By Andrew Kensley






Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Website up and Running!

I've taken another positive step toward respectability in the modern world.

And it's about damn time.

Today, I finished setting up the website devoted to my writing career. Andrewkensley.com is up and running and ready to be browsed, linked, perused, publicized, searched, and shared. It took me a few days to figure out how to set one up from scratch. And much like my book self-publishing experience on Createspace, I went through quite a bit of a trial and error process getting things done. But I understand it's part of the deal, and I'm fine with it.




Those who know me well might say I'm a bit on the cheap side. Not untrue, I admit, but I actually entered into this little endeavor with the realization that I would have to pay to do this right. This year has been educational as far as the publishing world goes, and one important thing I've learned is that running a business—make no mistake, Andrew Kensley, Author/Freelance Writer is a business, albeit a crude and immature one thus far—requires a financial investment.

Since I started doing my own taxes a few years ago and with the gradual increase in writing income over the past couple of years, I've already begun saying fun things like "I'll get the check, it's a write-off" and "we talked about my book over those beers, burgers and onion rings and during commercials of the game, I can write off this guys night." But this is different: the prime reason for spending money on publicity, advertising, promotion and marketing is not for tax purposes. My goal is to sell some books. If I have to spend a reasonable sum to do that, I'm fine with it.

Consequently, my first internet searches on "how to build a website" involved clicking ONLY on the ones that required a monthly or yearly fee. I spent almost 10 hours setting up trials and familiarizing myself with the cool terminology—favicon, SEO, keyword density and meta tags are some of my favorites—and after much eye-burning screen time, I realized that none of the really cool looking website builders really had what I wanted. So I went another route.

I stumbled upon Wix.com, advertised as a free website builder, and found exactly the template I wanted. I tweaked it considerably over a few days, changing fonts and moving text, inserting photos and aligning icons, etc etc etc, and after a couple of minor paid upgrades (still cheaper than the other sites, but perfect for my purposes), I built Andrewkensley.com to my exact specifications.

Check it out and let me know what you think. And of course, thanks in advance for spreading the word.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Seeking Blue Publicity

Seeking Blue has launched with some success and now comes the hard part: marketing and promotion. I've been busy on social media, encouraging reviews and discussions on Goodreads and Amazon, crafting a press release and scheduling book signings to continue to get the word out about my novel.


Seeking Blue Cover
Here are my head shot and bio, which can be used for publicity purposes. (Feel free to copy and paste this or any photos from this site when you share.)


Andrew Kensley, Author
Andrew Kensley writes about wellness and healthcare for Mind & Body Magazine and the University of Colorado Health Insider.
His parenting column, Wee Wisdom, appeared every other week from 2009 to 2013 in the Fort Collins Coloradoan, during which time he also wrote travel content and features.
Andrew is a contributor to Fort Collins Magazine, his short fiction has appeared in the Owen Wister Review, and his work has also been featured in the family travel website, Momaboard.com.
When he's not writing, husband-ing, parenting or otherwise enjoying himself in the beautiful Colorado outdoors, Andrew works full time as a physical therapist, a career which he has thoroughly enjoyed for 18 years. A native of Montreal, Canada, he now happily resides in Fort Collins, Colorado, with his wife and two daughters, with no plans to leave anytime soon.
Seeking Blue is his first novel.

I still think that because of the subjective nature of literature, word of mouth is the best form of advertising. But that doesn't preclude moving forward aggressively with getting the word out. The key is disseminating information to people who don't know me and have never heard of me, and therefore wouldn't search for my work in the first place. My large circle of friends and family have helped tremendously, and I am so appreciative of all the support. But I need more.

And here's a link to the book signing event at Old Firehouse Books in Old Town Fort Collins on August 23:

https://plus.google.com/events/cr3b5vpfknmh12vcaols6tanneg