A successful newsletter goes beyond generating a massive mailing list—although that is the tacit tenant that drives us all. Smart authors strive to create content that not only compels subscribers to read and share but also urges them to act in a manner that generates sales. This goes beyond the basic, and frankly overused, taglines such as “I have a gift for you,” or “Buy my book for a free gift.” This type of marketing push is vague and lacks the creativity you possess as a writer, so here are five stress-free ways to give your newsletter that coveted edge. 1 – Use the subject line to offer a specific value. Since newsletters by definition are promotional tools, avoid leading with the obvious sales pitch. Instead, give your audience something other authors can’t. If you write cozies, promote your book with a subject line like “Detective Dolly’s Ten Tips on How to Hide Anything” or “Six Lasagna Recipes from Detective Dolly.” Offer value that shows you know your audience, and place those items at the end of the email (so the reader scrolls through the entirety of your content). 2 – Lead with your most important information. Pre-sales, book signings, More
Could Content Writing Help You Make Ends Meet as a Writer?
/ 2019-05-25Content could be your best chance of making up the extra income you need to keep your writing ambitions on track. So what is it and how does it work? Content is the material produced by businesses to market themselves and covers all of these and more: social media messages, website collateral, print brochures, brand videos, infographics, email newsletters, white papers, ebooks, and sponsored articles. Is content the same as advertising? It’s more a cross between advertising and journalism. The idea is that people are tired of constant promotional messages – buy this now! – and are becoming increasingly savvy shoppers: before they buy anything, they do loads of research online, for instance, in online forums and on social media. So to reach them, businesses now need to be part of that research process. And that means offering useful information and inspiration to support their decision-making: content. So what does content look like? It’s the difference between a mortgage website that just says, “check out our deals,” and one that also says ‘First-time mortgages: a handy guide for new homebuyers’. Since the company is an expert in mortgages, it can tell people some useful things that will help them make More
Show, Don’t Ask
/ 2019-05-18By C. Hope Clark Don’t ask an editor what you can write for him. Writers aren’t just about putting words together. They are about bringing fresh material to the table. Writers are a dime a dozen. New ideas are a dime a dozen. Writers who can write and produce fresh ideas hit the sweet spot. Don’t ask questions like: 1) What can I write for you? 2) Is this the sort of thing you publish? 3) What are your guidelines? 4) Are you accepting submissions? We’re talking ANY sort of writing whether you pitch magazines, apply for copywriting gigs, write nonfiction, or create novels. Your job as a writer is to make an editor’s work easy, not add to their pile. Come to them with solutions, not more work, and yes, answering inquisitive emails is work when you multiply it times a hundred each and every day. At the risk of being repetitious, the golden rule for any writer attempting to earn money is this: Don’t make work for an editor (or agent or publisher). Approach the editor/agent/publisher with a proposal that makes them eager. . . makes them feel like you are more than worth their time. Make a More
The 7 Best Places to Find High Paying Ghostwriting Jobs
/ 2019-05-10After my first article about earning big as a ghostwriter on FundsforWriters, the next obvious question so many writers asked was where to find clients that pay well for ghostwriting jobs. Following you’ll find seven high-paying markets for ghostwriters. While there are plenty of websites and portals that offer ghostwriting gigs, most of these do not pay well. It seems counterproductive to give away your hard work for a pittance and not even have the right to claim it as yours. The good news is that not all websites are created equal, and places exist with well-paying projects with the potential for long-term work. Bypass the Obvious Sites Dig beyond the usual freelance websites like Upwork, Freelancer or Fiverr. The average gigs here are short term and in the low-to-mid range. Moreover, stiff competition drives down the on-going rates further. Upwork features an Enterprise Program for selected freelancers while Fiverr offers you to apply for Fiverr Pro if you meet their criteria. The gigs there are well-priced, but unfortunately, they are not open to all. Seven Better Places to Find Profitable Ghostwriting Jobs 1. LinkedIn ProFinder– This is a new service launched by LinkedIn. At the moment it is available More
10 Ways to Blog Your Book to Increase Sales Without Being Pushy or Annoying (Part 1)
/ 2019-05-04A lot of people think that once a book is written, the work is done. Often times, especially if you are a self-published author, the work is just beginning. After the brainstorming and drafting, writing and revising, editing and publishing comes the… selling. There are only so many times you can say, buy my book! But the fact of the matter is, you need to continue placing your book in front of your audience if you have any prayer of selling copies. To help, I’ve come up with a list of ten ways you can blog about your book. I am breaking this article up into two parts, so read on for the first five suggested ways to blog about your book and then check back in next week to learn the second set of ways to increase your book sales through your blog without being pushy or annoying. The Inspiration Every story has to start somewhere. If you write about the inspiration behind the story, you don’t even have to wait until it’s published to engage your audience. Readers will feel like they are getting a behind the scenes sneak peek at your work in progress and endear them More
