Tag: readers

Book Marketing & the Reader – Part 1

I recently attended a virtual Summit on Bestseller Secrets and wanted to share a few tips I gleaned for book marketing. As a reader and not just an author, I did not necessarily agree with each speaker’s ideas and points, but you may. Author and reader input is requested! The highlights and relevant tips for Part 1 follow.

Amazon’s category change

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Amazon revamped their categories which could drastically affect readers finding your books on Amazon. Rather than going into detail here, L.A. Sartor published a great blog titled, Authors, Big Amazon News. I highly recommend you check it out.

Newsletters

We’ve all heard over and over the critical nature of sending regular newsletters. Key in creating newsletters is to have a subscriber list you can send it to, and the more the merrier. Growing it is no easy task, especially when as authors, we want to spend time writing our books. Authors, what do you need?

Writer’s Retreat (from left to right) with Donna Wichelman, L.A. Sartor, Sandi Rog, K.V. Fischer, Audra Harders, Candee Fick

First on the list is a giveaway — something your potential subscribers would like to receive in exchange for signing up to your list. If you are a nonfiction writer, this can include something as simple as a helpful checklist. But alas, fiction writers don’t get off that easily. We need to provide what we love – story. I intend to write the story behind how and why Search & Recovery International was created. Would you be interested in that story? If you choose to subscribe to my Mailing List before it’s ready to be released, you will still receive that story as well as any other giveaways I provide.

The next question is based on frequency. How often should you email your subscriber list? Every single speaker at this summit pushed daily emails to grow your subscriber list. Hmmm.

I subscribed to several of them to see what they did and how I felt about it. One week later, I unsubscribed to all but 2, and one of those 2 only sent me one email because it was her birthday and she let me know she will not be sending emails that week. We’ll see how long she lasts before I unsubscribe. Frankly, I find it harassment, but each of these speakers have evidently found it successful for them. What are your thoughts?

The Marketing Plan

It was unanimous – to sell books, you must have a marketing plan in place prior to your book’s release. More on that to come. By the way, tomorrow Search Beyond Lies is available as an Amazon Countdown Deal for 1 week. It will be available for .99 for 3 1/2 days and then move to $1.99 for 3 1/2 more days before it goes back to 3.99. If you have Kindle Unlimited, it’s free.

Do you have a plan?

© 2023 Karen VDH Fischer

A suspense thriller with a dash of romance, Search Beyond Lies tells the story

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Search Beyond Lies, Book One in the Search & Recovery International Series

of the search for a missing scientist, a top-secret project, and a ticking clock. Desperate to find his friend and mentor, James Frankel knows that only former Army Ranger, Charlie Sommer can help him. But how can he trust a woman who’s keeping secrets?

As a former Army Ranger, Charlie Sommers garnered the reputation of having the highest search and rescue success rate, but she’s plagued by the one she left behind. Now she’s on the verge of an exciting new beginning as a part of Search & Recovery International where her secrets are safe. There’s only one problem: the new assignment will take her back to Colorado and the loss that still haunts her.

The clock is ticking down. With their lives–and their hearts–at risk, Charlie and James join forces in an attempt to save the scientist and the world from catastrophe while finding the truth beyond lies in this action-packed thriller. It is available at https://amzn.to/3ueVmTO.

Publish Don’t Perish Tip #11 – Be Accountable

Last week, I republished the article, An Inspiring Rare Friendship in anticipation of Publish Don’t Perish Tip #11 – Be Accountable. It’s so easy to be pulled away from your writing when “life” interferes. Sometimes you need a break, as I discussed in Tip #10 , however, sometimes while the break is helpful, it may extend longer than intended, and you can move farther and farther away from your goals. This slippery slope is especially easy for the writer, an often lonely profession. However, when you set yourself up to be accountable, important goals are likely reached. Today’s article will share ways in which you can make yourself accountable.

Accountability Partner

The Best Partner — Joni & Karen

Find yourself an accountability partner. This is someone you can share your daily or weekly writing goals with and who will check in with you to see if you’ve met them. This doesn’t necessarily have to be another writer, it can be anyone willing to see you succeed.

Writers’ Group

.Join a writers’ group. I have been blessed by one of the most incredible, supportive groups imaginable. We meet monthly, although during these times of social distancing, we missed a few until we found our rhythm with a new venue — Google Meet. It’s not quite the same as being together in person, but it’s almost as good and still provides motivation to write. These amazing people have the ability to fill my soul.

At the start of each meeting we pray together and provide a 90 second update on where we are with our writing. It’s amazing what that 90 seconds can inspire us to accomplish during the month.

Writing Retreat – Donna Wichelman, L.A. Sartor, Sandi Rog, Karen Fischer, Audra Harders, Candi Fick

Critique Group

Join a critique group where like minded writers set writing goals and provide regular drafts to other members for critique. Each group will have its own set of “rules” and “guidelines” the members need to follow. But each member is held accountable to participate and write.

