Why This Cover Works – A Lesson in Cover Design

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Louise

This is a quick lesson in the principles of cover design. I’ve written posts in the past about what goes into a bestselling ebook cover, but today I’m going to demonstrate, using the cover of my marketing book (released next month).

First take a good look at the cover below, then read through the bullet points, which outline why this is a great cover design.

Love Matters - Louise Rose-Innes

  1. It looks professional. There is some good design work going down there. Layers, colour combinations and design all combine in a credible cover.  There is nothing amateurish about this cover. Its professionalism gives the subtle message that this book is credible and worth reading.
  2. The cover has a chick-lit feel, which I wanted, since romance writers and writers of chick-lit are my primary target market. The aim of this book is to help romance authors market themselves online. Hopefully, the design will resonate with them and catch their eye.
  3. A descriptive title appears on the cover. Love Matters, in itself, is not enough. The consumer needs to know that this is a guide to online marketing for romance writers. This is particularly significant for non-fiction books. There must be no mistaking what the book is about.
  4. The design is cleverly put together. The cut-out letters, the bird and the dotted lines signify communication, the clouds signify the online environment and the colours and hearts give it a romantic edge.
  5. The fonts are easy to read and compliment the style of the rest of the cover.
  6. When condensed into a thumbnail size, the cover still looks great and is easy to read. This is vitally important on platforms like Amazon.

All in all, this is a professional, well thought out cover design – which is why it works.

The cover for Love Matters – An Online Marketing Guide for Romance Writers was designed by Bronwyn, for www.MarketingforRomanceWriters.com. Find out more about our cover design services.

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When Getting Dumped by Your Publisher is a Good Thing

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Louise

Sometimes going it alone really is the best option

Recently, I’ve been tearing out my hair over disputes with a (non-fiction) publisher on everything from the book title, to editing, to cover design. They meant well, but being fairly new on the digital publishing block, they were still finding their feet. The mistake they made, was assuming twenty years of mainstream publishing experienced translated into digital expertise. Ah, nope. Sorry. It doesn’t work like that.

Online publishing is an entirely different beast to the ‘old-school’ model.  Buyers are looking for instant gratification, which, thanks to Amazon and other online retail platforms, they now have. To this effect, the cover is the most important element in digital publishing. It has to grab prospective buyers attention from the get-go, and if it doesn’t they browse on and your book is lost amongst the millions of others on Amazon.com

There is also an avenue for feedback – the review system. Now this can either work for you or against you, if you’re an author. Great reviews rack up your star rating and get you onto all sorts of bestseller lists and editor’s picks. Fantastic! But conversely, a bad review can damage sales, kill your reputation as a writer and make you look unprofessional. Not so good.

With this power at the consumer’s fingertips, it’s important to make sure you’re:
A. Giving them what they want/expect (nobody really likes surprises) and…
B. Delivering all aspects of the ebook (cover, title, copy, bio, links, images) to the best of your ability.

Professional editing is a pre-requisite. Don’t forgo this step if you’re self-publishing unless you want to be shot down in flames. Reviewers generally tend to pick on the bad aspects of a book, so every spelling mistake, grammatical and formatting error – will be mentioned and your book will be rated accordingly.

An eye-catching cover design is a must.  Consumers do judge a book by its cover and as an author we must take advantage of that. Your cover design must be clear and uncluttered, and be genre specific. If a reader is expecting a paranormal romance and they get a throw-up-in-your-cup  horror mystery, they may not be predisposed to giving it a glowing review – even if it is well written.

Formatting is a big part of e-publishing. A badly formatted book is a pain to read and there is no quicker way to put off a reader. Be prepared to spend some time formatting your manuscripts for Amazon and the other retailers. All of them offer style guidelines, which, while time-consuming, are worthwhile and make the formatting possible to do yourself.  It’s not rocket science, it just takes time.

As a professional online marketer, with a freelance business specialising in cover design and WordPress websites, I have some pretty strong views about e-publishing. I’ve self-published two romance novels, the latter of which was an Amazon Bestseller, as well as three non-fiction e-books. I know what works and what doesn’t. I can tell you what will increase your credibility and what will shoot you right out of the water.

