Nonfiction

How to Build an Author Site That Shines and Sells

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As an author in the digital age, your website may be the first point of contact with your audience. A successful author site is one that helps you connect with potential readers, showcasing core elements of your voice and style. Beyond being an online shopping place for your books, your author site should reflect your personal brand and demonstrate your expertise.

The hard part of building an author site is conveying all this information without creating a clunky experience for visitors. Instead, you want to aim for a clean layout that’s easy to navigate. Follow this simple guide and learn how to build an author site that will solidify your online presence, promote your work, and help further your career.

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4 Ways to Write Winning Bylined Articles and Boost Your Book Publicity

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Today more than ever, targeted online article placements are an author’s ticket to success.

In an era when content is king and more than 8 in 10 Americans get news from digital devices, authors must know how to write bylined articles that not only win over online media outlets, but also wow readers to view, click, like, and share.

Targeted online article placements are an author’s ticket to success — the quickest, easiest, and best way to boost a book publicity campaign. Especially en masse, they help build awareness, momentum, and social media traffic better than any other strategy.

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Marketable Non-Fiction – Part Two

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In some ways, it’s best to think about the finished product before you start writing the book. Every successful non-fiction book can be summed up in one sentence. That’s your big idea. It’s like a 10-second pitch that would “hook” a reporter on the spot — or a book publicist! Once you know your big idea, create a structure that can be grasped at a glance. This will become your table of contents. 10 Steps. 5 Strategies. 7 Lessons. In this age of short attention spans, you need to create a skeleton that has an internal logic that can be easily understood before you flesh it out.

A woman with pen and blank book thinking about what kind of non-fiction book to write.
Image courtesy of Feelart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Writing a Highly Marketable Non-Fiction Book – Part One

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A skillful novelist can take us on a journey so compelling that we keep reading without any mid-chapter temptation to insert the bookmark and go to sleep. We get completely absorbed in the novelist’s imaginary world of intrigue, romance, adventure, betrayal, or beauty. The images and emotions we create in our brain bond us to the work like a powerful magnetic force.

Woman author with maroon shirt with pencil writing a non-fiction book.
Photo by anankkml

Is Writing Non-Fiction a Completely Different Experience?

In many ways, it is exactly the same. Like a novelist, a good non-fiction writer needs to be involved with the reader’s emotions. Her words and ideas have to create that same feeling and experience of connection in the reader. The non-fiction writer wants her reader to be thinking, “This book speaks to ME.” Whether it’s a self-help book or a business book filled with new strategies for success, a writer’s aim it to move and inspire the reader.

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