Blogging is a big subject with most businesses and entrepreneurs (like writers and authors).

It is one of still ongoing confusion and questions arise around when should someone start blogging and why should a business or entrepreneur, such as a writer or author even blog?

Well, in this week’s Tuesday Book Marketing Minute Tip I answer both of these questions to help clear away the confusion.

July 26th 2010 TMT

For marketers the traditional holidays can provide an extra boost of recognition if a product or program aligns nicely with a specific holiday. Authors and writers have the same opportunity to use these holidays to create a jolt of exposure for their book.

But did you know there are special and unique holidays along with the traditional ones that writers and authors could use to gain more exposure for your book.

Below is my Tuesday Minute Tip to help you think about how to use these special holidays for your book marketing.

July 20 2010TMT

Be creative when putting your book marketing plan together and use these special holidays to put together a discussion, contest or event that will incorporate your book.

And there are two resources on the web to find more information about these special holidays—

Quirky Marketing Calendar (an ebook) by Heidi Richards Mooney
This ebook contains the full monthly calendar templates to use for your book marketing plan plus more great marketing tips, advice and ideas for any business, including writers and authors.

And Brownielocks – website that lists these special holidays by month, week, and daily holidays within each month.

In this technical advanced world, you, like most other authors and writers, use email on a daily basis. However, are you using it to its fullest potential in order to enhance your online book promotion efforts?

The email signature has become one of those places for promoting that still many people, especially authors and writers, don’t use to increase the exposure for their writing and/or book.

Here are 3 things authors and writers can add to their email signatures:

1) Link to your book-You are saying, “Teresa this is too obivious. Of course a link to the book is in my email signature.” However, I bet that some of you are shaking your heads right now and thinking to yourself, “Boy, that is a good idea. I need to do that.” Also, it is a good idea to place in a one sentence book description with the link to where you wish a person to go and purchase the book (i.e.your website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble).

Example:

Kindly,
Teresa Morrow
Key Business Partners

More than Just Love by author Teresa Morrow, a story inspired by real life events about a young woman who shares her incredible journey about life, family and love and learns things about herself and others she never realized. You can purchase More Than Just Love on Amazon.

2) Your Picture – Just like with a website or blog, people like to see whom they are corresponding with via email. By adding your picture to your email signature, you allow for a more personal experience for the recipient because they can see the person who sent the email.

Example: To add a picture in Outlook: (received these instructions from Microsoft)

You must use Microsoft Office Word 2003 as your e-mail editor when sending signatures with pictures or logos.

1. In the main Outlook window, on the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Mail Format tab.
2. Under Message format, in the Compose in this message format list, click the message format that you want to use the signature with.
3. Under Signature, click Signatures, and then click New.
4. In the Enter a name for your new signature box, type a name.
5. Under Choose how to create your signature, select the option you want.
6. Click Next.
7. Click Advanced Edit.

When the dialog box appears cautioning you that an editor not part of Microsoft Office Outlook will open, click Yes.
8. Design your signature. When you are ready to insert a picture or logo, on the Insert menu, point to Picture, and then click From File.

Note If you are designing your signature in Word, make sure that you press SHIFT+ENTER at the end of each line of text. If you press only ENTER, Outlook inserts your signature so that the recipient sees your signature in double-spaced format.
9. Close the advanced editor, making sure that you click Yes to save your changes.
10. When you finish editing the new signature, click OK.

After you create a signature, you can insert a signature in a message.

3) Social Media Links-With the massive and continuous growth of social media such as Twitter and/or Facebook, your email signature is a great place to share your links with others. It provides with instant access to make a connection with you and be able to stay in contact with you about your writing.

Here is an example:

With gratitude,

Teresa Morrow
Key Business Partners

Connect with me on:
Twitter
Facebook
Linked In

By using your email signature to increase your online exposure to potential connections, you have created a non invasive way for someone to connect with you and your work. Invest the time to utilize your email signature to its fullest potential and you may find more followers, readers and people interested in your book.

I have had some clients ask me this question. I answer with an absolute,”YES! if you want to be known for your writing and your book”. Now, there are always exceptions to the rule, however, that is not what I am talking about here.

