Your Author WebSite’s Media Page: 14 Items to Include

Above is an example of a media page from author Kathy Lynn Harris’s website. So do you need a media page (also known as a media kit?)

If you are considering a blog tour, are contacting reviewers, want to be featured on blogs, websites or your local or national newspaper/ magazine, a media page is a killer resource to have. It makes reporters and bloggers owners’ lives a ton easier (trust me I know all about this!) and this in turn means that they will be more likely to feature you.

If all the information about yourself and your book is in one place, it’s just so much easier to whip up a short post or feature. This is the aim of the media page, to cater to the media folk, so keep them in mind when building the most intuitive and informative media page possible.

Here is a list of 14 useful things you can include on it.

1. A summary of your press attention to date. This can be images and links to PR you have already received to show off a little.

2. Author Bio for Press. This is a professional yet fun summary that doesn’t include your whole life story. Keep it to under 150-300 words and make sure it’s interesting!

3. A Book Description. Short and interesting enough to be lifted and used in it’s entirety on another site or article.

4. Author Photo: Upload or attach a link to a professional, high resolution headshot. Not you at dinner with your other half or hanging out on the sofa in your Christmas sweater!

5. Book Info: The vital statistics – title, subtitle, genre, ISBN, no. of pages, formats available, publisher and release date.

6. Reviews and endorsements: This can be sentences lifted from Amazon.com reviews, or endorsements from professional reviewers or other authors/ celebrities (blurbs) if available.

7. Press releases, if any.

8. Buying information: Links to the relevant retailers.

9. Contact information. Your email address or that of a publicity rep, Twitter handle if you have one.

10. Interview topic ideas that are relevant to your book. Give the reviewer/ reporter/ site owner some food for thought.

11. News pegs. How does the book ties into contemporary issues, politics, news? Even if your book is a fiction, you can be considered an “expert” in the topics and issues presented in your story. Your personal story is bound to influence your writing, so if you’re not shy present your own experiences in relation to your book, too.

12. Sample chapter/ excerpt: (A link to) Don’t go overboard or include anything with spoilers! Enough text to pique interest is all that is needed here.

13. Book trailer/ audio file (interview)

14. Info on your target readers: Who reads and buys your books? Why? This info helps a journalist, blogger, or other potential reviewer know if you appeal to their own target audience.

And there you have it, a Media-friendly press page! It might take you a few hours to get all of this information together,  but the content will be useful for ALL of your promotional efforts, and will help you get the media attention you deserve by putting you a cut above the rest.

See my example for my book Wow! Glowing Bride in 30 Days here. See an example put together by 30 Day Books for the author Kathy Lynn Harris here.

Awesome Tools & Resources for Writers (Mainly Free) Part 4: Promoting & Marketing a Book

*This is Part 4 in the series, and is cross posted from my other site Ladies Who Critique.com*

4. Promoting a Book: 10 Sites You Can Use in Your Promotions

Image Courtesy of sellingbooks.com

*This is part 4 in the series Awesome Tools & Resources for Writers (Mostly Free). Find part 1, Writing a Book here. Part 2, Querying a Book here. Part 3: Producing a Book (for self-publishers) here.*

1. Amazon Author Central Be sure to fill out your Amazon author central profile, claim your books, import your blog and Twitter feed in order to make the most of the free profile Amazon offers you.

2. Vistaprint Create marketing materials such as bookmarks, business cards, Tshirts, pens & fliers for a low cost at Vistaprint.com.

3. CafePress- Merchandise can be designed and ordered in a print on demand fashion, at CafePress. This can help with offline PR efforts, and is a lot of fun too! For example, here is the CafePress Ladies Who Critique shop.

4. YouTube: Make a video blog (vlog) or book trailer and upload it to a YouTube channel for free. Make it interesting or entertaining and it might just go viral.

(You can read this great article from NovelPublicity about the why and how of book promotion on YouTube).

5. Quibblo: Quibblo online quizzes are a great way to introduce your characters and story to potential readers. Create character quizzes, fun surveys, polls & personality quizzes. Make your own quiz for your blog or Facebook.

 6. HARO.com - Help a Reporter Out – “No such thing as free PR? Over 50000 journalists use HARO to locate experts for on-air interviews, article quotes and more.” If your book is non-fiction, or has some non-fiction PR angles, be sure to read the HARO emails each day where journalists and other media peops send out requests for experts or people with knowledge in a certain field to quote. That could well be you!

7. Animoto.com: Animoto is a slide show software that allows you to add pictures and music – a great, low budget way of making book trailers. It’s free for up to 30 seconds, longer videos are available for a low cost.

