Friday at NINC2025 (Novelists, Inc.) writers conference offered numerous workshops for published authors. First, I attended a talk on TikTok for Authors with Kate Hall. Kate spoke about how to approach videos for TikTok and demonstrated a live one right there. She gave suggestions for topics and suggested the book promotion be subtle. These were … Read more
Thursday at the #NINC2025 (Novelists, Inc.) writers conference began with a hearty breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Needing to walk off the calories, my roommate, Janice Hardy, and I headed to the beach for a stroll and to collect seashells for my grandson. It was relaxing to squish our feet in the sand and to … Read more
Scam emails are becoming more creative these days. They try to suck you in, hoping you’ll click on a link or send a response. Then they can extort money from you or install malware on your device. You have to be very careful to check all references independently and look for red flags such as … Read more
NetGalley is an online site where publishers solicit advance reviews for upcoming titles. This has mostly been the realm of traditional publishing houses, but now indie authors can take advantage of this opportunity. Authors can join a co-op created for the purpose of reducing costs. For example, Anne Victory from Victory Editing has a NetGalley … Read more
Would you like to create your own book trailer? Various companies will do trailers for you, but their work may be similar to what you can do on your own with a slide show. Wouldn’t you rather pick out the photos and music that best suit your story? You may already have a program on … Read more
As part of a book promotion campaign, many authors routinely offer giveaways or contests with books as prizes. Whether these are e-books or print copies depends upon author preference, publisher, supplies and cost factors. Traditionally published authors may receive a carton of advance reading copies for reviewers or to use as giveaway prizes. They can … Read more
Blog Tours can gain exposure for your new release on sites with a different readership than your own. If anything, readers might be prompted to go look up your book if the post piques their interest. Name recognition and exposure is the goal more so than selling books. You want to expose your work to … Read more
I’m revising my very first published novel, Circle of Light. This title won the 1995 HOLT Medallion Award and blends my love of science fiction with romance. When I was a fledgling writer, it gave me great joy to let my imagination go wild and create this soaring fantasy. This story began a trilogy and … Read more
Do you want to send an agent a query letter but have no idea what it should include? Or perhaps you’ve sent out several queries and you keep getting rejections. What could you be doing wrong? Here are some steps you can take to put yourself on the path to success. Check the guidelines for … Read more
What should you be doing in the days following your new book release? Promotion doesn’t end when your new release launch is over. You’ve tossed the ball into the court. Now you need to keep it rolling. Let’s say you have sent advance reading copies to reviewers and are participating in a blog tour or … Read more