Salmon and Fields: A Journey in Mixed Metaphors by Jim Hart

It’s writer’s conference season, and soon there will be multitudes of writers coming home to start blogging as if their lives depended on it. It makes me think about salmon swimming upstream to spawn. All of these writers are in the same stream, struggling towards the same destination. And now the stream of the world-wide-web is full of authors who are building their platform, and are struggling to reach the same readers as all of the other authors in the same stream who are building their platform.

Rob Eagar’s marketing blog recently addressed something similar to this in what he calls ‘preventing sales burnout.’ He cited “publishers who try to sell more books to the same readers” as an example of sales burnout.  He says “modern-day farmers know that trying to harvest too many crops out of the same field creates negative consequences. Over-farming can extract too many nutrients from of the soil, eventually leaving a field barren and useless. To maintain a good harvest, farmers will rotate crops, let fields rest, or expand their acreage to prevent one area from burning out.”

So it may time for you to ask yourself if you're wearing out your current network, and how can you expand outside of your current network?

Blogging is still a great way to build, and maintain your platform, especially when used to collect subscriber’s e-mail addresses. But it has to be more than that if you want to engage those readers on a regular basis. You’ve got to offer not only something of value to your intended audience, but also something unique that blog readers may not be able to find elsewhere. If all you do is write about writing, and post it on Facebook, well – you run the risk of just being another salmon swimming upstream.

Here are two things to consider:

1) Blog in another field. Is there a hobby or skill that you are competent in, beyond writing books, in which you could write about? What have you learned, or experienced in some other area of your life that could be of real value, and a service? There could be an untapped community just waiting to hear from someone like you. Look for opportunities to be part of a new community and that will naturally add to your platform. 

Writers spend so much time in research - what interesting things have you uncovered that could be shared in a blog or other social media post?

Some other ideas would be: devotions, healthy living tips, recipes, crafts, social concerns, raising a family, vacation tips, life hacks, banjo lessons - tell your readers how-to, where-to and why-to.

2) Let the field rest. Try another different social media platform. If you’re starting to get burned out on Twitter and Facebook (can I get an “amen”), don’t give up on them or forsake them, but try something different like Pinterest, Goodreads, YouTube, or even pod-casting.

Or get out from behind the keyboard and take part in, or host, public events at your library, church, bookstore, or coffee house. The key is to have content or a presentation of value. This is a great way to connect on a personal level. Don’t worry that this could be just be local exposure, because someone in attendance could go home and post about the event on their Facebook page, gaining you exposure that you would not have gotten on your own.

So here's where we really mix our metaphors: Salmon can live in both salt water and fresh water. If they couldn't make the transition from the sea to the stream, there wouldn't be any more salmon. Learn to naturally navigate through different platforms and media. But like the salmon, and the farmers, you have to have a plan and a schedule.

You want new people (readers) to find you naturally without forcing them to wade through post after post on Facebook and Twitter encouraging them to “buy my new book”.  There definitely is a time and place for announcing your new title, or if your e-book is on sale for the next 48 hours, but that can’t be all you post, or you risk burning out your audience.

So work to increase your audience with people who discover you by reading something totally unrelated to your new book, or WIP. The beauty of this is now you’ve created an opportunity to hook a reader, and down the line, when you do need to announce your new book to the world, you can set the hook and reel ‘em in.

What have you done to expand you current on-line reach? Have you enjoyed blogging about topics unrelated to your writing endeavors?

Grow Your E-mail List by Jim Hart

One of the best things you can do to grow your author platform is to grow an audience of subscribers to your blog. A healthy e-mail list is attractive to potential publishers.

Lack of author platform continues to become one of the top reasons we see proposals declined from a publisher.

According to a recent blog from Rob Eager e-mail is forty times more effective at “acquiring customers than all social media combined.”  That’s a bold statement. But consider that your e-mail list allows you to communicate directly to your readers. It’s more targeted than Twitter or Facebook. (BTW- I just noticed the Pope has 8.75 million Twitter followers, he should have no problem getting a book contract.)

A very effective way to grow your e-mail subscription list is to offer some free content as an enticement for a reader to subscribe to your blog. In the same blog Rob Eager addresses the myth that giving away free content could have a negative effect on current and future sales. He counters this by explaining “free content is a low-cost effective way to gain new customers.”

So what content do you have that you could format into a short, downloadable PDF?

·         An unpublished short story

·         A five-day devotion series

·         A short collection of your poetry

·         A handful of your favorite recipes that tie in with your current book or work-in-progress

·         A how-to manual for one of your hobbies

But whatever content you offer, it needs to have value to the reader. It should be something that they feel they may not be able to find elsewhere. Think about content that is unique to you as a writer.