Love Matters - Louise Rose-Innes

But the publisher’s ego is a fragile thing… so in the end we decided it was better if we parted ways. Now I have full control over the cover, the editing, the formatting, the price, and of course… the royalties.

Love Matters – An Online Marketing Guide for Romance Writers is preparing for launch, and will hit the shelves next month.

To find out why this cover works – read my follow-on blog post…

Have you had any negative experiences with publishers over designs or editing? If so, feel free to share them below.

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10 Ways to Increase Followers to Your Blog

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Louise

So you’ve got a writers website, and you’ve set up a blog to showcase your writing skills, talk about topics that interest you and to ensure you always have fresh content so the search engines will love you. However, you don’t have many followers. How do you increase your audience, so that you get more followers?

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Here’s my list of top 10 ways to increase followers to your blog.

  1. Guest blogging – Network with fellow authors and write articles for their blogs. Tackle topics which will relate to their readership and relate back to posts on your own blog. Make sure your blog is mentioned in your signature at the end, or your byline.
  2. Social media mentions – Once you’ve written a good blog post, mention it on Facebook, Twitter, and all your other social networks. Obviously this works better when you have a substantial following, so try to work on that aspect first. Building networks is fun, but remember, you have to be a giver, as well as a taker.
  3. Interesting topics – Research your topics well and find interesting subjects to talk about in your posts. Common queries, problems and relevant news items always work well. But always keep your audience in mind. Give them what they want to know and your following will automatically increase. If your topics are interesting enough, others will link to them through pingbacks. This enhances your relevancy with the search engines as well as increasing your reach. I once got a mention in the Huffington Post and my traffic almost doubled after that.
  4. Keyword research – If you can incorporate the right keywords into your blog posts, they have a better chance at being picked up by the search engines. Use Google’s keyword tool to determine which keywords are the most popular – and blog about those topics. This way you’re giving readers information they want, rather than writing a blog post and hoping someone’s going to read it.
  5. Expert bloggers – Interview experts on your blog. This raises the credibility of your blog post and offers readers some valuable expert content.
  6. Video content – Use video in your blog posts. Browse YouTube and find a how-to or instruction video that suits the needs of your target audience. Link to it in your blog post.
  7. Syndication – There are many blog syndication services out there that can pick up your post and syndicate it out to others. Blog search engines like technorati are also useful to submit your blog to.
  8. Images – Use attention-grabbing and relevant images in your blog. Use captions and descriptive “alt” tags. People are more likely to follow blogs that use images well.
  9. Frequency of blog posts – Try to post as often as possible. Once a week is the maximum, ideally every day or every two days. This keeps your content fresh. You can schedule blogs on WordPress and Blogger, so when you’re in the mood, why not write four or five blogs posts and schedule them for the week?
  10. Commenting on other blogs – Participating on other blogs and leaving comments gives you extra exposure. In turn, people will start commenting on yours. This is a Quid pro quo thing, so be sure to get involved.

Read my related blog post: 30 Ways to Promote Your Blog – http://marketingforromancewriters.com/30-ways-to-promote-your-blog-post/

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Google’s Tips to Optimize Your Website

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Louise

Do you have a website, either WordPress or Blogger? Or any other kind? Then this ‘cheat sheet’ is for you. Google have compiled a simple list of tips to help them understand the content on your site. By implementing these tips, you’ll get better search results too, which makes for a better experience for your visitors.

1. Look Good in the Search Results
A. Your page title is used as a suggestion for the title in Google’s search results. Describe your business in a concise, informative manner.

titleB. Domain names are an important part of Google’s search results. Choose a descriptive, easy-to-read domain name (web address) for your website. Sub-pages should also be easy to read, for example, use http://louiseroseinnes.com/about-louise/ instead of http://louiseroseinnes.com/prodid?13254/.

C. Meta descriptions are page summaries often used by Google and other search engines on the search results page. Write unique descriptions for each page in 160 characters or less.

2. Help Google Understand Images

imageA. Give your images short, descriptive file names.

B. The “alt” attribute describes the image. This helps Google understand what’s in the image.

C. Write a short caption on the page below each image. Put important information in the text, rather than the image.

Update and Keep Going

Provide useful content and keep it up to date. A good way to do this is by incorporating a blog on your website, announcing your latest releases, updating readers on your sales and working process, offering giveaways and promotions. Put yourself in your readers/fans shoes and make sure you provide them with the information they need.

