February 26, 2015

This beast called "Self-promotion"

Okay, so I got asked advice on how to self-promote and get people to do the things you ask them to do and so on. And I thought, this is a loaded question and I ought to write a whole post about it. Because here is the thing.

NUMBER ONE.

January 28, 2015

How I launch my books: I DON'T

by Ksenia Anske

Shocker! Not what you expected to hear. Ana Elisa Miranda asked me this question, about how I launch my books. I thought about telling you that I strap them to a seat like Laikas and hurl them into space on board of various Sputniks. I also thought about the idea of chucking them into bushes out the window or, an amusement of a more gregarious variety, tossing them on people's heads from a high balcony and see what they say.

That was me not being serious. This is me attempting to be serious.

I don't launch my books. I really don't. I swear.

October 29, 2014

How to write a good book summary

by Ksenia Anske

A book summary is basically a hook. To hook the reader. And this is the only thing I know about it. YOU CAN LAUGH NOW. I keep telling you that I have no clue what I'm doing. No clue how to write books, how to market them, how to anything. Well, this post is the scariest of them all for me to write. Because I have no bloody clue how to write a good book summary. I will attempt to dissect it here, and, in writing it out, hopefully get a better idea.

You might want to peck my eyes out now like scuffling kestrels or something.

DO IT.

Still here? Wow. Amazing. Okay, let's tackle this beast together. Because a book summary as as important as your book cover. First, your readers see your book summarized as an image. The cover. The pictures on the cover. The colors. The words. That will either compel them to pick it up, or will make them want to pass. The simpler you make it, the better, the easier job it will do in standing out from the crowd and in being memorable. We humans, sadly, don't have good memories. We grasp about three main things about each object, and later can recall only one. If at all.

October 1, 2014

The secret to 5-star book reviews

by Ksenia Anske

This will blow your socks off, so you better hold on to them. Ready?

DISCLAIMER: What follows is a total off-the-wall idea so please don't view it as some kind of an ultimate truth because it isn't. Nothing I say is. Quite the contrary. Everything I say is a big fat lie. I hope you have learned this lesson by now.

Still with me? Excellent. Let's hop on this ruckus wagon.

READERS TEND TO GIVE 5-STAR REVIEWS TO WRITERS THEY KNOW.

Or they think they do.

You don't need to start shouting at me yet. Chill. Let me explain my hypothesis.

I've been watching my book reviews with an unhealthy fascination. Okay, maybe not very unhealthy, but definitely obsessive. You know, every morning, "Oh, let me check my book reviews!" and "Yes, got another 5-star one!" and "Wow, got another 4-star one!" and "Shit, got a 2-star one, but it's the only one, so fuck yeah, I'm doing something right!"