Even without a finished book, you need to promote, promote, and promote some more.

 

As an author, who wanted to have a professional writing career as a novelist because I love to write and can’t afford to spend so many hours doing something that makes no money, I ignorantly thought that all I needed to do was write good books.

How wrong I was!

It used to be that you wrote a book and just prior to publication, your promotion work would begin and the publishing company handled most of it. Nowadays, if you want to be a successful writer, much more promotion is involved, and it must start long before your book is even finished for publication. It is recommended to begin marketing years before you want to publish a book.

So how do you start to promote your name and build up a large follow-ship?

 

 

Author Website

Today with the worldwide web and the growing demand for e-books,  I feel a website is the most important tool for marketing. Every author needs a professional website and the possibilities of what you incorporate on the website are endless. A few things are essential on your website if you want to build a good group of followers.

 

 

1) Author Blog

Incorporate an author blog and post regularly. This helps you attract followers, allows you to share yourself with them, and builds credibility.

 

 

 

2) Newsletter

A newsletter on your website is another way to keep your followers informed on all your latest news. Having your followers subscribe to your newsletter is a perfect way to gain a database of involved followers that allows you to contact them when your books or e-books are finally being published.

 

 

3) Interactive Tools

Having interactive tools on your site like quizzes, polls, contests etc. is another way to get followers involved, giving them enjoyment and motivating them to come back to the site. I think the key is to do something different, so you stand out in the crowd and your followers will remember you.

 

 

4) Subscriptions to Social Networking Sites

Use an array of social networking sites that you build-up and make sure to incorporate the icon links on your website. Register with Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Linked-In or other well-known sites. These sites help you to build followers all the while giving you a place to communicate with them, your peers, and promote your work.

 

 

 

5) Videos

In a time when  people love to watch videos, producing a commercial for your book and placing it on your website and on YouTube is necessary.

Do more by getting video and audio interviews done with radio, TV, and newspapers.

 

 

I have to admit, the list intimidated me when I first started the promotion of my book. I think it still does; it’s a job in progress. I also wondered how one finds time to write in between promoting. And how much time does one devote to each area of promotion? Honestly, I am still trying to figure that out, and in the meantime, juggling all of them as best I can.

 

My Advice:  Get professional help

No matter what you use to promote you and your book, it is important that it be done professionally. Since most writers are not versed in web design, video editing, cover art, marketing, etc., we need to hire a professional who is.

Remember, you want your work to stand out and nothing stands out more than professionalism. We often only get one chance at gaining or losing a follower. It has been reported, people decide in the first seconds whether they want to stay or leave your website. And even if they do stay, the average time spent on a website is less than half a minute! With these kind of stats working against you, second best is not an option.

 

 

 

 

Regards!
Alandra CL

I love to hear from you, so email me at acl@alandracl.com

Official Blog of Alandra CL

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With good tweets, one will have good twitter following.

When I joined twitter, I applied this rule and began to tweet what I thought were good tweets, tweets that I felt would interest my followers, tweets of value. I also set myself a goal, to reach one thousand tweets by the year-end.

December 19, I hit my 1000^th tweet!

For some twitters that may be a miniscule amount but only having joined twitter a number of months ago, I thought it to be a realistic number for me.

I have to admit, the number was intimidating. I remember thinking back, wondering how long it would take me to reach that many tweets. What made me feel inept was that my intimidation for a thousand tweets appeared groundless when I saw twitters with twenty or thirty thousand tweets.

How had they accomplished that large feat?

I still haven’t’ discovered their secret, but I did discover how I had accomplished my goal – with ‘persistence’.

Every day, I made sure to add tweets, even if on some days, I managed only one or two. On the rare occasion when I was unable to tweet at all, I doubled my tweets the next day to compensate for that missed day.

My persistence eventually reaped success. Not only have I reached my goal, my followers are steadily rising.

“Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.” – Bill Bradley

My next goal is five thousand tweets, which feels as intimidating as my first one thousand did.

I was asked, why I wasn’t celebrating my number of followers instead of my number of tweets. This saying sums it up nicely: the amount you give will determine the amount you get back

I find comfort in knowing that although the trip might be long, with the application of persistence, I’m guaranteed my success in the end.

