The following interview is one I did for Gatekeepers Post:
How do you balance promoting your book and writing time as well?
I find that promoting my book generates new content for new books, so book promotion is not a waste of time and really doesn't take away from writing new books or revising old books.
Besides, book promotion - if done right - really shouldn't take you more than an hour a day. If you are taking more than one hour a day, you are doing the wrong things to promote your books.
In the above sentence, I'm talking about proactive book promotion actions like writing emails, posting to social networks, writing a blog, etc. These actions should not take much time.
It is perfectly okay to spend more time doing interviews, attending effective book-signing events, organizing blog tours, etc. Stick with the actions that actually produce measurable results.
Would you suggest Twitter as a great way to promote your novel?
Twitter is an okay way to promote a novel or a book. It is not a great way.
Personally, I find the most effective way to use Twitter is to post 3 to 4 times a day with great content. Then repost your tweets to your email newsletter and/or your blog. I get at least 80% of my tweet views - and clickthroughs - from my email newsletter and blog posts.
The above actions takes me about 10 minutes a day at most.
What are common mistakes authors make when writing?
Listening to others. Listen to your heart instead.
Second mistake: Not writing every day. Writing every day is the best way to discover and improve your style. It is also an incredible way to discover what you really want to write.
What are common mistakes when writers are promoting their books?
1. Doing time-sucking promotional activities. As noted above, if you are spending more than one hour a day doing book promotion, you are wasting too much time on nonproductive actions. Stick with actions that work.
2. Not joining in with like-minded book authors to do joint promotional campaigns. You can easily connect with other book authors via The Book Marketing Network.
What are your tips for not using too many flashbacks?
Since I don't write novels, I have no tips for this. But note: Flashbacks slow down the action. Great novels move. They sweep you along in a wave of action. They keep you reading.
Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. Sometimes flashbacks are very effective. The Time Traveler's Wife couldn't have worked without a lot of flashbacks.
What are your thoughts on what writers like Joe Konrath are doing?
I applaud them. I think more and more novelists and other book authors are going to find it makes much more sense in today's world to publish ebooks and sell online. Why get 10% royalties, one year or more delays, and loss of control when you can have full control, instant publishing, and 70% royalties?
Of course, that comes with a caveat: You do have to do book promotion if you want to succeed selling your own ebooks and print-on-demand books. Without really great book promotion, you'll be having full control and no sales. That makes no sense at all.
So, for authors that want to go the way of Joe Konrath or Amanda Hocking, they have to learn how to promote their books. That simple.
John Kremer is the author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books. If you want to launch a SuperStar Blog Tour™, a Mega Blog Tour™, or a Blogpalooza™, click the graphic below:
