Key Business Partners, LLC

From time to time on this blog, I bring up a discussion that includes something I have learned from my daughter. She has brought up things to me that I don’t necessarily see at the time, in the way that she would see it. And many times, she teaches me something.

I bring up my daughter in this blog because she has liked the cartoon, Scooby Doo, for years. For her 4th birthday party (quite a few years ago), she had a Scooby-Doo themed birthday. She has almost every Scooby-Doo DVD made and she can sit and watch them over and over again.

Here is a little background on Scooby-Doo in case you aren’t familiar:
There is a group of young adults, Daphne, Velma, Fred and Shaggy and Scooby-Doo (the talking dog who talks by beginning almost every word for R). This group solves mysteries where ever they go and each member of the group contributes to helping solve the case. At the end of each episode, the case is solved and the gang has once again has done it together.

Over the summer, she had been watching Scooby-Doo most of a day and I had thought to ask her, “What is it for you about Scooby Doo that you like so much?” And in true form she answered she first answered with a quick not thought out response and then followed up with the statement that lead me to start this blog post.

Me: So, what is it about Scooby Doo you like so much?

My daughter: “I just like it. He’s funny.”

Then after about 20 seconds, she continued “I actually learn stuff from Scooby Doo. I learn about being there for your friends and not giving up to solve a problem and tons of other stuff too.

With her statement, I started thinking about how Scooby Doo can teach and show authors and writers to help promote their work and their books.

You may be asking what does Scooby Doo have to do with online book or author promotion? Well, here are 10 way authors and writers can promote like Scooby-Doo:

Making New Friends – In almost every episode of Scooby-Doo, the gang meets new people that are involved in some way with the mystery they are trying to solve. They aren’t shy and scared to meet the new people because they realize the possible benefit of meeting new people. Perhaps a new person they meet can lead them to find another clue which gets them closer to solving the case. Or perhaps meeting someone new will refer them to their next case.
—>Don’t be afraid to meet new people—you never know where it could lead (either a great resource, referral or potential reader for your book.

Live Your Passion – Scooby-Doo and the gang love, love, love solving mysteries. Well, if you watch, you will know that Shaggy and Scooby don’t necessarily love to find the ghosts, but they love when they have accomplished solving the mystery.
—>As a writer and/or author, you are doing something you love to do. Even though there may be a few items during the process you aren’t thrilled about however, by having the end result in mind, it still fills you will joy to spread the message of your book because you wrote about something you are passionate about to share with others.

Find Your Support – Daphne, Fred, Shaggy, Velma and Scooby-Doo are always there for each other. They can always count of each other for support, inspiration, and ideas to be there no matter what.
—>With the online social media networks like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, you, as an author, have wonderful avenues to use in order to spread the message of your book with your potential readers. You can also find tremendous support, resources and ideas from being a part of social media.

Move past your Fear – With many (if not all) of the Scooby-Doo episodes, the gang is met with some scary ghosts or unknown villains that they have to face in order to find out and solve the mystery. However, even though they are faced with fearful obstacles, they don’t let that stop them from getting in there and solving the mystery. And most of the time, the thing they feared wasn’t so bad after all.
—>In the writing process and promoting/marketing process, there can be places where you may be fearful of the unknown. But don’t allow fear to stop you from writing or promoting your book. Move forward through your fear by talking with others, asking questions, and you will find out at the end, the thing you feared was not much of anything anyway.

Reward yourself – In Scooby-Doo, the two best pals, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo, are ALWAYS hungry. No matter if they have just eaten (items like salami topped ice cream and jalapeno/peanut butter and jelly pizza), they will want more food. And when the gang wants Scooby to help them hunt the ghosts, they will give him “Scooby Snacks”.
—>Whatever your “Scooby Snack” is (whether is your favorite tea or coffee or perhaps a new writing pen), don’t forget to reward yourself along your journey so you feed the accomplishments you have made.

