Amrita Chowdhury's Blog

If you haven’t thought of it yet, start now.Wait, why is this “branding” business so important?

You can write. You can write well, even. Friends and family like to read your stuff. You wanted to write a book. You’ve written one already. Now you want to be published.

All that is excellent, yes. But why would anyone else want to read your book? Does anyone else know that you exist? And why should they care?

Writing a good book, or a good anything (article/feature/blog post/short story)is a great s...

What is “Let’s Sell Your First Book” and why you need it in your life Why is there a need for another book marketing guide?

I didn’t think there was, to be honest.

When I started working in the publishing industry almost six years ago, taking up editing and book cover designing work, I would constantly be answering the same questions over and over, that authors would ask me:

How many books do you think I’m going to sell? I don’t like my book cover; will the publisher change it? What other books a...

Writing well-developed characters is half the battle won.

Out of the two things that make any book great, the characters are half of the sum. Good characters stay with us for life. Ironically, so do bad characters. As writers one of your goals should be create memorable, well-developed, authentic protagonists, antagonists and secondary characters.

As writers you will also be doubting your work through every word and it is easy to get caught up thinking:

Is my character believable? Am I writing s...

Network, build contact, get a booth and sell.

Book conferences and fairs have, over the years, become hubs of literary knowledge exchange. And they are brilliant for a new author who may want:

to make contacts in the literary worldmeet agents, editors and publishersmeet other authorssell their books and collect a readership

A quick Google search will tell you where and when these book-cons are taking place in the year 2018. I’ve listed a collection the popular ones that are about to take place i...

Building an audience for your writing is easier with a blog

With all the advice that’s thrown at any new writer looking to get published, this one’s heard the most:

Build an audience around your work.

I’m willing to put all my bets on all-time-marketing-genius-man Seth Godin’s advice for writers:

“The best time to start promoting your book is three years before it comes out. Three years to build a reputation, build a permission asset, build a blog, build a following, build credibility and build t...

You really should be doing these, right now.1. One medium is not enough.

One question I always ask a new client is, “What medium are you publishing in?”

Most new writers I’d worked with, all through last year, had the same answer: “Oh, e-book. Maybe a paperback, later.”

Well, I have news for you. You need to be thinking about multiple media. You are writing one book, true, but you need to stretch the quantity of your products to at least three — e-book, print (paperback and hardback both), audio...

Both Paid and Free Services for Your Book

Once your book is out, it’s time to gear up and take your marketing strategies up a few notches. Considering the fact that you’re serious about making sales, promotions are a great way to place your book in the hands of the buying market.

Understandably, since budget is, most of the time, an important issue with self-publishing authors, free promotions and giveaways are sweeter than the paid ones. But don’t just go all free all the time. Paid promotions...

Burning questions answered and more.Question 1I’ve got 4 Beta Readers and they give me exhaustive notes and check my spelling. Do I still need to hire an editor?

— Brenda P., via Facebook

OK, settle down, this will be a long one.

Beta readers and editors have completely different roles. Beta readers are a snapshot of your market. They tell you how like-able your story is, how relate-able your characters are, how memorable the plot twist is, what they like about your book and what they don’t — ju...

1. A great profile picture and cover pictureThis is who you are.

Make your profile picture your mugshot. While I’m sure your cat is the cutest thing in the world, ad so is your child, no one is interested to see them when they’re trying to find out more about your book. This profile picture is to ensure people, potential buyers, publishers, agents, editors, colleagues in the industry, are able to find you easily. So it has to be a close-up, clear, bright picture of yourself. Also ensure that y...

For Your Book’s Sake, Just Do It

A couple of days back, I encountered a client who is an aspiring writer looking to self-publish his book. And the conversation soon turned to social media strategies for authors. The most interesting bit was when I asked him, “So, text me your Facebook page or Twitter account.”

And he just looked back at me with a confused expression.

“Social media accounts? But I’m not published. What would I even post?”

This was perfect. It got me to poll a writers’ group on Fac...