Humans are known for procrastination. Frankly, it’s the non-procrastinators in the population that draw attention and are considered successful. They didn’t pause. They didn’t wait. They didn’t decide that time had to be perfect, the stars aligned and everyone holding hands singing Kumbayah before stepping into life.

Sometimes you just do it.

You’re writing a book. You need a blog. You think you need the book to start the blog, to give yourself credibility. But you haven’t completed the book. Just start the friggin’ blog and commit to it! Own it! No, you may not know everything there is to blogging, but you will.

Sometimes you just do it . . . because you are then forced to learn how. 

You have this story in mind, You’re afraid to write it. You think about publishing because that seems more tangible with all those rules and websites and steps posted on blogs. But you haven’t finished the story. Sometimes it’s by writing our story that we learn how to write, and how much of the story is worth the telling. Or even if it’s worth telling at all!

Sometimes you just do it . . . because by the time you get done, you’ve taught yourself how.

You finally write a story draft. You get it critiqued. You hire an editor. You attend classes and workshop this manuscript. It was hard, and you’re probably not satisfied with the product. So you start another story. It’s amazing how you know to avoid passive voice now, how you open with a more profound statement. You recognize backstory. You realize when dialogue is stilted, or there’s too little white space on the page.

Go ahead and leap. Learn to fly on the way down. You’ll hit obstacles, get bruised and possibly land on your face. That’s fine. Because you’ll crawl back up and leap again, only this time with more sense. The next time with more skill. And ultimately, after doing it over and over again, with finesse.

Yes, just do it. But realize that the finesse comes from doing it A LOT.

NOTE FROM HOPE: Today we have as our guest, Nina Amir, the author of 
How to Blog a Book: Write, Publish, and Promote Your Work One Post at a Time published by Writer’s Digest Books. Who doesn’t want to know how to monetize a blog, so I invited her to enlighten you guys. Give her a warm welcome.

—

How Writers Can Earn More Money as Bloggers
By Nina Amir

You may consider blogging as extra work that takes you away from writing. However, blogging actually provides you with another way to create an income as a writer. In fact, as a writer you are uniquely equipped to become a successful blogger and to monetize your blog.

My blogs, for example, help me earn more money in a variety of ways. I wrote a book on my blog, composing the first draft post by post and publishing it on the Internet. In the process, I became the expert on this topic and my blog achieved #1 Google search engine page result status. The manuscript I produced was sold to Writer’s Digest Books and released as How to Blog a Book: Write, Publish, and Promote Your Work One Post at a Time. I received an advance and now receive royalties.

The expert status I’ve earned from that blog and blog-to-book deal have given me the ability to offer blogging and blog-to-book coaching and consulting services. I also sell related products, teach courses and speak on this topic. All of these streams of income, while not writing per se, have become part of my current income as a writer.

You, too, can monetize your blog into written and non-written products.

First, blogging a book is the easiest and fastest way to write a book and promote it at the same time. And you can blog many books. It took me five months to blog the first draft of How to Blog a Book but only ten days to blog 10 Days and 10 Ways to Return to Your Best Self, which I then self-published. You can easily blog several books over the next year if you wanted to do so. For many indie authors, ebook sales represent a large income stream.

A successful blog—one with lots of readers—on a focused topic makes it easier for you to get more paid writing work. As you become the expert on your topic, magazines and newspapers are more likely to accept your queries—and you can command more pay for those articles. Additionally, your blog readership contributes to your author platform, which convinces publishers you are a good publishing partner; that means you deserve a book contract and a larger advance.

 Your blog platform helps sell your self-published books. 

The more you blog readership increases, the more money you make. You can:

• Sell more books
• Enroll more participants in coaching programs
• Register more participants in classes and courses
• Attract more customers and clients
• Become a more attractive publishing partner for a traditional publisher
• Increase your chances of getting paid assignments on major magazines in your subject areas
• Speak for pay
• Put advertising on your blog (and actually make money from it)
• Promote affiliate products

All of these items represent ways to monetize a blog. Not all of them involve writing, but they do result in increased income from your blogging. Remember, blogging is, indeed, writing.

About the Author

Nina Amir, Inspiration-to-Creation Coach, inspires people to combine their purpose and passion so they Achieve More Inspired Results. She motivates both writers and non-writers to create publishable and published products, careers as authors and to achieve their goals and fulfill their purpose. Nina is the author of the bestselling How to Blog a Book, Write, Publish and Promote Your Work One Post at a Time (Writer’s Digest Books). You can sign up for a free author, book or blog-to-book coaching session with Nina or receive her FREE 5-Day Published Author Training Series by visiting www.copywrightcommunications.com. For more information on Nina, go to www.ninaamir.com.

