Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

publishing

What Does A Retired Baseball Legend Do? Publish!

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by Kimberly A. Cook                    (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Catching up on my overloaded DVR this past weekend. Decided to check out Derek Jeter’s visit to the “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.”  I can’t stay up that late on a work night. Or just about any night these days. Anyway, the guy is such a class act and easy on the eyes to boot, it was fun.

AND found out he not only has his book coming out today, “Jeter Unfiltered,” he has started a publishing company including books for kids and a media platform for professional athletes.

http://youtu.be/AejNA_42RRA

How can this guy get any cooler? Not sure. His company www.jeterpublishing.com is launching both his book and a series of book for kids about the ten rules he follows in his life and career. Great list for all of us. The goal of his “Turn 2 Foundation” he started in 1996 goal is to turn kids away from drugs and toward healthy lifestyles. Not sure how the name came about, but I know it’s a Navy phrase for “get to work.” Hmmm.

In addition, he has started a media platform for professional athletes to be able to tell their stories directly to the public, not hampered by paparazzi or journalists. This venture is titled www.theplayerstribune.com

Read a very interesting article by Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks quarterback, about how he was a bully as a kid and how that has to stop in todays epidemic of domestic violence. Pretty hard-hitting writing. http://www.theplayerstribune.com/lets-talk-about-it/

Now, I am definitely more of a football fan than baseball, but I always admire smart and classy and Derek Jeter is both. So maybe this means when I finish my writing career, I can become a New York Yankees shortstop? Don’t think it quite works that way, but I can dream!

Link to The Tonight Show appearance: http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/segments/12976

How Do Author Web Sites/Blogs Reflect Multiple Genres?

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by Kimberly A. Cook       (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Last week I took a web site and blog tour of my favorite authors for research purposes. Since I write both non-fiction and fiction for publication, I wanted to see how the best are handling this split personality marketing challenge.

Two of my keeper shelves of favorite author books. Okay, maybe floor to ceiling keeper bookshelves is more accurate, truthfully.
Two of my keeper shelves of favorite author books. Okay, maybe floor to ceiling keeper bookshelves is more accurate, truthfully.

It seems there are as many answers as there are authors. It also depends on where the author’s main focus is, writing only or writing and speaking gigs. This makes sense since we all write for our own reasons and goals.

Looking at the queen of romance fiction, Nora Roberts solved the problem when she wrote mystery books by making her J.D. Robb namesake another person. When she came out of the mystery closet with her two different author photos on the back of one book, it was a true split personality. Now she links to her mystery blog from the top of her main website www.noraroberts.com

Author Kate Carlisle proudly shows off her split personality by letting the visitor choose whether she wants romance or mystery, since she publishes both. Her great mystery series is one of my favorites, so this is working for both her romance and mystery fans. Her blog is the same for both sides of her website. See her beautiful landing page at www.katecarlisle.com

Non-fiction and fiction author Joanna Penn has her blog for writers and writer education at www.thecreativepenn.com where she shows her fiction and non-fiction titles. Her fiction thriller website at www.jfpenn.com has a thriller fiction blog attached to it. She split her online marketing footprint on purpose to separate her fiction readers from her non-fiction readers.

Still leaves me up in the air about how I want to handle the non-fiction vs. fiction issue. So who is my marketing mentor, my go-to-guru when I wonder about these kinds of decisions? Debbie Macomber. Not only is she an amazing romance fiction author, she is a non-fiction and children’s book author too. She keeps it all together on her main website and lists all her books under books. So simple yet classic. Love it. Check out her printable book list at www.debbiemacomber.com to see the elegant way she lists and groups all her books. She makes it easy for her readers.

Simple is best for me. I like to think of it as the Coco Chanel guide to author website design. Fine lines and no clutter. Is my website like this? Not now, but this Fall I think a re-design is required. In a publishing world where we can finally pick and choose what we write and when and how we publish, this is one decision I’m glad I can quit tearing my hair out about; a book is a book is a book. What a concept!

 

Four Marketing Lessons From The Budweiser Puppy

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by Kimberly A. Cook                  (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

The Super Bowl is one of the biggest marketing platforms on the planet. That’s one reason why I watch the tv commercials so closely. Ad folks at the top of their creative game come to play. The take away for book marketing is always educational.

Budweiser Puppy Tweeting on a very large keyboard!
Budweiser Puppy Tweeting on a very large keyboard!

Four classic marketing rules were demonstrated by the Budweiser Puppy ad this year:

One: Babes, Beauties and Beasts: Working on the newspaper it was widely known pictures of babies – (i.e.*etrade),  good-looking men or women – (GoDaddy) and beasts, (Budweiser Puppy, Clydesdales) always resonate with readers. Us humans like to see pint-sized people, pretty people and fun animals. Score one for Madison Avenue using the age-old rule since the time of the real “Mad Men.”

Two: Hold the viewer/reader to the screen with feeling: We adore the puppy who finds a friend, is taken away from his home and buddies, then rescued by his buds and brought back home. Not one shot of a beer bottle.  Budweiser knows they are selling a feeling, commitment, brand loyalty and family and friends, not a bottle of beer.

Same with selling books. We writers are selling escape, education, thrills, solving problems, providing comfort and laughter.  It’s not really a book or a bottle of beer; our books offer an experience, touch feelings and/or help fix problems.

Can’t get much more heart-string pulling than a puppy, unless it’s the homecoming parade for the soldier from Afghanistan Budweiser used as their second commercial. We still have troops at war and when only his wife greets him when he comes home, then everybody is there it’s a tear-jerker. Besides the fact a crowd like that might freak out a returning combat vet it does send a heartfelt message. (By the way, women veterans come home too and I don’t see much of that, note to advertisers.)