Help others – On every episode of Scooby, the gang are always there for other people and each other. They don’t go and promote themselves first. They are first and foremost there to help answer questions, give support, offer ideas and (of course) get rid of the ghost.
—>When you begin with a new networking group, online or off line, go into it first by being a resource and support to others rather than just promoting your work or your book. Allow people to know you are there to help them.

While Scooby Doo is funny and silly, there are lessons within this cute cartoon of a talking dog and his group of friends. Scooby-Doo and gang can teach authors and writers about rewards, helping others, live your passion and working past your fear to get to accomplish your goals to completion.

It is intriguing to me the things happening with the publishing world as it pertains to authors and writers. I want to share with you those things in reference to publishing, marketing and promotion via what has been tweeted about over the last couple of weeks. I hope you enjoy.

So here goes:
1) @Yogannapurna tweeted about PubIt! the new e-service for authors by Barnes & Noble.
As the world of publishing is changing, it seems the bookstores are trying their best to keep up. This is Barnes and Nobles attempt to be a part of it.

2) @merylevens tweeted about My Dialogue Sucks:Tips for Improving Dialogue for Authors on @creativepenn blog. Writers

3)@perfectpitchPR retweeted for @Publicityguru about What Journalists need from PR people.

4) @publicityhound tweeted about 19 topics to blog about for writers (and authors too). As writers (bloggers) it is always good to keep an eye on the popular topics on recent trends.

5) @aswinn tweeted about her interview with Women on Writing to share her process for her book becoming a moving and her journey into writing. Great interview with Allison to learn more about her but also to learn more about the movie process for an author.

6) @marthaclouse tweeted about a neat tool for authors and writers called Pendaflex PileSmart This looks very neat tool for writers and authors. Great for diving the chapter ideas for a book.

7) @writingroads retweeted via @writingadvice about if you are a writer why you should have a blog. I enjoyed reading this becuase he talks about building a platform and taking the time to build relationships as an author and then for your book. I totally agree!

Feeling much better from my cold…thank goodness! That one was a doozy of a cold! This week there are some great tweets out for writers and authors—when isn’t there though, right?

Let’s get started–

1) Here’s a tweet from @ProNagger with a post from her blog titled, Bookending Chat. Now, this is a interesting accountability tool for those whom are sticking to dead lines. She has created a community (chat) where you go in and list a single task you need to accomplish. It can be book writing related or not. You go in post your “bookend” such as Write my Tweets A Cular post. Then when I am done, I go back into the chat and state I completed it. Great sense of accomplishment and positive reinforcement.

2) @janetfreidman tweeted a post from the Harvard Business Review titled The iPad Won’t save the Publishing Industry from Itself. This post discusses being aware of how the publishing world still may need to look at the iPad and how they can use it’s newness FOR the readers and NOT just to save the business model.

3) @lynsouth tweeted about Writing Advice from Famous Writers at @bubblecow. Great points here from Ray Bradbury about writing persistently (ever heard about his short story called The Lake?), Steven King about writing scary stories, Kurt Vonnegot about short stories and Martin Amis about cliches in writing. These are all short videos giving great tips and suggestions about writing.

4) @ereleases tweeted How to Answer a HARO (Help a Reporter Out) Query. All I can say is—listen to this video! Great tips and I learned a thing or two too! And I wish I could have some of his energy!! Thanks Peter!

5) @bookbuzzr tweeted via @elisabthscraig about Top Ten Things Authors Should Never do to Promote their Book. One of the biggest takeaways I like about this post (and something I relay to my clients all the time) is don’t JUST promote your book and appear to be selling, selling, selling. Offer advice, tips, and share with your readers. Give them time to get to know you as the author. And one thing I don’t totally agree with is #8, post every review you have ever received. Now, I think it is good to share with your readers about the reviews you receive, however, again, don’t let that be ALL you do. Remember, share with your readers about you, the story behind the book, your writing journey, they will get to know you better.

Thanks for reading another edition of Tweets-A-cular!

So, how about you share your favorite tweet for writers and authors?