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Jessica Ferguson

Author, Writing Coach, Speaker

IWSG DAY: Five Special Things

December 5, 2018 By Jessica Ferguson 10 Comments

This post is part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group blog hop. The first Wednesday of every month is Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. We Members talk about our fears, insecurities, dreams and failures and our inspirations. We encourage each other.

Co-hosts for the December 5 posting of the IWSG are J.H. Moncrieff, Tonja Drecker , Patsy Collins, and Chrys Fey!
The question for December is:
What are five objects we’d find in your writing space?
My writing space moves here and there—from my dining room to a coffee shop; from my office desk to the den sofa. But when I sit in my cluttered office five of my favorite items I’ll share with you are as follows:
1) A poster of Elvis on my closet door. My first book, The Groom Wore Blue Suede Shoes was inspired by my then-five-year-old daughter and her love for Elvis. The book came out in 1996. I’m too sentimental to remove the poster.
2) A post card of Stephen king is on my bulletin board. He’s sitting with his feet propped on his desk. Can anyone be more creative than SK? The post card reminds me how important it is to know our characters. SK is not only a great story teller but his characters are memorable.
3) I especially enjoy looking at a framed poster of the made-for-tv miniseries, Celebrity by Tommy Thompson. The best selling novel was about three former friends bound by a dark secret.
Thompson was born in Texas and covered the JFK assassination. He wrote for Life magazine and was the first writer to locate Lee Harvey Oswald’s home and wife. Hubby and I had the pleasure of meeting him at a Houston writers conference. He invited us to his hotel room with others who attended his session and regaled us with fascinating stories about his writing career.
4) My statue of John Wayne reminds me that some day I’d like to write a western.
5) You’ll always find copies of Woman’s World magazine on my desk. I read and study their weekly romance and mystery, hoping to figure out how to please the WW editors. So far, I’ve garnered nothing but rejection slips but that’s okay. Writing short 800 word romances—even if they’re rejected—teaches me to make every word count.
So those are a few treasures that inspire me and keep me writing.  Of course there are many more. I could just as easily name five friends who have encouraged or inspired me, or five books, or five reasons I hate WordPress … even five snacks I eat at my desk but we’ll save all of those for another time.

Filed Under: IWSG Tagged With: authors, Celebrity, encouragement, IWSG, Stephen King, Thomas Thompson

P is for Publicity and Promotion

April 18, 2016 By Jessica Ferguson 2 Comments

PThere was a time I wanted to be a publicist. I enjoyed brainstorming promo ideas with my writer friends and discussing niche markets. After researching the profession, it didn’t take me long to change my mind. A lot of busy, busy, busy work. 🙁 For very organized people!

We often wonder why writers hire a publicist or even a virtual assistant, but prolific writers face a lot of deadlines; constant writing and promotion take its toll.

What exactly does a publicist do and how much do they charge? They usually have different packages you can choose from and they can charge in the thousands.

A friend of mine hired a publicist to set up book signings and interviews across the state and library visits.  He also mailed/emailed ARCs for reviews, created and emailed press releases to newspapers, TV and radio stations.

Publicist have resources we don’t have. But here’s my question: Do we really need to do everything all at once? Why don’t we just grow into our so-called marketing plan? Learn as we go.

Long before your book comes out, you should research and make your own list of resources. List those things you want to do—like library talks and blog tours. Talk to friends who have participated in online social media events; ask them to give you tips. There’s nothing like learning from the mistakes of others.

If you develop your marketing plan long before your book comes out, it can easily fall into place. But remember this: No matter how ready you think you are, you aren’t. At least not emotionally. Something weird happens when you know your book is available for all the world to purchase. Your focus disintegrates. Suddenly it seems you have a hundred things to do and you don’t know where to start.

Some writers do nothing more than Facebook and Twitter. That’s fine. But really, there’s one more very important thing you really should do:

Strive to be known in the town you live in. It might sound simple–but not for us introverts.

Send press releases to all the magazines and newspapers in  your area and make sure they know you’re available for interviews. Offer to speak to service clubs and writers’ groups, libraries and book clubs. If you’re not a speaker, then start small or join Toastmasters.

Develop a good story to tell about how you started writing or where you got the idea for the book you’re promoting. Believe me, you’ll repeat that story over and over again. Don’t be boring!

And very important: stay cool and roll with the punches because there will definitely be some.

Want to share your thoughts on being a celebrity in your neck of the woods?

Filed Under: A to Z 2016 Tagged With: Celebrity, promotion, Publicist

Reality Faith.
Reality Fiction.

"As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
Acts 4:20

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