Continuing the bountiful harvest of writing tips!

I'm so happy to have all these great ideas to share with you.  It's a busy time for me, grading senior theses and final papers in my classes.  But the cool suggestions just keep coming from HARO~ here is batch 8.  cheers,   Laura

“So many great voices are masters at telling a story out loud, but struggle when it comes to writing. Speaking the words into a recorder and transcribing them can let those brilliant stories out. “ From  Scott Hepburn Founder, Media Emerging   http://mediaemerging.com

“Promoting your books on Amazon.com:  1. Set up your author profile page. 2. Read other books in the same field as yours, and write detailed, positive reviews of those you liked.  People reading the reviews will get an introduction to your writing  style and will see a link to your author profile. 3. Create "Listmania" lists.  Pick several themes that include your book (for example, if you have an Italian cookbook, themes might include "great cookbooks", "great Italian cookbooks", "great pasta recipes", etc).  Choose 10-20 other books in each theme that are best sellers, and include them in your lists (along with your book).  These lists will be randomly displayed at the bottom of the sales pages for all the books.”From Praveen Puri    praveen.puri@sbcglobal.net   

“Recycle, recycle, recycle. Make your articles go farther by reworking them for different publications. For example, I wrote an article on swaddling twin babies for a national magazine for parents of twins. Then I cut down the article and removed the product reviews for an online column I write about twins and multiples. After that, I took out the “twins” angle and generalized the article to include all babies for publication in a pediatric newsletter. I even recorded a Podcast about swaddling! With just a little bit of work, I was able to use the same research in four different ways.” From Susan Heim www.susanheim.blogspot.com

“Here’s how you too can sell foreign  rights.  Prepare an email that sells the book  and include:
– successes to date, including sales figures and other  rights sales;
– a short summary of the book and the table of  contents;
– reviews and endorsements of the book;
– links to the  book’s Web site, its page on Amazon.com, and radio and TV  coverage;
Offer to send a copy of the book and ask for the agent’s  mailing address."  From Elliott Katz, the author of Being the Strong Man A Woman Wants: Timeless wisdom on  being a man. If you have questions, you can contact him at  ElliottRKatz@aol.com

“Getting a celebrity, notable VIP, or leader in your field to give your book a short testimonial or endorsement (sometimes called a blurb) is a great way to boost sales and garner extra publicity.  Remember that this is a trade-off. You get a testimonial for your book, and the endorser gets additional exposure and/or credibility." From Jordan McAuley  (www.BookEndorsements.com)