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editorial, fiction, Marketing yourself

Part 3: The 8 Things Writers Should Do to Influence Readers (and Make a Sale)

Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery by Diane Holmes, Chief Alchemist of Pitch University

Passion

You have 2 clever tools to Svengali readers and potential clients. “Come to me… come read my writing…”

Your Writing + You = Career

Turns out both you and your writing are alluring.  Oh, baby, oh, baby.

But in order for you to be seen as alluring, you need to be able to let your passion for your writing show, and that, it turns out, is quite a difficult skill for many of us.

Do you know the art of communicating Passion…

…and inviting your potential customer to share it with you?

yes no head

(And why are we all bald in this little quiz?  Just go with it.)

This is PART THREE in a series where we look at the 8 ways you share your passion with your  potential clients/readers.

And now, the last 3 languages of influence (aka passion).

#6 Connection.

Learn to speak about your connection to the people around you, to causes, and to the world… not just to your writing.  Nothing is more alluring than someone who actually likes people.

People do make the best readers.

#7 Shared Vision.

Be your own cause, your own revolution by sharing the vision you have for “how things work” or, at least, how they could work.

See the hope that doesn’t exist yet.  See problems and solutions in a new way.  Writers have a unique way of building a universe in their head.  Sometimes the only thing that people lack is the ability to see things in a new way.

Share your mind, your vision, your practical knowledge with others.

And yes, something that relates to your writing is good.

But even if it’s not related to your writing, be interesting.  Have an interesting mind.  Look for the points of “new thought” that overlap between you and others.

Those points of overlap are sparks.

#8  The Hold-Your-Breath Moment of Magic.

Much of our best life experiences are being in the right place at the right time.  If you’ve ever been brilliant in the wrong time or place, you know what I mean.  It goes nowhere.  You’re passed over, roughshod, and left like roadkill on the side of life’s highway.

And as much as this is true, the best of life is also how you see all those wrong places and times, how you see the highway and the tread marks that cover your body.

Look for these magic moments.  Seize them.  Relate them to others.  Invite your readers along.

This is the stuff readers want to hear about in author interviews:  the magic of the world and of how you see it.

We live a lot of normal in our everyday life.  But we celebrate the WOW that wakes us up, inspires us, shows us who we can be, or just lets us know that that being alive is wow in itself.

Here’s a teacher, speaker, and ultimately an author who gave us all a WOW moment. May you find your own wow moments and share them with the world, or just a single reader.

Let’s get out of so much normal and have more wow.

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clip_image004Diane writes two alternating columns for Freelance-Zone:Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and Marketing-Zone:Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.

fiction, Marketing yourself

Part 2: The 8 Things Writers Should Do to Influence Readers (and Make a Sale)

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Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery by Diane Holmes, Chief Alchemist of Pitch University

WARNING: I’m in the middle of shaking you up, baby.   Okay, now read on.

A purchase is a one-time exchange. But demand is what creates a career.

demand

So your job is to create that demand, that interest, that desire for what you offer.

Certainly the quality of your work can create a demand.

We writers love to rely on that, because it’s what we care about: our writing.  Plus it’s passive which is so much less effort.  Write, send it into the world, let the writing speak for itself.  Wait to be recognized.

What we hope:

Readers (clients) will be so inspired by our quality, they’ll make it their mission to demand more.  Well know about this mission because they’ll spontaneously call us just to rave.  Thank goodness they’re not distracted by their own lives.

Might be good to ask how can WE, also, create a demand.  What is our power in influencing readers? ( Us, not our marketing materials, not our business cards and tag lines.  You and me.)

But why????

Because not everyone will have read your past writing.    These people–who could easily be your future audience, buy your products, champion your skills–won’t know your sentences are pure glory.

But if they meet you, speak with you, they could become the people who demand your work, even though they HAVEN’T read it.

Now that’s the power of demand.

As I said in Part 1, when you speak, nothing influences demand better than the 8 languages of passion.

Read Part 1 HERE.

We’ve already covered the language of Mastery, Excitement, Heart, and Confidence.  Onward now to the final 4 ways you represent your passion.

5) Extraordinariness.

We all want to think we and our writing are special, are unique.  But we’re usually talking about being special and unique in the same way as everyone else is. 😉

(That’s especially true if the specialness is a product of a marketing exercise where you have to write down something that everyone will agree is a mighty-fine quality.  It’s always too generic.  Too fake.  Too  filled with hype.

So what we think of as special and unique is Not. Good. Enough.

What I’m talking about instead is the crossroads where “blow your mind” and greatness meet up.

