41st Southeastern Writers Workshop
June 17-21, 2016
Epworth by the Sea
St. Simons Island, Georgia
Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Have You Met the Faculty of the 41st Southeastern Writers Workshop?
We have hired a diverse group of successful writers to teach our classes this year! In addition to their classes, faculty members will be available to meet one-on-one with our attendees and share mealtimes and social hours so students can really get to know them. So let me introduce you...
Agent-in-Residence: Jeanie Loiacono, CEO and President of the Loiacono Literary Agency
Jeanie is the agent for SWA Board of Directors members John House and Buzz Bernard. While Jeanie's favorites are mystery/thrillers, romance, historical, and southern fiction, she and her agents seek most fiction genres, plus memoirs, general nonfiction, YA and children's books. The agency’s motto is “Where ‘can’t’ is not in our vocabulary!”
Publisher: Bob Babcock, Founder and CEO of Deeds Publishing
Based in Athens, Georgia, Deeds Publishing is a family-owned publishing company, offering both traditional and custom publishing as well as consulting, editing, ghost writing, layout, and design services. “We can help new authors navigate the intimidating path from manuscript to published book, and we can also help seasoned writers publish their next masterpiece.” Deeds has published 150 books – fiction and nonfiction – since opening in 2005.
Novel: David Fulmer
A former journalist, David is an award-winning author of mystery/thrillers, such as Chasing the Devil's Tale (a Shamus Award winner for Best First Novel), The Blue Door and Rampart Street. David was chosen as the Georgia Author of the Year for Fiction in 2006 for Jass, and on multiple “Best Book” lists since 2001, including in the Los Angeles Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, BookList, Library Journal, among others.
Nonfiction: Jedwin Smith
A 2-time Pulitzer nominee, Jedwin was the recipient of 57 major writing awards during his 36 years as a print journalist, traveling wherever the story led: Lebanon, Ethiopia, to the ocean's depths and to the clouds in the sky when he co-piloted WWII fighter aircraft. He has written three books, including Fatal Treasure about treasure hunter Mel Fisher and his search for the Atocha, the richest of all Spanish treasure galleons, and the memoir Our Brother's Keeper.
Young Adult Fiction: Michele Roper a.k.a Gillian Summers
Michele partners with Berta Platas (a former SWA instructor) to write fantasy novels as Gillian Summers, including The Scions of Shadow Trilogy series and Faire Folk Trilogy. Under her name, Michele recently released the first title in a fantasy series on Kindle: Yuletide at the Country Dragon Veterinary Hospital: The Dragon Healer Chronicles.
Screenwriting: Michael Lucker
Michael is a returning instructor for us from many years ago. As a screenwriter, he has created more then twenty feature screenplays for studios such as Paramount, Disney, DreamWorks, Fox and Universal, including "Vampire in Brooklyn," "Home On the Range" and "Spirit," a nominee for Academy Award in 2002. In television, Michael has worked with Animal Planet, Cartoon Network, History Channel, Travel Channel, Discovery, Weather Chanel, OWN, TLC, A&E, HGTV, DIY, MSNBC, NBC and TBS. His company, Lucky Dog Filmworks, now serves as his home for writing, directing, producing and consulting. He lectures at Screenwriter School and Emory University.
Commercial Writing: Peter Bowerman
Veteran commercial freelancer Peter Bowerman will lead attendees into the lucrative field of freelancing-writing for businesses. He will discuss the skills you need, why companies outsource, where the work is, how to get it, what to charge, networking strategies, and more. Peter is the author of the award-winning The Well-Fed Writer, The Well-Fed Writer: Back for Seconds and The Well-Fed Self-Publisher, and his client list has included The Coca-Cola Company, BellSouth, IBM and many others.
Marketing: My Write Platform
My Write Platform is the brainchild of mother-daughter team Debra and Meredith Brown. They taught marketing and social media for us a few years ago to great reviews so we are glad to have them back. Both are published and award-winning writers. Debra has vast experience marketing in the business world and Meredith has worked in the magazine industry and as a literary agent. Many SWA authors are included among My Write Platform’s clients.
Keynote Speaker: Janet Sheppard Kelleher
Janet is an award-winning creative nonfiction writer, columnist, and speaker, living in South Carolina. Her memoir Big C, little ta-ta, was the Hal Bernard Memorial Award for Nonfiction winner at the 2011 Southeastern Writers Workshop. Published in October 2015, it is now an Amazon Best-Seller. Her work has appeared in various editions of Not Your Mother’s Book, Chicken Soup for the Soul and The Petigru Review and others. In 2015, she became an internet sensation for her pink “Chemo-Hawk”, garnering national attention, like an interviewed by the “Today Show” and being chosen as the keynote speaker at the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Register today!
41st Southeastern Writers Workshop
June 17-21, 2016
Epworth by the Sea
St. Simons Island, Georgia
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
41st Southeastern Writers Workshop: Meet Our Faculty!
41st Southeastern Writers Workshop
June 17-21, 2016 ~ Epworth by the Sea, St. Simons Island, GA
Meet Our Faculty!
