You spend all your time promoting, blogging, face-booking or tweeting our book but what about YOU.

Building your brand is just as important as building a marketing plan for your book.

What to consider when branding yourself?

First off, look at your expertise and educational experience.  What qualifies you to write on a particular topic?  In my case, my novel is a historical fiction that takes place during the French and Indian War. I started to do my research.  I read, I visited, I spoke to other experts on anything involving the war or that period.

It took me several years and countless hours to feel comfortable enough to write on the topic. The reality is you do not need to be an expert but you need to do your due diligence.  Link with others who have similar interests.  Read books in your chosen genre to see what is out in the market. Build a resource center, either on-line or a home-library, that you can easily access.

I collect artifacts, uniforms, weapons and anything from the F&I War period. I find holding a war club or musket gives me a ‘real’ feel and helps my writing.

How to build your brand?

You can further build your brand by working with your local bookseller, library or community center by starting a book club featuring the genre you write in.  Offer to teach a writing coarse, do a seminar and any other outlet that will promote you as a writer and expert.

How many times when someone asks you what you do for a living and you tell them you are a writer, the person finds it fascinating?

People love writers!  Write for your local paper. Start a blog to reach a bigger audience.  Have fun with it.

Promoting yourself is just as important as marketing your book but most of us tend to over look it. I will be blogging further about branding and promoting yourself, so please add to the blog and lets be proud of being writers.

Talk soon and keep writing.

Cheers

Firstly I just joined a great site called Book Blogs. The members are awesome, I have already been contacted by a number of them and will be replying as soon as I figure all the nooks and crannies. Thanks to all for making me feel so welcome.

THE WRITE STUFF: Your target market

I think sometimes with all our enthusiasm after we have finished our novel and begin our marketing plan we tend to try to be everything to everybody.
DON”T bother. The best plan is to find who would be the best potential customers or groups you should focus your first marketing efforts on.
My own experience with my historical-fiction novel was to target, obviously, French and Indian War enthusiasts. I also sent complimentary copies of my novel to two artists whom specialize in that period and several gallery’s that carry their paintings. Copies were sent to editors of a number of magazines that cater to black powder users and reenactors. I also requested them to review the novel as a bonus.
I have done intervews and have booked a couple of speaking engagements to talk about the F&I War. I sent out Press Releases to National Parks in the US and ParksOntario in Canada.
I know you can’t ignore the general public but if you identify your market of customers who already love the period/topic/genre you wrote about, it makes for some strong results and positive reviews or comments.
The writing process was by far the most enjoyable but the reality is you are doing it to make some money or some notoriety…so marketing is critical to ensure you get your novel in the right readers hands.

Cheers, Steve

This is the first edition of my new blog aptly named The Write Stuff. I am new to the world of blogging, facebooking and tweeting and I have noticed a number of people out there telling their story.

This is Mine.

I am a father, a husband and an author of my first newly published novel, The Gauntlet Runner-A Tale from the French and Indian War.

Twelve years ago my wife and I were blessed with our first child. She was born with Down Syndrome and one of us needed to stay home with her. Luck had it, I put my hand up first and have spent the last twelve years, plus one more son, enjoying spending an amazing amount of time with the kids.

It also opened the door for me to hone my skills as a writer. I have always had a passion to write and love to read but lacked the time. My favourite genre is historical-fiction.

Historical-fiction is a genre that has a loyal following, as well as, a number of critics.

Putting the critics aside for the moment, I enjoy the genre because as a writer you can both educate and entertain the reader. I do my best to keep true to the facts and mix in actual people, while introducing the audience to fictional characters.

Through the fictional characters you can paint an excellent historical picture and place the reader right in the action.

I particularly enjoy the time period surrounding the French and Indian War. Roughly 1750 to 1770’s. Another reason for writing in that period was, I felt, it has not been over-written.

A perfect example of this is the American Civil War. There are countless fictional accounts of the war and the compitition is intense.

The F&I War period is not a period that most people know about. It is correctly called the ‘The Forgotten War’. Most of us know it from The Plains of Abraham (in Canada) or ‘The Last of the Mohicans’ by James Fenimore Cooper. It was the fuel the ignited the fires of Revolution and the English/French issues that still exist in Canada today.

The purpose of the blog is to follow me through my next novel and talk about things I learned from the first. Topics I will be blogging about will include: Your family and your writing,Traditional vs. Self-Publishing, How to get started, researching for you novel, time management and many others. If you have a topic you might want me to cover/discuss please forward them to me.

A writers life can, at times, be pretty lonely, but it doesn’t have to be…you are not alone.
Until next time,
CHEERS
The Gauntlet Runner: A Tale from the French and Indian War
S. Thomas Bailey