If you’re one of those people who knows everything already, you can leave now. You won’t need any advice from someone who worked his way up from sleeping on the back seat of his car to getting mainstream published in 11 languages.
Ok, for everyone still reading, here’s those 4 harsh truths:
1) You have to work at seducing people into reading your book.
Ok, some of you do it naturally, you have the gift, but for the rest of us, we have to make the package attractive, go to the right places and play the right games, smiling all the way. That means, making your blog sparkle, not boring and unreadable, getting your name out far and wide and creating compelling, seductive posts about your book, every week.
2) You’re either a bitter writer or a motivated writer.
I don’t care how many rejections you got, if you’re still alive you can write, you can improve, you can edit, you can get a better cover, you can get more reviews, you can start a free blog, and you can give up Sunday night TV and write instead. Don’t tell me you’re waiting for the world to find you. If you want to get noticed, write something noticeable and illustrate it well and email us a link to it. We will get it in front of a quarter of a million online readers, who need something to brighten their lives every day, just like I do.
3) If you think you’re not good enough, change your thinking.
There’s only one way to get good at something. Work at it, until you get better. That means writing boring posts for a while, then writing better ones, then writing good ones. Then writing amazing ones. It doesn’t work any other way. If you want to sell more books it’s your blog/video/audio/groups that will do it. Facebook Pages won’t solve your problem. They want you to pay them to reach beyond your tribe, and what will you reach out to people with, your book? If you do that you’re just advertising. People don’t want to be advertised to. They want to be seduced. They want to get a taste of the world of your book. That’s why we promote first pages on BooksGoSocial.com. That’s why, once you are a member, we will promote your blog/audio/video posts for free for a week and get you tons of free hits that would cost you £1 or $1.50 each if you had to pay Google or Facebook to get them for you.
4) If you think you’re a writer, go ahead, write something new.
The publishing world is changing, fast. Crowd funding, the indie writer scene and publishers complaining about Amazon are just the outward signs of a world that is ripping apart.
The Victorian world of novels, pre-determined book length devices designed to suit the shelves of physical book stores, is declining. Book length device sales are down and writers have to do something (real UK stats here – real US stats here, look at the tables for the minus numbers for US print sales). Use of the internet is pushing out reading as an activity for young people (stats). Facebook and TV are taking up everyone’s time. A continuous 4% decline in reading each year will lead to a 50% decline in reading over a decade.
It’s time writers took the lead.
It’s time writers fought back.
It’s time we explored what this world of web pages and videos can do to help our stories.
The very least we can do is extend our stories online today. Don’t tell me you need a big budget to do it. You can use words and pictures, just like Facebook does (join our author group here), mostly, and write something new. Books need arms on web pages, explanations, maps, video clues, audio readings, character sketches, notes on your themes and your reasons for writing it.
There is so much that you can write about. Here is a diagram that might help:
If you want to print the above you are free to do so. If you want to share it please credit this site as the place you found it.
I hope this post will help you sell more books. The real opportunities on our site are for those who extend their books in some way. Those members will get extra free promotions. Those members will sell more books.
What type of writer do you want to be, the one who runs away because it’s too much like hard work, or the one who writes compelling posts that will seduce a percentage of our hundreds of thousands of real followers to buy your book?
The choice is yours.
If you’re not a member, and you want to be a member, if you’ve got what it takes, sign up here. And remember these truths:
1) You have to work at seducing people.
2) You’re either a bitter writer or a motivated writer.
3) If you think you’re not good enough, change your thinking.
4) If you think you’re a writer, go ahead, write us something.
Harsh truths indeed, but things that every aspiring writer should take to heart!
The world is certainly not just sat there waiting for us to complete our first manuscript. Like myself, I’m just one more grain of sand on a beach full of talented authors. Seducing potential readers into spending valuable time and money reading my works is essential. I need to sparkle, stand out and catch people’s attention.
Plain old hard work is the freely available to all of us and the only thing that will give us a chance of getting our works noticed!
Mark J Diez.
Thanks for saying the harsh stuff. I needed to hear that.
Motivating words & not harsh. Thanks, needed them really.
Do you promote books written in Arabic language as well , or should they get a translation first.
Hi Janna,
Thanks for your comment. I recommend you get them translated into English first and make them available at one or more of the big online stores. Good luck and get back to us when you are ready. Laurence.
Facts are facts. I think you hit the nail right on the head. Your advice is not only priceless, it makes all the difference. I mean, if one’s not able to do all that’s mentioned above, well… we don’t have to be writers, being a good reader is also fine with me.
I do not have a book to promote yet, but I will take your advice while I am writing it.
