Casey Herringshaw

November 12, 2014November 1, 2014

Authentic Marketing

Ugh. The big, bad “M” word. It’s not one of my favorites and truly, if there were fewer letters in it, I’d be labeling it a four letter word.

In fact, just so I feel better, let’s go ahead and label that “M” word something not-quite-so-delightful. Imagine it as a dart board and we’ll send flaming arrows into it…

As a writer, you can never get away from marketing. You will always have to market yourself, because only if you become Richard Castle, Dan Brown, or Janet Evanovich will you never have to market yourself again. And I’m pretty sure those writers all got to be who they are because of good marketing.

Publishers don’t have as many dollars and the ones they do have are being stretched thinner and thinner.

So how do you authentically market yourself without burning out and turning everyone away from your product? Here are a few things I’ve learned and have proven helpful in my journey to market myself.

Let Twitter/Facebook fan pages be your mouth piece for promotional work. Personal facebook pages (different than public fan pages) are viewed more as a way to connect with friends and family—not to market your product. Once in a while is fine. More than that and people start to ignore you.
Get on social media now. Not later. Not when you have a book contract. Not when you finally have an agent or finish that book. Get on it now. You’ll have less pressure to get out there and learn it all at once and instead can take in small bites.
Mix personal with professional. Everyone likes to know a bit about a person, beyond just the fact that you want them to buy your book. Be relatable, but learn the balance between oversharing/posting and posting what people are going to be interested in.
When in doubt, don’t post it. If you’re unsure if you’re oversharing, posting too many times in a day, don’t post. It’s better to post once in a while with something witty and fun to read than every hour with a long, drawn out diatribe.
People are visual, so find images that market your brand and share them in your status updates, tweets, etc.
Realize you are becoming a public figure. People will start to recognize you at conferences. They will read your content and have a connection with what you are saying. No matter if you are doing this because you like to blog—and people really like what you have to say—or you are doing this because you are trying to build an impressive audience, you are becoming someone people will notice. Don’t be noticed because you’re annoying; be noticed because you’re authentic. Think about a door-to-door salesman or the salesman at the local car dealership, the cashier at your favorite grocery store—do they make you want to have repeat encounters with them? Why or why not?
Be personable. Be unique. Be authentic. I can’t stress that last word enough. It’s the only way to stand out in social media and on the marketing platform.

Nothing in marketing is a fast process. It’s a slow growing yeast, mixed in a little bit at a time until you look back and see that an audience has been built with you just being…you. Take time to get to know and invest in other people’s interests and promote them. Show unabashed support for your fellow writers. You’re in this together and together you’re a mighty force to reach readers.

What are your best marketing tips?

October 22, 2014October 18, 2014

How to Avoid White-Noise Marketing

We were talking as a staff in our FaithHappenings.com meeting about marketing and social media and how much white noise is filling up Facebook and Twitter especially. Everyone wants a chance for their voice to be heard, but none of us really want to pay attention. As consumers we are constantly bombarded with deals we should take advantage of, the latest giveaway to enter, the newest site to sign up for (though, please, please go sign up for our FaithHappenings.com site—I promise you will not be disappointed. 😉 ), the latest and greatest constantly in giant all-caps and flashy billboards. Unless something truly captures our attention, most likely we’re going to just keep on scrolling.

I know I am guilty of this habit.

So how do we grab the attention of the consumer we are trying to reach? Each platform is going to be handled a bit differently, but I’ll tackle Facebook and Twitter with a side of Pinterest and Google+ thrown in.

Facebook: DON’T post your agenda all the time. In fact, I only post on Facebook a couple of times each week—not a couple of times per day. When you post less often, you actually become something of a novelty when you do finally post. You’re a fresh face in a sea of constant posters and most likely people are going to pay more attention. (Note: this concept is a good idea for personal profile pages. Fan pages require a different strategy and more frequent postings to avoid falling off your fans’ radar)

Twitter: DO post your agenda more often. Don’t, however, push a constant promotion. Twitter feed is constantly changing and moving so it’s a good idea to keep your face and fresh content in front of your followers. For every 1-2 tweets about your product, be sure to share 3-4 either retweets and content that is not pushing one particular point or agenda.

Pinterest: If you are a business or an author who is trying to promote reviews, products, etc., keep it to one or two pins per day of that particular felt need. Too much of the same thing will just annoy the follower and they will scroll faster–or worse, unfollow you.

Google+: Chances are you are going to have many crossover followers on Facebook, as you do on Google+. If you have a gmail account, you automatically have a Google+ account. Build your circles, find material you can share publically. You can share the same information as you did on Facebook and Twitter, but find a different way of sharing it. And remember to vary business with pleasure/personal. People want to get to know you, not just a promotion pusher, ie: white noise creator.

Need some other ideas to avoid being social media white noise?

Be funny. Have a sense of humor. Don’t post long updates. The shorter, the absolute better. Don’t carry a negative point of view on all your posts. Be positive. Avoid links.

Yes, I am telling you to include fluff in your marketing campaigns. We are a society surrounded by depressing worries. If you truly want to be noticed, be encouraging. Speak into people’s needs. Make them laugh. Build a brand awareness around who you are and what you’re offering that is unique, brief, to the point, and meaningful.

