First Word

Let's discuss an important topic when it comes to publishing a book - building your following . Many of my authors aspire to either traditionally publish their next books or attract the attention of our foreign rights agents (we have two of them). Key to both opportunities is a strong following to justify the acquisition or overseas sale of the book. So what tips and tricks can you apply to your marketing and promotion to build aforementioned following?   The easiest way to build a following is social media . Social media has different affects: it can justify the case to the agents or traditional publishers. What if your sales aren't commensurate with your following, though? Well, if you have book fan page with thousands of fans, then you can show the potential of followers interested in what you're doing. Every little bit helps. And remember this one important factor: PUBLISHERS ARE A BUSINESS! A SURE THING IS THE ONE THING THEY WANT TO INVEST IN . Pleas...

I took this photo in Alaska in front of the Indian House Restaurant. Yes, I was surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, and I snapped the daisies smiling all sunny at me. Meg Ryan said it best in the old movie You've Got Mail when she stated, "Daisies are the happiest flowers." I agree. And so moving on ... So here is another astute (and I use these terms loosely because I would wager some of you might not find my so-called wisdom "astute" anytime soon) observation about the social media world. Now I've been focused on social media a lot lately because I've put in more desk marketing time than usual this past month. So yesterday I said the new break-up methods involved new media. Today I want to point to the "new popularity contest." This so-called contests involves collecting. Collecting what? you ask. Followers! Now the business or person who collects the most followers wins! We have this whole new measurement of spe...