Story Sensei

This is the second in a series of blogs about marketing for fiction authors without using social media. Collaboration: I loved this module in the Writing Off Social course because I fully believe this is one of the best ways for fiction authors to promote their brands and their books. For my marketing, collaboration takes several forms. 1) Group promos I use BookFunnel (other authors use StoryOrigin) to join group author promos set up by other authors. Each promo is usually a specific genre, and there are two types of promos: newsletter promos and sales promos.  All participating authors share the link to the promo’s landing page, which has every author’s book covers that readers can click on. Newsletter promos feature Funnel Books. Sales promos feature books for sale whether on Amazon, on direct websites, or other distributors. Promos usually only last a short amount of time, so I can’t give links to them. Instead, I’ll post screenshot images. Here’s a screens...

This is the first in a series of blogs about marketing for fiction authors without using social media. One thing I focus on is building up my email newsletter. One way I do this is through Lead Magnets. I don’t know if this is true for non-fiction writers, but I’ve heard of two different kinds of fiction lead magnets—one for a cold audience who has never heard of you (called a Funnel Book), and one for a warm audience (Reader Magnet). The Funnel Book is for things like BookFunnel group promos or newsletter swaps. BookFunnel group promos (you can also do the same on StoryOrigin ) are where you join a promo event with other authors in your genre or niche. Everyone shares the link to the promo in their newsletter. The link goes to a landing page with everyone’s book covers that readers can click on. That goes to the individual book’s landing page with a blurb and a link to either buy the book (if it’s sales promo) or to sign up for your newsletter to get the book for free. The...

I have been a big fan of the podcast Writing Off Social for a while now, and I met the podcast hosts, Sandy and Mary K., at the 2025 Novel Marketing Conference. I had taken their Writing Off Social—the Course Lite , and while I was very, very good, I felt it didn’t have as many insights for fiction authors as opposed to nonfiction authors. Which makes sense since Sandy and Mary K. both write nonfiction. When I talked to them about it at the conference, I spouted off some feedback I had come up with while listening to their course, and they asked me to write it down in an email and send it to them. Well, I had time to wait at the airport and it turned into a huge long email missive with lots of information. They were very gracious and invited me to join them for an interview on their podcast, which was totally exciting! It was my first podcast interview! But we didn’t talk about everything in the email since we didn’t have time. I thought it might be helpful to take what I’d a...

It's been a while, but I finally did another evaluation of the various things I've been trying in order to improve my productivity. I feel like I’m getting closer to optimizing a schedule that makes me most productive despite my health issues. Click here to read Evaluation 7.

Maybe I’m just weird, but I like to know how different writers do their writing. I like knowing how they spend each day. I like knowing their process when they write a book, from idea to outlining to drafting to editing. Every writer is different in subtle ways, and I’ve discovered that a writer can discover what works best for them by seeing what works for other people, and then experimenting and trying it for themselves. Sometimes a process works, sometimes it doesn’t, but at least you’ve tried it to see. I spent a lot of time trying out methods to improve my productivity and enable me to write the best book I can. I thought it might be interesting to list what my book creation process is. Not all my methods will work for all writers, but I might do some things in a way you haven’t tried before, and it might be a process that ends up working for you. Stage 1) I usually start with the characters. I write the backstory and family first, and I jot notes in a file in Scrivener as ...

I'm over at Routines for Writers today talking about Promotion! And before you click away, I want to stress that it's never too early to think about promotion! Hi there! My name is Camy Tang, and I'm thrilled to be guest blogging today! Now, before you look at the title and think it doesn't apply to you, let me tell you—I firmly believe that it's never too early to start promotion, especially if you are a serious writer, seriously pursuing publication. Your book contract might come next week or next year or in a few years, but if you already have your promotion and marketing set up, you're a leg ahead of all the other writers submitting to agents and editors. Yes, they look to see what you already have set up in terms of marketing! Click here for the rest of the article

An old article of mine is on WannaBePublished.blogspot.com today! The Gallup Poll website is fascinating. Okay, I admit, I’m a geek. However, it’s also useful in gathering information about the book business, which is important for a writer. Click here to read the rest of the article.

