Books, Blogs & Business | Book Marketing + Self-Publishing Tips

As an author, bad reviews can be disheartening, but they are an inevitable part of the journey. While it's natural to hope that everyone will love your work, the reality is that not all readers will. There is a reason why on this show we talk about your ideal readers and finding them. Because everyone is not your audience. In this episode, we will explore the various reasons why authors receiv...

It's November 7 which means we are 7 days into Nanowrimo, the best 30 day writing challenge i have ever participated in. For those who don't know, how you could you not, but just in case, Nanowrimo is where writers around the world gather to write 50k words in 30 days. If you're participating in NanoWrimo you can tell me what you're working on on the corresponding image on my Insta...

In this empowering episode, I do a deep dive into goal achievement. Whether you're striving for personal, professional, or academic success, this thought-provoking episode will equip you with valuable insights and practical strategies to turn your dreams into reality. We're six months into 2023 and I want to share with you my favorite quote for the year so far, what's going on in Camp...

A writer platform refers to your online presence and visibility as an author. It encompasses various components that allow you to showcase your work, connect with your audience, and establish your credibility in the industry. Building a platform is crucial because it helps you reach a wider audience, attract potential readers, and grab the attention of publishers and literary agents. It's not...

📚 Book Promotion on a Budget: Unleashing Your Writing Potential! 🎉 Calling all aspiring authors and wordsmiths! Are you ready to discover the secrets of book promotion without breaking the bank? 🌟 In our latest episode, we dive deep into the world of promoting your book as a new writer on a limited budget. Join us as we unlock a treasure trove of creative strategies, ingenious tips, and practic...

One of the things I enjoy is getting to know those within the writing community. Listening to their backstories and why they write what they write. From aerospace engineers to librarians, writers expand the globe and beyond. I've been talking with Ron Lamberson (on the latest episode of Books, Blogs, & Business) about outlining and how it can be done at any level in the writing process. He...

Are you an aspiring writer struggling to come up with the perfect title for your book? Do you want to know how to create a book name that captures the essence of your story and resonates with readers? If so, you're in luck! In this episode, we dive into the art of naming your book and explore practical tips and techniques for crafting a memorable and effective book title. From understanding th...

In this episode, we move on to tips for revising the rough draft, including how to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your work and organizing the revision process effectively. Next, we cover tips for editing the revised draft, including the importance of grammar, syntax, and punctuation, and suggest some strategies for finding and fixing common errors. We also discuss the importance of gett...

A rough draft is a preliminary or initial version of a written work that is typically incomplete, unpolished, and subject to revisions and editing.  It is a first attempt at expressing the ideas, concepts, or story that the writer wants to convey.  A rough draft is often created with the purpose of allowing the writer to freely express their thoughts and ideas without worrying too much about struc...

Adeena joins us on the show to share insightful tips on how to stay committed to your writing, she shares her favorite books and we get down with a super fun game. Adeena Mignogna is the author of The Robot Galaxy series, an engineer working in aerospace and a long-time science fiction geek with a strong desire to inspire others through speaking and writing about robots, AI, aliens, virtual realit...

Camp Nanowrimo is here....three days from now many of you including myself will embark on another writing, editing or rewriting journey. To help you do so I want to outline some tools that I use to write 50k words three times a year. This episode is brought to you by the ⁠ Target Reader Mini Course ⁠ . All links ⁠ here >>> ⁠ Rate, Review, & Follow on Anchor Please consider ⁠ rating an...

Fifteen minutes seems like a really short time. And what possibly could someone say that will impact a person's life in just fifteen minutes? An impact so great that years later that person will keep remembering what was said. I sat down with a fellow entrepreneur on a free zoom session. We had a wonderful conversation that I wanted to share with you and what we talked about because I believe that...

It's Camp Nanowrimo where you can make the decision to write, or edit, even join a writing group. It helps you get on with your goals. However a hindrance for some maybe that they don't know what to write about. You may not be in the mood to edit but you would love to write something new, but what? What I want to do is help you to see how you can find ideas all around you. Some writers take long s...

Every time I make the firm decision to write a book, I like to do three things. First, I redefine who my readers are. Yes I know who they are but I like to look over what I know to make sure my stories will be for them. Secondly, I create a page dedicated to that book. I include the title, if available, description and even a button to link to my email list. Thirdly, my email list. I tell everyone...

So everyone talks about putting the link in your bio but is that really the way to get persons on your email list. Because trust me when I say that I've tried that and people don't usually click. Why? Because they need a reason to click. They need a reason to want to see and hear more about you and you have to give them that reason. Why should someone follow you on our Instagram? Why should someon...

There is nothing I hate more than when something I'm putting my sweat and blood into and it's not working. I feel like I want to rip all my hairs from my head because it's so frustrating. Have you ever felt so? You look around and it seems all these online people have their shit together and you're struggling to create a damn email list. I had 2 people on my list for a very long while. I know it's...

Do you have an author newsletter? What exactly is a newsletter, how can you start your very own, and what the heck should you put in it to entice readers to read it? On this episode, I share my top 7 tips for creating a newsletter strategy and 5 sure-fire things you can share with your readers that makes them looking forward to your letters. Find out the what, why, and when about newsletter for au...

As a book marketing coach I'm always for practical ways to market your book. It's not a one size fits all situation and so every author has different book marketing methods that actually work. That's why if you choose to work with me we're going to actually sit together and create your personal book marketing plan for you to follow. The thing about it is, that podcasting is a really good way to ma...

Like many of you I struggle with social media on a whole. Not just Instagram but Facebook,  Twitter,  TikTok and the likes. Each platform is so different and requires different attention in order to grow. Which always leads up to the saying, "I am not a fan of social media." The constant posting and analyzing of what's working and what's not, suck the energy out of me.  It sucks the...

So the other day I attended a gathering, an I got to talking to a friend who wanted some advice on starting her online business. This person wanted to start her own YouTube channel and she was actually waiting for YouTube to confirm her absence account before she could get started. She thought she had to wait before starting. And not surprisingly I've been in her position as with many other person...

I wanted to tell you a story of how I got 100+ people to join my mailing list. At the time it would seem totally random but it was definitely unexpected and I want you to know that when you are not thinking about it, that's when it happens. You know when they say the moment you feel like giving up your victory is right around the corner. Now I didn't feel like giving up on my email subscribers, I...

Welcome back to the Books, Blogs, & Business Podcast. It's the end of year and one thing I learned this entire year is that I need to reach out to persons. I certainly cannot sit and wait for persons to discover me or for things to blow up. That will never work. In this episode, I share my journey of 2022, the struggles, goals, challenges, and wins and I invite you to come along on the journey...

Stephen King said “When you’re writing a story, you’re telling yourself a story. When you rewrite, you’re taking out all the things that are not the story.” When I first set off to write this episode I wanted to talk about the things that are basic, general, that everyone should, the principle lessons learned. But its not authentic. It's not me. Recently I came into a situation, still going throug...

With the conclusion on NaNoWriMo many new writers would find themselves asking this question. Now what? You've written your first draft, so what's the next step. Every year in December, a few hundred thousand writers breath a sigh of relief because they have completed their manuscript. They've written 50k words in 30 days and have won one of the biggest writing challenges in the world. Probably yo...

Introducing Ruth Mini, a Special Collections Librarian and a YA romance writer who loves to branch out in other genres. She writes fiction and non-fiction. She's written two romance novellas, and a children's picture book and has plenty more books in store, including a new series. One of Ruth's favorite things to do is watch movies and she has seen over 1700 movies in her lifetime. In this episode...