 

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How to Run a Promo on Amazon KDP Select

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Louise

small__3920920016To run a promotion on KDP Select you must first have published a book on the Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) platform. This is not particularly difficult. (See my Step by step guide to putting your book on Amazon Kindle) Writing the book is the hardest part. :)

Once your book is published and available on Amazon.com, you can enrol it into the KDP Select program. The KDP Select program has a few benefits that are hard to ignore, for the self-published writer.

  1. It allows you to make your book free to readers worldwide, for a limited time period.
  2. You can distribute your books through the Kindle Owners Lending Library, which makes them available to Amazon Prime customers.
  3. You also receive a portion of the KDP Select Global Fund when readers borrow your books from the Kindle Owners Lending Library, thus earning you higher royalties.

The only catch is that while your book is enrolled in the KDP Select program, it has to be exclusively available through Amazon.com. You cannot sell it through any other sales platform. This is annoying, but is no great shakes. My sales on Amazon.com have far outweighed any other retail site, by far, and I’m sure many self-published authors will agree it’s a small price to pay.

So once you’ve enrolled your book in the KDP Select program, you can offer it for free for up to five days. I’d suggest doing all five days in a row to maximise your reach.

  1. On your KDP bookshelf, select the book you want to promote, using the checkbox on the left.
  2. Go to ‘Actions’, and scroll down to ‘Manage Promotions’, under ‘For KDP Select Books’.
  3. This brings up a Promotions pop-up box. Click on the button that says, ‘new’.
  4. Name your promotion. e.g. Mother’s Day Promotion
  5. Select a start and end date (up to five days).
  6. Save your promotion.

Now it’s done. When the day arrives, your promotion will start automatically. Be sure to broadcast your promotion on your website and all your social media pages and profiles to maximise your downloads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Effective Cover Design

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Louise

6 Top Tips on Effective Ebook Cover Design

An ebook cover has an important job to do. Apart from grabbing a potential buyer’s attention, it should show that you are a professional writer capable of producing high quality work. Your ebook cover can (and does) influence your customer’s buying decision so you want to get the design just right. That’s where the professionals come in. But if you’re going to try to create your own ebook cover design, then here is our cover designer, Bronwyn’s top tips.

First and formost your cover design must catch the reader’s attention. This means an eye-catching image that portrays the type of book you’ve written. Choose your imagery carefully. Sites such as Flickr.com, iStockPhoto and Shutterstock are good places to go for good quality images. Look at other published ebooks in your genre for clues as to what works and what doesn’t. Make sure you image will look good as a thumbnail too, as this is how readers will first see it.

Try to make your cover design as professional as possible. This helps to build your credibility as a writer and says a lot about the quality of your work. A poorly designed cover will be interpretted as a poorly written book, even if it isn’t.

Your cover design must look good full size (according to your publishing platform’s style guide) as well as thumbnail size. Since you’re most likely going to be listing your book on platforms such as Amazon.com, Barnes and Nobel and the iBookstore, the first time readers will see your cover will be as a small icon or thumbnail.

Your title and author name should be easy to read so choose fonts that are clear and visible. Don’t use too many different fonts or contrasting colours. Keep your colour palette simple, the effect is easier on the eye.

Your cover design should be genre appropriate. Study cover designs in your genre to get an idea of what is required. You don’t want to confuse your reader. Some images, fonts and color schemes equate better to certain genres, so make sure you choose carefully.

Pay attention to the publisher’s style guides. Amazon Kindle, Nook and iBookstore all have specific requirements for their cover art, so be sure to read them thoroughly.

To find out more about MarketingForRomanceWriters.com’s affordable design services, visit our page.

 Related posts:

 

 

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How to Pitch an Editor at a Conference

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Louise

Business interviewWriter’s Conferences are the idea place to pitch your novel to an editor. You have precisely ten minutes in which to convince her that your story has what it takes to stand proudly in their line-up. So how to go about securing that request for a partial or even a full?

Firstly, you have to look the part. So make an effort. First impressions are everything. Wash your hair, wear make-up, put on a smart dress or suit. Look like you mean business.