In addition to using your blog to collect e-mail subscribers, using a site like Noisetrade is a great way to offer content to potential readers. Noisetrade originally started as a ‘pay what you want’ site for musicians to release content. They are also now allowing authors to offer content – everything from a complete book, to a short story. With Noisetrade the consumer can pay you a small ‘tip’ or download for free if they so choose. But either way they have to supply you with their e-mail address.

Remember the larger your e-mail list is, the stronger your online marketing asset becomes. And that could get you a J from a publisher.

LOL by jim hart

I read last week that sales of humor books fell by 5% from 2014 to 2015. Does this signal that humor is fading in our culture? It does seem to me society is slowly losing its sense of humor. Or maybe the political and hot-button topic books are more attractive to readers. Or perhaps it's just that no one is writing anything that's funny right now. It does bring up the question of why we read what we do. To be entertained? To be informed?  To be motivated? All of the above?

Here’s where I think balance is a good thing. If we’re reading such serious content on a regular basis, at the expense of some more light-hearted material, what does that do to us as a person?  How does this affect us as people of faith, and followers of Jesus Christ? Most of us are familiar with the scripture “A cheerful heart is good medicine” Proverbs 17:22  NLT.  The benefits of laughter have a positive impact on both our physical and mental well-being. I think we should want to laugh more.

So what do we, as Believers, find funny?  Paul wrote to the Ephesians “Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.”   Ephesian 4:29 NLT “Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes--these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.”  Ephesians 5:4  NLT

Jeff Allen is a Christian comedian that my wife and I thoroughly enjoy. We drove half-way across the state of Pennsylvania just to see him in person.  He is probably the funniest comedian we have ever heard.  And my wife loves to laugh. I think our first date was to a Pink Panther movie.  I had to marry her because she was the only one who repeatedly laughed at my jokes!

Some humor, though not particularly offensive, gets its laughs at the expense of a particular grouping of people and at our individual actions and habits. I think the current wave of extreme political correctness has served to censor some humor.  And humor often pokes fun of a sacred cow, or two. And we all can define lines that we’d rather not see crossed when it comes to what is presented as humorous. There is humor that appeals to a more lowbrow audience, and there is humor that engages our intellect just a bit more.  It seems like our culture tolerates, and even prefers, humor that includes “obscene stories, foolish talk and coarse jokes.”  But we are told in the Bible to be salt and light to the world. Good (clean) humor can bring some much needed flavor and freshness to our culture.

Laughing disarms people. Getting people to laugh can be like knocking on their door, giving us the chance to move the dialogue to something more serious.  Jeff Allen, while very funny, also uses his platform to testify how the Lord saved his marriage and from his drug habit. He gets people laughing hard while still modeling Paul’s instruction to “let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” 

Sometimes humor is how we deal with difficult issues and circumstances. I never considered myself a cat person until a cat adopted us. Years later when her kidneys shut down it fell to me to have her put down. The timing was horrible – two days before Christmas. Several years after that, here’s the song that came out. 

So my point in all of this is how can we use our God-given sense of humor to bring Jesus’ light to others?  How can you, as a writer, bring more humor to your work and encourage those who read your words?  I know that writing humor is difficult for many people to write well, but there are those who God has gifted in this area. If that’s you, I encourage you dive in and write something that makes us all LOL. Maybe you’ll be the one to write a truly funny book that will lead to a rise of book sales in the humor category!

And I’ll leave you with this deep thought: if cows laugh, does milk come out of their nose?

For Sale: Book Store, Gently Used by Jim Hart

When I’m on vacation I like to wander through local independent bookstores and then support them with at least one purchase. Last year I stumbled upon Otto Bookstore in Williamsport, PA.

The only thing that can compete, for me, is the used CD store. I find myself unable to drive past either a good bookstore or a used CD store (just ask my wife).  But in both cases it’s all about the searching and the discovering.

The independent bookstores aren’t dependent on a large marketing and purchasing department to stock their shelves. They have the luxury of stocking their shelves with books that the ownership personally likes, right alongside the top sellers. You may find a treasure at these bookstores that you would not have found in the big chain stores.  At Otto’s I found Daniel Lanois’ memoir Soul Mining, and a really cool graphic novel version of Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles. And I picked up several other titles to use as gifts.

Otto’s is one of the nation’s oldest continuously operating bookstores. Their motto is "a booklover's paradise" since 1841. And it’s true. The 2,000 square-foot shop has books everywhere you look. On the shelves, on top of the shelves, on tables and on those spinning racks.

Owner Betsy Rider’s father, Jack Roesgen, began working there in 1905 and bought the business in 1940. Rider began running the store with her mother after his death in 1958. She was twenty-four at the time. So the store has been connected to the Rider family for over a hundred years.

