Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris
Writing about writing. Mostly.
Everybody listens to podcasts, but do they sell books? by Allison Tait Podcasts. It seems as though everyone is talking about them, listening to them and starting one. But should you? Australian author Allison Tait is the co-host of the popular So You Want To Be A Writer podcast. She’s a multi-genre writer with 25+ years […]
Online author etiquette for keeping safe in the cyberjungle. by Anne R. Allen After I wrote my post last month on cyberbullying in the publishing community, a lot of people asked if there’s any way to avoid these online terrorists. I wrote a post on the subject back in 2013, soon after my nightmare encounter […]
In the discomfort zone? How to get through the day. by Ruth Harris “It’s a cut-throat industry,” said English author Sean Thomas (his real name) quoted recently in the Wall Street Journal. The international bestselling author of The Ice Twins, S.K. Tremayne aka Tom Knox, (both pen names of Mr. Thomas), was not talking about violent drug cartels […]
Cults are as dangerous now as in Savonarola’s day by Anne R. Allen Over the years I’ve written quite a bit about the dangers of author-on-author cyberbullying. A few years ago, a group I called “Mean Girls-meets-Lord of the Flies” terrorized authors on Goodreads and Amazon. A lot of us left Goodreads and never went […]
Author Strategy? You mean there’s a strategy to this? by Carmen Amato I’m not sure what I was thinking of when I chose this quote from Louisa May Alcott to adorn my high school year book picture: “Far away there in the sunshine sat my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can […]
Giving a book reading? Here’s how to do it right! By Melodie Campbell It’s a fact: when I read from my work in public, I sell books. When I don’t read, I don’t sell. This may seem obvious. If you are not on the New York Times bestseller list, then many of the people in […]
An author blog can be fun if you ignore the rules intended for business blogs. by Anne R. Allen The most common question I get from authors who are thinking about starting a blog is: “What should an author blog about?” My answer isn’t the same as what you’ll hear from the major blogging gurus. […]
Are literary fiction writers getting bad advice about publishing? by Mike Sahno I’ll go out on a limb right off the bat and say that most writers get at least some bad advice somewhere along the way. Literary fiction writers are no exception. Now, I’m an indie author who formed his own company to publish […]
by Anne R. Allen No matter how great a book’s cover and blurb, one thing can stop me from buying yet another ebook for my Kindle: an author bio on the buy page that screams “amateur.” I spent some time as an editor, so when I pick up a book for relaxation, I want to […]
Author blogs: Are you blogging for the right reasons? 5 Bad Reasons for Author Blogs 1) Getting Rich Quick Nothing infuriates me more than those books and blogs promising writers they can make a gazillion dollars of “passive income” with a blog in the next month if they take this overpriced course or buy that […]
Want to land a guest blogging gig? Don’t clown around. by Anne R. Allen Marketing gurus will tell you guest blogging is one of the best ways to get your name out there to sell books and/or writing services. And they’re right. Here are some reasons why. But the gurus don’t often tell you how […]
Email marketing: the Holy Grail of book sales or Spamalot? by Anne R. Allen Email marketing is the only way to sell stuff online these days, we’re told. Get yourself an email address list and customers will beat a path to your buy page door, desperate to buy your deathless prose. Authors are abandoning blogging […]
Selling books on social media can be a time-suck by Chris Syme A mind-boggling 78 percent of Americans have a social media profile. And a little over half of them are on more than one channel. It is a given that authors can develop loyal audiences and sell more books with the help of social media. […]
Anne R Allen’s Blog With Ruth Harris