Three: Use the three-act play structure for commercials, movies or books. Commercials are mini-mini movies or short, short stories but the same plotting and structure needs are present. The Budweiser puppy commercial has a set up, turning point and climax complete with a dog adopter villain and a happy ending all in 60 seconds flat. The B-story line sets up a possible human romance too.

Four: Social Media is here to stay and both Super Bowl ad and book launch campaigns require planning. The Budweiser Puppy Love Super Bowl ad was released online Wednesday, by Thursday it had gone viral and the Budweiser Puppy had his own Twitter account and was tweeting. According to the #HashTag Bowl, in 2012 only 25 percent of Super Bowl ads used hashtags, this year hashtags were used by more than 50 percent of the advertisers. So Twitter is here to stay and that Budweiser doggie is one smart social media puppy! #BestBuds

Links:

Budweiser Puppy Twitter Account: http://www.twitter.com/BudweiserPuppy

Budweiser Puppy Wins Super Bowl! http://marketingland.com/1-3-million-shares-budweiser-puppy-love-ad-declared-years-super-bowl-winner-72922

Twitter Rules Hashtag Bowl http://marketingland.com/game-over-twitter-mentioned-in-50-of-super-bowl-commercials-facebook-only-8-google-shut-out-32420

Which Cat Food/Book Publishing Option Is For You?

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by Kimberly A. Cook             (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Sometimes there are just too many choices. Last month when my family life was crazy, Spec Ops Cat decided to get in on the act and he got very sick. Long story short he is much better, but not before I opened 22 cans of cat food, baby food, tuna and spent big bucks at the veterinarian on my favorite pussy cat.

Cat food refrigerator chaos!
Cat food refrigerator chaos!

My vet had me try many different kinds and brands of food to get him to eat. I cooked up everything from poached fresh chicken breast to Fancy Feast blue can Chicken Primavera; which when I popped off the can top I would have eaten it. Cat? No. In the end, when Spec Ops Cat finally decided to eat one of his regular brands, Friskies salmon shreds with gravy, I of course did my happy dance out of his sight so as not to scare him.

Now a wad of cash and happy cat later, the varieties of cat food reminds me of today’s publishing environment. (How’s that for a transition?) You can go from poached fresh chicken – Smashwords, to baby food – independent print on demand, or choose basic cat food – CreateSpace, or move on up to traditional publishing with Fancy Feast. Pretty much the choices can make your head explode.

Reminds me of an episode from the book “Mig Pilot: The Final Escape of Lt. Belenko,” by John Barron – a defecting Mig pilot who was taken to an American store thought they had made it just for him. He’d never seen so many choices of toothpaste! We Americans do like our choices.

So while I’m trying to figure out what to be and write when I grow up and all the publishing choices overwhelm me, luckily author/former Green Beret Bob Mayer writes a great blog post about what he sees coming in hybrid publishing. Bob reminded me that in the end it all doesn’t matter if you don’t actually FINISH a book or poem or short story.

There’s the rub of it. So my action plan is to finish the manuscripts and then worry about what choice of cat food/book publishing option I will take from the menu; which will probably have more choices by then. First things first as author Stephen Covey would say.

And that is why when it comes to which publishing option is best for any author, I can refer people to the cat food aisle. Pick what is best for you and your book. Or ask a cat for advice, but remember; cats don’t shop, they have staff.

Bob Mayer’s Blog Post here: http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2014/01/23/the-illusions-of-traditionalself-publishing-the-reality-of-hybrid-publishing/

Are Reference Ebooks Cool Again In The Digital World?

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by Kimberly A. Cook                   (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Read a fascinating article in Publishers Weekly magazine about the changing world for reference writers and publishers. Seems the demise of the Oxford English Dictionary and Encyclopedia Britannica print editions did not spell the end of reference works, just the paper format.

Reference books are making gains online in the digital ebook revolution.
Reference books are making gains online in the digital ebook revolution.

The long and short of it is that non-fiction or reference writers need to cater their content delivery vehicle to the age and target market of their reader. Now this has always been true in publishing, but even more so now with the digital publishing revolution as it relates to reference works, which includes how to write books.

But some reference titles are still selling quite well in print, so as the saying goes, there is never just one answer to a publishing question. Some reference publishers are targeting parents of college students and the students themselves according to the article. So once again a niche market divides into smaller niches by need and age group.

For the non-fiction author this is another great source about markets to study and trends to watch when considering how to publish your how to or how not to book to readers. The article talks about the importance of libraries in the digital reference migration and how libraries have pushed the reference publishers to adapt to their needs as library users demand more online resources.

The only thing constant in publishing is change and right now we keep seeing the rise of the author and that readers are Queen. Take the time to consider the best way to have your non-fiction work meet your readers and do some research, you might be surprised!

Read the article here: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/new-titles/adult-announcements/article/56795-the-changing-world-of-reference-focus-on-reference-2012.html

Got Your Ducks Organized?

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by Kimberly A. Cook          (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Holy cow cakes! Lots of writers/people checked out my post on Tuesday, thanks everybody. I’m trying to catch up with all the great feedback. Always amazes me when real people are actually out there and make a comment. Thank you for the support.

Part of any new year is getting organized and right now I am working on taxes. Oh joy. I’d rather be writing! But this “other” paperwork needs to be completed too. So for inspiration I found this video about getting your ducks organized. Fits the Quirky Friday fun theme, so enjoy! Have a great weekend and keep writing what you love.