Once upon a time, Seth Godin wrote a book that changed the marketing world. It was called Purple Cow.

Godin tells a story about driving through the countryside.  He and his fellow passengers were amazed by the sheer number of cows that were surrounding them. They couldn’t stop talking about the cows.

But then something happened.

The cows ceased to be a novelty. There were so many of them, that they seemed like one mass herd of boring. That’s when Seth realized that to be truly remarkable, a cow would have to be purple to stand out. He realized that the same rule applied to the marketing world.

And thus the legend of the Purple Cow was born.

In business, a purple cow is a product that is so revolutionary and different that people think of it as a novelty.

The old rule of business was to create safe, ordinary products that people would use and combine them for great marketing.

Here are two examples of the old rule of business.

• Soap. Yes, soap. There are thousands of different kinds of soap. Can you name five of them? It’s a safe business and it has been for years. People aren’t going to suddenly give up cleanliness. The soap scene was boring for years. It was boring because they didn’t feel the need to innovate.
• Instant coffee. This household staple was invented in 1901 and began mass production in 1906. Maxwell House came on the scene in 1926. For the rest of the twentieth century, Maxwell House and Foldgers owned the scene. Boring.

The new rule of business is to create remarkable products that the right people seek out.

Let’s revisit our yawn-inspiring examples.

• When the soap scene got boring, Dove decided to differentiate itself as the soap for women. They started the Real Beauty Campaign to help women celebrate their non-photoshopped selves. They have resources to help little girls develop healthy levels of self-esteem. They found a huge market (the 99.9% of women who battle self-image issues) and have created content that helps change their lives in positive ways. And as a result, Dove has set their brand apart from all their competitors. And they’ve sold a lot of soap.
• When instant coffee needed perking up, Starbucks came to the rescue by developing their VIA line. Until 2009, there had not been any major innovations in instant coffee. Starbucks knew that they had a dedicated group of customers who loved Starbucks coffee but didn’t have the time to wait in line.

This directly applies to your writing and you as an author.

If you try to write like every other author, you’ll be just another author. If you try to write to the masses, the masses will ignore you.

Your writing needs to be remarkable. Radical. There are millions of websites on the internet, authored by millions of writers who have dreams that are very similar to yours. If you want readers, you need to stand out of the herd. You need to be a Purple Cow.

Take some time to evaluate where you are now. Ask yourself these questions:

• Do you ever hear from readers?
• Do your posts have a social footprint?
• How many “shares” or “likes” do you get on average?
• Would you read your blog?
• What makes you different than every other writer?
• Do you know what agents and publishers are looking for?

It takes time to become a Purple Cow. You can’t microwave the process.

Your writing will not be an overnight success. For many authors, it takes years and years to achieve success. Some of them never make it. But there are many that do. And you can be one of them.

In his book, Seth shares ideas for how to turn your product into a Purple Cow. I’ve adapted them for writers.

• Tailor your writing to a niche, underserved market. Create a website tailored for them.
• Build a permission set. Market to your fans via newsletters.
• Be willing to take the time to innovate wisely. Don’t just slop things together.
• Tell stories that will change the lives of your readers.
• Write back to readers who email you. Get to know them personally.
• If your story’s future looks bleak, change course. You can spend years rewriting or you can write a new one tailored to your audience.
• Find the things that are “just not written about” in your genre or industry. Write about them.
• Before you nix a crazy idea, ask “Why not?”

How can you revolutionize your writing? How can you become a Purple Cow as a writer?

So you’re thinking about actually making the big step and buying an author website, or maybe you’ve already taken the leap and signed the check.

At Author Media, we understand what a big deal this is, and how scary it can seem.

However, there’s one trap that authors tend to fall into when building a website (or maintaining one, for that matter).

The perfectionist mentality

One thing every serious aspiring author knows is that he isn’t perfect, and that learning the craft of writing publishable work is a long process. If you don’t accept this fact, you become so tied up with making everything you write perfect that you’re unable to write anything. Progress begins when you accept imperfection and decide to write anyway.

What many authors don’t realize is that this applies to websites as well.

There’s no such thing as the perfect website.

That includes ours. We’ve tried very hard to make it a beautiful site with amazingly helpful content, but is there room for improvement? Sure.

You may stress over every single aspect of the website process, from the appearance of the sidebar to the logo to the wording of your first blog post, but this will serve only to frustrate you without really improving your site.

God doesn’t expect perfection.

Something we’ve heard from our authors before is that since they are building this site for God, it needs to be done right. While that is a commendable perspective, the danger in that type of thinking is a tendency to fall into the perfectionist trap.

While we should our best at everything, God gives grace to grow and fail and succeed, and that grace extends to our websites too. So give your website grace. Remember that we are all works in progress, so relax and enjoy the ride!

What are some ways you have struggled with perfectionism in your writing or your website? What did you do to overcome it?

A picture is worth a thousand words. Avoid lame author portraits. Your agent, family, and fans will thank you.

For years, we’ve heard the adage about pictures having impact. But in the age of digital photography, it is tempting to think that anyone with a camera is a photographer. It’s a lie.

Contrary to popular belief, there is not an app for talent.

Your author picture matters. If you don’t have a high-quality picture, you won’t be taken seriously.

Like it or not, that’s the way it works in a digital world. You are judged by your pixels.

If you are an author, you need a professional quality author portrait. This photo is how you will be represented to the world on your blog, Facebook author page, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest account, your business cards, and on the back of your books If your portrait isn’t up to par, people can tell in a glance. There’s nothing worse than an out of focus, awkwardly posed photo.

There are photos that belong in family albums and photos that belong in the public eye. All too often, the lines between the two get blurred when people are on a budget.

Your author picture is just as important as your about me page. It’s worth every penny you spend on it. If you amortize the cost by dividing the price by the number of impressions it will have, it’s one of the best investments you will make as an author (right behind an author website).

If you want a professional photo, hire a professional. Don’t for the cheap photographer who uses a point-and-shoot or iPhone.

Photography is an art, just like writing. Professional photographers are just as misunderstood as professional writers. Treat them with respect. Review the photographer’s portfolio before you hire them. Many photographers have websites that showcase their work.

See if their photography has these three vital elements.

1. Clarity

Do you know part of your body needs to be the focal point? It’s your eyes. The clarity of the eyes is the difference between a professional photographer and an amateur. Your eyes should have catchlights so you look alive. Look at the man’s eyes in the picture above. His eyes are sharp and in focus. The man in the first photo is a different story. He looks dull and lifeless. His picture is all too common and ugly.

2. Conciseness

Your picture is not a modern painting. The only elements that draw the viewers attention should be your face. This is not the time to be coyly posing behind a palm tree. The background should not be distracting. Your photographer needs to take the time to make sure the background is complementary. Look through their portfolio. Are there ugly elements like bad poses or model placement? If your photographer’s portfolio resembles a photo mill from the 1990′s, run far, far away.

3. Consistent

How does your photographer draw out  their models personalities? Your image personifies your brand and you need to make sure that your photographer can help you present that. If you write about horses, incorporate a horse into your picture. If you write thrillers, you can take a cue from Ted Dekker and experiment with shadows. Ask the photographer how they draw out the unique aspects of each client.

What kind of experience do you have with photographers? What tips for finding a photographer can you share?

Finding something to blog about can be hard. Writer’s block can be a serious condition that cripples authors.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Especially when you are working on other writing projects and every ounce of your creative juices have already been squeezed out of your body.

Your blog is the first draft of your book. It’s what agents and publishers look at before they sign you on as an author.

If you write fiction, try blogging about one of these topics to kill your writer’s block:

• The inspiration behind your work in progress
• A story you uncovered while searching your novel
• 10 Authors who inspire you
• Your first rejection letter
• 10 Movies that inspire you
• The worst moment in your life
• Books you wish that you had written
• The best way to track your site statistics
• How your faith interacts with your writing
• Interviews with one of your main characters
• The moment you decided to be a novelist
• How to survive the holidays as a writer
• The moment your writing started to pay off
• How you deal with stress
• Writing conferences you recommend
• How to carve out writing time while maintaining a social life
• How to write a novel while working a full time job
• Common misconceptions about novelists
• When the worst time to write is
• How you use Pinterest
• How to make your characters come alive
• How to avoid lame author portraits

If you write non-fiction, try one of these posts to cure writer’s block:

• Research tips
• How to find someone to interview
• How to set realistic writing goals
• How to request an interview
• How to fact-check after an interview
• How to avoid libel
• Elements of an effective newsletter
• 5 non-fiction writers that inspire you
• 10 true stories you want to write about
• Organizations that support the causes in your book
• How to build your author brand
• How to narrow your focus
• Myths about nonfiction writers
• Finding historical sources
• Why people should read more nonfiction

If you are a public speaker, you can always blog about one of these topics:

• The most unusual person you’ve met through your speaking engagements
• How to track your message online
• The strangest venue you’ve spoken at
• 10 tips for mentally preparing for a speech
• How to know when a speech is ready for delivery
• How to write for the web
• Memory of your first speaking engagement
• How to find speaking engagements
• Essentials for your online press kit
• How to send more traffic to your website during a radio interview
• Leveraging social media to connect with your audience
• Finding your audience
• How to increase your speaking gigs
• 5 productivity tips you use
• Speakers who inspire you
• What makes some speeches great and others terrible

What do you write about when you are faced with writer’s block?

If you know someone who is fighting writer’s block, feel free to share this article with them.

One month ago we had fewer than 200 fans. Now we have over 2000. Here are the 10 things we did on the Author Media Facbebook page to create explosive growth. You are welcome to steal these tricks to attract publishers and sell books.

Without fans, your page is empty. A useless book marketing tool.

These tips worked for us and they can work for you.

1. Provide Consistent Value

Everyone has the same question.

• Why should they like your page?
• What is in it for me?
• What can your page offer that half a dozen (or a few thousand) other pages can’t offer.
• Why should I share this page with my friends?

If you want to have followers you have to serve them in some way. No one cares about you. But they will follow you anyway if you offer them some sort of benefit for following you. What should that benefit be? That depends on your book. If you are writing about parenting you should probably answer parenting question on your Facebook page. Giving away parenting advice won’t hurt either.

When we started our Facebook page we asked what our visitors would want to see. How could we serve them? We decided to offer our fans:

• book marketing tips
• inspirational quotes
• articles relevant to writing and publishing.

For you the answer will be different. If you are just talking about yourself why should someone follow you?

2. Invite Friends To Like The Page

This can occur at any time in the life of your page. However, you can only send a mass invitation to all your friends immediately after the page has been created. If you have thousands of friends, make sure you invite them to like the page immediately after it was created.

Also, you generally only get to do this once so make sure the page provides a clear value before you send out the invite.

3. Create Sharable Images

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. In the virtual world of Facebook, a picture with a few words is worth shares and thousands of impressions. We’ve discovered this is true. The above “image” was shared by dozens of people and reached thousands of people. And the image is just text! Every time the image was shared, a fresh group of people were exposed to our brand. Make sure to include your web-address on the image so people know where to go.

4. Promote Offline

It’s easy to add the words: find me on Facebook at Facebook.com/AuthorName.

You can add these words to:

• Business cards
• Last Page of Your Book
• Bookmarks
• Flyers
• Post Cards

5. Put a Facebook Icon At the Top Right Side of Your Website

Readers generally expect to see social connection icons at the top right side of your website. This is where you can generally find Twitter/Facebook/RSS etc. When you put the icons somewhere else it makes your Facebook page that much harder to find.

If for some reason you can’t put it at the top right, put it in the sidebar or in the footer. The harder it is to find your Facebook page the fewer fans you will have.

6. Put a Facebook Widget on Your Blog

This is sometimes called a Facepile and it shows how many other people like your page. This social proof is very powerful. People are more willing to like a page they see other people already like.

After we started doing this at Author Media, traffic grew by leaps and bounds. Also, every time we got a traffic spike it led to a spike in new likes on Facebook.

7. Buy Facebook Ads

Advertising has contributed more fans than all the other tips in this list combined. If you are interested in learning more about Facebook Advertising contact us. Also, let us know in the comments if you would like more posts about Facebook advertising in the future.

Nothing increases your number of likes faster than effective Facebook advertising.

8. Get a Facebook URL

Do you have a personalized username and url? Ours is Facebook.com/AuthorMedia.  To get your own customized name simply go to Facebook.com/username.

Be careful, once you pick a name you can never change it. Make sure and read our guide to picking the correct Facebook name before you make a mistake you will regret for years.

9. Created an Optimized Landing Page

Optimized landing pages transform strangers into fans. When you combine Facebook advertising with optimized landing pages, you are able to create fans far more rapidly. Look at our landing page. It’s important that your landing page match your advertising campaign.

The best landing pages have two panes. One for fans and one for non fans. You want to encourage people to click “like” by offering them a boon of some sort for clicking like. For us, we generally give away some sort of eBook or guide.

10. Promote your Page in Your Email Newsletter

It’s okay to direct your email readers to your Facebook page. Put the icon in your newsletter and then encourage readers to become fans. You can incentivize them by creating a customized landing page and offering them something special for liking your page. Some authors offer bonus chapters of their books.

How do you promote your Facebook page? How long did it take you to grow the page?

Agents and publishers are getting savvier when it comes to measuring author websites and online platforms.

If you want to attract agents and publishers for your next book, you will want to check these seven things before they do.

Minding these elements is like brushing your teeth before you go to the dentist.

1. Google PageRank

What is PageRank?

Page Rank is how important Google thinks your site is. It is a logarithmic scale from 1-10 where bigger is better.  The more links you have pointing to your website, the higher your PageRank. Publishers typically look for sites with a PageRank of 4 or 5 on the homepage.

Why is PageRank important?

The higher your PageRank the easier it is to rank for various words and phrases on Google. The higher you rank for relevant phrases the more traffic you get and the more books you sell. The more books you can sell, the more publishers will want to sign you.

How do you measure PageRank?

You can check your PageRank by going to PRchecker.net. But the best way to check your PageRank is with a browser plugin. A browser plugin will show you the PageRank for every page you visit online. That will help you get a feel for what scores are good for different kinds of sites.

We recommend:

• PageRank Status (Chrome)
• SearchStatus (Firefox)

How do you improve PageRank?

Get more links from other sites with high PageRanks. The best way to do this is to put your blog on your website and not on Blogger.com, Blogspot.com or WordPress.com. Your blog needs to be at www.YourName.com/blog or www.YourBookTitle.com/blog. Blog posts attract incoming links which boost your PageRank and traffic.

2. Social Proof

What is Social Proof?

Social Proof is an indication of people following you and your website. It is a combination of Facebook Likes, Twitter Retweets, Comments and Google +1s. People want to do what other people are doing. This turns social proof into a virtuous cycle. So getting more visitors can lead to getting even more visitors.

Why is Social Proof important?

Agents and Publishers need to be able to tell at a glance that your website is popular on social media. You want the first thought that comes to their mind to be, “Wow, this author is popular!” Most publishers lose money on over half the books they publish. To reduce their risk, they look for authors who already connect with a following online. They call this “platform” and it  reduces their risk of losing money on new authors.

How do you measure it?

Count your:

• Facebook Likes (both your fan page and for blog posts)
• +1 on Google
• Twitter Retweets
• Comments
• Twitter Followers
• RSS Subscribers
• Email Subscribers

How do you improve it?

Boosting social proof is as simple as putting counters on your website. Believe it or not the mere presence of a counter will increase social engagement. You will notice that on Author Media, we have badges at the top of each post that show the number of Tweets, Likes, etc. Do the same on your website and then watch the number of shares increase. If you find this post helpful, feel free to share it on Facebook.

3. Alexa Rank

What is it?

Alexa tracks how much traffic websites get. They give each website a score (with 1 being the most popular website in the world). Agents and Publishers typically look for Alexa ranks lower than 500,000. They get particularly excited when the find a site with a score lower than 100,000.

Why is Alexa important?

The lower your Alexa rank, the higher your traffic. A low Alexa rank indicates that your website is already popular. Many browser plugins show the Alexa rank of websites automatically. This means savvy agents will check your Alexa rank within seconds of visiting your website.  You want thier reaction to your Alexa rank to be “wow” not “yuck.”

How do you measure it?

Go to www.alexa.com and enter your website in the search box on the homepage. Or use one of the Alexa browser toolbars.

