Going Indie: 4 Tips Indie Hip-Hop Group Macklemore Can Teach Authors

April 30, 2013 by 6 Comments
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We lurrrrve Macklemore.           In the past six months, indie hip-hop group Macklemore (Ben Haggerty & Ryan Lewis) has become HUGE. Not Harry-Potter-over-two-decades huge, but they’re certainly inching on Hunger-Games-over-five-years huge. “Thrift Shop,” a funky little ear worm that has everyone talking about poppin’ tags, has dominated YouTube waves with nearly 250 million views as of today and has gone platinum. Macklemore is the first indie group (an artist or group without the backing of a major record label) in nearly two decades to top the Billboard charts with “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us”; another hit, “Same Love” celebrates same-sex marriage, becoming a standard protest/civil rights anthem. Another hit on their 2012 album The Heist is a track called “Jimmy Iovine,” based on the legendary… [read more]

Filed Under: Audience, Authorpreneur, Branding, Fun, Indie Publishing, Kickstarter, Literary Trends, Media, Self-publishing, Social Media, Technology, Traditional Publishing, Twitter, YouTube Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

3 Ways to Market Your Book RIGHT NOW!

April 9, 2013 by 8 Comments
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If you’re an indie author, you know that writing, publishing, and marketing your book is an incredibly busy job, and one that really doesn’t end once the book is out. In fact, this job doesn’t end as long as you still want your book out into the world. Book publishing is kind of like parenting–it’s not like your job ends after the nesting and delivery process, because then you have to raise your child. The fact is, YOU ARE ONE PERSON! You can only do, in one day, what one person is capable of doing in a day. Also, remember that life you had? With the friends, spouse, kids (real–not paper or e-ink), pets, etc.? Yeah, they’re still important. So… [read more]

Filed Under: Blogging, Book Marketing, Content, Guest Post, Self-publishing, Social Media, Twitter Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Making Time for a Dream: Interview with Mystery Author Deborah K. Jensen

April 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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never did I think that I wanted to or could write a novel. But the gift of a dream was given to me… This week, we were fortunate enough to sit down with Deborah K. Jensen, an inspiring indie author with a killer book called Beyond Escape, an exciting new novel based on a true story with family secrets, betrayal, murder, and lust. She shared with us how she melded this true story with one of fiction, and how she found time to make her dream a reality.   1) You’ve been writing for many years. Did you always want to write mysteries? When I was a young girl, I fell in love with the idea of writing and told my… [read more]

Filed Under: Author Interview, Authorpreneur, Book Marketing, Indie Publishing, Motivational, Self-publishing, Social Media, Twitter, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The 140-Character Twitter Novel

January 18, 2013 by 6 Comments
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              This past fall, the Guardian posted a great little article in which they featured 21 well-known authors using a Twitter post to write a novel. The challenge proved to be very provocative, funny, and interesting! A few of our favorites:   Ian Rankin: I opened the door to our flat and you were standing there, cleaver raised. Somehow you’d found out about the photos. My jaw hit the floor. Jeffrey Archer: “It’s a miracle he survived,” said the doctor. “It was God’s will,” said Mrs Schicklgruber. “What will you call him?” “Adolf,” she replied. Helen Fielding: OK. Should not have logged on to your email but suggest if going on marriedaffair.com don’t use… [read more]

Filed Under: #hashtags, Content, Social Media, Twitter, Writing, Writing Prompts, Writing Tips Tagged With: , , , , ,

Indie Author Blogging 101: Simple Tips for Your Blog

November 12, 2012 by 3 Comments
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An author we work with emailed us last week, hoping we could give her a few tips for her blog. Of course, we’re fairly new to the blogging game, but as we crafted our response to her, we had to admit that we’ve learned a lot in a short time. If you’re an author (or planning on being one) you should have a blog.  Blogs engage your audience and help solidify your place as a player. A blog doesn’t have to keep you from writing. Some author bloggers post once or twice a week and that’s absolutely fine. Here’s the advice we gave to our newbie indie author who had just launched her blog: 1. Add your Twitter (and other… [read more]

