Resources for Authors

Finding good research materials when writing historical fiction can be a challenge, depending on how far back your story is set. It's important to remember that the voices and experiences of those old settlers are not all together lost.
National, state, and county documents, letters, photographs, newspapers, and other items are being carefully preserved by agencies and historical societies, like our own Nodaway County Historical Society and the The State Historical Society of Missouri, as well as the US National Archives, The Library of Congress, National Park Service, and thousands of museums and libraries, and other online databases.
Google Books and Internet Archive are great places to read digitized books and publications, even those printed hundreds of years ago. I recently downloaded to my computer a few digitized books from the 1700s and 1800s. It's nice to have these keyword-searchable texts, and it's just plain fun to read them. They can help with character development, help focus an author's attention on the details of day-to-day life, and even provide authors with a more accurate perspective on the attitudes and politics and social norms of a given period.
So, if you're looking to pack some historical fact and detail into your next work of historical fiction, don't forget these resources. And, if you're writing nonfiction, you can't live without them.

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Don't Forget the Marketing

There are many ways that indie authors can market their books today, reaching out to hundreds of millions of potential readers with a small investment of cash, as little as $10 in some cases, and some requiring $100 minimum or more. It depends on how prominent you want your ad to be and how long you want it to run. Per-click ads on sites like those noted below are the best marketing friend an indie author can have.

If you've been wondering what options are available to you, in addition to those trusted standards like magazines and newspapers, you may want to consider online ad campaigns on sites like Goodreads, and on social media sites like Facebook. There are also high-impact options like Google Ad Words that can get your books in front of hundreds of millions of people. And don't forget to talk to your local newspaper about an online ad for their website. They may cost a bit more, but they are key to reaching local as well as more distant readers.

Check into advertising on sites and in groups that are focused on your target audience. Most sites offering advertising options will permit you to select your daily budget amount, the price to be deducted from your prepaid advertising budget amount, and the duration you want your ad to run. And, most sites providing paid advertising options also provide data that can help you target your future ads more effectively. And, you may want to approach other indie authors and consider swapping linked ads on their space for placing an ad for their book(s) on yours.

And, most importantly, don't forget to put ads for your books on your own website and link those book covers back to where those books can be purchased, i.e., your Createspace e-store, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, etc.


Here are a few articles that will provide some insights into online advertising. Remember, producing the book is only one part of a successful outcome in the whole writing + publishing equation.


Publishers Weekly Articles
Google Ads 101: A Guide for Indie Authors
Facebook Ads: A Guide for Indie Authors
Goodreads Ads for Indie Authors

Bookworks.com
Targeted Book Advertising Strategies for Indie Authors

Regardless of what means you choose for advertising your books, it's important to do your homework, and don't feel locked in to just one site. Spread the word about your book by doing ad campaigns on a variety of sites. You'll be surprised what increased sales you may see from a very small initial investment.


Happy advertising - Susan.

Melinda Cordell -- Speaker -- November 29, 2016

The Maryville Chapter of the Missouri Writer's Guild will meet at 7 p.m. at the Alumni House on the south side of the Northwest Missouri State University campus. Our guest speaker for the meeting will be Melinda Cordell.

Melinda's first book, Courageous Women of the Civil War: Soldiers, Spies, Medics, and More, ($19.99 MG/YA nonfiction, was released by Chicago Review Press in 2016.

Since that time, Ms. Cordell has published two additional books. The first is titled

Angel in the Whirlwind, released on Amazon on September 2, 2016. It is a YA/NA short story collection about loneliness and change, and the angel in the middle of it all, waiting to guide you to a better life. 

Ms. Cordell's third book is titled Don't Throw in the Trowel! A Month-by-Month Guide to Vegetable Gardening. It was released in October of 2016. 

(From the author) This is the first book in my Easygrowing Garden Series. I used to be the gardening columnist for the St. Joseph News-Press, and the municipal horticulturist for the St. Joseph Parks and Rec department, so I might know a thing or two about gardening. The next books will be about roses, annuals and perennials, trees and shrubs, houseplants, soil building, and maybe growing with native species.We are pleased to have Melinda Cordell joining us for the November meeting. We hope you will come out and hear what she has to say.