Branding helps readers find your books and enables you to build a long-term career as a writer – but many authors get branding all wrong. In today’s show, Kristine Kathryn Rusch explains what branding really is and how to build your author brand in the most sustainable way.

In the intro, I talk about watching the demographic shift in action – from Boomers to Millennials, who are now the largest living generation in the US.

read more Branding For Authors With Kristine Kathryn Rusch

There’s no disputing that social media has disrupted and changed, perhaps forever, the way we receive and deliver information. It has also changed how we read—and because of this, I think it goes without saying that it has influenced our stylistic choices as writers. But another phenomenon seems to be emerging, beyond style and digitized text: the rise in collaborative works.  In the television and film world, multiple collaborators on any one project is nothing new, but then, most of those writers work in one room, spit-balling ideas off of each other. But it’s hard to imagine making this work in the novel writing world when we’re scattered across the globe. Yet it’s happening, and we very likely have social media to thank for this.

We’re all so much more accessible, for one, but we also have the ability to work “side by side” and “simultaneously” via Google Docs. (Some tell me they work in a joint Scrivener account or via a single Word Doc emailed back and forth as well, though that sounds cumbersome to be honest.)

Social media is certainly one of the big instigators, but collaborative works might also be popularizing because of other factors. For example, authors have been forced to become entrepreneurial. In doing so, we have realized the essential need to work together with others to promote our works. Two heads really are better than one in this case. Another factor in the rise of collaborative novels, is our need to find new ways to break into the increasingly tight book market. When you fuse the audiences of two authors together, you’ve doubled your reach. More and more of us are seeing the value in this approach.

read more Is Collaborative Writing on the rise? And Making the Most of It

I don’t remember much about elementary school, but I’ll never forget the time my favorite author, Ann M. Martin, of Baby-Sitter’s Club fame, came to visit. As she stood before my second-grade class talking about her books and writing process, I hung on every word. I still remember the answer she gave when a classmate asked where her story ideas come from: eavesdropping.

Martin’s visit has stuck with me for over 30 years. Now that I’m writing High Flyers, an illustrated chapter book series about a team of racing pigeons, and doing author visits of my own, I draw inspiration from that memory to create a rich learning experience that children will remember long after I leave. My approach was recently validated by a five-year-old boy who came up to me at a community event to tell me that I had given a presentation at his elementary school and that he enjoyed learning how to candle a racing pigeon egg to see if it’s fertilized. For a moment, I just stared at him with my mouth hanging open, stunned that my author visit had made such an impression on this young reader.

It’s not about you; it’s about them.

read more How to Create an Unforgettable Author Visit

Book reviews are important for social proof as well as getting marketing opportunities like BookBub placement, for mining quotes for ad copy, and understanding how your author brand is perceived. But how do you get reviews, especially if you’re just starting out?

Watch the video below or here on YouTube. You can also read the article and notes below the video.

READ MORE Book Marketing: 10 Ways To Get Reviews For Your Book

If you publish wide, as I do, then you will want to sell more books on the other platforms in order to reduce your reliance on the largest store and develop relationships with other readers in other markets.

In today’s article, Camille Mofidi explains how to sell more books on Kobo.

As Kobo Writing Life European Manager, I’ve had the chance to often meet and talk with Joanna Penn about indie authors and the self-publishing career.

Many things have changed on the platform within the past five years and we care a lot about our authors’ feedback to improve our service.

When I meet with indie authors at fairs, they often ask for tips to optimize their presence on Kobo. Mostly, they are looking for ways to promote their books and make more sales on our store.

Need to do more marketing with video? Looking for video tools that are easy to use? In this article, you’ll discover three tools to quickly and easily create polished, eye-catching videos for social media. #1: Produce Video Quickly With Biteable Biteable lets you quickly create video ads, animations, and presentations.

READ MORE 3 Low-Cost Video Tools for Social Media Marketers

When was the last time you analyzed your Twitter marketing? Looking for tools that can help you get a grip on your audience and Twitter content? In this article, you’ll learn how to analyze Twitter audience makeup and engagement data to deliver the types of content your audience values most.

read more Useful Tools to Analyze Your Twitter Marketing and Content

By Martin Cavannagh

It’s the biggest event on any author’s calendar: the day their book launches. And if you happen to be a self-publishing author, it should also be your busiest.

A book’s launch can very much set the tone for any success to come. You want there to be as much noise as possible so that you get as many people buying your book and leaving a review in the first week. There are literally dozens of things you can do to market your book—but in this post, we’ll show six of the most important things you can do on launch day.

read more Guest Post: 6 Marketing Ideas For The Day Your Book Launches

By Melissa Chan

Book merchandise, a.k.a. author swag, seems to be one of the latest trends in book promotion. Today, it is our pleasure to welcome Melissa Chan of Literary Book Gifts who explains what to consider and how to go about creating merchandise for our books. I think you’ll find her article an interesting read.

And, if you missed it, you may also want to check out this recently published article by Nate Hoffelder for more information on the subject.

Creating merchandise for your books can be a great way to promote your book while generating income through a new revenue stream.

read more https://www.thebookdesigner.com/2018/08/how-to-create-merchandise-for-books/

By Mariah T.

Many writers stay so focused on their work that they forget to promote their product. As a result, they often become discouraged by disappointing book sales. You can do better, especially if you know where to start.

Marketing is essential for books, just as with any other good. With the right plan, you can build awareness and excitement about your work, so people anticipate buying it. That way, people will buy your book as soon as it becomes available.

Although you want to sell books, you also want to deliver value to your readers. After all, marketing is more about creating mutually beneficial relationships than merely closing sales. If you routinely meet or exceed expectations, your base of loyal readers will expand.

At first, marketing may sound intimidating. However, if you spend time learning about how to market books, you can quickly become a pro. Begin by thoroughly researching your market and then applying what you know to the following effective marketing channels for books.