Si después de mucho tiempo de esfuerzo y disciplina has conseguido terminar tu libro, debo ofrecerte mis más sinceras felicitaciones. Terminar un libro es una obra que requiere dedicación y determinación. Es posible que para ti, este libro represente uno de tus mayores logros.Sin embargo, para conseguir que un libro sea exitoso no será suficiente escribirlo y publicarlo, sino también debes promoverlo y hacer que la gente se interese en leerlo capítulo a capítulo. Quizás te estés preguntando… ¿Cuáles son las formas principales de promover un libro gratuitamente? Debes saber que la respuesta es parte de tu vida cotidiana: el tiempo, el ingenio y el correcto uso de la tecnología. Sé tu propio promotor: promueve tu libro de 4 formas diferentes Realizar la promoción de tu propio libro puede abrir caminos a nuevas oportunidades, ya que las editoriales toman en cuenta el esfuerzo de los nuevos escritores y existe la posibilidad de conseguir un buen contrato. A continuación, te mostraré las 4 formas más funcionales de promover un libro de manera económica. 1. Elabora contenido para tus redes socialesUn aspecto determinante a la hora de promover un libro es ganarse la confianza del lector. Realiza banners con gráficos, viñetas, frases del libro, datos interesantes, información relevante sobre las escenas y personajes, con el objetivo principal de llamar la atención de los potenciales lectores y además, llegar a un mayor número de personas. 2. Encuentra comunidades relacionadas Existen millones de grupos en Facebook, grupos de lectura, comunidades de literatura o amantes de los diferentes géneros literarios que pueden estar interesados en tu libro. Aunque crear una cuenta en Twitter o un blog podría tener buenos resultados, buscar lectores en los grupos existentes también es una excelente idea. No obstante, toma en cuenta que la línea entre promocionar tu libro por estos medios y ser motivo de spam es muy pequeña. Limita la cantidad de información que compartes en este tipo de grupos. 3. Crea flyers de tu libroRepresenta una de las maneras gráficas más sencillas de promocionar un libro. Es necesario contar con un buen diseño, colores atractivos y la información necesaria para que la persona pueda conseguir el libro. Te recomiendo que las tarjetas o flyers promocionales sean del tamaño de una tarjeta de presentación o invitación, ya que será mucho más sencilla de trasladar y genera una buena impresión desde el principio.4. Publica y promociona tu libro en tiendas online de descargaActualmente existen múltiples plataformas para la publicación de libros. Las más famosas a nivel mundial son Amazon, Kindle y Nook. Sin embargo, podemos encontrar una gran lista de sitios web que nos pueden ayudar a promocionar nuestro libro sin costo alguno. Incluso, la comunidad de Goletrax es una excelente opción. Las condiciones de publicación de libros son diferentes por cada página, así como los porcentajes de ganancias. Te aconsejo que ubiques una página que se adapte a tus necesidades y comiences a promocionar tu libro en cuanto antes. Sin duda alguna, el primer paso para que te conozcan es mostrarte públicamente. No puedes vender si nadie sabe que existes; hoy en día las grandes industrias invierten mucho dinero promocionando productos mediante agencias especializadas en esta tarea. Sin embargo, una gran mayoría de autores no cuentan con esta posibilidad. En este sentido, deben promocionar sus libros por sí mismos de forma económica y funcional. Finalmente, lo fundamental es comprender quién es tu público objetivo y guiar la promoción literaria siguiendo este parámetro. 