See an example book trailer made with Animoto.com.

8. Blogging platforms: WordPress is my platform of choice (very customizable and flexible – Ladies Who Critique is hosted on WordPress), Blogger is also a popular (and free) option.

If you want a great resource to learn how and what to blog about in order to create a successful blog, I suggest Kristen Lamb’s Are You There Blog, It’s Me Writer.

9. Email marketing services: Mailchimp/ Constant Contact are both great services for emailing several people at once; perfect for author newsletters or for spreading news about your writing/ books and keeping a complete list of subscribers. Mailchimp is my fave, plus it’s free up to 2000 contacts.

Here is an article from Joanna Penn of the Creative Penn on building an email list for author marketing.

10. Reddit: Users add news links, but these don’t really have to be “news” in the traditional sense. You can upload links to your latest blogpost, photos, or anything that might be of interest. Votes by other users promote stories to the front page (but you can also be voted down so be sure to add something of value!) Great for promoting your own articles and news. As a writer, be sure to join these groups: writing, nanowrimo, selfpublish, books, literature.

 The next post in this series will cover social media sites you can use in your promotions: stay tuned post-Thanksgiving!

Awesome Tools & Resources for Writers (Mostly Free) | Part 3: Producing & Creating – Self-Publishing – a Book

*This is part 3 in the series Awesome Tools & Resources for Writers (Mostly Free) and is cross posted from my site Ladies Who Critique.com. Find part 1, Writing a Book here. Part 2, Querying a Book here.*

3. Producing a Book (for independent & self-published wannabes)

The independence that self-publishing has created is wonderful. Many companies and services have jumped on the bandwagon trying to sell their services and help converting and producing printed books and eBooks. While there is some merit (and certainly convenience) in these services it is possible for those on a tight budget to produce both paperback and digital formats. Here are some great links to get you started:

1. Print on Demand Companies: (e.g. Createspace, Lulu, Lightning Source) Print on Demand (POD) services allow you to print as many or as few copies of your book as you like, have it dropshipped and therefore eliminate the need for a publisher or physical stock. The most common and well regarded companies are:

- Createspace (My preferred POD company)

- Lulu

- Lightning Source

Great How-To:  How to Publish a Book Using Createspace, by Karen McQuestion

2. eBook Conversion:

Sigil: “Sigil is a multi-platform WYSIWYG ebook editor. It is designed to edit books in ePub format” For Kindle, and it’s FREE!

eBookburn: “eBookBurn.com is a full-featured eBook creation tool that’s also simple to use. Sign Up Now! It’s Free! No Programming Required”

Kindleprocessor: Kindle formatting conversion for 99 cents.

3. Book Cover Design: I strongly suggest hiring a fantastic book cover designer to produce a cover that looks as professional and pleasing as possible. For great tips on what this involves, get familiar with Joel Friedlanders site, The Book Designer. For those who have some graphic designer skills and/or really cannot afford a professional’s help, royalty -free/ low cost images are available from:

Graphic River.net

istockphoto.com

Dreamstime.com

Bigstock.com

The Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog

4. Publishing Digitally

- Publishing on the Amazon Kindle: https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin

- How to Publish on Kindle (by Amazon) You Tube Video

- Publishing on Barnes & Noble Nook: www.pubit.com

- Smashwords: For publishing on other eBook retailers and platforms (Kobo, iStore, Sony and more) I suggest converting your manuscript for Smashwords (the infamous meatgrinder is notoriously difficult to format for, but please see below for “easier” guidelines) http://www.smashwords.com

- The Official Smashwords Style Guide – http://www.smashwords.com/books/download/52/1/latest/0/0/smashwords-style-guide.pdf

- The Shorter, Easier, Non-Migraine Inducing Version of Smashwords Style Guide (by Catherine Ryan Howard) http://catherineryanhoward.com/2010/09/06/how-to-format-your-e-book-the-non-migraine-inducing-way/

- Catherine Ryan Howard An eBook Checklist – amazing!  – http://catherineryanhoward.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/ebook-checklist.pdf

As always, let me know if I missed anything!

Awesome Tools & Resources for Writers (Mostly Free) | Part 2: Querying a Book

*This is part two in the series Awesome Tools & Resources for Writers (Mostly Free) and is cross posted from my other site, LadiesWhoCritique.com. Find part 1, Writing a Book here.*

2. Querying a Book

The best way to become familiar with what it is agents & publishers are looking at is to get the inside scoop, and these links are a great place to start. Bookmark these sites and blogs!!!

