Posts by Jane Friedman
I think we can all agree that every author has a distinct writing voice or style, and that—over time—authors usually develop stronger and more confident voices.
What is acknowledged less often is how every author has (or should have) a distinct marketing voice and approach.
Sometimes, because we have less experience with marketing, or feel uncomfortable with the practice, we brace ourselves, even change ourselves, to engage in the activity.
This is good for nobody.
Think about it carefully. Do you adopt a totally different persona or voice when it’s time to market and promote? Of course you might put on your marketer’s hat to brainstorm ideas about marketing strategy, but those ideas ought to be expressed and executed by the “real” you, not a stilted, rational, or smarmy marketer version of you.
If you’re on the right path, it means you have a distinctive approach that can’t be copied by anyone else. Let’s look at a few examples.
John Green. Here’s a YA author who capitalizes on YouTube videos as a marketing and platform device. He does it in partnership with his brother. Were these guys born to perform in front of the camera? Yes. Could any author pull this off? No.
Jeanne Bowerman. She’s well known as the #twitterpimpangel. She talks about tequila a lot. She throws Rolos. She is unfailingly supportive and helpful to writers. She has a great story to tell about how she got where she is today. Is her story and approach replicable by any other author? No.
Chuck Wendig. For anyone active in the online writing community, you probably know Chuck already. He describes his website/blog as “unmercifully profane.” He adds, “It is not for children. Frankly, it’s probably not even for adults.” Would a bunch of authors even want to pull off what Chuck does? No. But it works for Chuck.
I could give dozens of examples, and show you how an author’s unique personality directly plays into their marketing and platform building approach. However, easier said than done. Why?
Read MorePlatform!
Craft!!
Platform!!
It’s a debate that might span eternity: how much time should you devote to writing versus platform building?
I don’t know if there was ever a real beginning to this debate, but if so, it was when editors and agents started telling nonfiction authors that their book was only viable if a platform was in place. Which made sense for technological and cultural reasons. Take the ease of word processing and affordable personal computers, add Baby Boomers with free time to pursue their dreams, and presto! Suddenly there were more people than ever trying to write a book and get it published, with limited skills and experience, and often no credentials.
So what does a well-meaning agent or editor say to one of these people? The easiest thing to say is: You need a platform.
Fast forward a decade or two, and we now live inside an unending media conversation wheel, where anyone can find a niche readership, do solid work on building a platform, and even put writing on the backburner—and still reasonably claim to be a writer.
I think there’s a backlash against some of these people, which I understand. It’s applying the entrepreneurial, get-rich-quick Tim Ferriss mindset to the world of literature, where we tend to believe that blood, sweat, and tears (and rejection) are demanded before you gain recognition.
Plus: Real writers write. (Right?) They don’t tweet, they don’t blog, they don’t connect with readers, at least not joyfully.
I exaggerate, but you know the people I’m talking about.
The horrible catch is—at least for beginning writers without fame and fortune, who are starting their careers in a transitioning industry—focusing on your writing work to the exclusion of all else can hamper you later down the road. If you shut yourself away and don’t learn to navigate the online world (the personalities, the flow of conversations, the tools), you’re terribly disadvantaged when it comes time to get a publisher, market your work, and find readers.
Excellent arguments reside on each side of this debate, which often boil down to: “Writing is all that matters,” and “audience is all that matters.”
But the truth is a little different for each of us, and that’s why it’s next to impossible to give general advice on platform. It necessarily varies based on the author and the work in question.
But it does rip me apart to hear very new writers feel anxious that they can’t figure out their platform, especially when they have not a single book or credit to their name.
Well, it’s not a mystery why platform is so confusing when you don’t know who you are yet as a writer!
This has been a very long preface to what I’d like to offer: a set of general guidelines to help any writer understand how to balance writing with platform building.
Balance is the key word here.
Focusing on your writing probably means spending 10%-25% of your available writing time on platform activities. I never recommend abandoning platform activities entirely, because you want to be open to new possibilities. Being active online—while still focused on your writing—could mean finding a new mentor or the perfect critique partner, connecting with an important influencer, or pursuing a new writing retreat or fellowship opportunity.
Without further ado, the […]
Read MoreHave the following thoughts ever crossed your mind?
Okay, maybe not that last one. But new authors often believe their potential audience is very broad.
I don’t want to squelch anyone’s ambitions, but this attitude does not make for a workable marketing strategy.
You may have dreams of reaching millions, but to reach millions, you have to start with the people who are your target market or demographic. Or, you have to think like a marketer:
Read MoreSometimes writers express sentiments that make me want to issue a red-flag warning: STOP. You are about to hurt yourself. Here are five of the biggest ones.
1. If I can’t get a deal soon, I’m self-publishing.
Why are you in a rush? Does your book have an expiration date? Even if your book is timely, should you invest in a book project that has a very short life span? Will you be able to get attention on your own? Is a book the best format for something that’s incredibly timely?
