2016 is bringing new marketing and promotion techniques, and for those authors who pay attention, it can mean big bucks! Authors who pay attention to marketing and promotion trends and then utilize these new techniques in creative ways are going to make more book sales. I’m not suggesting that you should pick up any and every new marketing and promotions technique that comes along, but I am suggesting that you pay attention to new and revised ones.

And implement them when you can like I did with the ReScue Series!

In 2016, one of the big new marketing techniques is sponsored content. Now before you think, “Oh, that’s just ads, I’m already doing those with my promos to groups and author spotlights,” think again. A new trend that is showing up is to market and promote without seeming to. That’s right, without seeming to. It’s becoming clearer in the New Year that if you can do this, then you can sell more of your product, in this case your books.

So, what exactly is sponsored content then? Sponsored content are blogs or posts that offer more than pure advertisement. Let me give you an example. Let’s say you’ve written …

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Are you looking for new ways to engage readers before your next book is available for sale? Believe it or not, you can create a public Book Inspiration Pinterest Board to start telling readers about your book before it becomes available for sale. Look at it this way, it’s important to market your book before it becomes available right? While many authors do this by posting excerpts to their blog, and yes, you should do this too, you have to find other ways to draw interest to your story. One of those ways is to show your readers your inspiration board for the book you’re working on. So, how do you do this? It’s easy!

1. Create a Pinterest account if you don’t already have one.

2. Sign in to your Pinterest account.

3. Click on Create a Board.

4. Name your board. Since you want readers to know this is the inspiration board for your book, you should name your board something that has your book title in it. For example: The Lord by Laura Tolomei Inspiration Board.

5. Search for photos that represent, people, clothing styles, religions, planets, cities, towns, nationalities and such from your book. You can …

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What is Zen?

We use the term as part of the English language in different ways and different contexts but I don’t think that most people really comprehend what the practice of Zen means.

First, the practice of Zen relates to Buddhism and is originally from the East. Zen is the practice of being here in the moment now. In Western culture we are always thinking about tomorrow or yesterday, but we rarely focus on the now, what is happening in this moment. Those who practice Zen on a daily basis are constantly working to stay present with what they are doing right now. So, how can the practice of Zen help you with your writing?

Imagine a day or really any block of time where you are completely, totally focused on your writing. You are not distracted by whether or not your book made the bestseller list on Amazon, or what you need to change about your marketing plan so your books sell more copies, or whether or not you remembered to take the laundry out of the dryer and fold it. This is what the practice of Zen can do you the writer.

So, how do you do …

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