Tools Archives

Because just about everyone in NINC is smarter than me about advertising, I reached out to three people who I know are experiencing success on different ad platforms. And since they were all so generous, this grew into a two-part article; come back in December for more ad advice. Pam Kelley, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of women’s fiction, family sagas, and suspense, sai…

It’s been a little less than a month since the NINC conference kicked off, and I have to admit that I’m still processing everything I learned. While I was not able to be at every workshop, I attended quite a few—and more than that, I talked to many people, and I listened to so many smart folks at both the UnCon and the PostCon. Not surprising to me—or to anyone, probably—the two buzzword phrase…

In fiction, the term “red herring” is a technique designed to distract the reader by introducing misleading information. It’s a false clue, meant to deceive, before the truth is revealed. Take a look at your latest story. Have all your plot twists been resolved? Do you have any red herring plot threads that you overlooked? There’s nothing more frustrating than finishing your book, tweaking ever…

Do you like easy money? Yes! Then you need to set up your affiliate marketing links. What is affiliate marketing? If you read the informational pamphlets for each affiliate site, they are full of jargon—performance-based channels, leveraged partnerships, pay-for-outcome alternatives—that is confusing and hard to decipher. But the basic answer is you get paid when you refer a reader to a vendor …

Amazon “We may also suspend your Program account at any time with or without notice to you, for any reason in our discretion.” —from Amazon Terms and Conditions Fenella Ashworth panicked after she discovered her Amazon account had been closed, and she got only 90 minutes of sleep over the next three days. “You might think it could only happen via a staged process after lengthy discussions, but …

Welcome to the month of December, the time of year when many authors are both looking back at what worked and what didn’t go so well over the past twelve months … while at the same time, we begin to plan in earnest for the next year of writing, releasing, and marketing. For those of us who attended the NINC conference, as well as perhaps a few other author education events that take place in th…