How do you improve your Alexa rank?

Alexa measures traffic, so to increase your Alexa rank you will need to boost traffic to your site. The fastest way to boost your traffic is to bring your blog over from blogspot or blogger and integrate it into your website. When we did this for Mary DeMuth, her traffic went up 1000% the next month.

You can also sign up for our email tips newsletter and get our free guide How to Boost Traffic to Your Blog which will also apply to your website.

4. Compete Rank

What is it?

Compete is similar to Alexa in that it measures the traffic to your website. Like Alexa, a lower score is better. Compete is more accurate than Alexa but it doesn’t track as many websites. If you are just getting started, you will likely have a Compete rank of N/A.

Why is Compete important?

Compete is the most authoritative source of third party traffic (yes, better than Alexa). Not having a Compete rank hurts your chances of getting published. Publishers will lookup your Compete score long before they ask for your Google Analytics data.

How do you measure it?

Go to www.compete.com and enter your URL.

How do you improve it?

You improve your Compete rank the same way you improve your Alexa rank. You can also buy online PPC ads to drive traffic to your site. So you can boost traffic either by spending time creating valuable content or you can spend money buying ads.

5. Professional Design

Why is design important?

The quality of your site design reflects on how professional you are as an author. There are many wannabe authors on the internet with lame-looking websites. Publishers are not looking to sign these sorts of authors. The more professional your site, the more attractive you will be to publishers.

How do you measure design quality?

The quality of the design is the most subjective of these 7 elements. Your friends will generally tell you they like your site even if they secretly hate it. We recommend that you ask an impartial graphic designer what they think of your site. You can also schedule a free 15 minute consultation with us to look over your site.

How do you improve design?

• Avoid Lame Author Portraits
• Use a Premium Template and then don’t change anything. You are an author not a website designer. Stick close to the “recipe” for an inexpensive and quality design. Most author changes to templates do more harm than good.
• Get a Profesional Author Website Design.

6. WooRank

What is it?

WooRank is an amazing tool for measuring how good your website is. In many ways, it is a single score that summarizes all the others. It measures social proof, site traffic and how well-coded your site is. It will be the hot new tool for publishers to vet author websites in 2012.

Why is WooRank important?

WooRank looks at over 100 aspects of your website. It gauges everything except for design. Publishers will be using this tool or others like it to measure your website.

How do you get a WooRank?

Go to www.WooRank.com and enter your webiste. At the time of this writing WooRank is free.

How do you improve your WooRank?

WooRank is the most technical thing on this list. WooRank will give you recommendations on how to improve your score. Some will be easy and some will be tough. The easiest way to increase your WooRank is to email the report to your web company and have them implement the improvements for you.

7. Hubspot Marketing Grader

What is it?

Marketing Grader (formerly Website Grader) is a tool to measure the effectiveness of your website.  Unlike Compete and Alexa that measure website traffic, Marketing Grader measures how effectively you are able to convert those visitors into book buyers.

Why is Marketing Grader important?

A website that gets a lot of traffic but makes no sales is unattractive to agents and publishers.

How do you get a grade?

Go to www.marketinggrader.com and enter your website along with a couple of competing websites. If you don’t know who your competition is, you need to spend more time researching your market.

How do you improve your grade?

The nice thing about Marketing Grader is that it will tell you exactly what to do to increase your score. If you need help, Author Media has coaching packages that will help you increase your website effectiveness. HubSpot can also help you.

What do you think? How should agents and publishers measure author websites?

Do you want to get connected with a literary agent who represents Christian fiction?

Look no further.

We’ve compiled a list of the top Christian literary agents on Twitter.

If you are an agent and you’d like to be included on the list, let us know. If you are represented by an agent who is not on this list, also let us know.

Just remember, Twitter is not the place to spam agents with your book proposals.

Tweet wisely.

Maurilio Amorim
Amorim Agency

Karen Ball
The Steve Laube Agency

Jenni Burke
D.C. Jacobson & Associates, LLC

Terry Burns
Hartline Literary Agency

Rick Christian
Alive Communications

Jonathan Clements
Wheelhouse Literary Group

Claudia Cross
Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc.

Greg Daniel
Daniel Literary Group

David Dunham
The Dunham Group

Diane L. Flegal 
Hartline Literary

Rachelle Gardner
Books & Such Literary Agency

Don Jacobson
D.C. Jacobson & Associates, LLC

Nancy Jernigan
Hidden Value Group

Deidre Knight
The Knight Agency

Janet Kobobel-Grant
Books & Such Literary Agency

Steve Laube
The Steve Laube Agency

Wendy Lawton
Books & Such Literary Agency

Shannon Litton
Amorim Agency

Amanda Luedke
MacGregor Literary

Chip MacGregor
MacGregor Literary

Tamela Hancock Murray
The Steve Laube Agency

Bill Reeves
Working Title Agency

Nicole Resciniti
The Seymour Agency

Rebeca Seitz
Reclaim Management

Meredith Smith
Creative Trust, Inc.

Les Stobbe
Literary Agent

Andrew Wolgemuth
Wolgemuth & Associates

Erik Wolgemuth
Wolgemuth & Associates

Robert Wolgemuth
Wolgemuth & Associates

While you’re following people on twitter, why not Author Media? While you’re there, subscribe to our Twitter list of agents. We’ve compiled a list of over 300 agents in all genres.

If you need help building your online author platform, Author Media can help. Schedule your free consultation today.

What’s the most important relationship you have as an author?

It isn’t with your agent.

It isn’t with your editor.

It’s your relationship with your readers. How well do you know them? Do you know what they want from your website?

You have a relationship with them even if you don’t have a book published. If you are a writer, you have readers. Don’t think that this article is just for best-selling authors. It’s for you.

Your readers love you. It’s time for you to woo them.

Your fans are the ones that know your secrets. The’ve read all your blog posts. They don’t always disagree with you. But they believe in you enough that they keep coming back to read what you have to say. They are the ones who buy your books and share their opinion of you with the world.  You need them in your life. Don’t take them for granted.

Building a relationship with your reader is just like building any other relationship. It takes time, hard work, and a spark.

1. Get personal

 Build trust by revealing more about yourself. That’s how you build relationships in real life. It’s no different online. People want to know that you are real. Just remember that when you share things online, they can be shared, liked, and tweeted to the world. Make sure your personal tidbit is something you don’t mind everyone knowing.

2. Praise them publicly

What do you like about them? What makes them so awesome (and being your reader does not count). Publicly praise them on your website.  Michael Hyatt does this beautifully on his blog. Every month, he recognizes the top posts and commenters on his blog. People love being recognized. Your readers are no exception.

3. Invite them to tell about themselves

Do you have an ongoing series that your fans could write for?  Don’t play hide-and-seek with your readers. Get to know them. Ask them to share their stories on your blog. It will build your relationship with them. How can you invite them to tell their story?

4. Pursue them by reading their blogs

 Do you read what your readers write? Take the time to get to know them. Relationships take work from both people. Invest in them.  Read their blogs. Get to know their hopes, dreams, and fears. If you were dating, wouldn’t you want to get to know the other person? It’s the same thing.

5. Give them a gift!

When you are dating someone, you shower them with gifts to express your affection. Don’t buy them flowers and chocolate. Give them free copies of your books, a special e-book, or some sort of special gift that says “I’m thinking of you and I value you.”  What would you want from your favorite author?

How do you woo your readers? Do you have an action plan? If you have questions, schedule a free 15-minute consultation. We’ll coach you on how to woo your readers.

Ready to start the weekend? Don’t leave your creative spark behind.

The weekend is for writers.

The weekend is for renewing your love affair with the written word.

The weekend is for turning your creative spark into a fire.

The weekend is for blogging on your author website.

This weekend, instead of waiting for your creative muse to come to you, go to her. Being a published writer is about commitment. You will never be able to live your dream without first pursing your passion.

Try one of these tips for staying creative this weekend.

And get writing.

What are you going to be doing to stay creative? Add your ideas to the comment section.

Pinterest is one of the hottest new networks. It is also a powerful marketing tool. Yesterday, I showed you three way authors can use Pinterest guilt free. If you’re on the fence about joining the site, read that article first.

Today, I’m going to teach you how to set yourself up for success on the site. Pinterest has their own way of getting you set up on their site. This will explain the process for you and help you save time in the future.

1. Get an invite

Pinterest is an invitation-only network. If you haven’t gotten an invitation, use your other social media outlets. I scored mine after tweeting that I needed one. Two minutes later, I was on the site.

2. Register using Facebook

I like logging in using Facebook because it makes it easy for me to share content with my friends. If I find something so amazing that I want to share it with my Facebook friends, I can. Most of the time, I don’t.

At this point, you will be asked what you are interested in and given a list that includes design, art, and photography. Choose wisely because your feed will show these elements. If you are looking for someone to follow, try Author Media.

3. Create your profile

Fill out your profile. Be sure to include your website and other social network links. I recommend setting your visibility settings to the above. You don’t want to update your friends every time you add a new pin.

4. Install the “Pin It” Button

Find the about tab and click on the Pin It Button. Getting this button will allow you to curate content from all over the web (and your website). Follow the instructions on the page. Pinterest has done a great job of explaining how to install the button on your browser and on your website. If you don’t know how to install the button to your website, ask Author Media.

5. Avoid being that person on Facebook

Your friends don’t want to be notified every time you upload a new pin. That’s why its important to get on top of this before you start.

Log on your Facebook page and access your account settings. Then click on “Apps”. It will be on the navigation bar on the left side of your screen. Find the Pinterest app and click “edit.” You should see a screen like the above.

You will want to remove the authorizations that are not required. Now go to the “App activity privacy” section. Set the publishing to “custom” so only certain people will see your pins or “only me.”

6. Create a board

This is where the fun begins. Unless you are creating a community board for your fans, set the pin authorization to just yourself. Name your board and select a category for it. Categories help other pinners find your work within Pinterest.

I have boards for future stories, future adventures, and mini-stories. If I find a photo that captures my imagination, I use it as a prompt, craft a three sentence story, and pin it to the board. It helps my creative juices get flowing.

What if you created a board for each book you’ve written? Start with the book cover and then add the characters.

7. Get pinning!

Creating a pin is as simple as uploading a photo. Make sure that you add a description to your pin. Insert your hyperlinks. This will direct people back to your site. Let me know if you need more ideas.

The above is an example of a repin. If you find something you like on Pinterest, you can repin it to one of your boards. I’m adding this pin to my “Interesting|Words” board. In this case, I will edit the description to add my own flair.

8. Go to the home page

Once something is pinned, it goes to the main Pinterest page. The red Pinterest logo is actually a button. Click on it and you’ll be brought to the main page. That’s where you’ll see the pins that your friends have posted. You’ll also be able to search the site for specific things. You can search by category (see the drop down menu) or use the search bar.

9. Get Smart

This is a brilliant example of how you can use Pinterest to market your book. Tricia Goyer is an author who gets the potential of Pinterest. Her boards are full of her story worlds. The pin for The Swiss Courier is spreading through Pinterest. Tricia knows that once she pins something, it lands on the home page of her followers. Nicole repinned Tricia’s pin and that’s how the pin landed in my feed. And now I’m going to download Tricia’s book.

Did you notice the icons on the top of the pin? I have the option to repin, like, or comment. All of which will help spread the content to my friends.

Are you seeing the potential here?

10. Set a timer

Pinterest is a beautiful world. And like anything visual, it can be highly addicting. Set a timer. Allow yourself more time in the beginning but then once you understand how the site works, get disciplined.

How do you use Pinterest? Could you try to implement one of our 89 book marketing ideas with your boards?

Be sure to follow Author Media on Pinterest. Happy pinnings!

I should probably confess this right now.

I’m smitten with Pinterest.

I avoided it for a few months but then I feel prey to the pinning site. If Twitter is public text messaging, think of Pinterest as a public personal pinboard.

After joining the site, I believe that every author should be on Pinterest. I’m not alone. Gini Dietrich wrote a compelling piece on three ways you can use Pinterest for business. Gini is a marketing genius who is highly respected in her field. Bloggers from every sphere are writing about the new opportunities Pinterest is providing.

Here’s why you as an author should be on Pinterest:

1. Inspiration

Are you working on a novel? Are you populating a world? Get inspired.

Find the house that your main character lives in and put it on a  board. That’s what I do on my Book|Places board. There are something about the pictures on the board that speak to me.  I know that a scene from one of my stories will fit into those pictures.

How do you populate your worlds? Where do you get your inspiration?

2. Directing Traffic

My friend Ashley writes Domestic Imperfection, a DIY blog. She regularly shares photos from her blog to Pinterest.  Her design photos get repinned hundreds of time. Every time that happens, her blog is introduced to a new set of people. By using Google Analytics, Ashley has been able to track where her viewers come from. A large chunk of her viewers come from Pinterest. So she keeps using the site. It’s a great strategy that is paying off.

How can you use Pinterest to direct traffic to your site?

3. Sharing Character Details

Nicole is an author who writes historical novels that feature horses. By having a board dedicated to the horses that populate her books, she’s giving readers the opportunity to connect with her stories in a deeper way. She also wrote a great blog post on why authors should use Pinterest.

What if you created a board for your main character? What makes them unique? Put it on a board and share it with your readers.

There’s a Board For Everyone

Populate the world you are creating. Collect character pieces from all over the internet and share them in one place. Post your board to Facebook. Let your readers visualize your world and encourage them to get creative and build their own fan boards. Then encourage them to share those boards on your fan page.

What kind of boards do you create? Where do you draw your inspiration from?

Author Media can help you create a social media strategy that will help you maximize your impact while minimizing your time. Ask us how. 

January went by fast.

It’s already time to look back to the posts you loved the most. These were the posts you tweeted, Facebooked, and +1′d.

We’re looking forward to bringing you more fresh content in February. What kind of posts would you like to see?  More reviews? More social media tips?

Let us know in the comment section or on the Author Media Facebook page.

1. 89 Book Marketing Ideas That Will Change Your Life

This is $3,000 advice that you are getting for free. You won’t get this kind of list anywhere else without having to pay a subscription fee or a consultant. If you need to find tips to increase your web presence, fan base, or build your brand, use this master list. If you know someone who is self-publishing their book, make sure to pass it on to them. These tips will make your book sales skyrocket!

2. 44 Essential Twitter Hashtags Every Author Should Know

Are you an author on Twitter? You’ll need this list by your side. Discover how to make your tweets more effective so you can spend more time doing what really matters – writing. Readers have added their suggestions making it better than ever. We recommend printing it the list out and keeping it next to your computer.

3. Build Your Author Brand in 5 Easy Steps

What is the best way to build your author brand? Everyone will give you their opinion for a price. Instead of We highlighted five different online venues. You decide which one to commit to and start building away.

4. Is Your Author “About Me” Page Boring Your Readers To Death?

An “About Me” page should be one of the most interesting on the site. But instead, what we usually get is a list of accolades without a spark of personality. Everyone has gone to college, married their high school sweetheart, runs 5ks, and lives in Dallas, Texas. They’ve written books, worked in ministries, and are just as interesting as Mr. Rogers’ sweater choices. You don’t have to let that happen to you.

5. 3 Google+ Features Every Author Needs To Know About

Are you using Google+ to your advantage? Are you using it at all? This article will explain why you should be using it to connect with your readers using the social network. It also explains how you can use Hang-outs, Circles, and the SEO boosting +1 button to boost your ranking with your readers.

Which one was your favorite post of the month? What kind of posts would you like to see in February?

There’s a trick to building a community.

It’s not the 89 book marketing tips. It’s not a formula. It’s not what you’re thinking, either.

It’s knowing that you can’t “build” anything.

People aren’t bricks, beams, or concrete blocks. You can’t dictate their actions. You can’t purchase just the right one at Home Depot. People are lumps of flesh and blood who don’t want to be forced to do what they don’t want to do.

Think of your blog as a group of friends. You can’t demand people to interact. You need to coax them out of their shells. Let them know that your blog is a safe place to express their opinion.

Trust is the foundation you need to build a community on.

Cultivate trust by being yourself. Don’t write things you don’t mean. Don’t try to write like Jon Acuff, Donald Miller, or Seth Godin. That’s not who you are. You aren’t going to build a community by being a fake. We call those people liars and frauds. Aspire higher.

Write your passions. Write your personality. Write with your tribe in mind.

