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  • How to Sell More Books and Grow Your Fan Base at Author Events

    How to Sell More Books and Grow Your Fan Base at Author Events

    When we talk about building your author platform, the inescapable challenge every author must face is marketing. Particularly, email marketing.

    You need an email list, not just to sell your book to subscribers, but to build relationships with readers and other writers so they’ll support your work and become fans in the process.

    In-person author events provide a unique opportunity to get more email subscribers — but only if you take some time to prepare for the event. Here’s a checklist that will help you walk away from your next author event feeling like it was a success.

    Don’t buy more than 20 books to sell

    Let’s say you’re going to some book fair that’s insanely popular with an attendance list numbering in the thousands. You’d think it would be a smart move to stock up on physical copies of your book, right?

    Wrong. If you’re an unknown author like me, the fact is you won’t sell many copies at an event. I had 20 books on hand for my event and only sold a handful.

    Sometimes readers need to time to research who you are, and they aren’t committed to buying just yet. “But what if I sell out?” you might ask. That’s great! Now you can tell visitors your book is sold out and possibly create demand due to scarcity — not a bad position to be in.

    So don’t order 100 copies of your novel just to be cautious, or you’ll be stuck lugging those books around for a while.

    [twl_reusable_block post_id=41455]

    Use bookmarks as giveaways

    On the list of things every author should have on hand: bookmarks. Bookmarks are like business cards for authors.

    You can put your cover art on a bookmark, along with your website and any other details for potential readers. Get really creative with your bookmarks by adding a character sketch or a synopsis of the book on the back. Utilize QR codes and make it even easier for someone to access your website or your book’s sale page.

    Having lots of bookmarks to give away at your event is more important than having copies of your book. A visual reminder of you and your novel sticking out of someone’s book is an easy way to get more sales and reach more readers.

    Bring a poster of your book cover

    This one is optional, but it helped me get more visitors than I expected at my last in-person event.

    Dozens of people who stopped by my table remarked on how the poster of my book cover drew them in. If you’ve got a compelling cover, get a poster made and tack that bad boy on the front of your table or on an easel that’s easily visible.

    Images grab people’s attention, so take advantage of that to increase foot traffic to your booth.

    Smile and engage

    This seems like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t look up from their laptops or mobile phones at these events.

    You should always have your game face on when someone is remotely close to your table or booth. Simply saying “Hi!” can mean the difference between that person coming over to check out your book or skipping you altogether. Leave the texting and social media for later.

    And finally: how to get those new email contacts

    When you put all the tips above into practice, you’ll get an influx of people visiting your table, which creates a great opportunity for you them to subscribe to your email list.

    But you’re not just going to tell them to do that… because they won’t.

    Instead, you’re going to lay out an incentive. Create a compelling raffle where they can receive a free signed copy of your book, a gift card to their favorite bookstore, or a bundle of ebooks they can download. Create a sign-up sheet with spots for names and emails to contact the winner(s).

    Don’t be spammy or shady. Explain in detail on the sign-up sheet that each entrant will be added to your email list and they can unsubscribe at any time. I added 100 subscribers to my email list at the event I attended.

    Sure, there will probably be a few people who just want the goodies and then will unsubscribe when they don’t win the raffle, but to date, I’ve only had around five unsubscribes, which is pretty good.

    Once you’ve wrapped up your time at the event, remember to pick a winner either through a drawing or a random number generator, then email everyone on the list with the results and send the prize promptly.

    To minimize the percentage of unsubscribes, I also created a consolation prize for non-winners that included a free short story and a book marketing PDF guide. It’s always nice to receive a prize in a contest, especially when you don’t win!

    Got any tips for getting the most out of an author event? Please share in the comments!

  • The Smarter Way to Set Freelance Writing Rates: Avoid Hourly Work

    The Smarter Way to Set Freelance Writing Rates: Avoid Hourly Work

    The following is an excerpt from Breaking the Time Barrier: How to Unlock Your True Earning Potential, a free ebook offered by our friends at Freshbooks.

    In the ebook, Freshbooks co-founder, CEO and co-author Mike McDerment makes the case for independent workers earning what you deserve for your hard work.

    It’s a great resource for freelancers, and it’s also an easy read — no one’s throwing numbers or numbers or worksheets at you. Instead of textbook-style lessons, Breaking the Time Barrier shares a conversation between Steve and Karen, who talk through Steve’s hangups about how to price his web-design services.

    Whether you’re writing white papers, blog posts, or tweets, you know how long it takes to craft the written word. Are you getting paid enough?

    Read on to find out how changing your freelance writing rates from hourly to project-based rates can help you maximize your earning potential — and then get your own copy of Breaking the Time Barrier!

     

    Breaking the Time Barrier
    On Friday, Steve stepped into Karen’s café, a cozy spot with leather chairs and shelves lined with old books. He looked around, taking in the aroma of fresh coffee, then made his way to a back table, where Karen was waiting for him.

    After Karen greeted him warmly he settled into his chair, thanking her for meeting with him. “I’m happy to help,” she said before a server came and took their order.

    Then Karen invited Steve to sketch out his solopreneur journey, which he did over the clatter of coffee cups that surrounded them. When Steve was done she gave him a one-word verdict: “Pricing.”

    “Pricing?” he asked.

    She nodded as their coffees arrived. “Well…pricing and positioning. From what you’ve told me, it sounds like the way you think about pricing is holding you back.”

    “In what way?”

    “If someone wanted to know what exactly you sell to your clients, what would you tell them?”

    “My services. Web design.”

    “How do you charge for your services?”

    “I charge them a fee based on my hourly rate.”

    “Then aren’t you really selling hours?” Karen asked.

    “But I use those hours to design websites.”

    “Do those websites have any positive impact on your clients?”

    “Sure,” Steve said.

