Friday's Links to Writing & Marketing Blog Posts

HOW TO APPEAL TO BOOK CLUBS

By: Wise Ink

Book clubs are powerful things. 

With their origins in 18^th century Paris salons and Victorian parlors, they have long been in the public consciousness, and their sales power reflects their deep-seated place in our culture. An “Oprah’s Book Club” sticker artfully placed on a cover pretty much guaranteed a work’s NYT Bestseller status during the Oprah Winfrey Show’s run.

Even now, when more people communicate online, book clubs have adapted and have taken to the internet as forums.

A book club ensures that a group of people will all buy your book, read it simultaneously, and then talk about it. They automatically take the solitary act of reading, and by their very design, turn it social. And as we know,word of mouth is the number one way to get your book into the hands of readers.

When the members of a club are reading your book, or have to turn down an engagement because book club is scheduled that night, others are intrigued. They ask what the person is reading, and if they enjoy it, because a book club book is perceived as something of quality and something worth reading.

A book recommendation born out of a book club carries more weight than a regular recommendation.

After all, why would a group of people spend a few hours every month talking about a boring, badly written book? There had to have been some reason why it was picked in the first place!

But with so many books to choose from, getting your book picked as a book club book is hard, if not impossible.

Here are some tried and true ways of making your book appeal to the book club crowd:

• Offer a deal.

. . .

Read the full article HERE!

~*~

If you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they are again:

1. Fiction University: How to Create Your Own Galley Proof With Word http://ow.ly/Cc9NQ
2. 20 Marketing Questions Self-Published Authors Must Answer | Pubslush Blog http://ow.ly/Cc9TG
3. Cheerleaders vs Critique Partners » Writeonsisters.com http://ow.ly/Cc9Vy
4. The Kill Zone: Bring Some Magic to Your Writing http://ow.ly/Cc9XI
5. Tips to Write “Bad Boys in Books” » Writeonsisters.com http://ow.ly/Cc9Zm
6. How Authors Can Use Listmania to Promote Their Books http://ow.ly/Cca3E
7. Want An Irresistable Character? Try An Antihero. http://ow.ly/Cca7u
8. Mythcreants » The Six Traits of Strong Characters http://ow.ly/Cca9V
9. Using Questions To Expand Your Story | Fantasy-Faction http://ow.ly/Ccaf0
10. Organizing a Series: Details are Author Gold -  http://ow.ly/Ccaj3
11. Greatest Fear: How to Find It and Run with It - Writingeekery http://ow.ly/CcavQ
12. Anne R. Allen's Blog: BLOCK-BUSTING: 14 Never-Fail Tricks Every Writer Needs to Know http://ow.ly/CcaJx
13. The Creative Penn Blog: Helping you write, publish and market your book | The Creative Penn http://ow.ly/CcaWV
14. Pricing Your Ebook at 99 Cents: Pros and Cons | Lindsay Buroker http://ow.ly/Ccb1Q
15. Could you survive without KDP? | Nick Stephenson http://ow.ly/CcbfX
16. Pen Names: Different names for different genres? | @Belinda_Pollard http://ow.ly/Ccbrf
17. AuthorRise Shows Promise for Indie Writers by Frances Caballo — The Book Designer http://ow.ly/Ccbu6
18. What Is a Developmental Editor? What Can You Expect? http://ow.ly/Ccc5b
19. Email List Building Series (Part 5): Strategies to Grow Your List, Your Reach and Your Sales | Your Writer Platform http://ow.ly/CccfP
20. How to Appeal to Book Clubs | Wise Ink's Blog for Indie Authors about Self-Publishing http://ow.ly/Cccjx

Happy writing and running, Kathy