And now it’s up for sale!

 

“Enough is enough,” Betsy Rider told Publishers Weekly, “Christmas was brutal.” Rider also noted that despite the slight decrease in sales from last season, at 81 years-old, she was finding it harder to keep up with the day-to-day demands of maintaining a bookstore. Following the sale of the store, Rider plans to retire.

So – who wants to buy a bookstore? For information about purchasing Otto, contact ottobook@comcast.net.

http://www.ottobookstore.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ottobookstore

Click here for the Publishers Weekly article

Click here for the Melville House blog article

This Pile of Stones by Jim Hart

Here we are – first day of 2016! Many of us still wonder ‘what happened to 2015?’ And most of us, if honest, would like to go back and change at least one thing, or fix something that didn’t go according to plan. We tend to remember the bad more than we do the good things that happened.

So as you look back on 2015, think about the good things that the Lord did for you. Did He heal you? Did He meet a financial need? Did the Lord speak to you and give you hope and encouragement? Did He make a way, where there seemed to be no way?

In the third and fourth chapters of Joshua we find the story of how the Israelites crossed the Jordan River into the Promise Land. The Jordan was at flood stage, but as the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant stood in the river the Lord caused the water to pile up 19 miles away, allowing the whole nation to walk through on dry land.

The Lord gave Joshua instructions to have 12 men – one from each tribe – pick up a large stone from the bottom of the Jordan and pile them up as a memorial to what God had done. This memorial was to be a reminder to all generations God’s power and faithfulness.  It was to serve also as a reminder that if God was faithful in the past, then He will be faithful in the future.

The Israelites didn’t know what waited for them on the other side of the Jordan. They will come across great fortified cities. Untrained in warfare they will face the chariots of the Philistines and the skilled warriors of Canaan. Worst of all they will be seduced into Baal worship and will forget the Lord their God.

They face a rough future. But God (I love those two words put together – ‘but God’) will remain faithful. The walls of Jericho will fall. He will cause the sun to stand still for Joshua at Gibeon. With just 300 men, armed with clay jars and torches, Gideon will rout a Midianite army. David will slay Goliath. God will do great things for His people.

We don’t know what waits for us in this new year of 2016. But God does. He’s been there, and He’s prepared a way. Take some time and remember the times that He was faithful to you in 2015. Build a memorial to those times to serve as a reminder when you face the floods and the giants in 2016.

So here are two things to remember about 2015:

1) God was faithful in 2015.  Our hearts are prone to wander – we need to recall the good thing that He did on our behalf.

2) God did not forget you in 2015. When Moses was 120 years old and he was installing Joshua as the Israelite's new leader he told him to “be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave your nor forsake you.”  (Deuteronomy 31:6)

Here are two things to do in 2016:

1) Keep walking in faith. Be obedient to where the Lord directs your steps this year. He may take you to a mighty river and show you something amazing!

2) Keep making memorials. As the Lord meets your needs, or blesses you in some way in 2016, write it down as a memorial.

Sometimes I make notes in my Bible when the Lord speaks to me through His Word. The date April 28, 2001 is written down next to two different verses. This was one of those difficult times that we all face. The future was uncertain and I was feeling like a failure. I was asking the Lord if He still had a purpose for me. In my Bible time I was reading in both the Old and New Testaments. On that day I read Psalm 57:10 – “I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills His purpose for me.”

And I had also just started reading in Luke. Moments later I read Elizabeth’s words to her cousin Mary in Luke 1:45 “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.”

The Lord knew that on April 28, 2001 I would need to hear from Him. He had been directing my Bible reading for quite some time so that on that date I would read those two passages at the same time. This is just one‘pile of stones’ that reminds me of His faithfulness to meet every need.

Let’s go back to the Israelites. There they were, a nation standing on the other side of the Jordan. In between the great things that God will do for them, they still have to live in the real world. They will face real difficulties and they will get discouraged. There may be times that they aren’t sure if God is still with them. They may not think there is a hope for their future, even though they are standing on the other side of the Jordan.

It’s in those times they will need to look back and know the hand of the Lord is powerful. They will need to look back at that pile of stones and remember the faithfulness of their God. That pile of stones was to serve as a reference point when the path would not be so clear. 

What circumstances stood in your way like a mighty river in 2015?  What was your ‘parting of the water’ experience where the Lord led you out on dry ground?  What memorials to His faithfulness can you look back on? What reminds you that our God will remain faithful in 2016?

Joshua 4:21 Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 Then you can tell them, ‘This is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the Lord your God dried up the river right before your eyes, and he kept it dry until you were all across, just as he did at the Red Sea when he dried it up until we had all crossed over. 24 He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the Lord’s hand is powerful, and so you might fear the Lord your God forever.”