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Solving complex problems requires, among other things, gathering information, interpreting it, and drawing conclusions. Doing so, it is easy to tend to operate on the assumption that the more information, the better. However, we would be better advised to favor quality over quantity, leaving out peripheral information to focus on the critical one.

The post Looking for information: How to focus on quality, not quantity appeared first on OUPblog.

4. MySpace. You're never too old or too normal for MySpace. I am constantly hearing that MySpace is for teenagers and perverts. Who cares.

Let's start with the teens. These are the audience we need to be targeting for building a long-term reader/author relationship. They are the consumers of the future, and in many cases, they are the consumers of the now. Some teens I know have more cash on hand than I have had for decades. Few of them have bills to pay. Their money is theirs to spend. So why, as an author wouldn't you want to find a way to bring them into your reader base and nurture them? If you hook them young, you stand a considerably better chance of keeping them as you grow your career.

The declining numbers of teens graduating with well below acceptable reading skills are staggering. Most teens are not taking advantage of the opportunities to escape to exciting places and to be entertained while learning. Okay, so you write adult fiction. What's stopping you from using your adult fiction to educate the parents on how important it is to get their kids enjoying the written word? But I digress.

MySpace is not just about the teens. Sure, they are there, find something to put on your space to get them interested in you as an author. Read a young adult book each month and post your review in a "Teen Section" on your MySpace. The parents will thank you and then they might actually buy your books for themselves. You are also serving another purpose by encouraging families to read together. Not sure what to read? Ask teens for their tips on what to read. MySpace is a place to hook the kids and the parents into a world that has endless potential.

Now let's talk about the perverts. Someone recently said to me, I don't want to put my romance on MySpace because there are children in my book and I don't want the perverts getting any ideas. Again, who cares! You are not the moral police. You cannot stop anyone with less than pure motives from getting their hands on your books. The same perverts on MySpace are shopping in bookstores. You simply cannot worry about it. You will go insane. The bottom line is that you want EVERYONE to buy your book. What they do with it after they pay for it is not your problem or business. Bottom line is, most perverts have jobs and money to spend on books.

Enough preaching. How can MySpace really work for you? Anyone know how many people are on MySpace? A LOT! Did I mention it is FREE. You don't have to pay for it. You go in, set up an account, and promote to your hearts content. If someone is not interested, they will ignore your posts or delete you from their friend list. Big deal. There are plenty more to replace them.

What do you put on MySpace?
--Your cover
--You bio
--Your book blurb
--Your first chapter (or an excerpt)
--Links to you other web sites
--BUY NOW BUTTONS (this is a MUST)

If you take one hour to set up your MySpace and then you spend 15 minutes every other day increasing your friend base, you are reaching thousands of people. You can post bulletins within MySpace that go to all kinds of people, and that is marketing. Review announcements, events, new releases, awards, or all manner of things. You can even run contests. Speaking of events, MySpace has a calendar section where you can list your events and people you don't even know can see them and maybe want to meet you.

Use the Blog section in MySpace to post your articles, news, discussion ideas, and book reviews. This is also a great networking tool. Don't worry about whether anyone is reading it, someone is and maybe they'll tell a friend, who will tell a friend, and you might sell a book!

You don't have to spend a lot of time on MySpace. Put it up, change it once a month or when something happens, and let it do the work for you. But keep in mind, the more you do put into the more you stand to gain.

It's all about FREE and if you set it up and you aren’t careful, you might actually SELL SOME BOOKS!

3. The Buddy System! You remember, in elementary school when you went on field trips you always had to pick a buddy to do everything with. You were not to go anywhere, including the bathroom, without your buddy. Think of marketing as a field trip for writers. A giant adventure that could get a little scary and if you aren't careful YOU COULD GET LOST!

What is the biggest obstacle writers have with marketing? Okay, you can pick two, I know you will. Time and money. I know, I've been there. Consider this. You are on your own and you have to do a postcard mailing. You have a budget for 500 post cards, you have to decide where to send them. Now, let's say you live in Chicago. But you've already done a mailing in Chicago and sold very few books. Well, if you are paying attention you know that you need to do several more mailings to the same people to get them to pay attention. And, no, it is NOT a waste of money. Do the research, it takes multiple points of marketing to make an impression. So what do you do? Consider why they didn't buy the first time.

There could be any number of reasons. Now, how do you overcome those obstacles? And sales is all about overcoming obstacles. Let's see, you could do another mailing. What will this accomplish?

You might catch them at a better time.
They might have just woken from a nap and be full of energy.
They remember seeing something with your name on it a month ago.
You have added a buddy and a little bit of a credible reference.

How does this buddy system work, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. You find another author who lives in another state. Not a neighbor. Your secondary goal here is to increase your target audience. So if you live in Chicago, find a buddy in San Francisco. You pool your budgets, design a post card that promotes both your books (with a catchy tag line tying them together), and each of you mail out half to your individual mailing lists.

This offers a repeat of the original information and some new and exciting additions (your buddy). You double your chances of getting their attention and increasing your national exposure. Don't be one of those authors who is satisfied with selling books to the 147 people closest to them. You want to reach the masses. The bigger your market, the bigger your potential for sales, and what do sales mean? ROYALTIES and NEW CONTRACTS! Don't be satisfied with reaching whoever you can, make a concentrated effort to reach everyone. Oh, I just had a wonderful thought. What if you had two buddies? You in Chicago, one in San Francisco, and another in…Tampa! Wow! You could triple your market and cut your costs in thirds.

