As a book writing and publishing coach, I’m always looking for posts by colleagues that will help you make sense of the publishing world and share:
- What publishers are looking for
- Current trends in publishing
- The best ways to grow your mailing list and “author platform” so that you have a tribe of eager fans ready to buy your book when it launches
- Business and marketing advice for authors
- Writing tips
Below I’ve assembled some of my favorite Book Writing and Publishing Tips from the past year—both from me and from my colleagues.
Book Writing Tips
How to Become a Better Writer: 3 Writing Tips: Looking for something short and sweet you can put into action today? I wrote this short, sweet blog post for you at the start of the year.
How to Write a Book: From Chore to Joy in 21 Minutes: If you’re feeling a bit stuck, this post can help you connect with your creative source, break through resistance, feel passionate about your book and enter a state of book writing flow.
7 Ways to Help You Be Precise in Your Writing: I discovered this excellent guest post by Dawn Field on C.S. Lakin’s blog. I often encourage my clients and students to find quirky details to bring their writing to life. Even if you’re writing a how-to or self-help books, the more “true to life” and “real” you can make your anecdotes, the more you will draw your readers in. This post has some great tips for how to do that.
The Five Rules of Flashback Writing a memoir? This post by fellow Rhode Islander Stuart Horwitz should help you get flashbacks right, so you add interest without confusing your readers.
Publishing Tips
How to Get Published by a Traditional Publisher: 7 Ways to Look Your Best: Since publishers and agents are obsessed with an author’s platform (how many people you reach in a year), I focus here on ways to grow your following organically, efficiently and sustainably. That last point means that it doesn’t just cost money but brings in income as you grow your following.
5 First Steps to Write a Winning Book Proposal Writing a book proposal can feel overwhelming. Here, we focus on just the first 5 steps. Doable!
Commitment, Productivity and Follow-Through.
In this excerpt from her newest book, Start Right Where You Are, creativity expert Samantha Bennett shares terrific tips for making the time for creative projects, such as your book.
Book Marketing Tips
How to Use Social Media for Your Book Launch? Use These 9 Tips From timing to contests to video, Frances Caballo has you covered when it comes to using social media to launch a book. And her guides to Goodreads, Twitter and social media, in general, are excellent resources.
Marketing and Publishing Checklists for Writers Jane Freidman offers an excellent round-up of checklists for website development, book marketing and self-publishing in this post from November.
Feel free to share a favorite post of the year with our other readers—something you’ve written or read elsewhere. And feel free to ask questions as a comment below as well.
Hello, I have a question I hope you can answer. I’m working on a manuscript, and have reached a point where I’d like to include testimonials from a handful of people. Is it customary to offer payment for this type of contribution? If so, what is the recommendation? Each of those I’d like to ask has a work or project that they are involved in, and I thought perhaps they could point direction to their work or project at the end of their testimonial. I’m eager to hear your response. Thank you!
Hi Stephanie.
I have not heard of people paying for testimonials. The best testimonials are from people you have helped personally.