Monday Marketing

Monday marketing. 3 quick tips.

/ lizziechantree / 13 Comments

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Hello everyone. I run a book group on Facebook, Lizzie’s Book Group, which is full of authors and writers. We chat about what books we like, how our writing targets are going and how to reach more readers. We come across some pretty eclectic chat topics and I have decided to share a few recent ones at the bottom of this post. Feel free to join the book group if you love books and writing. We have almost 500 members now and it’s a lot of fun.

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I am currently in third edits for my new book and am trying to reach writing targets for another manuscript. I sometimes find it hard not to procrastinate too much, but I read a recent article where it said that procrastination is not about being too busy, it is about feeling emotional. If we are feeling that way, we tend to put off what we should be doing. It’s made me sit and think about clearing my work desk, so it’s a pleasurable place to work, getting the everyday jobs done early so that they are out of the way and then doing my favourite thing, which is sitting down to write… with a desk timer so I get those words onto paper!

Have a great week everyone. My first prize draw for my subscribers will be at the start of next month. Exciting times!

Here are 3 quick articles that we have shared in my book group: 

The ultimate author resource list.

19 book marketing strategies.

BookSweeps tips to grow your email audience.

BookBub marketing.

/ lizziechantree / 3 Comments
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Hello everyone. It was such a weird weekend for me. My daughter was at a festival for the weekend and the hotel had a mix up with the booking so they couldn’t get in, which meant a mad dash across country for me and another one of the mums to be with our children. We managed to get most of them a room for the night, but I ended up sleeping in my car! It was freezing, and not my best idea ever, but everywhere else was sold out due to the huge festival. I finally got in at 2 am this morning, after leaving at midnight the evening before, but it ended up being a hilarious road trip. It gave me ideas for another book! This was us, sleep deprived, but still smiling.

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I haven’t posted a Monday Marketing post for a while as I’ve been busy with some writing projects. I came across this article recently and thought it might be helpful for anyone who is trying to gain more followers on BookBub. BookBub is a wonderful place to promote books and to find a wider audience. If you are an author and haven’t made profile there, it’s worth taking the time to do. I also did a Booksweeps promotion with lots of lovely romantic comedy writers recently and I now have many more newsletter subscribers, which is fabulous! I have sent the winners their books (pictured above this post) and can’t wait to hear what they think of the story.

On a side note (I’m so excited!), after my BookBub feature, my book, If you love me, Im yours, has risen to the number #1 paid bestseller spot in one of it’s categories and is ranked 89 paid overall in Australia, 136 overall in Canada and 882 in the U.K! A big thank you to everyone who downloaded a copy for just 99p/99c. You can still grab a copy today here.

Check out the BookBub article here:

14 Ideas For Getting More BookBub Followers

Monday Marketing.

/ lizziechantree / 8 Comments
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Happy new week everyone. I hope you had a fantastic weekend. Today’s marketing tips are from the author of The Curse of Time, Marjorie Mallon.

1.  I’d recommend joining professional writing groups such as SCBWI: https://www.scbwi.org/.The Society of Children’s Writers and Book Illustrators is a fabulous group of authors and illustrators. There are many activities and opportunities to get involved with: from socials, to writing seminars, agents parties, critique groups, the scrawl crawl (for illustrators and arty writers!) as well as book club discussion SCBWI has introduced me to a wider community of self-published and traditionally published authors. This has culminated in a very special book/marketing event which is to be held at the Cambridge Central Library on 9th February.

2. Network and spend some money! It is vitally important to build a tribe of friends who will support and encourage you. Writing can be a lonely business! These connections bring opportunities to share your work via author interviews, blog posts, and don’t forgetto reciprocatein whatever way you can by reviewing, offering author interviews and spotlights. These blog tours can encourage ‘new readers,’ who might read and review your book. I’d recommend spending a little money to widen your reach by trying a reputable blog tour company. I would highly recommend bloggers such as Jenny Marston who organised my blog tour with the added bonus of reviews too.

