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10 super easy tips to ramp your international book sales

My first novel has been the #1 bestseller in its category in the UK, and it has made it into the top 10 of nine Amazon bestseller lists worldwide. My sense is that when most US authors post their book to Amazon, they don’t think twice about their overseas or international sales. This is a mistake because there are a lot of big markets outside the United States. You can fall further behind or you can ramp your sales. About 10% of my volume is now coming from non-US Amazon sites.

I have not translated my novella into any other languages, and I have spent less than $10 on advertising outside the United States. Here are a few things you can do in about an hour to help ramp your own international book sales…

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Creative Writing Professor Takes Time To Give Every Student Personalized False Hope – The Onion – America’s Finest News Source

I curated this from The Onion: Creative Writing Professor Takes Time To Give Every Student Personalized False Hope – The Onion – America’s Finest News Source

It is hilarious, but also sad. If you aspire to anything in life you need training and mentors. Unfortunately there are people who are either incompetent and don’t realize it, or incompetent and preying on your desire to improve yourself. This is why “selfhelp” books are such a huge business. “How to Get Rich!” or “How to lose weight!” or “Enjoy the Best Sex of your Life!” So given that I spend a lot of my time blog writing, I thought I would share this one. Read this and enjoy it, and all credit to The Onion, but also take it to heart…

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Stephen King On Writing: A Review

I’ve not posted much recently. I have been heads down writing and reading to improve my craft. One of the books I’ve read is Stephen King’s On Writing. As a maturing writer, I’m attentive to writing, but also writers. I have long avoided this book because I really do not care for King’s writing. And to be honest, after having read this, I still don’t care for his novel writing.

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9 Steps to great book reviews from top Amazon reviewers

Like many writers, I spent a lot of time worrying about how to get published. Once I did publish my story, I quickly realized I needed book reviews. Under no circumstances would I pay for Amazon reviews. Now, after a year, I have gotten 38 book reviews. That may not sound like much, but they are all legitimate, and more than a fourth of them have been from Amazon’s top reviewers (“Top 100”, “Vine Voice”, etc.). And 24 of the reviews have been 5-star reviews. The rest are 4-star reviews with just 1 3-star review. This is important because it will help drive sales forever. How did I do it?

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Tips and tricks to sell at least 1000 books

I greatly value good writing, and I will always consider myself an “aspiring” writer no matter how many books I eventually publish. So far I’ve published one novel. From this experience, I’ve gained insight into book marketing and promoting that I am happy to share. Most importantly, I better understand that there are specific tactics and techniques that can help me — and you — ramp your sales faster.
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3 great guides to help you move your blog up in the SERPs

So you are an aspiring author and keep hearing that you need a “platform” if you want to publish, which usually means a web presence. But you are new to the world of blogging, or maybe you already have a site but are not getting very many visitors in spite of cranking out a few blogs? Want some help that is free and clearly explained? Here are the 3 best, easy to use, and free guides that can help you.

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When to “show” and when to “tell” in your fiction

Showing and telling in your fiction writing — Showing vs. Telling in fiction. It is an age-old debate and an easy thing for people new to critiquing to throw out. The trick is not one or the other, but rather both in proper proportion.

Don’t you love it when you get feedback on your fiction that you are doing too much “telling” and not enough “showing”?

When we think about how to write a novel and to be a successful writer of fiction, we must understand the balance of showing versus telling in our work. This is one of the critical skills and one that we can learn. There is no formula, and we need to do both. The trick is to keep them in proper proportion.

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How to Provide Feedback in your Creative Writing Workshop

Provide writing feedback. It is critically important in fiction workshops. This picture shows a chair in a fire. Being critiqued can feel just as uncomfortable. — Getting feedback on your writing can be painful. Worse, it can be counterproductive and demoralizing. Make sure you are providing constructive feedback of the kind you would find helpful.

Learning how to write well is more than just cranking out words in response to creative writing prompts. For instance, I’m sure you have gotten feedback in your fiction writing workshop (or writing studio or writer’s studio, which is the more popular term of the day) on a submission from someone who you thought was a self-serving ass. When it happens, your defenses immediately go up and you stop listening for anything constructive. At that point, it is a wasted exercise for you and the person providing feedback. As a young writer, this is not what you need.

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How to Improve Your Writing with Text To Speech (TTS) software. Are you listening (to yourself)?

Text to speech tools will allow you to hear your words, much like singers use speakers directed at themselves for feedback. There are many things you can do to learn how to write a story and improve your writing craft. Hearing your words will help you write better.

Text to Speech (TTS) software is a surprisingly powerful tool to help you improve your writing. Whether you are writing a book, poetry or a business letter, hearing your words will allow you to perceive your words and sentences in a different way. Reading what you have written is one mental process. Hearing your words is a different process. There are subtle but important differences between the two. Listening to your words will enable you to detect errors and clunky sentences in your writing that you can’t “see” when you read your work. There are Microsoft text to speech tools, but those are not the only ones. Find — and use — one that works for you.

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