Did you know that as an author you have a “brand?” Yep, just like Nike or Starbucks or Reese Witherspoon, your books are a product with a reputation. Part of your brand is the thing readers will come to expect from your writing style. Dark themes? Snarky female voices? Soulful prose and lush settings? We
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Why A Pro Never Does Her Own Promo
Marketing pro Sharon Spaulding has promoted tech startups, authors, international nonprofits, Fortune 50 companies and celebrities. But when it came to promoting herself—establishing her author brand, building a platform, and cultivating a devoted following of readers—she was flummoxed. “I’m very good at what I do but cannot do it for myself,” Sharon says. “I was
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Grassroots Marketing–Meeting your readers on their turf
by Amanda J. Clay One of the toughest things independent authors face when starting out is the hard reality of marketing their book. You might have written the next Hunger Games, but if no one ever hears about it, you’ll fade into the dark hole of books never to be seen again. I’ve mentioned before
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Feeding the hungry reader: The business of self-publishing with Amanda Clay
by Amanda Clay Over the past few months, we’ve talked through some key foundations to the business of indie publishing—why you might consider it, the various platforms, and the basic upfront costs and earning potential. Hopefully you’re still intrigued about this creative and independent endeavor! But a question you might be asking yourself is, what
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From Unknown to National Expert in A Year
By Joey Garcia When Karlee Vincent attended Writing for Change in 2019, she was an unpublished, unknown writer. In 2020, she was interviewed by Ms. Magazine, CNN.com, The Tamron Hall Show and joined the TODAY Parenting Team, the TODAY Show’s blog for raising children. Her first essay for Red Tricycle gained 65 shares in ten
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The Dollars and Cents of Self-Publishing
By Amanda Clay When I first started on the path of self-publishing, something I found a bit shocking was how candid everyone was in talking about money. In the Facebook groups, at the conferences, authors were discussing how much they’d made and how much they’d spent to get there. I don’t know about you, but
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