3. Entering competitions. This can be a fantastic way to build your confidence and to encourage readers to pick up your book. If you have some success howeversmall, shout out about it. It’s not bragging- it’s just a writer’s way of saying I love writing, I’ve achieved a little success and that makes me happy.

My recent successes include: winning first prize at the Bloggers Bash Blog Competition with my cheeky flash- The Queen’s Dress Down Day https://mjmallon.com/2018/05/24/winners-of-the-2018-bloggers-bash-blog-post-competition/

And first prize with a murderous piece of flash for Charli Mills Flash Fiction with another humorous one entitled Mr Blamey. https://carrotranch.com/2017/12/19/winner-of-flash-fiction-contest-7

Even if you don’t win you might receive a surprise email like I did recently from Wasifiri: https://www.wasafiri.org/offering a free critique of writing from the literary consultancy Cornerstones:https://cornerstones.co.uk/

I was very excited about this and I think it’s a great scheme. But, I was unable to accept this wonderful opportunity for women writers as the small print called for me to belong to one of the following unrepresented groups: low income, a BAME writer, memberof the LGBQT community, disabled, a student, or over 60.

 

Contact Marjorie Mallon:
My links – author blog: https://mjmallon.com
Twitter: @Marjorie_Mallon and @curseof_time
Authors Bloggers Rainbow Support Club #ABRSC on Facebook:



Monday Marketing with guest Lizzie Lamb.

/ lizziechantree / 26 Comments

Today it’s my great pleasure to invite author Lizzie Lamb onto my blog to share with you her top three marketing tips. I’m Currently writing my seventh romance novel, so I can relate to the ‘sit down and finish the novel’ tip!

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Lizzie’s author bio with links –

After teaching her 1000th pupil and working as a deputy head teacher in a large primary school, Lizzie decided to pursue her first love: writing. She joined the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers’ Scheme, wrote Tall, Dark and Kilted(2012), quickly followed by Boot Camp Bride. She went on to publish Scotch on the Rocks, which achieved Best Seller status within two weeks of appearing on Amazon and her next novel, Girl in the Castle, reached #3 in the Amazon charts. Lizzie is a founder member of indie publishing group – New Romantics Press, and has co-hosted author events at Aspinall, St Pancras and Waterstones, Kensington, talking about the research which underpins her novels. Lizzie latest romance Take Me, I’m Yoursis set in Wisconsin, a part of the USA which she adores. This novel also achieved BEST SELLER status >travel>USA. She has further Scottish-themed romances planned and spends most of the summer touring the Scottish Highlands researching men in kilts. What’s not to like? As for the years she spent as a teacher, they haven’t quite gone to waste. She is building a reputation as a go-to speaker on indie publishing, and how to plan, write, and publish a debut novel. She is currently working on #6 – a road trip ‘movie’ where two warring guardians are forced to join forces and set off in hot pursuit after a runaway niece and son.  Lizzie lives in Leicestershire (UK) with her husband, David.

She loves to hear from readers, so do get in touch . . .

Lizzie’s Links

https://www.amazon.com/author/lizzielamb

www.facebook.com/LizzieLambwriter

lizzielambwriter@gmail.com

website: www.lizzielamb.co.uk

https://twitter.com/lizzie_lamb

Newsletter – http://tinyurl.com/ELNL-2016

Linked in: uk.linkedin.com/pub/lizzie-lamb/18/194/202/

Goodreads http://tinyurl.com/cbla48d

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/lizzielamb/

 

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Take Me, I’m Yours

India Buchanan plans to set up an English-Style bed and breakfast establishment in her great-aunt’s home, MacFarlane’s Landing, Wisconsin. But she’s reckoned without opposition from Logan MacFarlane whose family once owned her aunt’s house and now want it back. MacFarlane is in no mood to be denied. His grandfather’s living on borrowed time and Logan has vowed to ensure the old man sees out his days in their former home. India’s great-aunt has other ideas and has threatened to burn the house to the ground before she lets a MacFarlane set foot in it. There’s a story here. One the family elders aren’t prepared to share. When India finds herself in Logan’s debt, her feelings towards him change. However, the past casts a long shadow and events conspire to deny them the love and happiness they both deserve. Can India and Logan’s love overcome all odds? Or is history about to repeat itself?

