Green was once my love, /
pliable to the moment: /
Insinuating.
Filed under Haiku to You Thursday, poetry by author
HOW TO MAKE TIME FOR MARKETING YOUR WORK
by BRUCE HALE
http://www.brucehalewritingtips.com/
Does this sound familiar to you? Sometime last year, in between crafting tweets, revising my LinkedIn profile, following up with editors, networking with librarians, researching publishers, and making all the promotional efforts expected of authors today, I found myself swamped.
How, I wondered, do I find time for all this publishing-related work, when all I want to do is create stories?
Then, one Saturday, on my usual morning rounds of the farmers market and sundry other errands, I hit upon the answer: Marketing Saturday. I already designate one day a week for buying fresh produce and such, so why not designate one day a *month* solely for promoting and marketing my work?
The concept behind Marketing Saturday (or whichever day you designate) is simple: No story writing or editing; only marketing and promotion. It’s as easy as three Ps in a pod (you should excuse the mixed metaphor):
1. PREP
To pave the way for a successful Marketing Saturday, I first create a file where I store all the random ideas on book promotion and marketing that come to me. Articles from SCBWI’s Kite Tales, posts from Publisher’s Weekly’s Children’s Bookshelf, to-do items like making flyers and postcards — all that stuff goes into the file.
Then, when my Saturday rolls around, I’m ready to address these things with a minimum of fuss and bother. Clearing the way for work is half the battle.
2. PLAN & PLUG
After reading through all that strikes me as relevant that day, I prepare a marketing plan and plug the to-do items into my calendar — otherwise they’ll never get done. Before you wonder whether one needs an MBA for that, know that my marketing plan is just a to-do list broken out by month. Nothing fancy.
For example, to promote my upcoming SCHOOL FOR S.P.I.E.S. book, I’ve got a list of activities like: write website copy, announce new website, post on listservs, email blast to friends, and so forth. Rather than becoming overwhelmed by the list, I just plug an item or three into each month on my iCal, breaking the whole thing down into bite-sized chunks.
3. PROMOTE
Sometimes I’ll do some actual promotional work during my Marketing Saturday — updating the website, creating the aforementioned flyers, or whatever. Other times it’s all about reading and planning.
But whether I do it then or later, the work must get done somehow. Inevitably, some of those marketing actions will slop over into my writing days — and that’s okay. Taking time to create the to-do list and plan it takes a lot of the sting out of giving up time from my writing, and actually makes that time shorter.
Want to get going on your own Marketing Saturday? Here are some starter ideas to point you in the right direction…
If you’re not published…
– read PW’s Children’s Bookshelf (subscribe for free at publishersweekly.com) or e-zines relevant to your writing
– refine your query letter (for tips, check out How To Write Irresistible Query Letters, from Writer’s Digest Books)
– send out query letters to five publishers
– research editors and agents on blogs, the SCBWI Market Survey, and other sources.
If you’re published…
– work on your school visit flyer
– post on children’s literature-related listservs (remembering to add value, not just promote your own books)
– plan your blog/newsletter/Twitter/Facebook posts
– create curriculum tie-in activities to promote your books
– research schools that might like a visit from you
– read Guerilla Marketing for Writers
– read 1001 Ways to Market Your Books and create to-do lists from it.
And whatever you do, keep on working that promotion. Consistency is key. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen reached the NY Times
bestseller list with their Chicken Soup books by doing five marketing actions every workday. Can you commit to at least one Marketing Saturday?
___________
Bruce Hale
Bruce has written and illustrated over 25 books for kids. His Underwhere series includes Prince of Underwhere and Pirates of Underwhere. His Chet Gecko Mysteries series includes: The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse, The Big Nap, The Malted Falcon, Hiss Me Deadly, and others. More at http://www.brucehale.com/
Filed under Writing Tip Wednesday
Sometimes the punch line comes when you least expect it.
Filed under cartoon by author, CarToonsday
“The play’s the thing….”
Filed under cartoon by author, Monday morning writing joke
The blathering idiot stood in line at a writer’s convention. He had written his memoir about his campaign adventures and he was here to pitch it to agents and editors.