You’ve heard of a delight factor, right?  Well, I’m  talking about a delight factor that is authentic to you and inspires that wow feeling in others.

And yeah, you might not be aware of your own delight factor unless someone else points it out..

So go figure it out.  Then learn to include what delights you and others, what makes you extraordinary, in conversations.

No, not with an agenda.  That ruins everything, doesn’t it?  In an authentic way, because how can you NOT talk about the thing that captivates you the most?  How can you look forward to having a conversation about something that delights the folks you talk with?

Imagine writing for Groupon and not sharing how much you enjoy writing crazy things like : “The hamburger is an edible American icon, much like coleslaw made with shredded Norman Rockwell paintings.”

The Groupon voice is the writer’s and the reader’s delight factor!  It’s what makes a job writing coupon ads extraordinary.

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Here’s an interview with Markus Zusak, the author of The Book Thief,  He talks about his choice to make Death the narrator, and about his breakthrough thought, “What if Death was afraid of us? What if Death was haunted by humans?”

It’s an extraordinarily special approach to an award-winning novel, and he talks about it in the most ordinary way.  Such a good example about how you do this.

Imagine if he hadn’t mentioned it at all?

What a missed opportunity that would’ve been to create a demand for his novel in the very people most likely to appreciate what he, himself found extraordinarily captivating.

CONTINUED NEXT WEEK!

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clip_image004Diane writes two alternating columns for Freelance-Zone:Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and Marketing-Zone:Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.

advice, fiction, Marketing yourself

The 8 Things Writers Should Do to Influence Readers (and Make a Sale)

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Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery by Diane Holmes, Chief Alchemist of Pitch University

I know you’d like to send your writing out into the world, sit back, and listen to the applause.  (I often pretend I hear it. A girl has to have some fun.)  But… no career really works that way.  Sob.

You’ve gotta get up and represent.

Snoopy Knows How to Represent

This article is about you, Dear Writer, and the relationship you create with potential customers through your spontaneous interaction (and not your lovingly crafted prose).

But before we get into that, I want to make sure you understand who your potential customer is.  It’s anyone who buys your writing, hires you to write, facilitates that process, might recommend you for a job, or could possibly speak highly of you.

I use this term pretty broadly.

My point is that sometimes potential customers end up spending money and buying your product or service.  And sometimes they don’t spend money, but they still contribute to your career.

If customers are only those who buy your writing, you miss the entire class of “industry professionals.”  And the big ol’ world of  “influencers” called a network?  You can’t even see them if you focus solely on money.

Basically, I think of your potential customers as all those people who create a demand for your work.

Demand is what creates a career.  A purchase is a one-time exchange.

So, you’re in the business of creating a demand for your work.  (Write that down.  There’ll be a test some day.)

Back to spontaneous interaction, or as I like to think of it…

The Art of Communicating Passion…

(…and inviting your potential customer to share it with you.)

For 20 years, I’ve been a keen observer of how some of the best writers I know never get a career launched, no matter how good they are.  And others limp along with anemic careers that don’t begin to do them justice.

To be blunt, these writers never caught on.

It’s not fair.  It’s frustrating and heart breaking.  And it has nothing to do with how hard they worked or how much they believed in their dream.

It does, however, have a lot to do with demand.

For book writers, it’s only recently that authors can truly participate in creating demand.  But it’s still such a new concept to them that they often sit back and wait to be recognized out of habit.

They also sit back because they have no idea how to influence demand.  So, I’m going to tell you how, right now.  This isn’t about what to do.  It’s about HOW.

You have to learn to speak the Language of Passion.

And here are the 8 passions you should share freely, openly, and joyfully:

#1 Mastery.

Do you love reaching for the stars? Striving for excellence? Challenging yourself with each new project? Readers love this too.

Learn to speak the language of excellence and to talk about how jazzed you get trying to be the best you can, at what you do.  This is NOT bragging.  It’s not about talking about how good you are.

It’s about talking about your quest for quality and your delight when you reach it.

#2 Excitement.

Make your joy apparent.  Share your deep love of what you do.

Frankly, it’s boring to hear about how “special” folks are because “this is their dream” and “they’re meant to do this.”  But the fire and delight of a passionate, awake mind never gets old.

#3 Heart.

Sometimes what comes across to readers and customers is the overpowering stink of desperation, the yearning of one person focused on her/his personal dreams.

You know what combats that?

Warmth, compassion, and a bigger perspective that includes other people.  Find other people interesting.  Let them inspire you.  Honor the motivation and good fortune of a shared path.

#4 Confidence.

Over confidence is pretty ugly–so ugly that most trustworthy people avoid feeling confident all together.

