CAN Book Feature: People of the Book by Kathi Macias

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  People of the Book Author and website link: Kathi Macias ISBN: 978-1-59669-282-4  Eighteen-year-old Farah, who lives in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with her family, wants nothing more than to develop a deeper, more meaningful devotion to her Muslim faith. She sees the month of Ramadan as her chance to draw nearer to Allah, and she pursues that goal throughout the holiday. All goes well until the prophet Isa—Jesus—appears to her in a dream and calls her to Himself. At the same time, her only brother, Kareem, who has never liked Farah, actively seeks an opportunity to expose her for the…

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Writer Friends

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Aloha from Karen Whiting, trasurer of CAN, I recently taught at a writer’s conference. I love the friendships I’ve developed over the years at conferences and other places. Other writers inspire me, understand the passion and lifestyle, and share similar goals. It’s important to develop friendships with other writers and industry professionals. I cherish a mug one writer friend gave me. It says, “Choose an Author as you would a friend” for I have many author friends.  

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What are Influencers? by Jill Williamson

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An influencer is someone who dedicates themselves to helping spread the word about your book. You, or your publisher, compensate them by giving them a free copy of the novel. Influencers can have a wide variety of influence. Maybe they are a librarian. Or a pastor’s wife. Or a school teacher. Or someone with a popular blog. Maybe they are a book reviewer. Or maybe they aren’t any of those things but do a great job at spreading the word about books.

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Marketing Through Writers Conferences

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  Hi, all – Ava Pennington here writing from sunny Florida. This time I’m at a location a little farther north in Florida than I’m usually found. For the next several days, I’ll be attending the Florida Christian Writers Conference (FCWC). What does attending a writers conference have to do with marketing your book? Quite a bit!  

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Connecting at Conferences

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Aloha from Karen , treasurer of CAN, There’s synergy when people come together and connect, especially when they share ideas or brainstorm. CAN is all about sharing ideas and connecting authors to authors and readers. I love networking and making lots of connections as well as building on connections I’ve already made. For me, writing conferences are the perfect place for connecting with writers. And things happen at conferences–that’s where many of my books originated.

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Out With the Old and In With the… Old

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How to Reinvent Your Merchandising Postcards, bookmarks, business cards and flyers have all been consistent elements in book promotion for several years. Together they make a standard part of a publisher’s marketing plan and an asset to an author’s promotion toolbox. And yet, they are just so… old. Marketing is about creating a splash and catching someone’s attention. More than that, our industry requires marketing campaigns to build relationships with readers. Merchandising pieces have traditionally offered a take-away that not only catch attention but also give the reader something to look at later to remind them of a book’s title,…

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Making the Most of Small Talk with Editors

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Aloha from Karen Next week I’ll be teaching at the Florida Christian Writers Conference. Preparing to go is also a time I reflect on all that happened over the years of attending conferences. Amazingly, it’s been short, quick chats that led to many books.That’s a good reminder to connect with anyone, and make the most of every opportunity. Let me share a few of those past chats and what happened.

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How to Send a Press Release

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Dear Fellow CANers: I’m Ann Byle, a CAN member from way back. I’m a freelance writer for The Grand Rapids Press in Grand Rapids, Mich., as well as other publications including Kyria.com and Publishers Weekly. Before turning freelance 13 years ago, I was the book review editor at The Press. I received many press releases then; as a freelancer I have often done stories based on hard copy or email press releases. There is a fine line between sending a press release too early and sending it too late. Too early and the assigning editor loses it in the pile…

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Getting Your Book Reviewed Online by Jill Williamson

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Your publisher will likely submit your book for review to some people and magazines. Just because they do doesn’t mean everyone will review it. It also doesn’t mean every review posted will be a positive one. That’s the nature of book reviews. So why bother? Because people notice. Maybe some people read online reviews. Maybe they don’t. But most people notice whether a book has 0, 15, or 400 book reviews. And that tells a potential reader something right away. It tells them whether or not people are reading the book.

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Little Things Mean A Lot

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Hi, all – Ava Pennington here. Happy New Year, everyone! New year, new calendar. I love the potential of a brand new calendar, don’t you? All those pristine pages with their empty little boxes…well, they started out pristine when I unwrapped the cellophane. But they’re filling up quickly! As I look back on the past year, I had so many thoughts about how to market my book. I had planned certain tasks for six months before publication, three months before, the month before, the week of…you get the idea. Unfortunately, the calendar got away from me, and many of those…

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