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Hi there Readers! Today I have an informative guide for writers on finding success by Matt Banner from OnBlastBlog.com as seen on Forbes, Entrepreneur & The Huffington Post. Matt and I have been talking and he invited me to share this awesome infographic for my readers. It's a must read! I knew right away I had to share this with you after I read it. Matt has graciously written an introduction and starters on finding your audience. This article goes well with "The Beginner's Outline of How to Write Faster" and "Overcome Writer's Block Before It Becomes A Problem" if you need more in-depth knowledge of each topic. Check out Matt's article below! Writing a book isn’t easy, but it’s easy compared to the work you need to put in finding the right audience and marketing tools to promote it. Most writers don’t find success overnight, instead they need to find ways to support themselves while they build up their craft and eventually find that success they deserve with the help of a great publisher. Today I’ll show you how to narrow down your audience while also honing and sharpening your skills. I’ll even give you tips on how to find work so you can work from home and focus on your burgeoning career.  Finding Your Audience
Let’s first look at some key steps that will help you and your publisher find the right audience of readers that will enjoy your book. Once you have this in place, you can create your blog and start building hype for your books in between each release! #1 - Identify Your Readers Start by looking at the elements of your book and connect those with certain types of readers. If you’re doing an alternate history book where aliens invaded and interrupted WWII, then you’ve got a story for history buffs, sci-fi enthusiasts, and possibly military buffs as well. #2 - Look at Your Competition (And Who’s Reading Them) Take a look at other books in your genre and look at the kind of people reading and loving those stories. What is it about those stories that they love in particular? Latch on to those elements and you’ll have a better understanding of your readers. #3 - Establish Your Demographic Who are the people reading your book? Are we looking at young adults or teenagers? Where do they live? These kinds of answers will help you tweak certain aspects of the book to better reach your readers. Reaching Your Goals and Finding Success (Infographic) Being a successful writer involves combining a lot of different characteristics into one. This guide will help you define what tools, habits, and goals are best for you. Share your own tips in the comments!
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 If your one of the lucky ones and have a book that appeals to many people all over the world, you might find the need for a universal link. Or, for prolific authors with numerous libraries and collections global links will help organize and direct readers to those available works.
Here is the scenario: You have a book blog tour, but the tour is with bloggers from Canada to the U.S. to Zimbabwe and all over Asia. One of two things happens...
The outcome of the first scenario is... No sales, or if your lucky--someone complains that they are being taken to the U.S. store and ask where they can find it in the CA store or the DE store. The outcome of the second scenario is... Somebody gets the link wrong (it happens, we all make mistakes). Everyone is confused. No sales. Want to avoid that situation? Read further.
And, of course, Americans go to amazon.com. The different sites makes a difference in price, currency and searches. Try it! I dare ya. Click each of the above sites and see the difference for yourself. If nothing less, it will help you understand what I mean. This whole different site stuff is useful as there are potential customers across the globe, who may simply need to be pointed to their appropriate store. There is an issue with the way Amazon stores work, as my products I have for sale in the United States can not be bought by customers in the United Kingdom, unless I also include an amazon.co.uk link as well. So now you should get it. If that's the case, then the next issue becomes creating links for all of the potential countries that may have customers for you (France, Canada, Germany, etc.). This process is tedious and laborious, and now you are here, looking for a way to create a global link; look no further. I shall give you it all! (Evil laugh, evil laugh, evil laugh) All right, All right! I get it! Global link--How do I make one? Good news. You have options! (But I'll show you the best one) There are many services on the Internet that offer a simple solution to creating global links. The only issue is that they tend to have weird ways of making money for themselves, which isn't a bad thing, but can have an effect on how your links work. I have stumbled across a site called A-FWD: Link Globalizer for Amazon Affiliates And Authors an online service that is exactly what you have been looking for. Just click the link above to be taken to the site. The website allows you to enter the link to your book (for free), and generates a global link that you can post to the appropriate forum. The outcome: When a client clicks on that global link, they will be directed to your product in their own Amazon store! Hooray!! Granted, the links they provide can look very long and awkward, but this can be avoided by using a very simple URL shortener such as TinyURL or Bitly.
Overall, this is a great way for you to open your stores up to customers across the globe, without having to worry that they are redirected to the wrong store and unable to purchase your book (or product). I hope that this article has been helpful, and I would definitely recommend using A-FWD to accomplish all of your Amazon Global Link needs. If you have another site that might be of use for global links, let me know in the comments! Thank you!  Minion Troll found a new advertising platform that is based in the UK called Wise Grey Owl. They boast 8K hits everyday. Readers click on the link for either U.S. or UK and those links take you pretty much to Amazon. You can search their site by Books, Authors or Genre. To me it looks like a place where you can find diamonds in the ruff. This particular post is what happens when I give Minion Troll assignments like - "Prove to me you know what a publishing platform is--write me a blog." Below is what Minion Troll has to say about Publishing Platform and Wise Grey Owl. What is a Publishing Platform?
