The Key to Marketing

Hi folks, Often, writers who follow my Daily Journal email to ask me about marketing. As in, “What’s more important? Social media or ads? Which social media? Amazon (or Google or Facebook) ads? My own website and a mailing list?” Okay, having your own website and a mailing list of folks who want to know about your next book is important. And some of the other things above maybe are helpful too. But the number one … Read more

Requesting Your Recommendations

Hi Folks, Every now and then over the years, especially over at the Journal, I ask fellow writers for recommendations for websites. Most often I hear crickets. I’m not sure whether there are no other websites that you visit, or whether you just don’t want to share. Or maybe I’m just not specific enough with my request. I’ll try again. Please recommend the websites of any authors who 1. have written and published 10 or more … Read more

Writing Sales Copy (Book Descriptions)

Hey folks, Note: This post appeared in slightly different form on my Journal. If your books aren’t selling as well as you’d like, here’s the three-step process to more sales: 1. Write the next story or novel. The more work you have out there, the more discoverable you are and the more readers will take you seriously as an author. 2. Create (or have created) a genre- appropriate cover. 3. Write intriguing sales copy that hints … Read more

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Hey Folks, Note: The seed of this post first appeared in my Daily Journal. I was fortunate to meet and make a friend of science fiction Grand Master Jack Williamson in the mid-1990s. One day, in his home office, the walls of which were lined floor to ceiling with shelves that held only one copy of each translation of every novel he ever wrote, he told me that his habit was to write 100,000–120,000 words of … Read more