Every Other Friday - Jennifer Fusco Interview

Jennifer Fusco is the Creative and Brand Manager for the General Electric Company, North America, and the author of the Amazon.com bestselling series, Market or Die, marketing books for writers. 

A three-time winner of the Advertising Excellence Award, Jennifer has launched successful national print and digital ad campaigns. 

In her writing life, Ms. Fusco is a member of RWA’s PRO network and serves as the President of the Connecticut Romance Writers. She has completed two urban fantasy romance manuscripts and is a monthly contributor to the Romance Writers of America’s RWR Report.

Tell me about Market or Die. 
Market or Die is a series of books designed for Authors to learn how to market their work. There are three books in the series: Sensible Brand Building Advice for Writers, How to Use the Power of Your Brand, and Integrated Marketing Plans.

What drove you to write Market or Die? Who did you write it for? 
 Initially, it was suggested to me to write a marketing book by Sarah Wendell of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. She attended my marketing presentation at the Connecticut Fiction Fest writer’s conference and said I had to share my knowledge with others. Market or Die took about a week to write. I wrote it fast because I knew my subject matter. I’d been giving marketing presentations on brand for quite some time.

What were your biggest obstacles? The self-publishing process as a whole. I would have loved to turn over the content to someone else and let them do the formatting, proofreading, cover design, etc. Self-publishing, to me, is a time-suck. And, I’m time constrained as it is. I don’t have any plans to self-publish anything for a while, unless I have to.

What are your productivity tips? As I said, I’m time constrained. I may only have 8 hours to write per week. THAT’S in a seven-day period. But, when I’m not writing I’m constantly thinking about what I will write when I get to the PC. I plan the scene in my head. I know all the major points I want the chapter or scene to hit. I don’t plan it out too rigidly so that I can’t be creative and not be able to go on a “roll” if one strikes. Because I have limited amounts of time, I know how important it is and I’m certain not to waste it.
P.S. – I’m also quite fond of the “bagel” word placement technique.

Do you have any questions for me?
Can you give me some good writing exercises to speed up my time at the computer?

Exercises to build your speed? Sounds like a topic for a future post!