- Nathan Bransford Nathan is a former literary agent turned author and his site still has a ton of resources for authors seeking literary agents – where does he find the time?

- Query Shark Read about queries being critiqued and never make the same mistake again!

- Writer’s Digest’s Guide to Literary Agents Find literary agents and what they’re looking for here.

- Ask Daphne KT Literary’s very own Daphne answers readers query questions.

- Miss Snark’s First Victim This mystery blogger was the former query-critiquing queen, Miss Snark’s, fist victim! Now she took all that good advice and critiques excerpts and queries.

- The Public Query Slushpile Have your query letter critiqued by the public – there is no literary agent on this site, it’s up to visitors to comment, hence the “public” query slushpile.

- QueryTracker A list of 9000+ authors and the literary agents who represent them, or who have represented them in the past.

Articles about QueryingHow to write a Query Letter: by Gary Smailes

How to write a Book Proposal: by Gary Smailes

How Do I find an Agent?  by Gary Smailes

Chuck Sambucino’s Guide to Literary Agents Blog

Ten Factors to Consider When Writing Book ProposalsA list of successful query letters from different authors. Thanks to Matthew MacNish of the QQQE for putting this together!

What Not to Say in a Query, by Rachelle Gardner

 As always, don’t forget to share any tools or resources about querying that you have found of use in the comments below. Muchos gracias!

Awesome Tools & Resources for Writers | Part 1: Writing a Book

Image Courtesy of maryloukayser.com

One of my aims when I started Ladies Who Critique was to help empower writers to understand the latest technology and keep up with the current trends. With new resources and services popping up each day, it’s hard to stay on top of it all.

Just this morning I spoke to a retired writer who was feeling overwhelmed by the current technology and Internet tools that he hears about and reads about, but doesn’t truly understand or see the value in.

Over the next few days I am going to give an overview of some of the online tools, resources and sites that as a writer I use regularly and find incredibly helpful in my writing, publishing and promoting. I will cover each one briefly, including links to the best explanations I can find on how to use them effectively.

If you are ever feeling unsure on how to use one of these resources and wish to learn more, please don’t hesitate to get in touch and I’ll help you out where and when I can. Here are the blogposts scheduled for the next week or so:

1. Writing a Book: 11/17

2. Querying a Book: 11/18

3. Producing a Book: 11/19

4. Promoting a Book: 11/21

5. Social Media: 11/22

6. Monitoring Sales: 11/23

1. Writing a Book

1. 750 words a day

If you are struggling to write each day, 750 words.com might be just the accountability you need. It’s super cute, fun and if you are competitive, it might help that there is a leader board to egg you on.

Log on first thing in the morning, and get writing. You can even join one of the 10 day or  1 month challenges and receive a badge of honor when you are done.

750words.com/

2. Online Cloud Storage

Some people are diligent enough to back up their writing and work on an external hard drive or USB pen. For the rest of us, online cloud storage such as Dropbox and Google docs allows us not only to back up our work in case of any computer disasters, but also to retrieve the documents from any computing device, anywhere in the world. No longer do you have to juggle multiple copies of the same file; just work with one master file and edit it from anywhere. (Oh yeah, you can also use it to collaborate with others – perfect!)

Links:

Dropbox (You get 2 GB free)

Google Docs (1GB free)

iCloud is also available for those using Apple products.

3. Evernote

Jot down notes wherever you are! Evernote is a free note taking system that is great for us writers to sketch out outlines and jot down ideas for later use. Use it on your smartphone or computer, on the go or mulling over a cup of coffee at you local coffee house.

4. Writespace

Writespace (for Windows) is a fullscreen writing environment which creates a distraction-free environment in order for you to focus on your words and not get sidetracked by facebook & so on. It has a built in spell check as well, yay! If you use a Mac, Write Room is a similar program. Download the software for free and enjoy the peace and quiet.

5. Grammar Girl

Grammar queen Mignon Fogarty provides “quick and dirty tips” for better writing over on grammar.quickanddirtytips.com. Even the best writers make common grammar mistakes that only a fantastic editor will catch. Learn what they are here.

6. Story Starting Ideas

If you are in need of a prompt or two to get you started, Story Starter.com can help!

p.s. If you want have children to keep entertained over the holidays, there is even a StoryStarter for Kids…

7. Visuwords

On Visuwords, look up words to find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts. Visual diagrams show you how the connections and associations are made, helping you to expand your vocabulary, fast.

