focus and cohesion among articles (and advertisers). Many podcasters also find calendars helpful because they cement regular publishing schedules.
 
I use quarterly editorial calendars for my show. The planning process forces me to slow down and parse more advanced topics. Calendars also afford opportunities to link platform components, like blogs, articles, and classes.
 
Master Show List
Maintain a master list of podcast episodes. It takes only a few moments to add new show titles, descriptions, and date published. Mark episodes that are most popular and add show notes. If you're working on multiple writing and platform projects simultaneously, consider listing unpublished shows too so that all of your show information is consolidated. Master catalogues serve as an organizing tool and historical record that keep your ideas fresh and content advancing.
 
Record Ahead
Ideally, new podcasters will use their initial enthusiasm, energy, and excitement to record several episodes ahead of their editorial calendar. This is especially important early on when the risks of technical error are greatest.
 
Soon after I began podcasting, I had a marathon recording session with my Fix, Freeze, Feast co-author, on a rare weekend when we were together. You can imagine how awful I felt, while telling her I lost an entire show while editing! Fortunately, I was recording ahead and had plenty of time to recover and record other material.
 
Emergency Shows
It's also smart to have a few episodes recorded, that aren't on the editorial calendar, which can be used in a pinch. Many social media experts advise bloggers of this practice, but it applies to podcasters too.
 
I have had to use emergency shows. They're like little insurance policies covering my busiest times. So whether I'm knee deep in another project, experiencing a technical snafu, sick, or traveling, I'm still able to deliver a new show.
 
Encore! Encore!
Not every episode needs to be new. In fact, many podcasts periodically republish shows. The host provides a brief introduction, stating when the broadcast was originally published and the reason for repeating it. Recently, I republished 2 episodes about school lunches at the start of this school year because they're timely and among my most popular episodes. Repeating shows should not become a regular practice. But it remains a great way to introduce new listeners to past episodes while also re-engaging search engines.

 

 

  

Kati Neville is coauthor of the best selling cookbook, Fix, Freeze, Feast. She is a contributing editor for The Saver's Kitchen podcast and regularly blogs on The Forklift. Kati teaches cooking classes in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. When not online or teaching, Kati enjoys writing and tasting new recipes in her kitchen.

#platformchat trascript from 10/23/09 with Seth Harwood & April L. Hamilton

Did you miss today's #platformchat?

Lucky you, because it kind of went off the tracks. We couldn't get one of our guests' tweets to show up in Tweetchat. But even so, those who were there seemed to love it.

We can give all the credit to Meryl K. Evans who works double time to keep the chat running smoothly in ways I would not begin to be able to manage in my wildest dreams.

So, one round of applause for Meryl for keeping the chat going.

And another round of applause for Meryl for piecing together what the real chat should have looked like into this transcript:

Download Platformchat20091023_transcript

Three cheers for Meryl! Let's all go to her blog and add it to our readers as a way of saying thanks. :)

And remember, the transcript is in reverse chronological order, so please start at the bottom and read to the top.

We post the chat in PDF instead of cutting and pasting the entire hour-long chat into a blog post.

Hope to see everyone at the next #platformchat with guests and date TBA soon.

We are on a monthly schedule. So, look for our next chat in November.

If you'd like to suggest topics, please feel free to leave ideas in the comments.

Happy platform-building! Feel free to purchase our guests' books below:

I WOULD LOVE TO MEET YOU IN PERSON!

Here's a list of 2010 events where we can connect in-person:

Digital Book World
New York, NY
January 26 - 27
Panelist: "Get Noticed! Earn Attention for Every Book"
More info


Private Workshop: Power Up Your Platform for the Internet Age
January 31st
Location: TBA
Time: 1 - 4 p.m.
3-hour workshop
Increase your visibility and influence based on your personal strengths and balancing offline and online strategies.
Info coming soon...


The Associated Writing Programs Conference
April 7 - 10
Denver, Colorado
The Colorado Convention Center
More info


The American Society of Journalists & Authors Writer's Conference
April 24-25
NYC, NY
Info coming soon...


Oklahoma Writers Federation Conference
April 29 - May 1
Embassy Suites Hotel
Oklahoma City, OK
Info coming soon...

Dear Fellow Groovers, October 2009 Issue of the Get Known Groove Starts Here

Giveaways and conferences and my author series -- oh my!

Fall has been hopping so far, but I planned a little lull between now and the first of the year, and thank goodness! I'm going to put it to good use.

During November, I'll be posting the information about all that I will be offering in 2010 and I cannot wait. Here's the short list:

• A streamlined blog/website/e-zine design
• My usual classes and my new dream teams
• A third book deal? (Here's hoping!)
• Live events like my three-hour platform workshop in January
  
• Cloning myself (LOL)

Okay, so cloning myself is a joke. But not really. I have a few things up my sleeve that I will announce in the New Year.

One of the challenges of growing a writing career offline and online is how to managing all the growth.

One key thing that I've learned: don't try to do everything all the time or it will hurt your health and your ability to stay focused on what you do best.

Thanks to physical therapy, I am almost 100% recovered from a pinched nerve in my neck that was registering electric-pain down my left shoulder and arm in June of this year.

The discomfort didn't initially get my attention. But the eventual pain did. And it's taken a commitment of time, energy, and money to heal. So you can expect my advice in 2010 to be a tad more moderate,  balanced, and centered than before. If for no other reason, because I've learned if you ignore your body's signals, you could risk your livelihood...and a whole lot more.

I also feel like many of the social media leaders today are just plain manic and  are not setting an example that most writing professionals can or should follow. Don't buy into it. Focus the lion's share of your time on building your own writing career, not merely championing other people's while yours flounders.

My promise for 2010 is that I will never ask you to sacrifice your family time, your health, or your genuine callings to keep up with a pace that is unhealthy, unnatural, or something hardly anyone could imitate.

We all deserve to write our passions and have the successful and sustainable writing careers we've dreamed about. When you build writing skills slowly and steadily and stack success upon success, career growth can be deliberate and steady and your career can mesh with a happy, healthy life.

Mine does. And I am so grateful for it. And for the reminder to keep my advice to others healthy and wise.
 
Make good things happen,
  
Christina Katz
Publisher & Editor

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