Hah, bet you thought I was going to say “Show me yours and I’ll show you mine,” didn’t you? Nope. Actually, I was just introduced to something called Pimp and Promote at Writers in the Storm Blog and the simple concept set me afire!

Today this is your chance you brag about something writing related here, on my blog. Your blog? Your new book? A speaking engagement? What have you done you’re proud of? Again, must be about your writing!

But the catch is this . . . you have to promote someone else, too! A blog, new release, new author, favorite author, a magazine feature . . . give someone a hand and promote him, too.

Let’s call it . . .  PUSH and PRAISE.

PUSH meaning you’re pushing your own efforts

PRAISE meaning, duh, you’re praising someone else’s.

For instance:

PUSH – I have several online guest opportunities this week.

• One at Write Now! Mastermind on Wed, September 26 at Noon Central / 1PM Eastern.
• The other is on Friday, September 28, at a women’s blog called FriendfortheRide.
• And  yet another blog post at Romance University on Friday, September 28 on Love and the Crime Fiction Sleuth (had a lot of fun with this one).

PRAISE - I follow a quaint yet intelligent blog called Bluestocking Ball. Elizabeth Boyce is a new author, and her posts are so smart! She’s a historical romance author with three books under contract with Crimson Romance. She’s just getting off the ground. Isn’t her cover gorgeous?

So, tell us your PUSH & PRAISE for this week!

When we read a good book, we readily use our word-of-mouth to aid the author in being successful. I do it. You do it. We all do it. Word-of-mouth is by far the most important method of spreading the word about good stories and great authors.

Today, however, there’s a ton of word-of-mouth out there, and hundreds of thousands of authors. Eight out of ten books sell less than 100 copies on Amazon. As a reader you might not realize the cutthroat competition that exists in the publishing world. As a writer/author, you should. In either case, there are a few tricks you can do with minimal effort to make a difference in letting the world know about a worthy book purchase . . . and at the same time let an author know you care.

1) “Like” the book page.

See that little thumbs up icon next to the title, beside the number of reviews? If you liked the book, click it. That simple! It’ll change from gray to orange and stay that way whenever you revisit that page.

2) “Like” the author page. 

Hover over the author’s name. See a like to the Amazon Author Central page? There’s where you can learn more about your favorite author. Again, see the thumbs up icon on the right hand side of the page? Click it.

3) Leave a review.

Twenty words is all it takes, but hopefully you can squeeze a few more to let searching readers know enough to make an informed purchase.To leave a review at Amazon (or Barnes & Noble) you have to have made a purchase from them at some time, so if you are a first-timer at Amazon, you’ll need to sign up.

4) Click “Was this review helpful for you?”

These clicks help tell others (as well as Amazon) that a particular review, with a particular number of stars, with particular phrasing really helped you make a decision in your purchase. These helpful clicks also determine placement of snippets of the review in Amazon’s mention of the book in other places on the page. The reviewer is also notified of these clicks (but no identity, mind you). You can even leave a comment about a review, if you like. If you read a review, remember to click whether it aided your decision making.

5) Click “Tags Customers Association With This Product.” 

Scroll down the page near the bottom and you’ll see the above wording about tags. On Lowcountry Bribe’s page, you’ll see tags posted such as mystery series, fiction, bribe, low country, crime drama, investigation, romantic suspense, and many more. You can click that you agree with all the tags or click only on those you like. Regardless, leave some clicks.

Very simple and very brief. I make a point of addressing these items for every book I read now, even if I did not purchase it from Amazon. Don’t think because an author has a hundred likes, a thousand reviews, or zero likes and two reviews, that yours aren’t needed. Each is worth its weight in gold.

You’ve going to think I just read and research all day after this, the third of my posts this week referencing material I’ve read that morphs from another dimension into this one . . . motivation for writers and readers. Today, however, I was perusing the Education Week Teacher blog and came upon these words of advice and marveled at how they applied to us.

Five Practices for Building Positive Relationships With Students is written by Kelley Clark,  a high school math teacher. She was the 2010 Secondary Teacher of the Year for Williamsburg-James City County in Virginia. She earned her graduate degree from the College of William and Mary. Having just spent a solid week cramming my grandson for his ninth grade math class (that the last teacher too graciously and erroneously passed him in with a be-gone-nod and a 70), I was intrigued at Ms. Clark’s message.

Her message is all about bonding, connecting, and being positive with the students. While I love the lesson, and fully agree with it, my concern is this . . . why is this lesson even needed? My gosh, a teacher is supposed to teach TO the student, utilizing techniques learned via college, mentoring and trial-and-error to educate students in all their varied abilities, personalities, and needs. Why does a teacher have to be told that when it’s her (or his) profession? What kind of teacher would NOT do that?