If you’re the type of person who is initially interested in traditional publishing, are you sure that self-publishing will satisfy you? Are you hoping to use self-publishing as a way to attract a traditional deal? If so, be careful. Self-publishing is a full-time job if you intend to build a readership. Are you ready to take on that full-time job of marketing yourself? Do you know who you’re marketing to? Do you know how to market to them?
I worry for authors whose back-up plan is self-publishing. I worry they will be disappointed if they are not genuinely committed to it.
2. I just want to get my book published.
This is the sister attitude to No. 1. It leads to all kinds of bad decisions, such as:
Read MoreAs a frequent speaker, one question I can count on, in every setting—no matter the topic, event, or audience skill level—is:
How do you find the time to do all this?
“All this” refers to writing, blogging, marketing, promoting, social media, website building, blogging, traveling, speaking, plus my day job of university professor. The question comes up so often that I wonder what kind of secret people think I’m hiding, like …
Up until now, I’ve never had a good answer for people who asked this question. I sleep, eat, watch TV, and have downtime like everyone else.
But I’ve been meditating on what helpful advice I might have that doesn’t involve miraculous scientific advances or large inheritances.
Here are 5 strategies.
1. Decide what you’ll stop doing—and I’m not talking about TV.
Read MoreI wish they taught this skill to students in high school or college. Creative writing students especially need to spend a semester on it, but never do. You’d think publishers would deliver a 101 guide on it for their authors, though I’m not sure the publishers themselves always know anything about it.
The skill is copywriting. What is copywriting? According to Copyblogger, one of the top sites dedicated to the subject:
Copywriting is one of the most essential elements of effective online marketing. The art and science of direct-response copywriting involves strategically delivering words (whether written or spoken) that get people to take some form of action.
Here are 3 primary ways that copywriting becomes essential to your success as an author.
1. Writing query letters, synopses, and other submission materials
This is the classic form of copywriting that most writers engage in. A query letter is not a straightforward description of your work. It’s a sales letter. It should be persuasive and seduce the agent into requesting your work.
And this is why writers struggle with queries, because they can’t bridge the gap between writing to entertain (or inform or inspire) and writing to persuade. It’s a different mindset, and it requires an ability to look at one’s work as a product that has a selling point. (If you need more information on how to formulate a hook, click here.)
I used to have a boyfriend who spent 10 years in sales. What I learned from him is that it’s not about succeeding on your first try or even with the majority of tries. It’s about making the highest number of tries with the best prospects, then bouncing back quickly from rejection.
Unfortunately, most writers’ egos are fragile, and they can’t see the query process as one of the oldest practices in human history—a sales practice where rejection is commonplace.
So, adopt the mindset of a copywriter. You can’t convince everybody, so just convince one person who’s a good match for what you’re offering. (But make sure you deliver the quality goods you promised!)
2. Writing copy for your website and social media profiles
Read MoreThere’s incredible emphasis these days on how authors have more power and control than ever in deciding how and when to publish.
And I am guilty of propagating this message far and wide. You can find it mentioned in nearly interview I give. Why? Because it’s true. Technology has enabled us all to be active creators and distributors, without needing anyone’s permission or approval.
However …
There’s something I teach my students in media ethics called The Golden Mean. Aristotle believed that we ought to strive for the middle between extremes as a way of finding our virtue.
I worry that all this proselytizing about empowerment is starting to become so pervasive that writers now assume there’s nothing that a publisher offers that they could possibly need. Or that professional help would have little or no impact on the quality of their work or future career.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Here are three reasons why.
1. You’re not pushed to higher quality.
Working with professionals should challenge you. It should raise the bar. You’ll probably feel some doubts about the quality of your work. This is a good thing. Professionals usually understand and build off your strengths, and minimize the appearance of your weaknesses.
One of first things I teach my writing students is you need someone you trust to push you—to tell you where things aren’t working. Most people don’t have that gift of being so distant from their work that they can see objectively where it’s succeeding or failing. Even the writers who DO have that power usually have decades of experience and self-knowledge—from being pushed.
Yes, my argument does mean: To develop to your maximum potential, you need someone to create a little discomfort.
2. To compete amidst all the noise and distraction, we need the most professional quality possible.
Read MoreKnowing how to effectively market your e-book can be a challenge if you don’t have any formal education or professional experience in sales and marketing. Plus, these days, the default strategy seems to be “I’ll use social media.” But that’s not a strategy, it’s a tool.
When I teach the basics of marketing communication to e-media majors, we start by discussing the marketing mix, also known as the 4 Ps. Some say this model is outdated, but it’s still a useful way to begin a discussion about marketing a product.
This is not an exhaustive list of all the possible facets of the 4Ps, but it helps give you an idea of what comprises each.
Aside from having a quality e-book (Product), probably the most talked about factors for selling an e-book are:
There are a host of other factors that you ought to consider as well. Here’s a basic checklist.
