Visual Content Marketing for the Confused and Terrified Writer
July 17, 2017 by marianne h donley in category Writing Classes tagged as Canva, Elena Dillon, Marketing, Online Classes
Visual Content Marketing for the Confused and Terrified Writer
Instructor: Elena Dillon
Cost: $79
Dates: On Demand
What is visual content and why do you need it for your marketing strategy? And how does this apply to your author business?
The answer is simple.
Visual content is anything that uses pictures, graphics, video, etc. When you see a GIF of cats falling off tables? That’s visual content. A pretty graphic with a quote from a book? Visual Content. Those fabulous cooking videos where they make a cinnamon roll apple pie in twenty seconds? Visual content.
It’s what will get your content seen. As a matter of fact, statistically your readers are 44% more likely to engage with visual content. Hmmm. 44%? Hard to ignore. We all want to work smarter not harder, right? In this class, you will learn:
- How to decide what kind of visuals will work for you and your business
- How to create all kinds of visuals
- How to make one piece of content work in many different ways
- Drive traffic where you want it to go (your website, lead page, Amazon or other retailer page)
- Save time and effort in your marketing efforts
Who should take this class?
This class for you if you’ve never created any kind of graphics on your own. It’s for authors who need to learn how to create visual content for their author business and are unsure about using new technology. We will go over:
- Strategies for smarter marketing
- Tools that make visual content easier to create and more manageable
- How to plan out your content and marketing so it takes up less precious writing time.
And believe it or not? I’ll make it fun. I’ll teach you how to create a graphic while you’re standing in line for coffee. =)
About the instructor:
Who Am I?
I’m Elena Dillon, an author of the award winning Young Adult Breathe series. When I’m not writing, I love to help my author friends with technology and social media. I’ve taught Social Media for the Confused and Terrified, Pinterest for the Confused and Terrified, Visual Content for Authors and spoken at numerous conferences, chapters, and groups about social media and indie publishing.
Most of the time, I’m a wife to my husband of twenty-six years, mom to my two grown kids and servant to my high-maintenance English bulldog, Brutus, while I wait, not so patiently, for grandbabies.
Visual Content Marketing for the Confused and Terrified Writer
Instructor: Elena Dillon
Cost: $79
Dates: On Demand
Color-blind Bots & Cloudy Cleavage: #Facebook Ads by @Lyndi Lamont
July 16, 2017 by Linda McLaughlin in category The Romance Journey by Linda Mclaughlin tagged as Facebook Ads, Linda McLaughlin, Lyndi LamontThis last week, I took a Facebook for Business Made Easy 5-Day Challenge led by Sherri-Lee Woycik of Social Media Minder. It was wonderful, intensive, and my Facebook pages have never seen so much activity!
One of the lessons involved boosting a post from your Facebook page. I was able to successfully boost one post at my Lyndi Lamont Page. (I’m always happy to get new likes and engagement. Hint, hint.)
Then I tried to boost one from my Linda McLaughlin page. This is what the ad looked like:
Seems pretty straightforward, right? Easy question plus two images. Should be a no brainer.
So when it wasn’t approved, I was surprised. I delved into why FB found the post unacceptable and got this mind-boggling answer.
What the heck?
After Sherri-Lee got done laughing, she explained that the ads are checked by bots, not real people. Apparently the bot is somewhat color-blind since it seemed to mistake my sunrise for naked skin, and the clouds surrounding the moon for cleavage? Or something like that.
So much for artificial intelligence, LOL.
Needless to say, I sent an appeal and I’m waiting for a human being to get around to looking at it.
In other news, my latest release, Lily and the Gambler, is on sale for 99 cents for the summer at at Amazon Kindle, BN/Nook, Kobo and Smashwords.
Also, I’m participating in the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale through July 31. Rogue’s Hostage and Lady Elinor’s Escape are now half off at Smashwords through July 31. Don’t forget to use the code SSW50 at checkout.
And all my Lyndi Lamont novellas are free at Smashwords through the end of the month! How To Woo… A Reluctant Bride, Ilona’s Wolf and Marooned. Don’t forget to use the code SSW100 at checkout.
Hope you’re having a great summer. Mine has been hectic and productive as well as fun.
Linda McLaughlin
aka Lyndi Lamont
http://lindalyndi.com
Stop! 10 Things Writers Shouldn’t Do
July 15, 2017 by Rebecca Forster in category The Write Life by Rebecca Forster, Writing tagged as inspiration, lessons, rules, writing
DON’T EVER. . .
1.Stop Reading: After a long day of writing, the last thing you want to do is pick up someone else’s book – do it anyway. It will help you relax and keep you motivated – not to mention you might pick up a few literary tricks along the way
2. Rely on Inspiration: Inspiration is a contact sport. Pound the keys, search the web for topics that are compatible with your story, be proactive about inspiration.
3. Veer From Your Genre: So you want to write the first science fiction, erotic, mystery, romance? Don’t do it. If you want passionate and engaged readers make sure your book can be defined.
4. Get Boring: If you’re bored writing your book chances are that your readers will be bored reading it. Take your book to the top and then go over it. Conflict moves stories.
5. Default to Perfection: Men are fearless, women are sexy and everyone is just too cool for school. Readers want to relate to your characters – imperfections, shortcomings and all.