    “Do you think it would make more sense to charge a fixed fee that represents the value of the impact your websites have on your clients?”

    “Well, I do mostly charge fixed fees—”

    “But those fees are based on a multiple of your hours, right?”

    “Right,” he said.

    “I’m talking about fixed fees based on value, not time.”

    “I guess I’m not sure what you mean by value.”

    “The value of what I do,” Karen said, “is based on the impact I can have on my client’s business. Impact is how they value my services. So I look at pricing from their point of view. They don’t hire me to design a website for the sake of designing a website. They hire me to design a website that’s going to help them grow their business.

    “I find when I look at it like that — from their perspective — it’s clear I’m not selling time. Instead, I’m selling a solution that is going to make an impact for my client and achieve some business objective.”

    “So, how do you set your prices then?” Steve asked.

    “Let me give you an example. A couple of months ago I sat down with a client to talk about their website. I asked them to tell me why they thought they needed a website. When we drilled down into their reasons, they said they believed a website could generate an additional $100,000 of profit annually for their business.

    “So I asked them to make an investment of $20,000 in the website. Based on your hourly pricing model, you’d probably charge in the area of $2,000 to $2,500.”

    “Did they agree to your price?”

    “Yes. Wouldn’t you invest $20,000 to generate $100,000?”

    Steve agreed and he was excited about what Karen was telling him, but lots of questions were flooding his brain.

    “I get your math,” he said, “but doesn’t it come down to time in the end anyway? I mean, you spend a certain amount of time on the project. You could theoretically work out your hourly rate and so could your client. You’re probably effectively charging $400 an hour, or something like that. What if your client thinks that’s too high?”

    “Your math may be right, but I’m not a collection of hours,” Karen said. “I’m the accumulation of all my skills and talents. I’m wisdom and creativity. I’ve stopped seeing myself as a punch card. My clients don’t see me that way either.

    “Yes, sometimes, I’ve had to change my client’s mindset,” she continued. “But it starts with me, first, just as it starts with you. You have to forget selling time. The best thing you could do for yourself is to get the concept of time out of your head.”

    “Don’t I need an hourly rate for some stuff? Everyone I know has one.”

    “You know me now, and I don’t have an hourly rate.”

    “So I should never charge by the hour?”

    “To be honest, when I started out I charged an hourly rate and I think hourly rates make sense for someone just starting out, someone with little experience and limited skill. But over time I established myself and my credibility, which led to great references. When that happens, you begin to outgrow the cost-plus pricing model of charging by the hour. So if you stay with that pricing model, you’ll find it very limiting.

    “For example,” Karen continued, “since there are only so many hours in a year, it puts a cap on how much revenue you can collect in a year, and it means that the only way to make more money is to work more hours. These are limits… and the truth is, they are false limitations that lead to bad behaviors, like burning yourself out by working around the clock in an effort to earn more.”

    “That’s me,” Steve said.

    “Me too, when I first went out on my own, until I learned that a value-based approach to pricing your services is a powerful way to break through the time barrier and avoid the bad behaviors.

    “But like a lot of people, I didn’t start from scratch, and neither did you. You started your business after many years of design experience. You already had the ability to create value for your clients. And now, after being in business for a while, you’ve got references you can build on. You’ve also had the chance to see the impact your projects have had. I’m sure it’s far greater than you expected.

    “Think of the value you created for your clients. That’s an impressive story that you can use to move away from charging based on time to charging based on value.”

    Are you on board with Karen’s advice? Have you tried value-based pricing rather than charging hourly rates?

  • Does Your Freelance Writing Career Need to Grow Up? 4 Ways to Tell

    Does Your Freelance Writing Career Need to Grow Up? 4 Ways to Tell

    The day I quit my day job to become a full-time freelancer, I was convinced I had it made.

    After all, minus the cute clothes, sassy friends, and spacious apartment, I was planning a plus-sized Carrie Bradshaw life on the isle of Manhattan, burdened only by my laptop, my brilliant ideas and an occasional deadline.

    Looking back at that starry-eyed newbie, I have just two words for my naive self: Grow up!

    Granted, it can be hard when you’re just starting out to know how to navigate the unwritten rules of freelancing. As a new writer, you are bound to make mistakes. That’s okay.

    But if you’re doing any of these four things, you might just have some serious freelance growing up to do to get your career on track.

    1. Taking edits personally

    A lot of writers don’t like their work to be edited. Editors are natural nitpickers trained to ignore your thousand words of glorious prose and hone in on the fact that you made one silly mistake.

    In my early days, I took edits way too personally, as if every added punctuation was a bullet right in my heart.

    The truth is, as a grown-up writer, you just have to get over it. Editors are busy people. They don’t have time to deal with your tantrums because your voice was somehow wounded by their objection to your all-bolded, all-caps rant in the middle of what you claimed was a straight news piece.

    Of course, there are reasons to stand up for your work and discuss changes you feel are unwarranted. Part of being a grown-up writer is knowing how to work with an editor — and what to compromise — so you can both get the best piece out there.

    Throwing fits over the little stuff, though, is one of the surest ways an editor won’t want to work with you again.

    2. Thinking you can make an assignment better by writing on something else

    Early on in your writing career, the odds are good you’ll be asked to write about something boring, trite or just plain silly.

    The worst way to tackle the assignment is to improve upon it by writing something else.

    If an editor asks for 200 words of a recent news event for news-style site, they have little use for a 2,000-word editorial proclaiming your personal views on the subject or on social ills in general. Likewise, if they ask for 500 words on the toads of Israel, do not write about a frog you saw in your backyard on Long Island.

    Grown-up writers realize your copy is part of a bigger puzzle at that publication.

    You need to work inside the lines of your puzzle piece to make it fit.

    3. Being a real jerk in the comments

    Comment sections are funny places. On some sites, the no-holds bars snark is par for the course. Other publications try to encourage more friendly debate.

