Welcome to the May 9, 2012 edition of the book marketing blog carnival. We have several interesting posts for you about writing, book publishing, book marketing and more.

Our next carnival will be posted on Wed., May 23, 2012. Deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. CT on Mon., May 21, 2012. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the book marketing blog carnival using our carnival submission form.

We are also accepting articles for publication here at http://SellingBooks.com/. Check out this information on how to submit your publishing articles, then send us your best!

Marketing and Online Marketing

Joel Friedlander presents Author Blogging 101: Finding Time for Blogging — The Book Designer posted at Joel Friedlander.

Sarah Bolme presents Walking Advertisements posted at Marketing Christian Books.

Laura Edgar presents 4 No-Brainer SEO Moves posted at NerdWallet Blog – Credit Card Watch, saying, “These four small moves can make a huge difference in how your company succeeds in presenting itself to search engines and to people.”

Jackson James presents Pinterest Traffic Tips – How to go Viral on Pinterest posted at How to Get Real Pinterest Followers, saying, “Pinterest was introduced in the year 2010 and is managed by Cold Brew Labs based in Palo Alto, California. This is basically a social networking website that binds its users through pictures and videos. It would not be wrong if we call pinterest an online scrapbook where you can pin pictures or videos from YouTube. You can choose a particular topic or theme like weddings or Christmas and upload pictures relating to them and pin them on pinterest and get a lot of traffic”

Joel Friedlander presents Author Blogging 101: Listening to Your Readers — The Book Designer posted at Joel Friedlander.

Anna Farmery presents Show 382 – Calculating return on social influence posted at The Engaging Brand, saying, “Social influence is becoming more and more important in marketing your book”

Ivan Ong presents Top PPV Network Trafficvance Holiday Gift | My Online Journey To Become A Super Affiliate posted at make money online Singapore, saying, “Surprised! Today i received a mail from Federal Express and its a bulky item… I thought maybe W4 has sent me another gift for my ‘outstanding’ performance but it was not… Its a surprise gift from Trafficvance – the top ppv network. This is the first time i have ever received a gift from them and its really cool. Previously, all i received were well wishes card from them”

Laura Dawson presents Conquer Headlines and Shine! posted at Design Quotes Digital Marketing Blog ~ Design Quotes Blog ~ Digital Marketing Blog, saying, “Writing great content is enough of a challenge in itself, without the possibility that it may not even be read – all because your headline sucks. Learn how to put a new spin on old headline formulas.”

Writing and Publishing

Kathy Stinson presents “An Intimate Examination of Sock Fluff” Part 5 posted at Turning the Pages, saying, “The next excerpt from my Packaging Your Imagination keynote in a series that started in December 2011…”

Chase Dumont presents How to Build Suspense posted at Terrifying Tales, saying, “A how-to on suspense writing, this piece breaks down the formulas employed by investigative journalists and horror movies to show you how to craft your suspense-filled tales.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the book marketing blog carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Welcome to the April 25, 2012 edition of the book marketing blog carnival. We have several interesting posts for you about writing, book publishing, book marketing and more.

Our next carnival will be posted on Wed., May 9, 2012. Deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. CT on Mon., May 7, 2012. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the book marketing blog carnival using our carnival submission form.

We are also accepting articles for publication here at http://SellingBooks.com/. Check out this information on how to submit your publishing articles, then send us your best!

Marketing and Online Marketing

Dana Lynn Smith presents Don’t Be an Anonymous Author – The Savvy Book Marketer posted at The Savvy Book Marketer.

Joel Friedlander presents Author Blogging 101: The Profit in Persistance — The Book Designer posted at Joel Friedlander.

Amanda Keight presents Using Meetup to Find Local Writers to Help Promote Your Book posted at Selling Books, saying, “Your journey as a writer might be largely independent, but finding a network of other writers can encourage your creativity and, ultimately, help publish and sell your work. Thanks to the Internet and websites like Meetup.com, you can instantly be connected to a network of other local writers, which can positively impact your career.”