This is a very inspiring article. I can’t wait to re-tweet and favorite it. I wrote, copyrighted, and illustrated a Developmental English textbook, but I want to start off with the grammar chapter as smaller textbook. As a Texas chopped-and-screwed rapper might say, go for the conservative move first; get regional, multicultural, & pro-modern culture later.
Thank you for this plain-speaking, interesting article. It has given me inspiration for my new blog ‘Authory Antics’
Excellent advice Lawrence.
I’ve created a blog on Word Press in the last week.
I’ll be using your “spiral plan’ to add interesting content.
The title is spiesliesandlesbians.com
Jaye, cool blog! Nice pic, short paras, interesting! Kudos!
I will check out Jaye’s blog – maybe I’ll pick up some hints!
I signed up to BooksGoSocial about a month ago now, and have seen a big increase in followers on Twitter, and some new sales – it all helps, but I’m under no illusion! I know that I need to blog and post and tweet and more importantly, that I have to keep on doing it, if I’m to get my work noticed. I like that Laurence gives it to us straight. I have several websites and blogs and I’m thinking I may need to consolidate them into one – some advice about how best to do this wouldn’t go amiss, Laurence, if you think it appropriate! For instance, is WordPress the best platform for a blog/website? I’ve had comments from people who aren’t signed up to WordPress that they have to sign up in order to read it – with my other sites on Weebly they don’t need to do this, but having finally got to grips with WordPress, I like the blog layouts available; I’m just not sure if the content of my website would look as good in that format.
There’s a lot to learn, and a year into creating my ‘author platform’ I’m still learning (hopefully will continue to do so). The hardest thing for me is finding time (alongside the day job I suspect the majority of us also have to hold down if we aren’t to starve/be made homeless!) to keep up with the social media AND write my book(s). Luckily I enjoy both so it’s not a chore – but a time machine wouldn’t half come in handy…
Thanks for the advice, Laurence – I look forward to more!
Elaine,
Congratulations on all you have done, especially these days with so many demands on us. I would stick with WordPress, but you might also add a Mailchimp email sign up form.
Easy to read posts are vital. Plenty of whitespace helps. But the content has to be great too. That’s a deeper challenge. Email me your blog – lob@yourasms.com – and I will give you some free pointers and also I will post it to our followers and on our Flipboard and Facebook page. Good luck. It’s a hard road, but the journey is good and the people you meet on the way are friendly.
Mostly!
I am inspired actually more than that..great post…keep it up!
There’s a very simple reason why those of us who weren’t born with the gene for writing have to practice and practice. It’s because we grew up learning how to communicate information and receive it back. That’s ‘telling,” and it’s radically different from writing (and this includes most non-fiction) that is meant to evoke an emotional response. That’s “showing.” Learning how to do that is like learning a new language. Here’s my best scenario of the difference. Your in a theater to watch a film, to be entertained. The movie opens with a voice telling you what your watching, and it goes on for several minutes while you watch the actors on the screen move about. Silently. Then the voice says, “let’s listen in on the actors.” For a minute or two, you hear the actors talking to each other in a dramatic way. Then the voice interrupts and continues for another few minutes, until you hear the actors again. When the voice interrupts yet again, everyone yells, “Shut up!”
Hi Laurence
Thanks for this post. All advice, help and tips grarefully received.
Having just published my first novel finding BooksGoSocial was a blessing. I have met so many amazing writers who I’ve connected with on different platforms.
This group moves fast and like Elaine Jackson I too am holding down a day job, doing courses to advance my qualifications in caring for the elderly, but writing is my passion and has been since I was a little girl. That I have stumbled upon this amazing supportive group is an absolute godsend for me. I look forward to learning from you all.
By the way I use wordpress and love it. It works for me and in the last couple of days received 20 new followers after posting a comical picture about anger issues. Who knew something like that would attract so many people.
With that said I am more than happy to blog about newly released novels from our group.
Just hope I can keep up with you all.
May I take this opportunity to wish all the writers of BooksGoSocial the very best of luck in 2015. This group is growing and moving fast. I can see it becoming a power house and force to be reckoned with on every site available.
Good luck – happy reading and writing.
I am under no illusion that getting exposure for my novel, and soon to be released novel, is easy. It takes a lot of hard work and time for a debut author to build a platform and a readership. I have gotten good comments, mostly, and a few hard critiques on everything from the cover to the final page but it only makes me more determined to keep going. I’m glad that I did get a few not-so- kind reviews because I want the truth to help me grow as a writer. As far as I’m concerned, I think I’m doing great for a newbie, with more than twenty good reviews on amazon. I have no-one to thank for it but myself. My determination is un-stoppable. I don’t believe in the word “can’t” and it should be taken out of the dictionary. If you believe in yourself you can accomplish anything. Keep at it. You are the master of your own destiny!
JM, congratulations and I am with you 1000%!