Monday, October 2, 2017

How Authors Generate Article Ideas That Promote Their Books & Brands



How do authors come up with ideas for articles they can write for magazines, newspapers, blogs, trade publications, or leading websites?

Obviously, authors write articles with a purpose or goal in mind, namely, to:

Help brand themselves.
Build up their media portfolio.
Get a certain message out there that helps others.
Sell products, books, services.
Increase web traffic.
Influence public opinion.
Stroke their ego.

Based on any or all of the above reasons authors are highly motivated to get articles placed with publications, social media outlets, and digital sources.  They will suggest topic ideas that they believe they can write about and that will appear to be interesting enough for some media outlet to accept it and useful enough so that when it’s published it’ll help serve the goals of the writer.

Article ideas can reflect a writer’s knowledge, experiences, research or fantasies, including something:

* That’s useful, needed, and wanted
* Desired by readers.
* Unusual, unique or different.
* New or being told for the first time.

Articles can offer any of these components:

A certain number of steps to prevent/fix a problem.
X amount of tips/advice.
X amount of myths debunked.
Stories/stats/facts about a relevant topic.
Focus on a singular issue or idea.

Authors should think in terms of headlines, which can be expressed as exclamation statements, questions, or revelations.  Think of what will interest readers – play on their needs, desires, and emotions.  Comment on trends and make predictions. Offer a new take on an old problem.  Tie into something that’s in the news or public consciousness.

Authors write what they know and where their passion, training, or experience takes them.  They also pursue their curiosity.  But they must write for their readership and so the best ideas for articles will come from the media outlets you seek to place an article with.

Look at the blog, website, magazine, newspaper, trade journal or newsletter and see what they publish and write about.  Mirror their editorial bent and express things in the voice they write in.  Customize your article ideas to the specific demographics and needs of each media outlet.

By writing and publishing these articles, over time, authors will achieve their goals and grow one article at a time.

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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog 2017©. Born and raised in Brooklyn, now resides in Westchester. Named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  


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