Your Toolkit for Excellence from Belinda Pollard & Small Blue Dog Publishing
During the final preparations to publish my debut novel, I’ve come across some great articles that have challenged me to rethink two basic tactics we can use to market our books.
These are solid-gold tools that take a little time in the original setup, and then keep working quietly for us for months or years to come with just the occasional tweak. And they needn’t cost us much at all. What’s not to love about that?
A few weeks ago, I posted an article about whether or not we should use images of people on our book covers. I also displayed two alternative covers for my upcoming novel Poison Bay — one with a person on it and one without.
Today I’m going to talk about the pros and cons of seeking feedback in this way, and some things I learned about how to make the most of it if you do decide to invite feedback for your own book covers.
Every time I post about beta readers and how wonderful and essential they are, I get more requests for how to find some.
People want quick answers. Their manuscript is ready to be critiqued NOW. And as many of us know, the best betas can be hard to find.
This brings me to the brutal truth about beta readers…
I’m always saying how hard it is to proofread our own writing. But there are those situations where we need to do it. How can we increase our accuracy?
In WQ, the magazine of the Queensland Writers Centre, I read an intriguing article about the brain science behind this thorny problem… and some possible solutions!
I tracked down Alison Quigley, author of the article, and she has generously agreed to share it here on my blog…
There’s a lot of debate in self-publishing circles about whether book covers should have people on them or not, and how this impacts sales.
This is an issue close to my heart as I prepare to self-publish my debut novel. Read on for the process I’m going through to figure it out.
Writers festivals and conferences are great places for us to get inspiration and education, and make connections with writers and other people who can help us in our projects.
This year, I got much more out of my local writers festival than I have in the past. I’ve made a list of the things I did differently, so that it might be useful for you, too.
Are you writing a book? Wishing you could write a book? Go for it.
Today, we’re speaking to authors who have self-published different kinds of VISUAL BOOKS, including:
•Picture books for children
•Memoir
•History
•Coffee table books.
There are so many more options today, thanks to ebooks, print-on-demand, and new distribution options through online bookstores.
I’ve asked five authors from different countries to spill their secrets about how they’ve gone about the process, to inspire and help other authors who want to self-publish a visual book.
Do you ever feel intimidated by writing advice, and pushed in a direction you don’t really want to go? Time to rebel.
The subject of today’s literary disobedience is the Adverb. I’d like to reclaim this despised part of speech, on behalf of sane writers everywhere.
The internet is awash with Adverb Hate. And the worst part of it is the way it confuses some writers, who end up thinking they are never allowed to use an adverb anywhere ever again.
I usually write long blog posts to explore a topic in depth. But sometimes, I know you just want to get some useful information you can grab quickly, and then get on with your day.
So, here is my first Quick Tips post. Today’s Quick topic is Twitter for Writers.
I hope to see you again soon. ~ Belinda
