Writing poetry and selling poetry are two completely different animals. Replete with various challenges, poetry falls into its own category, and is unlike fiction or non-fiction entries. Poetry can be marketed as a single poem, a group of poems or…

As Hometown Reads authors living two blocks apart in Minneapolis, we’ve found power in partnership. For nearly a decade, we’ve been buddying up to promote ourselves and sell our books. It’s a marketing best practice we stumbled on but now…

A very good friend of mine who lives in Sedona – Arizona has recently been globe-trotting the world on a series of learnings. I was fascinated to speak with her last week and we discussed many subjects and the topic lead into deep conversation on…

I packed a bag with copies of my books and press releases, made a list of places I hoped would be receptive to my pitch and started making the rounds. The local libraries were less enthusiastic than I had hoped however they did…

I’m excited about what we’ve done so far in building Hometown Reads because I believe to be successful in marketing a book, authors need to start where they are — mobilizing the networks of relationships they already have. Oftentimes…

…and after all that, and three years later at eight AM, I pushed back from the desk and thought, it’s done. First draft of my first-ever novel—boom! I went out front to wait for the parade. Biz-casual types whipped past in Euro sedans to OMG…

Every author should love book bloggers, because they truly love books and authors. Snagging reviews in newspapers, magazines and major sites takes work, connections and a lot of luck. Book bloggers can be much more accessible and, because they write…

Detective Parrott When I wrote Murder in the One Percent, released in 2018, I wanted to tell the story of a group of insanely wealthy financial wizards who find themselves at an opulent party, but one of them wakes up dead. Because it was a murder…

Grange Day George Cates and his sister Effie had a milking herd in East Vassalboro, Maine for many years. He was very active in the local Grange. Grange is a movement from the mid 1800s to promote animal and food husbandry and to promote the…