Tag: holidays

elizabeth speaks, Holidays, Uncategorized

In Your Corner: Making sense––of the holiday drop-in.

How do we prepare for the holidays?

Oh, look, I get it–after weeks and weeks of holiday-themed newsletters, emails, blog posts, and tinned Christmas music piped over the mall speakers, it’s easy for the season to lose its luster. And it’s true, after so many days and weeks harping on the same note (angelically, we hope) the holidays can begin to feel a bit … stale.

But that’s why we keep trying to come at it from different angles! Appropriately, too, since that’s what today’s post is all about: brainstorming new and fresh ways to prepare yourself as an author and your book too for this festive season. How do we best make use of the holidays and market our books to visiting friends and family, co-workers, neighbors, as well as the general community…without coming off as opportunistic…or worse, stale?

Here’s my suggestion:

Do what you love to do during the holidays, only find a way to be an author as well as an ordinary shopper, gift-giver, and so on. You don’t have to sacrifice anything, least of all that all-too-precious authenticity, in order to be both and do both.

Maybe you like baking cookies. I’m a traditionalist–gingerbread, snickerdoodles, sugar cookies, and sandies for me! But my family? Their roots go way back, to date-filled oatmeal cookies, cappuccino flats, Scandinavian almond bars, pfeffernüsse, orange and ginger shortbread, and all sorts of delicacies I’m not much good at putting together. (Dipping stuff in melted chocolate?? Only if it’s a spoon or my hand, thanks. Otherwise, the entire house gets decorated in splatter.)  Here’s the thing, though: no matter what you like to bake, it’s a great excuse to make the rounds at your neighbors’ as well as pretty much any social gathering you can think of–potluck, luncheon, shower, office party, etc–and to spread the word about your book at the same time. Tuck a bookmark with a picture of your book on it into the basket of goodies, and voila! Word is spread, and without great expense while keeping you doing the thing you love best at the holidays.

Or maybe you’re a nice version of the Grinch, in that you want to do anything other than another holiday-themed thing. In that case, you can lift a page from REI’s #OptOutside campaign (only perhaps we should call this #GoodGrinch-ing? I’m sure you can come up with a better hashtag). Throw a party, any other kind of party that is, or maybe launch a little crowdsourcing campaign of your own where you ask others to partner with you in doing something bigger and greater than just buying your book. Like REI, can you transform a single consumer behavior–abstaining from shopping for a day, in their case–into a statement? Maybe you decide to start a matching strategy, where for a limited time, for every copy of your book that is purchased, you’ll gift a copy to local libraries? Or perhaps, for every three copies of your book that are purchased, you donate a shoebox to Operation Christmas Child? The possibilities are endless. The key is to remember that you yourself have to believe in the mission you’re setting out to accomplish, and that mission is more than just making bank. The great thing about this idea is, too, that it can be adapted to other times of year! (But you have to admit, it’s really well-suited to the holidays.)

There are so many ways to branch out during the holidays, bringing fresh air to the age-old necessity of marketing your book effectively while also maintaining your sanity (and integrity!) at a busy time of year.

 

christmas visit holiday

Have you found a way to market your book around the holidays that doesn’t feel stale or opportunistic? I’d love to hear about your experience. Please drop me a line in the comments section, and I’ll include the best ideas in next week’s “In Your Corner” post!

You are not alone. ♣︎

Elizabeth

ABOUT ELIZABETH JAVOR: With over 18 years of experience in sales and management, Elizabeth Javor works as the Manager of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable publishing consultants, pre-production specialists, customer service reps and book marketing specialists; together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process to help them publish the book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction or a novelist seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Elizabeth Javor can put you on the right path.
elizabeth speaks, Holidays, Uncategorized

In Your Corner: Hold On To That Pen–Don’t Put It Down Just Yet!

OR: How NOT To Be Defeated By Christmas

holidays journaling

Look, you actually already know quite a lot about surviving the holidays. For one thing, you’re here, aren’t you? And that means you’ve survived at least one–and let’s be honest, one-year-olds are a bit young to be self-publishing authors, but we support you too, one-year-olds, go get ’em!–holiday season. Very likely, you’ve survived several.

The thing is, those holidays you’ve survived may not have been, how shall we put it … productive? Yes, that’s close enough. “Productive holidays” may even strike you as something of an oxymoron, each being mutually exclusive of the other. But I’m here to assure you that, in fact, the term is not only literally possible but it can be yours–this month!