Writing and Publishing

Kathy Stinson presents “An Intimate Examination of Sock Fluff” Part 5 posted at Turning the Pages, saying, “The next excerpt from my Packaging Your Imagination keynote in a series that started in December 2011…”

Sarah Bolme presents e-Reading on the Rise posted at Marketing Christian Books.

Jonathan Scott presents Four Options for Ebook Production posted at Selling Books, saying, “An eBook that’s poorly formatted, riddled with errors, or just plain difficult to read isn’t going to go viral.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the book marketing blog carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Welcome to the April 11, 2012 edition of the book marketing blog carnival. We have several interesting posts for you about writing, book publishing, book marketing and more.

Our next carnival will be posted on Wed., April 25, 2012. Deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. CT on Mon., April 23, 2012. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the book marketing blog carnival using our carnival submission form.

We are also accepting articles for publication here at http://SellingBooks.com/. Check out this information on how to submit your publishing articles, then send us your best!

Marketing and Online Marketing

Joel Friedlander presents Author Blogging 101: Simple SEO for Authors, Part 1 — The Book Designer posted at Joel Friedlander.

Sarah Bolme presents The Key to Selling Books posted at Marketing Christian Books.

Lois Roelofs presents Ten Things I Learned on My Way to Market posted at Selling Books, saying, “After you’ve told everyone about your book, including your barista, what next? Here are ten things I learned about how to sell your books.”

Writing and Publishing

R. E. Hunter presents What Happens If Your Publisher Hits the Wall? posted at Writing & Random Thoughts, saying, “An article about the risks authors face in a traditional publishing contract if their publisher declares bankruptcy.”

Kathy Stinson presents “An Intimate Examination of Sock Fluff” Part 4 posted at Turning the Pages.

Francis Awundaga presents The Resurrected Life. posted at The Life And Mr Faithful, saying, “This article will lead to the awareness of that spiritual path that can rekindle in you that money making or money spinning ability. Hence giving you the ability to enjoy a better life as an author or publisher.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the book marketing blog carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Welcome to the March 28, 2012 edition of the book marketing blog carnival.

Our next carnival will be posted on Wed., April 11, 2012. Deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. CT on Mon., April 9, 2012. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the book marketing blog carnival using our carnival submission form.

We are also accepting articles for publication here at http://SellingBooks.com/. Check out this information on how to submit your publishing articles, then send us your best!

Marketing and Online Marketing

Dan Janal presents How to Sell More Books at Conferences posted at Selling Books, saying, “At a recent conference, David Koop was racking up sales of his book to fellow attendees, even though he was a participant, not a presenting speaker. I asked David to share his tips for selling and serving.”

Jon Rhodes presents How To Make Money With E Books posted at Affiliate Help!, saying, “This article shows you all the processes involved in making and selling an e book.”

Matt Hughes presents How To Use Facebook Timeline for Brand Pages posted at Social Media Marketing by eBizUniverse, saying, “Wondering how to use the new facebook timeline feature for brands or for business pages? Before brands were able to set a custom default landing page, this was to make sure the consumers would see what you wanted them to see and forcing them to “LIKE” your page to get past the landing page.”

Writing and Publishing

Lisa de Nikolits presents Weaving Travel Into Your Fiction Writing posted at Selling Books, saying, “I’ve always loved to travel and I’ve always loved to write. And together, the two seem to be a simple recipe for almost-guaranteed publishing success.”