And I am not sure if these days, this even holds true. I believe for 99% of business owners (and yes, as a writer or author you have a business), having a website is essential.

The follow up question from a writer may be, “Well, but I don’t have anything to sell (yet) so what would I have on the website?”

Here is my answer. “You can place information about your writing background. Your credentials. Examples of your writing. Of course, a picture of you is always nice. A page about you and your history. You can do an interview of questions for the media to pick up to discuss your book.

I would then follow up by saying, “Also, as a writer, you can add a blog to the site, where people can keep up on a consistent basis with your writing and about your upcoming book.”

Here is a statement that has been said many times and it is a very logical.

Most people don’t buy from people they don’t know. The only other time they may purchase from someone they don’t know, is when someone they DO know, recommends the other person’s product or service.

By setting up a website and a blog, you begin to establish an online presence which allows other people to get to know you during the time your are writing your book.

Writers block—the feared time when you, the writer, can’t seem to move forward with your writing.

What exactly is writer’s block? Well, according to Wikipedia,writer’s block is a condition (yes, one that can make you want to pull your hair out) with writing as a profession when the author is unable to produce more work.

As a writer you feel it is a cruel obstruction just to frustrate you.

However instead of fearing writers block, next time you get writer’s block, look at the time as a blessing.

You may be asking how do I do that when all you want to do is just keep writing.

When you get writer’s blog, it is your mind’s way of telling you the writing has become off track and not inline with the message.

Here are a few ideas when you are stumped with writers block:
~ Take a walk
~ Exercise
~ Make a phone call to a friend or family member
~ Play a game
~ Make a cup of your favorite beverage
~ Create a delicious meal
~Write a letter to a friend

By doing one of these activities, you accomplish two things: you get your mind off the writer’s block and you open your mind to other things around you. The focus gets shifted from what is not working onto something different.

You have heard the quote, out of site, out of mind. Or how about, Absence makes the heart grow fonder. By allowing yourself to shift your mind away from sitting in front of your computer or with pen and paper, you give your brain more space to embrace new ideas.

So don’t dread writer’s block. Use it as a tool to get back on track with your writing.

Last week I had the pleasure of attending another meeting with the St. Pete Writer’s group. This month the guest speaker was E Rose Sabin, a former English teacher and author of four science fantasy books.

Here are the tips she gave about revising and editing with you when writing:

~ During the opening of your book, be sure to grab your reader by having the character(s) doing something.
~Introduce the main character in opening pages
~Be cautious about starting with a long narrative in the beginning
~Beware of writing a flashback in the first few pages. Allow the reader to get to know the character(s) first.

The first draft is about getting the idea into written form, or as some people will call it, a brain dump. Sometime this is all you need in order to help you get over the “hump” of getting started in writing.
The first revision is about putting your writing into a form the reading can better understand.

During the 1st revision of your draft:
~Check for active verbs and solid nouns.
~Look over draft for excessive use adjectives and adverbs.
~Review your writing for over or under use of metaphors.
~Re read you have consistency in the details.
~Remember to appeal to all the senses – time of day, season, weather, light, sounds and smells.

The 2nd revision is about putting your writing into a form you understand and are comfortable with seeing on paper.

During the 2nd revision:
~Review possessives – don’t use to make a word or number plural .
~Check for misspelled words – don’t rely on the spell check on your computer, use a dictionary.
~The use of proper grammar. One thing that trips up writers are pronouns.
~Watch for dialogue format. Use a new paragraph when character who is speaking changes.
~Make sure you see plenty of white space on the page. It is easier for the reader to read the book.
~Check for punctuation. Watch for overuse of strong marks such as exclamation points.
~ Review of formatting of sentences on the paper. A hyphen should not be at the end of the line.

Here is a great list of suggested books to help with the revision process:
1) Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
2) The Chicago Manual of Style
3) The Elements of Style
4) The Copy Editor’s Handbook by Amy Einsohn
5) Getting the Words Right: How to Rewrite, Edit and Revise by Theodore A Rees
6) Make Your Words Work by Gary Provost
7) Self-Editing for Fiction Writers – How to edit Yourself into Print by Renni Browne
The Writer’s Handbook for Editing and Revision by Rick Wilber
9) Revision by Kit Reed

Read more about E. Rose Sabin and her books