My frustration mounted at the incredulous idea that teachers had to be reminded about the student aspect of teaching. Having raised three sons, and visited with many assorted teachers, ranging from super good to incredibly bad, I let memories start fueling my fire. Ms. Clark was basically telling the teachers to “get to know your students,” which is much like telling a writer, “get to know your readers.”

Okay, that gave me pause.

I knew writers who wrote for themselves, published, started trying to sell, and had no clue who their readers were. A platform is developed from identifying, knowing, and reaching a specific audience, but all too often we wait until the last part of the writing and publishing process to take readers into account.

As writers, we need to recognize who would enjoy our work, and reach out to them. We should highly appreciate them. We should write, promote, and interact with them, in adoration of their offer to spend precious money and time to enjoy our work

Teachers . . . if knowing and understanding the individual student is the last thing on your agenda, your priorities are out of sync.

Writers . . . if knowing and understanding the individual reader is the last thing on your agenda, your priorities are out of sync, too.

Both of you . . . those people who keep you in business ought to be your focus. You admire, adore, appreciate them, ever ready to help them get to know you (and your work) better. You want to improve their quality of life.

Without knowing the target of your occupation, you’re focused on the wrong part of the game. They ought to be the reason you exist.

Romance writer Elizabeth Boyce (some agent needs to NAB this girl, she’s great!) posts the most interesting ideas on her blog, and I slow down to take a moment to read each one. Just included her on my recent webinar with Writer’s Digest, Platform the Backdoor Way, where I try to explain to people how to start their platform from scratch, before they have that novel or portfolio full of clips. Elizabeth is the perfect example of becoming an expert in her genre before she lands her contract. I know her well enough to know she only wants to publish traditionally, and there’s no doubt in my mind she’s of the calibre to do it . . . and will ultimately do so.

Anyway, I digress. In her most recent post on Bluestocking Ball,  entitled Speak No Evil, Or; Learning When to Shut Your Mouth, Elizabeth speaks about bashing. One involves writing online about all those nasty editors and agents who reject and don’t respond or accept something you think is less in quality than your own. I’m all about that . . . not bashing and not identifying people online in a condescending manner. You become remembered in that light. There are some people who post on a couple of list groups I belong to, who can be negative and have snubbed me for being novice. I’ll never bash them using their names, but I will never promote them, use word-of-mouth to help their sales, or buy their books. They are done in my eyes . . . there are just too many other authors out there, working just as hard, who have manners.

But the other bashing Elizabeth mentions is one I never thought of. In the hurry to appease the pain of a fellow writer who’s been rejected, we often slight the agent, editor or publisher, as if they were complete idiots in their profession. True, we’re trying to stroke the ego and feelings of a friend, but does that really help the friend? Chances are the manuscript needed rejecting, and why put down someone simply doing his/her job?

When responding to a despondent writer who’s been painfully rejected, consider comments like:

1. So sorry to hear that. Keep trying with other agents/editors. Sometimes it just takes the right timing and the right match.

2. How many rejections? Why not back off the rejections and go over the manuscript one more time? I’d be happy to help.

3. Why don’t you rewrite the query letter from scratch and give it a fresh look? Maybe it needs more flavor. I’d be happy to help.

But don’t say the editor or agent was a jerk. While there are yucky souls in every profession, to include the publishing industry, doing the dirty task of rejecting those manuscripts that are less than stellar or a poor match at the moment doesn’t reflect on the rejector’s character.  And you might be doing your friend a disservice giving him an excuse from going back and making his writing better.

I walk away from many writing events exhilarated . . . at other times crushed. And it scares the be-Jeesus out of me not knowing which emotion will rule me when I finish and leave.

And it frustrates the hell out of me being so uncertain of myself.

Each time I step behind a podium, a mic, even a telephone if the interview is long-distance, I have a plan, a rehearsed plan. I have passion, no doubt about that. I’m doing what I love to do, often wishing there were more hours in the day so I could do more, perform better, deliver more profoundly to those I hope to serve. Write more.

There aren’t enough hours, days, or years to complete the stories I wish to write, or deliver my passion to the world to such a a degree that everybody I touch “gets it.” I find that so important . . . passion. It pains me when I don’t connect, and it pains me more to see writers going through the motions instead of jumping, dancing arms wide, being writers with something to say, wanting people to read their work so badly that they sometimes make fools of themselves. I would rather buy a book or read an article from somebody who trips on his feet, stumbles his words, or mixes a metaphor, and then laughs at himself, than I would the person who stoically follows the rules, shows the way to their book, then leaves the room, leaving nothing of themselves behind.

