If you're like me, a no-name author, how can we get people to warm up to our writing? What *CHEAP* thing can we do to get our name out there that won't require a lot of time or money? Write short stories!
Don't take my word for it, have a look at this article, Why You Should Be Writing Short Stories, and its subsequent links to other articles. It might broaden our perspective on the value of giving away free samples of our work. After all, who doesn't like FREE?
I wasn't sold on the idea of writing shorts for marketing until this blog post by Kristine Kathryn Rusch on Promotion. In short, most people buy because of author name recognition or the recommendation of a friend. How can we get in on that? Give away small pieces of our work. Write short stories! It just might be the best, most effective way to build an audience and our name recognition at the same time. It's a big part of why I created CleverFiction.com. As it grows (40 writers and counting!), so will each individual writer's popularity.
Here's some more interesting thoughts on The New Book Buying Realities.
Hopefully, you found this interesting and will leave your own two cent$ below!
-- Patrick Sipperly