Today I'm thrilled to host L. Diane Wolf!!!
Writing Articles to Promote Our Books
Marketing is all about putting ourselves and our product in front of potential buyers. An excellent way for authors do this is through articles. Articles posted online also add to our search engine fodder and increase our website’s traffic and ranking. And we have the advantage—we’re already a writer.
What should we write about? What are some of the key topics in our book? What research did we conduct? We are a wealth of information on at least one subject if not more. If our book is about gardening, we can write articles on the best time to plant, controlling pests, or selecting the proper soil. If our fiction book is a love story set in Savannah, GA, we can write about the history of that town.
The purpose of an article is to inform or solve problems. It is not to feature our book. We can mention our book if it's relevant, but our article should not be a 1,000 word commercial. We’re selling ideas, experience, tips, and knowledge. We’re selling us, as an expert. If we can sell US to the reader—presenting ourselves as an expert able to help others—people will make a connection with us.
Articles carry another purpose; to move the reader from the article to our website or blog. Our name and website should be listed at the bottom of every article we write. (This is called the byline.) Once the reader reaches our site, he will then be exposed to our books.
Where should our articles appear? Where does our audience go? Sites such as:
· Websites
· Blogs
· Online magazines
· News sites
· Article banks
The real world holds possibilities, too. Look for magazines both big and small, newspapers, small circulars or flyers, etc. Some of these venues require articles six or more months in advance, so check the submission guidelines and query what subjects they currently seek.
Articles should begin to appear a few months before our book's release, and continue a month or two past that date. (Longer if possible.) Aim for one to three articles a week. That may seem like a lot, but one a week is only four a month. We can even recycle older articles and use them for newsletters or blog posts.
Once the ball is rolling, it will become easier to produce more articles. We just need to get our name and website out in front of potential readers as often as possible. Brainstorm some article topics today!
L. Diane Wolfe
Professional Speaker & Author
Known as “Spunk On A Stick,” Wolfe is a member of the National Speakers Association and the author of numerous books. Her latest title, “How to Publish and Promote Your Book Now,” covers her publishing seminars in depth and provides an overview of the entire process from idea to market. “Overcoming Obstacles With SPUNK! The Keys to Leadership & Goal-Setting”, ties her goal-setting and leadership seminars together into one complete, enthusiastic package. Her YA series, The Circle of Friends, features morally grounded, positive stories. Wolfe travels extensively for media interviews and speaking engagements, maintains a dozen websites & blogs, and assists writers through her author services..
HOW TO PUBLISH AND PROMOTE YOUR BOOK NOW!
BY L. DIANE WOLFE
Publishing and promoting made simple!
Have you always dreamed of publishing a book but didn’t know where to begin? This book walks you through the steps of identifying markets, budgeting, building an online presence, and generating publicity. Get the whole story on:
· Traditional publishing
· Self-publishing
· Print and e-book setup, formatting, and distribution
· Finding your target audience
· Generating reviews and media interest
· Networking and developing an online presence
· Promotional materials and appearances
Uncover your ideal publishing path and numerous marketing options before you begin. Writing is your dream. Give it the best chance for success!
Available February 5, 2012
Publishing/Marketing, 214 pages
$14.95 Trade paperback ISBN 978-0-9827139-5-2
$4.95 Ebook ISBN 978-0-9827139-9-0
Available in all Ebook formats
“She gives an unbiased take on the advantages and disadvantages of traditional publishing and self-publishing and publishing paths that combine the two… It's the perfect book for those who want an overview to begin the decision-making process.”
- Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning series of how-to books for writers http://howtodoitfrugally.com/
“A must-read for writers planning on self-publishing or any writer who wants the ultimate how-to on promoting. Tons of links, advice, and how-to, whether you're going for print or e-publication.”
Available February 5, 2012
Publishing/Marketing, 214 pages, Dancing Lemur Press LLC
$14.95 Trade paperback ISBN 978-0-9827139-5-2
$4.99 Ebook ISBN 978-0-9827139-9-0
Available at the following links/sites:
Amazon -
15 comments:
This is something I really need to start doing.
I can really see the point in this article. Now I have to go back over my plan of promoting my future book and change it a little.
Very useful article, very good advice for writers.
L. Diane - Thanks for this great guest post! I wish I had done some article writing before my book release, but I'll have to get started now (just a few days before).
Alex - One of the things I love about the blogging community is that we can help each other and give each other ideas.
Elena - I agree. L. Diane gives great tips here!
Best wishes to Diane with her release and the promoting. Few people do it better.
excellent advice! i will start researching places to submit stuff now!!
Interesting perspective. Article writing I have down. Now...if I ever do write that book. ;)
It's great to see Diane here! I really appreciate her insight. Wishing her all the best! :)
Stephen - I agree. She's a pro!
Tara - I'm looking forward to reading your articles . . .it's something I need to do too.
Julie - when (not if) you get your book written, you'll have an audience already!
Karen - She does have great insight. Thanks for stopping by!
Alex, you should.
Elana, it can really help establish an author before the book comes out.
Thank you, Stephen.
Julie, you will be prepared.
Thank you so much, Tyrean.
This is an excellent piece of advice. I'd much rather go to an author's site to read about their book after reading an informative article that tells me something about what they know. Then I have more confidence about whether or not I'll be interested in their book more so than if I just read about how great their book is. Of course they're going to say that.
Lee
Wrote By Rote
An A to Z Co-host blog
Twitter: @AprilA2Z
I've never considered doing that! Good plan :)
she is all over the place because she freakin' rocks!!
It's great seeing Diane everywhere. I've thought about writing articles. I wrote them years ago, but they hadn't been accepted anywhere. Hmmm, maybe I should start writing them again.
Lee, that is exactly why we need to write articles!
Tammy, thank you so much.
Medeia, give it a try.
Great advice, Diane. I struggle with sending articles.
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