No, it’s not too late to get ahead of Christmas 2016. It’s easy to be fatalistic upon entering the second week of December, but I find it useful to remember the wise, wise words one of my coworkers has passed down to me from her father: “It doesn’t have to be perfect; it just has to be done.” And a lot of holiday stress? Well, it just goes poof out the window when you apply this idiom to reality. I don’t need to hand-craft every Secret Santa gift or hand-letter every card with fine calligraphy. I don’t need to make a gourmet meal on Christmas where everything comes out of the oven at the same time like it does on America’s Test Kitchen and The Great British Baking Show, and I definitely don’t need to do it all alone, like I have something to prove. But these feelings, this sense of obligation to craft the perfect holiday–they’re real. It’s real. And my friends don’t help at all.

I have friends who are Christmas fiends, bargain-hounds, and holiday maestros. And that’s wonderful, it really is. But in the age of Pinterest and Instagram, those banner apps for the socially and domestically blissful (and skilled), it’s easy to feel like I’m not measuring up–even when I’m racing flat-out just to get the basics covered. I’m 100% certain social media was invented with white picket fences in mind … but most of us don’t have a neatly manicured and curated life! And that’s okay. So the green bean casserole is a bit cooler than the Christmas ham? No big deal! (It doesn’t have to be perfect; it just has to be done.)

The real trick to a stress-free holiday, however, isn’t repeating a mantra to yourself every five minutes when the gingerbread cookies catch fire in the oven or the dog pees on the bearskin rug (true story; don’t ask) you just laundered the day before.

No, the real trick is in not forgetting who you are as an author. It’s easy to put your writing in second place during the holidays–second place to everything. Work is busy in preparation for the holidays, the house is a chaotic wreck, and everyone seems to want something from you, if only emotional support. But you’re an author. This is a vital part of who you are. And it’s not a part you can afford to neglect for an entire month during a time of year when life is literally throwing material–comic, tragic, or just plain emotionally rich–at you every five minutes.

So here’s my suggestion: Start a journal. No, it doesn’t have to be a “Dear Diary” setup if that’s not your speed. It’s definitely not mine. I mean, I may have started there–but when things got really tough a few years ago, I simply started jotting down fragments of overheard conversations, things I was grateful for, and things I was worried about. This last one came to dominate, and I called the journal my “Worry Book”–once a worry was written down, it was exorcised. I closed the book each day and wouldn’t allow myself to worry about it anymore, since it was in the book. This may seem like a simple trick, and it didn’t always work, but sometimes it did and I emerged from that difficult year with a record of all of the most important things on my mind. That’s fodder for a book, right there!

You may be a classic journaler, or you might be a “worry booker.” You might take down notes, reporter-style, or you might be more the sort to challenge yourself to write a poem a day. Whatever it is, be systematic. Sit down at the same time every day–preferably early, before the day really gets started–and knock out a few drops of ink from that fountain pen of yours. You can afford to write disconnected and fragmentary thoughts about life in your journal–but you can’t afford not to write at all. Keep that pen in hand, folks, even when life gets busy–and remember what my coworker’s dad said!

It doesn’t have to be perfect; it just has to be done.

Honestly, I’m pretty sure this applies to first drafts and initial thoughts and journals every bit as much as it does to Christmas dinner. Just remember who you are, and what builds you up–what refreshes you and energizes you and prepares you for the day. I’m pretty sure it’s going to involve a pen!

You are not alone. ♣︎

Elizabeth

ABOUT ELIZABETH JAVOR: With over 18 years of experience in sales and management, Elizabeth Javor works as the Manager of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable publishing consultants, pre-production specialists, customer service reps and book marketing specialists; together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process to help them publish the book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction or a novelist seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Elizabeth Javor can put you on the right path.
Conversations with a Self-Publishing Writer, Holidays, Royalene Speaks, Uncategorized

Conversations: 12/2/2016

THE WRITER-AUTHOR-MARKETING SPECIALIST

We have all survived November’s politics with much THANKSGIVING around the holiday table! Now it’s time to focus on the book(s) we’ve written with a fresh perspective toward the 2016 winter holiday marketing season. Are you ready? OR…are your knees knocking? I must confess I a bit stuck somewhere in-between. However, every year I learn little more—become familiar with new marketing techniques—and develop connections with folks who can help me. SO, let me put your mind at ease. No matter where you fit on the sliding scale of preparedness, we can all do something to promote our published books—AND—be inspired to continue writing current projects. My blogs this month will share a sundry of ideas to help you.

character writing fireproof proverbs

You’ll be reading this blog in the 1st week of December, therefore my first encouragement to you is: DON’T PANIC!

If you’ve peeked into the marketing blogs, magazines and how-to books you’ve probably read that authors must start marketing for the Christmas Holiday Season IN OCTOBER! I don’t know about you, but I’m writing my next book (and coaching two other authors in the development of their books), so I totally missed the month of October—and November. Now, it’s December 2nd and I’m recalling a wonderful piece of advice from a very well-known author I met at a Writers Conference. He said: “Continuous one-line conversations will sell your books any time of the year, but most especially during the winter holidays.”

