Get Known Before the Book Deal

Get Known Sitings...

Jeff Ayers gave Get Known a rave review over at the Pacific Northwest Writers Association site, Author:

"Katz lifts the curtain of the publishing world and shows you how to develop your platform and achieve your dream of becoming a published author..."

 And Maria Schneider posted an interview with me on her blog, Editor Unleashed. She says, "Christina Katz is one writer who has mastered the art of the platform...I really admire Christina’s can-do spirit and practical approach to publishing."

Need a pep talk? Read the interview.

Come hear me speak on platform development at the monthly Portland Willamette Writers meeting

Have you clarified the expertise you have to offer?

Have you carved out your distinct niche so you'll stand out in the crowds?

Have you aligned what you offer with what your audience actually needs?

Come and assess where you stand in terms of the kind of platform development that will position you for a book deal at this summer's Willamette Writer's Conference.

Willamette Writers Monthly Meeting, Portland, Oregon Chapter

Writer's talk on "A Platform Development Checklist"

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 (admission or membership)

More info

Ready to Get Known, Writers? Come to Salem, Oregon Tonight!

I'll be speaking at the Salem branch of Willamette Writers tonight at 7 p.m.

Hope to see all the writers from our state's capital who want to get known there!

Have you heard? I'm on a mission...to help writers get known. :)

Get Known Before the Book Deal: A Platform Development Checklist

Even if you are not yet known and you don't have a writing specialty, you will enjoy this lively presentation about how to name, claim, cultivate and explain your all-important writer's platform from scratch. Becoming visible is more crucial to landing a book deal than ever, according to agents and editors in every facet of the publishing industry. Simply churning out a book isn't enough. Aspiring authors need to develop a platform in order to get noticed. Based on her book, Get Known Before the Book Deal, Christina Katz, will help you see the bigger platform picture and then take the small steps every writer must in order to get known and land a book deal.

Info is here.

For a Limited Time: Order Signed Copies of "Get Known" or "Writer Mama"

I will be visiting all the bookstores in the greater Portland area and signing their stock of Get Known in time for the holidays. I'll be sure to let you know when that happens, so that you can support your favorite bookstore.

But what if you live further away and you really, really want signed copies of my books?

Well, now for a limited time, you can order them directly from me!

Until December 30th, I will Priority Mail single copies of Get Known or Writer Mama right to your home.

E-mail me at christina katz at earthlink dot net or sign up for one of my e-zines for details. :)

And on that note, I know what I'm giving for holiday gifts this year...bookstore gift cards!

Why? Because I support bookstores, publishers and authors, that's why.

Now that the election is over, it's important for all of us to remember that every dollar we spend is a vote.

Won't you join me in voting for books and magazines this holiday season?

Wordstock Festival of Books is Happening Now at the Portland Convention Center!

I'll be there on Saturday teaching a workshop from 12:45 - 1:45 on Nonfiction Writing Rhythms.

And I'll be signing books at the Willamette Writers booth from 3-5 p.m.

Hope to see you there!

Write on, platform-builders!

And good luck with those NaNoWriMo wordcounts!

I've decided that my next book is going to be...a novel. (!!!)

Christina Katz' Get Known Guidelines for Writers

You will become influential for all the right reasons and stand out in a crowded marketplace when you…

1. Clarify the expertise you have to offer.
2. Carve out your distinct niche among the throngs doing similar work.
3. Align your offerings with what your audience needs and wants.
4. Accept the current industry realities and communicate with professionalism and poise.
5. Learn to see yourself from the point-of-view of seasoned gatekeepers in the industry.
6. Take 100% responsibility for your writing career, while partnering with impeccable others.
7. Invite and incorporate input from the most qualified sources, including your readers.
8. Stay competitive by evolving with the times and respond in a timely manner to areas that can benefit from improvement.
9. Keep an eye on future trends while staying firmly grounded in the moment.
10. Allow your platform development to be an integrated, authentic and organic process that increases your visibility as your good intentions take root, grow and bear fruit.
11. Make good things happen in your own career and in the careers of others.
12. Trust your gut. It always tells the truth.

Vote for the best candidate...you!

We've watched the presidential candidates campaign hard for the past ten months. Now it's YOUR turn.

Take charge of your writing career right now by ordering Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform from Christina Katz and Writer's Digest Books.

Step up and become visible. Doesn't your writing career deserve all the professional attention you can give it?

Read Get Known now and make 2009 your year for writing success!

In the voting spirit,

Christina

Read Excerpts from Get Known at Writersdigest.com!

Read the book summary, the table of contents, and the introduction from Get Known
Click here

Keep reading! Read chapter one from Get Known
Click here

For more, visit the Get Known website!

Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform from Christina Katz and Writer's Digest Books on sale now!

Sell Your First Book & Develop a Successful and Sustainable Writing Career

Before you can land a book deal—before you can even attract the interest of agents and editors—you need to be visible. How do you become visible? You develop a platform, or a way of reaching your readers. Everybody can develop a platform, and this book shows you how to do it while you’re still writing.

This book offers:

• A step-by-step approach to creating, growing, and nurturing a platform
• An economical approach to self-promotion (you don’t have to spend thousands)
• A clear way to uncover your strengths and weaknesses as an author
• The strategies that are essential (or not) to online promotion
• A philosophy of authorship that leaves you confident, empowered, and equally partnered with agents, editors, and publishers (instead of waiting to be discovered)
• A diverse set of tools and methods for getting known (not just Web-based tools or ideas for extroverts)
• After you read this book, you’ll be able to answer the inevitable question: “What’s your platform?” with ease and professionalism.

You’ll learn the hows and whys of becoming visible and how to cultivate visibility from scratch. Best of all, you won’t need any previous knowledge or experience to get started. Everything you need to know is here, in one source.

You’ll discover that growing a writing career isn’t just about landing one book deal and then scrambling like crazy. There is a more strategic and steady way to lay the groundwork so you can avoid scrambling altogether—and Get Known Before the Book Deal is the only comprehensive book that shows you how.

Monday, September 22nd is THE day to pre-purchase Get Known Before the Book Deal

3:27 p.m. You have driven Get Known to the 320 mark! Amazing! Thank you so much for your support!

1:57 p.m. Get Known hits 338!!! (I could get used to this. It’s selling more copies than The Artist’s Way and Bird by Bird!)

1:48 p.m. Get Known is number ONE in the Authorship category!!!

Oh my goodness, you guys! Get Known has reached number 596 on Amazon. That is AMAZING! Hugs to you all for your support! It is so heart warming. Truly.

[THIS POST WILL STAY HERE UNTIL MONDAY, SEPTEMBER22ND AT MIDNIGHT]

Dear friends,

The first day of Fall is coming on Monday, September 22nd! And as I’ve been promising (threatening?) for weeks now, it’s also the official help me drive my second book to the number one spot on Amazon.com day. (Heck, I’d settle for number one within its category.) The impact of a good Amazon spike is the same, no matter how “low” you rank (the lower, the better).

But before I invite you to help me drive my book to the number one spot on Amazon.com on Monday, let me share why authors do this kind of thing.

The closer my book gets to the number one spot on Amazon.com the more often Amazon will recommend it to readers who have read books on similar topics. That’s them doing a lot of heavy lifting marketing for me.

As an author my job is to make my book visible as much as I can before and after it is released. So that, in a nutshell, is what I’m up to.

I want to emphasize that I did my own Amazon.com spike for Writer Mama and I was pleased with the results. I would never pay someone to conduct this effort for me. I do not endorse any of those “you-pay-me-a-few-grand-and-I’ll-take-good-care-of-you” online offers. In all of my work I emphasize working slowly and consistently over time in order to cultivate legitimate success with integrity.

Well, it's time to kick things off. And naturally, I’d love all the help I can get spreading the word about Get Known.

My goal is to help my title reach its intended readers. You can help me do just that by participating in my Amazon Sales Spike on Monday. (Obviously, if you have no interest whatsoever in my book, then absolutely do not feel pressured to buy it Monday or ever!) However, if you feel like Get Known is a book you want and need, I would truly appreciate your participation on Monday.

Everyone who orders Get Known on Monday from Amazon.com and e-mails me their receipt within 24 hours will receive a platform development checklist on Tuesday, which serves as the perfect companion to the book. Those (future) readers will also be entered in a drawing to receive a one-hour phone consultation with me. Three phone conference winners will be chosen from those who submit receipts on Friday, September 26th for phone conferences to take place in October (video-conference is a possibility for me, also).

Anyone is welcome to participate, so feel free to spread the word. Send Amazon receipts to writermama2@earthlink.net to enter the drawing. (If you have another way you prefer to purchase my book or another date on which you would prefer to purchase my book, that’s great with me.)

I imagine that the books will arrive from Amazon in early November. I am not able to know or predict the exact date. Everyone does a pretty good job at keeping me in the dark about that. :)

Thank you so much for your support no matter how you wish to offer it.

In the writing spirit,

Christina

Thanks for reading! Click here if you'd like to purchase Get Known.

***Now, I'm pretty sure to avoid getting thrown into jail that I need to say here that there is no purchase required to enter the drawing. So, there. I just said it. You know what to do.