After hours and hours on a dusty and hot road, from the road we could see a settlement of huts and curious structures of a small Mursi town.For a long time, I had the incessant curiosity to know this famous African tribe, a mandatory reference when talking about the most fascinating cultures on the planet. It was in the year 97, I was a young anthropology student who wasn’t satisfied with reading thick books and looking at distant photographs. I needed to know by my own hand, although I didn’t know what to expect most of the time.I could write a whole book just to explain how I was able to get to Ethiopia, but for now I would like to focus on the true setback: reality destroying my expectations, which, as I said, I don’t even remember what they were.The driver of the Jeep who made our transfer to the area where the Mursi were, told me that I should "take off my brassiere to meet them". I was the only woman in the group of tourists and the "recommendation" of this subject seemed out of place and quite uncomfortable, in no way I would. I gave him a withering look and continued looking out the window, ignoring everything he said...I don’t know why I thought the Mursi would act like a cat when they saw us, watching from afar and approaching with curiosity, little by little. Instead, they approached me and began to take my wrists, to touch my neck, my back, as if looking for something. Suddenly, they squeezed my hands to take off my watch, broke the necklace of the medallion that was so proud on my neck and a man Mursi began to pull the clasp of my brassiere aggressively until he managed to get it out.Once loose, began to pull and in a second, I was semi-naked in the middle of all those people. And I say "semi-naked" because the cotton blouse that I wore that morning to cope with the intense heat was quite transparent, I'm sure everyone could see my asymmetrical nipples.Embarrassed, I tried to decipher what had happened and saw the man Mursi, evidently happy to have obtained my brassiere, stretched it and looked at it with fascination. Suddenly, he tied it in his head and his happiness at that point seemed overflowing. I was stunned.The other Mursi, they fought and pushed to keep my watch and the expensive medallion that had been taken from me. Suddenly I looked at the driver of the Jeep and he made me a gesture saying, "This is so, I told you so." I felt much more ashamed and stupid.To cope with the moment, I decided to take some pictures of the place. Then other Mursi approached me to ask me to photograph them, or that was what I could understand. This time, the Jeep driver told me: "after taking the picture, you have to pay, I hope you brought enough Birr".Indeed. As soon as I took the photo the Mursi charged me, pushing me, pointing at me with a spear. In fact, I had to take as many as 12 pictures and pay for all of them so that they would be satisfied and leave.I'm out of money.We would have just 45 minutes in that place when the driver called us because it was time to return.—"It's almost noon, come on, soon! You don’t want to stay here when the Mursi are drunk! —He exclaimed.Then he came back to me and said: "With the money they charged you, they could get drunk three days in a row."That was it. Disappointed, in debt and confused, I returned to my strange country. And I told everyone that it had been fascinating, the best experience of my life, the most rewarding.I will hold that version until the day of my death.

Writing a novel is a complex narrative work, it is a literary work that alludes to reality and in most of the time, transcends it. The novels offer the opportunity to its readers to find a different world, manufactured and interesting.The most common types of novels are: literary novel, romantic, costumbrista, dramatic, science fiction, war, horror, humor, police, fantasy or erotic. Regardless of the type of novel you want to write, you must use all your creativity, energy and determination enough to finish the job.Taking into account the complexity of this type of genre, not all people dare to write a novel without first developing in the world of literary art. In the next post, I will tell you how to write your own novel without failing in the attempt.CharactersBefore starting you must prepare specific cards for each character, based on their biographies, lives, related characters, occupations, tastes and more. Elaborate the universe and the environment where these characters unfold. The more complex it is, the easier it will be to create focus and attention thanks to the depth of the plot. Have a good planningIt is my greatest advice to all people who wish to write a novel. Planning is based on preparing certain important aspects of the novel in advance.It is not about having everything prepared, because leaving a margin of improvisation always brings good results. The more planning you have, the easier it will be to reach the climax of the story.What to plan: 7 fundamental factorsMain idea: in one or two phases you must determine what your novel will be about. This is the starting point of the work.Creates subplots: in the novel there is a main plot and other secondary plots that serve to consolidate the first. Get secondary plots that are useful to create a more interesting, complete and attractive fiction universe.Summary brief and characteristics: it is necessary to have a brief summary of the idea, as well as the place where it develops, the environment, the tone, the time and others. This is where your field research begins to complete the work.Summary of the main plot: this may take a little more time. It is necessary to draw up a list of events in chronological order, to determine both the principle and possible endings. And then, from that list, start creating the summary. Documentation: once you have the story, you must begin to give base with the meticulous investigation.Structure: with the definitive history and its previous investigation, it begins to write step by step a list of the chapters and the scenes, creating summaries of what happens in each one of them. It should not be extensive, in this phase define what is left in the novel and what you should eliminate. This structure is a starting point to guide future drafting.First draft: with all the planning material finished, once you are sure of your characters, structure, documentation and others, start writing the first draft from scratch. What happens from this moment, depends on you as a writer and your story.Writing a novel is a way to leave a legacy about you and your creativity. Be determined and you will see that with effort you can create an incredible universe in the form of a novel.