Blogging for Writers

Tips from Chris Brogan to Help Authors Use Social Media

Whether you have a book published or one still in the works, you've probably heard that author's need an online presence. Wondering how to do that? 

Chris Brogan, social media marketing and PR dude, offers a quick list of tips in his post An Author's Plan for Social Media. Don't feel you have to do them all. Pick a few and go with them. Read the comments too because there is good info there as well. 

Now, go get your blog on. 

Features vs. Benefits in Marketing & Book Proposals

What's the difference between features and benefits? Features are what a product has. Benefits are what a product does. If a feature of lipstick is it's rich moisturizers, a benefit of that lipstick is soft lips.

This is important for writers to understand when creating book proposals and marketing plans. Readers and publishers want to know what your writing has and what it will do for readers. For a more thorough explanation, checkout Brian Jud's Writing-World.com article. Note the telling quote by Charles Revlon, "In the factory we make cosmetics, but in the stores we sell hope."

Backstory: My first exposure to the idea of features vs. benefits came up while helping a friend with a book proposal. I had to understand the difference.  Off to Google I went.  Here's the helpful info I found:

Features vs. Benefits, or, "Why Should I Buy Your Book?" by Brian Jud on Writing-World.com

Writing-World.com Publishing Your Book page with loads of links

Michael Hyatt's e-book Writing a Winning Book Proposal also mentioned it. I didn't buy the $19.97 e-book because I don't need it yet. However, because he, as the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, included those components in his book I feel safe recommending the book.

I also found some non-fiction book proposal models Writers-World.com that didn't include the features vs. benefits items, but those proposals were a little older.

Though I don't condone Seinfeld's idea of friends with benefits -which I'm sure correlate to the friend's features- I do endorse blogs with benefits, which are also related to the blog's features.

Now, go get your blog on..with all it's features and benefits.