Before we get into discussing the publishing platform I have set out to tell you more about in this article, I see it fit to first make you have a clear understanding of what a publishing platform is. This will be brief but efficiently covered. Let’s get to it… Briefly, a publishing platform acts as a link between independent authors to potential readers of their work. A publishing platform bring these two parties together and benefits them in the following ways:
Wise Grey Publishing Platform The publishing platform we are going to have a look at is The Owl Grey Publishing Platform. I will go through all the major aspects about the way this publishing tool to have a clear understanding of how the platform works and how it will help you as an author or a reader. How it works.
Wise Grey is not involved in any financial transaction meaning that readers do not buy books through this sites. Authors who submit those books will provide link(s) to make those purchases.
Their Mission. Wise Grey Owl is a UK based Publishing Platform whose main goal is to support writers and artists globally. As mentioned earlier, it provides promotion services to independent writers making their work reach far wider audiences. Advertising they offer. Wise Grey Owl allows you to advertise on their site and gives you the liberty to select the pages you wish your adverts to appear in. Authors need not create adverts unless they wish to promote their books by paid adverts. The prices for these adverts are quite fair standing at £20 for ever or until a request is made for the advert to be removed. Payments are made in advance via PayPal, direct transfer or through a cheque drawn on a UK bank. The adverts supplied should meet the following specifications:
Terms and Conditions. I will not go through the whole Terms and Conditions document for Wise Grey Owl in this document. I will briefly list down the sections of the Terms and Conditions document and at the end of the list, I will provide you with a link you can follow to view this document. Let’s get started. The following are the sub-sections of Wise Grey’s Terms and Conditions document:
Below is a link that will take you to the complete document containing Wise Grey Owl’s Terms and Conditions: http://www.wisegreyowl.co.uk/php/tcs.php Contacts. For more information, you can contact them using any of the following channels: Telephone: +44 113 815 5991 Email: [email protected] Web: www.wisegreyowl.co.uk  Matt Banner from On Blast Blog perused through Troll River Publications recently and really enjoyed our collection of Author Resources. So much so he sent me an email thanking me for the resources page. He said Gary Dek's "Start a Blog 123" was a personal favorite and in fact, it was the one resource that inspired him to create a more thorough and up to date version: How to Start & Create a Blog Today: Step-by-Step I found his website awesome and worth mentioning to you all! He's got a 7 step system that puts blogging into an easy method. I mean -- wow! The detail in his instructions is just well thought out, well planned and gosh darn pretty. So for those who are interested in setting up a WordPress site and are overwhelmed by every aspect then this is the site for you!  For those of you who look at my site and say--yeah right, Stephanie. You use Weebly. If WordPress is so great, why don't you use it?
Well, that's because I wanted to find a site that could be used by authors that did not want to deal with WordPress. My authors are serious, but most are not techs. I will admit, it took me 3 months to figure WordPress out. Since my authors want to write blog posts, not figure out how to post them, I have most of my authors on Weebly. I find Weebly the easiest drop click site I've ever worked with. It doesn't mean I don't know how to use a WordPress site--it's that I like to put my word into action. I promised my authors to find an easy site they could work with so they wouldn't be intimidated by all the html code. Thus, I'm able to help them because I have access to their site through Weebly. It's part of my job as an author's advocate to help my writers get on with what they do best. Including the technical side of their blogs. But if you truly want the best blog, the most awesome doo-hickeys and whirlbangs, and the best findability--go with WordPress. It's not hard to figure out, but it will take an investment of time.  Recently, we've been giving out ARC (Advanced Reader Copies) for Lovely: Elite Domes of Washington and my author was curious as to how she could give the ebook to readers willing to review the novel. Experienced book reviewers already know all this, but some of her friends are not so kindle or e-reader savvy. Now, I have a kindle, so there is nothing easier for me to upload a PDF or .mobi files directly to my device. I can even convert PDF files to .mobi files during the process of sending it over. All I do is send it to my kindle email address. Below are instructions on how to do this. If you don't have a kindle, there is a video at the end of this post that might help you load into your Nook or Kobo e-reader. After you set up permissions in the Amazon website you can email the file to your kindle. But first you have to know your kindle email and give your everyday @gmail.com, or whatever email you have, permissions to send to your kindle email. It's so simple there is no doubt in my mind why kindle is the best e-reader. Go to your Amazon account right now and then follow these instructions: How to send a document to your Kindle:
Now, for those that don't have a kindle, it's going to take a little bit more..elbow grease and technical knowledge. Those that don't know what a thumb drive is should turn to a tech-savvy person to do this. However, I've given a video below that might help.