It takes a lot of work to build a community on your blog. Unless you are famous, you won’t start a site and magically have high traffic on the first day. Most writers live in obscurity, famous only in their mind and in their small circle of friends. They write for themselves and never meet the tribe of people waiting to hear their voice.

Which writers do you think have the best interaction on their blog?

Ask questions to connect with your community.

You’ll never know what your readers are thinking unless you ask them.

Think back to first grade. You were curious. You wanted to know the answers to everything.

Tap back into that insatiable curiosity. Ask your readers questions. Sprinkle them throughout the post or ask them at the end. Your tribe members have faces and they want to be known. Not convinced? Watch this video.

Acknowledge responses.

If someone takes the time to leave you a comment, you better take the time to respond.

Imagine going to a party, finding the cool kid, and talking to them. You’ve just heard them tell their story, now you want to give them your thoughts on the matter. So you open you mouth and offer your gut-level response. Maybe it’s something that you’ve never shared before. But you know that even though this person is ridiculously cool, they seem to get you.

Instead, they ignore you. They don’t even acknowledge that you are there. How rude!

When you don’t respond to reader comments, you’re snubbing the very community you’ve been slaving away to cultivate. Would you want to be that person?

Invite Further Discussion.

Conversations require more than one or two sentences. Friendships are more than 140 characters.  They require continual interaction. They require caring. Sharing. You know…talking.

So start.

When a reader comments, talk back to them and ask a follow-up question. Probe. Find out what they really think. They have stories of their own that are worth being up on your website. Get to know them like you were sitting across from them at a coffee shop.

Isn’t that what you’d do if they were standing in front of you?

If your discussion becomes long, invite them to email you. John Locke does that masterfully because he knows that community is built on friendships.

How do you engage your fans? What are some of the ways that you like to be interacted with?

Author Media provides social media coaching for writers who need help online. February is already filling up. Schedule your free 15 minute consultation today.

Everyone has their pet theory about the future of publishing. E-book wars, price wars, someone is going to come out on top as the winner. But will it be the reader or the writer?

DK Publishing has their own theory.

They created this fantastic video about the future of publishing and how both the reader and author can win. Watch it in its entirety before forming your opinion.

Let us know what you thought in the comment section.

Earlier this year, a team of industry insiders gave us their predictions about what 2012 would hold for publishing. They had a lot of great ideas but none of them were as simple as this video.

The future of publishing is in knowing what your readers want.

Crafting your message in a way that resonates with your core audience is what will make you stand out as an author. Writing isn’t about the author as much as it is the reader. This is the secret behind author John Locke’s success.

Think of writing as a business. You would never open up a business without knowing what the market wanted. If your business could meet a need that consumers were craving.

Can you answer these questions?

• Who are your readers?
• What life stage are they in?
• What offends them?
• What are they passionate about?
• What causes them to hit the “share” button?
• What do your readers expect from you?
• What kind of language will they allow?
• How long do they expect your posts to be?
• How often do they expect you to write new content?
• How long have they been on your site?

The answer to those questions will unlock your potential as an author. When you write, you need to have your audience in mind. If you just write for the sake of writing, your message will get lost. It won’t resonate with the internet. The internet is not a person. Your audience is made up of living, breathing, complicated people who come to your site for answers, encouragement, or a distraction from their daily life.

If you don’t know how to identify your target audience, Author Media can help. Our team of experts will teach you how to define your audience, identify their needs, and reach them in a way that will cause them to keep coming back.

Quick, what was the last book you read?

Not the last book you wrote. The last book you read.

If you can’t remember, you need to get online. GoodReads is a community of almost seven million readers who use the site to track their reading, share their reviews, and discover new favorite books. If you’ve written a book, it’s probably been mentioned, ranked, and reviewed on this site. As an author, you can list your works on your profile. It’s a great soft-approach to marketing your books that is natural and welcomed by most readers.

One favorite feature on GoodReads is the reading challenge. Members are encouraged to set a reading goal for the year. Every time they review a book or mark another one as read, the count goes up.

There are no prizes. No pats on the back. Just a broader knowledge base and the confidence that comes from hitting your goal. Any book counts – textbook, ebook, and good ol’ fashioned hardbound editions.

Three of our employees are on GoodReads. They serious about hitting their reading goals for this year.

• Thomas Umstattd, the CEO of Author Media has a goal to read 60 books this year.
• Sam Fagan, our lead designer, is keeping her goal secret for the time being.
• Caitlin Muir, our Social Media Specialist, wants to read 104 books this year.

At Author Media, we encourage reading within our community. There’s a bookshelf at the front of  our office, full of books our employees are encouraged to read. Some of them are by business pundits and others by the authors we’ve built websites for. Why is there such an emphasis on reading? Reading helps your career. It doesn’t matter if you read fiction or non-fiction. When you read, you surround yourself with some of the best ideas.

As an author, reading sharpens your writing while teaching you about imagery, marketing, and the book publishing industry. If you don’t have a list of books to read, ask our Social Media Manager for her list of recommended reading.

What’s your reading goal for this year?

“Ping!”

We’ve all heard that dreaded sound. It means that you’ve been caught surfing Facebook. Probably when you should have been working on your manuscript or your book marketing ideas. Someone wants to talk to you.

It feels rude to ignore the chat. So you get sucked into a discussion that last for hours. You’re talking about your book, so that should count as marketing, right? Nope. It’s a waste of time.

You’re a professional writer. Hanging out on Facebook Chat isn’t going to help you write or sell books. All it will do is distract you. Turning it off will help you drastically improve your writing.

Disable Facebook Chat. Now.

1. Log on Facebook
2. Click the gear in the lower right corner of your screen. The gear will be on the messaging sidebar.   
3. Uncheck “Available to Chat.“

You’ll still see the pictures of some of your friends. If you want to hop back on Facebook chat, it’s easy. You can click on your friend’s profile picture on the messaging sidebar, let them know you are available (by clicking on the button that suggests it), or reversing your decision and checking “Available to Chat.”

I recommend hiding the message sidebar by clicking on the “hide sidebar” icon. It’s located on the far right of the messaging sidebar. Once that’s gone, you won’t be thinking about the people you aren’t talking to.

Be Sneaky With Customized Facebook Chat Options.

Yes, there are ways to do this. Go back to the messaging toolbar. Click the gear in the lower right corner. Select “Limit Availability.” You’ll see a screen that looks like this:

You can choose between “Make me unavailable to” or “Make me available to.” Either option lets you choose which list you want to talk to. This is perfect for when there are certain people you want to avoid (we all have them, it’s okay) or just a select few people that we want to be able to get ahold of you anytime.

Authors need to use their time wisely. Writing is a business and needs to be treated with the same respect as you would give a high-profile job. There’s a place for Facebook in your marketing plan. Ask one of our experts how you can use it effectively.

Do you get trapped on chat? What other time management tips do you have for authors on social networks?

Authors need to know more about Twitter than how to get started.

Used correctly, Twitter hashtags are one of the best ways to connect with industry experts, readers, and other authors. Used incorrectly, it’s just another way to waste your precious time.

And you dear author, do not have time to waste.

If you’ve used the social network for any length of time, you’ve seen hashtags floating around at the tail end of the 140 character tweets. Here’s what you need to know to use them well.

Hashtags are used for:

• Indexing emotions (#Vague #OhNoHeDidnt)
• Identifying a Brand (#Ferrari)
• Recommending a Product (#BestRead)
• Connecting with like-minded people (#MemoirChat)
• Finding Experts (#AskAgent)

If you don’t know what a certain hashtag is, you can look it up on TagDef.  The chances are, it will be there. If you’re lost by all of this, one of our social media experts can help you out.

Here’s our list of essential Twitter Hashtags. You should use them and monitor them. If you are using TweetDeck, it is easy to monitor hashtags. Just create a new column to follow the hashtag. Monitor away and jump in to the conversation.

Connect With Other Authors -

• #AmWriting
• #AmEditing
• #WordCount
• #WriterWednesday (or #WW)
• #WritersLife
• #YALitChat
• #LitChat (every M/W/F)
• #MemoirChat (every other Wednesday at 8 pm ET)
• #BookMarket (Thursday’s at 4 pm ET)
• #WritingParty
• #IndieAuthors
• #WriteChat

Connect By Book Genre -

Get Industry Information -

Get Your Creative Juices Flowing

Connect With Readers

• #FridayReads
• #BookGiveaway
• #MustRead
• #LitChat
• #StoryFriday
• #MustRead

What hashtags do you follow? Which chats do you like to jump in on? Let us know in the comment section.

Have you ever sat down in front of your computer screen and stared disinterestedly at your blog? You’ve made your realistic writing goals but maybe you just don’t know how to hit them.

But you’re bored. The blog feels stagnant. You want something fresh. Something different. You need to improve your writing or you need to quit.

You’re in a committed relationship. You have readers waiting for your content. People who depend on you. There’s no way that you can just back out. It’s time to up your game and improve your writing.

You’ve come to the right place.

30 tips to improve your writing

1. Turn off the internet.
2. Turn on your favorite writing music.
3. Hide your smartphone.
4. Write the first draft in Word.
5. Outline your ideas.
6. Free write for ten minutes. Go back and edit.
7. Write somewhere new. Sometimes changing location is all it takes to get the creative juices flowing.
8. Cheat a little. Use Scribe.
9. Pull out a piece of paper and write your first draft by hand.
10. Write with a specific person in mind.
11. Write a review.
12. Capture your post ideas in Evernote. When you need an idea, go back and pick one out.
13. Write what resonates with you. It will resonate with someone else.
14. Create a reader poll and ask your readers what they want to hear about.
15. Add pictures when you can. Keep them legal.
16. Write with the web in mind. Avoid blocky paragraphs that turn your mind to mush.
17. Don’t write as someone else. Readers want to hear your voice.
18. Ask a professional how you can improve your writing. Get a blog booster.
19. Get a fresh pair of eyes to read your work before you hit the publish button.
20. Write a response post to a controversial post by a famous blogger.
21. Write about current events.
22. Don’t pretend. Keep yourself authentic.
23. Use Google Analytics and find out what your readers want to read about.
24. Use lists.
25. Write out ten magnetic headlines. Pick one. Write a blog post.
26. Interview someone.
27. Create a video.
28. Use Keywords.
29. Set realistic writing goals and use an editorial calendar to help you hit them.
30. Link to the blog posts you are reading and add commentary.

When Apple introduced the iBooks app on January 19, 2012, the world took notice. Hailed as a way to revitalize the publishing world, thousands of people eagerly downloaded the app. Apple made it easier than ever for would-be writers to become authors…or did it?

Seth Godin says otherwise. But we’ll get to that later.

There’s one major drawback to iBooks.

You can only read the published book on an iPad or or iPhone. The program was originally with educators in mind as a way to incorporate the iPad into the classroom. Think of all the money, space, and trees saved by carrying an iPad instead of a heavy backpack full of textbooks.

Creating an iBook is easy. But I was unable to preview the finished book on my MacBook. That’s a severe limitation. If your market is made up of  an army of Apple aficionados who have iPads and iPhones, your life just got better. But if your core readership is more diverse than that, you’re in trouble.

iBooks is

• Intuitive
• Apple knows how to make things user-friendly. Dragging and dropping text onto the pages is easy. Inserting entire chapters from files into the program is easy. Adding graphics is easy. If you open up the program, you’ll know how to use it.
• Inventive
• Remember those publishing predictions we shared at the beginning of the year? Some of them are coming true. You can now add music and movies to your e-book.
• Interactive
• Adding galleries, media, interactive images, and 3D images to your e-book appeals to more than one sense. Instead of referring to things in the text, you can now include them.

Seth Godin on the iBooks for Authors

There’s a huge difference between printing and publishing.

Printing is a commodity, a straightforward but important process that takes time and money. Clearly, digital ‘print’ in the form of an ebook is easier and cheaper than paper printing, which involves cutting down trees and paying for trucks and shipping, etc.

But publishing is something else entirely. Publishing is the act of curation, of taking financial risk to do the marketing work of finding people who want to read your book. Publishing is venture capital for ideas. Publishing involves either building direct relationships with readers (like you and I have) or in gaining access to scarce shelf space with retailers who have those relationships. A good publisher, then, gets your book on the shelf at Barnes and Noble, or uses some sort of connection (an electronic one, perhaps, or a trade show) to get the book in front of the reader and to make a sale. – Seth Godin, The Domino Project

Do you agree with Seth?

Know Your Audience Before Publishing With iBooks

Before jumping on the iBooks bandwagon, you need to know if you will be alienating your audience. This is where Google Analytics is going to become your best friend. (If you need help setting it up, try this video or we can set it up for you.) Google Analytics can help you find out who is accessing your site, which browser they are using, and what kind of smartphone they are using.

If the analytics reveal that your core audience uses Safari or an iPhone, you are in luck. Spread your book. If it isn’t, use a different medium. Your readers deserve to read your book. Don’t alienate them.

What do you think of iBooks? How do you think it will change publishing?

You might have heard about SOPA.

It’s a bill that looks good at first glance. It’s mission is to “stop piracy.”

But SOPA is also about censorship, limiting freedom, and losing liberty. That doesn’t sound good. There’s a reason WordPress, Google, and other internet giants are against SOPA and it’s sister bill, PIPA.

The bill would kill their sites, imprison their founders (and users), and stop the flow of information. Say goodbye to YouTube, Justin Bieber, and Wikipedia. If you’re a musician, covering another artist’s song will put you in jail. That seems a little harsh, doesn’t it.

Authors, piracy is not your enemy.

Here’s a video that explains SOPA.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Mashable released a great explanation of why SOPA is dangerous. Take a few minutes to read it. SOPA could kill your website and land you in jail.

Outraged? You should be. Find out who in Congress is supporting SOPA and call them to voice your opinion.

What do you think about SOPA? What resources have you found about it?

Google+ is great for authors. I’ve blogged before about the 3 Google+ features that every author  needs to know about.

But what if you aren’t quite an author? What if you’re still struggling with a manuscript?

Try leveraging Google+ and Google Docs with your critique group. It’s a matter of time before the two properties are streamlined.  Get ahead of the pack by learning how to use them now. It will make life a lot easier and help you build your writing skills while finishing your manuscript.

Please note, these tips will only work if all members have Gmail addresses. If the other group members don’t have a Gmail address, invite them to join.

1. Create a Critique Group Circle

Put all of your group members in the same circle. By doing this, you gain the ability to micro-publish updates crafted specifically for them. Making a circle is as simple as dragging and dropping.

If you’ve never created a circle, go to the circles tab. It’s near the top of your screen, just left of the “Search Google+” area. Clicking on the icon will bring you to the circle page. You should see row after row of thumbnails of your friends on the page.

On the lower third of the page will be blue and gray circles. Click on a gray one, name it “Critique Group”, and start dragging and dropping members into that circle.

2. Create a Critique Group Collection

Organize your critique group documents by creating a collection specifically for them. This is where all of your manuscripts will be going.

Log into Google Docs. Click on the red “Create” button on the left  side of the page. Name it after your critique group. Invite your critique group to collaborate on the collection by selecting the collaboration and then the “More” button. A menu will pop down. Select the “Share” option. Then select the next “Share” button. You will then add the member email addresses

When you create a document for this collection, drag and drop the document into the collection to populate it. Upload the documents you need for your group – manuscripts, proposals, and book summaries.

If you’re feeling with social networks, sign up for social media coaching. We can teach you how to use them to build your brand, boost your writing, and make money.

3. Create a Critique Group Hangout

Instead of emailing once a week, you can now use the Hangout feature to discuss the changes with your critique group in person. Or at least, via webcam. You can invite up to 8 people on these Hangouts. Make sure everyone has access to a webcam and a microphone. Most new computers come with these built-in. Schedule a time that works for everyone and keep it sacred.

Look for this icon:

Instead of wondering what your critique group partner meant with their red ink markings, you can ask them directly. Close the distance gap. Make your peers real people. Once you start a hangout, you’ll see this screen.

Follow the instructions. Make sure your microphone and webcam work. Don’t give in to the temptation to turn off your camera. Stay human. Add your “Critique Group” circle to the Hangout, press the green button, and start your meeting.

You can also branch out and use Hangouts to build your author brand. While you’re there, why not add Author Media to a circle?

Authors, how do you use Google+ and Google Docs with your critique group? What insider tips can you give new authors? 

