I don’t know about you, but for me (being an introvert), it’s a lot harder to talk about my writing in person than online.

You too? Even if you don’t have that struggle (lucky you), there are still tools and steps we can all take to make talking to people and promoting you as an author in person a lot easier.

Business Cards

I easily made my business cards using Canva and also got them printed by that company. They turned out great! I haven’t had the opportunity to give out a ton, but they’ve come in handy for things like conferences and polite chats with the cashier who asked what I do. 🙂

Info to include on your business card:

• Your author name, of course.
• What genre(s) you write. For example, I have Christian YA Author on my cards (that is, new ones I’m designing now). I guess you could say that “YA” isn’t technically a genre, but an age group. But since I write in multiple genres, but under the umbrella of YA, I put that on instead. A lot of times you’ll see the author’s name on the front of the card with their genres underneath it.
• Your website.
• Whatever social media channels you’re on. Try to include the logo of each social platform you’re on.
• Your author headshot. When you give away your card to someone, they might go back to it later and, without a headshot, forget who it was that gave it to them. Your picture will give them a little reminder. 😉
• A CTA. You can give a call-to-action on your business card, something simple like “Visit my website” or “Connect with me on XYZ.”
• QR codes. If you want to make that investment, you can easily create a QR code for you business card to take the scanner straight to any website, landing page, or PDF you want.

Canva’s business card templates make it really easy for you to create a great and professional looking cards in no time. You can also look up author business card inspiration for ideas. Be sure to try to incorporate your brand colors and fonts on your card.

When you publish a book, you can expand your hand-out materials to bookmarks, postcards, etc.

Writers Conferences

Writers conferences and local writing events are a great way to find people like you and potential readers. They’re tons of fun and beneficial for your business too. Those business cards you create will help a lot in these types of situations. 😉 Click here to learn about how to prep for a writers’ conference.

Creating your pitch

If you’re talking about the fact that you’re a writer to someone, the chances are they’re going to ask what your WIP is about. Deer-in-the-headlights moment, am I right? But creating your short book pitch will help out in these situations. You can have a short, go-to, memorized response to those questions.

Here are two posts that will help you craft the perfect elevator pitch, one from Now Novel and another from BookBub.

Create and memorize this pitch, saying it out loud and reciting it to family and/or friends to get their input. Every once in a while, check yourself to make sure you still have it memorized and ready. 😉

Tips for talking to strangers

Because I TOTALY know how to talk to strangers well. *nods*

Yeah well anyway.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when talking to strangers about your writing and what you do:

• Be yourself. Of course. 😉 Don’t worry about being overly bright and bubbly if that’s not who you are. Breathe, relax, and just be you. 
• Don’t push it. Don’t try too hard to sell this person on your books. Be yourself and let things flow naturally.
• When you get nervous, remember your WHY. Sometimes the nerves are gonna hit you right when you’re about to recite your book pitch. When this happens and you’re worried if you’re going to totally mess this thing up and this stranger will have a permanent bad impression of you, remember why you do what you do. Remember the big picture.
• Have confidence in your pitch, and remember not everyone will like it. Remember that you’ve practiced and memorized this pitch. And know that even if you’ve created it well, not everyone will like it. People have different tastes and may or may not like your idea. And that’s okay! It doesn’t mean they don’t like you or your book is bad, people just have their own preferences.
• Remember who you are. Some people may judge. Some may tell you outright they don’t like your book. But remember that your worth and identity isn’t found in your writing or your success. Your worth is found in Christ, so don’t let a pitch gone wrong make your forget that. 😉

Okay, this post was a bit shorter than some of the others. Quite frankly, I believe that online marketing is more important than offline marketing (obviously, you can reach a lot more people online), but definitely do more research on this topic and look for conferences and events in your area that you can attend.

Now start a discussion with comments, questions, etc.! 😀

What did you think about today’s post? Questions? Additional tips?

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