    Either way, dealing with the inevitable trolls spewing nastiness under your prose is never easy.

    As a writer, wading into the comment section can be a real blow to your ego. Even when the trolls are in full attack mode, however, resist the urge to fight back with your own vitriol.

    Early in my days of editor-hat wearing, I worked with a  solid writer who used to curse people out in the comment section under his articles.

    He was asked to stop because his words not only reflected badly on him, but on the website in general. Sadly, despite reminders, he never really got the memo.

    When the site had to make budget cuts, he was the first to go.

    Engaging in the comment section is a good thing. Healthy debate is great. But grown-up writers realize that every word they write under their article reflects not only on themselves but also the publication where their work appears.

    In other words, choose your comments wisely.

    4. Not showing up for work

    As I write this, I am sitting on my grandmother’s couch in a pair of pajama bottoms. It is mid-afternoon. Part of the joy of freelancing is blurring the boundaries between work and home.

    Working in a virtual environment, however, does not mean you can avoid showing up entirely or that standard work etiquette does not apply. If you have promised to write five articles a day, do it.

    Websites need to be fed new articles on a regular basis to stay alive. When writers do not write, it often means more work for an editor somewhere who has to scramble to mend the gap your articles were supposed to fill. While print publications occasionally have a bit more flexibility, there is still no excuse for not delivering or letting someone know what is up when you absolutely can’t.

    When grown-up writers can’t write for unforseen circumstances, they let their editors know in advance, not at 11 p.m. when their deadline is midnight. They also don’t take on work before seriously thinking about if they can realistically get it done.

    Not keeping promises will kill your relationship with a client fast and cost you jobs.

    The good news is even if you have shown some of these serious signs of freelance immaturity in the past, you are not doomed to failure forever.

    Every freelancer starts somewhere. Successful writers are not those who have never made a mistake, but those who admit they have some freelance growing up to do.

    So commit to the hard work of honing your craft, and learn more about your trade day after day.

    What newbie mistakes did you make early in your freelance career?

  • Gifts for Book Lovers: 15 Ways to Share and Enjoy Your Favorite Books

    Gifts for Book Lovers: 15 Ways to Share and Enjoy Your Favorite Books

    We all have at least one of those people in our lives. The ones who are just dying to tell the restaurant server about the menu typos or who can talk for hours about what the Fifty Shades of Grey series has done to the world of fiction. (Hint: it’s not good.)

    We love these people. They’re book snobs. Why not help them show it off?

    Check out just a few gifts and crafts perfect for those who make us smarter simply by association.

    1. Literary-inspired apparel

    At Litographs.com, each item is designed using only the words from your favorite novels. Now when you spill mustard on your shirt, you can linger and read the scene where Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett meet for the first time.

    Looking for what to wear on your lower half? Check out this skirt, tights, and socks.

    2. Book clutch

    Dont’ be intimidated by the high price tags on Kate Spade’s book cover clutches from a few years ago. I’ve seen quite a few clutches made from actual books on Etsy.

    But if you’re feeling crafty, make your own! Thicker hardcover book spines make great homes-on-the-go for your phone and credit cards.

    3. Jewelry

    The last time I wore a pin might have been when I was in the sixth grade safety patrol, proudly seeing young students through suburban intersections. But for these I think I may have to invest in a pin-worthy outfit.

    Made by laser-cutting outdated books, these adorable, delicate pins are pretty impressive.

    4. Infinity scarves and gloves

    When’s the last time Edgar Allen Poe or Frances Hodgson Burnett infinitely graced your neck? Odds are, it’s been too long.

    Check out Etsy shop Storiarts for smart scarves and fingerless gloves — essentials for typing away in too-chilly coffee shops. (My pick: these Sherlock Holmes writing gloves.)

    5. Book clock

    Apparently, it takes about $10 and a few hours — at most — to make a clock out of your favorite book. Talk about a great gift! If you use a hardcover of Tales of Terror: 58 Short Stories Chosen by the Master of Suspense by Alfred Hitchcock, you can put the clock’s center at about Hitchcock’s nose.

    6. Book lamp

    If you’re going full hipster with a side of steampunk, you should definitely read these instructions on how to make a book table lamp. The top book will be the most visible, so pick a good one.

    If you’re feeling 25 percent less hipster, consider taking a plain lampshade and using Mod Podge or another adhesive to layer on pages from your favorite books. The end result might be even better than the Anthropologie lamp that inspired the DIY.

    7. Wedding gear

    Forget about the blushing couple: pages from your favorite books can be the focus of your special day with beautiful centerpieces, garlands, mobiles, luminaries, and backdrops.

    Just make sure to say “I Do” to your significant other, not to the stack of books just behind him or her. Need more ideas? You got it.

    8. Shower curtains

    You see your shower curtain at least once a day, so why not have one that reminds you of your love of reading? Choose from titles like To the Lighthouse, Moby Dick, The Great Gatsby, Madeline, and others at Overstock.com. I’d settle with this homage to Harry Potter, though.

    9. Blankets and throws

    Sometimes you just want to stay in and snuggle with your favorite book. Right now I’m reading the Outlander series (don’t judge!) and always have my favorite fuzzy brown blanket nearby.

    But if you’re a two birds/one stone kind of person, consider a duvet cover designed using text from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. By the time you’re finished reading the snippet, you might already be asleep!

    10. Plates and napkins

    Restoration Hardware’s Literary Collection offers cocktail plates, napkins, and coasters with quotes from authors such as Oscar Wilde, Dorothy Parker, and Ralph Waldo Emerson crack wise on heaven, love, and more.

    Snatch ‘em up quickly, since some of these items are on final sale and may not be around long.

    11. For the baby bibliophile

    “See Dick and Jane. See Spot run.”

    But…what happened to Dick and Jane? What is Spot running from??