However, I think the worst pain of all to a writer is silence.

The silence of no questions from the room. The silence of no comments on a blog post. The silence of no ReTweets. The lack of likes on Facebook. The lack of reviews. Less than stellar sales. We all know some of these.  Hopefully nobody knows them all. That’s sad when you try and wait . . . and are left waiting. Maybe that’s why some leave quickly, stoically, afraid to see nobody has questions.

Such silence can make a writer choke on self-doubt, even shove them toward quitting. Why do writers feel ashamed when others don’t read them? It’s failure on an extremely high level, and we often quietly “disappear into that good night.”

We’d rather be rejected, have something  proactively to address, gnaw on, or refute. Even booing is a response. Give us a bone, for God’s sake.

But that silence . . . oh God that silence.

Writing should be my voice, the page my podium.

But it’s not. Not in this world where noise is required before you can be seen and then make your point. So just remember this:

== When you read a book, write a review . . . somewhere. Leave your thank you for the writer who dared expose his heart and oh-so-sensitive soul to you.

==When you read a blog post that is smart, touching, witty, or informative, leave a comment. Or forward it, Tweet it, FB mention it. Again, thank the person for daring to show personality to a very critical world.

==When you hear a writer speak, watch him, follow him, then clap madly at the end. Ask a question, just so he knows you listened. Thank him for being there . . . for being him . . . for giving to you.

Some may wonder what’s brought such a melancholy post, but the fact is, I’m writing for so many who’ve confided in me about one of these points or another. Maybe the latest email just pushed me far enough. So many silently hurt, almost physically, at the platform effort, dog-and-pony show we’re forced to endure, even if only online.

I want to tell them to DARE!

I want to tell them to APPRECIATE DARING in others!

I want people to feel better, try with passion, and know that every time they receive silence in response to their effort, thousands others understand. Keep trying.

Dare NOT to be silent, no matter which side of the podium you’re on. Appreciate each other. The passion, talent, and success spewed into the world would be astounding.

When I presented this subject at a recent conference, the room filled, and believe me, I had competition in the neighboring classes. Heads nodded as I explained platform, how to create platform, and what platform meant to authors. Afterwards, I heard loads of thank-yous from people who thought they finally “got it.”

The point I try to make in presenting platform is that it’s not something to be forced. Going out the front door -  seeking people, adding numbers, asking people to buy – is one way of doing it. At first you might entice people with a freebie, or marvelous solution, or something that’s more of a splash in the pan, but that type of platform fades easily with time. In my opinion the front door method is less productive unless you are a one-hit wonder.

Agents and editors, however, are more interested in a long-term arrangement. They want to know that you have a platform that will endure time. I call this the backdoor platform. You make friends. You remain steady in your Tweeting and blog posts . . . returning all email with a smile. Sharing. You’re always there. People feel they know you. Then, when you have something to sell, they buy it like family.

How do you connect with these people? They aren’t all mystery readers. They aren’t all literary fans. Maybe they are parents like you, animal lovers, gardeners, even writers, like my readers at FundsforWriters. You let them all know that you are a writer, but you also reveal you are more than that. You’re human. You share stories. You seem touchable.

This is just common sense to me. When Lowcountry Bribe came out in February, I had that gut feeling that I needed to jumpstart my image. I had to be anywhere and everywhere. My husband and publisher stopped me. “Let it happen,” I was told. I scoffed at myself. They were right.

We see big hits and suddenly we want to clamor and fight to be like them. The problem is, those people did their backdoor platform ages ago, and you’re just getting the memo. They didn’t do it overnight. And neither can you.

Start now building that platform. Yes, even though you have no book or no product to sell. Become someone online – a personality. Be yourself. Be there for others. Be there steadily, daily. Flash that smile even though there’s nobody in your room, because it’ll come across in your Tweets. There you go. Be a friend.

Normandie Ward Fischer lives more on sea than land. She’s the acquiring editor for Wayside Press, and we hit it off at the Oklahoma Writers Federation Conference a couple weeks ago. Recently we spoke to each other about platform.

  From Facebook:

Normandie Ward Fischer Hope. I know you and I have talked about this, but today it hit. Wham, I got it — because that’s what I’ve been doing this as a buyer. I read interesting comments. I read other folks’ blogs. I pay attention. And then I go buy the books of those folk I like. Hey, it got me into your world, and I’m waiting for the next one to hit Amazon!