Go Public

When you go public with your readership, family, and friends, you don’t want to let them down. Search Beyond Lies is a very important project for me, and by going public with An Inspiring Rare Friendship, I want you to hold me accountable. My goal is to have Search Beyond Lies ready for my professional content editor (Candee Fick) by December 1, and ready for my copy editor (Elizabeth Fenton) by Christmas. I will check in with you regularly.

An Inspiring Rare Friendship

What suggestions do you have to help us be accountable?

© 2020 Karen Van Den Heuvel Fischer

Sage Advice When There’s No Thyme to Write by Kathryn Ross

Kathryn Ross is back with Sage Advice When There’s No Thyme to Write! I’m sure you’ll enjoy this article as much as I did… . Thank you Kathryn!

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The Write Spice: Writing Tips for Flavorful Words
by Kathryn Ross

I’ve just returned to the world of written words, blog posts, and editing projects from a hiatus of too-much-busy. April, May, and now seemingly June, have been a whirlwind of overwhelm. Other than my writing, my full plate involved the birth of a new grandson, settling into the new normal of Nana duty each week, opening the lakehouse ministry my husband and I manage for Christian leaders, transforming a vacant marketplace facility into a one-day history museum with over 40 exhibits and historical re-enactors for our hometown’s Founder’s Day event, and the preparation of my father’s house for the impending arrival of my sister and her husband moving back to our hometown. All this, and a sprained foot, too!

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Fur Baby

Oh—and did I mention keeping up with my husband’s routine and regular home-front duties? And the cats, of course.

Yeah. I had to cut something from the to-do list or nothing would ever be to-done.

To that end, I needed to take a break from blogging until I could dedicate serious hours to my writing, once again. In so doing, I have learned a few things to encourage the writer who just can’t find the thyme to write—let alone the words and inspiration. Here’s my sage advice in case you find yourself in your own whirlwind of overwhelm with deadlines looming:

Turn Deadlines into Lifelines.

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Stop

When we struggle with too many things requiring our attention, all at the same time, we lose the ability to focus with excellence on any one thing. We may try to make our deadline, only to turn in a poorly crafted piece that is not a true representation of our ability. What we produce will have little to no benefit on our readers. We flail about like a swimmer drowning in the ocean. STOP. Stop floundering with wasted energy and little focus. Float instead. Accept that priorities may need to be readjusted for a season. Reorder responsibilities so they are manageable when new or unexpected things step into the picture. This may mean asking for an extension on a post’s due date, or even a lengthier delay in order to turn a deadline into a lifeline, allowing room to breathe, think, and function.

Retreat to Advance.

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Retreat

My husband and I manage a lakehouse retreat for Christian leaders in the church, home, and arts—including writers–in need of a respite to renew and be refreshed for ministry. As I was readying the lakehouse in anticipation of its formal dedication, I became aware that I was simply going through the motions of organizing an event. I had not fully connected to the ministry concept, even though I have spent years teaching and studying on developing a sanctuary lifestyle of retreat and renewal. On the day of the dedication, I sat by the water, waiting for the guests to arrive, and realized for the first time in months that I was in need of a respite! Just those couple of hours in a quiet, sanctuary setting prior to everyone’s arrival, realigned my inner compass with the knowledge that my greatest need to restore my writing routine was not time—but REST. I have to book myself to use the lakehouse retreat before I can adequately expect to advance in my writing goals and continued ministry.

Take Time to Smell the Flowers.

In my book, Fragrant Fields: Poetic Reflections for Journaling, I share the story of driving about on a busy day of errands when I passed a huge field of flowers I’d never seen before. The sight arrested my soul—I just had to pull over and stare into it for a while. The powerful fragrance settled my stressed mind and body. My mouth opened in spontaneous prayer, thanking the Lord for such a generous gift—to RENEW! I don’t remember how long I lingered there, but I do remember the moments spent in the field being permanently etched upon my spirit. Returning home, I was inspired to write—words pouring forth from the impact of a close encounter with my Lord built into the curative glories of Creation.

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Stop. Rest. Renew

Stop. Rest. Renew.

It’s a very similar recipe for the writer short on time to write. But also, extremely difficult to purpose into our crowded lives. Most of us are active achievers, skimping on personal time. Yet, we can achieve more when we recognize when our calendar fills to overflowing, and are brave enough to turn off the spicket. Stop. Make the effort to do nothing. Rest. Breathe in the goodness of God in our stillness—He is ever present with a bouquet of good things and beauty to give us. Renew.