    These are not questions your baby will likely ask, so it’s totally OK to purchase this cute and super-soft-looking baby blanket from Etsy. It features copy from the vintage Dick and Jane book series.

    12. Tattoos

    If you’ve got book fever, then it may be time for a more permanent solution: a tattoo. It’s a fine line between a novel and an overexposed phrase, but plenty of people are pretty happy with their book-themed ink.

    13. Wall decor

    Nothing tells the tale of your love of books like wall-mounted pieces. You can do this yourself, like writing the text from your favorite novel in a special place, printing and framing a quote from your favorite book onto a photocopied page, and perhaps my favorite, making your books center stage in your bedroom as a headboard.

    14. Coffee cups

    If a book starts out with a great first line, chances are good that you’ll remember it. But if you don’t, it’s always helpful to have it listed on your coffee mug. Alternately, if you run into your high school librarian and want to discuss banned books, it’s nice to have this banned book mug to inform the conversation.

    15. Food

    There’s no better way to honor your favorite books than by eating as the characters did, in their time and place. So who wants the recipe for Butterbeer? Or would you rather make treats mentioned in books such as The Help or Jane Eyre?

    For a more homespun version, check out Nico and Amy’s Literary Kitchen, a blog in which Nico and Amy create recipes from books such as Ulysses, Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands: A Moral and Amorous Tale, Beloved, The Kite Runner, and more.

    I get excited at the idea of showing off my love of literature. But let’s be honest, I’m probably not going to actually do or buy any of these things. I’m too busy reading.

    My name is Raina, and I’m a readaholic. Now you say, “Hi, Raina.”

  • Ready for More Freelance Writing Gigs? Goodbye Elance, Hello Upwork

    Ready for More Freelance Writing Gigs? Goodbye Elance, Hello Upwork

    If you use Elance to find freelance writing gigs, listen up: The Elance-oDesk power couple rebranded in May to become Upwork, and the way you grab freelance gigs through the platform is changing.

    There’s drama! And intrigue! And, don’t worry, I’m going to explain it all to you.

    If you’re new to Elance, the platform is a freelance marketplace that connects you with projects and clients you can bid on. Many freelancers run their entire business on the platform — it not only provides new jobs, but also payment protection, hourly tracking and an impressive profile where clients can browse reviews and work history.

    As Elance changes though, there are a few names being thrown around, so let’s take a second to break down the cast of characters:

    • Elance and oDesk, two of the biggest freelance marketplaces, merged in 2013, but retained their two separate platforms for connecting freelance professionals with gigs.
    • That merged company recently rebranded and, as of this May 2015, is called Upwork.
    • Upwork is a new platform, most similar to oDesk (which now redirects to Upwork.com). The Elance platform will phase out by early 2016.
    • If you’re an Elance user, you’ll need to learn to use Upwork, which includes copying over your profile. (Not ideal, but also doable.)

    Got it? Excellent. Let’s continue.

    What’s up with Upwork?

    These changes are mostly brand-related, with the added bonus of a slicker website and mobile app. On its blog, Upwork’s product team is also promising upcoming improvements that support “faster hiring and better collaboration to support for larger teams and enhanced professional growth.”

    In an article on TechCrunch, Ingrid Lunden writes that with the rebrand comes changes like “a new mobile app, new search algorithms, faster processing and a real-time chat service — a completely free product that Upwork’s new CEO Stephane Kasriel describes as a ‘Slack killer’.”

    The two biggest changes:

    Push notifications

    Speed is king when it comes to pitching your work, and Upwork is pushing it even harder. When clients invite you to apply for a job or respond to an application, you’ll get a push notification directly to your phone.

    Danny Margulies, creator of Secrets Of A Six-Figure Elancer/Upworker, wrote on the Upwork blog, “This gives you a huge advantage; since online hiring tends to move at an accelerated pace, being ‘in the right place at the right time’ can make all the difference.”

    New message center

    The Upwork Message Center lets companies chat with freelancers who are immediately available for work, which is convenient both for freelancers who are ready to earn and companies who need immediate help. It’s also helpful for clients who want to communicate with a team.

    New access to more work categories

    Additional product-specific changes affect how you’ll work and get paid. Upwork’s new FAQ page has a fantastic group of downloadable guides explaining these changes. For example:

    • Unlike on Elance, you must set a public hourly rate and all earnings are public on your profile. A new “job success” score summarizes your activity.
    • All members now have access to all job categories, while on Elance you had to upgrade in order to access this feature. This is a great opportunity to land diverse clients while stretching your skills.
    • When logging time, Upwork captures not only screenshots, but mouse movements and keystrokes. When it’s time to get paid, clients are automatically charged every Monday.

    You will have to copy your Elance profile over to Upwork, but that’s the only extra step involved in the change. Not to fret — you won’t lose all the work you put into that profile.

    At Upwork, quicker is better

    The changes boil down to this description by Elaine Pofeldt at Forbes: “Upwork is looking to gain an edge by enabling clients to hire freelancers more quickly.”

    Lunden at TechCrunch adds that the goal is to make “discovery and check-out as quick and seamless as possible: all friction points become chances to lose your potential customers.”

    Upwork’s updated algorithms aim to better match clients to freelancers. So instead of the three weeks it often takes to hire a contractor, the new platform now only takes minutes.

    The inevitable blowback

    Professional marketplaces like Upwork hope to automate work, taking out as much of the human error and obnoxious quirks of freelancing as possible. The Uber for the remote work set. As smooth as buying on Amazon.

    But is that possible? And do we want it?

    Like any product change, some long-time Elance users aren’t happy. The downside to “only taking minutes” means freelancers need to be ready, at any time, to respond to potential sources of work. You’re rewarded for being chained to your smartphone, accessible at all hours of the day.

