Merry Christmas!
Happy Memorial Day!
Like many self-employed entrepreneurs, I probably won’t take the weekend off completely, but I will take some time to enjoy family and friends and remember what this weekend is about — those who gave their lives so I can live mine.
Thank you to those who make Memorial Day weekends possible. Your sacrifice is not forgotten.
Copy and Paste Book Reviews
Authors love book reviews. Not because we want to hear how great we are but because review numbers help us (and others) see how many people are reading our books. They let us know if (and how) we’re connecting with our readers. In some cases, they even help us promote our books by tipping the algorithms in our favor. If every person who bought a book left a review, it could possibly change the course of an author’s career!
But a lot of people don’t leave reviews for a lot of reasons:
- They don’t know what to say.
- They want the review to be perfect.
- They’re afraid of saying something wrong or hurtful.
- They’re not great writers and the thought of writing even a few words for a review terrifies them.
If you fall into any of these categories, can I offer some comfort?
- A book review is an opinion, and you’re entitled to your opinion regardless of whether or not anyone else agrees with it.
- All book reviews help.
- You’re not responsible for the author’s feelings. If you didn’t like the book, be honest. If the author can’t take criticism, he/she shouldn’t be publishing books.
- Reviews don’t have to be long or perfect. Two words (loved it/hated it) work.
And now, the reason for this post—I want to help readers stop worrying so much about reviews and actually post them! Here’s how this works: below are reviews divided into three categories (loved it, liked it, hated it). Feel free to copy and paste as your book review anytime you want to help an author out but you don’t want to worry about what to write:
Loved It
Great story—couldn’t put it down! Can’t wait for the next book.
Loved it!
Loved the characters. Loved the plot. Love this author.
Another great book by a great author. I can’t wait to read the next book.
So good I’ll probably read it again!
Liked It
A fun read.
Good story.
Not my favorite book by this author, but I still enjoyed it.
Not my favorite type of story, but I still enjoyed it.
A little unbelievable in some places, but I still liked it.
A fun way to spend the weekend.
Hated It
I really wanted to like this book, but I didn’t. It’s just not my style.
I tried to like this book, but I couldn’t get into it.
I know a lot of people liked this book, but it’s not for me.
Owner of Write Now Editing, Karin Beery is an active member of American Christian Fiction Writers and the Christian Editor Network, where she teaches several editing classes through the PEN Institute and serves as the coordinator for the Christian Editor Connection. She is the Managing Editor of Guiding Light Women’s Fiction, an imprint of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. Her sophomore novel, Practically Married, is a 2020 Serious Writer Book of the Year finalist.
Every Writer Must Have … A Website
I published my first book two months ago, but it’s not selling. I’m thinking about building a website. What do I need to know?
Last month, this Facebook group question inspired me to explain how publishing a book is like owning a business. You can’t just create a product, you also have to package, market, and sell it. For authors, there are three components necessary to that process:
- A website
- A newsletter
- A social media presence
Today we’re going to look at what you need on your author website.
Content
Hard truth: just because you passed your college English class doesn’t mean you can (or should) write your own website content.
Harder truth: just because you can write a novel that sells doesn’t mean you can (or should) write your own website content.
Too many people think they can slap any info they want onto a website and it will work. That is not true! Your website is an advertising and marketing tool. As an author, it’s your primary tool, so you need to get it right. If you’re not an experienced marketer (or haven’t taken copywriting courses), then you need to hire someone who has. There’s too much to explain in one blog post, but here are some tips:
- Less is more (especially on the home page).
- People like white space.
- It’s not about you; it’s about your reader.
- No one cares about your credentials; they want to know how you can help or entertain them.
Design
I would love to believe that stellar content is enough to attract people’s attention, but that’s not the case. Your website has to be visually appealing too.
There are a lot of inexpensive options available to help you create your own website. If you have a background in the visual arts, go for it! Building your author website isn’t for everyone, though. It’s tempting to go for the less expensive options, but it might not be a good idea if:
- You have no experience or talent with visual arts.
- You’re a perfectionist who will spend more time tweaking your site than writing.
Remember: your website will be one of the first impressions you make on your readers. Don’t scare them away with 1990s clip art and bubble letters.
Your Investment
As is the case with learning to write, as you build your website you’ll need to invest something—either the money to hire professionals or the time to learn how to do it yourself. The only wrong answer is to do it yourself with no experience and no training—that’s like buying a building for a new store and trying to repair it yourself without any construction or remodeling experience: it might be functional, but it won’t be pretty and it will likely turn away more people than it attracts.
Come back next month to learn more about author newsletters and how they can help you grow your audience (and sell books!).
For more tips about writing, publishing, and promoting your fiction, follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Sign up for my newsletter to receive your free copy of Simple Tips for Finding the Best Editor for Your Book!
Authors As Business Owners
I published my first book two months ago, but it’s not selling. I’m thinking about building a website. What do I need to know?
I see this a lot in Facebook author groups. Authors are so excited about their books that they rush through everything with the belief that having a book available is the only thing that matters. They foolishly believe the book will sell itself; they just have to sit back and watch.
If only.
Can you imagine if a clothing store did that? They just opened their doors with no advertising or promotion, then told everyone what they were selling. It wouldn’t take long for them to go out of business.
No other businesses use the launch-a-product-then-advertise model, and I think that’s one of the biggest problems authors have when it comes to book sales. Authors see themselves as artists (which they are!), but they’re also business owners. If you want to make a living writing and selling books, you have to embrace the ‘selling’ aspect of that equation.
In the next few months, I’m going to share some tips on three things authors must have to increase their visibility and sales—and you need to start these before you release your first book, not after. The three necessary pieces are:
- Your website
- Your newsletter
- Your social media presence
Why do you need to have these before you have a book? Because you want people to be able to find you as soon as your book is available. Because you want to drum up excitement about your book before it’s even released. Because you don’t want people to get excited about your work only to search for you online and not find anything about you.
PLEASE NOTE: Your website comes before your social media presence for a reason—you don’t own your social media accounts. At any time, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn could shut down or delete your account for various reasons. If that happens and you only have social media accounts, your online presence disappears. Don’t let that happen! Build your website first, then worry about social media.
Until then, what questions do you have about author websites, newsletters, and social media? Send them in, and I’ll answer them in my posts.
What’s the difference between clean and wholesome fiction? Sign up for my author newsletter and get my Clean vs. Wholesome checklist! Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for writing tips, updates on Guiding Light, and more!
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