Marketing Your Young Adult Novel - #writetip #bookmarketing #indieauthors

Want to build your email list? Market your newest publication?

The most reliable way to succeed as an author is to build up an email list of fans. You want to attract readers to your website, and hopefully get them to sign up to your email list. (If you have no idea what to offer, watch this video).

But that can't happen unless your readers are finding your site. There are two easy ways to get more traffic. The first is by posting a lot of key-word rich content on your website (here's another video about that). The other is to post content on other high-traffic blogs in a similar field and get backlinks. That tells Google your site is relevant.

That's why people do author interviews or blog tours: even if readers don't see the content, Google finds the links and will identify a "blog network" around a specific topic. The more links you have from similar blogs in your field, the better you will rank in Google.

Guest posting is ideal, if you pick very clever article titles that appeal to your target readers, but I want to start out by doing something super easy.

So I've set up "author interview" forms on three of my websites. All you have to do is fill in the form and submit the info (it'll take 10 minutes). I'll post it as a blog post with a live link back to your website. There are 741 of you, so this is the fastest way to give a quick boost in traffic to everybody. (Plus, having that much related content on the same site will bring more traffic to each interview).

Also, I can help you find other authors writing similar YA books that you can team up with. Meanwhile, I'll be building up the traffic and SEO of these sites by doing guest posts and author interviews myself (which will increase the power of the links back to your site).

Here are the three blogs I'll be using to build a powerful blog network around YA fiction. They don't have much content yet, but I'm going to build them quickly and then start posting regularly. (You can pick one or do an interview for all three if applicable).

www.edwardcullensucks.com

For Paranormal Romance

Click here to submit an author interview

www.urbanepics.com

For Urban Fantasy

Click here to submit an author interview

www.offtheshelf.info

General YA book review site

Click here to submit an author interview

So basically, my plan is to keep growing traffic on these sites with lots of great content that attracts YA readers, and letting you post on these sites for a boost in visibility and more traffic on your own site.


If you want to help that process, you can add any of these links to your sidebar. Most bloggers have a "friends" or "recommended sites" section there. Or, you can wait until your author interviews are posted and then share those.


Thanks,
Derek Murphy

I'm a designer, writer and fine artist working on my PhD in Literature. My wife and I travel full-time and love history, adventure, and luxury. I mostly help writers publish better books, but also share tips, strategies and resources to help creative people turn their passions into full-time businesses, make a bigger impact, and blaze a luminous trail of creative independence. 

FaceBook

Website

Twitter

13 Secrets for Writing Sizzling Dialogue - @RayneHall #WriteTip

Guest post by author Rayne Hall

Here are thirteen techniques professional writers use to make their dialogue sharp, realistic and entertaining.

1.  To make fiction dialogue exciting, use questions. Questions hook the reader's interest more than statements. Let the characters talk in questions as much as possible.

Examples

“What do you want?”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Where are we going?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

2.  To make dialogue sizzling, let characters answer questions with questions. This hints at evasion, power struggles or secrets.  Each time a question is answered with another question, the tension rises.

Example 1 – Wife and Husband

“Do you still love me?”

“Why are you asking?”

“Do you still truly love me?”

“Are you suddenly doubting my love?”

“Why don’t you tell me that you still love me?”

“Do we have to talk about this now?”

“Why aren’t you answering my question?”

“What do you want me to say?”

Example 2: Police Officer and Suspect

“Where were you between ten and eleven last night?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Where were you between ten and eleven last night?”

“Where should I have been?”

“Why don’t you tell me where you were?”

“Are you accusing me of something?”

“Do you have something to hide?”

“What makes you think I have something to hide?”

3. Let the characters do something while they talk. Give them a job, a task, an assignment, whether it's washing the dishes, mending the garden shed or cracking a safe.

4. To make fiction dialogue vivid, write it as tightly as possible, cutting superfluous words. Great fiction dialogue is less wordy than real-life conversations. One-liners have great impact.

5. To make fiction dialogue sound real, use short sentences. Real life dialogue often rambles on in long sentences, but fictional dialogue comes across as more real if the sentences are short.