    I don’t know about you, but I work best when I’m not interrupted. And if I need more clients, I still don’t want paid work I’ve already landed to be interrupted by a frantic pitch.

    On top of the new time crunch, Upwork’s FAQ states, “Files, messages, funds in your account, withdrawal methods, tax forms, reports, skill tests, Connects, and ongoing jobs cannot be imported to Upwork. You will still be able to access them on Elance. Also note that while your work from Elance is shown on your profile, it is not included in your Upwork account’s other records or reports.”

    This sounds like a big hassle. And it also sounds like Elance wasn’t particularly communicative about these changes, leaving many freelancers in the lurch — and even worse, unable to access their work due to site maintenance.

    In a TechCrunch comment, Andy Tallent writes, “They have made the site more difficult for freelancers and ignore the feedback from the hand that literally feeds them.”

    But I’ve been on both sides of major site changes at tech companies, and for every hater and troll, there are a dozen other freelancers hard at work merging their profiles, already crushing it, grateful for the advantages of new technology.

    Them’s the breaks, I guess.

    The good news for freelance writers

    The good news is that these changes seem to be focused on connecting companies more quickly with freelancers, which means more work coming your way… and who can argue with that?

    Sure, it’s a pain to learn a new platform if you’re cozy with Elance, but the changes seem worth it for the long term.

    What do you think? If you’re on Elance, are you excited about the new Upwork platform? If you’re not, do these changes make you more likely to sign up?

  • How to Get More Clients: Ignore Your Competition and Own Your Niche

    How to Get More Clients: Ignore Your Competition and Own Your Niche

    A lot of new freelance writers worry about being overshadowed by their competitors. Quotes like these are all too familiar (let me know if these sound like you, too):

    • “So-and-so’s been writing for Entrepreneur.com for like, three years. How will anyone think I’m credible if I don’t write for them, too?”
    • “I’ll never be able to charge as much as so-and-so because no one’s ever heard of me.”
    • “I can’t afford to market my business the way so-and-so does, so I’ll probably never be able to find enough clients.”

    The thing is, if you expect your competitors to overshadow you, they will.

    And the only way to stop that from happening is to quit stressing out about them, and focus instead on what makes your work unique and outstanding. After all, pending time fretting about your competition isn’t going to help you get more clients.

    Once you know what makes your work unique and outstanding, promote the hell out of it.

    I learned this lesson though a painful, business-crushing experience. Lucky for you, I was my own guinea pig and you get to learn from my case study.

    How rebranding helped me crush my competition

    My company used to operate as Write Ahead Consulting. The name was a little boring, corporate and formal, and so was my branding.

    But my happiest clients knew working with me was anything but status quo: I’m a rule-breaker, I challenge my clients’ assumptions, and I push their boundaries to help them grow as people and entrepreneurs. I give them business plans they’ll actually use. I do most of my work in yoga pants, because I use Skype, not in-person coffee meetings. I’m a pot-stirrer who swears for dramatic effect.

    That’s an approach to consulting that no other business plan writer or startup coach was using. The problem: no one could tell from my web site that I was doing it.

    For a few years, I tried to put on the same uber-professional face of my competitors, worried clients would choose them over me if I didn’t appear as distinguished as they did. I went to stupid chamber of commerce events full of multi-level marketers and investment bankers who turned their noses up at me for being a solopreneur. I gave out business cards to everyone and only ended up on dozens of mailing lists of companies I would never work with.

    I even made branded pens.

    And it got me somewhere — to a profitable business — but it didn’t shake my competition off. I was still concerned that prospects would hire them over me.

    Finally, I shook them off — by being like me, instead of like them. My brand needed to showcase who I was, rather than who I thought people wanted to see.

    After rebranding as Renegade Planner in 2014, my ideal clients could see suits and ties weren’t part of my repertoire. New prospects were magnetized to my rebellious new brand, and I immediately began to attract more of the kinds of customers I wanted to work with. Prospects were finding me online and seeking me out through referrals; I no longer had to search for leads at networking events. My sales cycle shorted from a month to just a few days.

    Competitors? What competitors?

    4 steps to stop worrying about losing customers to the competition

    Ready to stop judging yourself against your competitors?

    Step 1: Stop trying to be a better version of your competitors

    Mind your own business, find what makes you completely different, and celebrate it publicly.

    When I meet a freelance writer and ask them what they do, most of them say, “I write things for small businesses.” If I can’t tell you apart from another freelance writer, I automatically expect your work to be boring.

    But if you tell me something like, “I produce concise, impactful web copy for energy healers and yoga instructors,” then I know exactly what kind of work to expect from you. And  even if I don’t become your customer, I might refer another potential customer to you down the line.

    Don’t be afraid to be specific about your specialty and your ideal client. Specifics can lead to great referrals.

    Step 2: Find your own territory

    Stop showing up everywhere your competitors are. Go where they aren’t — as long as your customer goes there too. Maybe that means a rebrand, or maybe it just means you can stop going to generic business networking meetings and show up in online forums instead. You could find yourself becoming the only expert in your field among a virtual ocean of people who desperately need you.

    Instead of hanging out among your competitors, hang out among your customers. The writer in my example might find a lot of prospects at a yoga retreat, where there’s a very low chance of running into a competitor. A yoga retreat is no place for a strong business pitch, but you’re guaranteed to connect with a few people who will ask you what you do besides yoga. Tell them.

    Step 3: Relax and let the money flow (I can hear that bubbling brook already…)

    Step 4: Have a glass of wine, because that’s always step 4.

    How is your work completely different from what your competitors produce? How can you use your awesomeness as an advantage over your competition?

  • How to Use Writing Prompts to Become a Better Writer

    How to Use Writing Prompts to Become a Better Writer

    Writing prompts are everywhere, from published collections to free online tools. But when you use them, are you getting all the potential benefits?