And from her blog Writing on Board, entitled Marketing Revolution:

I rarely buy books when someone begs me to. I rarely buy based on advertising. But I do head over to Amazon when I read a thoughtful post or a comment by someone who intrigues me, some word that makes me want to know the writer better. So, if that works for me as a buyer, perhaps it will work for me as a seller? Oh, my, I can wrap my mind around that sort of marketing. The friendship thing.

This week, Thursday, May 24, at 1PM Eastern, I’m presenting a 90-minute webinar for Writer’s Digest on this very subject. When I asked if they were interested in this concept, they jumped on it. Platform is elusive in so many writers’ minds. Come visit and let’s sort it out.

http://www.writersdigestshop.com/platform-the-backdoor-way

As writers, we understand that one of our most crucial milestones is identifying the voice. We strive to become confident in how we write our stories so they are like fingerprints, unique and identifiable with only us. How heavenly would it be if one of our lines was included in someone’s Top 100 Quotable Lines from Books We Love?

 That voice is very important in more ways than a chapter’s opening line or the clinch at the end of a feature article. Success in social media commands use of voice as well. If you think everybody is competing against you with a book, imagine the competition on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs. Someone who misspells every fourth word can gain a following in social media, but as long as he’s cute, informative, funny, sarcastic or smart, i.e., has a voice, he can succeed.

The biggest turnoff in these social venues is usually the vanilla-flavored individual who only tries to sell. The person who says, “buy my book and buy it here.”  We don’t know the attributes of the product nor the strengths of the individual selling, but for some reason we are expected to want to purchase it. When a person assumes the public doesn’t need the details of the product (let’s say book) and can be coaxed (conned) into handing over money for it anyway, he insults the reader.

Only when you become Nora Roberts, Patricia Cornwell or Stephen King can you say, “Hey, my new book is out,” and people unquestionably accept the quality. Those type names are one percent of the authors on the shelves. A solid mid-list author still has to convince a reader that the book is a worthy investment, and that the author is behooved to the reader to make that book selection.

So when using social media, any of them, remember these four rules:

Posts should be FOR the reader.

Share with the reader as an equal.

Don’t SELL to the reader.

Mention your commodity in no more than 30 percent of your posts.

In a world where everyone wants you to follow, like, or recommend them on social media, it’s easy to cull those who don’t respect you. They are the ones who never chat with you, enlighten you, or entertain you. They want a piece of you, and aren’t willing to take the time to give back. If you can’t admire the poster in social media, then you probably aren’t inclined to buy what they’re selling.

Find that voice in you . . . the one that invites, strokes, and welcomes a follower. Leave the conning, hard-selling, and pleading to the novices, because you appreciate your readers. After all, don’t you want them to be your friends? Willing to follow you for life? Of course you do. So Tweet like it. Post like it. Message like losing these people would hurt your feelings; don’t post like you’re trying to step on theirs.

How would you reply if asked this question? Indignant? After all, everybody has to start somewhere, plus you’ve been writing various pieces for years.

Everybody has to write the first manuscript. But few of them need to publish that first manuscript.

If you went to the doctor, needing an operation, you might ask, “Have you done this sort of operation before?” What if the reply is, “No, but I’ve been studying how to do it.” You’d move on to another doctor, because no matter how long he’s read the books and tested on cadavers, he hasn’t proven himself.

To an agent or publisher, saying this is your first book is like saying, “I don’t know what I’m doing yet, but trust me, it’s going to be a great book!” Rachelle Gardner, an agent with Books & Such Literary Agency, recently penned a great post about this subject: “4 Reasons to Write Several Books — Before You’re Published.”

You need experience before you publish. So what is experience?

1. Completed manuscripts of other books.

Just the fact you’ve spent years (yes, as in many months) writing says something about your diligence. That doesn’t mean two or three first drafts. It means books you struggled with and might be willing for someone to read and consider in addition to the one you are pitching. Trying to query about the fourth book you’ve written versus the first, tells a professional that you’re fighting in this business until you get it right. That’s enough thought to give someone pause that you might be worth considering.

2. A writing reputation elsewhere.

Published twenty magazine articles? Published numerous columns for your newspaper? Taught creative writing? Written for nonprofits or corporations for a reputation period of time? Received an MFA? Published nonfiction or commercial material and now dabbling in fiction? Show something. Have nothing? Then you know what you need to do.

3. Contest wins.

A zillion contests exist for unpublished writers. Frankly, most contests do not require experience or publishing credits. However, place in several contests, and you gain credibility as well as put your name in the view of important people in the business.

I want experienced people teaching my children, removing my gall bladder, or selling my house, just like agents and publishers want experienced writers. No, you might not have published a book, but show you are fanatically serious about this business by giving them something, anything, to show you are experienced in one way or another.