Yep...it's Thursday and I've dedicated one day each week to host your questions. Nothing is sacred, except my weight. So...c'mon, ask those burning questions and let's see if we can find some answers.
I hate playing to an empty room, so who's first?
How does a writer keep up enthusiasm for marketing? I feel like one of those guys with a squirt bottle and a rag washing windows on cars at a stop sign hoping the driver will give them a buck.
Most of the time you only get a scowl and your foot run over when the drive steps on the gas hard to get away.
Anon: The hardest part of writing for me is Marketing. I'm not very good at tooting my own horn so it doesn't come naturally. I guess we have to develop the mentality of a car salesman and look at our book as the "loaded" model and all the added features that make it stand above the stripped down models.
It's a competitive world, and we have to continue to find creative ways to outshine the others. With the e-readers being the rage, there are more avenues for marketing, just put on your thinking cap. Anyone with suggestions, feel free to chime in.
Roseanne, I'm like you. I'm creating my own blog tour which means I'll have to send out so much stuff, but I'm going to have to prioritize and let some things go.
I feel like most of my wasted time is spent on emails...reading all the two word responses to previous posts. I'm guilty of posting them, too, but when you have three hundred emails a day, the unimportant stuff wears on your nerves. And I hate digest being on digest because of all repeated messages because none of us remember to crop.
Danielle, I would suspect we get snow after Christmas because schools allow for so many "snow days" in the school year. I honestly believe teachers gather together and "snow dance" in a circle as Indians used to do, and ask Wakan Takan to deliver lots of white stuff. They get paid for snow days so I think I'd dance, too. :)
Speaking of snow...just the mention of it brings down the entire school district here in Tennessee. I just returned from picking my grandson up an hour early because the forecast calls for flurries, or even a whole inch here. I'd go to the grocery store, but everyone is already there stocking up on water, bread, batteries, and kerosene. *lol* I'm not kidding. I'll bet the parking lots at Kroeger and Walmart are packed.
Danielle, My books are all character driven, so my muse only works when the character speaks to me. Some have been sporadic so I tend to put them away and work on another.
There was period where no one was talking to me...I must have really ticked them off, so I took a class offered by Cheryl St. John (HQ author). For the first time, I was able to stimulate conversation by suggesting something to the character that was unexpected. For instance...create a situation where your characters receives a surprise letter from someone they thought dead or missing, find a treasure in the house. In First Degree Innocence, Carrie's father showed up on prison visitation day, and she hadn't seen him since he left her mother. It gave me pages and pages of interesting writing. :) Anyone else care to offer advice? Feel free.
How does a writer keep up enthusiasm for marketing? I feel like one of those guys with a squirt bottle and a rag washing windows on cars at a stop sign hoping the driver will give them a buck.
ReplyDeleteMost of the time you only get a scowl and your foot run over when the drive steps on the gas hard to get away.
I think I'll post as Anonymous on this one.
That's a great question. It's so much harder to promo ebooks. I'm spending so much time doing blogs and other stuff, that I haven't had time to write.
ReplyDeleteHow come I have a squirrel in my back yard?
ReplyDeleteAnon:
ReplyDeleteThe hardest part of writing for me is Marketing. I'm not very good at tooting my own horn so it doesn't come naturally. I guess we have to develop the mentality of a car salesman and look at our book as the "loaded" model and all the added features that make it stand above the stripped down models.
It's a competitive world, and we have to continue to find creative ways to outshine the others. With the e-readers being the rage, there are more avenues for marketing, just put on your thinking cap. Anyone with suggestions, feel free to chime in.
Roseanne,
ReplyDeleteI'm like you. I'm creating my own blog tour which means I'll have to send out so much stuff, but I'm going to have to prioritize and let some things go.
I feel like most of my wasted time is spent on emails...reading all the two word responses to previous posts. I'm guilty of posting them, too, but when you have three hundred emails a day, the unimportant stuff wears on your nerves. And I hate digest being on digest because of all repeated messages because none of us remember to crop.
Anon 2:
ReplyDeleteI imagine the squirrel heard there are nuts in the house. :)
Ginger's response to Anon2: LOL!
ReplyDeleteYes, there are definitely nuts in the house.
I think we all know the stuff of marketing (blogs, tours, etc.), but it's not easy, it's not natural (for most of us), and it's extremely tiring.
What is the reason we have snow after Christmas? It isn't needed as far as I am concerned! LOL.
ReplyDeleteDid you ever stumble when beginning to write? I find myself starting book after book, then stumbling, stopping, and not going back to them.
ReplyDeleteDanielle,
ReplyDeleteI would suspect we get snow after Christmas because schools allow for so many "snow days" in the school year. I honestly believe teachers gather together and "snow dance" in a circle as Indians used to do, and ask Wakan Takan to deliver lots of white stuff. They get paid for snow days so I think I'd dance, too. :)
Speaking of snow...just the mention of it brings down the entire school district here in Tennessee. I just returned from picking my grandson up an hour early because the forecast calls for flurries, or even a whole inch here. I'd go to the grocery store, but everyone is already there stocking up on water, bread, batteries, and kerosene. *lol* I'm not kidding. I'll bet the parking lots at Kroeger and Walmart are packed.
Danielle,
ReplyDeleteMy books are all character driven, so my muse only works when the character speaks to me. Some have been sporadic so I tend to put them away and work on another.
There was period where no one was talking to me...I must have really ticked them off, so I took a class offered by Cheryl St. John (HQ author). For the first time, I was able to stimulate conversation by suggesting something to the character that was unexpected. For instance...create a situation where your characters receives a surprise letter from someone they thought dead or missing, find a treasure in the house. In First Degree Innocence, Carrie's father showed up on prison visitation day, and she hadn't seen him since he left her mother. It gave me pages and pages of interesting writing. :) Anyone else care to offer advice? Feel free.
Thanks for the post ginger simpson
ReplyDelete