    Even among writers who take their writing seriously both artistically and professionally, this question isn’t often asked. After all, prompts are pretty straightforward, right? Find one, brainstorm, write.

    If I’m being totally honest, when I first started writing fiction, I didn’t get all the hype around prompts. What was I supposed to be doing with all these random collections of ideas? Should I get a book of prompts and try one every day? Should I subscribe to a blog and try every prompt that hit my inbox? Should I join an online writing community?

    I couldn’t understand what made one prompt better than any other, and I got overwhelmed. It was enough to turn me off prompts altogether for several years.

    But this spring, I committed to writing a new story every week. It didn’t take long for me to start seeking ways to keep my concepts fresh … and so I decided it was time to give prompts a second chance.

    And that’s when something finally clicked for me. It turns out, the prompt itself doesn’t matter nearly as much as what you do with it.

    Want to make sure you gain all you can when you use writing prompts? Follow these tips.

    Fully explore the prompt

    It’s easy to feel like you’re under a ticking clock when reacting to a prompt (sometimes, you literally are). But don’t just roll with the first idea that comes to you. When it comes to creativity, quantity breeds quality.

    The first ideas we get tend to be the most obvious, or the most familiar. But one of the benefits of prompts is that they stretch our creative capacity. So flex that imagination and take the time to come up with many different story premises before committing to one.

    I recommend focusing on possible story directions for at least 10-15 minutes before you do anything else to get past the easy ones and start coming up with more intriguing, exciting angles.

    [twl_reusable_block post_id=41455]

    Draft ’til you’re done

    Let’s be real: That creative high you get from prompts is only going to take you about 15 minutes into drafting. But don’t stop writing! Finish that sucker.

    It can feel like the ideas (or even just the burst of creativity) are the whole point of using a prompt, but there’s so much more to it than that. Prompts also give you the opportunity to practice those oh-so-critical elements of the storytelling craft, such as plotting, characterization, worldbuilding and even editing. Don’t shrug off an opportunity to hone your skills.

    Get feedback

    This is another critical aspect to using prompts to hone your skills. No writer is able to judge his or her own work objectively. So once you’ve done as much as you can on your own, get outside input.

    If you have a critique partner or writing group, that’s perfect. If you don’t, there are plenty of ways to join one, or just ask a friend to give it a read. A person doesn’t have to be a writer to tell if something reads well — they just to be thoughtful and willing to share an honest opinion.

    Submit it

    By now you’ve got a fantastic story on your hands. Don’t let it just sit in a folder in your laptop. Find a literary magazine that’s a good match and submit it!

    Some prompts even offer their own opportunities to be published. For example, DIYMFA’s Writer Igniter is seeking submissions for an anthology to be released this fall, but you’re only eligible if you use the Igniter to create your story.

    Go back to square one

    Congratulations, you just prompted your way to an awesome story, snagged a byline and sharpened up your writing skills along the way.

    Why not do it again? The more you practice, the better you’ll get, and the more bylines you’ll win. And since you took the time to brainstorm lots of ideas at the beginning of your last prompt, you’ve got a slew of ideas already, waiting to turn into stories.

    Do you use writing prompts to help you develop stories or practice your skills? Share your strategies — and your favorite sources of prompts! — in the comments.

  • 5 Crucial Questions to Ask an Editor

    5 Crucial Questions to Ask an Editor

    After self-editing your manuscript as best you can, it’s time to start looking for a book editor.

    You want someone who will give your book the best shot possible, but how can you make sure you select the right person?

    There’s a big difference between editors who point out your weaknesses and come up with solutions, versus those who give general advice that doesn’t go anywhere. One author who kept getting generic feedback from editors that amounted to, “It’s good, keep writing,” ended up with a 215,000-word tome. The weary man finally found an editor who was able to show him how to cut the manuscript in half and tighten the plot.

    Working with the wrong editor isn’t just a costly financial mistake, it’s demoralizing to put so much effort into a book and not feel good about the result. You want your narrative to live up to your expectations.

    How to find an editor: Questions to ask

    The right editor’s advice should help you achieve that. His feedback will make perfect sense to you, and the results will be true to your voice and your story.

    To find this magical unicorn of an editor, here are five questions to ask and red flags to look out for.

    1. Which publishers has the editor worked for?

    Every editor you consider will have a list of books she’s edited — if she doesn’t, run the other way. This makes it seem like she’s experienced, but you need to take a closer look.

    Are they all self-published titles?

    There’s nothing wrong with self-publishing as an author (in fact, it’s the future of publishing), but there’s something wrong with being an editor who has only worked on self-published titles — it can be a red flag that she’s only ever worked as a freelance editor.

    People don’t become editors by waking up one morning and saying, “I’ve read a lot of books, some good some bad… I was an English major… I need a job, so…”

    The title of an editor is earned. It takes three years at a publisher before you can edit your own books. Editing is a skill that comes from working with experts — other editors — for years. People who have only freelanced likely never had the opportunity to be guided and mentored by editors.

    The second issue with freelancers is they often don’t know what works in the marketplace. Traditional editors have acquired books from agents and published them. They understand the market, and they know what it takes to make something salable.

    “It’s important to know the editor’s credentials in the publishing industry, to know that they know what works in the marketplace,” says Chelsea Lindman, an agent at Greenburger Associates.

    This is crucial for authors planning to self-publish, too. These editors know what it takes to make a book appealing to readers, no matter how it’s published.

    When you look through the editor’s booklist, check to see which books were published traditionally. Ask the editor if she’s ever worked for a publisher.

    2. Is this person an editor or a copyeditor?

    What does a book editor do? Well, it depends on what kind of editor.

    If an editor tells you he edits and copyedits, consider that a red flag. Editors and copyeditors have different backgrounds, credentials and roles.