Fresh out of ideas on how to help your writing take off? You’re in luck.

We’ve compiled a list of 89 book marketing ideas that will change your life, build your brand, and sell your book. There’s something for everyone on the list.

Best of all, the list is free. Completely free.

Sound intriguing? Read on.

89 Book Marking Ideas That Will…

Make some extra money:

Find a Place To Give a Book Reading:

Become an expert:

Have any book marketing tips you’d like to add to the list? Leave them in the comment section.

Need help implementing some of the ideas? Author Media can help.

Book trailers are swiftly becoming an essential part of the publishing process.

Authors on a budget have tried creating book trailers on their own. Unfortunately, many of them don’t know where to begin. We’ve all seen cheesy trailers full of clip art, warbling voice overs, and bad animation. They make us snicker, cringe, and vow never to buy the final product.

The quality is going up as authors are becoming tech-savvy. Yet, the process can be disheartening for writers who want to jump on the book trailer bandwagon without being pushed off the shelf by their fans.

Authors who don’t want to create cheesy videos go to the ultimate low-budget level. They star in the video themselves. The results can be hilarious or disastrous. Here are two examples.

Don’t Complain

Score: 2

Could you relate to Jonathan Frazen? He expresses his discomfort with the fact that he has to create a book trailer. He thinks that the world of reading is the much needed quiet alternative to the busy world. He has a view that many authors share. But book trailers aren’t the place to express your manifesto. It’s where you promote your work.

Frazen isn’t comfortable. At all. As a result, the viewer isn’t comfortable either.

Authors, you set the tone for the viewer. Try these tips for your next book trailer -

• Practice being in front of the camera. The first take will be horrible. So will the third. Just keep practicing.
• Don’t drone in a monotone. Use voice inflections, as if you were in an actual conversation.
• Bring a high energy level with you. You should be closer to Tigger than Eeyore.
• Smile. Don’t glare at the camera. Be inviting.
• Do something to make you relax. Some people dance, other people tell jokes. Find what works for you.

What were some of the things you liked or disliked about this video? Let me know by leaving a comment.

Use Humor

Score: 6

This husband and wife team obsess over their Amazon Ranking. But by focusing on Amazon, they aren’t seeing the bigger picture.  Authors, don’t bow down to Amazon! Mentioning low sales number is a terrible marketing technique. It’s like screaming, “Hey, nobody likes me!” You should focus on how popular you are.

The authors do make it funny. Instead of lamenting, they make a joke of themselves. Humor is a great element that you should try to include in your video.

Another thing they do right is mention the titles multiple times. That’s a trick that authors should keep in mind while giving radio interviews. But they never hint at what the books are about. That’s a problem. Tease your readers. Give them just enough to make them want to purchase

Here are some of the other positive elements in their video -

• Multiple shots. Viewers are used to shots changing every 4 -5 seconds. Anything much longer than that starts to feel uncomfortable.
• Acted out a story. Authors know that in their writing, they need to show, not tell. The same goes for videos.
• Used B-Reel. B-Reel clips are the “action shots” that are interspersed. They help propel the story.

Neither one of these are blockbusters. They aren’t high budget. They are just authors trying to sell their books. What do you think about book trailers? Which ones have you watched? Which ones would you watch again? Let me know by leaving it in the comment section.

If you still need book marketing help, contact Author Media for a free consultation.

According to many publishing insiders, 2012 is set to be the year of the e-book. Is your author brand strong enough to get you published? If you have to ask yourself that question, the answer is probably no.

When you start building your brand, you have an idea of what you want to be known for. But what you want to be known for might be what you end up being known for. It’s important to know your audience so you can tailor your message to them. John Locke is a great example someone who knows exactly what his audience wants.

Here are five incredibly easy ways to build your author brand. Find the ones that work for you and start using them.

1. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is often overlooked by writers and that’s a pity. There are four reasons why every author should use LinkedIn. One of the reasons not listed is LinkedIn Answers, an emerging branding tool for professionals. You can use LinkedIn answers to field questions that fall in line with your author brand. It will build your credibility and increase your audience.

What categories could you sign up for?

2. Google+

There are 3 Google+ features that every author needs know about. Do you know what they are? The Hang-Out feature is a powerful tool in building your author brand. You can now hold virtual events, inviting as many viewers as you want. If you are a historical novelist, you could interview an expert about the time period your latest book is set in. Doing interviews via Google+ is a win-win situation as both you and your interviewee are inviting your friends to join in.

How do you use Google+ to engage your audience?

3. Facebook Pages

There are 800 million people on Facebook. Author Pages help you stand out from the crowd. It’s important to pick the right Facebook page title when you are naming your page. After you have 100 fans, you can’t change it. Having a public page means that you can keep your private life, well, private. You can also personalize your public pages so friends can sign up for your newsletter, receive exclusive offers on your books, and post their “fan favorites” about your book.

How often do you use Facebook to engage your fans?

4. Twitter

Think of Twitter as public text-messaging. It’s also one of my personal favorite social networks. Twitter lowers the social barriers making it easy to connect with anyone – educators, politicians, actors, artists, and yes, authors. (Guess who else is on Twitter? @AuthorMedia) Your readers want to connect with you. They are already talking about your author brand on there so it’s time you join the conversation.

Who do you interact with on Twitter?

5. Newsletters

Newsletter are where you can get even more creative with your readers. If a blog is like holding a conversation in your living room, think of a newsletter as being invited over to your friend’s house. Share exclusive updates, offers, and interviews. And be polite! It can’t be all about you. Give your reader the content they want. If you need ideas, read 8 Elements of Effective Author Newsletters. 

Which newsletters do you read?

If you are overwhelmed by building your brand, we offer social media coaching. In just a few hours, we will transform your questions into answers and a personalized social media plan. Our initial consultations are always free.

What other ways can you build you author brand? Let us know in the comment box!

We’re launching something new at Author Media. Every month, we will be doing one free website review on our blog. If you are interested in having your website featured, leave us a comment or contact us.

Today we’re reviewing Kathy Pooler’s website.  Kathy is an avid blogger who is writing a memoir this year as part of a challenge. She agreed to let us review her site publicly, so we’re going to highlight three things she’s excelling at and three things she can work on.

Pro #1 – Her Name is Her Domain

There’s nothing simpler than having your own domain name. It shows that you have commitment and are serious about building your author brand. Kathy blogs at www.KRPooler.com. I’m not sure why she didn’t go with her full name but the bottom line is that her website is still very easy to find. It also passes the important radio test.

Buying a domain is easier than you think. When you do buy a domain, please avoid GoDaddy.

Con #1 – Branding Inconsistency

Kathy has a beautiful bio box and a great About Me page. Unfortunately, they don’t match. This isn’t really a con per say. She just needs to pick which one she wants to use and commit to it.

A professional author portrait would also boost her branding.

Branding doesn’t just happen in the text of your website. It’s reflected in your photos, your header, and even the color scheme of your site.

Pro #2 – Blogging Consistently

Kathy blogs every week. For two years, she’s faithfully been writing her blog. That’s a lot longer than a lot of Hollywood marriages. She’s committed to her writing and it shows.

You might not think that two years is a big deal but it is. Imagine how well you would get to know someone if you saw them every week for two years. There’s a lot of trust that gets built. She’s built trust with her readers. She’s shown that she’s not just playing at writing. She’s writing every single week of the year.

Con #2 – Flabby Content

This doesn’t reflect on Kathy’s writing at all. She’s just not a web geek. Writing for the internet is different than writing for books. Paragraphs need to be shorter in order to retain readability. A good rule of thumb is that each paragraph should be no longer than four lines (not sentences). If your paragraph exceed four lines, make the next paragraph one line.

That’s just as hard for me as it is for you.

Tighten up paragraphs. Use excerpts on your page so reader click-through to read the entire post. Write magnetic titles. Sprinkle photos throughout. That’s a formula that pays well in the blog world.

Pro #3 – Strong Community

Kathy has a great community of readers on her blog. But I bet that didn’t happen overnight. If you look carefully, Kathy replies to every comment on her blog. That’s engagement. That’s what builds community like nothing else. When you get a comment, reply. It takes time but the time is never wasted.

I love what Kathy has to say about this.

Kathy tells stories every week. Put yourself in her shoes. Imagine you’ve just told a story and your guest has made a comment or asked a question. You wouldn’t just ignore them would you? Don’t do it online.  She also invites her readers to connect with her outside her blog.

Great job on engagement, Kathy!

Con #3 – It’s Hard to Share

Kathy has social icons, which are essential these days. She has people who want to share her content, which is great! The only problem is that her sharing icons are hard to spot.

One easy solution is to embed social share icons at the end of every post. That way once someone is done with the article, the natural response is to “share” or “like” it. They want to like more than your page.

Bonus Pro – Kathy isn’t One Dimensional

One thing I noticed right away is that Kathy isn’t just a writer. She’s a storyteller. She uses pictures to enhance her writing. She even has her own YouTube channel. Branching out like that will only help her in the long run. She’s creating elements that will appeal to every type of blog reader.

Bottom Line:

Kathy is a great writer. She has all the elements she needs to have a successful blog. It looks like she spends a fair amount of time reading other blogs, so she knows which elements she needs on her website. The social elements she’s added shows that. Kathy’s only problem is that she’s not a geek.

The issues on her website can be easily taken care of by someone who is fluent in web-design and layout. We’d love to help.

How can you incorporate Kathy’s best practices into your blog? Do you want your website to be reviewed next? Let us know.

Contemporary author John Locke has been on The New York Times Best Seller list a multiple times. He sold millions of e-books before he had an agent. Within a few months, he went from a nobody to the top of the Amazon Best Seller’s list. He has a small, rabid following who will buy anything that he writes. He’s living his dream.

John Locke recently wrote How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months. You can buy his 157 page eBook for $2.99 or you can keep reading. His “secret” isn’t revolutionary. Locke has a four keys to success that he expounds on.

They are -

1. Have a Plan
2. Know Your Target Audience
3. Take a Business Approach
4. Use Your Tools Properly

Pretty simple, right?

Locke’s Real Secret

The heart of John Locke’s success, and the one element he goes over multiple times in his book, is “know your audience.”  Locke’s books aren’t for cozy mystery fans, Twilight aficionados, or formula romance readers. By his own admission, his fans could read a high-brow literary work but at the end of the day, they just want something that entertains them. His target audience is older professionals that like sexual situations, sexual banter, and disturbing violence. They like strong, silent heroes who can save the world but have trouble with women.  That’s exactly what you’ll find in one of his books. He writes with his readers in mind. In his book, Locke tells how he carefully analyzing content. If one book is selling better than another, he’ll find out what his readers loved and write the next book in the same style. Are you making the mistake of focusing on yourself instead of your reader? Find out the top 5 mistakes authors make on their website.

If you want to be a best-selling author,  you need to get to know your audience at the same level Locke knows his. How well do you know your audience?

Locke’s Relationship Formula

John Locke gets to know his fans by interacting with them. He tweets about different blogs he’s reading. He recommends other authors online. He builds relationships. He doesn’t post to his blog regularly but when he gets an email or tweet from a fan, he takes the time to respond to each and every one of them. When he meets someone on Twitter, he develops the relationship into an email relationship. That’s how you get to know your audience. You become their friend. Look at how Locke interacts with his readers on Twitter. He’s a master a connecting with his readers. If you need help with Twitter, read 7 Articles to Help You Become a Twitter Ninja.  You can also sign up for a social media coaching session.

Here’s his formula for meeting people:

1. Use Twitter to create a friendship circle
2. Drive your Twitter friends (and book readers) to your website
3. Drive them to your “Contact Me” button
4. Personally email them
5. Convert them into loyal friends
6. Convert your loyal friends to buyers
7. Convert the buyers to reviewers
8. Put them on your Guaranteed Buyer mailing list
9. Email them to promote your next book

Locke’s Plan in Action

Locke takes “know your audience” to new heights. He recently asked for his readers to review a book he was considering in a blog post. He was concerned that it was too graphic and disturbing, even for them. So he emailed the book to his core fans and within 24 hours, 500 people gave him their answer. They responded with negative reviews and asked him not to publish it. So he didn’t publish the book. He blogged about the experience (brilliant!), which solidified him as an author who cares about his fans. The title of his blog post? “I Love You!”

Check out how he talks to his fans -

You helped me remember something important this week. You got me back on track. I almost forgot why I do this. I don’t want to change the world or write books kids will have to study in high school someday. I want to keep writing the kind of books I’ve always written: books that take you out of your stressful lives for a few hours and make you smile. It’s who I am, what I’m good at…In the end, thanks to your wonderful emails and comments, I realize it’s like it’s always been. Despite my mistakes and imperfections, you love me just the way I am, same as I love you. And we’re still in this writing adventure together, as partners and friends. We’re still having fun, still making history together.

He writes as if he’s sitting on the porch with old friends, having that heart-to-heart after the football game. Have you ever written a blog post blatantly for your audience?

John Locke’s secret is simple. Know your audience. Take the time to interact with them. Find out what they love about your writing and tailor your book to fit that expectation. You’ll only get to know your audience at this level through social media and some good ol’ fashioned email writing. Take the time. It matters.

If you need help getting started, contact us for a free social media consultation. We can coach you through your toughest questions. Ask us how.

Dear Jill,

Do you have a book just waiting to get on the shelf of a bookstore? Happy House Publishing Company is looking for talented new authors in 2012. Industry leaders predicted what will happen in the publishing world in 2012. We listened! Readers are tired of the same authors writing cliched books and we are too. That’s why we’re looking for fresh authors with untold stories.

We don’t think that you have to have a literary agent in order to sell books. If you have a book, it should be in the hands of happy readers. That’s why Happy House works exclusively with unsigned writers. 

For just a small fee, Happy House will:

• Review your book.
• Print your book and turn it into a best seller! 
• Sell your book on Amazon.com 

Jill, we’re really excited about seeing your new manuscript. If you want to become the next best-selling author, join us at Happy House.  Our formula is simple = happy readers + happy house publishing = a rich, happy author.  

Wouldn’t you like to be a rich, happy author? 

Sincerely,

Happy House

Have you ever gotten an email like that? I have. No author ever thinks they will be the next victim in a scam. But every year, hundreds of authors fall prey to unsavory publishing houses that bilk them out of their creative work and their money. It often starts off with an email that seems too good to be true.

The three “Happy House” fees are classic signs of a publishing scam. Don’t become the next victim.

1. Reading Fees

This is one of the oldest scams. Yet new authors fall for it time and time again. You should never have to pay to get a publisher or an agent to read your work. Never, ever, ever. Get this through your head. Many scammers will try to lure new writers in a “small reading fee.” A reputable agent and publishing house will never ask you to pay for them to read your manuscript.

The bottom line is that a real publishing company does not get paid until your book is published. That’s why they are so interested in selling your book.

2. Publishing Fees

You should never pay to be published. If you are asked to pay a printing fee, you aren’t being published by a legitimate company. If you are asked to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars in order to get your book in print, run away! They often lure writers in with the promise of recouping the money once the book begins to sell. These scams are called “co-op” or “joint-venture”  because often the company will promise to match the authors monetary contribution.

If you are self-publishing, there will be fees that you will have to pay. That’s to be expected. But if you are going through a legitimate traditional publishing company, you should not pay for your book to be printed.

3. Listing on Amazon.com

Scammers prey on the tech unsavvy. They ask you to pay them to list your book on Amazon. Many authors don’t realize that it only takes a few clicks of the mouse to be able to sell your book on Amazon and a few more to get sell their e-book on Barnes & Noble. Fake publishing companies will make it sound like a complicated process but it isn’t. The majority of authors who have self-published e-books have done it already.

Happy House was wrong about Amazon. Authors don’t have to bow down to Amazon. It’s smart to have your book for sale on Amazon but it’s even smarter to have your own webstore. Ask us how we can help you set up your online store.

Conclusion

Happy House is a fictional scam but there are hundreds of real ones out there. Learn how to spot them so you aren’t the next victim. Fake companies may have websites and social media avenues. Do your research. One simple way to test is to google “(company name) publishing scam” and see what kind of hits you get.

The only people who are happy at places like Happy House are the scammers. They are laughing all the way to the bank. That’s why it’s so important to learn about the publishing process. Read 3 Baby Steps To Get Your Book Published to get started. Then read the 2012 Publishing Predictions. Don’t get scammed.

