WRITE FASTER!

If you are a writer and have been doing it a long time you might remember how writing one book a year was the goal. Publishing took FORRREEEVVVVERRRR, and some crazy writers would publish two or three books in a year.

Two and sometimes four years was expected to get your book in print and all the money it took to advertise, and go on tour and blah... blah... blah...

It was a game of polish, think... think some more and a writers life was filled with days on the beach, or out "Doing Research."

Now the game has changed. eBooks are taking over and the demand for content has never been higher. Readers are eating up books like hungry dogs. Sales are going insane and the chant is, "Where is your next book?"

It is numbers, content and how fast you can get more content out there. This, with trying to put out quality is the new era of writing and publishing. If you have one book you may sell okay, but if you have three or more you stand the chance to really make some money and build a huge fan base.

It is all speed, the eBook is NOW, the reader demands it NOW. You can publish an eBook NOW, and the more you have the more you make. It is an instant world and authors like J.A. Konrath, Amanda Hockings and Vincent Zandri are trying to keep up with the demand.

What should you do? Write faster, no more laying around or drinking coffee to be happy with one book a year. You need to do 2-6 books a year at least. Now, if you keep up with your hungry fans you stand to make a great living. We are no longer in the time of the easy writers life. So, if you have a short story sitting around... Publish it! If you wrote a story in high school... Publish it! Content, content, content! Back list, out of print, old works... anything and everything just get it up and for sale, you never know what book will take off and lead the change for all your other works.

Cheers

Now Twitter!

I will be the first to say that the Twitter thing is not where I shine. Yet I am learning and can give some pointers as to the use of it for us authors. I used to think Twitter was lame, kind of a side site that was of no use. But after talking to some others that were seeing some good things come of it I decided to take a look. I have been active for the last three months or so and I am seeing a lot of growth.

What is the difference between Facebook and Twitter?

Facebook is like a super high teenager email program. Connect with people and update a status and let people know what you are thinking and doing. A blog is the story, Facebook is the preview and Twitter is the blurb. A quick blast that is there and gone in seconds yet is read and followed.

Over the years Twitter has become a news feed of sorts. People follow news people, restaurants,and other businesses in order to review and plug where they are and what is going on.

If you want to know something quick Twitter is the place to go. I use it on my phone as I can keep updated in seconds with just a glance. I can put people into groups and look at what a group is doing and cut out all the other chatter. An example is I have a group of Authors, one for friends, one for food joints etc... If i want a good place to eat I look at the food feed and see who is running a special or had a good review.

Use Twitter to follow other authors. I do filter out people that may only tweet canned quotes or never add a personal touch. The object is to interact. It is a huge conversation, get in the middle of it.

Warning: Twitter like Facebook can be very High School. clicks of friends that will not let you in and have personal conversations, inside jokes and the like. Just be aware that this goes on.

Tweeting:

This is where you post a comment or post. You only get 140 characters including spaces. Tweet about things you want to pass along that are quick. A book signing you are at, or if you ate at a good burger place tell others about it. Be personal and fun, no one wants to follow a depressed bimbo.

Re-Tweeting:

This is where you send out a tweet that someone else posted. If you like what they said pass it along to your followers. Try to send along things that you wish to share, or something you want everyone else that follows you to see.

Mentions:

If someone says your name in a tweet you can track it. This is a good thing, means people are talking about you or to you. Be sure to respond and thank them or engage in the conversation. You can mention someone that follows you by typing in the @ symbol before their twitter handle.

DM (Direct Message)

You can like eMail talk direct to someone. You have to follow them and they have to follow you to do this and it makes whatever you are talking about private. The Mention is the same thing but by doing the DM it is not public on your feed for all to see. Be sure to watch the word count and you can DM someone from your phone by just typing the letter D and the twitter handle of whoever you want to message.

Following:

Find others that are interested in what you are interested in. Other writers, authors etc... Be focused in who you search for and don't go crazy. try not to follow 1000 people and only have 200 that follow you, as you gain in numbers try to move slow. You can set your account to private if you want to protect your tweets. But otherwise anyone can see what you are talking about and follow you. If you protect you will have to approve who follows you and not just anyone can look at your page. I am on Twitter to reach out so I could care less who sees what i say, the more the better.

There is so much more but this will get you started. Do your research and use it. you may not sell a book but it is a must if you want to get your name out there. Have fun and remember, it is a conversation... talk!

Tagging your book and eBook on Amazon.

So, you want to tag... or you don't know what a tag is. Why tag? Tag... that is kind of fun to say... ooohhh, a feather.

I'm back.

On Amazon tagging is a way to make one book tagged or related to another book. It is when you see a title and below that book it shows other books people bought as well or recommended. This comes about by someone buying or tagging a different book to your book.

I know I sound like I am a simple minded person but I just want to be clear on what we are talking about.

Now, tagging is powerful, the more tags you have the easier you are to find. You can tag your book to another authors books. You can also tag another author to your book and so on.

The idea is to make the connection. So, if you write thrillers you want to tag your book to another thriller writer, and one who sells well. DO NOT TAG LIKE A CRAZY PERSON! If you tag to 2 or more authors it may dilute and you don't want water down your focus. Try just one or two authors and tag your book to theirs and theirs back too yours.

Yes this is legal.

And okay.

The other thing is you have to tag your print book and eBook independently. All tags will not carry across from print to E. You will need to tag your Ride-The-Wave author as well print and E.

Amazon also has sites in China, the UK and so on. All these sites are listed at the bottom of the page on Amazon. Just go alllllllllll the way down and click on where you want to go. You will need to tag your books in all these countries as well as they do not carry through.

All the sites will carry your print book but only the US, UK and Canada will have eBooks.

If you can't find where to TAG, just go to your book page and keep going down until you see Customer Tags.

If you still can't find where to tag... not sure what to tell you, find a 12 year old to do it for you.

Oh, and to tag all you do is type in your name on your big author's tag area, use your last name only, first and last and any other variations. On your book you do the same but his or her name, first and last etc... Click ADD and you are good to go. You will need to be logged into your Amazon account to tag, if you don't have an account you can make one. It is free and easy. Just try tagging and if you don't have an account Amazon will let you know and show you how to set up the account.

If you Tag it will help more people see your book by looking at another book. Thus you should sell more books, unless your book is crap, or if you have a bad cover or if you are just weird. Anything to help...

Cheers.