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Using Tech for Book Marketing

Kate Gingold from Sprocket WebsitesKate has been building websites with her husband Don since 1996 for all sorts of clients, including authors.

Kate regularly writes about online marketing for Sprocket Websites and provides tips and techniques for entrepreneurs and small-business owners. Since being an author today is not really different from being an entrepreneur with a small business, most of those tips are just as useful to authors.

Kate is an author herself. She writes books on local history, including the award-winning "Ruth by Lake and Prairie," a fictionalized account of the true story of Great Lake pioneering to the shores of Chicago and beyond to found Naperville, Illinois. 

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Ruth By Lake and Prairie

Author Tips and Tales

Writing and Writing Practice – for Work, for Pleasure, for Passion
Kate Gingold Host
/ Categories: Author Tips

Writing and Writing Practice – for Work, for Pleasure, for Passion

My writing time suffered quite a bit this summer. We purged our house of 30+ years of “stuff,” staged and maintained the staging while it was for sale, packed everything left into storage, moved in with my parents for a month, and are now settling into our new place. While I did snatch hours here and there for my current project, they were pathetically few. 

But that didn’t mean I wasn’t writing. I just wasn’t writing, alas!, for my book. 

As part of a team that runs a web design and internet marketing business, I regularly write social media posts for clients. Posts need to be taut, include appropriate search terms, be emotionally engaging, and be completed on a deadline, all of which is great writing practice. 

I also research and write an article for our company newsletter every other week. Coming up with article ideas and distilling the techie stuff into plain English strengthens certain writing muscles. For the in-between weeks, I update old articles, which flexes other writing muscles. 

Our team has been writing blog posts since 2011. Some posts simply require updating the tech references, but others need serious editing! It’s cringe-inducing to re-read awkward sentence structure, rampant clichés, and even spelling errors. How did those things slip through the first time? Ugh! While painful, it’s also kind of satisfying to fix these errors.

Once a month, I also put together an article on Naperville history. My first books were about early Naperville and I still love that research. I try to come up with a way to make the history relevant for people such as explaining the backstory of street names or of old buildings. Those articles are posted on my Kate’s Brief History blog, but I also share an even briefer version with my fellow Ambassadors at the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce. It’s meant to be a fun way to learn more about the community where we do business. 

I even wrote a couple of actual letters recently, which is also writing practice, although I suspect I sometimes use this as an excuse for not doing the harder work of my current manuscript. I’m sure I’m not the only writer who is guilty of dragging their feet and should just finish their project already! 

There should be fewer challenges in the coming weeks, so I should have fewer excuses not to work on my book. By saying this (digitally) out loud, I’m hoping the commitment will stick. Wish me well! And if you’re also trying to motivate yourself, drop me a line. Misery loves company!

Photo by Lum3n from Pexels

 

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Full disclosure:  Writing for Sprocket Websites is my day job, so if you have questions about digital marketing, I'm happy to help!

 

Marketing Author Interview

Following a presentation for In Print Professional Writers Group, Kate's husband (and publisher!) Don was interviewed by author Louise Brass for WBOM Radio. During the conversation, Don shared many of the marketing tips from his presentation. You can listen to it online here.

The Sprocket Report

The Sprocket Report is published every other week with Internet marketing tips, tools and techniques. The archive features articles from 2011 up to the present. You are welcome to read how business owners are using technology to market themselves and apply those tips to your author business.


 

 

Get a Book Siging Checklist and our Sprocket Report

Kate will be happy to send you her brief Book Signing Checklist. Treat your book promotion like a business - because it is!

AND, since much of your efforts will be online, she'll also enroll you in her Sprocket Report, an email newsletter sent every other Tuesday, that includes 2 Internet Marketing tips and a post from a guest blogger on related business.

No worries! She won't use your email address for anything else, and you can unsubscribe from the newsletter anytime, but the checklist is yours to keep.

Any questions of Kate? Leave them in the message field and she'll get back to you ASAP.

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