Yesterday, AB Plum talked about the woes of promoting. She’s not alone in finding that the grind of “getting yourself out there” is not fun. Most authors find that to be the hardest part of the job. We’re the kind of people who invent people to talk to. Talking to real people is just so, so, so much harder. Real people rarely say what we tell them to say for one thing. She also mentioned that she’s working on her marketing plan.
I see your hands coming up. “What is a marketing plan?” you ask. Excellent question.
A marketing plan is a comprehensive document or blueprint that outlines a business advertising and marketing efforts for the coming year. It describes business activities involved in accomplishing specific marketing objectives within a set time frame.
So for an author a marketing objective would be something like get more people to sign up for a mailing list, or have more people review your book. (Side note / Public service Announcement: if you love an author, review their books. It’s the nicest thing you can do!) To accomplish those goals, you have to take steps like advertise, blog, and/or hound your friends. A marketing plan collates these steps, ads assigned dates, and at least takes a stab at figuring out how much they’ll cost so that a budget can be created.
I don’t know how AB feels about marketing plans, but my thoughts are two-fold. My first thought, upon completion of a plan, is incredibly smug. I’m soooo organized. Who wouldn’t want to be as organized as me. My second thought is usually about two seconds later. How did I miss that deadline? Why is this going down in flames? What do you mean the cost of that ad went up? Ahhhhhhhh!!!!
All of which is to say that behind every successful book there is an author who is using a wet blanket to try and put out the dumpster fire of her marketing plan.
When Stars Take Flight takes the story of Thumbelina into space and reimagines the fairy tale for a new ageāthe future.
Kidnapped by the ToāAndans, tortured by the Moliter, and rescued by Sparrow Pandionāa spy who hides a secret paināAlliance Ambassador Lina Tum-Bel is up against a galaxy full of trouble as she attempts to rebuild the Interstellar Alliance. Her training says that she canāt trust her handsome rescuer, but maybe together, she and Sparrow can learn to fly.
https://bethanymaines.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Fry-Marketing.jpg384512Bethany Maineshttps://bethanymaines.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Aug2016-Logo-op3-300x69.pngBethany Maines2018-01-11 07:55:552018-01-10 01:00:43Promo Blues
Over Thanksgiving, my grocery store was giving away free turkeys for those who spent over $100. Thinking that it would be a small turkey, my husband who was shopping at the time, said, “Sure! Who doesnāt want a free turkey!”
And really, who wouldnāt?
And then he came home with a 23-pound turkey. That didn’t fit in our freezer.
We tried shoving it in six different ways from Sunday and then called up my mom and said, “Guess what? We’re providing the turkey!” And she said, “Guess what? I’m cooking a roast!” So we agreed to try it again for Christmas and I called around and found a friend with spare freezer space. Only Christmas arrived and mom declared that Christmas dinner was going to be small and simple. As in… no turkey. But I had sworn to my friend that her freezer would be hers again after Christmas. So now I’m looking up how to cook turkey and inviting my in-laws over.
They say that New Years is a time for trying new things and I guess Iāll be starting early with turkey cooking. Wish me luck as I enter the world of large scale cooking.
SALE ALERT:
Smashwords, the independent e-book store, is having itās annual year end sale featuring site wide deals, including some from me.
Ack! I should be baking. Or possibly cleaning my filthy office. Or writing any of the multiple stories I’m supposed to be completing. It’s crunch time for me. I’ve got a sci-fi novella that is due back from the editor at any second (more info to come after the holidays!), a Christmas short story that needs completing ASAP, and mystery novel that is supposed to be way more underway than it is. And my business partner at my day job is about to go on maternity leave at any moment. I could use a holiday. Oh, wait, one has just turned up. Now I get to add baking to the list. So excuse me, if I just complain for a minute and then dash off to put a pie in the oven.
But in the spirit of the holidays, how about a chance to win a print copy of Shark’s Instinct? Reviewers are calling it an “amazing mystery with loads of action.” Click the link below to enter!
Absolute number 1: artists must sell. So toward that end, please consider purchasing my latest book! It’s a five-star, “highly-satisfying, high-speed thriller” that readers are calling “hard to put down.”