Filed Under: Blogging, Indie Publishing, Social Media, Twitter Tagged With: , ,

Our 10 Favorite Author Twitter Homepages

September 17, 2012 by 4 Comments
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If you’re an author and on Twitter, integrating your book with your homepage is a must. Your Twitter homepage is great real estate to showcase your book. What we’ve found is that there are tons of authors who are not taking advantage of their Twitter homepage. If you do, you’ll likely stand out and be noticed. You’ll be the savvy author who went the extra mile. Here are ten authors who fall in that category. We love what they’ve done with their Twitter homepage and how they have creatively incorporated their books. Let’s use them as our inspiration. @TheWriterMama, Christina Katz     @RachelintheOC, Rachel Thompson       @DirtyWhiteCandy, Roz Morris       @Scott_Fox, Scott Fox    … [read more]

Filed Under: Book Marketing, Social Media, Twitter Tagged With: , ,

3 Online Tools that Make Publishing Your Book Easier

September 5, 2012 by 5 Comments
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As we are still tirelessly striving to get The Indie Author Revolution to the printer, it’s been easy to sulk about the challenges: it took longer than we thought, we hated compiling those endnotes, and there was not enough time to hire five more editors…the usual. However, there’s a lot to be thankful for, including the fact that there would have been more hiccups and time wasted had we not used a few tools. These tools surprised us and really came in handy. So here goes: 1. Evernote There’s not enough we could say about how wonderful this tool is. Evernote is the ultimate clipboard. Consider it your very own personal assistant. It captures articles, videos, notes, and details for your book… [read more]

Filed Under: #hashtags, Technology, Twitter, Writing Tagged With: , , ,

3 Reasons Your Tweets Are Not Working!

July 20, 2012 by 1 Comment
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You think you’re doing everything right–multiple tweets per week, retweeting the right people, using #hashtags, sharing interesting articles–but it doesn’t seem to be gaining you any new followers. Or maybe you’re just not tweeting the right way because you’re not into it…yet. Below are 5 reasons your tweets alone might not be working! Reason #1: You aren’t promoting others The culture of Twitter is very much tit-for-tat. The more you support others, the more they will support you. It’s easy to fall into the mindset that you have to be promoting yourself all the time. In reality, Twitter is a tool you should be using to find allies! To find allies who will support you, you need to reach out and show… [read more]

Filed Under: #hashtags, Pitching, Social Media, Twitter Tagged With: , , , , , ,

15 Fill-In-the-Blank Blog Ideas for Every Authorpreneur

July 18, 2012 by 3 Comments
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Does it ever happen to you that you’ve got a blog entry to write and . . . nothing comes? Below are 15 blog ideas (and examples) that any authorpreneur can quickly fill in with the themes and needs of their own markets! Use them for FREE! 1. The 10 Best-Kept Secrets for Reaching ________ (The 10 Best-Kept Secrets for Reaching CEOs) 2. The Top 5 Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before ________ (The Top 5 Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before Sending Your Manuscript) 3. 6 Rules You Can Break when Trying to ________ (6 Rules You Can Break when Trying to Make Sales Online) 4. 20 Twitter Hashtags for ________ (20 Twitter Hashtags for Reaching Readers) 5. The… [read more]

Filed Under: Blogging, Social Media, Twitter, Writing Prompts Tagged With: , , ,

Revamp Your Twitter Page in 7 Days!

June 22, 2012 by 3 Comments
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Twitter is a wonderful yet overwhelming beast. When used properly, it will be one of the greatest tools in your arsenal for making new connections, building relationships with readers, and becoming an established voice in your topic/genre. When used improperly (i.e. not really used all that much), your Twitter page with 67 followers and 93 Tweets over the course of 6 months is going to do more harm than good! A Twitter page like that sends potential followers the message that you don’t take it seriously; if you don’t take it seriously, they figure you must not be that professional or that much of an expert, and definitely not worth their follow. A moment for sympathizing: I get it. I… [read more]

Filed Under: #hashtags, Blogging, Book Marketing, Branding, Social Media, Technology, Twitter Tagged With: , , ,
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