By Cara Putman, @cara_putman
As writers, it can be easy to get tunnel vision. We are so focused on our writing that it can be hard to see strategic opportunities to branch out. At the same time, marketing can be overwhelming. There are so many things we are supposed to do that we can run out of time to write. If we write, we don’t have time to market. And if we market, we don’t have time to write. Then add in the need to constantly be innovating and staying on top of every new idea and it can be exhausting and draining.
It doesn’t have to be.
Really.
There are ways to maximize your impact and efforts. Take a step back and think big picture. That new series you’re writing. Could you write a prequel? Instead of just writing a prequel, here are three things you could do to maximize the impact and appeal of that novel or novella while also expanding your reach and readers.
- Write with other authors. Instead of just writing a novella that you throw on retail sites or offer to your newsletter readers, could you combine with other authors for a collection? You’ll share your audience of readers with them, and they’ll be sharing their readers with you too. It requires an infinite mindset that believes that readers are voracious with an appetite for more material than you can ever write. So hold your readers loosely and share them widely. At the same time, do it with intention. Will your readers enjoy the books that are written by the other people you are working with? Is there a connection in style that makes it a good blend? If so, then share freely and happily. And think of it as marketing your writing to new potential readers, while also making it accessible to your readers.
- Think in layers. After it comes out of the collection in three, six, or nine months, can you transform that novella into a freebie for your newsletter list? Can it then become a prequel to your next series? Can you create a thread or layer in that that book that ties to an earlier book you wrote? Can you connect it to one releasing in the future? Your best readers and biggest fans will love those Easter eggs, i.e. connections. It feels like an inside gift to them. And it can be a fun way to return to characters or themes that you enjoyed in prior books.
- As you’re writing, think about potential spin-off series that could come. Maybe you’re writing it to be the prequel for a specific series, but as you’re writing new characters start waving their hands for attention. That’s good. Let them. They might very well start a new series for you. Then consider how to repackage these spinoffs you create. Susan May Warren is masterful at this, and I need to spend some time on this endeavor. For my new series that’s releasing, I’ve been building to it for a year or more, so there are three novella that are releasing that all signal this new story world. I can repackage those together as well as individually and drip campaign them out to my readers and the larger book world in advance of the first full novel releasing in May. All of these connections can also be shared via social media and my blog. I created these connections intentionally. Now I need to make sure readers see them as well.
How can you create the same web in the books you’re creating?
If they expected silence, they hired the wrong woman.
Caroline Bragg’s life has never been better. She and Brandon Lancaster are taking their relationship to the next level, and she has a new dream job as legal counsel for Praecursoria—a research lab that is making waves with its cutting-edge genetic therapies. The company’s leukemia treatments even promise to save desperately sick kids—kids like eleven-year-old Bethany, a critically ill foster child at Brandon’s foster home.
When Caroline’s enthusiastic boss wants to enroll Bethany in experimental trials prematurely, Caroline objects, putting her at odds with her colleagues. They claim the only goal at Praecursoria is to save lives. But does someone have another agenda?
Brandon faces his own crisis. As laws governing foster homes shift, he’s on the brink of losing the group home he’s worked so hard to build. When Caroline learns he’s a Praecursoria investor, it becomes legally impossible to confide in him. Will the secrets she keeps become a wedge that separates them forever? And can she save Bethany from the very treatments designed to heal her?
This latest romantic legal thriller by bestseller Cara Putman shines a light on the shadowy world of scientific secrets and corporate vendettas—and the ethical dilemmas that plague the place where science and commerce meet.
“Intriguing characters. Romantic tension. Edge-of-your-seat suspense. And a fast-paced ending that will leave you exhausted (in a good way!).” —Robert Whitlow, award-winning author of Promised Land
Since the time she could read Nancy Drew, Cara has wanted to write mysteries. In 2005 she attended a book signing at her local Christian bookstore. The rest, as they say, was history. There she met a fellow Indiana writer Colleen Coble. With prompting from her husband, Cara shared her dream with Colleen. Since those infamous words, Cara’s been writing award-winning books. She is currently marketing book 36 and dreaming up future books, not hard when she sees what-ifs everywhere.
Cara Putman is an active member of ACFW and gives back to the writing community through her service on Executive Board. She has also been the Indiana ACFW chapter president and served as the Area Coordinator for Indiana.
Cara is also an attorney, full-time lecturer at a Big Ten university, and all-around crazy woman. Crazy about God, her husband and her kids that is. She graduated with honors from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Go Huskers!), George Mason Law School, and Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management. You can learn more about Cara at www.caraputman.com.
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