What are some other signs of a publishing scam? What are some other services you shouldn’t have to pay for?  

Share them in the comments below. 

Author Media helps authors build their online platform. Find out how we can help you.

Google+ is innovative, imaginative, and all too often ignored.

Born in mid-2011, the social network had quite the buzz surrounding its debut. Millions of people are signed up for the site but that is not indicative of actual use. After initially signing up for the site, millions of people promptly forgot about it because it wasn’t as exciting as Facebook. Sadly, authors are no exception.

There are  3 Google+ features that every author needs to know about and use. Here’s what they are.

Hang-Outs

Surprisingly, the Dalai Lama was one of the first people to start taking full advantage of Google+ features. One month after the site was launched, he hosted a hang-out with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Millions of people attended and both men were given direct access to share their message. The audience of millions felt like a small party of friends as Archbishop Tutu and the Dalai Lama joked and laughed with each other via the Hang-Out Google+ feature. The hang-out gave the perception of lowering barriers, even though the men primarily interacted with each other.

Think about what that means for authors on a budget. Book tours can take place in your home. Interviews and collaborations are easier than ever. Up to nine people can interact on  Hang-Out. That could be a critique group, writing group, or a team of experts that you want to interview. While only nine people can interact on camera, the number of people who view the Hang-Out is unlimited.

Authors, how do you use the Hang-Out feature?

Circles

Managing your account has never been easier than with Circles. The list feature in Facebook is clumsy to use, with millions of people not even knowing it exists. Google realized this and made their Circles intuitive and easy for everyone to use. They know you don’t hang out with the same group of friends. So you can clump people by their social circle. Separate fans, family, friends, and other authors. It’s one of the best Google+ features.

Once you have your Circles made, you can chat, hang-out, and micro-publish your content with them. This is great for authors as you can choose exactly how much you want to share with your fans. You can be as exclusive as you want.

What circles have you created?

+1 = SEO

Google makes the rules in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This last year, they changed their algorithm to favor their own social media network.  The +1 is similar to a Facebook “like” in that it shows that someone approved of what you wrote. Facebook has their own algorithm that makes “liked” items more visible within Facebook. The search engine giant answered with the +1. Only this doesn’t only boost your content inside the social network. A +1 helps content rank on the search engine. Want to boost your SEO? Take advantage of the +1. If one of your contacts +1′s something, that result rank higher in your search results.

To help raise your visibility and increase engagement, you need to do more than just know how to connect your blog to Facebook. In the past, it was enough to post your blog content to Facebook and let your fans share and comment on it. By sharing your blog content on Google+, you are also giving your fans a chance to +1 your content. It’s not an either/and between the two social media sites. Share your content on both and make sure you have a “like” and “+1″ button on your blog.

If you haven’t read it already, read 8 Quick Search Engine Optimization Tips and read how author Dave Evans thinks authors should use social media.

How do you improve your site’s SEO?

Bottom Line:

Authors need to use the Google+ features. By using Hang-Outs and Circles, authors can connect with and micro-publish with their fans. By posting content, authors can increase their SEO ranking by having fans +1 their content. You are welcome to follow Author Media on Google+.

Facebook isn’t dead, nor will it die any time soon. Authors need to engage on both social networks. Don’t ignore one in order to be exclusive on the other.

How do you connect with your fans on social networks?  Which of these 3 Google+ features is your favorite?

Do you need a map to help you make sense of social media? Author Media offers Social Media Coaching.

Exciting things are going to happen in 2012.

In 2012, the U.S. is electing a new president. The Summer Olympics go to London. The Queen of England celebrates her Diamond Jubilee. And according to the Mayans, the world is going to end.

But what does 2012 hold for authors? We wanted to know so we asked experts from across the book publishing industry. We did not let them see each others predictions so pay attention to the duplicate predictions.

Here’s what they had to say. Feel free to share your predictions in the comments.

2012 eBook Sales

“I believe we will see a steady increase in ebook sales, even on front list titles and it will become an increasingly important facet of a publisher’s strategy.”  - Steve Laube, President of Steve Laube Agency.

“eBook sales will double in 2012 from their 2011 numbers.” - Thomas Umstattd, Author Media CEO

“E-books will exceed 50% market share in US fiction.”  - Randy Ingermanson, Founder of Advanced Fiction Writing.

“I anticipate that we’ll see the percentage of ebook sales climb from 20-30% of the business to almost 50%.”  - Julie Gwinn, Editor B&H Publishing Group

What do you think will happen to eBook sales in 2012?

2012 eBook Wars

“Look for all the major houses to re-gain control of the e-book wars, and begin shifting their publishing models and their economic plans to better reflect the new world of book commerce.” - Chip MacGregor, President of MacGregor Literary Agency.

“I predict that traditional publishing houses will continue to miss the ebook boat and alienate more authors in the process. Theirs is a model that cannot fit the new paradigm, but most have too much invested in the old way to make the sweeping changes they’d need to make in order to survive. So they will keep playing violin as the Titanic goes down.” - Jeff Gerke, Founder of Marcher Lord Press

Who do you think will win the eBook wars?

eBook Technology

“I predict that the e-book revolution will continue, with enhanced “transmedia” e-books beginning to become all the rage by the second half of 2012.” -  Jeff Gerke, Editor

“I see enhanced eBooks as the next “big thing.” Readers will want to interact with the content, being able to pull up maps, videos, Scripture, resources, etc. as they are reading along.” - Julie Gwinn, Editor, B&H Publishing Group

“I don’t think the technology of eBooks will change significantly in 2012. Enhanced eBooks won’t increase sales enough to justify the cost of production. A few publishers will try them and then abandon the effort after taking significant losses.” -  Thomas Umstattd, Author Media CEO

“Someone will develop (and possibly launch) a Web site that rates e-books similar to the way Rotten Tomatoes rates movies. With the explosion of self-published e-books there are too many for the average reader to wade through. If 90% (a made up stat) of self-published e-books are dreck, there is a huge opportunity for a company to become a filter and point readers to the cream.” Jim Rubart, Author  & Marketer

“The one change I anticipate is that eBooks will become more social. Soon readers will see their eReaders as places to connect with other book readers.  In other words, your Kindle will come with a global book discussion for each book built into the experience.”  -  Thomas Umstattd, Author Media CEO

eBook Prices & Royalties

“EITHER the Big Six publishers will begin offering standard royalty rates on e-books of at least 40%  OR  more A-list authors will begin self-publishing e-books.” - Randy Ingermanson, Author

“Big publishing houses will NOT increase eBook royalties.” –   Thomas Umstattd, Author Media CEO

“Authors will stop signing contracts that include an exclusivity agreement with their publisher. This isn’t so much a prediction as it is an acknowledgement of what has already happened and that the scales will tip from a few authors self-publishing additional content to add to their traditional output, to the majority of authors. Yeah, I think getting $2.99 of 6,000 book sold rivals getting .80 cents of 20,000 books sold. (Six thousand books at $2.99 = $17,940. 20,000 at .80 cents = $16,000.)” - Jim Rubart, Author  & Marketer

“Novice writers will continue to flood the market with inexpensive e-books priced between $0.99 and $2.99.  Most of these e-books will continue to not sell very well because the reading public will continue to prefer high quality to low prices.

Traditional publishers will lower their prices on e-books to $9.99, because they’ll realize that earning 70% of $9.99 is better than earning 35% of $14.99. Midlist authors who have been traditionally published in the past and who are now self-publishing e-books will raise their prices to the mid-range ($3.99 to $6.99) so as to avoid being confused with the zillions of low-quality books priced at $0.99 and below.  They will find that they sell better at a higher price, as long as they stay a bit below the $9.99 price point that will be favored by traditional publishers.

To summarize: a pricing structure will emerge in which price is proportional to quality.  The market will reward books that are priced “correctly” on the price-quality curve and the market will punish those books that are priced either too high or too low.” - Randy Ingermanson, Author

Publishing Industry

“I predict at least one smaller publishing house will be sold to a new owner.  -  Steve Laube, Literary Agent

“I predict that freelance book editors, book cover designers, and book marketers will have banner years, as individual authors turn to self-publishing but seek to separate their books from the typical self-published dreck.” - Jeff Gerke, Editor

“I think a lot of the little e-book houses that were fast out of the gate will find themselves squeezed out, bought out, or spent out of existence.”  - Chip MacGregor, Literary Agent.

“I predict that more brick and mortar bookstores and chains will fold and/or be purchased. Conversely, I predict a resurgence of indie bookstores springing up to rage against the death of the bookstores, and there will be a proud, underdog rally around these stores. I predict that most of these stores will fold in 12-24 months.”  - Jeff Gerke, Editor

“I see publishers moving to be a “service” provider. Focusing on the services they provide (editing, packaging, distribution, marketing) as a way to address the growing trend of self-publishing. I also see Christian publishers searching for quality young adult Christian fiction to try to fill the void left by the Harry Potter, Eragon, Twilight and Hunger Games finales.”  - Julie Gwinn, Editor

“New micropresses, small presses, and niche presses (like Marcher Lord Press) will meet the needs of many segments of the reading population that are not being served by the increasingly narrow and conservative titles that will be released by the major publishing companies.” - Jeff Gerke

What do you think will happen in the publishing industry in 2012?

 Thomas Nelson Acquisition Repercussions

“In 2012 we will get to watch the absorption of Thomas Nelson into the HarperCollins world. And will be watching the implications with Zondervan, the other Christian imprint of Harper. -  Steve Laube, Literary Agent

“HarperCollins will lay off 10% of the staff of Thomas Nelson and Zondervan.” -  Thomas Umstattd, Author Media CEO

What do you think the repercussions will be of the Thomas Nelson acquisition?

Amazon

“I suspect Amazon will add a religious imprint to their publishing program under which they will go after world famous religious teachers like the Dalai Lama. -  Steve Laube, Literary Agent

“Amazon will sign at least 24 more New York Times Bestselling authors into one of their publishing imprints. This will put pressure on the Big Publishing Houses to increase ebook royalties.” -  Thomas Umstattd, Author Media CEO

What do you think Amazon will do in 2012?

 Independent Publishing

 ”New services, sites, and apps will rise up that attempt to do for self-published books what Pandora.com does for musicians. Most of those services, sites, and apps will fail to catch on, but at least one will succeed and have staying power.” - Jeff Gerke, Editor

“Indie publishing will continue to grow and that critics of agents and traditional publishing will get even louder.”   –  Steve Laube, Literary Agent

“2012 will be the year of the self-publisher, with more authors doing it, more freelancers enabling it, and more people buying it than ever before.” - Jeff Gerke, Editor

“I predict that more self-published authors will rise to prominence (and riches), giving further incentive to other authors to self-publish.” - Jeff Gerke, Editor

“This will be the year of the wider gap between a hobby author and the entre-author. Authors who simply view traditional publishing as the only way to publish, if they have large platforms already, will continue to sell, but may seem some decline in sales. Authors who dabble at writing will see decreased success. And authors who look at their careers as entrepreneurs (Entre-Authors) will thrive in this changing, dynamic publishing paradigm.

 Entre-Authors will formulate a cafeteria-plan style of success where they offer products, ebooks, and print books, depending on their own personal strengths and bents. They’ll see change as invitational, not scary or insurmountable. They’ll specialize in social media. Those that do well will learn the art of selling without being creepy or making money an idol to worship.

Entre-Authors will struggle to find balance with time demands, will see the value of focus, and will publish shorter e-works as a way to make a consistent living. ” – Mary DeMuth, Author

What do you think will happen in independent publishing in 2012?

Conclusion

Self-publishing and eBooks have already changed publishing. There’s no question about that. In 2012, they are poised to take over. What this means is that authors will have to become even savvier about book marketing. Their author website will become even more important as readers will consume and interact more electronically. In order to succeed, writers will need to know the differences between published and unpublished authors.

Is your online platform ready for 2012? Author Media can build your author website. Ask us how.

Thanks to everyone who sent us their predictions. It’s your turn. What are your publishing predictions for 2012?

This year could be your year.

The year that you finish that manuscript, get your agent, and land the coveted book contract. You have visions of movie options, book tours, and making money off your blog dancing in your head. You can quit your day job, retire to a lakeside cabin, and spend your days writing best sellers. All by the end of 2012. What a great new years resolution.  Those are grand and glorious writing goals. But they are entirely unrealistic if you don’t have an action plan.

Here are five steps to setting realistic writing goals for 2012:

1. Number Crunch

How often do you want to blog every week? How many words or chapters do you want to have finished by the end of every month? Is there a set number of books that you want to write by the end of the year?

Writing these numbers down will help you set realistic writing goals. You can’t hit targets that are shrouded by haze. Have them in black and white. Keep the numbers where you can see them. Just having them in front of you will do great things for you.

2. Look at Your Schedule

Are you spending more time writing or writing about writing? If the answer is the latter, there’s something wrong. As a contracted author, you need to focus more writing time on your manuscripts than your blog. That means you need to find a way to post regularly to your blog without sacrificing your manuscript. If you are using your blog to get published, focus your creative juices on your blog. Being a great author is more than writing though. You aren’t a machine that can sit in the dark and churn out best sellers. You need to have time for relationships and life.

On your calendar, block out sections of time for your writing. Maybe you want to cluster your blog post writing time on the weekends so you have time to work on your novel during the week. Find what works for you and put it on the calendar.

3. Identify Your Commitments

What writing commitments do you have? Are there deadlines you have to meet? Do you remember your deadlines right after they pass you by?

Every month, I know that I have four columns that must get out to different publications. Those are commitments I made a long time ago that have to be met. In addition to that, I have my own blog, book reviews, and manuscript to work on. At work, I blog almost every day. That’s a lot of writing and like everyone else, I can get overwhelmed. If I don’t want things to slip through the cracks (which they have before), I have to put them on the calendar and make them a priority. My columns come before my blog. No one will want to read what I have to say if I don’t have integrity and keep my commitments. That’s the bottom line.

4. Set Up an Editorial Calendar

Get on Google Calendar and create a specific one for your writing goals. Put your commitments in first. Remember, these are the things that have to be done before you get to write your own content. By syncing Google Calendar to your smartphone, you’ll get reminders on the go that you need to sit down and write.

The next step is to write down all your blog titles for the next month. Make sure you aren’t making one of the top 5 blog title mistakes that authors make. Give yourself an hour or so of brainstorming time. Then schedule the publishing dates of these posts. If you are really organized, you can do the same for your book, either by word count, scene, or chapter. Again, find what works for you and commit to it. This will keep you on track to hit your goals. It won’t always be easy but it will be worth it.

5. Write

You can have the best intentions in the world but intentions don’t mean anything without the actions to back them up. Now that you’ve created goals, priorities, and calendars, the only thing left to do is sit down and write. This is the hardest step. But those words aren’t going to spill out on the page by themselves.

So sit down and write.

Authors, what are your writing goals for 2012?

Need a little bit of help taking your online presence to the next step? The Best Seller Society can help.

Author Tech Tips is now the Author Media Blog.

In 2009, Thomas Umstattd Jr. started Author Tech Tips as a way to share writing strategies with authors who were timid about technology. He knew that most authors weren’t technology experts. They were professionals writers but that didn’t mean they were experts in marketing, the internet, or how to sell the books they were writing. They needed help but didn’t know who to ask.

As he talked with different authors, Thomas discovered that they needed help discovering where to find free & legal stock photos online, how to get Twitter on their phones, and even how to avoid lame author portraits. Thomas knew the answers. He just needed a way to share them with authors. That’s when Author Tech Tips was born.

It’s time for another change.

Author Tech Tips is now the Author Media Blog.

The name change comes as the blog deepens and Author Media continues to grow. Authors will still be able to find free how-to guides on technology, book marketing, and social media. We’re also adding more technology reviews that are tailored to authors and their specific needs. You won’t be buried in technical details. You’ll discover which gadgets make the grade for authors based on criteria such as user experience, writability, and sticker shock.

In 2012, the Author Media Blog will focus on:

• Platform building tips,
• Technology reviews for authors,
• Marketing success stories,
• Book reviews of materials essential to book marketing success,
• Social Media secrets, and
• Reader suggested reviews.

The other big change is that we will update the blog more often. Instead of posting once in a while we will be posting multiple times a week.