Oh wait, you're worried about diluting your chances by offering two other books. Hmm, let's think about this one. You started with no possibility of selling in San Francisco or Tampa because you had no connection, but now you have a connection to someone there and you actually have a chance at selling books in that market. No chance vs. any chance. Sounds like another no-brainer to me.

So, before you click to another screen, consider selling 3 books vs. selling 0 books at a third of the cost. The best part about the buddy system is you get to save money and increase your marketing potential. And there are no limits to the number of buddies you can have. You simply have to get off your duff, do the networking, and SELL THOSE BOOKS!

Pt. 4 Coming Soon!

Every author at every level should be committed to keeping their name in front of readers. Are you looking for your first publishing credit? Are you between books? Looking for a way to revive characters from books that have been out for a while? Want to introduce new characters for upcoming books? Looking for a way to build your readership? Have we got a promotional opportunity for you!

Echelon Press would like to publish your "Fast and Fanciful" March story. The fast part means you have until March 6, 2007 to submit your story of 3000-6000 words. The winner will be notified by March7, 2007 and have 5 days to edit/revise the story. Echelon Press will publish your story in its e-book division on March 14, 2007. Simple!

Send your submissions as a Word (doc) attachment to [email protected]. Your cover letter should be in the body of an e-mail. Cover letters that do not adhere to professional standards will disqualify the submission from further consideration.

Our only real request is that magic and other flights of fancy be the catalyst for your story! You pick the genre. Stories must adhere to the following guidelines.

Standard Manuscript format:
File saved in Word format (.doc) or (.rtf)
8 ½ x 11 page
Times New Roman 12pt font/black
1-inch margin on all sides/ 1.5 line spacing
Align text left, do not justify (aligning text both left and right)
Header containing title, author name, and page number
Capital letters at the beginning of sentences and proper nouns
Show new paragraphs by indenting first line of new paragraph .3. Do not add blank line between paragraphs.
Show scene breaks with * * * * centered in the appropriate line.

All cover letters must include:
Name (and pseudonym if applicable)
Mailing address
Phone number
E-mail address (if available)
Web address (if available)

I spend a couple hours a day surfing the Internet looking for articles, opportunities, and information on the book and publishing industry. I find articles on marketing, promotions, events, etc. It's all great to know and I love the learning, but I can't help but wonder why there aren't more pieces on the actual reason we write for the public.

The industry organizations focus on style, technique, and skill. Those things are crucial to what we do and our potential for success, but recently I have found that there is something dramatically missing from what aspiring authors are being taught. It's about entertainment. That's right, you heard me. We write books to entertain readers. Did you forget that? Our goal should be to make readers feel something…to laugh, to cry, to shiver in eerie expectancy.

I have read several books lately that, while technically sound, they did not even remotely entertain me. The authors' overall performances were stale and one-dimensional.

Look at it from the angle of someone watching a movie. We go to the theater or rent DVD's because we thrive on the multi-dimensional aspects of the film. We cringe at the sound of a bone crunching punch. We sigh in anticipation along with lovers on the brink of embracing passionately. We escape into the action for that amount of time.

It should be the same with books. Readers pick up novels looking for something different, a diversion. Why isn't that as important to writers as it used to be?

Next time you sit down to write, consider this: You are an acting troupe. You are the writer, the director, and the actors. Put yourself into this setting and utilize the skills and demands of each role to increase the impact and presentation of your work.

As the writer, make certain your words are skillfully presented. Hone your grammatical and technical skills to perfection and you will eliminate the potential for distraction.

As the director, consider each and every action and ensure the proper level of reaction. Take extra care to ensure that everything happens for a reason and be the guiding hand in leading your actors through their performances.

As the actors, and this is most important, immerse yourself into each character's role. Be the character as you write. Play the scenes over and over in your mind, rehearsing them until you are living them. Then, and only then will you present your audience with a stellar and Oscar worthy performance.

One thing you must always remember is that you are writing for the reader. They are your audience and if you desire them to offer their loyalty and money to you on future performances, you must always cater to them. For, without readers, you have no job as an author.

For February, we want to experience the ecstasy of relationships through your words. Send us your romantic short...but it's not just about romance. We want frisky romance that's fun and flirtatious!

Every author at every level should be committed to keeping their name in front of readers. Are you between books? Looking for a way to revive characters from books that have been out for a while? Want to introduce new characters for upcoming books? Looking for a way to build your readership? Have we got a promotional opportunity for you!

Echelon Press would like to publish your "Fast and Frisky" February story. The fast part means you have until February 1, 2007 to submit your story of 3000-6000 words. The winner will be notified by February 2, 2007 and have 5 days to edit/revise the story. Echelon Press will publish your story in its e-book division on February 12, 2007. Simple!

Send your submissions as a Word (doc) attachment to [email protected]. Your cover letter should be in the body of an e-mail. Cover letters that do not adhere to professional standards will disqualify the submission from further consideration.

Our only real request is that romantic flirtation be the catalyst for your story! Stories must adhere to the following guidelines.

Standard Manuscript format:
File saved in Word format (.doc) or (.rtf)
8 ½ x 11 page
Times New Roman 12pt font/black
1-inch margin on all sides/ 1.5 line spacing
Align text left, do not justify (aligning text both left and right)
Header containing title, author name and page number
Capital letters at the beginning of sentences and proper nouns
Show new paragraphs by indenting first line of new paragraph .3. Do not add blank line between paragraphs.
Show scene breaks with * * * * centered in the appropriate line.

All cover letters must include:
Name (and pseudonym if applicable)
Mailing address
Phone number
E-mail address (if available)
Web address (if available)