What did he mean by “one-line conversations?” You probably already know—Facebook and Twitter first of all, then creating one-line quotes from your book that can be placed on your blog, Instagram and Pinterest, and everywhere else online that you can reach. For example, here is a quote from my self-published book: FIREPROOF PROVERBS, A Writer’s Study of Words.

Most authors I know are also using one of the EMAIL marketing sites to send out weekly hello’s to a collected list of Readers and writers. The emails I find most appealing are the “short and sweet” ones that encourage my own writing efforts. Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction this is an excellent marketing tool. However, I’ve discovered that I need help with offering potential buyers something that is of value to them and nudges them in the direction of my book.

If you self-published the team that supported you to get your book in print and online can also help you with marketing through multi-level promotions. Their experts can develop a series of emails that build excitement for your books and/or video clips that will play on YouTube plus many other suggestions that are specific to your needs.

So…this week I hope you will take a deep breath, relax, and begin thinking about the exciting month you will have promoting YOUR book(s). Those of us who are introvert writers CAN do this because of all the things available to us on our computers IN THE COMFORT ZONE of our writing rooms. The professional “assistants,” who have the expertise to help us, also love to communicate via emails. And once you’ve entered into this marketing realm—well—you just might find it a lot of FUN! ⚓︎

Royalene

ABOUT ROYALENE DOYLE: Royalene has been writing something since before kindergarten days and continues to love the process. Through her small business—DOYLE WRITING SERVICES—she brings more than 40 years of writing experience to authors who need “just a little assistance” with completing their projects. This is a nice fit as she develops these blogs for Outskirts Press (OP) a leading self-publisher, and occasionally accepts a ghostwriting project from one of their clients. Her recent book release (with OP) titled FIREPROOF PROVERBS, A Writer’s Study of Words, is already receiving excellent reviews including several professional writer’s endorsements given on the book’s back cover.  

Royalene’s writing experience grew through a wide variety of positions from Office Manager and Administrative Assistant to Teacher of Literature and Advanced Writing courses and editor/writer for an International Christian ministry. Her willingness to listen to struggling authors, learn their goals and expectations and discern their writing voice has brought many manuscripts into the published books arena.

elizabeth speaks, Holidays, in your corner, Uncategorized

In Your Corner: Be the Life of the Party…Literally!

book club book party coffee tea nature

It can be hard, reinventing the wheel. Every holiday season, the same challenges and opportunities roll around–and every author is forced to decide: this one, or that one? Host a reading at the library, or coordinate a potluck and book sale at home? Or, worst of all, there’s the option of letting the holidays slide–of letting them drift away in a haze of busy schedules and truly important family and social demands–without making use of them as an author.

My suggestion? Host a holiday writing party! This isn’t your plain-Jane reading or book sale, although you could definitely incorporate elements of those tried-and-trues into your new plan. No–a writing party is much more inclusive and much more fun for kids of all ages (“from one to ninety-two” as Nat King Cole would put it). And while you are still the facilitator and secret power-broker behind the scenes of a writing party, you’re not the sole event–and at this time of year, that’s a blessing! No really, one can only pull off the holidays if one is expected to carry every burden. And typically, once the idea of a writing party is broached, everyone is eager to pitch in!

If you’re thinking “Hey! That’s not such a bad idea!” then I have a couple of suggestions, based on prior experience (I love these parties!):

  • Have everyone bring a dish, and in a twist have them steer clear of the typical holiday goodies, which everyone will very soon be sick of from sheer quantity–candies and cookies and so forth. Instead, have them bring something inspired by one of their favorite books! Kids might find something in Redwall to inspire, and there is an entire genre dedicated to “geek cookbooks” online, where you can find cookbooks (official and unofficial) with recipes from The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Little House on the Prairie, among others … so this is not such a difficult challenge to meet. (And adults: there are endless lists of cocktails inspired by literature out there, so don’t be afraid to crack open that bar after the kids go to bed!)
  • Dedicate a part of your session just to snacking. It’s worth it, and it gets the chatting and the fiddling and the greasy fingers out of the way before the serious work begins. There’s usually a quiet lull in the conversation about twenty minutes in which serves as a nice segway–but again, everyone’s party should be tailored to suit your specific vision! Just make sure that food is stored away from the writing table, since messes do tend to happen–and everybody has a favorite “loud chewing sound” story! (Hot beverages are usually handy at the table, though.)
  • Then, get down to business. You’ll know what this ought to look like when it happens, and when it feels right. Every book club, writing club, and party has its own rhythm, but don’t worry–you’ll know. Sometimes it’s helpful to keep a timer nearby, or to set one up on your phone–breaking writing up into a couple of shorter sessions with quick snack and bathroom breaks in between is one way to keep everyone’s blood moving and energy up. And if that doesn’t cut it, consider leading a couple of breathing activities or even–yes!–yoga moves! Studies indicate significant improvements to focus in intellectual activities when the body is kept active and balanced. (It helps with carpal tunnel syndrome, too. Shake out those cramped wrists and fingers!) Oh–and don’t forget to offer up a couple of writing “prompts” for anyone in need of inspiration, and gear them towards your audience. Adults may want to write fiction–or letters to loved ones at Christmas. Kids might want to doodle or draw, or slay a dragon in five paragraphs or fewer!
  • Wrap up with a quick reflection. Try to steer clear of putting any one person on the spot, but offer up a couple of open questions about books, characters, challenges, and more. At this point, or as the last writing session is wrapping up, you can begin bringing the snacks to the writing table. The goal is for everyone to reach a point of total relaxation and contentment, and holiday joy.

