Blog - News and Updates from the World of Ghostwriting and Self-publishing

The Importance of a Well Designed Author Website

Posted on March 15 2016 by Mark Graham
Crude Policy, an exciting novel about one man's plan to save the US from imminent decline, was a collaboration with Joel Albert and Mark Graham Communications

Crude Policy, an exciting novel about one man’s plan to save the US from imminent decline, was a collaboration with Joel Albert and Mark Graham Communications

People are online all day every day, or so it seems.  This would seem to suggest the importance of having a website to promote your book, or to promote you as an up and coming or well-established author. This is hard to argue.  What is not hard to argue is that an average website is good enough, or that a template that you can buy for very little money makes sense.

What we know is this. An ever increasing number of people are making buying decisions based upon what they see online, and this includes the quality of their experience at any given website. Selling your book or selling yourself as an author is no different. In fact, as the e-book becomes an ever more popular form for getting your reading fix, your author website takes on more meaning.

Books are a competitive business. Make sure your website measures up. Make it special. Make it memorable. Both in design and content.  Most often, this design component starts with your book cover. Why?  Because you want to feature your book cover prominently on the home page of your author website. The image of your book cover should very likely travel from one page to the next.  Start there. Choose your cover design wisely, and remember that it will represent you in your ad campaigns both on social media and in traditional media.

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The Author and the Art of Blogging

Posted on February 19 2016 by Mark Graham
This intense and suspenseful read, written by King Hurly and Mark Graham Communications will keep you on the edge of your seat from cover-to-cover.

This intense and suspenseful read, written by King Hurley and Mark Graham Communications will keep you on the edge of your seat from cover-to-cover.

Whether you love social media or not, make no mistake that it serves a purpose.  Whether you have written a novel, biography, self-help book, or business book, blogging is vital on many levels.  When it comes to your book, it is all about exposure, and that is the essential purpose of blogging: to get you and your book noticed.  Blogging is your way of speaking to the search engines that are the Big Brother of the Internet. Blogging is like a conference that draws interested party-goers to your party. Blogging is marketing, and ever author ever born has to market.

The book you have written surely came from a place of passion. Passion for your story, your character, your self-help message, your inspiration. Yet the book you have written is also the basis for a business: the book is your product; you, as the author, are an extension of that product; you, therefore, are the promoter.  Blogging is one of your promotional vehicles.

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Ghostwriting and Self-Publication

Posted on January 19 2016 by Mark Graham
Risk: A Road Worth Traveling – collaboration with Craig Huntington and Mark Graham Communications

Risk: A Road Worth Traveling – collaboration with Craig Huntington and Mark Graham Communications

There is a direct correlation between the ghostwriting process and the self-publication process.  Some people will tell you that both are easy.  You have an idea for a book – a novel, biography, business book, or self-book, for instance – and you bring some one on board that is advertising themselves as a top flight writer.  Here is your first and perhaps most formidable obstacle.  How can tell this person is top flight?  How can you tell if he or she has, first, the credentials to write your book, and, second, the interpersonal skills to make the collaboration work?  You do your due diligence. You trust your instincts.  You make sure you know what you’re getting into and how easy it is to extract yourself if it goes south.  Your book is close to your heart. Don’t let your heart get in the way of choosing someone who shares your passion, but also understands the process and possesses the requisite skills; there are not a lot of people like that.

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Every Writer Needs an Effective Website

Posted on December 18 2015 by Mark Graham
The Domination Game, an enticing tale of a strong heroine persona clashing with a strong alpha male was written by Jennifer Byars and published by Mark Graham Communications.

The Domination Game, an enticing tale of a strong heroine persona clashing with a strong alpha male was written by Jennifer Byars and published by Mark Graham Communications.

It is all about exposure.  You may have written the best book in the world, but it will be impossible to sell if no one knows about it. With that in mind, let’s talk about creating a special website promoting you, the writer, and the book you’ve spent so many hours creating.

Problem one is that there are websites ad nauseam that are essential advertisements. Don’t go there. If your site is nothing more than a “please buy my book,” it is destine to fail. The truth is this: you won’t sell books if no one knows about your website, and don’t count on any staying on your site or recommending it to others if it’s primarily an advertisement. A website is meant to build a platform to generate interest in you, your book, and everything you want your book to accomplish, and ad sites do just the opposite.