6. Use tags (he said, she asked, he replied) only when they're needed for clarity of who's talking. If the characters are busy doing things, then you can simply write their spoken sentences before or after the action, and it’s clear who’s talking.

Examples:

Elsa turned the tap off. “What now?”

Ben tightened his grip on the gun. “Give me the money.”

7. Use short words for tags: he said, she asked, he yelled, she screamed.  Avoid long words that draw attention to themselves: he expostulated, she interrogated.

8. Avoid adding adverbs to the tags.  Instead of ‘he said loudly’ write ‘he shouted’, instead of ‘she said irritably’ write ‘she snapped’, instead of ‘he said furiously’ write ‘he yelled’,  instead of ‘she said quietly’ write ‘she muttered’.  Better still, let the dialogue it self imply how something is said: “I’ve had enough, you bastard!” is clear; you don’t need to add ‘he said angrily’.

9. Add body language – posture, facial expression, movements -, especially for the non-PoV character. This contributes clarity and meaning without the need for tags.

Examples:

“I don’t like this.” John scratched his ear. “Do we have to go through with it?”

Bill leant forward. “Tell me more.”

Jane twisted her necklace in her fingers. “What if someone sees us?”

Fred glanced at his watch. “Time to go.”

10. Hint at dishonesty or secrets by showing body language that contradicts what the character says. Use this technique sparingly.

Examples:

“No need to hurry.” Mary drummed her fingers on the table.

 Mary glanced at her watch. “Take all the time you need.”

“I can wait,” Mary assured him. Her feet jiggled and bounced.

11. Frequent cusswords can make a character appear unintelligent, so use them sparingly, if at all. You may want to reserve them for a minor character who is not overly bright, or for a character who has the weaker arguments in a confrontation and is losing his cool.

12.  Consider the person's level of education. A high-school dropout uses a different vocabulary than a PhD graduate.  How ‘educated’ is this character’s speech?

13. Characters don't talk the way their authors do. Think of each character’s key personality traits.

How would a person with these characteristics talk?  What kind of speech patterns reflect this personality?

Examples:

A self-centred person probably uses the words ‘I’, ‘my’ and ‘me’ a lot.

A timid person may preface requests and statements with an apology: “I'm sorry to bother you. I wonder if it's possible to...”  “I'm probably wrong, but...”

An insecure person may use ‘maybe’, ‘perhaps’.

A bossy person may phrase many sentences as a command. “Take a taxi.” “Call me tomorrow.”

A status-seeking person may name-drop and mention status symbols at every opportunity “Last week, the duchess told me...” “When I parked my Porsche...”

A pompous person may speak in multi-syllabic words.

Which of these techniques are you already using in your fiction? Which are new?

I look forward to your comments. If you have questions, ask and I will reply.

 
Rayne Hall has published more than fifty books in several languages under several pen names with several publishers in several genres, mostly fantasy, horror, and non-fiction. She is the author of the bestselling Writer's Craft series and editor of the Ten Tales short story anthologies.

Having lived in Germany, China, Mongolia and Nepal, she has now settled in a small dilapidated town of former Victorian grandeur on the south coast of England where she enjoys reading, gardening and long walks along the seashore. She shares her home with a black cat  adopted from the cat shelter. Sulu likes to lie on the desk and snuggle into Rayne's arms when she's writing.

You can follow here on Twitter http://twitter.com/RayneHall where she posts advice for writers, funny cartoons and cute pictures of her cat.

Interview with Bestselling Author Emily White on Author Branding - Self-Publishing Tips Part #5

PART FIVE ON INDIE BOOK PROMOTION 

Today it is my honor to have bestselling author, Emily White on the blog to share her advice on author branding and marketing your fiction novel.

Title of your book(s)?

 
Elemental (book #1 of The Auri Wars), Fae (book #2 of The Auri Wars), Almost Night (book #1 of Tales of Morcah), and To Love or Die in a Steamy-Reamy World.

How are your book(s) published? (Traditional, small Indie press, self-published) 

 
Elemental was originally published through a MEDIUM indie press, but I later republished it myself, along with the sequel, Fae. Almost Night and To Love or Die are also self-published.

How are you currently marketing your book(s)? 