    An editor will address your creative content, writing style and language use. He’ll focus on the way you communicate your story. A copyeditor is more technical. He makes sure your spelling, grammar, punctuation and syntax is in accordance with industry standards. (He also looks out for internal consistencies and fact-checks your work.)

    There is some overlap between the work of a general editor and a copyeditor, since editors will fix some grammar and inconsistencies, but it’s not the specific purpose of an edit. A copyeditor has a rule-based understanding of the Chicago Manual of Style, which your editor doesn’t.

    When you’re presented with an editor’s booklist, make sure you ask whether these books were copyedited or edited. If they were copyedited, you’re not dealing with an actual editor.

    3. How many authors does the editor work with in a given month?

    Editing is a time-intensive process. Your editor will carefully read your manuscript, sometimes more than once, and make notes along the way. She’ll take time to think about the weaknesses in the work and come up with accurate, successful solutions.

    Experienced editors won’t accept more than two or three books per month, depending on the length and type of edit. If the editor you’re considering is juggling seven to 10 books per month, she doesn’t have the time to be thorough or thoughtful.

    4. What’s the editor’s approximate quote?

    Freelance editing rates vary drastically by experience. Compare the editor’s quote to the standard rates from the Editorial Freelancers Association or from other published rate guides.

    If the quote you receive is low, look closely at the editor’s booklist. Usually, this is a sign of inexperience. If you consider working with the editor, ask for references from his publisher and clients.

    5. Can you get a trial edit?

    Beyond experience, you want to find an editor who’s the right fit for your story. You want to know if you’d agree with her feedback and line edits.

    To find out, ask the editor if she would be willing to do a trial edit, a short edit that may only cover 10 pages. The editor won’t know enough about your story to give you her authoritative opinion, but she’ll know just enough to show you what her thoughts look like.

    It’s also ideal if a quick phone call is included in the trial, to make sure you have a good rapport. A trial edit is an inexpensive way to see if you’re partnering up with the right editor before you commit to a full edit.

    The process of finding the right editor may seem like a slog, but it’s worth it. The rewards of working with the right person are legion.

    Not only will a good editor raise the appeal of your manuscript, but more importantly, she will make you a better writer.

    If you found a great editor for your work, how did you know he was the one? If you’re looking ahead, what questions do you have about the process?

    Looking for an editor for your fiction or nonfiction manuscript? NY Book Editors can help connect you with the right editor for your story.

  • Tracking Freelance Earnings: June Income Report From Nicole Dieker

    Tracking Freelance Earnings: June Income Report From Nicole Dieker

    Hi! If you’re new to this column: I track my freelance income every month and share it with all of you. This is my third year of public income tracking, and my first year sharing my income with The Write Life.

    You probably have a daily work routine, right? Get up, make coffee, check email, that sort of thing? Are you satisfied with your routine, or do you find parts of it frustrating?

    This month I got rid of a really frustrating part of my freelancing routine, and found this change helped me work fewer hours.

    But before we get to that, here’s the monthly roundup:

    Completed Pieces: 54

    Work Billed: $5,808.25

    Earnings Received: $6,413.35

    In June, I wrote fewer pieces for more money. I only wrote 54 pieces this month, compared to last month’s 80. I also wrote 40,704 words, compared to last month’s 57,000. And I billed $5,808, compared to last month’s $5,336.

    Here’s some even better news: My average per-piece earning climbed to $108 (from last month’s $67), and while my lowest-paid piece is still $35, my highest-paid piece is $751.

    Wait, you might be asking yourself. How did your highest per-piece rate go from $300 to $751?

    Well, I got a new client.

    But, you might continue, didn’t you say that you weren’t taking on any new clients unless they were offering a dream job?

    Yes. It is a dream job. I’m writing for a major company and getting paid $1 a word, so I’m pretty pumped.

    How’d I get this dream job? Via a recommendation from another freelancer, of course. The best jobs have nearly always come this way.

    The best part about taking on this new client was that I didn’t have to let any of my regular clients go. Right now I like everyone on my client list, and so I made space for this new client by pulling back on new pitches and one-off pieces.

    This was also one of my goals for June, and it worked; everything I wrote was for a client with whom I had an established relationship. I expect this to continue through July, and don’t anticipate sending out any new pitches or taking on new clients. But, as we’ve just seen, it’s hard to predict what might happen.

    Writing fewer pieces and working fewer hours

    The other way I made room for my new client was by taking on fewer pieces from existing clients. Two of my clients put out a big list of potential article topics every Monday, and writers can claim as many or as few as they want — have you worked for clients like those? — and so I’ve taken on fewer of those articles.

    This, in turn, has helped me pull back on my work hours. I still get the occasional day when a difficult assignment pushes my work into the late evening, but I feel like my freelance workload is a lot lighter than it used to be — especially if you compare it to that monster week I wrote about for The Freelancer, where I spent most nights working until 9, 10 or 11 p.m.

    In March, I tracked my hours and discovered I was averaging a 50-hour workweek and spending about 25 of those hours writing. (I also wrote 90 pieces in March, so I was doing a lot more work back then.) It would be interesting to track my hours again and see how they’ve changed, so that’s something I’ll do for July.

    Building a routine (that gets me out of my pajamas)

    The other big change I made in June has to do with my personal routine. I live in Seattle, which means I work on Pacific Time, but a lot of my clients work on Eastern Time. Because of that, I often felt compelled to wake up and start working right away, without changing out of my pajamas. After all, if my 9 a.m. was a client’s noon, I wanted to make sure I caught up.

    But that also meant that I often stayed in my pajamas until 1 or 2 p.m., when my Eastern Time clients began winding down their workdays and I felt like I could take a little break. Some people really like working in their pajamas, but I don’t, especially when it gets into the afternoon — I feel sweaty and gross, and all I want to do is take a shower.