(click images to enlarge)
Monday, January 18, 2016
Where will you to be in 6 months?
Why not here?
41st Southeastern Writers Workshop!
June 17-21 - St. Simons Island, GA
Registration opens 1/31
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Is Your Book Lost at Sea?
(from The Book Designer)
Dr. Judith Briles is a writing coach, book coach, and publishing expert who recently offered detailed advice on evaluating a floundering book and tips on how to avoid getting lost in a literary sea.
Amazon changed the publishing field—a great thing for so many newbie authors who didn’t think New York or an agent would ever give them a moment’s notice … and it’s also a not so good thing. The level of book pollution has gone beyond the stratosphere.
Anyone and almost everyone can vomit out words and dump them into Amazon’s CreateSpace or get in bed with the growing number of vanity-type presses and in days, literally days, have a book in hand. Is it a quality book or a great looking book? Most likely, not. Too many launch with little to no editing. Ditto with interior and cover design.
Which means that finding buyers—the potential Super Fans—has become fierce. And for authors—all authors—getting found has become the eighth wonder of the world.
Has your book become a sardine in the sea of books available?
Is it lost? Can it be found? Can it become a whale so your buying public can’t miss it?
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
ReBlogs: How to Get Book Reviews: 50+ Resources to Generate Book Reviews
Stephanie Chandler, founder and CEO of the Nonfiction Authors Association, is the author of several books including Own Your Niche and The Nonfiction Book Marketing Plan. She recently discussed the benefits of book reviews and how to solicit them.
50 Ways to Generate Book Reviews
Book reviews are essential because they help potential readers make a purchase decision. Sending out review copies for potential review is something every author should include in their marketing plans. The more people who know about your book, the better the chance of building word of mouth buzz. Plan to send out 50 to 500 review copies of your book in both print and digital formats.
If you've been wondering how to get more book reviews, below you will find a comprehensive list of book review sources, including both free and paid options.
A note on paid options: We do NOT advocate paid services that promise to churn out X number of manufactured book reviews based on how much money you spend with them. However, we have included a listing of reputable services that offer quality reviews.
Read the remainder of Stephanie's article
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
What to Try and What Avoid When Self-Marketing Your Book
Unless you’re a brand-name author (e.g., John Grisham, James
Patterson, Janet Evanovich, etc.) marketing your books likely feels somewhat
akin to preparing for a colonoscopy. I
know. I’ve done both--marketed my books
and swilled 55-gallon drums of go-juice so a doctor can push a little camera
(with attached snippers) up my posterior plumbing. I look forward to neither. But in the new world of publishing, unless
you’re in the aforementioned group of elite writers, you’re going to have to
get out there and gulp your 55 gallons.
As a minor leaguer, you aren’t going to have vast amounts of
marketing dollars backing you up. In
fact, if you’re with a small or even medium-sized publisher, you probably
aren’t going to have any. Except if
they’re yours. I know I’ve spent more
than a few of my own bucks trying to get bottle rockets attached to my
sales. I have a pretty good idea of what
works and what doesn’t. Mostly what
doesn’t.
Admittedly, it’s hard to measure success. The only way I have of doing that is to track
my ebook sales rankings on Amazon. (That
works fine for me, since the vast majority of my sales are in digital
format.) The biggest problem is that the
rankings bob up and down due to a lot of other factors besides deliberate
marketing efforts.
Anyhow, here are a few approaches I probably will avoid in the
future:
Virtual book tours
These are electronic tours through the
blogosphere where you pay someone to set up book reviews, guest blogs, and
interviews. I’ve done a couple of such
tours and can’t say they’ve ever moved the sales needle much.
Public Relations (PR)
firms
I’ve been warned off hiring a
PR firm by a number of authors. Such firms might
work well for a nonfiction writer with a platform, but for a novelist, such an
investment is likely a waste of money.
Book signings/speaking engagements
Except if it’s a book
launch, I’ve learned sales at book signings are close to zero. I’ll do local signings since they don’t cost
much (and they keep my name out there), but I always do so with low
expectations. I have to remember, except
for friends and family, nobody knows who I am.
For a speaking engagements, a handful of sales are possible.
Facebook advertising
I’ve tried FB advertising several times. Often it’s been in conjunction with
promotions on Amazon set up by my publisher.
(More on that later.) I tried
advertising on FB once without the benefit of anything else going on and I
can’t say the results were stellar. I
tried to filter out the noise (typical ups and downs) inherent in sales
rankings, and determined--best guess, anyhow--that I spent $180 to make about
$25 in royalties over what I would have otherwise.
✦ ✦ ✦
Okay, there are some things I think are important to do, and that
don’t cost much. They are efforts that
keep your name visible and (hopefully) make you look professional.
You MUST have a Website
I splurged to get one professionally built and maintained, but you don’t have to. You do, however, need a site where you can promote your books, blog, list up-coming appearances, and crow about your awards and recognitions. Facebook Author page
By the same token, you should have an author site on Facebook. It’s where you can keep your name and books in front of the public. And it’s free! (So far.)
