More Tips from the Helpful

I love all the advice from Shawn and RJ but I want to know why when I do all these things I still cannot get one person to sign up for my email newsletter which goes out (or will when I have readers!) once a year!!!!!!
Seems to me there is a magic wand involved and something else which no one can name but the lucky ones have.

Well I will persist in my efforts but I do wonder.

Here are the tips for gaining a list of readers and a hint about why we all need beta readers.


Shawn & R.J. from Book Marketing Tools
http://bookmarketingtools.com

We all know the story: you write a book, find an agent, get rejected, get signed with a publisher, excitement! Joy! Then they ask, "Send us all of the people in your audience, so we can get the word out." Some publishers won't even give you a book deal unless you already have a built-in audience. That is what has made self-publishing so appealing for many authors. But, the need for an audience is still there, no matter which publishing path you take.

We here at Book Marketing Tools have told you... "Build a list..." But we say now, "Build an audience and own that audience."

There are subtle, but major differences between those two approaches...


A list is just a group of people represented by emails.

An audience are those same people, but who get engaged and who are highly interested in you and your books.

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A list can be passive with little conversation between you and them, usually in one direction (from you to them).

An audience is the group of people who you are highly engaged with, those you talk with and those that talk back.

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A list is numbers.

An audience is real people.

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The reason you should build and own an audience over just building a list is because those who own audiences have more leverage and have the ability to sell books at will.

I said that right, "sell books at will!"

Think of brands and people that own their audience: Apple, Oprah, Coke, Zappos, Stephen King, Amazon, etc. when they sell their latest widget, book, product, or service it's not a question of who will buy, but how much... They are selling at will.

Ok, so you've learned how to build a list, but how do you build and own an audience, so you can sell at will...

Here are some basic tips to help you get started:
• get your list more engaged by asking for their input. At BMT we have begun to do this by regularly asking our audience / list what they think about things. This one act has created a stronger audience than when we first started just building a list.
• ask your list to be part of what you are doing for project and books. I was shocked to see the response when we did this at BMT. Every 6 months we ask all those that have been on our list for at least 6 months to be part of our guest blogging program, this has allowed our list to contribute to our growing blog and it has given them visibility among their peers.

How can you do the same?

We'd love to hear what you think would be good ways to get your list engaged with you, contributing ideas and feedback in your business, with your books, etc.


BETA READERS?


Believe me, we know all too well how hard it can be to share your work. You created these vulnerable characters; you built this fantasy world. What if the readers don’t like it? What if they do? What if they think you are terrible/amazing/stupid/mediocre? As long as your story remains tucked away in the confines of your laptop, it is safe.

But surely that misses the point of writing. We write because we have something to say. We believed in our ideas enough to spend all that time writing and editing; now we need to believe in them enough to share them with others.

A good first step for a lot of writers is to find a community of beta readers. These are real people from around the world who love reading and love giving feedback to writers. They are not professional proofreaders or editors; rather, they relish in setting their eyes on fresh writing and being the first to find the gems.



There are a number of online communities that exist to help writers find beta readers, including Wattpad and Scribophile. We also like a new app called Penned, which allows you to read and share stories right from your phone.

So go on. Be brave. Put it out there and see what happens!

Emails and the Book Fair

Why life gets in the way of writing is something we writers all moan about. I note that the men moan less. They usually have wives to do the cooking, cleaning and child rearing for them. I need a wife, or housekeeper or a good WWOOFer to do all the chores, manage the telephone and let me write. Life has been intrusive for months with that stupid neighbour, and the court case, insurance problems, medical problems, penguin protection problems and the need to do these water exercises to keep walking. I'd rather write, preferably on a desert island with a ready supply of fruit and nuts.

April and May have been extra hellish for trying to chase up the problem with my emails being blocked. I haven't heard from my Writer's Choice colleagues for a month. I know they will be cross. I have a possible new member with a novel nearly ready to go, but it will take a lot of thought and discussion to include her. Can't do that without email working. My invoices for next month's income never arrived. I missed the deadlines! Financially next month will be difficult. 'Fascinating' as Mr Spock would say.

Email problems can render one paranoid. Why does the normal stuff get through but every vital, important, financial or writerly email not arrive? Who is reading my email and destroying it? No idea. Which writer out there took offence at my review? At least I can laugh about it all.

It has been particularly difficult without email trying to get the Indie Book Fair organised. It is in Auckland and you have to book a table and space, pay for it and then organise a place to sleep, never mind about bouncing all over the internet trying to catch really cheap flights which are flashed up once a day. It has taken two months to make contact, pay and register.

Indies have to be active. I wish Kiwi Indies would wake up to the book fair. Last year I carried some twenty odd South island writers' books on my stand. The naiveties of most of those writers worried me. Sitting with 500 or 1,000 books in their garage you'd think they would welcome the Book Fair. Not if they had to pay money to go! Not if they had to pay a part share of the space. Not if they had to supply a couple of free books as a giveaway. Sigh.

Someone who sells a lot of his Indies books online and at fairs said that in order to sell a writer needs to be where his readers are. The Indies Book Fair is crowded with readers looking for interesting and different books. Surely it's a good place to be if you want to sell a few books. Wake up Kiwi Indies and start thinking.