Business Posts | The Writer's Cookbook

4 Lessons from 4 Years of Blogging

by Kristina Adams | Jul 17, 2018 | Business, Social Media and Marketing

I still can’t believe I’ve been blogging for four years. I mean, four years ago I’d only just started my first day job. I was still writing my dissertation. I’d never seen Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries 😱

And now…now I have a job as a content marketer. I’ve published three books (and an anthology). And I’m on my second watch of Miss Fisher in a year (some things require it).

I don’t claim to be an expert in writing. When you start calling yourself an expert, you get cocky. You stop learning. And then…you stop being an expert.

But I do know a fair bit about writing after all these years of studying and several million (yes, really) words written.

So, to celebrate The Writer’s Cookbook’s fourth birthday, here are four lessons I’ve learnt from four years of blogging.

How to Add More Personality to Your Writing

by Kristina Adams | May 10, 2018 | Business, Copy, Writing

I was catching up with the local writing news the other day, and I came across an advert on how to get started with copywriting.

Curious, I gave it a read. And OMG, it was so badly written it sounded like Alexa had written it.

The sentences didn’t flow, there was no colour or personality to the words, and it gave me no faith in the course leader whatsoever. Fair play to the person running the workshop if they make a living copywriting, but there’s no way they’re earning as much as some copywriters do (which can be over six figures, maybe even seven).

So, while there’s no way I’m attending that course, it did inspire me to write this list of ways you can add more personality into your writing.

How Not to Market a Book

by Kristina Adams | Apr 19, 2018 | Business, Social Media and Marketing

There’s a tonne of advice out there about how to market a book. I have a whole category dedicated to it.

That’s because the marketing of your book is just as important—if not more important—as the content of your book.

Without a marketing plan, your book won’t reach as many readers as it could, you won’t make much (if any) money from your books, and you’ll probably lose interest in writing all together.

But the thing is, your readers won’t come to you. You have to seek them out.

Failing to actively seek out your readers is a prime example of how not to market a book. Here’s a few more book marketing no-nos.

Guest Posting for Authors: The Complete Guide

by Kristina Adams | Mar 15, 2018 | Business, Content Marketing for Authors, Social Media and Marketing

Want to get your writing noticed? Guest posting is one of the best ways to do it. I doubled preorders of Productivity for Writers with just one...

6 Self-Publishing Myths That Need to Die

by Kristina Adams | Mar 1, 2018 | Business, Publishing

In 2015, Joanna Penn hosted a talk at Nottingham Writers' Studio on how to make a living from your writing. Her talk dispelled many of the myths...

How to be Organised in Your Writing, Editing, and Book Marketing

by Kristina Adams | Feb 19, 2018 | Business, Editing, Productivity, Social Media and Marketing, Writing

Being organised sounds boring, doesn't it? Especially if you find spontaneity so much fun! Unfortunately, when you have a lot of...

Power Dressing for Authors

by Kristina Adams | Feb 8, 2018 | Business, Creativity, Productivity, Social Media and Marketing

You may be wondering why power dressing matters for authors.

You may want to argue that it doesn’t.

But from the minute you write your first words to when you read your finished piece to your audience, your outfit matters.

The clothes we wear affect how we feel.

When we dress scruffy, we feel scruffy.

When we power dress, we feel empowered. We feel in control.

This feeling of empowerment affects every step of our writing process.

Why You Need to Embrace Rejection

by Kristina Adams | Aug 17, 2017 | Business, Productivity

There isn’t a single published writer out there who hasn’t been rejected at least once.

In fact, I think you’d struggle to find a writer who’s only been rejected once.

Even Stephen King had short stories rejected when he first started out.

Harry Potter was rejected by numerous publishers, and J.K.Rowling had some pretty harshly-worded rejection letters for her Cormoran Strike novels, too.

Some authors get to the point where their name alone is enough to attract the attention of a publisher.

To get to that point, though, you have to go through what feels like endless rejections.

How to Deal With Stress and Burnout

by Kristina Adams | Aug 3, 2017 | Business, Productivity

Think of your energy levels like a battery.

Certain things recharge that battery, while others drain it.

You may find dealing with people draining, while alone time recharges you.

You may find that some days writing helps you to recharge, while on other days it drains you. It can depend on what stage of the writing process you’re at, or what’s going on in your life outside of your writing.

Just like when you let your phone battery get close to 0%, the lower your battery levels get, the longer it takes to recharge.

How Do You Know When Your Book is Ready?

by Kristina Adams | Jun 8, 2017 | Business, Creativity, Publishing

First off, we need to establish whether you mean ready for an editor/beta readers, or ready for self-publication/submitting to agents.

They’re VERY different things.

Having published two books, sent a third off to beta readers (more on that soon), and studied Creative Writing, I’ve had to get good at knowing when my work is ready to share with people.

Sometimes it’s a case of the book is ready, but you’re not.

In that situation, you need two things: moral support and tough love.