Authors, do you have specific questions you would like answered on our blog? Are there specific products you want reviewed? Leave us a question or post suggestion in the comments.

Author Media has built author websites for years. Is 2012 the year we build yours? Contact us for a free website consultation.

How does he do it? Santa, the big man himself, is everywhere. During the holiday season, he makes appearances in parades, shopping centers, and of course, your home. Every year, he comes out a little bit earlier to add a few more appearances to his list. The man has hustle.

Santa can teach authors a lot about book marketing. How to dress well is not one of them. Authors, please do not put Santa on your sartorial advisory board. Put him on your book marketing advisory board instead. You will be much more successful as an author that way.

Here are seven things that I think Santa can teach us about book marketing:

1. Santa Persists

Nothing is harder than getting up and writing when you don’t feel like it. Work ethic is what separates amateur writers from professional authors. Professionals write whether they feel like it or not. They know that things have to get done. The bottom line propels them. Santa is the same way. He delivers presents whether the weather is good or bad. For Santa, “snow days” means that he adds Rudolph to the lineup of reindeer. There is no calling in sick. He adjusts his life so no one is disappointed on Christmas morning.

2. Santa is Easy to Contact

Santa gets more mail than anyone else on the planet. His address is simple: Santa Claus, North Pole. If you don’t have a stamp, you can drop off your letter at the nearest Macy’s. If that’s not easy enough, you can visit him in person. Every year, thousands of children stand in line, waiting to sit on Santa’s lap and tell them what they really want for Christmas. This personal connection is what builds an emotional bond that lasts for generations. The easier you are to reach, the greater your emotional connection will be with your readers.  The greater that connection is the more likely they are to read and share your book with others. Don’t hide your contact information.

3. Santa Focuses on Giving to Others

One of the reasons everyone loves Santa is that he is so generous. He doesn’t ask for anything in return for his gifts (although he does accept milk and cookies). Many authors think about what writing can do for them, how it make them rich, famous, and adored by millions. This is backwards thinking. Authors, no one cares about you. People care about themselves and what you can do for them.

If Santa came into people’s houses looking for what he could take, he would have been locked up long ago. You build a following through generosity not through greed.

4. Santa Fosters a Great Team

Creating toys for the children of the world is not a one man job. Neither is writing and selling a book. To be successful you will need a great team.  Think of them as your own small army of elves. Or you can think of them as your evil minions.

Your team should include:

1. A Book Mentor,
2. A Critique Group,
3. An Agent,
4. An Profesional Editor (self-published authors I’m looking at you on this one),
5. A Publicist,
6. A Webmaster, and
7. An Assistant

5. Santa Focuses on Just One Thing

Santa only does one thing on one holiday. He doesn’t take a second trip in February to give away Valentines Cards or drop off a significant other at your front door. This takes self control because there are a lot of lonely hearts on Valentines Day who would love for someone as trusted as Santa to set them up. But we know that it isn’t going to happen. Cupid does Valentines Day. Santa does Christmas.

As an author you owe it to your readers and to your brand to focus your writing on a single subject area. Focusing on too many things is one way to wash out as a writer. By focusing on one topic, you will become an expert and your readers will know what to look forward to.

6.  Santa Works Hard

Bringing Christmas presents to every boy and girl in the world is not an easy task. Even with the elves, Santa has his work cut out for him. But guess what? Santa doesn’t care. He puts in long hours, knowing that there are millions of children expecting him to live up to his legend. Writing a book is not an easy task. Learning to write well is even harder. Be prepared to work hard.

7. Santa Enjoys the Journey

Many authors get destination fever, thinking they will only be happy once their book is on the shelves. Santa has a lot of work to do but he keeps a positive attitude and genuinely enjoys what he does. The authors who learn to enjoy the journey the writing, editing, hustling and selling and the ones who are truly successful. Like Santa, these authors are jolly. You can be like Santa or the Grinch. Choose wisely.

What other book marketing lessons can authors learn from Santa?

Want to give the gift of a new author website to yourself? Author Media can help. Contact us to find out how we can help you spread cheer while building your online platform.

Christmas is hard. There are deadlines to meet, agents to keep happy, and fans to engage with. On top of that, there are traditions to uphold, presents to wrap, and family dinners to survive. What should be one of the most fun and sacred times of the year often becomes one of the busiest.

It’s tempting to steal away from the parties to spend some time on social media. It’s easy to sneak a peak on a smartphone or start your day off by going through your Google Reader. Once that happens, it’s even easier to open the laptop and start writing. Forget family. Forget holidays. There’s a blog that needs to be updated! There are thousands of fans who will abandon you if you don’t post! You can write a blog post on your iPad while attending your son’s choir performance, right? All the good authors post during the holiday season.

Are you listening to yourself? You aren’t a writing machine. You are a person with a family who wants to spend time with you this holiday season. You need a holiday just as much as every other person on the planet. Don’t deprive yourself of one just because you want to boost your blog numbers. When you live that way, no one wins. It’s one thing to meet a publisher’s deadline but if you can buy yourself time with your family, do it!

Think about taking ten days off your blog, starting December 22. Those ten days are some of the most jam-packed with memory making opportunities. Still need convincing on why you should take some time off? Jon Acuff wrote a post giving readers five reasons they should walk away from their blog this Christmas. 

Are you finally convinced you need to take the time off? Here are three Christmas survival tips for authors that will let you walk away from your computer with ease.

1. Schedule posts

Take advantage of the “schedule post” option on WordPress. Take two afternoons this week to write ten days worth of blog content. You don’t have to create ten blog posts. You only have to create ten days worth of content. So if you only post twice a week, you’re only creating four, maybe five blog posts. Compare your editorial calendar with your social calendar. This is the time of the year that you can let your social calendar win.

2. Repost the top ten blog posts of the year

Jon Acuff recently suggested this to his followers and it’s a fantastic idea. It gives you the chance to breathe and your readers the chance to rediscover why they fell in love with your writing all over again. So go through your analytics and find out which posts got the most traffic and the most comments. Repost them as they are or spend a few minutes to write a new introduction. Not all of your fans have read all of your posts. There will be a lot of readers who recently started following your blog and have no idea what other posts you have written.

3. Walk Away

This might be the most unpopular choices on the list. Sometimes authors and their fans both need breaks. This is one of the hardest things for an author to do because they fear that they will never come back to their writing. Or their readers will forget about them. That’s not likely to happen. Writing a post letting your readers know that you are taking the holidays off will remind them that you are human.

What are your plans this holiday season? How do you plan on surviving Christmas?

Want to give the gift of a new website to an author in your life? Ask us how.

I almost didn’t get the chance to review the Kindle Fire .

When my boss handed me the sleek black e-reader with the directive to play with the device and review it for Author Tech Tips, I was excited.  The first thing I did when I got to my house that night was turn it on. Tried turning it on. There’s only one button on the small machine, so I pushed it. Nothing happened. The battery was dead.

I plugged it in and let it charge. The next day, I tried again.

Nothing.

By this time, the machine was fully charged. Was this some sort of sick practical joke? How would I be able to review the Kindle Fire  for authors if I couldn’t even turn it on?  So I did what any self-respecting member of the millenial generation would do. I googled it.

It turns out that I wasn’t the only one who had problems getting the Kindle Fire  started. I had to perform a “hard reset” on the machine, holding the power button down for 30 seconds. This isn’t how I wanted to start out my Kindle Fire experience.

What I loved about the Kindle Fire:

• Free e-book rentals with an Amazon Prime membership. Getting one free book a month is a great way to get casual readers used to using an e-reader. I downloaded The Hunger Games and finished it in a night. Now I’m more likely to purchase the whole series in e-book format. Great job, Amazon.

• Streaming movies from Amazon Prime. Again, another fantastic perk of being an Amazon Prime member. Movies play beautifully on the 7″ screen. It isn’t a home theater experience, nor should it be. If you’re on a mass transportation or even sitting in a coffee shop, the personal screen delivers your movies to you. Slip on a pair of headphones and you’re in your own little world.

• The feel of the Kindle Fire. It doesn’t feel like a book but it’s a lot closer than any other e-reader I’ve used. There are no side buttons to push like on previous versions. You can flick the screen with your thumb, much like thumbing through a paper book.

• Built-in dictionary. I loved that when I found a word I didn’t understand, I could highlight it and instantly find out what it meant. It’s the little things in life that bring joy to my logophile heart.

•  The internet. I love that the Kindle Fire comes with browsing capabilities. I can do one click shopping on Amazon, listen to music while I read, or work on documents.

What I hated about the Kindle Fire:

• The cluttered bookshelf. If you open an application up, it’s on your bookshelf. I haven’t been able to declutter the bookshelf and it is driving me crazy. The scrolling screen also makes it hard to find the book you are looking for. If everything came automatically alphabetized, it would add some much needed order to the Kindle Fire.

• The battery life. If you are going to watch a movie, keep the charger handy or turn off the internet as soon as possible. If you are just reading offline, you’ll be fine with the ten hours. Those hours go down rapidly once you are online and streaming content.

• Unpredictability. The Kindle Fire and I did not start off well. Having to perform a hard reset from the gate doesn’t make me glow when talking about the gadget. Now that it has been reset, it works well. But other user reviews have revealed that there are more glitches yet to be worked out. That just makes me a little nervous.

• The Kindle Fire feels intuitive but when it’s not, it throws you for a loop. It’s hard to remember that it isn’t an Apple and you can’t use all the same swipes and motions on it as you can the iPad. Having the button be on the bottom of the device goes against intuition and makes it very easy to accidentally turn off your reader. In the middle of a book. So frustrating.

The bottom line:

The Kindle Fire  is not the iPad. You will not get an iPad experience when you purchase the Kindle Fire. If you are looking for an e-reader with some fun extras, the Kindle Fire is for you. If you are looking for a tablet with an e-reader, keep looking. If you want any sort of chance of happiness with your Kindle Fire, you need to get the difference locked in your head.

I’m looking forward to using the Kindle Fire . It’s a fantastic e-reader. I’m also excited about using the different apps to modify documents while I’m on the go.

Agree? Disagree? Leave it in the comments!

Have an e-book that needs marketing? Author Media can help. Contact us to find out how.

Christmas is almost here. Which means it’s time to buy a present for the author in your life. Especially if that author is you.

Some of the hottest gifts this year are tablets. They are ultra mobile and relatively light on the wallet. For a long time, Apple has dominated the market. Does anyone even remember the HP TouchPad? It never stood a chance. Great product but it couldn’t compare with the big kids in that price range.

Asus has brought the first real contender to the field with their Transformer. It’s a tablet that connects to a docking station with a keyboard. The catch is that the tablet and keyboard are sold separately. Sneaky. I reviewed the product with a docking station as that was the most natural for authors.

This isn’t going to be a technical review because most authors don’t care about that. They care about writability, battery life, user experience, and the sticker shock.

Here’s how the two tablets stack up against each other:

Asus Transformer vs. iPad 2: Writability

Asus Transformer: Like I mentioned, it has a mobile docking station that you must purchase for it to live up to its name. The keyboard is 92% of full size so it isn’t going to bother you if you’ve ever used a netbook. Once it is hooked up to the dock, it doesn’t feel like a tablet any longer. It just looks like another netbook. An incredibly cool netbook with a touchscreen. If a mobile docking station just isn’t your thing, there are wireless keyboards you can purchase.

iPad2: It has wireless and Bluetooth enabled keyboards that you can purchase directly from Apple. You can also buy cases with built-in keyboards.  None of these mimic the netbook feel of the Asus. Which, for many people, is a perk. It was never designed to be one.

Winner: Toss-up. 

Asus Transformer vs. iPad 2: Battery

Asus Transformer: This is where this machine shines. The tablet itself lasts 9.5 hours, which is slightly inferior to Apple’s product.  With the docking station, it is boosted up to 16 hours. One brilliant feature is that the docking station charges the tablet. You can forget about looking for coffee shops with electrical outlets. All you need to do is grab and go.

iPad 2: This tablet has a battery life of 10 hours. There are battery boosting apps but none of them come close to adding hours like the docking station.

Winner: Asus Transformer. 

Asus Transformer vs. iPad 2: Sticker Shock

Asus Transformer: It will set you back $409. Add the other half of package is $119. For $528, you’ve got yourself a tablet and a netbook in one.

iPad 2: Apple has a fixed price of $499 for the entry-level product. An Apple official wireless keyboard is $69. By spending $568, you have your hands on the gadget that redefined cool.

Winner: Asus Transformer Even if you purchase the iPad with a wireless keyboard, you are still left with a tablet that needs a cover. The docking station for the machine closes up like a netbook, protecting your tablet. 

Asus Transformer vs. iPad 2: User Experience

Asus Transformer: The product just isn’t as intuitive as the iPad. Nor does it have Apple’s the incredible operating system. Instead, it uses Honeycomb, which makes me just as hungry typing it as does the Ice Cream Sandwich OS. Were the engineers starving when they created these programs? There’s a learning curve to using this product. It’s not incredibly steep but it’s there.

iPad 2: Do you really want me to wax poetic about iOS5? I could. But it would be a waste of time. You already know that it’s the best system out there.

Winner: iPad 2. 

Bottom Line:

The Transformer wins. Barely. If you are a serious author who just needs a grab and go device, the Transformer is what you need. It isn’t going to be as sexy as the iPad 2 but you don’t need it to be.

There are only a few more days until Christmas. Have you gotten the author in your life a present? If the answer is no, you’ve got to get moving. Santa isn’t going to be covering for you this year. He quit. It’s up to you. Luckily for you, we compiled a Christmas Gift Guide for authors. Think of it as your cheat sheet for gift-giving. We’re taking the guess work out and leaving you with the easy task of choosing one of the items.

Here’s the ten Christmas gift ideas that will please any author:

10. Apple Money

Authors can use Apple gift cards to purchase writing apps, iPad accessories, or music from iTunes. You can load it up for any denomination between $25 and $5,000. That would make any author happy.

9. Moleskin Journal

Story ideas have to be put down on paper before they make their way to the bookshelf. Chances are, your author friend has a few Moleskin journals of their own already, filled up with stories just waiting to be told. Give them a gift that they will be sure to use.

8. Scrivener

Ahhh…the gift of technology. This little electronic writing studio has made it easier than ever to compile your thoughts, plots, and characters in the same place. With Scrivener, your author friends will be more organized , making hitting deadlines easier than ever.

7. A New Keyboard

Are all the e’s on your author friend’s keyboard worn out? Do they have a tablet that they type on directly? It just might be time for a WiFi keyboard. This might be one of the practical gifts as it is something they will use every day. Logitech has a very affordable wireless mouse and keyboard combinationthat just might fit under the Christmas tree.

6. Tablet Cover

Does your author friend have an e-reader, iPad, or Asus Transformer? Get them a cover for it. Not only will it help protect the tablet, it will set it apart in a world of boring tablets. There’s a whole world of tablet covers out there. The options range from fake books to the eco-friendly bamboo covers made from the friendly folks at Grove.

5. Spill Proof Mug

Authors need hot drinks to keep them writing late in the night. Coffee, tea, it doesn’t matter. They just belong together. Unfortunately, that combination, magical as it may be, is a recipe for disaster. Save everyone a headache and get a spill proof mug for the author in your life. The Brugo mug comes in a variety of colors.

4. Amazon Gift Card

Is your author a reader? Give them the gift of an Amazon gift card so they can load their e-reader up. Amazon has made it easier than ever to give gift cards. You can send it by email, Facebook, print, or the standard plastic card. You can also personalize the card with your own photo.

3. A Lomography Camera

Is there an author in your life who is always looking at art for inspiration? Help them express their imagination in a new way by getting them a lomography camera. These cameras aren’t the kind you’ll be taking to fashion photo shoots. These are the delightfully artsy ones that were popular in the ’60s and ’70s. Yes, you can get an app for that on your smartphone but where’s the sense of whimsy in that?

2. Nike Running Shoes

When authors are in the middle of a manuscript, fitness is the last thing on their mind. If it’s on their mind at all. They’ve got deadlines, characters, and plots twists running in their head, not gym time.  Give them the gift of health with a pair of Nike running shoes. Better yet, sign both of you up for a 5K and train together.

1. A New Website

Does your author friend have a great stories and terrible web presence? Give them the gift of a new website. Author Media can help you. Ask us about gift certificates for author websites.

