Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris
Writing about writing. Mostly.
by Anne R. Allen Mickey Spillane famously said “They read to get to the end. If it’s a letdown, they won’t buy anymore. The first page sells that book. The last page sells your next book.” I can see the creative writing students rolling their eyes. Mickey Spillane wasn’t exactly a great prose stylist. But […]
Why you should write that author bio now by Ruth Harris The book you poured your heart into languishes on your hard drive like the wallflower at the dance — slumped shoulders, wilted corsage and all. Your crit group tries to be encouraging, but the message is clear. Go to plumbing school/welding school where you will learn […]
by Anne R. Allen Bad marketing is worse than none. And I’ve seen some breathtakingly bad marketing strategies recently. I assume authors are hiring cut-rate online marketers who have more experience selling real estate in Mumbai and knock-off designer sunglasses than books. Do I need to say this is a bad idea? Being annoying may […]
by Anne R. Allen One of the worst crimes publishing scammers perpetrate on new authors is bullying them into buying junk “book marketing packages.” Often these cost astronomical fees — $10,000 and more. The useless book marketing the scammers push involve Tweets (which haven’t sold books for over a decade), presence at book fairs (where […]
by Anne R. Allen Social Media Executor? That may not be a term you’re familiar with, but believe me, you need one. That hit home for me this week after the tragic death of my friend, the kind, talented, funny author Barbara Silkstone. I hadn’t heard from her for a month or two, so […]
by Anne R. Allen When a writer complains that everybody in traditional publishing is crooked, or that the whole industry is rigged against new writers, you can usually be sure the author’s manuscript needs work. But it could also be that he doesn’t know how to write a query. I know some excellent writers who […]
Make a solid reader connection and they’ll spread the word about your books *** I’d like to thank Penny Sansevieri for stepping in this week, while I have spent some exciting time in the hospital having fun medical adventures. It turns out what I have is “just” sciatica, a fiendishly painful thing that happens to […]
by Anne R. Allen “Chapter titles!?” sez you. What is this, the 18th century? What am I supposed to write? Something like this? Chapter the first, in which our hero is born, discovers that fire is hot, learns to pull up his own breeches, and slays a smallish dragon. Hey, those 18th century writers knew […]
by Ruth Harris Your blurb (aka Production Description on Amazon) has one — and only one — purpose: to make the reader an offer s/he can’t refuse. How do I know? Because over the years, I’ve written hundreds — more likely thousands — of blurbs. From the slush pile to the editor’s office. When I started […]
An ARC review team helps launch a book effectively by Dave Chesson As authors, we need reviews. There’s no way of getting around it. While it doesn’t appear that reviews directly affect things like the Amazon algorithm, reviews are still a crucial tool to sell books. For example, if you’re trying to choose between a […]
An author blog gets Google’s attention by Anne R. Allen Should all authors blog? Of course not. We’re all different and we write for different audiences. There are lots of ways to establish an online presence. Anne Rice does a good deal of publicity from her Facebook page, and Stephen King is big on Twitter. […]
Amazon and Bookbub offer great marketing tools. And they’re free! by Ruth Harris Yeah, we know… A BookBub feature will rocket your book skyward. Stacked promos can help you tickle the algos and ride the tsunami. A great launch strategy well executed can get your book a bestseller badge. But all these options are pricey—especially […]
by Anne R. Allen One of our most popular posts in recent years has been a guest post from mystery author Sue McGinty. She wrote about Hometown Marketing, and the importance of getting our books known in our own communities. It helps if you’ve written those books with that community in mind. Not just to […]
Anne R Allen’s Blog With Ruth Harris