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by Karen Whiting @KarenHWhiting Bookmarks are inexpensive and make great marketing tools. Each one is a blank canvas that you design to showcase you, your books, and your brand or services. Plan the content carefully to get the best mileage out of it. That can vary depending on how you will use the bookmarks. Content and design Bookmarks need some basic information to showcase the book and connect you to the readers: Book cover and ISBN Your website and social media links Your email and logo or tagline Release date if the book is not yet available Everything else is optional. If your publisher is well known you might include their logo. Blurbs can be helpful, especially for fiction.  A bullet list of benefits may be better for nonfiction. I often use an acrostic to list benefits such as an acrostic for  P-R-I-N-C-E-S-S for  The One Year My Princess Devotions  with the P for praises God, R for remembers God�s word, I for improves her mind, etc .  Or provide ...

by Traci Tyne Hilton @TraciTyneHilton #2 in a series where I answer questions I suspect you are asking. Below is a link to the rest of the posts in this series: Answers to Some of the Questions Authors Ask�What If I Can't Do It? Indie Author: If I indie publish people will know I couldn�t get a book deal, and if they know that, they will think my book is bad, plus, there are a mcBillion terrible indie books out right now---way more than there are good ones, so everyone will think my book is terrible. And it probably is. I�m going to burn my computer now, forget I said anything at all.  Don�t burn your computer! That�s terrible for the environment! And don�t delete your book. And don�t give up on writing. And don�t publish a bad book!  I must address the elephant in the room before I get to the useful stuff. Are there literally a mcBillion terrible indie books out there? Yes. Did I just make all the self-appointed guardians of language have a stroke by saying a literal mcBillio...

by Marcia Moston @MarciaMoston I teach a class called Steal Like An Artist, a title I promptly stole after reading Austin Kleon�s book with the same name. We study examples of good writing, some to model, some to simply admire in hopes there�s such a thing as learning by literary osmosis. Although I know there�s a lot to learn from reading bad writing, I seldom use it as an example. It�s a philosophy I adopted a long time ago after reading a response Mark Twain gave to a question about his river piloting days. I can�t find the interview, but my paraphrased memory of it runs something like this: When Twain was asked how he knew where all the hidden reefs and rocks were, he said he didn�t need to know where all the dangers were�he just needed to know where the deep water was. (And if Twain didn�t say that, it�s still an idea that�s served me well, both in life� can�t anticipate every danger and temptation, but can know the where the good way is�and in teaching. Whether they write fic...

by Sarah Sally Hamer @SarahSallyHamer Isn�t that what we all strive for? We all want the ability to write a scene that engulfs our reader with cathartic emotion, one that makes them laugh or cry, and hopefully, read the next one, right? A scene that is so powerful that we want to run to the top of Rocky�s steps and hold our arms up in jubilation? Of course we do!  So, how does it work? I�m standing on the shoulders of giants here. Dwight Swain, who wrote  Techniques of the Selling Writer , and Jack Bickham,  Scene and Structure, almost invented the method, and I sat at their feet. Well, I actually met Swain and talked to Bickham on the phone, but I�ve read every word of their books. These two men really understood the structure of powerful scenes and break it down for us in a way that can be duplicated with a little hard work and a lot of practice. But once you get used to it, it�s an amazing tool for powering up that weak-kneed scene. There are two basic parts of a great...

by Peggy Sue Wells @PeggySueWells Like delicious desserts, dialogue is often a reader�s favorite part of a story. We quote great dialogue for generations. �Off with her head!� � Lewis Carroll. �We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.� � Winston Churchill. �There�s so much scope for imagination.� Lucy Maud Montgomery. �It�s me again, Hank the Cowdog.� John Erickson. �Give back to Caesar what is Caesar�s and to God what is God�s.� � Jesus Christ. Dialogue is what characters say. Powerful stories are dialog driven through carefully chosen word selections. When Scrooge responds to Christmas cheer with �Bah, humbug,� Charles Dickens has masterfully portrayed the old man�s attitude and character in two words.  Dialogue has dynamic purpose in a manuscript. It economically accomplishes several vital objectives.  Dialogue must: 1. Move the story forward. �I�m going over there right now.� This declaration  tells the reader what direction the action is takin...

Edie here. Today I want to introduce you to our newest The Write Conversation columnist, Karen Whiting. Karen is a friend and best-selling author. Beyond that, she's the person I turn to when I need marketing and branding brainstorming. To say I'm excited to have her sharing her wisdom with those of you in this community is a HUGE understatement. Be sure to check out her newest book (at the end of the post) and give her a warm TWC welcome! A Marketing Timeline for Any Author By Karen Whiting @KarenHWhiting Your book will be releasing. Hooray! Yikes! That means marketing! The dreaded word. Approach it with the joy of sharing about your book and a little organization to stay sane. Then it will not be so overwhelming, and you�ll be more confident. Whether you have a book coming yet, or the hope of one, it�s good to prepare. Whether weeks, months, or even years away from release, there are activities to work on during each phase. Create a notebook or folder to keep your information...

by Cindy Sproles @CindyDevoted This post won�t apply to everyone, but it�s one I feel is necessary to a particular group of authors. Those who are published by small houses.  Let me begin by saying, I work for a small house, and it�s wonderful. We do our best to offer new authors an opportunity at that first published book. Though there are naysayers who advise against publishing with a small house because the sales numbers are small, there are numerous advantages to working with a small publisher. It�s a wonderful way to learn how to work with an editor, seek out and understand the publishing industry, and discover the importance of what a platform is. Yes, a small press does not have the reach into the market the larger houses have, but that doesn�t mean it�s a career killer�not if you do your job. It simply means, a serious author has to work harder at sales. My thought is, you can sign with a large house and have a book that doesn�t sell or you can sign with a small house and h...

Edie here. Today I'm thrilled to have my friend and fellow author, Peggy Sue Wells on The Write Conversation. Although her post today is technically a guest post, with her expertise, I've persuaded her to become a regular part of our blogging team. Be sure to give her a warm welcome, and note that her book, Homeless for the Holidays is available as a 99cnt ebook today! 20 Tips for Writers & Radio Interviews by Peggy Sue Wells @PeggySueWells You've heard of surprise parties? Well, I became the surprise producer for award-winning WBCL's Mid-Morning. For a couple decades, the hosts of the one-hour talk show kindly invited me on the program each time my books released. Then they invited me to host a quarterly show to encourage single parents. I'd been around the studio often enough that someone must have thought I worked there and gave me a desk and an official title. Then people started handing me projects to do, mail to open, and authors to schedule. They taught m...