Blog
Your Book May Be Too Long (or Not Long Enough): Suggested Word Counts for Genres
When you start submitting your book to agents, publishers, or editors, they will all ask the same question: what is your word count? As a new writer, this may seem an odd question. After all, you may know off the top of your head that your book is 250 pages long. But...
Next Steps for First-Time Authors
By Jori Hanna You’ve written “The End” on your first draft, and you’re filled with an incredible sense of accomplishment. You did it! You finished your book! You’re proud, and you should be. Of the millions of Americans who say they want to write a book, very few...
How to Write an Endorsement Blurb for a Book
By Jori Hanna It's no secret that humans respond to a concept called social proof, the concept that if someone else is doing it, we should too. This is why modern marketing relies so heavily on digital word-of-mouth tactics such as influencer posts and product...
Post-Publication Checklist for Authors: What to do After your Book Launch
By Jori Hanna Congratulations! You launched your book into the world! Now what? As you may already be aware, your work has only just begun. After all, marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. But beyond the everyday marketing items, what else do you need to do? This...
What is a Hashtag? And Why Should You Use Them?
By Jori Hanna As you start diving into social media, you may find the advice to use hashtags so you can reach more people. But what exactly is a hashtag? How do you know which ones to use? And do they actually help your reach? What is a Hashtag? In the simplest terms...
8 Posts Authors Should Make to Start a New Social Media Account
Growing your platform through social media is an extremely powerful way to increase your reach. But if you jump in with marketing before you’ve created the relationships, you’re not likely to get the results you’re looking for. These post ideas will help you build those relationships so your social media author platform can be as vibrant as possible.
How to Find Your Target Audience
By Jori Hanna No matter what kind of writing you do, the first step in the process of sharing your work with the world is identifying your target audience. Your target audience will help you determine your tone, your word choice, your style, what rhythm or flow you...
The Name Game
By Kylee Wooten Coming up with a name is challenging. Whether you’re deciding on the name of the new family pet, battling over whom to name your child after, or trying to come up with the perfect title for your new novel, it’s almost impossible to know if you’re...
10 Tips for Writing an Attention-Grabbing Review
What’s the one thing that’s worse than reading a terribly dry book? Reading a terribly dry review about a book! Here are some tips by our Senior Editor to help you rise above the noise and catch the attention of book pros. 1. Choose wisely. You don’t have time to read...
How to Write a Book Cover Blurb
You've finally finished your hours of researching, writing, and editing! You've sent in your manuscript and your publisher asks for a book description... That shouldn't be hard, right? All you have to to do is condense everything you know about your book into 250...
How to Choose a Winning Book Title
For many authors, choosing a title for their book is much like choosing a name for their child. A book's title is usually for life, and you want to be sure it's "just right." After all, as much as we say "Don't judge a book by it's cover," everybody does. The title...
Ask the Authors: Finding Your Path
Do ideas just come to authors, or do they have to work for them? How do they decide what kind of book they’ll write? Betsy Streeter and Dave Edlund talk about how they found their path. Do you have any questions for our authors? Let us know by leaving a comment...
Ask the Authors: Finding Success
What defines success for an author? Is is the number of books sold? The number of awards they recieve? Authors Brad A. LaMar and Susan Örnbratt join us for this week's Ask the Authors blog post on defining and finding success as an author. If you have any questions...
Ask the Authors: How to Plot a Murder and Get Away with It with John Desjarlais
We asked John Desjarlais to discuss his process writing (and plotting) a murder mystery. In these books, everything is important. Characters, settings, interactions, motive—especially motive—all play into whether or not your reader will believe your story. Packed with...
Ask the Authors: From Ghostwriter to Mystery Writer with Eva Shaw
There are many ways to go about writing a book. Whether you outline or sit down with a blank page, write it yourself or hire someone else to write it for you, you have options. Eva Shaw got her start by sitting with others and learning how to tell their story. This...
Ask the Authors: Repurpose Your Skills
People often assume it takes an incredible stroke of luck or skill to become an author. But how many authors started out from the beginning desiring to write books? How many of them, instead, started out in a completely different field? We asked Rebecca A. Miles to...
Ask the Authors: Becoming an Author
The journey towards becoming an author can greatly differ from person to person, so Nancy Boyarsky and Rebecca Stevenson offer their own unique perspectives and experiences. Have more questions for our authors? Leave us a comment on Facebook! Could you both start off...
Ask the Authors: Finding Success
What defines success for an author? Is is the number of books sold? The number of awards they recieve? Authors Brad A. LaMar and Susan Örnbratt join us for this week's Ask the Authors blog post on defining and finding success as an author. If you have any questions...
8 Things to Do with Your Author Website to Sell More Books
By Jori Hanna One of the biggest misconceptions that authors face is that their work is done once the book is published. Whether you’re self-publishing or you have a world-renowned publicist, you should expect to spend as much time marketing your book as you did...
Understanding Terms: Get Started with Email Marketing
By Jori Hanna Jumping into email marketing is one of the best steps you can take in connecting personally with your readership. Email marketing consistently leads to higher sales numbers than any other form of marketing. Jumping into this early allows your list the...