Be inspired. There are so many shapes and forms your writing party might take–it may look nothing like the one I’ve described here–it might be outside, with just a couple of friends, or inside, with a pack of small children looking on. It could be held at the library! Or at your kitchen table. There’s no one way to hold a writing party–but a writing party is the best kind of party. After all, like the adult coloring movement–like Knit Night–like quilting and gardening and origami and yoga and meditating on one’s reading, writing is an activity which triggers serotonin release, calm, peace, and rejuvenation in those who take part in it. We can’t think of a better way to kick the holiday stress than by hosting a writing party!

What do you think? Will you have a chance to host an event this Christmas season? We’d love to hear about it. Drop us a line in the comments section below.

book party grandpa grandfather grandchildren children

You are not alone. ♣︎

Elizabeth

ABOUT ELIZABETH JAVOR: With over 18 years of experience in sales and management, Elizabeth Javor works as the Manager of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable publishing consultants, pre-production specialists, customer service reps and book marketing specialists; together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process to help them publish the book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction or a novelist seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Elizabeth Javor can put you on the right path.
Holidays, Kelly Speaks, Uncategorized

Ringing in the Holidays: New Year’s Eve Edition!

Blogrunner’s Note: This is the post which was scheduled to post on Wednesday, November 23rd. For some reason unbeknownst to us, it failed to post successfully—so we’re bringing it to your feeds today! And still in plenty of time for NYE, thankfully. Thank you for your forebearance.

As New Year’s Eve approaches, we authors can often be found meticulously scribing resolutions for becoming more active writers or more active in our book marketing in the coming year. Some of these resolutions are probably rehashed from last year’s list, resolutions that we just couldn’t seem to uphold. They are resolutions that have become Ghosts of New Year’s past, ever returning to haunt us and remind us of our floundering in hopes to try to inspire “real change” this time around.

2017 happy new year

Hopefully when you look back at 2016–presuming you aren’t actually the Scrooge–you will have done some great and productive things that can be built on in the year(s) to come. That’s one of the great things about New Year’s: it forces us to look ahead. It is a unique day–much like a birthday–that reminds one of the passing of time, and that another year of our lives has “just begun,” so to speak.

So with 2017 about to begin, as an author it is important to evaluate what are important aspects of your writing and publishing that you need to improve upon. If you’re like most authors, when you’re trying to formulate goals, resolutions or whatever label you want to give them, you are probably at least in part motivated by a desire to sell more books.

While marketing is not every author’s forte, it is essential to be as skilled at marketing as you are at writing, that is, if you ever want anyone to read your stuff. If you set aside time each day for writing, why should you not also set aside time for marketing?

This year, I implore self-published authors to set aside 30 minutes a day for marketing efforts. 30 minutes is a  small enough amount of time that the tediousness of such a task won’t weigh on you, but over days and weeks, it is enough time to help you make huge strides in building your audience.

In those 30 minutes you can do a myriad of things. Reach out to people on Twitter, Facebook, Google+. Reach out to blogs that have a similar subject matter as your book. Gues what? Getting featured on a blog means that you get to do what you actually love–writing–while also promoting your book. It’s a two for one!

Creating a Goodreads profile, updating your Amazon author page and updating your headshot are all also quick and easy ways to revamp your book marketing.

Another relatively easy task that can fill your 30 minute time slot is to send emails to potential reviewers. Reviews are a monumentally important marketing tool, especially when they’re reviews from respected authors or professionals. Speaking of respected professionals…it’s never a bad idea to send a signed copy of your book to your college alumni magazine as well!

In summation, this New Year, commit to a small, daily marketing effort that will pay off for years to come.

Thank you for reading!  If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or contributions, please use the comment field below or drop us a line at selfpublishingadvice@gmail.com.  And remember to check back each Wednesday for your weekly dose of marketing musings from one indie, hybrid, and self-published author to another. ♠

Kelly

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com