6. Lose the Through Line: Remember what story you’re writing. If you started out writing about a girl torn between her family and a soldier she loves, don’t go off into political discourse about war.
7. Be Afraid to Cut, Cut, Cut: Cut close to the bone and let the reader see the skeleton of your book instead of burying her in unnecessary description or dialogue. Let a reader’s imagination fill in the rest.
8. Throw in the Towel: The easiest thing in the world is starting a book; the hardest thing is finishing one. The cool thing is that you can do it with just an ounce more determination and patience. Yes, an ounce.
9. Don’t Do it Alone: For some writers a critique group works. For others it’s one trusted voice cheering them on. Writers may live with their fictional characters, but they thrive with a friend(s) who believes in them.
10. Beat Yourself Up: The book isn’t shaping up the way you want? Someone read a chapter and didn’t care for it? Feel like jumping off a cliff? You can spend your time beating yourself up, or beating the keys on your computer. Beat the keys and show the world what you’re made of. We’re all waiting for your book.
Send Us Your Questions
July 14, 2017 by marianne h donley in category The Extra Squeeze by The Extra Squeeze Team tagged as Questions, The Extra Squeeze Team
The Extra Squeeze Team Wants Your Questions
Ever wonder what industry professionals think about the issues that can really impact our careers? Each month The Extra Squeeze features a fresh topic related to books and publishing.
Amazon mover and shaker Rebecca Forster and her handpicked team of book professionals offer frank responses from the POV of each of their specialties — Writing, Editing, PR/Biz Development, and Cover Design.
Send The Extra Squeeze Team your Questions.
Your questions and their answers will be posted on the last day of each month.
If you have a topic or question for the Extra Squeeze Team, contact the Extra Squeeze online producer Marianne Donley by using the form below.
The Extra Squeeze Team
USA Today Bestselling author of 35 books, including the Witness series and the new Finn O’Brien series.
Developmental editor who has worked for twenty plus years with new and established authors of both fiction and non-fiction, traditional and indie.
Cover designer and author of the fantasy series, The Fireblade Array
PR/Business Development coach for writers and artists; CEO, Creative Center of America; member, Forbes Coaches Council.
Summer, Porches, and Nature
July 13, 2017 by Sally Paradysz in category From a Cabin in the Woods by Members of Bethlehem Writers Group
Porches, especially the screened variety, go hand in hand with summer. Wooden doors that slam, the sound of flip flops on the brick path, and birdsong from my wooded acreage, all play a role in my summertime pleasure.
Dawn on my porch begins with a steaming mug of hazelnut coffee and kitties. Maine Coons are a part of my life and own me completely. Snoozing on the soft chairs with mom close by is a joy for them as well. I hope.
As I cradle my caffeine, I realize that all too soon the sun will be rising to its zenith, but for now, the world is mine alone. I can hear the scampering of little feet in the leaves, watch my two foxes run past, and wait for the arrival of my doe with her twin fawns. Just last night they stood close beside my screens, and I watched the nursing process. (It was not gentle!)
What a world I have surrounding me. My journey here, as I said in my book FROM SCRATCH, has been like something I’d read in a novel. A yarn about a woman who was about to make remarkable changes in herself, as well as her physical environment. Unquestioned belief that the life ahead was a first-rate choice.
Building this new home myself has been remarkable, and my spirit came alive while I was hard at work. Many nights I lay awake knowing my life had to change, but I lacked the necessary courage to make it happen. Making the choice to rebuild my life, while building my home, kept my spark glimmering. I was afraid, but that is in the past. What I learned is fear can defeat life. It begins in your mind, and you can feel yourself weakening a little more each day. Hope and trust slither away like a snake. I know I fought hard but didn’t know how to win the battle, and I became the architect of my own pain.
Now I barely recognize myself as I sit here on my porch. I still have sleepless nights, but now they are the result of excitement, not fear. Shadows are now passing over my brick pathway as the sun rises, and I have an inner feeling that I want to build a porch for everyone. Ha, imagine! I still weep, on occasion, as I look into the woods on this land of mine. Turkeys, squirrels, deer, and fox, they still take my breath away…
Sally Paradysz writes from a book-lined cabin in the woods beside the home she built from scratch. She is an ordained minister of the Assembly of the Word, founded in 1975. For two decades, she has provided spiritual counseling and ministerial assistance. Sally has completed undergraduate and graduate courses in business and journalism. She took courses at NOVA, and served as a hotline, hospital, and police interview volunteer in Bucks County, PA. She is definitely owned by her two Maine Coon cats, Kiva and Kodi.
You can read more about Sally’s life in her memoir:
Featured Books
ONCE UPON ANOTHER WORLD: A Twisted Fairy Tale Box Set
Not all fairy tales are as they appear.
More info →
DANGER MUSIC
Her quirky assignment: solve a famous cold-case mystery for a magazine article. Then the killer reawakens.
More info → THE ALLIANCE
When Leora Ebersole sees the small plane crash in her Old Order Mennonite community, she has no idea it's a foreshadowing of things to come.
More info →
THE CHRISTMAS WISH
Will Eve find it’s possible that Christmas wishes aren’t only for little girls?
More info → THE DAY BAILEY DEVLIN’S HOROSCOPE CAME TRUE
Oh, boy! Oh, Bailey! What are you going to do when Fate decides to have a little fun?
More info →
