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Marketing

6 Elements of A Successful Author Website

Building your author website? Incorporate these six elements in your design to ensure its success.

  • By John Burke
    Jun 17, 2019
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Publishing Insights

Is Your Email Newsletter Working? 4 Top Metrics to Watch

How do you know if your author newsletter is working effectively? EJ Wenstrom suggests monitoring these four metrics to determine if you’re building a real audience, or getting buried in inboxes.

  • By E.J. Wenstrom
    May 31, 2019
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Marketing

Author Platform: How to Build Your Online Audience and Stay Sane

E.J. Wenstrom shares a few steps you can take while you're building your online author platform that can save your sanity.

  • By E.J. Wenstrom
    Feb 28, 2019
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Publishing FAQs

Who Is Your Target Audience? Use This Simple Trick to Figure Out If They Actually Exist

A major conundrum that trips up many new writers is defining your target audience before you have any actual readers. Dana Sitar explains how to identify them.

  • By Guest Column
    Feb 6, 2019
 Bundle: Author in Progress + Build Your Own Author Platform Through Blogging + Writing The Breakout Novel
Writing Articles

Starting Over, But Not From Scratch: Book Marketing Insights From a Third-Career Debut Novelist

Former public relations executive and career consultant Rita Dragonette outlines the book marketing strategies she employed with her debut novel, from developing her online presence to organizing book events and creative publicity campaigns.

  • By Guest Column
    Jan 14, 2019
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Publishing Insights

How to Crowdfund Your Writing With Patreon

Patreon offers creatives a more sustainable model for crowdfunding—ongoing micro-payments from interested benefactors.

  • By Lucy A. Snyder
    Dec 22, 2018
 Illustrations by Bob Eckstein
Marketing

The Tragical Mystery Book Tour (Part 1)

Author and New Yorker cartoonist Bob Eckstein recently set out on a book tour of his own devising. In this four-part series, he outlines his experience, lessons learned along the way, and what up-and-coming authors might expect from their own tours.

  • By Bob Eckstein
    Dec 18, 2018
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The Writer's Life

Readings That Work for You and Your Listeners

Public readings of your written work—published or not yet published—are a great way to gain exposure for your writing and to build your author platform. Here are 16 rules to follow.

  • By Guest Column
    Oct 12, 2018
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Publishing Insights

Is Social Media Changing How We Write?

What if, in relying so much on social media platforms not only to maintain relationships but to promote our work, we’ve become impatient during the genesis of it?

  • By Guest Column
    Aug 30, 2018
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Writing Articles

indieLAB—a New Event for Entrepreneurial Writers

If you're an author, aspiring novelist, freelance writer or small publisher who wants to expand your readership, improve your business prospects and earn more from your writing, join us this September at indieLAB, an all-new event from Writer's Digest.

  • By The Editors of Writer's Digest
    Aug 28, 2018
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Writing Articles

What Starting a Business and Launching a Book Have in Common: It’s All About the Investment

When launching a book, your job is to find readers, engage with readers, write good books, and sell the heck out of said book(s). Here are a few rules from the business world that will make the investment of time and energy worth your while.

  • By Guest Column
    Aug 26, 2018
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Publishing Insights

6 Book Publicity Ideas for Today’s Author

Realistic time goals and manageable tasks are the key to staying motivated and keeping on trucking with book publicity. Here are some tips for promoting your book.

  • By Guest Column
    Aug 24, 2018
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Writing Articles

3 Amazon Secrets Every Author Needs to Know

Rob Eagar offers up three essential Amazon secrets and hacks for authors, including how to change the marketing text for your book, getting email subscribers through Kindle Direct Publishing, and identifying your target audience.

  • By Rob Eagar
    Jul 5, 2018
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Publishing Insights

3 Steps to Social Media Domination for Writers

Author and social media afficionado Jeff Somers shares his three steps for social-media success.

  • By Jeff Somers
    Jun 19, 2018
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Marketing

Top Websites for Writers: 8 Great Publishing & Marketing Resources on the Web

Each year, we scour the web for our annual 101 Best Websites for Writers, a comprehensive collection of online resources for writers. This selection represents this year's publishing and marketing resources that are particularly helpful for authors looking to self publish or build their audiences and platforms.

  • By Jess Zafarris
    Jun 5, 2018
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Publishing Insights

4 Networking Strategies for Authors Who Hate Networking

If you're an introvert who hates having to schmooze in order to promote their work and build their author platform, you might benefit by rethinking your approach to networking. These networking strategies can help you out even if you prefer to stay in.

  • By Guest Column
    May 25, 2018
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Writing Goal

Insider’s Guides to Navigating 3 Online Resources for Writers

In our May/June 2018 issue of Writer's Digest, check out our annual 101 Best Websites for Writers! Here, in this online exclusive, we take a deep dive into three handy online resources for writers.

  • By Baihley Gentry
    May 2, 2018
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Interviews

Interview: Jessica Strawser Discusses the Journey from Editor to Author, and Her New Book 'Not That I Could Tell'

In her nearly 10-year tenure as the former editor-in-chief and editorial director (and now editor-at-large) of Writer’s Digest, Jessica Strawser has interviewed hundreds of globally recognized authors, learning what she needed to write her 2017 debut novel, Almost Missed You. Now we turn the mic around to talk to Jessica about her journey from editor to author, and about her new book, Not That I Could Tell, on shelves March 27, 2018.

  • By Jess Zafarris
    Mar 27, 2018
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Publishing Insights

Brand Basics: 6 Debut Authors Discuss Their Author Platforms and Connecting with Readers

6 Breaking In authors discuss the makings of their author platforms—or lack thereof—and how they best connect with readers.

  • By Baihley Gentry
    Mar 20, 2018
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WD Podcasts

Tune In: 23 Best Podcasts for Writers

This year, to accompany our annual list of 101 Best Websites for Writers, we decided to put together a list of what we think are the best podcasts for writers. Here are our favorites—let us know if you have any additional suggestions!

  • By Karen Krumpak
    Mar 20, 2018
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Writing Goal

Curation & Community: Inside the Online Literary Magazine Women Writers, Women’s Books

The owner and managing editor of the online literary magazine Women Writers, Women’s Books, Barbara Bos discusses growing the community—and how to submit.

  • By Jessica Strawser
    Mar 19, 2018
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Writing Articles

Under Construction: Rethinking the Process of Building an Author Platform

Many writers wait until they've completed a novel—or a screenplay or a short story or any other significant piece of work—before attempting to build an author platform. Here's why you should make expanding your audience a daily practice.

  • By Guest Column
    Feb 28, 2018
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Publishing Insights

Reprints for Creative Shorts: How and Where to Sell a Poem, Personal Essay or Short Story a Second Time

The reprint market isn’t just for nonfiction articles. If you're looking to sell a short story, personal essay or a poem that's already been published, there’s a good chance you can sell it again. Learn how.

  • By Guest Column
    Jan 11, 2018
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Marketing

13 Lessons From an Epic Book Tour

In support of my book, I went on a book tour. After six months, 75 talks in about 60 cities and towns, and lots of networking, I learned a lot. Here are 13 things you should know when doing a book tour.

  • By Guest Column
    Sep 15, 2017
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