 

Monday Marketing.

/ lizziechantree / 6 Comments

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Happy new week everyone. I’ve been working hard on my latest manuscript and it’s coming along nicely. I’m about to write about my main male character in the story, but suddenly another minor male character has stepped up and appeared far sooner that I’d originally imagined. He obviously wants to be a bigger part in the story! I love it when this happens and it makes writing the new book so much fun.

I often support other authors on my blog, but it’s now booked up until the middle of the year, so I thought I’d open up some marketing posts to top tips from authors who can share their experience with you and possibly give you some insight into their own writing journey. The first tips are from Awen Thornber, who is a mystery and romance author.

Awen’s top marketing tips:

1. If your book is much more than just a romance, don’t have ‘A Romance’ under the title on the cover. It gives the impression that it’s just a romance. Sometimes the publisher might add this – but being a novice you might find it difficult to object. Try and raise objections early if you are unhappy with something and be willing to listen to your publishers reasoning.

2. Give the back blurb a lot of thought. Don’t rush this stage. Don’t have something on the back that isn’t relevant to your readers or the story as this might cause confusion, even if you think it will put your book in better categories. Research what will work for your genre and see what other authors are doing to be more visible with keywords. My book has the words ‘let’s dance’ on the back as this fits with the story, but on reflection, this may deter readers who aren’t interested in dance and narrows my marketplace.

3. The ‘Foxtrot’ in my book’s title is a nod towards the police/crime/intrigue part of the novel but I think it was too subtle taking the top two points into consideration. So my top tip would be to seriously think and look at the cover and title and how it appears to would be readers. Get several opinions before settling for the final wording. You only have a matter of seconds to attract a reader to your book out of a page of similar books for sale on Amazon. The cover is the all important sales and marketing tool. It’s the make or break for your book being chosen out of a larger selection.

Some reviewers have commented that despite not liking dance they were surprised to find they enjoyed the book because it was much more than dance. Other reviewers who don’t usually read romance enjoyed the suspense with the crime aspect. Your title, cover and blurb needs to reel in a wider and diverse readership. The wrong choice of words narrows it right down to a few. I realised very quickly when it was too late that my cover obviously targeted a reader who solely liked dance and romance.

This has made it harder to market.

I hope this helps you all! From Awen. 

Foxtrot in FreshbyThreads of Awen

Book buy links for Awen’s books:

Foxtrot in Freshby

Threads of Awen

 

 

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Happy New Year’s Eve!

/ lizziechantree / 5 Comments

Happy New Year’s Eve  everyone.

I was lucky enough to receive six marketing books that I’d wished for, for Christmas this year. I’ve begun reading them and will share any insights on my regular Marketing blogs in 2019. I can’t wait to get back to working on my latest romance book, as I have written about 20,000 words  and would like to complete it in the near future.

I hope that you all have exciting plans for the New Year and that 2019 brings lots of happiness and success to you all. I can’t wait to discover some new reads and to share them here too. I’ve tried lots of different genres in 2018, but am still drawn to the ones I write in, which are romance and humour.

Wishing you all an amazing and fulfilling New Year.

The saying goes, If you love what you have, you have everything you need.

Happy 2019!

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SEO and time saving tips for authors.

/ lizziechantree / 15 Comments

Hello everyone. I hope you had a relaxing weekend. For my Monday Marketing post today, I thought I’d offer some tips on something that can really save time for other bloggers and website owners who might be promoting your work, and hopefully improve SEO rankings on blog posts and website articles.

I found out years ago about the importance of naming your photos. I have blogged about this many times but it still happens a lot and it’s a simple thing to change. When people send me photos to appear on my blog, or social media feeds, they sometimes send them titled image001 image201 Book cover 4, picture in Spain etc! When Google search for content, they are always looking for something original, not only should you add your own content to posts to make them stand out and fly up the rankings, but the titles that you give your photos are so important. Not only do they register as the name of the photo and not another image001 or book cover 4, but they stand as an original image that you have given a name to. For example, I have called this photo, Lizzie Chantree author photo:

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This means that if I send this picture to someone to use on their website, they don’t have to spend hours trawling through photos to try and find the one I have sent them that they saved to their blog posts file, or other author files ages ago. They can simply search for photos with my name and all of the picture I have sent them will appear. If I am searching for a book cover an author has sent me earlier in the month that I have saved to an author file, I can easily spot the book’s name, but there might be over 100 book covers 1,2,3,4,5,6 etc. Simply naming your photos when you save them to your computer saves bloggers, website owners and anyone sharing your work a lot of time and energy and it also helps Google to recognise it. This means that they might be more likely to keep photos that aren’t clogging up their computers and confusing them with the same names and perhaps when they are uploading someone else’s photos to a blog post, they might think of you again as you are so easy to work with and provided professional content, that they can simply search for and find. Have an amazing week everyone!

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Monday Marketing. 3 Quick tips.

/ lizziechantree / 1 Comment

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Hello everyone. I’ve been travelling in Spain and around the U.K. for the last few weeks and have been writing a new book. When I write I am inspired by views and the hustle and bustle of people around me, but I also like quiet writing time in my own studio, where I don’t have any noise other than the tapping of the computer keys while I type.

I have been working on social media and branding too and am trying a new app, Visme. I was offered a professional account to try and see what I thought of the software and so far so good. The basic software is ok, but once you log into the premium settings, there is so much to explore. I will write a blog post about it when I have found out exactly what the best features are. For now, check out https://www.visme.co to decide for yourself.

Some tips on discovering your own author brand:

  1. Define your brand. What is your purpose? How do you communicate your message and make an impact? For me this is letting my readers know what my ethos is, my writing style and why they might like my books. Take a look through my blog page and social media sites. They all have the same branding and hopefully tell my readers that I write romance novels.
  2. Do you have a professional headshot that you use across all social media platforms. It’s worth getting a proper photos taken or asking a friend to take one for you.
  3. Do you have a digital media kit? This is a marketing package that states what genre your books are, prices, page length, release dates etc.  This makes it easy for journalists to upload relevant information without hours of research. Check out my media kit page here for some tips.

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Monday Marketing. 3 quick tips.

/ lizziechantree / 4 Comments

Happy new week everyone. Its been a hectic couple of weeks here, with a paperback and ebook launch, but it has been very exciting too. We all lead such busy lives, so how do we keep up with current social media trends and changes and not miss anything that might have an effect on our writing or business? There are places to go to find out about any major changes.

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  1. Facebook Newsroom: Facebook Newsroom  This page will give you details on how to control your newsfeed, platform updates, ad transparencies, Facebook community news and much more.
  2. Twitter’s Blog: Twitter’s Blog This page will tell you what if happening with your follower count, give tips and share latest news. Some people will see their Twitter follower count changing due to Twitter’s current policy on removing locked or inactive accounts.
  3. Instagram’s news page: Instagram Business News This page will tell you of trending topics, latest businesses that are popular and styles to follow.

Monday marketing. 3 Quick Tips.

/ lizziechantree / 4 Comments

Today’s Monday Marketing and 3 quick tips is about your author website. This is often the first thing a reader, agent or publisher looks for after hearing about your work. If it looks professional and fits with your genre and writing style, then the message you are sending out is more coherent.

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  1. Pick colours, images and fonts for your website that reflect your genre.
  2.  Keep the content fresh. Google Analytics can tell if your content is cut and pasted from another site. Some site owners add code to their text to make it easier to identify. Update your site regularly for this same reason.
  3. Most websites have category and tags options in the sidebar when you are writing a post. Don’t forget to use them. Adding tags like: romance, books, reading, Lizzie Chantree, etc, makes it easier for anyone searching for your content to find you. The same works for a short seo and meta description. If these are original, they are more likely to stand out.

Have a great week everyone! From Lizzie