Ellen Herbert presents Breaking the Silence posted at Ellen Herbert, saying, ““The twinkling of an eye will take as long as I say, and will, if I wish, divide into tiny eternities, full of bullets stopped in mid-flight. Not a thing will happen unless I say so.” Wislawa Szymborska (July 2, 1923-February 1, 2012). This great poet died. The line above is from her poem, “The Joy of Writing,” one I’ve used with students like a cheer: understand the writer’s power. This power is yours when you write your truth. You can stop the bullet in mid-flight. All flesh is grass; our time short. Like the great poet we will die, but through writing we preserve what we believe is important. Out writing is the “revenge of a mortal hand.” Wislawa Szymborska was born in Poland and spent the end of her life in Krakow, where she was beloved. The days between her birth date and death date tell of a life lived during the twentieth century’s great struggles, the wars, hot and cold, the occupations by Nazis and Soviets, eventually communism replaced by capitalism. Yet humor not history shines through her work. In “Poetry Reading” written in 1962, she teases about being a boxer since boxing draws crowds. Only twelve of the twenty seats at her reading are taken. A few attendees are relatives, the others just folks who’ve come in to get out of the rain. “O Muse.” And yet she sings her song to the twelve. Wislawa Szymborska’s life inspires me and asks me: why do I break the silence? Do I ignore the sirens calling from market place? I must if I am to find and write my truth. My short story collection, Falling Women and Other Stories, is out. These stories were written over a 25 year period. Nine were published in women’s magazines as well as in literary magazines and zines. Three are newly published here. Ten have won awards. I love them all. They are my songs, and I sing them for you.”

Other

Henrikk Edberg presents Top 15 Most Successful Book to Movie Adaptations posted at Film Production Schools.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of book marketing carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

I’ve always loved to travel and I’ve always loved to write. And together, the two seem to be a simple recipe for almost-guaranteed publishing success. But, as with most things in life, it’s not that easy!

Imagine you have an exotic and unique yarn– you’re so excited about it and you know that whatever you create is going to be something that no one else has… but what if your garment turns out to be lovely but unwearable? It’s no good if the sweater of your dreams ends up being little more than a scarf for days when you’ll put just about any piece of fabric around your neck to stay warm.

It’s worth far more to create an amazing sweater from the most ordinary wool, than something with ill-fitting from a spectacular yarn.

And it’s the same when it comes to weaving travel into your fiction writing

I’ve learned the hard way that your novel needs to be able to stand strongly alone, without the travel bits, if it’s to be any good.

With the first draft of West of Wawa, I did it all back-to-front. I thought that the protagonist’s journey would be the thing that gripped readers from start to finish. But then, when the character was pronounced as ‘vacuous’, a comment which cut deeply, I stepped back from the book and looked at it, stripping it bare of the travel content and asking myself if the character stood up to scrutiny at all and the answer was a resounding no. She wasn’t even interesting enough for a lukewarm short story.

I decided to approach the whole thing from a different angle. I stopped thinking about the travel side of things and focused on creating a story about a young woman who faces all kinds of trials and tribulations. I created a huge amount of back story to her life, most of which never made it to the printed page. But I had figured her out in total, I knew with certainty what made her tick and that’s what made her believable in the book.

Once I had my character nicely fleshed out, only then did I plot and plan her story, paying careful attention to the classic architecture of the novel. She had peaks and valleys, plot points one and two and all the rest.

And then, only then, were the travel bit woven in.

Benny, without the travel, was worthy of a story on her own. But the travel, without Benny, wasn’t worth a fig. And then, Benny AND the travel became magical in a way, something special.

I’m currently working on my third novel, a murder mystery. I’m using a trip that I took several years ago, to Namibia, as the setting for the story. But this time I thought about things much more carefully upfront and I started with the main story, asking myself if it could stand alone. I interrogated the characters and their relationships, and only then did I weave in the travel.

Of course, I made a whole bunch of new mistakes this time! I had too many characters, too much detail of their lives and too many stories in the one novel!
I had enough stories for three novels; so worried was I that the story wouldn’t stand by itself.

Hence my current project, the rewriting and editing of the murder mystery. I’ve cut 33 000 words already by pruning little asides that, while interesting, bring no value to the core story.

But that’s the joy of writing – that there’s always something new to learn! One other temptation with travel writing, is to include too many fascinating facts that one comes across while doing research about a region. You have to learn to be really ruthless; after all you’re writing a fiction novel and you’re spinning a good tale, not giving a history less.