 

How has persistence helped you in life? I would love to hear your stories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regards!
Alandra CL

I love to hear from you, so email me at acl@alandracl.com

Official Blog of Alandra CL

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I read a quote on twitter the other day regarding best friends that grabbed my attention .

 

“Friends are there when you get knocked down and help pick you back up. Best friends are there and say “stay down, I got this.” – PreRandom

 

This quote emphasizes to what lengths a “best” friend will go to help. Best friends always go that extra mile. These types of friends are rare and one can be fortunate to have even one best friend like this in their lifetime.

(The word “best” means, better than all others or of the highest quality.)

My father loved literature and often told me stories when I was younger. One story about friendship that always stuck in my mind was the story based on a ballad by Friedrich Von Schiller called, The Pledge or The Hostage (Die Burgschaft).

In summation, the story tells of two friends, one of them, Damon, who is sentenced to death by the king, but has one last request, to be granted three days to take his sister to her future husband to marry. The king grants him his wish, but to guarantee his return, his friend must take his place. His friend agrees despite knowing that if Damon does not return, he dies in his stead. In his travels, Damon experiences many obstacles, trying to bar his timely return. In the last minute, he succeeds. No one, except his friend, thought he would come back, least of all the king. The two friends embrace, and the king who is so touched by their strong bond of friendship, asks to join their circle of friends.

How many people have such a friend, one who would be willing to give all?

Nowadays, where a handshake no longer means anything, and the word “I” means everything, strong bonds of friendship are rare.

Someone once told me that you should count yourself lucky to have such a cherished friend. I don’t think luck has anything to do with it. Friendship is a two-way street, an equal give and take relationship, and a relationship that needs as much nurturing as it does devotion. If someone has such a cherished friend, they have him or her because they have earned that friendship.

“A friend is someone who reaches for your hand but touches your heart.” – By Kathleen Grove

What is your definition of a “best friend”?

 

 

Regards!
Alandra CL

I love to hear from you, so email me at acl@alandracl.com

Official Blog of Alandra CL

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The core meaning of  the word “give” is to present or deliver something of yours to someone else to keep.

The USA Thanksgiving Day is coming up, reminding people to give thanks, and a Philanthropist who I follow on Twitter, posted a tweet asking, why give?

The responses that followed this tweet were amazing and heartfelt. With all the tragedy you hear on the news, with all the sickness and death that affects many families, and the heavy financial struggles that burden people, hearing these kind and selfless responses was uplifting.

It reminded me of a day in our community each year, since 2008, which has been dedicated as ‘Random Act of Kindness Day’. It’s a vision of the KWCF, to help build a better community and to join hearts and hands to celebrate the community we live in.

Since its starting, it has become a huge success and has spread to other communities.

How it works is, in the weeks leading to the Random Act of Kindness Day, citizens are encouraged to give out Random Act of Kindness cards. The card says, “You have been touched by a Random Act of Kindness.” On that day, after doing an act of kindness, you give the person your card and they in turn perform an act of kindness and further pass along the card. Of course, you don’t need a card, and in case you are stumped as to what acts of kindness you can do, the website lists 101 Random Acts of Kindness for you to choose from – http://www.kwcf.ca/buildingle/randomacto

What most people derived from their kind deed was how good it made them feel by doing something for someone selflessly, without expectations, and without payment. Can you image the impact it would have on the world if each person did even one Random Act of Kindness every day.

Here are but a few of the many answers that flooded in for reasons of, ‘why give’:

“The greatest gift you can give someone is your time.”

“Giving is a natural human instinct.”

“I give because I want to do my part.”

“I give because God gave to me.”

“I give because so many have less than I have.”

“Because the world needs more love and generosity.”

“I give for no other reason than to help my fellow man.”

“To improve and enhance the lives of others.”

“Because it’s the right thing to do.”

“I give because the universe gives in abundance to me.”

“To make the world a better place.”

“I give because I’m passionate about seeing people thrive.”

“It’s about nourishing your soul by helping others.”

I think Winston Churchill said it right, “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.”

 

My blog was inspired by Michael Chatman, a Philanthropist and a man I admire - http://www.michaelchatman.com/

Regards!
Alandra CL

I love to hear from you, so email me at acl@alandracl.com

Official Blog of Alandra CL

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