So, I’m back. And better for it. I look forward to diligently applying my own sage advice to my literary life. And in so doing—make the thyme to write.

clove, lemon oil, cinnamon, garden, harvestwriters, spice, fall recipes, editors, healing, manuscript
The Write Spice: Writing Tips for Flavorful Words
By Kathryn Ross

Writer-speaker, Kathryn Ross, ignites a love of literature and learning through Pageant Wagon Productions and Publishing. She writes and publishes homeschool enrichment and Christian living books for home, church, and school. Her passion is to equip women and families in developing a Family Literacy Lifestyle, producing readers and thinkers who can engage the world from a biblical worldview. She blogs and podcasts at TheWritersReverie.com and PageantWagonPublishing.com. Connect with Miss Kathy on Facebook.

(c) 2018 Kathryn Ross

Balancing Written Words to Taste for Flavorful Influence By Kathryn Ross

Welcome back Kathryn Ross! Balancing Written Words to Taste for Flavorful Influence is the next in her series —  The Write Spice:  Writing Tips for Flavorful Words. From sweet to sour, salty to savory, and a tad of bitterness in between, well-seasoned stories touch readers’ taste buds with memorable flavors and healthful influence.

When you write, do you think how your words will taste in the mind and heart of a reader? Will it be winsome and compelling, inviting eager eyes to read further on, hungry for more? Or, will it be repellant and unconvincing, disgusting and dulling to your reader’s sensibilities?

Benefits

Like a sumptuous meal of many courses and flavors, your writing possesses the most healthful benefits with a balance of tastes. The old adage, “variety is the spice of life,” applies to written works, too.

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Heart Health & Magnesium

Human taste-buds are highly charged nerve endings on the tip of the tongue, uniquely designed to identify five basic tastes categorized as either aversive or appetitive. For instance, sweet tastes clue our bodies into energy-rich foods as sure as bitterness warns the body of possible poison.

Unless you’re a coffee or cocoa lover, bitter flavors that often elicit a sweet response.

Five Taste Senses

There are five taste senses that bode benefit or harm regarding foods, much like the words we choose in our storytelling. Whether we’re crafting a fictional tale or non-fiction essay on crucial topics, the words we use must be garnished with “the write spice.” Sprinkle your words generously with these four tastes:

Sweetness is the taste commonly associated with sugar. It is a pleasant taste that can energize and delight in measured doses, but also cause illness in excess. How you add sugar to your story, in wise amounts, evenly distributed—with an extra dollop on top at the end—will determine the satisfaction of the story, leaving its reader lifted and smiling.

Lemons

Sourness in taste is a clue to the acidity of a thing. Perhaps this is best used in smaller doses. Though youngsters gravitate to the shocking sour flavor of certain popular candies, sour, well diluted, is best. Consider the sharp pucker of a pungent lemon slice until squeezed into a tall glass of water where a spritz of sour gives just the right bit of refreshment. So, too, a pungent word or scene can arrest a reader’s attention with a refreshing perspective if mixed well.

Saltiness in foods is what makes the bland turn to bliss on the tongue. Consider how dull any dish is without a dash of salt. Salt levels in processed foods makes them tasty. Salt and sweet together are especially addictive. But, remember—a little dash’il-do-ya. High salt/sodium content in foods makes the heart race and is not healthy. Again, a pinch of salt and a cup of sugar blend brilliantly in baked goods and storytelling.

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Balancing Written Words to Taste for Flavorful Influence by Kathryn Ross

Savory flavor is where you’ll find more substance, such as in broths and cooked meats. Our writing should be savory with substance. Say something! Savory tastes are the low notes that add depth and gravy—I mean, gravity—to your work. If we want to provide healthy influence with our words, make the body of your work something a reader wants to savor in their heart and mind—the meat and potatoes of the meal.

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Dark Chocolate – Good for Your Heart and Mind

Bitterness in foods may be immediately repulsive and unpleasant, but a bittering agent may be just the nutritional ingredient to make your dish effective. So, too, in your writing, a blob of bitterness stirred into the mix—like unsweetened cocoa powder added to a cake batter—might just surprise you when you taste the finished product. Sometimes a bitter twist in your writing is the unexpected plot element that ultimately sweetens by the end of the story. The surprising flavor keeps your reader engaged until, mixed together with the sweet, sour, salty, and savory, you have a delicious dish that will prompt your reader to ask for second helpings!

clove, lemon oil, cinnamon, garden, harvestwriters, spice, fall recipes, editors, healing, manuscript
The Write Spice: Writing Tips for Flavorful Words
By Kathryn Ross

Writer-speaker, Kathryn Ross, ignites a love of literature and learning through Pageant Wagon Productions and Publishing. She writes and publishes homeschool enrichment and Christian living books for home, church, and school. Her passion is to equip women and families in developing a Family Literacy Lifestyle, producing readers and thinkers who can engage the world from a biblical worldview.

She blogs and podcasts at TheWritersReverie.com and PageantWagonPublishing.com. Connect with Miss Kathy on Facebook.

(C) 2018 Kathryn Ross