Seems like a tall order to fill!

But once you get the hang of it, it becomes more second nature than something that has to be over-thought.

Remember the key points: Facebook—don’t post all the time. Twitter—you have more freedom, so share and have fun. Build a rapport with your followers. Pinterest—let this become an extension of who you are. Google+ –provide fresh content separate from what you post on the other social media platforms as chances are, you will have many of the same followers across all platforms.

October 12, 2014October 11, 2014

This Writing Thing? It’s Not About You

It’s a burning idea.

A passion that can’t be quenched.

A germ of a story that won’t go away.

You’re a writer. It’s who you are. Ingrained in your DNA. Found in your identity.

Words are your joy.

But sometimes those same words become your greatest enemy. Maybe you’re not conscious of this happening. Maybe it’s been a slow fade down what is now becoming an even slippier slope. And suddenly you’re at the end and you don’t want to put words on the page.

Or maybe you do want to put words on the page, but the right words aren’t there. You’re drawing from an empty well.

God does not call us to be perfect vessels for His work. He does not expect you to be all together all of the time. And yet so often, we put that pressure on ourselves, don’t we? We expect that we should always be able to sit down at the computer, slit a vein, and write as though the words will always be there.

In that moment, we are relying on our own strength for this thing we call writing.

We become obsessed with our words. We become caught up in the euphoric high of stringing 90,000 words together into a manuscript. And we forget the Orator of those words. Whether you are writing fiction or nonfiction, these are not your words. This is not just your passion.

It’s not our strength that gives us these ideas we turn into stories. It’s not our strength that gives us the words to write these stories. And it’s not our strength that carries us through the times of intense burnout. While we might not consciously think that it is, or make the decision that it is our passion, our drive, our ability putting these words on the screen, when we remove our focus from the true Source, we begin to falter.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Do you believe that?

Do you believe that God is carrying you through? We remember that in our daily lives a little bit better than we do in our writing lives. We get caught up. Focused. Driven. Forget God’s timing. God’s way. God’s provision.

That sometimes we have to take a backseat to our dreams, remain faithful to the calling He has laid on our hearts and let Him direct everything else.

It’s surrender. It’s release. It’s not giving up. It’s not giving in. It’s giving over. Remembering where this true fount of word-joy has come from. Whom it has come from.

Do you take time to hit your knees before you write? Because this isn’t about you and what you can do. It’s about what God can do through you as His vessel. Do you dedicate your writing time—no matter how small or large that might be—to your Creator? Without Him, there would be no you. No you to write these words and stories only you can write…though the power and grace of your Savior.

This writing thing isn’t meant to be done alone. Are you trying to?

Maybe it’s time to stop and start over again.

September 15, 2014September 13, 2014

A View From the Assistant’s Desk

Working for a highly respected literary agency is not quite all it’s expected to be.

Some things I wasn’t fully expecting:

It’s a lot of emails. A lot.

It’s a lot of report filing.

Spreadsheet documents and, oh, spreadsheet documentation.

I am far from bored since I started working for Wordserve Literary and frankly, I wouldn’t want it any other way!

So what do I see from my small desk in the publishing world?

Self-help books are really in. True, our agency has a felt-need and a niche in this market to pitch to the nonfiction sector, but it still surprises me how many marriage, parenting, general life/encouragement/devotional books continue to come through our office doors.
Book deals really aren’t that awesome. While this didn’t surprise me, as a writer myself, I’ve always wanted to know what dollar amount writers were forever bemoaning. Makes me that much more grateful for the novels I consume on a regular basis and the authors who continue to write them.
Social media is huge. Something I already knew, but a platform is so incredibly vital to a writer. It’s the main reason Greg Johnson started FaithHappenings.com. Writers with a great story and no platform are getting passed right on by without that audience to market to.
Self-publishing is becoming more and more the norm. Writers who can’t get a deal for their great new book, or who don’t want to wait a year or longer for readers to have their next content, are pushing the “send now” button into the great wide world of indie publishing. It’s not the same as it used to be years ago. Indie is becoming a good opportunity to take advantage of with new cover options, quality printing companies, and more opportunities out there to publish a good product. Self-publishing is walking away, though slowly, from the stigma of poor quality material.

Publishing is a swiftly changing monster. But I don’t need to tell you this. Even if you are not published, the reality is that you can’t be a book lover and not notice that things are always changing. Publishers are trying to find new ways to get their books to capture your attention—and are buying less content. Authors are pounding the pavement harder. Literary agents are pitching the right book to the right house and still hearing no, for seemingly no reason other than “it’s not the right fit for our house.”

Does that make publishing a discouraging business to be in? Well, maybe, if you only look at the negatives of the business. But with changes come opportunities to rise to the occasion and come out on top with a great idea. A great book. The opportunity to impact lives with your words on the page. Because whether publishers are buying or not, a great book is still a great book. And passion for story can’t quell that. Ever.

The gift of a literary agency is the team behind you, believing in your product. It’s not just you. It never has to be just you. So even when the wait seems long and the emails slow in coming, we are behind you. Fighting for this book.

Keep on writing.