Sharkās Instinct: Fresh out of prison and fresh out of luck, twenty-something Shark wants back into The Organization. But when Geier, the mob boss with a cruel sense of humor, sends Shark to the suburbs to find out whoās been skimming his take, Shark realizes heās going to need more than his gun and an attitude to succeed. With the clock ticking, Shark accepts the help of the mysterious teenage fixer, Peregrine Hays, and embarks on a scheme that could line his pockets, land him the girl and cement his reputation with the gangāif he makes it out alive.
Absolute number 2: Nothing is absolute and artists spend a lot of time thinking about that.
In our current climate of politics, disasters, and protest, Iāve been listening to what a lot of artists are feeling. And by artists I mean everyone from fellow writers and graphic designers, to fine artists and poets. I know from the outside that most people think of the creative set as a homogeneous mass of weirdos. Which, weird, Iāll grant you, but homogeneous is not, in any way, accurate.
Like any family there are fractured in-fights, cultural differences between the ācousinsā of fine art and design (or poets and novelists), there are fights over pecking order and definitions and what it all really means. But most artists when pressed will say that although they have their preferences, their set rules that they use, that most of the time, there is no absolute. Donāt ever pair two serif fonts, donāt ever write a novel in the first person, donāt use Papyrus for a logo (ever, no seriously)ā¦ Unless it works, in which case, you should absolutely do that. Absolutes in art and artists are few and far behind.
Which is why I think our current political climate is striking artists particularly hard. Itās as though weāve all been toddling along enjoying the gray areas and weāve run smack into the thirty percent of our population that only believes in black and white. Not that they live in black and white (because no one can). But they only believe in black and white and they want everyone else to bow before the almighty absolute and give them the peace of mind of being right. Arguing with someone who refuses to see the gray is pointless. Showing art full of color to someone who doesnāt see the subtle shades of the rainbow only makes them turn away. Many of the artistās I listen to feel despair. They feel like their art has become frivolous when they see the colors being eradicated around them, but they canāt seem to make the leap to protest art. Nine months into a presidency that does not see the value in anyone who isnāt male, straight, or white, I would like to say that all art is protest art. To create joy, beauty, and harmony, to paint with many colors instead of the ones that have been chosen for us is protest art. I encourage my artist friends to follow their passion, take action, make art, refuse to go away or step back. Use every damn crayon in the box.
Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. āOscar Wilde
Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known. āOscar Wilde
Beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm. Philosophies fall away like sand, creeds follow one another, but what is beautiful is a joy for all seasons, a possession for all eternity. āOscar Wilde
Promo Blues
/in Life, Marketing, The Stiletto GangYesterday, AB Plum talked about the woes of promoting. She’s not alone in finding that the grind of “getting yourself out there” is not fun. Most authors find that to be the hardest part of the job. We’re the kind of people who invent people to talk to. Talking to real people is just so, so, so much harder. Real people rarely say what we tell them to say for one thing. She also mentioned that she’s working on her marketing plan.
I see your hands coming up. “What is a marketing plan?” you ask. Excellent question.
A marketing plan is a comprehensive document or blueprint that outlines a business advertising and marketing efforts for the coming year. It describes business activities involved in accomplishing specific marketing objectives within a set time frame.
I don’t know how AB feels about marketing plans, but my thoughts are two-fold. My first thought, upon completion of a plan, is incredibly smug. I’m soooo organized. Who wouldn’t want to be as organized as me. My second thought is usually about two seconds later. How did I miss that deadline? Why is this going down in flames? What do you mean the cost of that ad went up? Ahhhhhhhh!!!!
All of which is to say that behind every successful book there is an author who is using a wet blanket to try and put out the dumpster fire of her marketing plan.
COMING FEBRUARY 13: Galactic Dreams – When Stars Take Flight
When Stars Take Flight takes the story of Thumbelina into space and reimagines the fairy tale for a new ageāthe future.
Kidnapped by the ToāAndans, tortured by the Moliter, and rescued by Sparrow Pandionāa spy who hides a secret paināAlliance Ambassador Lina Tum-Bel is up against a galaxy full of trouble as she attempts to rebuild the Interstellar Alliance. Her training says that she canāt trust her handsome rescuer, but maybe together, she and Sparrow can learn to fly.
Free Turkey
/in Life, The Stiletto GangOver Thanksgiving, my grocery store was giving away free turkeys for those who spent over $100. Thinking that it would be a small turkey, my husband who was shopping at the time, said, “Sure! Who doesnāt want a free turkey!”
