Why the ‘Spray and Pray’ Marketing Method Doesn’t Work

When authors ask me to help them with their online marketing, they usually open with:

“My agent told me I need a Facebook ‘fan’ page, so I had my son create one for me. But I haven’t posted anything to it. I don’t even know how to use it. Help!”

Most writers struggle to balance the demands of writing and marketing our writing. Unsure about how to woo readers, we use the ‘spray and pray’ marketing method: we create a blog and multiple social media accounts, spray out random updates and pray someone pays attention.

[ Listen ]
Becoming a Writerpreneur

81 – Becoming a Writerpreneur

You work up your courage and pitch the “book baby” you’ve been laboring over for years to an agent or editor.

They respond with, “Tell me about your author platform.”

Your heart hits the floor as you realize that you’ve spent years writing your book, but only a few minutes thinking about who might buy it.

I’d like you to consider a different approach – one that enables you to simultaneously write, publish, and build that all-important author platform. I call it “becoming a writerpreneur.” (Includes transcript and loads of links.)

[ Listen ]
Sharon Elliott and Sarah Sundin

75 – Writers Conferences: The Best Investment an Author Can Make, with Sharon Elliott and Sarah Sundin

“A writers conference is the place I can find out how to get my book published, because my book is perfect, and everyone needs to read it.”

That’s the mistaken assumption three newbie writers – Sarah Sundin, Sharon Elliott, and I – made before we attended our first writers conference. Oh, were we in for a surprise!

The three of us chat about our first-ever writers conference experiences, and how attending conferences has shaped and grown our writing careers.

[ Listen ]