PRODUCT
Read MoreThere’s only one thing for sure in this life: Things change.
I tend to be a champion of change. Whenever I hear people say, “Not all change is good,” I feel like challenging them. How do you know? Can you see all possible ends of change? Why not make an opportunity out of it?
Yes, I can be naively optimistic sometimes.
When it comes to personal change, though, I feel protective of what story gets told about it. As writers, we should be super-cognizant of the power of storytelling in our own lives. The stories we tell about our lives become our lives. (I love how Garrison Keillor describes this power in this commencement speech.)
Plus the stories we tell about ourselves send signals to others about how they should respond and treat us. (Remember this!)
So, my story is this: I decided to step away from my Writer’s Digest blog, There Are No Rules, and it’s an important, necessary, and hugely beneficial change for anyone who’s been following my advice.
I didn’t make this change without considerable deliberation and conversation with people I trust. I take my connection to Writer’s Digest seriously, even though I am no longer publisher. Writer’s Digest has been part of my professional identity for more than a decade now.
So it did feel a little scary to contemplate my existence out in the writing/publishing advice world without the Writer’s Digest name behind me. It’s the reason people started listening to me, so now I worry that people will stop listening.
But I believe my name has proven trustworthy on its own.
And most importantly, I now have better ownership and can put more investment into the content I develop. Before, it wasn’t possible to wholeheartedly pursue what uniquely defines my take on the writing, publishing, and media world because of old expectations and frameworks.
So I hope you’ll join me at my new blogging home, JaneFriedman.com. If you’ve been subscribing to No Rules, it’s time to reset your feeds/alerts.
Photo courtesy Flickr’s ~Brenda-Starr~
Read MoreI’ve written a great deal about why social media might not sell books, and how your efforts at audience development impacts your career.
I’d like to take a new twist on this familiar topic, and speak specifically about why your online marketing might not be working—assuming you’ve reached the point where your intent is to sell something.
1. It’s not personal. None of us like impersonal message blasts. I’m going to assume you’re already smart enough not to do that. But you can still be impersonal with a one-on-one message. How? You don’t actually personalize the message, or think about the needs of the person on the receiving end. You might be using a stilted or sales-y approach that turns people off. You may send messages based on the bullhorn approach, where you yell, and everyone else is supposed to listen.
Instead, try something interactive, engaging, or personalized. Try being a human being. Don’t change who you are or what you do when you market. Better yet, don’t see it as “marketing,” at which point you might turn on your fake marketing voice.
2. You’re too noisy.
Read MoreIn the current issue of Writer’s Digest magazine (July/August 2011), I have a featured article, “Revising Your Path to Publication.”
If you’re aiming for traditional publication, and you’re wondering how close you might be to reaching your goral, I highly recommend picking up the issue and reading my article to evaluate where you are on the path.
Most writers I know, at some point, feel like they’re making no progress—or that it’s just not worth the effort any longer. It’s difficult to keep trying especially when you’re not getting any professional, actionable feedback on how you can get closer to your goal.
Let me tell you a little story about my own writing life.
I have a BFA in creative writing, and when I was in college, I desperately wanted the professors to tell me if I had talent. I was never brave enough to directly ask the question, but I hoped they might take me by the shoulders one day, look me in the eye, and say: “Jane, you can’t waste this gift, you must write!”
Now that I’m a professor, I realize just how irrelevant that question is. I see both talented and untalented students, but the ones who impress me are the ones who are motivated and driven to work—the ones who push hard despite obstacles. I also clearly see who has a positive attitude, and who is apathetic.
So far, these other qualities have mattered more than talent.
Outside of the classroom, when I’m in my Writer’s Digest role, many writers ask me: “Should I keep going? Do I have any talent at this?”
Boy how have I come to hate that question!
Let me tell you the five questions I find more relevant and meaningful.
Read MoreOne of my favorite bestseller stories is from Tim Ferriss, author of The Four-Hour Workweek. Just about everyone was curious how he managed to hit No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list with his first book.
Here’s what Tim says in his infamous post, How Does a Bestseller Happen?
Before I began writing […] I cold-contacted and interviewed close to a dozen best-writing authors about their writing processes, followed by close to a dozen best-selling authors about their marketing and PR campaigns. I asked several questions of the latter group, but one of the assumption-busting home runs was: “What were the 1-3 biggest wastes of time and money?”
This led me to create a “not-to-do” list. Number one was no book touring or bookstore signings whatsoever. Not a one. All of the best-selling authors warned against this author rite of passage. I instead focused on the most efficient word-of-mouth networks in the world at the time—blogs. The path to seeding the ideas of 4HWW was then straight-forward: Go where bloggers go. … Build and maintain those relationships through your own blog, too.
Pop-quiz: Do you have to blog or know bloggers to have a successful, bestselling book?
NO!
Do you need to build relationships and share knowledge with successful or authoritative people (or organizations/businesses) in your community?
YES!
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