What tripped me up about BookBuzzr was it's principle of having a B2B website (BookBuzzr) and a consumer website (freado.com). It's two websites, one company. Once the confusion was over I was able to upload my authors books and get going! They have some great widgets for your Facebook page and fun marketing tools. You can subscribe to a monthly fee or use limited features for free. The free version isn't bad! You still can get widgets and do a lot of marketing through them. Including setting up tweets on a daily/weekly basis that will connect to twitter and blast out your tweets. That in itself was worth the free account. 
ACTION ITEM: (Those who are not TRP authors) Sign up with a free subscription and check it out!
 Streams, Tribes, Bonfires, Campaigns -- Triberr has a language of its own and understanding that language means this blog sharing resource will become easy to navigate. First I'd like to tell you what Triberr is. Triberr is a blog sharing resource where you can import your RSS feed into Triberr, join groups of other bloggers and then share your content through those other bloggers through facebook, twitter and Linkedin. This system is reciprocal. Meaning, you must share to be shared. When I signed up, the whole process was easy yet confusing. What was I doing? What were tribes? Who makes Bonfires? What do you mean share content and how? Thank goodness I understood what an RSS feed was and knew how to copy/paste my RSS feed to my stream. Triberr does make it easy, it's just a different way of connecting. Now, what are streams? Streams are the same as your Facebook stream. Everybody who has a blog post they want you to share is up on that stream. Yours should be there as well! Tribes are groups of people who share a common theme. I belong to a few. Some are erotic authors, others are "how to" authors. I can seperate what each shares in the settings so my "how to" authors don't have to share my smut. You must apply and be accepted into Tribes. You simply cruise Bonfires or you search Triberr for your people. Bonfires are topics that people create. I'll be honest...if anyone can fill in a little more about Bonfires, I would be grateful! I get that they are topics of discussion and people do connect there. Campaigns are what are great about Triberr. Last year the creators of Triberr said to themselves..."we are innovators, drivers of traffic and influences! We need to get paid dammit!" and so campaigns are a way for bloggers to get paid for blogging. Since Triberr is very intricate I've created a Google Hangout that might help explain it better!! Please bear with me--I have an explanation on what triberr is at the 40 second mark--after that skip to 4 minutes (4:15 to be exact) while we get our shit together. I do apologize, I have not done many Goggle hangouts. It took installation of certain applications. I recommend them highly!! They are a wonderful thing :) Hopefully, I will perfect the art of the Google hangout! Amazon has tools you can use to promote your books. While I believe Amazon keeps these things on the down low, they are out there if you search for them. If you know anything about HTML code then copy paste this: <div id="kindleReaderDiv32"> </div><script src="http://kindleweb.s3.amazonaws.com/app/KindleReader-min.js" ></script> <script>KindleReader.LoadSample({containerID: 'kindleReaderDiv32', asin: 'B00HHMKIRY', width: '720', height: '799', assoctag: 'themascre-20'});</script> The highlighted in red are what are flexible. For many they are obvious. For those just starting to understand HTML code...the "B00HHMKIRY" can be changed to your books ASIN. The Width "720" can be changed. For my blog I changed it to 550. I did not change the height and kept it at "799". After the "Assoctag" is your Amazon Associates tracking ID. Mine is "trolrivpubl-20" just in case you want to credit me with some affiliate money! :) Hey, I can try. Here is what the code does and looks like: For me, this is a cool widget I can use to promote my authors books. Show readers a good portion of the book and keep them on my website while cruising my books for sale!
ACTION ITEM: Copy the code and paste your excerpt to your website!!  Warning: Begs, Borrows and Steals DISCLAIMER: I STOLE this from Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound Newletter. She's got a great weekly newletter I follow gleaning insight into promotion and marketing for my authors.
Here's her take: Gorgeous Quotes, in Seconds. Here's another fun, free tool that lets you start with a quote--yours or someone else's--and turn it into an image that you can use for your blog, Facebook cover, Twitter cover, Google+ cover or marketing materials. It's QuotesCover.com. Type your quote into the box, or search for quotes using a keyword. Then decide how you want to use it. Change the color, font or background, tweak it more and save it. This is a fast way to create social media covers and banners. ACTION ITEM: Go to QuotesCover.com and get your quote!  Mrs. Wells gave us "Plot Putty" My very first session at the RWA conference in San Antonio was "Blog Bites" by Lisa Wells -- hands down the most adorable speaker there! This tiny lady with a unique voice broke it down for us! Now I know this is Tuesday Tools day, and I will pass along several tools, but since RWA had some wise wisdom, I wanted to pass that along as well. These are the points needed to be made:
 ABOUT LISA WELLS
Author of “Dibs.” (Contemporary Romance / Series) http://www.lisawellsauthor.com/ Check out Lisa's ABOUT page for 9 Deep, Dark Secrets... |
Dear Reader,
My efforts are to make this a learning blog where writers can see the flip side of publishing. If you have comments that will improve your experience or have a certain topic you'd like discussed, please contact me through email - HERE. ~ Sincerley, Your Editor Stephanie McKibben Head Troll Troll River Publications Books on Kindle
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