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Tag: Angela D. Meyer

Platform building includes meeting people face to face instead of simply on Facebook.
 
So earlier this year I slithered from the confines of my office and emerged into the real world. AKA, the one I don’t create on my computer.

Along with 100 other authors, I’d signed up for the Omaha Public Library’s Author Fair.

On the way there I pictured writers bashing each other in an All Star Wrestling free-for-all to snag readers. 

Instead I met fabulous people and learned from their techniques.

Rather than a cage match slam-down, I found a tag-team situation…with everyone on the same team.


Angela D. Meyer, Where Hope Starts author, helped me arrange my table area. 

By “helped” I mean she reconfigured my haphazard pile of books, sign-up sheets, and related items into an attractive, cohesive display.

I learned: Eliminate my bulky book stand and work my items into a semi-circular shape to make the most of limited space. 

 

Lee Warren spent the afternoon sharing tips he’d learned in his years as a multi-published author and editor.


I learned: Offer an incentive to invite people who are interested in my message to sign up for my blog or newsletter. Collecting a long list of address from people who’ll never open my emails is counterproductive.

 

Author Brook Williams wore a T-shirt displaying a link to her website and the cover of her newest book, Accept This Dandelion. 

I emailed her later to admit, “Oh my goodness. I just now realized you’re the one who wrote, Right Place, Wrong Time.”

I learned: Promote your book in unique ways.


 Jennifer Slattery lured people to her table with snack-sized chocolate bars. People took the bait and signed up for her blog. 

But Jennifer had bigger fish to fry. 

She shared about Taking’ it to the Streets ministry, serving the unemployed and underemployed. 

I learned: Use your platform to help others.

 
After enjoying Kim Stokely’s novel, Winter Trees, I couldn’t wait to read Woman Of Flames. 

Clever Kim used a tall pole stand to display her book banners.

I learned: Buy poles and banners at places like Vistaprint. Check the pole’s weight, and also see if they’re collapsible for airplane travel.


It’s a family affair, as Kim’s niece, Rebecca Grous  brought her own novel The Determining.

Rebecca said she’s uncomfortable with public acclaim. She’d rather remain in the background than the limelight.

I learned: Push past reticence to come out of my comfort zone. 
 

What about meeting the public? Isn’t that why I went? 
Absolutely. 

  • I connected with readers.  
  • People signed up for my blog.
  • I had a great time chatting with a multitude of folks.
     
What about you?
You’re the main event in your own Author-mania ring. 

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Don’t give up. Push past those barriers, 
and emerge a champion.
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Courtesy of adamr @freedigitalphotos.net

At the August Wordsowers meeting our guest speaker, the wonderfully funny and encouraging Kelly Klepfer, shared her insights on co-authoring and platform building.

I started hammering away on platform construction last September, so I’m eager to incorporate her blueprints into my building plan, especially my blog.
The blogging rule of thumb is “narrow your focus to broaden your audience.” I haven’t nailed that down, but Michael Bunker has. He writes Amish science-fiction. Seriously. Talk about a narrow focus.
After the meeting I asked author Angela D. Meyer, “How do I narrow my focus?”
She replied, “What’s your passion?”
Hmm. Family time? Reading? Gardening? Organizing? Dancing? Hiking?
I relish all those things, but my true passion is to let people know that, despite our blunders, God is crazy in love with us.
Courtesy of Stuart Miles @freedigitalphotos.net

I want my blog to encourage people. To give them hope.
And that focus is WAY too wide, like using a redwood for a toothpick.

So I looked back to an older post Angela and I co-authored. By “co-authored” I mean I answered a few questions, and she did all the work.
Here are a few highlights of her blog-honing advice.

————————————————————

In a March post Angela stressed:

Know your mission/purpose. Write a mission statement, or create a tag line. Reveal the purpose behind your writing in one sentence.
For example, Angela’s tagline, “Stories of surrender, transformation, and hope,” reflects how she uses her writing to encourage women in their faith walk.

Know your audience. When you have a specific audience in mind, it is easier to get personal with them. Ask yourself:

            What is their age range?  Their gender? Their interests?
                         What life issue/problem are you going to help them solve/answer?

Know yourself. You are the heartbeat of your writing. It’s how you shine through and stand out from everyone else. People are attracted to YOU, not just the WHAT you write.

           What is your personality? Your passion?
                            What is your writing style? Don’t try to be someone else.
—————————————————————————————————
Great advice Angela.

Now on to

Jeanie’s Super-Secret Newbie No-No’s

Photo courtesy of graur razvan ionut @ freedigitalphotos.net
To recap what we’ve learned so far:
Week 1- Exclamation marks scream, “Newbie!”
Week 2- Annihilate Adverbs.
Week 3- Eradicate empty words. Really just skip them. I’m very serious.
Week 4- Use “invisible” words: said, ask, answer, and reply.
This week-
Stop run-on sentences that keep going and going until the readers wish you would throw in a period or a comma or even an exclamation point or anything to stop the sentence before their eyes permanently cross and it’s especially bad if the sentence is being read out loud because someone might pass out from lack of oxygen trying to get to the end of it and even if they don’t by the time they get to the end they won’t remember what the beginning of the sentence was about.

 

Courtesy of renjith Krishnan @ freedigitalphotos.jpg
Most new writers don’t realize that Gertrude the Crossing Guard freelances for editors between shifts. When run-on sentences overrun your submissions, editors dispatch Gertrude to roadblock your verbal traffic jam. Use punctuation marks to stay up to speed.
Since we all need to move forward, my Current Lofty Goal (AKA something I need to do, but put off) is create a tagline, which was also last month’s lofty goal. I thought “Truth Through Fiction” was perfect. So did about 100,000,000 other authors who already use it.

What’s your tagline, and how did you create it? I’d love to know…even though I might get so jealous of your amazing wit I send Gertrude to wreak havoc on your keyboard.

Sometimes when I write my blog I feel like I’m calling into an empty, echoing canyon. “Hello? Does anybody hear me?”

Have you experienced that?
If so, don’t lose heart. We at Wordsowers want to help. Connect with us here or on our Facebook page.