    So I decided to change my routine. I would set my alarm for 8 a.m. instead of 8:30, and start my official workday at 9:30 a.m. instead of 9:00. That gave me 90 minutes to wake up, do yoga, shower, get dressed and eat breakfast. Then, I’d be ready to start work at 9:30 without wondering when I’d find time to do all of that important stuff.

    Did my Eastern Time clients notice that I was getting in touch with them a half hour later than usual? Nope. I do scan my email as soon as I wake up — don’t we all? — so I have occasionally responded to an urgent message at 8 a.m., but otherwise, putting off my workday by a half hour has made the whole day better.

    And no, I haven’t had to make up that half hour at the end of the day either. This new routine has given me a momentum that carries me through my entire day and helps me finish my assignments more quickly. Today, I’ll end my workday at 6 p.m., making it an eight-hour workday plus a 30-minute break for lunch. That’s an ideal schedule for a busy freelancer.

    How about you? Have you tested out new routines until you found one that improved your workday? I’d love to hear about all of your freelance routines in the comments.

    Share your freelance routines: Are you a pajamas-wearer? A coffee-drinker? Do you check your email as soon as your alarm rings? Do you take lunch breaks?

  • 6 Tricks for Writing Eye-Catching Headlines Your Editor Will Love

    6 Tricks for Writing Eye-Catching Headlines Your Editor Will Love

    When you’re pitching an article or writing a blog post, nothing is more important than your headline.

    Goldfish have longer attention spans than Internet users, so how can you expect your audience to stick around for 900 words if they’ve already checked out halfway through your title?

    If you want to keep readers locked to your content, try using these six psychological ploys that writers have been using for decades. Alone or in combination, they’ll help you create killer headlines.

    1. Ask a question

    When a person reads a question, one of two things happens.

    On one hand, they may realize that they don’t know the answer to the question:

    How Much of a Facebook Creep Are You Compared to Everyone Else?

    Human beings are chock-full of curiosity. Once we find out we don’t know something, we feel an urge to shore up that knowledge gap. That blue, underlined text is a tiny promise that instant gratification in the form of an answer is just a click away.

    On the other hand, they may think to themselves that they do know the answer:

    Ever wanted a Glow-In-The-Dark Toilet?

    Even if the answer is “no,” this tiny bit of interaction creates investment for the reader. A headline structured as a statement can glide through a reader’s mind without them forming an opinion, but a question forces a reader to personally engage an idea.

    That may seem like a small thing, but even the smallest degree of investment is crucial on the Internet. Remember: You are competing with cats jumping and missing their landings.

    2. Start with a number

    6 Old-School Rules You Should Break as a Freelance Writer

    Before we begin a task, we generally like to know how long it will take. This is why the Pomodoro Technique is so popular and why the DMV is so unpopular.

    When a headline begins with a number, it lets the reader know about how long it will take to read. Medium caters to this same psychological need by tagging each article with a length in minutes.

    If your audience is in a rush, use a number to let them know you won’t take up much of their time.

    3. Attach yourself to an established brand

    The parody site Clickhole demonstrates how effective this technique can be by regularly posting articles that are effectively lists of celebrity names devoid of any context whatsoever. These lists generate enough traffic that they’ve become a staple of the site.

    Some non-humorous examples include headlines like:

    36 Things Everyone Who Loves “Jurassic Park” Will Appreciate

    Should I Try the Matthew McConaughey Diet?

    By attaching your article to an established idea, product, or person, you can “piggyback” off the reader’s pre-existing interest. Of course, this only works if the reader is already a fan of whatever you are attaching your article to. Someone with no interest in Matthew McConaughey or Jurassic Park (what a sad person) would be far less likely to click on the above links.

    4. Begin with “How to”

    How To Get Clients as a Freelance Writer: 10 Brilliant Strategies

    This may just be the most powerful tool in the box. Everyone has problems, and everyone is scouring the Internet looking for solutions. As a writer, one of the most useful roles you can serve in the lives of other people is that of a problem solver.

    Starting with “how to” says, “Reader, I know you have a problem, and I sympathize with you. But the good news is that I know the solution to your problem, and even more: I’m going to show you how to resolve it in a series of clear steps.”

    That’s a lot of muscle for just two words. “How to” communicates a promise of no-nonsense, valuable content that the reader can put into action in his or her life.

    5. Engage curiosity

    Are you ready to know the writing community’s best-kept secret for engaging a reader’s curiosity? Don’t write another blog post until you’ve mastered this simple trick!

    Ah, the neverending search for truth, treasure and secrets. Asking a question isn’t the only way to make a reader eager to continue reading. If you really want to hook a reader by the gray matter, use your headline to hint at secret knowledge you’ll reveal in your article:

    9 SEO Secrets Every Business Should Know

    Of course, in the age of the Internet, real secrets are few and far between. The combined knowledge of human experience is at our fingertips, after all. So what articles like the one above really do is dress up useful information in an alluring way. An article titled “Practical SEO Strategies for Businesses” might contain the exact same content as the link above, but the headline is far less engaging.

    Another way to do this is to tell a micro-story that sets up a reader’s expectations and promises that they will be surprised. This trick has been around since at least 1926:

    They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano, But When I Started to Play!

    6. Threaten

    This can be something of a shady trick, but it’s definitely effective and this list wouldn’t be complete without it.

    People don’t like the idea of losing something important to them. Deep down, we’re all scared to lose our health, our physical appearance, our children, etc… For everything a person can love, there is a fear that the object of our love will be taken away or suffer harm.

    As a result, headlines that tap into suspicion, paranoia and insecurity always garner a lot of attention:

    19 Signs You’re Dating a Loser

    The Shocking Truth About Alien Abductions (They’re More Real Than You Think)

    This technique is so effective and works so well across varying audiences that major news outlets have been using it for years in spite of the fact the world is safer now than it has ever been.

    What are your nifty tricks for penning a compelling headline? Share your favorites in the comments!