THREE TIPS FOR MARKETING YOUR BOOK

THREE TIPS FOR MARKETING YOUR BOOK

Oh, you’re a Writer! Have you thought about how you’re going to make money? (Possibly my favorite Progressive commercial) So you have written the next seven-book series that’s going to take the world by storm, but now things are at a standstill and you’re staring down the daunting task of Marketing. Don’t worry we have Three Tips for Marketing your Book.

AUTHOR WEBSITE

https://cyleyoung.com/

It’s one thing to have a great book, but do you really think people are going to find it if they can’t even find you? Your author website is your first point of contact with readers. It needs to be professional and provide the right information in an easy-to-use manner so that people can find you when they’re looking for new books to read!
When you self-publish, it is important for your website to reflect the high standards of professionalism that are expected. Your site should have an aesthetically pleasing design and be well organized so readers can find what they’re looking for easily, but more importantly, is that you have the site so that you have that digital presence (even if the site doesn’t look professional done).

At Serious Writer, we stress how vital good publishing practices are in order not just to produce a book but also to market one effectively too! You may believe all this work has been done already though when actually there’s plenty more left ahead – which could lead people down false paths. Word Press is a great tool that we recommend and use for creating your online website.

LEVERAGE SOCIAL MEDIA

One of the best ways to get a conversation started is by using social media. But authors often neglect their own platforms in favor of more traditional forms like letters or face-to-face interactions—which can leave them missing out on opportunities! You should be posting regularly, staying active, and engaging with readers who may not always look at what you post but still want information from your account because it’s there waiting just about anywhere someone might find themselves scrolling downlinks without thinking too hard.
It’s about creating a fire and then keeping it stoked. You would be amazed at quickly a following can grow with a daily 30-second video. The key isn’t necessarily how many followers one has though, it’s carving out their space while building up an army of readers who are passionate enough about your writing to bring you more attention than ever before! Check out what Bethany Jett has to say about this subject on the Serious Writer Podcast.

PRE-ORDERS

Often writers underestimate the power or don’t even think of preorders in their marketing strategy. It is important to get your audience excited about your book before it launches. Pre-ordering has been shown in studies as an effective marketing strategy for self-published authors because they have more control over when customers will be able to access content like copies or even review copies if ordered early enough–and this also gives them an incentive not only to gain momentum but establish themselves well within certain genres by being seen among other popular titles on Amazon’s ranking lists (for example “bestseller”).

As we said earlier Marketing is a daunting and feared task, but the key is not to get discouraged. There are plenty of resources and people that can help you get started in the right direction. And for more Marketing, Writing, and Publishing tips checkout Cyle Young and Bethany Jett on the Serious Writer Podcast, available on Android and iOS.

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Serious Writer Podcast Ep.2 Overview – Serious Writer

7 Tips for Freelance Writers – Serious Writer

Cyle Insight on Childrens Writing – Serious Writer

4 basic Archetypes every story needs

4 basic Archetypes every story needs

There are many types of characters in books, and authors can use them to create well-rounded casts. The fact that archetypes such as the Hero or Princess often appear multiple times throughout your story gives you structure while allowing for variation with each appearance, but here are 4 basic Archetypes every story needs

The Protagonist

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The Protagonist is central to your story. They drive the majority of the plot and provide an obvious manifestation of theme-based conflict in their internal journey as influenced by external events.
The protagonist does not just react – they are active participants that take on different roles throughout various stages, sometimes even switching places with other characters or objects at certain points during reading. This gives them more depth than typical “good guy/bad girl” types we see often; you get insight into what makes this individual tick while also experiencing how it affects others around him/her.

The Antagonist

The Antagonist is a character in his own right or maybe an antagonistic force (e.g., weather). He directly opposes your Protagonist, who shares important similarities with him to highlight and advance areas of growth for the protagonist when they are under pressure
The person playing this role must-have skills that allow them t show differences between good & bad behaviors so it’s easier on audiences members during times when we want our characters pushed past their limits.

The Guardian

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Also known as the Mentor (think of Obi-Wan), this archetypical figure is a teacher or helper. They serve many purposes in the story and can be seen to alternately support or oppose ideas depending on how one aligns themselves with its moral standard at different points during their journey. The guardian protects the protagonist throughout the story while also giving advice when needed most.

