The Power of SMALL - Smart Tips for Storytellers

  When it comes to vehicles, I’m not much of an aficionado. I want something that makes me smile, will get me from Point A to Point B, and won’t kill my budget. But if money weren’t an object, I’d get this dreamy ride. I’m smiling just thinking about it. I was an inch away from owning a vintage VW camper van in college, but my sensible father “steered” me away from it. Dreams crushed, I settled for a pale green Ford wagon with no heat and rusted-out wheel wells, a steal for $100 that got me through a couple years of commuting to Ohio State. This beauty, a yellow and pewter all-electric 2024 VW Microbus, is my new car crush, as cool as it gets and totally my personality. Park this anywhere and a crowd is sure to gather. Drive it around and enjoy the front-to-back window roof and sleek interior. Ooh, yes. People everywhere have a car crush on VW bugs and camper vans, their emotional heartstrings all aflutter whenever they see one. VW’s slogan says it all: fahrvergnügen! This means,...

What does Matthew McConaughey share with 90% of Authors? Easy. Both are stars in their very own “Failure to Launch” movie.  While Matthew’s character, Tripp, managed to enjoy a happy ending, it took a powerful motivator to get him to budge; the most powerful motivator, in fact. If you are trapped in your own “failure to launch” scenario, unwilling to fully invest yourself in your book launch or afraid to go this far out of your comfort zone, you may need to get back to your “why.” “It’ll take a stick of dynamite to get me to do a book launch!” Sound like you? Let’s face it. Doing a book launch can be terrifying, costly, and time-consuming. There’s a reason only the powerfully motivated are willing to do it, even though a well-executed book launch can mean all the difference in the success of a new book. The rest of us have to tap in to our mission, that prime motivator that carried us through the painful writing and editing process. We have to remember why we wrote the bo...

Every author struggles with the “M” word – Marketing!   (What word did you think I meant?)   The thought of marketing your own books can strike terror in the hearts of many authors, most of whom, let’s face it, prefer to communicate through the written word. Yet, regardless of what path you take to being published, no one escapes from the need to conquer their fears and face your adoring—or perhaps indifferent, public. The key to overcoming your fear of this interaction is this: it’s not about you. Does your book have a purpose, a message you hope will change someone’s life? Marketing is your way of getting this message into the hands of people who otherwise would never have heard it. Focus on your potential readers; care about them, learn about them, listen to them, and your fear will begin to melt away. Ok, so let’s assume for the balance of this article that you have to take the reins of your own marketing. Now what? Talk to ten different experts on the ...