Using Christmas Marketing All Year Long

, by

Merry Christmas From Cheri Cowell Now don’t turn me off before hearing me out. I’m not talking about the annoying and sometimes over-the-top commercial marketing all of us are tired of by now. I’m referring to the marketing God did that first Christmas to tell the world about His great gift. What do I mean by calling God’s work marketing? Marketing in the positive sense means sharing the good news about something so as to entice others to [join, buy, get, receive or] desire to have. There are three things we can learn from God’s marketing plan—three things you and…

Read More

The Right Balance in Promotion

, by

Aloha from Karen, CAN Treasurer A friend who is a promoter mentioned that people can easily do damage when promoting themselves. They may talk too long, push too hard, or sound like a carnaval barker. Listen to ads and what turns you off, as well as what piques your interest in a product. And our talk, as Scripture reminds us, should be seasoned with salt (lightly not forceful selling).  

Read More

Ode to the Christmas newsletter!

, by

Tricia Goyer here: I don’t often use the word “promotion.” Instead I like to think of my efforts as “sharing the good news” of what has been happening with my writing. During the holiday season there’s no better way to do this than through a Christmas newsletter. Below is my newsletter. There was a lot of good news to share, including good news about my book releases and my up-coming projects. I’ve found that my friends and family like to celebrate with me …. and they often share my books with friends. Yeah!   Goyer Christmas Letter 2010   There…

Read More

What’s An Endorfluencer?

, by

Hey all, Greetings from Cat and Kregel Publications! When I came to work this morning, I was planning on writing this post about a completely different topic. But when I sat down at my desk, I did what every marketing manager does when she first arrives in the office—I opened my email. In hindsight, that probably wasn’t the best thing to do because I spent the next hour answering queries from ad reps, questions from coworkers, and quandaries from authors. One email in particular took me by surprise. Written by a first-time author, the email was only a few sentences…

Read More

Marketing on Amazon.com by Jill Williamson

, by

Amazon Author Central Once your book is listed on Amazon.com, you can set up and Amazon Author Central page, which is a page Amazon customers can click on to learn more about you and your books. Author Central pages will be linked to all your product pages on Amazon.com. First, go to this link and log in to Amazon.com. http://tinyurl.com/2ats3cp. An information page will come up. At the bottom is the option to “Join Now.” Click on that. Accept their terms and agreements, then follow the steps to set up your page. You’ll have to select your books from the…

Read More

The Power of Networking and Conferences

, by

Aloha from Karen. It’s a beautiful day on Maryland’s eastern shore. This is one of my granddaughters reminding me that time spent with someone is important and we should make the most of those moments. It’s also been a great week where a few aspiring writers have written to thank me and let me know results of networking and I have also seen fruits from networking.  

Read More

To Tour Or Not To Tour

, by

How to Make Your Blog Tours More Successful An author recently asked me (Cat Hoort), “do blog tours really work?” I sat silent for a moment, wondering how to react. I could be shocked: “What do you MEAN? Of course they work!” I could be ambivalent: “Meh. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t.” I could be doubtful: “Not really. But we can keep our fingers crossed.” I could be enthusiastic: “Absolutely! All the time. Every time!” So which one is it?

Read More

Jill Williamson on Creating an Author Website

, by

If you are a published (or an almost published) author, you must have a professional-looking website where readers can find out more about you and your books. Take a look at mine: www.jillwilliamson.com. It’s far from the best author website out there, but it’s free. And free is good. I made the whole thing with a WordPress blog. It was easy to do and there were a number of website templates to choose from. If and when I can afford to pay someone to make me an amazing website, I will. Until then, I have a site that I can…

Read More

Oprah Works For Me

, by

Oprah Winfrey is one of the world’s most successful and influential women. Her TV show is broadcast to 145 countries across the globe. Oprah’s Book Club has over 2 million online members and can make a book an instant bestseller. Oprah’s website averages 7.5 million unique visitors a month. Her satellite radio show draws millions more. And next fall Oprah launches her own TV network called OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network). So it might be a surprise that Oprah works for me.

Read More

Ministry, Money, and Marketing

, by

Aloha from Karen, the treasurer of CAN, As Christian authors we all have a heart to minister to people, but the reality is we also need to make money and market the messages we write. One way to help build passive income, market, and write is with online writing. There are various ways to get paid for online writing, we can usually link from our blog or website to articles we write online, and we can write content that reflects our message.

Read More