A Writer's Life, article

The Writing Life

There are a number of things I look into when writing a book is: First - what do I know that can help others with their issues in that genre, what can I offer that is unique? The second thing I will look at is determining the individuals or organizations that I can utilize from our existing contact list for both marketing and as resources. One must write for an intended audience and knowing exactly what you can provide those readers is the key.

Being clear about the initial marketing efforts for each project and having a general marketing plan outline, makes all the difference as to whether a publication or publisher will be interested in a project. Show that you are respectful of the staff, their time and schedule, by providing everything they need, before they need it. And finally – but most importantly – always thank them regardless of the outcome.

Having a strong marketing plan is the key to moving forward with any project, for the life of that product. So if you have a book with a 4 year contract, you need a marketing plan to last the 4 years… and possibly longer, if you decide to do more with that project.

I’m on most of the major social networking sites and drop in them occasionally, but only have time to regularly maintain MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter, Linked-in, etc... and manage this blog every day. I have a radio show that goes out live three times per week and a bi-weekly newsletter that I offer, but I also appear in the media regularly.

Since our first book Trash Talk was released in 2004, I have participated in literally thousands of events, in fact we have appeared in the media between 4-12 times per month since 2004. Now with nearly 5 published books available, I love experimenting with marketing techniques, trying new ideas out as time allows. In fact I keep a log going of all the resources for me to follow up on whenever my schedule opens up so that I don’t miss out on any opportunity if I can help it.

~ Lillian Brummet: Award winning author, book marketing guru, owner of the award winning Brummet’s Conscious Blog, and both the host and executive producer of the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show. (www.brummet.ca)