Great tips and thoughts – reblogging on Archer’s Aim!
Month: June 2015
Conference Notes Pt. 3: Warm-up Your Pitching Arm
I recently attended a local writing conference and came away with notes on several topics which interested me. The last two weeks, I posted about creating compelling characters and writing for trade publications to supplement your writing income. This week, I’m covering another observation from the conference I attended – going prepared to deliver your best pitch.
Deliver your best pitch at a writer’s conference. Photo courtesy Morguefile.com free section.
I had two friends go with me and they were attending a writing conference for the first time. They came with ideas in mind as well as work ready to pitch to agents that were attending. Since I’m mainly working on self-publishing, I arrived with nothing in mind which is a mistake. Here’s why…
One friend kept talking to a particular fiction agent and got a sit-down meeting with him even though the agent’s calendar was full. This friend, pitched his two fiction book series. The agent passed on the first project but wanted to see the second one. So far my friend was 1 for 2 – not bad on your first try with an agent at your first writing conference. But, since the agent also represented film and TV projects, my friend went for broke and pitched a TV show idea. The agent knew of someone possibly looking for related programming and told my friend to write the pilot. That’s 2 for 3 – amazing!
Next we ate lunch at another agent’s table. The conversation went around with all of us since this agent was quite affable. When asked about anything she was doing, my second friend pitched a non-fiction idea she’d had for a number of years based on some personal experiences. The agent bit and told her he wanted to see her idea within a month using his online template. Wow, this was incredible!
Go to a conference ready to deliver a pitch. Photo courtesy Morguefile.com free section.
However, by now you see the lesson learned. I arrived with nothing to pitch. The old adage, “Nothing ventured nothing gained” is apropos in this instance. Take my advice, have a few ideas in mind – maybe even slightly developed – when you go to a conference. You never know what may happen. As writers we are creative and lots of ideas come to mind. Just because you can’t act on it immediately doesn’t mean someone might not be interested in the right circumstances. Also, just because an idea isn’t in your main genre doesn’t mean it can’t be developed – especially non-fiction. And just because you are self-publishing doesn’t mean it eliminates you from other publication opportunities.
So take my advice, attend that next conference with a finished project or non-fiction idea ready to pitch to the nearest agent or editor. You never know what may happen! Don’t get caught sitting on the sidelines. Congratulations to my daring friends – now go get ’em!
Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my Contact page for that information. I’ve updated the site with a new landing page starting today but you can still view the News page for announcements. As part of the changes, new email subscribers (you won’t be spammed nor sold) will receive my free new guide, 15 Must Have Apps for Self-Publishing Authors. Sign-up today! I’ve added a new sign-up tab on my FaceBook page to simplify the process. Also, the cover of my book, The Bow of Destiny, was revealed recently so take a look.
Why You Should Recycle Blog Tour Posts – Carefully
This summer I expect to begin writing up some blog tour ideas for when The Bow of Destiny is release. I’ve already got a list and it’s growing. Here’s the thing, if you are going to spend the time writing up who knows how many blog tour articles why not get as much use as possible out of them?
Now I’m not saying post these during a blog tour while they are being used. Neither am I saying you should re-use them all for all your blog tours (though if you find an idea or theme is usually popular then ride it, just with differing posts). What I am saying is that you can recycle this content on your blog later – sparingly.
Think about it. You’ve spent a great deal of time writing for all these tours. You’ve also got a blog meant to promote you and your writing. You’re frequently going to put your books on sale at various times of the year. If you are like me and you’re writing a book series then you’ll be releasing related books to the one that you’ve put through a tour already.
Why not put those tour posts to good use? There are those who believe that you shouldn’t re-use these and I agree that you shouldn’t do so repeatedly on more than one blog tour. However, you can re-post similar content on your site so that those readers who want to know more can learn more and those who have not seen the posts can read what they haven’t seen already.
So when you’ve got more going on with your book – post something from a former blog tour. If you are releasing a subsequent book on another tour, use an old blog tour post from earlier works in the series on your site with added links to the ongoing tour and release material. In other words, much like you might see a short story published several times you should re-use your blog tour content to continually enhance your book promotion. Just don’t re-use posts continually on every tour and every sales event since your readers are looking for new insights into your book – there’s a balance.
Clip Art Image Copyright by Microsoft. Clip Art Used by Permission of Microsoft
Here are three ways you gain from recycling tour posts:
1. It also means that you spend less time coming up with new blog material. You can build on what you have and provide additional information on development.
2. Additionally, that content keeps working for you, meaning the time you spent actually magnifies the useful exposure it continues to gain your book. Think of it this way, the time spent writing it is super-charged, providing returns like you actually spent 10 hours on that post rather than 1 (that’s just an example. I don’t actually know how much it will return, just that it can boost that original effort).
3. Lastly, it means that you’ve got more time to write and promote more of your content.
So don’t just write those blog tours and throw them away. Recycle them with a bit of fresh content and links to additional material. Get full use out of your hard work and let those old posts gain the most exposure possible for your book – you owe it to yourself for all the hours you put into the book and its release. Regardless, always post your tour and events for you newest book on your site, preferably with your informative posts.
Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my Contact page for that information. I’ve updated the site with a new landing page starting today but you can still view the News page for announcements. As part of the changes, new email subscribers will receive my free new guide, 15 Must Have Apps for Self-Publishing Authors. Sign-up today! I’ve added a new sign-up tab on my FaceBook page to simplify the process. Also, the cover of my book, The Bow of Destiny, was revealed recently so take a look.