But a lack of confidence is unnerving.  Plus we believe that it’s a fact.  “You’re right.  You must not be any good.”

But here’s what works.  Be in touch with your credentials and your experience.  Be excited about it at the same time you know you’re destined to grow even more.

Credentials, experience, growth: these things are true.  They’re how you earned confidence.

And yet, I know you’re still not sure about this whole confidence thing, as our society only seems to talk about confidence in the sense of someone with no self-confidence or way too much.

But I think of it this way.  There’s a pose in Yoga called Mountain Pose.  And when it’s done right, Beth Irvine says it feels “grounded, still, powerful, and majestic.”

When you can really speak with confidence about what you have done and will do, this is what you share with your reader and potential customer.

CONTINUED NEXT WEEK!

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clip_image004Diane writes two alternating columns for Freelance-Zone:Fiction-Zone: Leaps in FictionMastery and Marketing-Zone:Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.

Marketing yourself

Can-do-ologist: Creating Your Own Marketing Language

by Diane Holmes, Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book, founder of Pitch University.

How I found a Can-do-ologist

Okay, so I was over at Bliss Habits, minding my own business, and wham-o.  I just accidentally stumbled across (the word is procrastination, people) an amazingly cool event that is Happening. Right. Now. http://www.worldsbiggestsummit.com

The World’s Biggest Summit is a totally free conference that features 100+ teachers speaking on topics of… Health, Wealth, Spirituality, Creativity, Business.

With people like SARK, Julia Cameron, and Danielle LaPorte, we’re talking Writing and Creativity heaven, people!

As I scanned all the graphics at the very bottom (the sponsors, ‘cause I was procrastinating, as previously noted), my eye stopped on one simple graphic: Marissa Bracke: Can-do-ologist.

I was struck by the simplicity and power of making up your own marketing language that captures who you are and what you do.   Heck, I was even jealous.

One extraordinary, made-up word.

Instant understanding.

Ordinary Words Used to Create Extraordinary Meaning

Nike did it.  And they didn’t even have to invent a new word. They just put 3 simple words together and then showed  us in images and story the sheer magnificence of a human who embraces the Just Do It motto. (Nike case study here.)

If you watch the USA network, you know that what they do is showcase stories about well-written, interesting characters.  Their Characters Wanted campaign has turned into a film project and a nonprofit effort (Characters Unite) to “use your differences to make a difference.”

Both of these examples show you how companies created a new language with existing words. Continue reading Can-do-ologist: Creating Your Own Marketing Language →

Marketing yourself

Be the Best: Let Your Author Brand Point Out Exactly Why You Rock

by Diane Holmes, Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book, founder of Pitch University.

Have you notice that no matter how much people talk about author branding, it’s all fine until you try to create your own author brand.  Then a thick fog descends. 

Seriously, I think there are even monsters out there.

There’s a chasm between understanding all the goodness of having an Author Brand, or doing the Brand Building Techniques, and finding the brand that works for you.  That IS you.

Chasm.

So how about this:  What if your brand is simply what you do better than anyone else? 

Your skills.

Your ideas.

Your unique way of thinking.

What Are You The Best At?

Be the best

Are you the writer who combines Zombies with Teen Girls for Global Peace?

Can you tell a story backwards so that the mystery unfolds in reverse?

Do you write more historically accurate scenes of The Black Death than anyone else?

What is it that sets you apart, that makes you think, “I have to write this because no one else can say it this way?”

What about your work is so original you know this aspect has never been done before?  This type of character hasn’t been explored?  This element will surprise your readers?

Why is your writing keenly important to you? To others?

Now we’re getting to the good stuff.

1.  Seriously consider what you’re accomplishing on a broader scale by being the author of this story, this article, this book.

2.  Every author I know is writing in a way that can be described as a mission:  a mission of story telling, a mission of technique, a mission of information, a mission of some grand passion.

3.  Writers make choices about characters, plots, and subjects because of a deep interest.

All of these things (deep interest, mission, keen importance), these are signs of you wanting to Be the Best.

Identify those things and call them your brand.

After all, your readers certainly will.

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This is the 11th in a series on Author Branding.
Previous articles include:
1. Author Branding vs. an Army of Writers
2. The Author’s Branding Manifesto
3. The Gleam in Your Author Brand (Brand Building Technique #1)
4. Storytelling Your Author Brand (Brand Building Technique #2)
5. Yes, Your Book Is Part of Your Brand (part 1) (Brand Building Technique #3)
6. Yes, Your Book Is Part of Your Brand (part 2) (Brand Building Technique #4)
7. Your Author Brand: What Do You Want People To Say Behind Your Back? (Brand Building Technique #5)
8.Author Branding: “The Brand Your Brand Could Smell Like.”
9. Your Power as a Writer = Your Author Brand (with Donald Maass)
10. “Writer’s Passion” As Brand (with Christopher Vogler)

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Diane Holmes Crop 1Diane writes two columns for Freelance-Zone: Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and Marketing-Zone:Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.