Tweet
I don’t have a Twitter account, but I’ve been advised it’s a good idea--for all the same reasons cited above. I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Again, it’s free.
Let me end on a positive note. Here’s what really works, at least for me:
Promotions on Amazon
I don’t set them up, my publisher, BelleBooks, does. And they are the only efforts I’m aware of that truly rocket my sales rankings. As I understand it, these days books have to be nominated for Amazon promotions, such as Kindle Daily Deals or Monthly Deals. But once selected, a book will take off like an Air Force F-22 in afterburner.
H.W. “Buzz” Bernard is a best-selling, award-winning novelist. His novels include Blizzard (the most recent), Eyewall, Plague and Supercell. Buzz is a native Oregonian and attended the University of Washington in Seattle where he earned a bachelor’s degree in atmospheric science; he also studied creative writing. He’s currently vice president of the Southeastern Writers Association. He and his wife Christina live in Roswell, Georgia.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
5 Undisputable Writing Truths
Build a platform
Everything I was told is true. Do it. It will make your life easier. Don’t know how to begin?
b) Go to conferences and attend sessions about promoting
c) Seek advice from professional such as My Write Platform
Don’t whine
This sounds really easy, but I see it often on social media. If you’re a writer, don’t complain about the dark, dirty side of writing, like editing. It doesn’t matter how many times you make a pass through a book, your reader’s don’t need to hear you gripe.
Network — Online or In-Person
You’re an introvert? Suck it up. Get your adrenaline pumping, then get out there. You never know what opportunity is waiting for you to fall into, which you can’t do if you’re stuck in your writing cave.
Read
This seems like a no-brainer, but after I published my first book, I limited my fiction reading due to time, instead I focused on books/blogs/websites about craft and promoting. And after a while, I was burned out. There’s no better way to gain inspiration than to read a book you love. One of the ways I make sure I keep up with my reading is to judge contests annually—it’s part of my way to give back. One contest is critiquing manuscripts from unpublished writers—I hope to be a cheerleader for all that’s wonderful in their story, and maybe impart some of what I learned—and the other contest is to judge published novels.
Set Goals
They’re critical for success. Specific, measureable, attainable, realistic, timely, and don’t forget the REWARDS. Find ways to enjoy the little successes along the way. Rewards don’t have to cost anything: an afternoon at a museum or a botanical garden, a long soak in the tub, a nap, an extra glass of wine.
Remember, no one understands a writer’s journey better than another writer. Get connected. Give back. Now, get going!
Linda Joyce is an award-winning author writing about assertive females and the men who can’t resist them. Her Fleur de Lis series is set in the south, mostly. Her Sunflower Series features Kansas. She penned her first manuscript while living in Japan, the country where her mother was born and raised. Now she lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and four-legged boys. www.linda-joyce.com
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
ReBlog: What Good Sales People Know About Personal Branding That Everyone Should
The words "brand" or "branding" bring images grocery store shelves or maybe memories of a trip to the mall pop to mind first, not writing, not your work. But writers have to be sales people to sell their work and themselves to clients and readers. A strong personal brand helps to grab people's attention and keep it all on you.
Joanne Tombrakos is an author and expert on building one's digital profile and personal branding. She recently published these tips for personal branding on the Huffington Post's "The Blog."
"Personal Branding is not a new concept.
"We used to call it building a good reputation and being clear on the direction you wanted your career to go. Then the age of digital dawned, and personal branding was taken to a whole new level. It's no longer just about the real life version of you. It's also about the digital version of you.
"Good salespeople have always been masters at this.
"The best ones have adapted their strategies to these new tools. Unfortunately there are not that many really good salespeople out there. I see too many using the new tools to automate instead of personalize and applying pushy tactics -- the kind that have always given sales a bad rap -- to technology that if used properly can enhance their image."
Subscribe to The Purple Pros Blog (see above) to receive helpful and informative articles directly in your mailbox. SWA does not share email addresses with third parties.
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
ReBlog - Guide to Literary Agents (July 10, 2015): 3 Common Author Platform Mistakes — Plus How to Fix Them
Chuck Sambuchino, a WD Books editor, author and 2-time SWA instructor, writes a tremendously informative blog on agents and publishing for WriterDigest.com: "Guide to Literary Agents." His July 10 blog features literary agent Maria Ribas of Stonesong discussing the importance of platforms and how to do them right.
"When you hear the word “platform,” do you feel dread or excitement? Do you see social media and blogs as forced self-promotion or as an opportunity for conversation with readers? It’s an important question these days.
"More and more, the theory of an author platform—the idea that an author should communicate directly with readers both before a book and between books—is seeping into all genres of publishing. Ten years ago, an author platform wasn’t even a thing. Five years ago, it was important for practical nonfiction authors. Five years from now? Well, my guess is that it will begin to matter more and more for fiction, too. Bestselling authors like John Green, Jennifer Weiner, and Maureen Johnson are showing what can be done when the wall between author and reader is torn down."
Subscribe to The Purple Pros Blog (see above) to receive helpful and informative articles directly in your mailbox. SWA does not share email addresses with third parties.
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