Secondly, be friendly. Shake hands with the editor, introduce yourself, smile and look them directly in the eye. You’re someone worth dealing with. You’re a valued writer. Be confident and you will instil confidence in the editor you are meeting.

Do your research. Know something about the editor you’re talking to or at very least, the line they look after. Make sure you’re pitching to the right person for your genre, or if that editor is representing the company, make sure you say which genre or line you’re aiming at.

Start with a brief description of your book. This is a one sentence explanation about what your book is about. It’s not something that can be done spontaneously. Work this out beforehand so you’re prepared. Make sure you include the central plot.

Then expand by mentioning the character conflicts. Conflict is, after all, what drives the story and any editor will want to now your story’s conflict is powerful enough to sustain an entire book. Look at the GMC of each central character and what is keeping them apart, or sustaining the story.

Then summarise the rest of the story is as few sentances as possible, remembering to bring out the key turning points.

Finally, briefly go through the ‘black moment’ where all seems lost, and the resolution.

These days, publishers often ask for a synopsis of your story up front, so they can read it ahead of time and ask more specific questions about your manuscript. Be prepared to focus on issues such as conflict, turning points and the resolution. Here are some questions to prepare answers to:

  • What does the heroine really want?
  • What is keeping the hero and heroine apart?
  • What is the first major turning point of the story?
  • What does the main character have to overcome in the story?
  • How does the main character grow or change in the story?
  • What is the story climax?
  • How is the conflict sustained throughout the story?
  • How is the conflict resolved?

If you can answer these core questions, then you’re well on your way to winning a request for your manuscript.

Good luck.

 

 

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The New Pinterest

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Louise

What the Design Changes on Pinterest Means for Authors

Pinterest rolled out a new design on Monday, with some big changes and some barely noticeable ones. Here we get to the gist of it…

1. Image sizes have increased, with less of a border around pins on the main feed. Sizes have changed from 600 to 735 with a much higher image resolution.  This is great for authors who want to show off their new cover designs. It also allows you to make better use of setting photographs and hero/heroine characteristics to enhance your books and  hook readers.

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2. Categories can now be searched via a dropdown menu at the top left hand side of the screen. Next to the search box. This enables users to find more related content, easier. Keeping users engaged is the name of the game.

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3. When you hover over a Pin you like, you’ll see a big red PIN button next to the LIKE button. This is to make sharing easier. If a reader likes your cover image, they can repin it instantly to their board. You’ll also notice the COMMENT button is missing. To comment, you must now click on the pin and scroll down to the bottom of the pin page.

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4. On individual pin pages you will now see a range of thumbnail images  displaying other pins from the same board. This is to encourage users to discover more inspiring photos from the same board without leaving the page they’re on. For writers, this allows you to showcase other images on your board more easily without risking losing that all important engagement. Readers will be more inclined to buy your book once they’re emerged into your fictional world.

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5. Below that is a similar mini-grid of pins from the same source. In other words pins that came from the same website, regardless of the uploader.

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6. And below all that is another, larger collection headed “People who pinned this also pinned”–a handful of other items from the users who pinned the thing that initially grabbed your attention.

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7. By clicking on the individual pin, you will have the option of going to that pin’s website. This is particularly handy for authors who want to link users directly to their sales page on Amazon or their website.

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8. The settings page has been updated so it’s easier to control notifications.

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9. Anchored browsing has been introduced, which although it doesn’t sound like much, is a very useful feature which addresses a previously frustrating problem. Before, when you have delved deep into the pinterest universe and you hit the back button, you’d return to the top of the main category page, effectively losing your thread. This is frustrating and often results in users clicking away from the site. To avoid this, Pinterest have introduced ancored browsing which takes you back step-by-step so you don’t lose your way completely and give up.  A small change for a better user experience.

10. To get analytics for your Pinterest page, you must first register for a business account.  It is possible to register for a business under the categories professional, media, entertainment etc, but design is limited to the old design for now.

Features that have been removed from Pinterest:

It’s hardly noticable but some of Pinterests features have been removed in the redesign.

Hashtags – Hashtags are no longer recognised. You can put a # in front of your word but it doesn’t make them searchable or linkable.