I hope that this blog post helps others avoid the pitfalls and potholes that I fell into, but most of all, let’s never forget that being on the journey is the best gift of all.

Lisa de Nikolits is the author of West of Wawa. Visit her website at www.lisadenikolitswriter.com for reviews, comments, photographs and more.

Welcome to the March 14, 2012 edition of the book marketing blog carnival.

Our next carnival will be posted on Wed., March 28, 2012. Deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. CT on Mon., March 26, 2012. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the book marketing blog carnival using our carnival submission form.

We are also accepting articles for publication here at http://SellingBooks.com/. Check out this information on how to submit your publishing articles, then send us your best!

Marketing and Online Marketing

Joel Friedlander presents Author Blogging 101: Linking for Traffic — The Book Designer posted at Joel Friedlander.

Reviews

Sergeant P presents Modern Marine Corps Reading List | Modern Marine Corps posted at Modern Marine Corps.

Writing and Publishing

Kathy Stinson presents “An Intimate Examination of Sock Fluff” Part 3 posted at Turning the Pages.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of book marketing carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

I often hear CEOs saying that as the market has been so badly hit by the recession, they can’t really afford to take time out to write a book. My response is quite simply, you can’t afford not to! It’s precisely when times get tough that customers start scrutinising their purchases and looking for the best value for their money. In a market that is already competitive, shrinking demand means fewer pounds flowing around, and those pounds will go to the exceptional companies, those that stand out.

I write this because time and time again I see truly inspirational thought leaders lurking in the shadows when they should be up their on their soapbox, demonstrating why they are the leading light in their field.

In a downturned market, executives should be making a big impact by being bold and opiniated in order to stand out in an increasingly competitive environment. Business leaders and executives need to be able to share experiences and knowledge and more importantly be able to share their wisdom and views on key issues within the market if they are to rise above their competition.

Quite simply, if you don’t have have a speaking, writing and publishing strategy, you are not fulfilling your responsibility as leaders. In the current economic climate you need to be bold and opinionated and if not, well you simply shouldnt even bother.

No ghostwriting please!

Customers want to hear the executive’s own beliefs, in his/her own words. This doesn’t mean CEOs should go out and look for a ghostwriter to do the hard work from them though! It’s a common misconception that using a ghostwriter will save a significant amount of time. To achieve a really accurate portrayal of the topic, the executive would need to spend time briefing the writer, then looking at various drafts making comments and amendments and reviewing it again.

With the right plan, structure, techniques and guidance, anyone can write a great book in as little as 40 hours. If an executive is not willing to invest 40 hours in strategic thinking, planning and writing, I would have my doubts about his/her leadership and vision in the first place.

Marketing is not enough!

It is impossible to delegate the critical task of thought leadership to your marketing department. Differentiation can obviously be achieved with marketing, but to get real competitive advantage, a CEO needs to get vocal as well. What we need is REAL thought leadership, which asserts the executive’s views and opinions on important issues and provides a vision that inspires confidence in that company.

Think about the business leaders that stand out in your mind. Chances are, they have been writing, speaking and quoted in the market. Being visible and vocal is the only way to raise your credibility and stand out from the crowd. It goes beyond strategic marketing, this way you get your own voice heard. It shows faith in yourself and your brand and that is very attractive to a customer.

What we need is real thought leadership, which asserts the executive’s views and opinions on important issues and provides a vision that inspires confidence in that company.

There was much said about Barack Obama’s presidential election and what is was about him that made him so likeable to the public. As time had passed, much of that same character is still there, although shades have been influenced by the practical day to day realities of his tenure. But ultimately, it was his openness and willingness to be vulnerable that helped people to relate to him and see him as a trusted leader in way that others had failed to do. He was prepared to be bold and opinionated and ruffle the feathers of others to stand up for what he believed was right.

It is this kind of boldness that will carry others towards their successes, if they are willing to embrace it.