Authors, need to send someone a holiday hint? Share this post on Facebook!

Did we forget something? Leave us a comment below!

It’s that time of the year. Time to round up some of our favorite author blogs of 2011.

Some of these author blogs will be familiar, while others are just some of my personal favorites. Each author has spent a considerable amount of time connecting with their fans through their blogs. For some of them, their blog is how they launched into the writing world. For others, their blogs came to being after they had a book published. All of them know that keeping a blog is important.

So without further ado, the best author blogs of 2011:

1. Ann Voskamp

   Ann is one of the top Christian bloggers and authors for a reason. She’s real. Without her blog, the world would never have heard about Ann or the “One Thousand Gift” challenge that has inspired hundreds of bloggers to participate in “Thankful Thursday.”

2. Don Miller

   Don’s books start on his blog, edit themselves on his computer, and finish once they reach the hands of his followers. He’s a great example of a best-selling author who continues to have conversations with his fans.

3. Jon Acuff

   Jon went from being a copywriter on a auto-trading website to one of the most successful bloggers. His most recent book, Quitter,is a great resource for anyone who has a dream of working for themselves or being an author. The advice he gives isn’t what you’d expect. Pick up a book and subscribe to his blog.

4. Michael Hyatt

   The former head of Thomas Nelson, Michael Hyatt continues to be one the top authorities about the book publishing industry. What most people don’t realize is that he’s penned best-selling books as well. If you want to be published, subscribe to his blog.

5. Tricia Goyer

   Tricia is one of the best examples of an author doing all the right things through social media. She’s always leveraging her blog through Twitter, Facebook, and radio interviews. If you have a blog and a book deal, she’s a great case-study on best practices.

6. Mary DeMuth

   Mary is an author who does more than just write books. She gives back to the writing world by mentoring other authors. Which is a great thing if you ask me. She’s another author who is a case study in doing things right in the social media world. And in social media, your author blog is your foundation.

7. Emily Freeman

   Emily is another blogger who successfully built a platform that attracted publishers. What started off as a simple blog soon turned into a way to make a name for herself. She’s a great example of the power of a blog and a woman with a dream.

8. Pete Wilson

   Pete is the pastor at one of the largest churches in Nashville, TN. He’s also penned a book. He uses his blog to challenge, encourage, and inspire his readers. He’s a very busy guy but he makes time to connect with people. That makes him one of the most approachable pastors out there. Or at least on the internet.

9. Seth Godin

   The marketing world would not be the same without the work of Mr. Godin. His daily blog makes its way into the inboxes of thousands of people every morning. If it isn’t on your must-read list, put it there. Now. It will change your life.

10. Chris Gillbeau

    Mr. Gillbeau is responsible for the cult of “The Art of Nonconformity.” He’s a great example of what people can achieve with hard work, determination, and an extra dose of creativity. His website has inspired thousands of people around the world. He’s helped people start micro businesses and become globe trekkers.

Need one more example of a great author blog? Try Tim Ferris. He’s the controversial author who has “hacked” his way to success. Love him or hate him, the man knows how to connect with his readers. While he might not blog regularly, his posts go viral when he does.

What author blogs would you add to this list?

Need help building your own author blog? Author Media can help. Contact us for a free consultation. 

This guide will show you how to add someone’s email address to Mail Chimp.

Picture Guide

Login to www.mailchimp.com

Click Lists:

Click Add People:

Add people one-by-one using this form:

Or use the import option:

Click one of the two options:

If you chose the top option, it’ll look like this:

Click Browse:

Find the .csv that you want to upload:

Click Auto-Update & click Import list:

If you have any unnamed columns, you’ll need to Edit them:

Select the appropriate title and click ok:

Click All Done:

Focusing on writing is tough. Here is how to be creative even when surrounded by distractions.

In this article you will learn how to overcome interruptions and innovate your writing.

Interruptions Kill Creativity

Here are some ways to take on that next great project of yours. You know the one I’m talking about. The idea that’s so good you can count on it to pay the bills. It’s a great idea.

But with so many interruptions, you haven’t started. You’ve thrown together a pile of notes But … Interruptions. E-mails. Texts. Phone calls. and tweets get in the way.

And what part of the day or night are we going to do this?

Remember, you are not merely writing a book or crafting a speech. You are going to create a work of art. Your masterpiece will be funny, lyrical, persuasive, memorable. You want to help others. Not too much pressure, eh?.

The Key to Creativity

You can’t expect to pull off this creative event just by blocking an hour or two out each day. The way to do pull it off is to unleash the muse inside of you. The muse is that part of your brain from which your creativity flows.

One way, I’ve found, is to stimulate the muse with external stimuli that lures him out. As I explain in my storytelling manual, The High-Impact Writer: Ideas, Tips and Strategies to Turn Your Writing World Upside Down, there are easy ways to welcome the muse.

6 Tools to Unlock Your Muse

Sounds

The sound of water is a popular stimulator of the muse. I wrote my best story — my marriage proposal column in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (“Dog’s not all I need to fill hole in my life”) beside a babbling brook in an Arkansas forest. Water sounds can also unleash the muse in showers, baths, even smart phone apps that cost $1 and recreate water sounds. Other sounds work, too. What’s your sound?

Music

Music works for almost everyone. Everything I write has its own theme song. Use your music player to tap your writer’s muse. Create a writer’s playlist of songs that get you going in the direction you want to go. Play those songs every time you sit down to create, and you’ll train your muse to come out when it hears the music.

Driving

Of course, some of your best ideas come while driving and listening to music on the radio. Your muse is stimulated by the steadiness of the road. Keep a cheap digital voice recorder in the car to grab ideas because you won’t remember the good lines later. See, the muse never sticks around.

Middle-of-the-night thoughts

Eight hours a night, you’re sleeping. Yet your muse remains on high alert. Before you nod off or even in the middle of the night, if an idea pops, grab that pen and pad that should ALWAYS be nearby. No need to turn on the light. Write in big block letters, several large words to a page, so you can translate it the next morning.

Movies

For the same reason, I never go to a movie without a pen and paper in my pocket. Movies are the best stories, and they sometimes trigger a million-dollar idea. I write in big block letters — or try to sit in an aisle seat with a safety light.

Read great stuff.

Read your favorite book before you start. Set your bar high. Get your mind thinking like a great writer by preparing like a great writer. Tap the muse. Lure him out, and don’t let him get away.

What do you think? How do you focus on your writing and unleash your muse?

Most author websites fail to sell enough books to reimburse the author for the cost of building the website.

The reason is because most authors don’t know the following seven secrets.

Secret #1: People Don’t Care About You.

This is a painful truth. People care about themselves. They care about you to the degree that you can make their lives more enjoyable. This is the hardest secret for many authors to grasp. Most authors want their websites to be all about them.

The result?

Each author’s website looks pretty much the same. They all have the same pages: About, Books, Contact, and Store. They also don’t get much traffic. Even best-selling authors often get  few visitors because they don’t know the secret that makes websites successful.

The secret? Provide value.

Your website has to help the visitor in some way. Answer the question “What is in this site for me?” for your visitors. As an author you need to face the reality that no one wants to come to your websites to see photos of your children. For anyone to visit your website, it has to be the most interesting thing on the entire Internet…  for that person at that time.

How you can provide value depends on your book. For nonfiction books, providing supplementary materials for the book such as fact sheets, tips, and guides often works well. A good blog on the topic can also get a ton of traffic.

For fiction books, podcasts can often work well. Think of your website as the bonus features on a DVD. What do you like to see on a DVD? Deleted scenes? Character backgrounds? Character photos? Think about copying movie websites instead of other author websites.

Secret #2: Be Remarkable.

Seth Godin has an interesting definition of “remarkable.” He says that for something to be remarkable, it must be worth making a remark about. Is your author website remarkable? Do people start talking about it on Twitter and Facebook after they visit?

There are many ways to be remarkable and one good way to be unremarkable. To be unremarkable, all you need to do is be normal, fit in, and copy other authors.

To be remarkable, you need to be different, edgy, or unique. A website can be remarkably bad or remarkably annoying. You want your website to be remarkably helpful, funny, or insightful. How is your book remarkable? Expand on that for your website.

At Author Tech Tips, our goal is to be remarkably helpful. We want authors to be so pleased with our site that they tweet a link to their Twitter followers and share a link with their Facebook friends. We measure success in tweets, not in comments or hits.

Secret #3: Have an Audience for Your Website.

Who is your website for? Many authors think their websites are for themselves. This thinking is a shortcut to obscurity. Successful websites are for their readers, not their owners. So, who are your readers?

Knowing who you are not targeting is the key to thrilling the people you actually want to reach. If you are writing romance, don’t try to target men. Remember, for anyone to visit your website, it must be the most interesting thing on the entire Internet. You won’t become that interesting by trying to please a big group of people. But you can thrill a few. Focus!

Even when you slice the Internet super thin you still get a huge number of people. By naming this site Author Tech Tips we turn off 99% of potential visitors. But this site would be a failure if it were just Tech Tips. There is simply too much competition for tech websites out there.

Secret #4: Have a Mission for Your Website.

Most authors I have talked with have no idea what they want their website to accomplish. They also have no idea if their current website is effective or not.

Successful websites have one clear goal. To help my clients pick a goal I ask them the following questions:

• What does the ideal visitor outcome look like?
• What do you want people to do after visiting your site?
• Why do you have a website? Guilt is a bad reason to start a website.
• What do you want your website to accomplish?

If the goal of your website is to:

• sell books then you had better have a big shiny “buy now” button somewhere on the homepage.
• build your platform you had better have a very prominent subscribe form for people to get email updates.
• increase the number of visitors you had better have some remarkable content and some “share” buttons where people can easily share your site on Twitter and Facebook.
• connect with readers you had better have a way for people to leave comments.

You can have secondary goals, but if you don’t know where you’re going you will never get there.

Secret #5: Integrate Social Bookmarking and Social Media.

Okay, so now you have a remarkable website that provides value to a specific target of readers you can thrill. Now you want to make it as easy as possible for them to share your website with one another.

The best way to do this is to integrate social media into your website. Buttons like “Share on Facebook” and “Share on Twitter” are key to growing your traffic. If your website is run on WordPress, there are some great plugins that will do this automatically. I use Sociable among other plugins for my clients.

Secret #6: Integrate a Blog.

Websites with blogs built in get 55% more traffic than websites with no blog.

They get more traffic because blogs posts are more likely to be shared on social networks than static content. Blogs also boost your rankings on Google. Each blog post is a chance to get Google points to rank high in searches. Think of it as a lottery ticket. The more blog posts you write the bigger chance you have of hitting it big.

You want your blog integrated into your website. This means the address is on yourdomain.com, not blogger.com or wordpress.com. Why?  When you blog on Blogger, you give all your Google points to Blogger and get nothing in return. Blogging is a big time investment and it is foolish to spend all that time working for some other site. My company, Umstattd Media, specializes in building websites with integrated blogs for authors.

Secret #7: Focus on Content Over Design.

A pitfall many authors fall into is that they keep redesigning their websites instead of adding value to them.

When they first get their website, it is the most beautiful site on the web. Like the mother of a newborn, they can’t see the flaws and only see the beauty. After a while, they begin to get tired of the design and start to nitpick. After a couple of years, they hate it and want to start over. They forget that their visitors don’t spend hours looking at their sites like they do. Their visitors don’t notice the subtle “problems” of their site.

Most author websites look just fine. The problem is there is nothing to see.

Think of the design as a picture frame and the content (blog posts, articles, podcasts) as the picture. My recommendation is to spend ten times more time and money creating a good picture (the content) rather than a good frame (the design).

Creating a valuable and remarkable content takes time and effort. It takes months and even years to rank well on Google, so don’t let how your site looks distract you from making it excellent.

This is not to say that design is unimportant. You want your site to look professional. But once you get a professional look, stop fiddling and start writing. Your site is either professional or it’s not. You don’t get bonus points for being extra pretty online.

What do you think? What are author websites that you like? Do they incorporate these secrets?

Designing for the web is a different skill than designing for print. Print designers who learn these three simple differences will see a dramatic increase in the effectiveness of their designs. Otherwise their designs will fall flat.  Feel free to share this article with the print designers in your life.

Here are three key differences between designing for print and designing for the web.

Difference #1 The web has different limitations.

When designing for print the biggest limitation is paper. Everything about paper is expensive. So, designers have learned to squeeze as much onto the page as possible.

The web is different.

Online you have unlimited space so there is no reason to squish everything together. But you do have a limitation you must pay attention to: Attention. You have very limited attention from your visitors. Even right now you are trying to decide whether to keep reading or to click away to some other site online.

Think of someone’s attention span as an hour glass. The sand is someone’s attention and as soon as they get to your site that attention starts draining away.

The only reason someone will stay on your blog/website is if it is the most interesting thing online…for that person at that time. The rest of the web is only a click away. A good design allows you to add sand to the top of the glass to keep someone reading.

To explain how to hold someone’s attention lets look at two design examples.

Notice above how the text wraps around the photo. This is a common print technique that saves trees and money but is a mistake online.

This sort of design would not work online for three reasons:

• The text is too dense. When writing for the web you generally don’t want to go over 4 lines of text. If you have five lines of text you must follow that paragraph with a single line sentence or a heading or some other sort of attention span reset.
• There are not enough attention span boosters. People will give up reading this page before they finish.
• It is to hard to scan. People in a hurry (which is most people online) will go somewhere else to find a quick answer.

Below is an example of a well designed web page.

Notice how the photo rests on its own line. This adds sand to visitors attention span clock. Don’t believe me? Just look how far you have scrolled down this post already. White space is your friend.

Other differences include:

• Headings break up the text. Headings not only put sand in the attention hourglass it also can boost your rankings on google.
• Bulleted lists make the post easy to scan. People online are always in a hurry. Make your post easy to scan and they will be more likely to share it.
• Breathing room. The web design example page has a lot more white space. This puts sand in the clock and lets people feel less claustrophobic. Good web design makes extensive use of negative space.

Difference #2 Designing for the web blends science and art.

It is hard to measure the effectiveness of a paper  design. Once the design goes to press it goes into a black hole where you don’t know how many people see it or how long they spend looking at it.

The web is different.

Online you can measure your design and know exactly how many people read it and how long they spend on the page. Good web designers get to know Google Analytics and use it to perfect their design. For important pages like landing pages they test different versions and see which one is more effective. They use an approach called AB testing which is a tool print designers know little about.

Google uses AB testing on every aspect of their web presence. They famously tested 41 shades of blue to find out which shade got the most clicks. This may be more than you can do but it gives you an idea of how far this new approach can go.

A good analytics solution will tell you how long people are spending on the page, what keywords they come from and what links they are clicking on. You will find that the more you use images, bullets and headings the longer people will stay on the page.

Difference #3 Designing for the web is a process not an event.

When you design for a printed piece the designer does all her work and then sends it to the printer. At this point her job is over and she goes off to work on another project.

The web is different.

It is easy to make changes as you go. Not only that but as you measure your site, you start to get ideas for improvements as you go along. The key to a successful web presence is continuous improvement. Always be tweaking and improving. If your site gets a little bit better every week by the end of a year you will have reached a whole new level of excellence.

What do you think? What are some other differences between print and online design? What makes for a good web designer in your opinion? Do print designers do well online in your experience?

The most stressful thing for my clients is keeping track of passwords.

Here is how to avoid that stress.

System #1 The Same Password for Every Site (Bad)

The wrong way is to try to have the same password for everything. There are several  problems with this approach. First is that you can’t have the same username with everything. So while you may remember you password you still can’t log in.

Secondly  having the same password for everything is foolish for security reasons.

You can improve this system by having three passwords.

1. A standard password for sites that make you get a password but don’t have important information like the New York Time.
   • Recommendation: 8 characters that are not found in a dictionary.
2. A secure password for sites that have important info like gmail and Facbeook.
   • Recommendation: 10 characters with numbers and capital letters
3. A super secure password for banking and online payment sites.
   • Recommendation: 14 characters with numbers capital letters and symbols.

Even with this system you will need a solution for remembering your username. My recommendation is to use your email address for every username even if they don’t ask for  an email.

System #2 Secure Paper Pad (Better)

Some people keep a little black book by their desk. This is better than having the same password for everything. The downside is that it gives full access to your life to whoever has access to your desk. If someone finds that books your in trouble.