10 Ways to Blog Your Book to Increase Sales Without Being Pushy or Annoying (Part 2)
/ 2019-05-04Last week I shared the first half of a list devoted to blog post topics that will let your audience know about your work in authentic and engaging ways. I will finish sharing those post ideas with you today in hopes that you’ll be able to spread the good word about your book and increase your sales without making your family and friends and social media followers want to run the other way. (Click here for Part 1) Let’s jump back in! Book Launch Party One of my favorite parts about promoting my books is planning and executing the book launch party. Making my fictional piece of art an experience for others to encounter feels like literally bringing my story to life. After the party, I often write a post sharing the details and a plethora of pictures. Readers who weren’t able to attend due to conflicting schedules or distance can catch up on all the action and of course buy a book through a clearly provided link. Behind the Scenes Facts Once your readers have had a chance to experience your story world and come to know your characters, give them some bonus material. Creating a list of behind More
Correcting Other People’s Grammar
/ 2019-04-12By C. Hope Clark A suggestion . . . don’t do it. Every once in a great while, a typo or grammatical error appears in the newsletter. I have a wonderful proofreader, and, between us, we comb the newsletter each week. But hey, sometimes when the stars align and we both have a bad week, an item slips by. And someone will inevitably, gleefully correct us. There is little more insulting than for someone who never offers positive feedback, to smugly tell someone that their grammar is wrong. Let me explain why. 1) Once the words are said and/or published, they cannot be taken back, regardless of how noble the criticism. “You did wrong,” becomes more the message. 2) Rather than educate the person (as the critic often states is their motive), they’ve insulted them. Unless the critic is personally close to the individual, their criticism will be considered critical, not enlightening. 3) The critic is remembered as a critic. They are burning a bridge. 4) The mistake might be a one-time thing. Better to wait and identify a trend rather than pounce on a happenstance slip. Critics will often begin their assessment with one of the following remarks: 1) I More
10 Tips for Crowdfunding a Novel: Practical Ideas and Pointers from an Unbound Author
/ 2019-04-12By Dan Brotzel I’m the co-author of a new comic novel, Kitten on a Fatberg, which is currently crowdfunding on Unbound. Unbound uses a different model to the traditional publishing one. Essentially, a book’s author(s) have to raise a certain amount of through pre-ordered copies before the book goes into production. Once that happens, Unbound handles promotion and distribution. And because the publisher has covered its costs up front, the payment deal isn’t a royalty percentage but a 50:50 profit share. Another advantage of this approach is that the publisher gets to see what sort of demand there is for a particular title, and who the market is. At the time of writing, we’re currently 31 percent funded. Here are some of the many things we’ve learned along the way… Don’t mistake crowdfunding for vanity publishing. Getting accepted by Unbound is just as tough as getting accepted by a conventional publisher. You need to make sure that your submission is as ready as possible. Understand your potential base. With crowdfunding, you have two target audiences – those who know YOU (family, friends, co-workers) and those interested in the book (who may not know you at all). Focus your efforts on More
Red Alert: 10 Signs You Should Avoid That Freelance Writing Client
/ 2019-04-12By Carol Tice When you’re a hungry freelance writer, it can be hard to say no to a prospective client. But not every freelance-writing job is one you should take. Some clients are simply a nightmare. The good news is, you can often tell you’ve got a PITA (Pain In The A*) client before you ever get started. After more than 20 years of freelancing – and 7 years coaching 12,000 writers in my Freelance Writers Den support community online — here are my warning signs. 1. The freebie request Based on what I’m hearing, there’s been a resurgence of the ‘free sample’ scam. If you have portfolio samples, there’s no reason to do a custom, unpaid piece as a tryout. These clients rarely hire writers. They just tell you no, and then use all the free-tryout posts and ideas they get. 2. Buy-to-work offers Ever get what sounds like a big-name client who’s dying to put you to work, as soon as you write a check for the computer or supplies they insist you need to do their job? Yeah – that’s a popular scam. Even if they send you a check to cover that cost, it bounces. 3. More
Chasing The Grant
/ 2019-03-29Most major cities offer artist grants for those of us involved in the arts. In my town there’s an annual drive for locals to apply, and back in 2014, I gave it a go. According to the rules, anyone in the arts field, including literary arts, was eligible. “Hot dog, I’m going for it!” I said. I followed the guidelines, crossed my Ts, and dotted my I’s. I was rejected. I applied again in 2015 and was rejected, 2016 rejected, 2017 rejected. If you’re reading this, you are a writer. Rejections are commonplace. You’re told “don’t take it personal because this is a subjective business.” Applying for grants might fall into that “subjective business” category, but by now I’d reached a state of frustration. Then in 2018 I applied again, told myself that if I didn’t win, I was done. The process was simple enough: submit an application with writing sample, letter of recommendation (at one point the Director of the Local library system wrote the letter because several of my titles are in the Public Library), and a request of how the funds would be used. I submitted and told myself to move on. Looking back it never dawned More