And really, who wouldnāt?
And then he came home with a 23-pound turkey. That didn’t fit in our freezer.
We tried shoving it in six different ways from Sunday and then called up my mom and said, “Guess what? We’re providing the turkey!” And she said, “Guess what? I’m cooking a roast!” So we agreed to try it again for Christmas and I called around and found a friend with spare freezer space. Only Christmas arrived and mom declared that Christmas dinner was going to be small and simple. As in… no turkey. But I had sworn to my friend that her freezer would be hers again after Christmas. So now I’m looking up how to cook turkey and inviting my in-laws over.
They say that New Years is a time for trying new things and I guess Iāll be starting early with turkey cooking. Wish me luck as I enter the world of large scale cooking.
SALE ALERT:
Check out all the deals at: SMASHWORDS
Check out my deals at: SMASHWORDS/BETHANYMAINES
Crunch Time!
/in General Writing, Life, Shark Santoyo, The Stiletto GangAck! I should be baking. Or possibly cleaning my filthy office. Or writing any of the multiple stories I’m supposed to be completing. It’s crunch time for me. I’ve got a sci-fi novella that is due back from the editor at any second (more info to come after the holidays!), a Christmas short story that needs completing ASAP, and mystery novel that is supposed to be way more underway than it is. And my business partner at my day job is about to go on maternity leave at any moment. I could use a holiday. Oh, wait, one has just turned up. Now I get to add baking to the list. So excuse me, if I just complain for a minute and then dash off to put a pie in the oven.
But in the spirit of the holidays, how about a chance to win a print copy of Shark’s Instinct? Reviewers are calling it an “amazing mystery with loads of action.” Click the link below to enter!
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Shark’s Instinct
by Bethany Maines
Giveaway ends November 30, 2017.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Enter Giveaway
Incoming
/in Life, The Stiletto GangAbsolutely
/in Life, Shark Santoyo, The Stiletto GangToday Iām discussing the absolutes of art.
Absolute number 1: artists must sell. So toward that end, please consider purchasing my latest book! It’s a five-star, “highly-satisfying, high-speed thriller” that readers are calling “hard to put down.”
$2.99 on sale today! BUY NOW!
Absolute number 2: Nothing is absolute and artists spend a lot of time thinking about that.
In our current climate of politics, disasters, and protest, Iāve been listening to what a lot of artists are feeling. And by artists I mean everyone from fellow writers and graphic designers, to fine artists and poets. I know from the outside that most people think of the creative set as a homogeneous mass of weirdos. Which, weird, Iāll grant you, but homogeneous is not, in any way, accurate.
Like any family there are fractured in-fights, cultural differences between the ācousinsā of fine art and design (or poets and novelists), there are fights over pecking order and definitions and what it all really means. But most artists when pressed will say that although they have their preferences, their set rules that they use, that most of the time, there is no absolute. Donāt ever pair two serif fonts, donāt ever write a novel in the first person, donāt use Papyrus for a logo (ever, no seriously)ā¦ Unless it works, in which case, you should absolutely do that. Absolutes in art and artists are few and far behind.
Which is why I think our current political climate is striking artists particularly hard. Itās as though weāve all been toddling along enjoying the gray areas and weāve run smack into the thirty percent of our population that only believes in black and white. Not that they live in black and white (because no one can). But they only believe in black and white and they want everyone else to bow before the almighty absolute and give them the peace of mind of being right. Arguing with someone who refuses to see the gray is pointless. Showing art full of color to someone who doesnāt see the subtle shades of the rainbow only makes them turn away. Many of the artistās I listen to feel despair. They feel like their art has become frivolous when they see the colors being eradicated around them, but they canāt seem to make the leap to protest art. Nine months into a presidency that does not see the value in anyone who isnāt male, straight, or white, I would like to say that all art is protest art. To create joy, beauty, and harmony, to paint with many colors instead of the ones that have been chosen for us is protest art. I encourage my artist friends to follow their passion, take action, make art, refuse to go away or step back. Use every damn crayon in the box.
Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. āOscar Wilde
Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known. āOscar Wilde
Beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm. Philosophies fall away like sand, creeds follow one another, but what is beautiful is a joy for all seasons, a possession for all eternity. āOscar Wilde