Jessica Russell's Blog - Posts Tagged "writers"
Quick Tip About Reviews
Doing reviews is an important part of having a presence online as an author. Whether you do them on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, or some other site, they should be simple and easy to follow. Many writers fall into the trap of trying to be too clever when they do reviews. This is not the place to show off your writing skills, it’s a place to describe, in simple terms, what you thought of a book! Save the fancy stuff for your personal works, but don’t try to impress someone when writing a review. It makes you look pretentious, ridiculous and over-the-top!
Don't Forget the Readers
Many newly published writers often focus on networking with other authors once they are selling books. This is definitely a worthwhile endeavor, but it's essential to remember that you have to also connect with READERS, or all this networking will not do much to boost sales and get you reviews.
I am connected with a lot of other writers, and I would NEVER want to lose those associations, because we understand each other in a way that other people cannot. Nevertheless, if we lose sight of attracting READERS to our sites and pages, we're missing out on potential new fans.
Make sure to strike a balance. Never stop networking with other authors and novelists, but also join groups and pages of bookworms, book club fans, and other people who you know are interested in reading. This will yield a bigger return than you think!
I am connected with a lot of other writers, and I would NEVER want to lose those associations, because we understand each other in a way that other people cannot. Nevertheless, if we lose sight of attracting READERS to our sites and pages, we're missing out on potential new fans.
Make sure to strike a balance. Never stop networking with other authors and novelists, but also join groups and pages of bookworms, book club fans, and other people who you know are interested in reading. This will yield a bigger return than you think!
Ask and Ye Shall Receive
There’s an interesting thing that happens when a writer achieves success. Instead of watching what that person did and trying to emulate it, as fellow other authors, we have a tendency to sit there and critique. Well, if a person was successful, then evidently what he or she did was a good idea, provided it wasn’t immoral or unethical. Therefore, rather than get defensive or make remarks that sound eerily like sour grapes, it’s a good idea for us to ask questions, get tips, and see if that author would provide any insight. I bet that person would be happy to do so! Just food for thought. Write on!
It Really Comes Down to THIS?
Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought him back to life. Curiosity is the biggest thing new authors have going for them. If you can get someone curious about your novel, chances are you can get them to read it. Summaries are extremely important, as well, because they tell potential readers the primary storyline, which usually tells them whether or not it’s the type of book in which they would be interested. However, the summary won’t help you much if nobody reads it.
It’s important to understand how you GET them to the summary. The two things that make people stop and read a summary are the book’s title and the book’s cover. Yes. After all that hard work, blood, sweat and tears, it comes down to those two things.
They are also the two things that most new writers make mistakes with.
Covers and titles are an art form. No matter how many different approaches there are, both the title and the cover need to do two things: make the book stand out, and make potential readers say “I wonder what THAT means?” If those two things happen, they’ll likely move on to the summary, and if the summary is written well, they’re far more likely to buy the book.
Especially for authors who are not yet well known, covers have to be eye-catching. Not eye-catching in a garish, overly busy way, but eye-catching in a way that makes you want to keep looking.
Bland covers subconsciously tell readers that the book will also be bland. Many times, bland covers fail to catch the reader’s eye at all, and their eyes simply land on a book that DOES have a striking cover. This is also true with titles. The latter should peak readers' curiosity and put a question mark in their mind. Boring titles are the kiss of death.
One of my favorite books, “A Perfect Evil” by E.C. Sheedy got my attention because of the cover and the title, and the rest was history. The cover depicted a girl pulling the curtains back to look through a window, but all that appeared to be on the other side was a blinding white light. At least that was my perception. Guess what I said? “I wonder what THAT means?” The title, of course, speaks for itself.
One of my favorite old Victoria Holt novels “The Witch from the Sea” depicted a girl in what appeared to be the 1600s racing down a rocky shoreline in the midst of a thunderstorm, and there was a ship crashing onto the rocks not far from her. It made me very curious, so I got the book, and she became one of my favorite authors of all times.
Sounds oversimplified, but it’s a proven fact. After all that effort to create a great novel, if you miss on the title and the cover, readers just might miss you! Write on!
It’s important to understand how you GET them to the summary. The two things that make people stop and read a summary are the book’s title and the book’s cover. Yes. After all that hard work, blood, sweat and tears, it comes down to those two things.
They are also the two things that most new writers make mistakes with.
Covers and titles are an art form. No matter how many different approaches there are, both the title and the cover need to do two things: make the book stand out, and make potential readers say “I wonder what THAT means?” If those two things happen, they’ll likely move on to the summary, and if the summary is written well, they’re far more likely to buy the book.