This article originally appeared as a series of blog posts in November and December 2008 . Here are all the posts collected together. Building a blog These days, blogging is a great way to express yourself and/or to market a product you might have. Blogging is cheap, easy, and can be a lot of fun. But while anyone can blog, how do you create an effective blog? Here are a few tips, broken down into Blogging Logistics and Blog Content. (Before I begin, I also want to mention that blogging isn’t for everyone. Not everyone likes to blog, and that’s perfectly fine. I think that no one should feel forced to blog—if you don’t like blogging, then don’t blog. But if you do enjoy blogging, this is a series of articles to help you make a better blog.) Blogging Logistics: Blog consistently. Good blogs have bloggers who post consistently and often. Most of these bloggers post five days a week, taking Saturday and Sunday off since blogs usually have lower traffic on weekends. Ideally, a blogger who ...

Read part 6 here Blog Content, continued Focus on your blog readers. Your blog might be about you, but to build a blog readership, you have to think about what you can give to your blog readers. People visit a blog because of what they get out of it. What do people get out of your blog? Hopefully you’re entertaining. Get some feedback. Figure out which are your most popular posts—and why they’re popular. Can you write more like them? What are your more unpopular posts? Why were they unpopular? Are your blog posts all about you, or do you have things that might be interesting or informative to your readers? Remember to post things that your readers would want to read. Are your blog posts mostly information with very little about yourself? Add some personality to your blog posts. Building a blog readership will take time. Don’t be discouraged and don’t have expectations too high for your blog traffic. All blogs take time to build. Just keep blogging consistently, and also do a few thing...

Read part 5 here Blog Content, continued Blog about personal themes. Think about any personal themes you might have. They can be deep or shallow—but everyone has personal themes. So blog about them. For example, my personal themes are: (a) Asiana because I grew up with a lot of things that are new and different to my blog readers (b) humor because I’m naturally rather irreverent and like funny stuff (c) Christian fiction because I’m an avid reader (d) knitting because I’ve gone gaga over my new hobby (e) my dog because I don’t have children Cheryl Wyatt has themes of both military related things and also funny embarrassing moments for herself (her “Blush and Cringe” posts are hilarious!). Sharon Hinck has a theme of encouragement, so she blogs short encouraging devotionals rather frequently. ChristianFictionQueen blogs not only about Christian fiction but also on BBC movies and miniseries, and also on musicals and other CDs. Look at your own personal themes and build on them. Go wit...

Read part 4 here Blog Content, continued Post about your hobbies. Most of us pursue hobbies that lots of other people around the world pursue also. So post about it on your blog. This is a great way to add some personal touches to your blog posts, and it also draws people to your blog who have the same interests as you do. Pull in all the things you’re interested in. Anything can make a blog post—your current knitting project, your garden’s first tomato, your spin class’s new instructor, etc. This adds points of interest to your blog and also helps create a community between yourself and your blog readers. Post about current events. Blogs that post about talked-about items tend to get lots of traffic from people Googling those items. If you have something to say about some news or popular item, then blog about it. It doesn’t have to be current news events—it can be anything people are talking about. World events or fashion, politics or cooking. Anything. For example, when the seventh H...

Read part 3 here Blog Content If your blog logistics are all correct (see previous posts), it’s the content on your blog that keeps people coming back. Return visitors are very good. Here are some tips for creating great content for your blog. Be personal. Blog readers like to hear about personal stuff about you. Anything you’re comfortable sharing. A blog that’s purely theme or product related can be boring. Successful blogs have both information and some personal touches. For example, in Stephanie Quilao’s Back in Skinny Jeans blog, she blogs mostly about health issues, body image encouragement, and comments on health and fashion related news on the web. However, Steph also blogs about her own personal struggles with weight loss and body image, making her posts personal as well as informative. Her writing style is also funny and entertaining. Be safe. The flip side of including personal information on your blog is to also be very careful about what you post. Do not post things that ...