8. Ladies Who Critique!

Well I may be a teeny bit biased but… in all seriousness a good critique partner is essential for better writing. In fact I wrote a post for NovelPublicity.com this week about that very thing (Does My Manuscript Look Fat in This?) If Ladies Who Critique is not for you (and please remember that men are ALWAYS welcome!), here are some other critiquing sites that are out there;

Scribophile
Critters (Sci fi)
She Writes
Critique Circle
Writers In Touch

Writing.com

 

How about you? Do you have any great tools or resources for writing a book to share that we could all benefit from?

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post: Awesome Tools & Resources for Writers | Part 2: Querying a Book

Writers Weigh In On the Value of Critique

Are you a writer? Are you yet to find a critique partner or join a critique group?

My first writers group experience was 18 months ago, when I plucked up the courage to join the amazing “Coffee House Writers Group” led by the wonderful Christine Marie Bryant. I was pretty nervous, but that woman is such a sweetheart. She creates an amazing atmosphere, ensures that everyone feels comfortable, and most importantly of all, the group is all sorts of fun. I’m ashamed to admit that I haven’t been going regularly for 6 months (wow… I had no idea it was that long … time flies) due to work and family commitments and just general frazzledness.

In the year that I spent attending the meeting weekly however, I gained a sense of confidence in my writing, confidence in sharing my writing, and yes, my writing improved. A lot.

And so I founded Ladies Who Critique, a site for writers to find critique partners even if they are too busy (or shy) to commit to a local writers group. If you don’ t know why critique is awesome, and WILL improve your writing, read some of the many reasons below. All excerpts are taken from authors interviewed on the Ladies Who Critique blog.

“Let’s face it, our family and friends don’t have a clue what we’re doing…just that it takes a long time and doesn’t bring in much money.  The industry communicates to us through cryptic rejection letters that Sherlock Holmes can’t interpret.  Only the critique group feels your pain, shares your success, understands your progress.

A really good critique group will keep you in the game long enough to win…and throw a very nice little party for you when it happens.  That’s all we as writers really need or want.
Someone to say, “You’re good. Keep going.””

Joyce Sweeney, Author & Writing Coach http://joycesweeney.net/

How the Right Amazon Tags Can Help With Your Book’s Visibility

Have you added tags to your book on Amazon or the Amazon Kindle yet?

Here is an example of the tags for my wedding guide on Amazon:

What a lot of authors don’t realize is that tags not only describe your book, they also influence recommendations and this results in more visibility, showing up in pairings more often and thus being seen by potential customers who are browsing similar titles. The aim then is to catch his/her attention and draw them to your product page. In other words…

Authors, Are you using your Author Central page? | It’s your friend.

If you are selling a book or eBook through Amazon, you should absolutely be taking advantage of author central on Amazon.

I know, I know that you are thinking “GROAN!! Yet another social media site to keep up with.”

But actually it’s not all that much work at all, and once it is up and running (i.e. you have filled out your basic info, added a photo, imported your blog) you will rarely have to touch it again.

The benefits:

People Working in the Publishing Industry are the Nicest People Everrrr | Dan Blank

There are a ton of blogposts and articles written about self publishing and book marketing every day, and it’s fantastic. Each morning I check my social media sites as well as my RSS feed and I learn a ton of useful information, all over my first coffee. And I don’t spend a penny.

18 months ago I didn’t even know what self-publishing meant and I certainly didn’t know a thing abut book marketing or promotions. I started from scratch, desperate to get my husband’s manuscript into print.

That book is now in it’s second edition, we have sold the Chinese rights to a large publishers in Taiwan, and while hubby won’t let me post sales figures (borrring), let’s say we are more than happy with the sales.

New Site to Help Female Writers Find Critique Partners

 I’m super excited to share my new project with you, since it is not long now until we launch! (first week of August & time is flying). 

LadiesWhoCritique.com is a completely free, critique partner match-making service, where writers can find the perfect partner or beta reader for their work.

Ladies Who Critique in a nutshell:

• Think match.com but for female writers!
• Writers can search for other writers in their genre, and find someone with the right experience and personality fit for them.
• The site will start with around 10 genres, and will expand to cover as many unique and niche sub genres as possible.
• It’s completely free for everyone – and always will be.

Check out the Coming Soon Page where writers can leave their email address, so that we can invite them back as our first members later this summer. This exclusive access is limited to the first 50 people – so go sign up ASAP.

You can also follow the progress of Ladies Who Critique on Facebook, where I will be updating more regularly than here.

Critique partners are the best way I have found to get motivated, stay on top of your writing, and improve, fast. That’s why I’m creating the site. It shouldn’t be difficult to find a great critique partner, and with Ladies Who Critique it won’t be. Now go & join the party!