This system works best when you can lock the notepad in your desk. Sticky notes don’t count.

System #3 1Password (Best)

This is what I use. 1password keeps track of all your passwords in one place automatically. It then encrypts those passwords in a digital lockbox that is much more secure than a piece of paper.

How to get 1Password

• Step 1 Go to 1password.com and click “try free.”
• Step 2 download 1Password.
• Step 3 Install the 1Password. The installer will walk you through the steps
• Step 4 Follow instructions to install browser plugins

That’s it! Once you start using 1password you will wonder how you could have lived without it.

What system do you use?

Do you use a different system for keeping track of your passwords?

If so share your system below in the comments.

Ever wondered how you can create and edit posts in WordPress and just wanted someone to show you some pictures? Well, wonder no more!

Picture Guide

Login to your site at www.sitename.extension/wp-login (for example, www.samfagan.com/wp-login)

On the left, click Posts:

If you want to create a new post, click Add New:

If you want to edit a post, click on that post title:

This will take you to your post, where you can add and delete to your heart’s content! The interface is very much like a standard word processor such as Microsoft Word, which means you don’t have to learn a new format.

Just make sure to click “Publish” or “Update” on the right:

They say the way to make a small fortune in publishing is to start with a large one. But not for everyone. Some authors get more money from their blogs than from their royalties.

Here is how they do it.

Step One

Before you can start to monetize your blog you need traffic. You need thousands of visitors coming to your blog each month before you can expect to make money. If you sign up for our free Author Tech Tips newsletter you will get a free ebook on how to boost traffic to your blog.

The equation is simple: more traffic = more money.

Here are a few more articles to help you boost traffic:

• 5 Keys for Magnetic Blog Titles (very important!)
• 5 Things Visitors Don’t Want From Your Author Blog
• The Best Way to Track Site Statistics
• How to Track Your Author Website’s Effectiveness
• How to Track Your Message Online

Amazon Affiliates

Some authors I work with make more money from Amazon’s Affiliate program than they do from their royalties. If you have published a book and are not a part of Amazon’s Affiliate program you are missing out.

The key is to have your website act as a magnet. Anyone interested in your book should come to your website first. Then they click the Amazon link to buy the book. This can more than double the amount of money you make on each book.

You will need great content and great SEO for this to work. You also need to be a member of Amazon’s Affiliate program.

How to Join Amazon Affiliates

1. Sign up at affiliate-program.amazon.com. After you sign up, you will see a gray bar at the top of every Amazon page.
2. Find your book on Amazon.
3. Click “link to this page” on that gray bar at the top.
4. Use this link on your website. You can right click and copy link if you just want the URL and not the HTML.

Amazon gives you between 4-8% on the price of the cart. That means that if someone buys your book and another book then you get twice the commission. If they also buy a new digital camera you would make even more.

Have you ever used Amazon Affiliates? What do you think?

Recommend Other Books

Do you recommend books or other products on your website? Did you know you can make money on that as well?

The Amazon Affiliate program not only works on your own book, it works on every product on Amazon. One book I recommend a lot is Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs. Every time I link to this book I use my special affiliate URL that Amazon provides.

Are there books related to your topic that your blog visitors would appreciate? Are there other authors who write similar types of fiction?

Some blogs, like Garr Reynold’s Presentation Zen, have a list of recommended books on the sidebar. These carefully selected books not only make Garr money, they also help him build relationships with the authors of those books. Many of those authors recommended Garr’s book, Presentation Zen, on their blogs.

Other Ways to Make Money on Your Blog

There are dozens of other ways to make money on your blog. The book ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income has a lot of great advice on how to make a lot of money off your blog. That link for ProBlogger is an Amazon Affiliate link. See how easy recommending books is?

E-Books & Digital Goods

One popular way is to put together an ebook to sell for $20-$100. The nice thing about selling ebooks and and other digital products like mp3s is that the money you make is virtually all profit. There are no paper costs or shipping costs.

E-junkie is a company that will handle all the details for you. All you need to do is upload your ebook and then e-junkie does the rest.

Premium Memberships

I’m not a big fan of this model but I have seen it used effectively. A premium membership for your blog means you set aside some content only for paying members. Then you have them pay a membership fee to get the exclusive content. This is a lot of work for you. You must create enough exclusive content to be worth the membership fee while also providing enough free content to attract more members. But if you have the time and/or a lot of content for which people are willing to pay, this can be a great deal.

What do you think?

• Do you make money off your author blog?
• How do you do it?
• Have you had good luck with Amazon Affiliates?

Here is a way to keep the most recent version of your book synced across multiple computers for free. This not only works for Word docs but MP3s, spreadsheets and any other file on your computer.

The Old Way

Back in the olden days, when you wanted to move a .doc from one computer to another you needed to put it on a flash drive and then copy it to your other computer. You could also email it to yourself. Either way you waste time and create multiple versions that can get confusing after a while.  Yuck.

The New Easier Way

What if I told you there was a way to keep the files on your netbook and desktop synced wirelessly? What if that would also backup both computers? What if I told you this tool was free? Well guess what, there is such a way and it is called Dropbox.

How DropBox Works

This video explains how Dropbox works in plain English.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFb0NaeRmdg[/youtube]

How To Get Dropbox

1. Go to Dropbox.com
2. Fill out account info and click “create account.” The free Dropbox account gives you 2 GB which is more than enough space for over a hundred Word documents. Just don’t expect your music library to fit in the free account.
3. Download & Install Dropbox onto your computer. Dropbox gives you easy instructions on how to do this.
   
4. Download & Install Dropbox onto your OTHER computer. This is basically the same thing you did in step 3. Repeat step 4 for each additional computer. You can add the drop box to as many computers as you would like.
5. Drag the Word doc of your book into your Dropbox folder. After you do this you should see the doc on both computers. Open it up and make changes and magically those changes will appear on the other computer. Just don’t open the file on both computers at the same time. This will create a rift in the space time continuum.

You can also create folders to share with other Dropbox users. I often will share a Dropbox folder with my clients to exchange files for their websites. This is a lot easier than emailing photos back and forth.

What do you think?

Do you use Dropbox? Are you happy with it? Do you use one of its competitors like SugarSync or Box.net? Which do you like better?

Facebook page titles are like a tattoos. They stay with you forever.

Facebook is generally forgiving. They let you change your page if you make a mistake or change your mind. Except for one thing: the title of your fan page. So, this is the most important decision you make on Facebook because there is no going back.

The only way to change your page title is to start a new page and try to get your fans to move from one page to the other. You may have noticed that we had to do this with the Author Tech Tips Facebook page a few weeks back.

Here are some tips so you can avoid our mistake.

What is a Facebook Page Title?

The page title is the first thing people see when they see your page. It is also all they see when someone suggests the page to them.

Tip 1 Keep it timeless

There is a chance that you will have your Facebook page for 20 years. Will it still be cool then? Don’t pick something too trendy. I would recommend picking a fan page that is the title of your book. You can also setup a fan page in your own name.

Tip 2 Keep it short

If your title is too long then people won’t take the time to read it. The general rule of thumb online is that shorter is better.

The exception to this rule is if your title helps explain the page. For example, Claire Culwell’s Facebook page does not just say “Claire Culwell” like I would normally recommend. It says, “Claire’s Story; Abortion Survivor“. The fact that Claire survived an abortion is remarkable and it has caused her page to spread organically. The title makes people want to know more.

The best name would have been Claire Culwell: Abortion Survivor. But now she has over 5,000 fans so changing the name would not be worth the effort. This is why picking the right name at first is so important. Know of a well named Facebook page? Leave us a comment and let us know.

Tip 3 Keep it ad friendly

Several months ago we started a Facebook page called PracticalCourtship.com. The page was meant to go along with the Practical Courtship website.  The page got great attention but with one problem. PracticalCourtship.com is too long of a title to fit on a Facebook ad.

Do you see how the title wraps around the ad like that? This is very bad and there is no way to fix this without starting the page over again. Or not placing Facebook ads.

See how much cleaner this is? Make sure your Facebook page title will look good in an ad even if you never expect to advertise on Facebook. You may be surprised down the road and you don’t want to be bound by a bad page title. Know a poorly named title? Let us know in the comments.

Suggestions & Examples

Here are some do’s and don’ts of Facebook page titles using the recommendations from above.

Do: Mary DeMuth

Don’t: Mary DeMuth author of Thin Places (too long)

Do: Rick Green

Don’t: Rick Green for Texas Supreme Court (Not timeless. What if he wants to run for something else?)

Do: Author Tech Tips

Don’t: AuthorTechTips.com (does not fit on an ad)

What are some good Facebook titles that you have noticed? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

There was a time when I had almost 40 domains with GoDaddy. I started using them ten years ago, back when GoDaddy was a new website with dungeon low prices.

Now I don’t own a single domain with GoDaddy. Here are six reasons why you should move away from GoDaddy, too.

#1 GoDaddy Has Terrible Support

I had one client who had constant trouble with her email because GoDaddy support constantly gave her wrong advice. She would have a small problem with her email and would call GoDaddy. By the end of the call her email would be totally broken.

Finally, she hired me to conference in with the GoDaddy representative and interrupt each time the GoDaddy rep would give her bad information. I had to interrupt a lot.

#2 GoDaddy is Expensive

GoDaddy lures customers in with prices that look low. GoDaddy makes it look like .com domains cost $1.99 per year when in reality domains cost $10.69 per year.

Price Breakdown:

• GoDaddy $10.69 per year
• Namecheap.com $9.69 per year
• Name.com $8.99 pear year

They then try to up-sell you on worthless services like WhoIs “protection.”

#3 GoDaddy is Hard to Use

I cringe any time I hear a novice say they bought a domain on GoDaddy.

GoDaddy spends so much time trying to up-sell customers that it takes an act of Congress to just buy what you came to buy. If you don’t know what you are doing, you may find yourself paying for all sorts of things you don’t need.

You have to be fairly savvy to use GoDaddy and not get ripped off.

#4 GoDaddy Hosting is Slow

iThemes, a major WordPress theme development company, recently blasted GoDaddy for overselling hosting space. GoDaddy puts thousands of websites on a single server. All those websites compete for server processing time and bandwidth. This causes the sites to run slow, especially if any of them are popular. The GoDaddy speed issues are exacerbated by the fact that Google now penalizes slow sites on its search results.

Not only is the hosting slow but making server changes is slow as well. If you change the wrong thing you may not know anything is broken for thirty minutes and it may take another thirty minutes to unchange whatever it is you broke.

#5 GoDaddy Gives Too Little Control

Not only is GoDaddy slow but their server back end is difficult to use and limited. Instead of giving users an industry standard admin interface like cPanel or Plesk they give users a proprietary admin interface that is more interested in selling you more GoDaddy products than in giving you the tools you need.

#6 GoDaddy Uses Smut to Sell

Some people are more concerned about the moral degradation of our country than others. Many people feel the country is moving in the wrong direction. Let me just say that GoDaddy is no force for good in our culture. GoDaddy notoriously has the most offensive Super Bowl ads every year. Each year they submit ads that are deemed too inappropriate even for TV.

They then feature these “too hot for TV” ads on their homepage.

Even the ads that do get approved objectify woman’s bodies and degrade women into objects of lust for the purpose of making money. This is inappropriate, uncalled for and not something conscientious people should support with their money. If we allow companies to manipulate our sexual desires to make a profit, how can we say we are any better than the animals?

Thinking authors can do better than GoDaddy.

The Good News

You are not stuck with GoDaddy.

I help authors move away from GoDaddy every week. Namecheap even offers a discount to GoDaddy users who transfer their domains away. Just use the coupon code Switch2NC and you will get a year added to your domain for only $6.99.

There are also a lot of better hosting providers. We here at AuthorTechTips recommend:

• Media Temple (Best speed)
• Host Gator (Best value)

We recommend that your domain be registered with a different company than where you have your hosting. Your website is safer when you don’t have all your eggs in one basket and the companies who are the best at domains (like Namecheap) are often not the same companies who are best at hosting (Media Temple and Host Gator).

Disclosure: While I have signed up for the Host Gator and Namecheap affiliate programs none of the links in this post are affiliate links. I want you to believe me when I say GoDaddy is not the best choice.

If you’ve been reading Author Tech Tips, you know the importance of having a successful web presence. Usually that means having a website. But a website alone is not enough.

As writers, we’re writing the web content ourselves, but writing web content is its own skill. In some ways writing for the web is very different than writing for print.

Here’s how to make your web content fit your work and the internet medium.

How the internet is the same as print.

Believe it or not, the web is not entirely different than paper.

Fit the theme of your book.

If you’re writing a business book, your content should be intelligent and professional. If you’re writing sci-fi, it should be creative and quasi-scientific. If you’re writing articles for men’s lifestyle magazines, make it masculine. Whatever kind of business you’re trying to attract, your website content needs to be, on page one, a demonstration of your ability to deliver that style.

Provide value.

A lot of author websites are completely self-serving: “Hey, this is me. This is more about me. This is my book. Click here to buy my book!”

People don’t want to read that.

Instead, include the key premise of your book right up front. Use the website as a platform to further the cause about which you’re writing. Maybe even give your book away. If it’s fiction, you might create an online community by writing blog posts as the novel’s characters.

As you weave your message/story into the website, you reinforce your brand.

How the net is different.

Here are some key points you must know if you are having a hard time attracting attention online.

Make your text skimmable.

Online, people avoid reading long paragraphs. They want quick nuggets of information. Make it easy for them to find what they’re looking for:

• Edit ruthlessly. Say everything in fewer words.
• Include headlines to introduce every topic.
• Bold the important stuff.
• Use lists (bullets/numbers) and paragraphs to break it up visually.

Make your writing searchable.

You want to rank high on google. If you don’t know how to write search engine friendly content, take a couple of hours to learn at least the basics. Although it’s not the most important factor in search engine optimization, your content is the foundation without which the rest is built.

• Find your keywords and include them. Sometimes the wording will be awkward, but with practice you learn to rewrite your sentences to include keyword phrases.
• Include your keywords in headlines and bolded phrases.
• Hyperlinks should always include keywords. Never link something with the words “click here”.

Make your site shareable.

The magic behind the web is the ability for ideas to spread quickly. As Seth Godin says, “ideas that spread, win.” Blog posts that spread, win too.

You want to make it as easy as possible for people to share your writing with others. If you notice at the top of each post on Author Tech Tips we have a Retweet Button. At the bottom of each post we have links to share the post via Facebook, Email and Digg.

If this is your first time here, chances are you came because someone clicked one of these buttons and shared this article with you. If you are concerned about people stealing your work we encourage you to read our post: Authors: Piracy is Not Your Enemy.

Imagine a website that would email thousands of people in your town to let them know where you are speaking next. Now imagine that this is free.

Your imagination has become a reality.

Here’s an easy and free way to get noticed every week as a popular author in your hometown.

BookTour.com, which calls itself the world’s largest, 100 percent free directory of author events, offers a wonderful event calendar for your author engagements.

Free Event Promotion With BookTour.com

The best part is the periodic e-mail update that gets sent to all readers who subscribe to learn about author events within a certain number of miles from their zip code.

What this means is this: If you list several events each month, you’ll show up on subscribers’ e-mail updates on a regular basis — unlike a visiting author who makes one appearance a year. Your consistency and obvious popularity will cause more buzz about you among your region’s serious readers.

But aside from pumping life into your public image, that same e-mail that arrives to subscribers with your “tour” dates, also comes with everyone else who is scheduled to appear in your designated region. This gives you real-time intelligence about which stores and events host authors on a regular basis and who they are hosting. This insight gives you a head-start when calling the bookstore: “Hi, I saw you booked Thomas Umstattd Jr. last week. You know, I’m almost as good as him.”

Connect BookTour to your Amazon Author Page.

As a reader award, I’m saving the best for last. Recently, BookTour and Amazon struck a deal so that all of your listed events on BookTour now stream into your Amazon Author Page, assuming you have one.

Go to Author Central to sign up for an Author Page.

BookTour can give you a competitive edge.

A live stream of appearances on your Amazon Author Page gives you a leg up on many other authors, especially those who aren’t around anymore. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Mark Twain aren’t coming to a bookstore near you. But you are.

You’re out there! Now the let the world know free and easy, every week, all the time — and find out what everyone else is doing, too.