Category Archives: Marketing

How to Evaluate a Kindle Deal Site Before You Buy a Promotion

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How to Evaluate Deal Sites

Okay, so you’ve decided to take the plunge and pay for a spot on a Kindle deal site. Yay! But now you have to decide which one to choose. And then you notice that they all have different prices, they all claim to be the best, your friends say this one is better, bloggers say you won’t get good results with that one, and on and on it goes.

If your head is spinning, fear not. We’re going to take a look at some ways you can evaluate a deal site before you buy the promotion. Continue reading How to Evaluate a Kindle Deal Site Before You Buy a Promotion →

How to Format Your Amazon Description to Stand Out

Marketing,

Amazon-Descriptions

Are you tired of your plain-text Amazon description? You know, the one that can’t have any italics, bold text, lists, or headers? It probably looks a little like this:

Description Unformatted

You’ve probably seen other books on Amazon with all sorts of text styles in the descriptions, like this one:

You may have jealously wondered, “How can I get my description to look like that?” The answer isn’t obvious, but it’s also not hard! Let’s look at it together. Continue reading How to Format Your Amazon Description to Stand Out →

Eight Ways to Engage Your Current Audience

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Engage Current Audience

It’s not uncommon to find authors talking about how they plan to reach new readers. However, the readers you already have are just as important, if not more so. Your fans have already enjoyed your book, and they are capable of spreading the news about it and your future titles far and wide if you give them a reason to be excited about it. And that can lead to new readers.

The problem is that you need to keep your current audience interested while you write that new book. People have short attention spans (squirrel!), so it’s important to remind your audience that you exist every now and then. How do you do that? Here are eight ways you can engage with your fans and keep their attention. Continue reading Eight Ways to Engage Your Current Audience →

More Loglines from the 2014 Edition of The Black List

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Eight Loglines from The Black List

Last time, I walked you through the process of refining and critiquing seven loglines from The Black List 2014. Today, I have eight more instructive loglines to show you, along with my thoughts on how they could be improved.

Once again, remember that most of the time when I recommend changes to a logline, I am guessing at story details the author has left out. Because I’m not working with the writer on these loglines, I often can’t create a final version. However, I can make the first round of suggestions that would then go back to the writer for further rewrites. Continue reading More Loglines from the 2014 Edition of The Black List →

Loglines from the 2014 Edition of The Black List

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Seven Loglines from The Black List

Each year, The Black List is made of Hollywood executives’ favorite unproduced screenplays, complete with title and logline information. Back in 2013, I discovered these lists and also found out that some of the loglines could be instructive cases of how to improve a pitch. I ended up writing three blog posts with details on how I would improve 15 of the loglines from the 2012 edition of The Black List.

Well, it’s back again for 2015. Here are some instructive loglines from the 2014 edition of The Black List, with my notes on how each could be improved.

It’s important to note that most of the time when I recommend changes to a logline, I am guessing at story details the author has left out. Because I’m not working with the writer on these loglines, I often can’t create a final version. However, I can make the first round of suggestions that would then go back to the writer for further rewrites.

With that out of the way, let’s jump right in. Continue reading Loglines from the 2014 Edition of The Black List →

The Independent Author Professionalism Manifesto

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Regardless of how often you write every day or how many books you’ve written, if you’ve published a book or are planning to publish a book, you are a professional author. You’ve probably heard that you will only be as professional as you act. So how can you act professional?

Is it wearing a suit and tie while you type your next manuscript?

No.

Is it writing exclusively on a typewriter?

Nope.

How about selling a bazillion books?

No.

Professionalism is much more intangible. It’s an attitude that says you take your work seriously. You are putting forth your best effort to be excellent in your craft as a writer, and you act in a way that lets others know you’re serious.

Because professionalism is an attitude, it’s difficult to put into concrete “do this” and “don’t do this” action steps. But I’ve come up with six things that are traits or actions of a professional author. This list is The Independent Author’s Professionalism Manifesto. Continue reading The Independent Author Professionalism Manifesto →

How Paying for a Big Promotion Made Me Act More Professional

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This post is a little different from the usual fare here at Fix My Story. Today I’d like to share the story of how I restarted my blog—and how the reboot made me act like a professional.

The opportunity was just too good to pass up. It was expensive enough to hurt, but the potential payoff was enormous. Taking a deep breath, I sent the e-mail and launched myself into something much bigger than I thought it would be… Continue reading How Paying for a Big Promotion Made Me Act More Professional →

How to Ask Bloggers to Review Your Book

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Review my book?

Last time, I showed you how to find bloggers who want to review your book. However, most of those bloggers probably haven’t even heard of your book yet. You need to let them know what your book is about and that it’s available for review before you offer a free copy.

Today, I’ll walk you through creating an e-mail template that will help you contact reviewers in a professional, compelling manner. Those bloggers will be reviewing your book in no time! Continue reading How to Ask Bloggers to Review Your Book →

How to Find Bloggers Who Want to Review Your Book

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Magnifying GlassIf you’ve self-published a book, you’re familiar with the thirst for reviews. You eagerly watch that Amazon review count tick upward, drinking in every new review. You read and re-read your reviews, and you sometimes even share your favorite quotes from the best ones. And you feel more validated in your authorship as more reviews appear on your Amazon book page.

But you might be neglecting another great review resource if you’re focusing solely on the reviews showing up on Amazon. The world of bloggers is a powerful promotional tool worth exploring as well. Continue reading How to Find Bloggers Who Want to Review Your Book →

How to Plan Your Promotions

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Photo credit: marykbaird from morguefile.com
Photo credit: marykbaird from morguefile.com

To wrap up this series on marketing budgets and promoting your book, I’d like to take a look at planning. I’ve explained why you should have a budget, and I’ve given you fifteen ways to promote your book for free or very cheap. Now it’s time to plan and schedule your campaigns (kinda like an army general).

Let’s start with the why, then get into how to make your plan. Continue reading How to Plan Your Promotions →