Are you home from the ACFW conference? Finally unpacked? I hope you came home filled with encouragement and new ideas on how to make your writing breathtaking. I came home to a clean house and smiling sons. Nice! Conferences can be overwhelming, between the requests for proposals or full manuscripts, new story ideas, craft lessons, marketing epiphanies and loads of new friends. Don’t be overwhelmed. Here’s a game plan of what to do after a writers’ conference: Organize your contacts: Sit down a make a list of everyone you met, from editors to fellow authors, to newbies. Reach out: If they are editors or agents who gave you their time, even in an elevator to listen to your proposal, thank them. If they asked you for a submission, thank them and tell them that you’ll be […]
Read the RestArchive | September, 2012

Don’t be overwhelmed: A game plan of what to do after a writers’ conference!
Build Your Tribe, Part Four: Why They Wait
I’m a member of Amazon’s tribe. I literally get hundreds of emails each and every day, and yet, the one I scan looking for is the Daily Free Kindle Books email. I simply love free Kindle books. I love getting the email from my tribal partner. If the email hasn’t arrived by 10:00am, I feel an emptiness… a concern that maybe Amazon’s server crashed. Wouldn’t that be terrible?! I utter a silent prayer and wait. If I don’t get it by noon, my concern mounts. I wonder if Amazon is angry at me for not buying all those books on my wish list. I bet that’s what crashed their server. I immediately log into my account and order books, lights, pots and pans, mosquito netting… literally anything I think Amazon […]
Read the RestOne Thing Marketing: The 2nd Visit=80% rule
In my day job as part of a fundraising team for a large nonprofit, we have two big goals: acquisition and retention. I know, sounds exciting, yeah? But I promise it relates to author marketing. In acquisition, our goal is to find new donors—people who have never given to us before. That’s a big deal. But equally important is retaining those new donors once they’ve given that first gift. You know why? Because once someone has given a second contribution, they’re 80% more likely to become a long-term donor. And I think that translates into author marketing, too! As writers, it’s a big deal to have a first-time visitor to your website. A first-time commenter on your blog. Someone who stops by your facebook page or signs up for your […]
Read the Rest
TEE’s What and Why: The Ds
Ah, the fun of writing a novel. You, the writer, get to wreak havoc on your characters – all the while ignoring any and all havoc in your life. (At least for a little while. You must return to reality at some point.) Wreaking havoc – that’s just another term for “the Ds”: the events that distance your hero or heroine from their goals. Let me be more specific: What: The Ds Think Distancing, Denial, Disappointments and Devastation. Yes, there are Dreams and Delights too – even a dream-come-true, like your heroine getting offered that job she’s always wanted – can wreak havoc in her life. Ds distance a character from what they want, deny them something – a relationship, maybe – and create a Y in the road, forcing […]
Read the Rest