I’ve used blog tours for most of my books, especially for the release, but most of my marketing comes from my newsletter, reviews through sites like Word Viral, etc.

What do you feel is working best for you to generate sales? 

Honestly, just talking about it on Facebook seems to get me the most sales. And releasing another book always helps boost the sales of the rest.

What are a few critical mistakes to avoid when promoting your book(s)?

Overspending. It’s so easy to do this. Everybody wants to help you get your book out there, for a price. And they make a million promises. It’s best just to rely on your close fan base. If you treat them well, they’ll do most of the marketing for you.

Which social media do you use the most and why? 

Facebook, and twitter I guess, since I’ve got them linked. These are the best places to connect with your fans every day to keep generating interest, not just in your books, but in you. 

Do you read reviews posted on places like Amazon or goodreads? 

Sometimes. I admit it. I try not to, though.

How do you respond to book reviews? 

I’ve only ever responded to one book review, but it was so over-the-top amazing, I couldn’t ignore the reviewer. Plus, it came during a time when I was feeling really down about my writing. So I sent her a message letting her know how much the review meant to me. Just how much I needed to hear her kind words right then.

How do you react and respond to negative reviews? 

Usually in eye rolls, done privately in the safety of my home. As much as it is trendy to say, bad reviews are really NOT meant to be helpful. At least not on Goodreads. They’re meant to excite comments from friends and get as many likes as possible. And that’s fine. I really don’t mind bad reviews at all. In fact, many bad reviews have been the clincher that finally convinced me to buy a book. But it’s frustrating when you see someone picking something apart, claiming something was missing, when you could point to the page number and line where you’d included it.

But I never actually respond to them. That’s just author suicide.

Do participate in blog hops or book blog tours? 

I like blog tours for releases. It’s a nice way to get the word out about a new book, especially when you’re just starting to build a fan base.

Do you ever offer guest posts for book bloggers? 

On occasion. If I have time, which is very hard to come by when you have kids at home.

Have you ever worked with a blog tour company? What was your overall experience? 

I’ve worked with two blog tour companies. The first one was a horrible experience in which I got nothing after having paid a very large amount of money. And when I asked for my money back, I was denied. The second one was amazingly better. I did my research that time. I found someone who was extremely visible, had worked with many big names in the industry, and who answered my initial emails quickly. She did wonders for my book releases and I’ve developed several amazing connections because of all her hard work.

Do you ever give your book(s) away for free in giveaways or contests? Did it generate any sales? 

I do. I like to do a goodreads giveaway before a release, as well as a giveaway on facebook. I think it does generate sales, eventually. The winners of those books go on to review them on their blog, or elsewhere, and that generates quite a bit of interest and sales. It just requires patience.

What promotional concepts worked best for you? 

A newsletter really is the best way to go, I’ve found. Once you establish a fan base, make those connections, you want to keep in contact with them so they know when your books are coming out. Otherwise, it’s like you have to start all over again with each book.

Do you think book trailers help promote authors? 

I think that if they’re done well, they can do a great job. It’s always a good idea to get on as many social media sites as possible, to use whatever visual means you can to get the word out about your book. Youtube is a great place to promote a book to people who may, otherwise, have not heard of it.

How important do you think book covers are in the success of a novel?

EXTREMELY important. The original cover of Elemental came off as very paranormal romance-y. And, unfortunately, it attracted readers who were avid paranormal romance fans. Many of them responded negatively to being surprised with a space opera with very little romance. A cover is a form of communication. It has to pique the interest of your target audience. If you pique the interest of someone who isn’t going to like what’s inside the book, you’ve just wasted your time.

Which media outlets do you think deliver the most power for book promotion?  

Twitter and Facebook. It’s too easy to share something on those sites, and that’s exactly what you want people to do.

If you had one piece of advice for someone promoting a book, what would it be? 

Don’t get lazy! Promoting a book is a lot of hard work and if you don’t keep at it up until the end, you’ll end up wasting your time. I’ve made this mistake countless times because I just get burned out. But all the work I ended up doing initially winds up being for naught. And that’s just frustrating. :)
Official Blog
Facebook

Amazon profile

Hope this info helps. Best of luck!

Click Here to Read Part Six of this Indie Publishing Series