We CAN! promote our books

Friends and Experts

Hi, all! Ava Pennington checking in from sunny Florida. They say the life of a writer is lonely. That’s true in some ways, but the advent of the Internet has connected us in ways we never imagined. It has also made research easier than ever. However, easier is not always better.

7 Twitter Rules of the Road

Hi, Ava Pennington, CAN Secretary, here. Our CAN members have been learning how to better use social media, thanks to several recent member webinars. As I apply what I’ve been learning, I've noticed some parallels with driving…

The Marketing Seesaw

Hi from Ava Pennington, CAN Secretary...

When was the last time you played on a seesaw? Maybe you called it a teeter-totter. The fun lasted only as long as the person on the other end weighed about the same as you. Enough of an imbalance and you either spent most of the time camped on the ground or hanging in the air.

A seesaw is not the only place balance is important.

It would be nice to think being an author meant spending all our time weaving words to enthrall readers. It would be nice...but not realistic. The reality of the publishing industry is that we must continuously build our platform, balancing writing and marketing. And balance is the key word…

Hopes and Fears

Good morning from Ava Pennington, CAN Secretary, in sunny Florida…

The week between Christmas and New Year is a time between times. The build up to Christmas is over. The new year has yet to begin. Anticipation gives way to fatigue. The Christmas decorations seem to have outlasted their welcome, but I’m not ready to take them down yet. And as much as I love Christmas hymns and carols, they seem anticlimactic.

But one Christmas hymn in particular speaks to the writer in me this week.

Seasons

Hi, all! Ava Pennington here from Florida…where the temperature has cooled to a mere 85 degrees. That’s about as much change in seasons as we’ll get until our version of winter finally arrives.

Seasons. They’re not limited to the calendar and the weather. We move through seasons of life as we parent babies and teenagers, experience empty nests and become caregivers for our own parents. Writing adds another layer to already full lives. So let’s talk about seasons in a writer’s life...and in the lives of CAN members.

By the Numbers

Hi, all! Ava Pennington here from sunny Florida…well, mostly sunny Florida. The afternoon rainstorms have finally started, to the residents’ joy and the tourists’ chagrin!

Lately, I've been thinking about the relationship between words and numbers in the publishing industry. I’m a writer, not a mathematician. I love words - their structure and style, their rhythm and rhyme. I enjoy alliteration and onomatopoeia. I’m drawn to the images that words evoke. Numbers…not so much. Still, serious writers know that publishing—even Christian publishing—is a business. And business is often about the numbers.

We’ve Always Done It This Way…or Not

Hi, all – Ava Pennington here, with a note about shaking things up.
The publishing industry is moving faster than Doc Brown’s DeLorean, but not always in a good way. Stagnant sales, corporate restructurings, e-publishing, people reading less…the news can be discouraging. So what’s an author to do? One thing we should not do is approach our writing careers with an “I’ve always done it this way” attitude.

Speaking of Writing...

Hi, all – Ava Pennington here, with the monthly installment on what I’ve been doing to market my first release, One Year Alone with God: 366 Devotions on the Names of God. I’ve already described a variety of activities, but one thing we haven’t touched on is speaking…

Handling Rejection

Welcome to the third Thursday in May from Ava Pennington!

Have you ever seen an unattractive baby? Even if you think the baby is ugly, his parents would never agree. That baby is part of them. He carries their DNA. More than that, he carries their hopes and dreams for the future.

Grateful Marketing

Hi, Ava Pennington here, with another installment in my marketing journey. It’s been seven months since One Year Alone with God: 366 Devotions on the Names of God was released by Revell, and each month I’ve described the activities I’ve engaged in to help market this book. Today, I’d like to speak about something we can all do to market our books…something we learned in kindergarten.