The Contagonist

The Contagonist is a character that gets in the protagonist’s way, tries to lead him astray, and just causes tension. He’s different from an antagonist because he does not directly oppose your plot goal; rather it may be more indirect like trying his best (unwillingly) to hinder what you want for yourself or others.

If you’re still scratching your head check out our article on Beating Writer’s Block: 3 Tips to write your Best.

Common Writing Mistakes

Common Writing Mistakes

So, you want to be a writer? It takes talent and lots of hard work but the satisfaction is well worth the investment. Here are some common mistakes that every writer makes:

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Using Passive voice

Passive voice is a common technique used in speech and writing. It can sometimes make your content incredibly wordy or vague, but when the action of describing something belongs more to what someone else does than where they are doing it at any given time.

Spelling

One of the top common writing errors is spelling. You might think it’s silly, but that’s just proof of how important spellingreallyis! Sometimes even your spell check can miss spotting homonyms- which means you need an expert eye for this kind of work to get things right on paper (or screen).

Wrong word usage

Using the wrong word can have serious consequences. If you don’t know your vocabulary, then these mistakes will often follow suit and mean something else entirely! For example “compose” means both make up a musical composition as well as form by gathering parts into groups or sections that are related in some way.” A small change such as this could result in an entirely different meaning being conveyed altogether depending on how it is used.

Parallelism

Parallelism is a critical element of good writing, and it’s easy to fall short when using bullet points. You should always start every point with similar words because your readers won’t understand what you’re trying to say if there isn’t symmetry between the sentences or phrases within them; this also helps make sure that they’ll be able to follow along without getting lost!

Apostrophe errors

The most common use for an apostrophe is to show contraction, as in don’t or could’ve. This can be confused with possession and takes away from the meaning of your sentence if it’s used incorrectly; though sometimes this misuse might make sense.

Even the best writers have made mistakes before. But it’s important to learn from them, correct your errors and make sure they don’t happen again in the future. AI tools can help with this as well, check out online tools that can help any writer.

Serious Writer Podcast Ep.1 Overview

Serious Writer Podcast Ep.1 Overview

Timestamps

In the very first Serious Writer Podcast Bethany Jett and Cyle Young discuss:
1:20
Tips and exercises for writers
6:38
Understanding story structure & Character development
10:11
Write to Sell
11:40
Write now edit later, get feedback from others, think about publishing
12:53
Non-Fiction
13:49
How not to write a book? (Susan Shapiro)
19:27
Storyboarding
26:00
Marketing
33:02
Closing statements and Contest Details

5 Ways To Kill Your Story- Before It Begins

5 Ways To Kill Your Story- Before It Begins

Just like a new year’s resolution, some stories can be dead before it begins. So, here are 5 ways to kill your story before it begins:

Exposition Overload

Instead of using a lot of colorful and creative words to describe your feelings, make stronger verbs the focus. This will help you move the reader from sentence to sentence quickly so that it’s more engaging for readers who may be bored easily with flowery language.

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Love-Hate

You are charged with making your readers love or hate the protagonist. It is important that they want something, and this desire motivates them to act in some way as well- either positively towards our main character (and thus find oneself rooting for their success) negative against their foes without any sympathy whatsoever! Either way, you only have a short amount of time to sway the reader (generally about 250 words) so do so quickly.

Slow hook

You don’t want to start your novel right as the main character wakes up in the morning and starts their normal routine. This is a common introduction that likely won’t draw readers into this story at all and they may be tempted off by another chapter or two before you’ve even gotten them hooked!

Informational overload

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Dumping backstories is a great way to make your story more engaging for readers, but it’s not always necessary. A lot of people can understand what happened without knowing every tiny detail that happened before the beginning! So, give the reader just enough to keep wondering about more.

Unbalanced action

The perfect balance of action and dialogue is key to keeping your readers on their toes. Too much can be overwhelming, while too little can leave them feeling bored or obese with nowhere important-ish (or both!) in particular that you need to be addressed at any given time!

A story should have just enough detail so as not to seem sluggish when reading it carefully – but no more than necessary; otherwise, we’ll end up giving up halfway through because everything was happening. To help you get started with your next riveting tale check out our 5 tips for developing fictional characters.