She’s the Founder and Chief Alchemist of Pitch University

Marketing yourself

“Writer’s Passion” As Brand (with Christopher Vogler)

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by Diane Holmes, Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book, founder of Pitch University.

Because I’ll be attending Story Masters Conference (Houston, TX, Nov. 3 – 6, 2011), I decided to interview the three keynote masters of story craft, including Christopher Vogler, founder of StoryTech consulting.

Chris is extremely well-known for his book, The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, now in its 3rd edition. And he’s worked on many well-known movies for DreamWorks, the Disney studio, Fox2000, Warner Bros, and others in their story departments.

Psst.  You can get a free chapter from his latest book, Memo from the Story Department: Secrets of Structure and Character in the post I wrote over at Pitch University: The Story Master’s Journey by Christopher Vogler (free bonus chapter!)

Everything I just told you is part of Chris’ brand.

Out of his genuine passion for the mythic roots of storytelling, he brought the power of Joseph Campbell’s Hero With a Thousand Faces to fiction writers of today.

  • He has a passion for Myth.
  • He knows where stories go wrong. 
  • He knows how to fix them. 
  • He knows how to teach this to other writers. 

This is his brand.

Simply put, he’s the person who (a) accesses mythic story archetypes and (b) transforms stories so that they (c) reach audiences in a powerful way.

What I love about using Chris as an example in this Author Branding series is that you can really see that his brand is all about him as a person, his passion, his expertise.  It’s not a marketing ploy.  It’s not a clever tagline that a marketer developed with a test audience.

And it doesn’t even matter if you’re a Hollywood exec or a writer at a conference.  You’re interested in him for the same reason.

The guy can make stories dance. 

Not with tricks.  But with mythic power. There’s nothing artificial here.  Chris followed his Bliss (to quote Joseph Campbell).  And his bliss became his brand.

One Step Further

So, I asked Christ for a couple of examples of authors who he thought did a good job of author branding.

I worked with an enterprising author named Michael Thompkins who drew on his background as a psychologist working with the Palm Springs Police Department to create a book series he branded as “The Shooting Shrink” series.

I learned a lot from prolific novelist Susan Wiggs who has created a warm, fuzzy world of communicating freely with her readers and offering them frequent glimpses of her life, travels, and working environment.

— Christopher Vogler,

 

What did Michael Thompkins do? He used his passion for psychology to brand himself and his books.  He didn’t create something artificial.  He actually likes psychology.

Here, the link if very overt.  Thompkins is an expert in his field, and his character is an expert in the same field.

But few writers have this luxury.  (Or else there’d be a lot of books where the protagonist is, herself, a writer.)

But look at how Susan Wiggs created a link between her author brand and her books.  She interacts with her readers from the same set of values (warm relationships, close ties, small town feel, family & friends) that her books celebrate. 

These are the same themes she explores in all her stories, and it’s what her readers like best in every book she writes, no matter what the protagonist’s occupation.

I would call this Susan’s passionate approach to life.  And it has become her author brand.

Michael and Susan, also, followed their bliss.

And I want this to become your True North when searching for your Author Brand.  It’s authentic.  It’s you.  And it’s born of your own internal passion.

“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.”

Joseph Campbell

Welcome… to being you.

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This is the 10th in a series on Author Branding.
Previous articles include:
1. Author Branding vs. an Army of Writers
2. The Author’s Branding Manifesto
3. The Gleam in Your Author Brand (Brand Building Technique #1)
4. Storytelling Your Author Brand (Brand Building Technique #2)
5. Yes, Your Book Is Part of Your Brand (part 1) (Brand Building Technique #3)
6. Yes, Your Book Is Part of Your Brand (part 2) (Brand Building Technique #4)
7. Your Author Brand: What Do You Want People To Say Behind Your Back? (Brand Building Technique #5)
8.Author Branding: “The Brand Your Brand Could Smell Like.”
9. Your Power as a Writer = Your Author Brand (with Donald Maass)

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Diane Holmes Crop 1Diane writes two columns for Freelance-Zone: Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and Marketing-Zone:Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.

She’s the Founder and Chief Alchemist of Pitch University – “Learn to pitch your book from the AGENTS and EDITORS who make their living at it. Learn. Pitch. Sell.”