Links – You can no longer leave links in pins. This is a bummer for authors who used to link back to their website from the comments or image descriptions.

Embed link – If you want to link to a pin on Pinterest, you must use their Embed Link, else your link is broken.

Tweets – You can no longer Tweet a pin at the same time as pinning it.

Profile – The text in your profile is now limited to 160 characters rather than the previous 200. So make sure you check yours so it’s not cut off mid flow.

Facebook – The option to LIKE a board on Facebook has gone. This means authors can’t get new likes to their author pages by linking their account to Pinterest.

 

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Promotional Tips and Tricks for Aspiring Authors in the Digital Landscape

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Louise

My guest today is Annie Season, bestsellling author of Holiday Affair which spent over 11 months on the bestseller lists. Annie has released a marketing book which explains her promotional tips, which she implemented for Holiday Affair. It’s aimed at the aspiring author, and is well worth a read…

promo2A ‘how to succeed’ in selling your book from bestselling author, Annie Seaton.

As I wrote the introduction to my latest book, Promotional Tips and Tricks for Aspiring Authors in the Digital Landscape, it was eleven months and three weeks since my debut novel was published. Purely coincidentally, it was a double debut.

My first novella which had been picked up by a small e-publisher, Winter of the Passion Flower was scheduled for release on 19 March 2012 but actually hit the Amazon digital shelves on 15 March, the same day Entangled Publishing released my first contemporary novel, Holiday Affair.

Since that day, I have learned many things about successful promotion and have had wonderful, wonderful success.

And most significantly, it was achieved on a shoestring budget.

But there was a lot of hard work involved and many, many hours spent on setting up and maintaining my brand.

In the past year I have also dipped my toes in the self publishing pool and learned much along the way. I got the rights back for my steampunk novella and discovered self publishing and total control over promotion and price enhanced sales for a niche genre.

Many of my freelance editing clients ask my advice on promotion, as well as writer colleagues from all over the world. They are interested in how my debut book, Holiday Affair, has stayed in the best seller lists for twelve months.

There was a lot of hard work done to keep it there.

I decided to share my journey with my fellow writers.

Both aspiring and published authors.

When I wrote the book, it was purely designed to assist writers beginning to establish their brand. I have been surprised by the reviews and emails I have received from established authors who have contacted me to tell me that they too, learned something new from my experiences.

It has been a very informative experience and has shown me the need out there amongst writer for quality information, validated by sales success. It has already given me the idea for a second book. Now I just have to find time to write it!

About Annie
Annie Seaton lives on the edge of the South Pacific Ocean on the east coast of Australia. Recently retired from the world of full time work, she is fulfilling her lifelong dream of writing, and had instant success! Her first two books were both published on the same day! She writes across genres steampunk, historical and paranormal romance, romantic suspense but her favorite genre is contemporary romance.

She lives with her own hero of many years. Their two children are now grown up and married, and two beautiful grandchildren have arrived. They share their home with “Bob” the dog and two white cats.

Annie has a master’s degree in education and her working life was spent in education from early childhood, through to teaching trainee teachers at university. She has worked as a librarian, teacher, technology consultant and university tutor. She has now retired and spends her days writing down all the stories in her head.

When she is not writing she can be found in her garden or walking on the beach…or most likely on her deck overlooking the ocean, a chilled glass of sauvignon blanc in hand as the sun sets.

Annie’s author page on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Annie-Seaton/e/B007M3YNFQ/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

If you have any questions she would love to hear from you.
Email me: annieseaton26@gmail.com

 

 

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Build Your Author Platform on GoodReads

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Louise

GoodReads is growing in popularity. According to the New York Times, GoodReads “is exploding in popularity and rivaling Amazon.com as a platform for promoting new books.”

GoodReads users doubled in 2012 from 6 million to 12 million. With 15 million current members, GoodReads expects to see rapid, exponential growth in 2013 as well.

Authors today can’t afford not to use GoodReads to promote their books. The reviews on Goodreads show up not only on Goodreads, but also on Sony, Google, Kobo, Powell’s, and USA Today websites.

According to Patrick Brown, Director of Community at GoodReads, the best way to get reviews is via Giveaways.

To find out how to build an author platform on GoodReads, watch this slide below:

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