AUTHOR PUBLICITY - 2

One of the first steps every author should take is the construction of an "Official Author Website".  There are tons of businesses out there hungry for your dollars that will do a great job of building you a website.  If you have some free time and want to save the cost of the website to spend on gifts for friends, or to spend on marketing that next great novel you're writing the process of building your own site is relatively easy once you've mastered the website tool.  For my "The Official Website of Bryan Koepke" I used Go Daddy.  There are lots of other choices out there, and as someone that used to build websites for friends back in the early 1990's the Go Daddy tool seems clunky at best.  That said a little time looking at the sites of other authors on the web will fill your mind with ideas and make the task much easier.

Facebook -  It seems everyone whether traditionally published or self published has their own Facebook page these days.  The set up is easy and lends itself to uploading the banner image from the cover of your book or you author platform.

Twitter - While I myself am fairly new to the concept of Tweeting I've got to say I love it.  140 characters - what's not to love.  I still haven't figured out the algorithms they use to attract followers to your tweets or to the tweets you read, but at this point I'm sold.

The biggest step you can take to get more publicity is to write your next book.  It's been said time and again write another book.  When I look at an author on Amazon, more times than not, the biggest thing that interests me is if the author has a slew of books to choose from.

Get reviews and don't pay for them.  Much has been said and written on this topic as of late.  Most of us judge a book by what other readers have had to say about it.  To accurately review a book you must first read the entire piece from cover to cover.  It takes an investment in time, and a choice to read and review a book.

Author Publicity

All authors are faced with the hurdle of gaining publicity when publishing their work.  

Today TWC will begin exploring ways for authors to gain publicity.

The first things that come to mind are social media - Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.  Almost all aspiring and published authors have a Facebook page and by using all 3 of these sites an author can begin to build a buzz about an upcoming book or build their platform.  The key is to start early and post often to attract followers.  Offer something helpful to the reader so that she will return to your page often looking for more information.

VIRTUAL BOOKSHELVES AND BOOK FORUMS

One way to gain publicity is to use sites like:

GoodReads - This site encourages authors to setup a profile and connect with readers.  You can add your book for free and the site has something like 18 million members.

Shelfari - This site run by Amazon is similar to GoodReads.  You can share book recommendations, join book clubs, and learn more about your favorite books.  The site allows users to create a virtual bookshelf, discover new books, and connect with friends.

Book Tagger - Book Tagger allows readers to interact with folks that have read a book instead of having to judge a book by its cover.  You can list the books you've read and want to read.  Build an online book club.  Review the books you've read.

Authors Den - This site makes the claim that its "the world's most vibrant online literary community".
The site lists eBooks, Books, Stories, Articles, Poetry, Blogs, News, Events, Videos, Recent Success Stories by Date, and Testimonials.  It has a large listing of links down the left side of the site that contains bios authors. Another near area of the site is the "Author Signing Area" where readers can buy signed books.

VENGEANCE TO BE PUBLISHED BY WRITERS CABIN PRESS Ltd. Spring 2014

My debut novel, VENGEANCE, will be published by WRITERS CABIN PRESS, Ltd. Spring 2014.


Stay tuned for more on this.

Announcing the Creation of Writers Cabin Press, Ltd.

This past week Writers Cabin Press, Ltd. was created.

New Titles Coming Soon.

What's new with my pursuit of an agent to represent my novel, Vengeance, you ask?

What's new with my pursuit of an agent to represent my novel, Vengeance, you ask? As of last night I've sent out 10 query letters and received 3 rejections. Now that I have a few rejections under my belt I'm in good company. J.K Rowling's first Harry Potter novel was rejected 12 times. Jack London received 600 rejections before selling his first story. Fellow thriller author John Grisham's first novel, A Time to Kill, was rejected by 15 publishers and 30 agents. Stephen King's first novel, Carrie, was rejected 30 times.  More than 350 million copies of his novels are now in print.

So what's an author to do while being rejected you ask?  The answer is: constantly review and edit one's query letter, synopsis, and first 10 pages. Then once I've worked myself up into a frenzy sit back and work on the next novel.

Along those lines I'm very pleased with the plot I've devised for the book 2 in the Reece Culver series. This one is definitely shaping up to be a techno thriller drawing from my 20+ years of work in the field of engineering. Perhaps book 3 will draw upon the 5 years I've been in finance. You know they say write what you know. Now if I can only gain the interest of a solid literary agent I'll be on my way to getting published so all of you can get some enjoyment out of my blood, sweat, and tears.