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Fire and Fiction

Posted on November 16 2015 by Mark Graham
SumoLand

Sumoland, a great fictional story of an outsider is a collaboration with King Hurley and Mark Graham Communications

As the myth is told, mankind can thank the Greek titan Prometheus for the gift of fire. Prometheus apparently had a soft spot for humans and knew we needed fire to have any chance of rising above the fray.  Zeus, ruler of Olympus and Lord of the Sky, didn’t share this fondness for men. And since he was not eager for us to have power over fire – or much of anything else really – it was left to Prometheus to perform an act of thevery unparellelled in the annuls of myth and mystery. As the story goes, he stole a fiery flame from the lightning that Zeus controlled, concealed it in a hollow stalk of fennel, and brought it to man. The rest is history.

Fire provides heat, light, and fuel. Fire nurtures the soil. Fire stimulates growth and regenerates our ecosystems. Okay, we all know this. But fire’s most important gift is driving the imagination to new and often dangerous heights. There is not a soul on earth who isn’t fascinated by the mystery of fire: the way it moves; the sounds it manufactures; the vibrant colors it produces; the danger it brings to mind.

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The Novel and the Art of World Building

Posted on October 5 2015 by Mark Graham

This exciting fantasy fiction is a collaboration between Sylvio Tabet and Mark Graham Communications.

Oh, yes, you hear everyone using this phrase these days: World Building.

It is meant to convey something that writers have been doing since the dawn of the pen: dropping the reader into scenes that not only fit your story, but give it momentum and purpose; creating a setting that brings your characters to life and effectively stirs the reader’s imagination.

It begins, generally speaking, with the task of deciding when your story is going to take place.  What is the time line?  Is it the 19th Century or the 22nd Century.  Both require creating a world that the reader will buy into and be excited to live in for a short time each day. That is the challenge. That is also the wondrous pleasure that no one can take from you.

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Your Biography is Your Legacy

Posted on September 10 2015 by Mark Graham
An award winning biography ghostwritten with Paul Wayne by Mark Graham Communications

An award winning biography ghostwritten with Paul Wayne by Mark Graham Communications

No matter what anyone tells you, the life you have lived is more than a story filled with adventures and obstacles, love and lose, family and friends.  It is more than jobs you’ve worked or the degrees you’ve earned.  It is more than the memories you’ve accrued or the regrets you have. It is more than your successes and your failures.  It is your legacy.  It is the power of all your experiences coming together via the power of the written word.

A biography or a memoir (which focuses on a part of your life rather than the whole) allows you to share the wisdom of your years. It allows you to share a world view that is completely unique to you and only you.

Picture your biography in printed form, with a cover like no other cover on any other book, with your words presented on every page. Even if your intent is to share this book with members of your family, picture the pride of laying that book in their hands and saying, “It’s who I am. It’s what I think. It’s my emotions. It’s my heart and soul.” There is no other feeling like that.

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Writing a Novel is like Planting a Tree

Posted on August 19 2015 by Mark Graham

This fascinating book on the topic of wisdom was written by Gabrielle V. Taylor and Mark Graham CommunicationsWhen you are looking for help in Writing a Novel, there are many questions to consider. Finding exactly the right ghostwriter or professional editor is like choosing the right tree for exactly the right spot in your yard.  It’s a critical decision.  Before you truly commit to your book, the more you have finalized the plot of your story, the further down the road you will be. The better developed your cast of characters, the more memorable they will be.  The more committed you are to the voice, tone, and style you decide on, the more you’ll be able to dive in head first without second guessing yourself.

There are a number of key elements that you want to consider when Writing a Novel.  They can be broken down in these four key points:

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What Do Art and Fiction Have in Common

Posted on August 11 2015 by Mark Graham

This power-packed stepmom guide is a collaboration between Kristin E. Smith and Graham Publishing Group

Most of us think of art and fiction more or less in the same breath – the writing of great fiction most certainly being an art – but let’s put this obvious connection on the back burner for the moment.

You don’t just wake up one morning and call yourself an artist. No more than you do a writer. Picking up a paintbrush and standing in front of a canvas doesn’t make you an artist. Dropping a chunk of clay on a pottery wheel and digging your hands into it doesn’t make you a potter. You can probably see where I’m going with this. It takes extraordinary dedication, practice, and skill to turn a blank canvas into a true work of art. The best potters spend thousands of hours trying to raise their craft to the level we call art.

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Procrastination is Not the Enemy

Posted on May 18 2015 by Mark Graham
Wow Moments

This engaging how-to business book on customer interaction is a collaboration between Mark Kent and Mark Graham Communications

Most of us procrastinate.  Writers can be terrible procrastinators.  People who have a good book in them, but aren’t writers also procrastinate.  Have a great story to tell or a wonderful message to share about life, business, cooking, or canoeing but don’t believe in their skills to bring that story or that message to life, often blame procrastination instead of seeing the reality of creative process.

The creative process is very often a team effort.  Even for best selling authors, the creative process is a team effort. You would be amazed how many people work with very talented ghostwriters these days.

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