It was a long line. Seems everybody had a book of some sort to pitch: mystery, memoir, science fiction, military history. There was even a woman who came to pitch her book on breeding your own breed of dog. The working title was: The Bitches’ Guide to Breading Your Own. The woman herself looked like she might become one if she had to wait another minute in line. The small dog she held in her arm grew more snarly. The woman almost made it up to speak with an agent when her little bundle of fur leapt out of her grasp, onto the agents table, then the carpeted floor, pausing long enough to pee copiously, before darting off into the convention crowd.
The woman hesitated, looked at the agent, threw down the manuscript, said her book was an Idiot’s-like guide to breeding your own species, just like her little Yorkuaua. She then darted after her dog.
“Next,” the agent barked.
The blathering idiot swallowed and then sat down across the small table from the tall, imposing woman with short hair.
“Hi,” he said.
“And what’s your pitch?”
The blathering idiot stumbled through his pitch. He was sweating so hard, it looked like tears sliding down his face. No matter what she decided, he was glad it was about over.
She held up a hand. “And so this Pro-Accordion Party found you in a store front?”
“Not exactly. It was more like I found them.”
“But they picked you to be their candidate for the highest office in the land.”
“Not exactly. They had a candidate, but he backed out, citing an inability to campaign and maintain his music career.”
“Playing an accordion.”
“Yes.”
“Do you play?” she asked.
“Not exactly.”
She nodded. “Do you have an interest in playing?”
“Maybe.”
“So you don’t play the accordion. You stumbled across the Pro-Accordion Party and they were desperate for a candidate and they took you in. You had a ten-year-old as a running mate. The highlight of your campaign was speaking to a fourth-grade class, and you didn’t win a single state and weren’t even on the ballot in most of them. Is that correct?”
The blathering idiot swallowed and nodded. ‘But I enjoyed it.”
“And who do you see as the market for this book?”
“Uhh, my girlfriend.”
“My dear, naïve, child, unless you have at least one girlfriend in every city, town, and hamlet in this country, that’s not going to be many sales.”
The blathering idiot nodded, then got up from the table, stammered out a thank you, and left.
When he was outside the convention hall, Lydia, his former campaign manager, stepped up to him. “How did it go?”
“No hi, how are you?”
“So, how did it go?”
The blathering idiot shrugged. “I need more girlfriends.”
Without more girlfriends, he was probably not going to sell many copies of his memoir.
Filed under blathering idiot, Random Access Thoughts
There once was a man of great flatulence,
who still manage to have quite a dalliance.
Though he gave a rousing toot,
she still managed her flag salute,
but was unsure which roused the smile on his countenance.
Might all depend on how you look at it.
Filed under Freeform Friday, poetry by author
Squiggles through brown grass. /
Western sun blushes gray clouds. /
Wind ushers in chill.
Filed under Haiku to You Thursday, poetry by author
Women are from Hash tag; Men are from Asterisk.
Filed under cartoon by author, CarToonsday
Critic: He wanted to be a novelist. He has achieved his ambition: a bad novelist.
Reminds me of the joke,
Question: “What’s the difference between a writer and a bad writer?”
Answer: “The critic.”
Or…
“A ‘critic’ is a man who creates nothing and thereby feels qualified to judge the work of creative men. There is logic in this; he is unbiased—he hates all creative people equally.”
– Robert A. Heinlein, novelist
Novelist Robert A. Heinlein autographing one of his works.
by David E. Booker
I stop on a bridge to admire
the ragged setting sun.
Clouded by days of rain
and a night of snow,
like me, it was
recovering.
A car passes and
college voices taunt me:
“Jump!”
Then a pickup truck
and an old, lone voice:
“Jump, motherfucker!”
and a cigarette butt
bounces off my shoulder.
What touches the body
touches the mind
and what touches the mind
touches the world.
I was ill and then I saw illness.
Some days I say, “Stop the madness.”
Then I realize I am the madness…
…of one glorious sunset
and a thousand broken souls:
admirer of one,
curse of the other,
and my heart is often
not large enough
for either one.
Filed under poetry by author
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