Especially for authors who are not yet well known, covers have to be eye-catching. Not eye-catching in a garish, overly busy way, but eye-catching in a way that makes you want to keep looking.
Bland covers subconsciously tell readers that the book will also be bland. Many times, bland covers fail to catch the reader’s eye at all, and their eyes simply land on a book that DOES have a striking cover. This is also true with titles. The latter should peak readers' curiosity and put a question mark in their mind. Boring titles are the kiss of death.
One of my favorite books, “A Perfect Evil” by E.C. Sheedy got my attention because of the cover and the title, and the rest was history. The cover depicted a girl pulling the curtains back to look through a window, but all that appeared to be on the other side was a blinding white light. At least that was my perception. Guess what I said? “I wonder what THAT means?” The title, of course, speaks for itself.
One of my favorite old Victoria Holt novels “The Witch from the Sea” depicted a girl in what appeared to be the 1600s racing down a rocky shoreline in the midst of a thunderstorm, and there was a ship crashing onto the rocks not far from her. It made me very curious, so I got the book, and she became one of my favorite authors of all times.
Sounds oversimplified, but it’s a proven fact. After all that effort to create a great novel, if you miss on the title and the cover, readers just might miss you! Write on!
Choose Wisely
Connecting with like-minded people is one of the best ways to find solace in this crazy industry. However, don’t make the mistake that so many writers make and join every “writing community” that you can find. If you do so, you will probably quickly discover that many are nothing more than a source of aggravation. Not because the groups themselves have something wrong with them, but because you don’t belong in all of them, pure and simple. There are many stages in careers. I’ve been a professional web content writer for about 16 years, so this whole writing for a living thing is old hat to me. While it’s true that last year was the first time I published a novel length work of fiction, I’m not new to the industry. Therefore, when I look to join writing communities or follow Facebook pages geared toward writers, I admit, I search for ones with members who make their living as writers and have been kicking around in this line of work for a long time.
The reason is because I have things in common with those people. Sometimes I’ve ended up in groups where a young person would come on and post “I’d like to write a novel, what should it be about?” And I’ve got my head bitten off for saying “If you don’t know, WE don’t know, LOL,” until I realized that the entire group was young, aspiring writers, most of whom were not even out of college yet. Well, there was nothing wrong with that person’s post, I just didn’t get it because “Writers Group” to me meant other people like me, who earn their living this way and can’t get RID of all the ideas for novels in our heads if we tried.
Bottom line, that just wasn’t the group for me. When joining communities and following pages, sometimes less is more. Hone in on the ones that offer you the most rather than making the mistake of joining everything and anything. If you’ve been at it for a long time and know the ropes, the best groups you can join are ones made up of other people just like you. They’ve been in the trenches for decades, they know how the novel publishing game is played, and they have the experience to understand what you’re talking about without you having to leave continuous explanations.
It works the same way with newbies. They are best off in groups where they can express the common frustrations that occur when someone is first breaking into the business. It’s not that any writing organization or forum is “wrong,” it’s just that a group might be wrong for YOU. Be selective! Discover where your peers are and join those groups. You’ll be glad you did! You’ll find yourself in interesting conversations, sharing good advice, and offering and getting support from people who “know what you mean.” Write on!
The reason is because I have things in common with those people. Sometimes I’ve ended up in groups where a young person would come on and post “I’d like to write a novel, what should it be about?” And I’ve got my head bitten off for saying “If you don’t know, WE don’t know, LOL,” until I realized that the entire group was young, aspiring writers, most of whom were not even out of college yet. Well, there was nothing wrong with that person’s post, I just didn’t get it because “Writers Group” to me meant other people like me, who earn their living this way and can’t get RID of all the ideas for novels in our heads if we tried.
Bottom line, that just wasn’t the group for me. When joining communities and following pages, sometimes less is more. Hone in on the ones that offer you the most rather than making the mistake of joining everything and anything. If you’ve been at it for a long time and know the ropes, the best groups you can join are ones made up of other people just like you. They’ve been in the trenches for decades, they know how the novel publishing game is played, and they have the experience to understand what you’re talking about without you having to leave continuous explanations.
It works the same way with newbies. They are best off in groups where they can express the common frustrations that occur when someone is first breaking into the business. It’s not that any writing organization or forum is “wrong,” it’s just that a group might be wrong for YOU. Be selective! Discover where your peers are and join those groups. You’ll be glad you did! You’ll find yourself in interesting conversations, sharing good advice, and offering and getting support from people who “know what you mean.” Write on!