Read part 2 here Blogging Logistics, continued: Give your blog a unique design. Make your blog design uniquely “you.” It will serve as a visual cue to readers to know they are entering your happy place and can expect a fun read. A cheap way to alter your blog template is to ask a computer savvy teen or twentysomething to help you “pimp” your blog. Many teens know html b/c of their experience personalizing their myspace pages. An expensive way is to hire a blog designer. Check out several of your favorite blog designs and figure out who the designer was. Then email them to ask for prices. Keep the visual distractions to a minimum. A blog with too many little ads or too many widgets on both sidebars can be distracting to a reader. Aim for clean lines and good visual cohesiveness. Incorporate lots of white space. Overall, make sure your nice unique blog design isn’t overshadowed by ads or widgets or flashing bling. Turn off the music. Blogs with music playing tend to be distracting. Turn...

Read part 1 here Blogging Logistics, continued: Keep your blog posts short. Blog readers tend to skim when the blog posts are very long. The ideal length for a blog post is 250-400 words. Yes, you read that right. The longest a blog post should be is 750 words, although if a blog post is a short fiction story, they can be as long as 1000 words. Short blog posts also enable you to blog more—a long blog post can instead be broken up into several parts, making two or three days’ posts out of one long post. Utilize boldface to draw the readers’ eyes down the page. This is a technique from business writers who want to make sure the reader hits the pertinent points. Boldface also helps the reader keep track of the main points as they read the blog post. However, italics are harder to read than boldface or regular font, so use italics lightly. Choose eye-friendly colors. In general, white typeface on a black background is hard for a person to read on a computer screen. It messes with the eye ...

These days, blogging is a great way to express yourself and/or to market a product you might have. Blogging is cheap, easy, and can be a lot of fun. But while anyone can blog, how do you create an effective blog? Here are a few tips, broken down into Blogging Logistics and Blog Content. (Before I begin, I also want to mention that blogging isn’t for everyone. Not everyone likes to blog, and that’s perfectly fine. I think that no one should feel forced to blog—if you don’t like blogging, then don’t blog. But if you do enjoy blogging, this is a series of articles to help you make a better blog.) Blogging Logistics: Blog consistently. Good blogs have bloggers who post consistently and often. Most of these bloggers post five days a week, taking Saturday and Sunday off since blogs usually have lower traffic on weekends. Ideally, a blogger who wants to improve their blog traffic and effectiveness should post five days a week. If that gives you a heart attack, try to commit to posting three d...

I'm being interviewed on the He Said She Said blog about blog tours . This will be informative for any of you who are wondering about blog marketing, especially for fiction. Some of you may not even want to think about marketing right now in your writing journey, but for those of you who are published or agented, this will help you formulate your marketing plan. 1. How did you first learn about blog tours? I don’t quite remember. At the time, they were still very new, so I know that when I started planning my first blog tour for Sushi for One, it made a hit because a lot of people hadn’t heard of a blog tour before, or they’d only seen small ones, or ones with just book blurbs—not original content. 2. Which of your books have you taken on a blog tour? Click here for the rest of the interview.

Under the post on Writing in different genres , we had a lively discussion on brand. I had more to say that would have made too long a comment, so instead I wrote an article on tips for discovering your writer's brand, which originally appeared on Suite101. Tips for Discovering a Writer’s Unique Niche in the Market A writer’s own particular brand can be hard to discover, but here are a few tips for helping to brainstorm your own unique writing brand. These days, publishing houses often want to see how a writer’s “brand” sets them apart from the thousands of other manuscripts they receive. It’s become more difficult to become published by traditional publishers, and a writer’s unique brand is often what raises them to the top of the slush pile. But it’s equally difficult for a writer to determine what their brand is. Here are a few tips. Read Extensively, Not Just in Your Own Genre. With the lines between genres becoming blurred, it’s important to be well-versed in wha...