Some of us take a little longer.
Maybe we were raising kids, falling in love, saving the world.
Maybe we were stuck in a dead-end job, paying off college debt, or a car/house/marriage we never really wanted.
Maybe we were absolutely fine, but just still figuring out what we were about.
Now we know.
Why not give us a chance to show you?
You get good reading, and you give us an opportunity to be.
Dave and I put another book to bed this week. Our third in the series of books I do with my Creative Writing class at University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
This time I was so lucky to have James Goodridge be a guest speaker in my class (part of the untold benefits of remote teaching). And then, as if that wasn’t enough, James was nice enough to write the introduction for the book.
And now the students have their work, in their names, on Amazon… forever. What a resume builder!
Thank you thank you thank you to Dave, without whom very little would be possible. He’s pretty epic himself.
OUR TALENTED AUTHORS:
An interview by the wonderful Elaine Marie, of author of The Woman Puzzle, winner of THE TOP PRIZE IN THE DPA AWARDS FOR 2019, Judith Speizer Crandell.
It’s almost to late to take your chance to get into the next DPP anthology, coming out next fall for the Halloween season, from our new imprint, Gravelight Press, Halloween Party 2021.
Show us you can out-do the horror that is 2020 by submitting to Halloween Party 2021!
Oh, and you only have 7 more days. When December get’s here, it’s too late.
Authors featured in the Exhumed anthology pay no submission fee!
All authors chosen receive a free copy.
Top three writers win $100 cash, and our undying love. Oh yes, our love is undead.
Hope to read you soon!
Be safe out there…
Author branding creates long-term value. Book marketing creates short-term attention.
The way many authors market their book is by going to social media and posting messages that are varied versions of “buy this book.”
Don’t do that. Yes, it wastes your time, energy and resources. But more importantly, it depletes your brand.
Your brand is much more valuable than that.
Every author has a brand whether you’re consciously aware of it or not. The magnanimity of your brand depends on two factors:
The depth determines the strength of your brand. The width determines the amount of money you will make.
If there is only one person who knows about my books and buys it every time I write one, I’m a strong brand for that person. But, I won’t make much money because I will only sell one book every time, no matter who publishes me .
I know building a brand is not an easy thing to do. It takes time. It takes planning and it takes effort. But it also creates sustainability, and it builds loyalty and long-term value.
You need to focus on “how you look” (your website, your headshot, your biography, your book covers, book descriptions, social media, email newsletters, etc.) and “what others feel and remember when they think about you.”
The first half of the twentieth century was an amazing time for mystery writers. How many does a common Joe/Jane out there remember other than Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie? Would you care to hazard a guess?
The answer is not many. Only reason they remember Doyle and Christie is because they were brands.
Some of the well known brands today are James Patterson, Lee Child, Stephen King, Malcolm Gladwell and Karen Kingsbury. Think their books are a million times better written than yours? I don’t think so. Yet they sell millions of copies more than you do. Their brands are simply wider and deeper than yours.
That is the power of branding.
This interview with the author of The Woman Puzzle, Judith Speizer Crandell.
So, Devil’s Party Press, when you say you want me to have a social media presence, what do you mean by that, exactly?
Wellsir, I’ll tell ya.
Writers often have the notion that it’s publishing companies who sell books. But that’s not true. We make books.
So who or what sells them?
The authors sells them, and what I mean is not that the author goes door-to-door or bookstore to bookstore like a Fuller Brush salesman.
What I mean is that people, the ones who don’t know you, buy your books because they’re intrigued by you, they want to know you, or they’ve read your other work and they’re looking for a repeat performance.
Only you can accomplish that, and here is how:
Blog. We have found WordPress to be the easiest place to blog from because with one post you can automatically repost to Facebook (an author page), Goodreads (an author page), Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn. and probably a few other places I’m not thinking of. And you can start off super-cheap, as low as free, or upgrade a bit for just $48/year (and no, we’re not getting a kickback from WordPress {WP} for this). Imagine, you put one post on WP, and it appears, like magic, in every other place. What a deal!
How often to blog, and what about?
How ever much you blog, do it consistently, so fans know when to look for your work. I suggest twice a month for all, and we require two posts/month from the authors whose long-form works we publish. Amount? 250 + words. Topics? Why you write. What you do when you write. Your day-to-day life. Your favorite foods, TV shows, music. And so on.
We ask the long-form authors we publish to do two blogs a month, and have them written and scheduled to go one month in advance. 500 words (or more) about the equivalent of two typed pages total each month. You can do that.
Think that people don’t buy your book; they buy you: your cleverness, your genre, your hairdo, your personal life. Daniel Steel knew it a long time ago. We need to know it now. (And anyway, your story’s better!) Help people find your good writing. Share yourself. And when your book is ready, send it to us.
So, that’s what the heck we mean. And if we choose to publish your long-form work, we’ll help you get there.
In the meantime, start thinking about why you buy the books you buy. What prompts you to put out your hard-earned money for a book?
And here’s some help from WordPress: https://wordpress.com/go/digital-marketing/becoming-a-blogger-11-tips-for-success/
Wanna give a gift that lasts longer than the unwrapping?
What about a gift that “keeps on” giving?
Is someone you love stuck at home because of Covid?
Why not give a book as a gift this year?
For just a little bit of money you send love and an activity to someone special, and you help a writer find a new audience.
Email us, dianne@devilspartypress.com and we’ll enclose a handwritten card in any order, for no extra charge.
Hey! Don’t miss it!
Coffee with a Writer
Author of The Woman Puzzle, Judith Speizer Crandell and winner of THE TOP PRIZE IN THE DPA AWARDS FOR 2019 talks with you!
Time: Saturday, Nov 7, 2020 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89752056830
Meeting ID: 897 5205 6830
One tap mobile +13017158592,,89752056830# US (Germantown) +13126266799,,89752056830# US (Chicago) Dial by your location +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) Meeting ID: 897 5205 6830