It doesn’t matter if your books are traditionally published or self-published (or both), you’re the main force responsible for marketing them. One of the best forms of marketing available is social media. But with so many different ones available, how do we know which will benefit us the most when promoting our books, and how do use them for maximum benefit?
In her book Social Media Just for Writers, Frances Caballo focuses on several popular social media sites*. She explains how each one works and the ins and outs of them, provides step-by-step instructions for setting them up (including screen shots so you know what she’s talking about), and shares tips for promoting your books through the individual sites. Her advice is sound and I liked that she’s against spamming. She warns you when certain activities are considered spamming. Some of this is subjective. There are a few things that she suggested that I prefer authors don’t do. For example, I’m tired of the countless number of Facebook or Goodreads event invites that land in my inbox. Most are deleted unread.
One thing I appreciated with this book is the easy to follow format. This is perfect if you are not technically inclined. Also, Frances includes lists of apps for each of the social media sites and explains the pros and cons of them. Until Social Media Just for Writers, I didn’t realize there were so many of them. For those of you who blog, there is a list of resources you can use for locating royalty free photos. This is very important if you don’t want to end up being sued by the owner of copyrighted material.
In addition to the chapters on social media, there is a chapter on offline promotion with some helpful suggestions. A glossary has also been included to make your life easier when figuring out the different terms associated with the different social media sites.
Overall, I loved this book and am thankful I had the opportunity to review it. I recommend it to everyone who is a writer, no matter where they are in the publication process. The sooner you get started being seen the better.
Have you read any social media how-to books created for writers? What forms of social networking do you enjoying using?
I’d like to thank Frances Caballo for sending me a copy of Social Media Just for Writers: The Best Online Marketing Tips for Selling Your Books for an unbiased review.
*The following are covered in the book: Facebook, Facebook author pages, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Picasso and Pinterest, and blogs. Unfortunately she doesn’t cover Tumblr, which is now popular with teens.
GIVEAWAY: If you are interested in winning a copy of the book and live in the USA, please let me know in the comments. And make sure you include your email address if it isn’t attached to your blog account.
Last month, Natalie Aguirre (Literary Rambles) interviewed Chuck Sambuchino about his new book, Create Your Writer Platform. Natalie was excited about the book, so I had to check it out.
Unlike other promotion-based books I’ve reviewed, this book doesn’t focus solely on social media. Chuck talks about what platform is and why it’s necessary. He shares twelve fundamental principles of platform (the book is worth it for this chapter alone), and he discusses platform for fiction and memoirs. Topics also include choosing the platform avenues that will work for you, as well as information on the use of websites, blogs, newsletters, non-fiction articles, public speaking, and social media. At the end of the book is a section with author case studies that showcase what several authors did to make the most of their platforms.
Create Your Writer Platform is one of those books you don’t have to worry about being out of date before you finish reading it, because Facebook decided to add another feature, or because there’s a new social media site that’s suddenly become popular. And it’s one of those books you’ll want to review again and again.
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If you’re interested in learning more about crafting YOUR social media strategy, the YARWA (YA chapter of the Romance Writers of America) is offering a month long workshop during April. This workshop is for both the newbie and individuals experienced with social media. For more information, please check out their website. You don’t have to be a member of the YARWA or RWA to register.
Have you given much thought to your writer platform?
I’ll see you in April, when I return to blogging after spring break. XOX
As mentioned last week, I’m currently taking an advanced social media workshop. A recent assignment had me contemplating my author brand. Our instructor talked about company logos, but I’m not Apple or McDonalds. I didn’t need a logo. What I did need was an image that was uniform across my social media platforms and was a reflection of what I write.
I write steamy New Adult contemporary romances about emotionally damaged characters, and wanted to reflect that in my image. To create the picture, I took my husband’s jeans and ripped the petals off a pink tulip. Originally, I was going to use red roses, but the ones in the store looked like some sort of plague had attacked them. Nothing says I love you than wilted, blacken roses. But that was okay. The tulip petals ended up working better than I imagined. I tweaked the picture in Photoshop Elements and added the “glowing” effect to the petals. Now I had the right look for my brand. The jeans and petals are symbolic for the stories I write. Did I mention I love symbolism?
I decided to take things one step further. I used a petal from the banner to design the social media buttons for my blog.
*click here if you would like to ‘Like’ my author page. Chocolate kisses if you do.*
So as you can see, it’s not difficult to create the right image to reflect your author brand. If you’re not a photographer, that shouldn’t stop you. You can hire someone, or you can find the right stock photo on sites like Shutterstock. Some pictures are free, but even if you end up paying for a photo, they aren’t expensive. And if you hire someone, you’ll still have to pay for the stock photos they use.
Have you given any thought to your author brand and the look you want to convey?
My blog is going to explode. All right, maybe not in the melodramatic way that it sounds (though it feels that way).
Come this September, I might no longer have this blog, or I’ll have to move it to ‘blogspot.’ It sucks because I have two big announcements to make this fall, one being a giveaway. And if you’re a self published YA or NA author (or planned to be one), you’re not going to want to miss it.
Trust me.
Because of all this drama, I’ve created a new blog, which will focus on the New Adult side of things. I had planned to start posting this fall on the topic (Wednesdays), but since this blog might no longer exist, I saw it as a sign that I need to start a new blog specifically for the category.
Meanwhile, I’ll continue to blog here as long as I can (before the Blogger Gods shoot me down or solve the problem).
If you’re interested in NA, please join me on my new blog.
Have you experienced any social media derailments lately? Do you have all your eggies in one form of social media, or are they scattered all over the place?
The final installment of 'How I Find Time to Write' is written by the wonderful Zanna Mackenzie! I'm so excited to have her tell you the tricks she uses to write her novels. She also has some excerpts from her new book How Do You Spell Love?
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Finding the time to escape into whatever book you’re currently writing can be a tricky business for an author. I’m fortunate in being self-employed, though contracted to work a set amount of hours per week I have plenty of flexibility re when I do work those hours. My day job is also writing related – another plus – as I’m the editor of some business publications for a chamber of commerce. I work from home too, which I love and which saves me having to spend time doing lengthy commutes each day – another positive! I’ve recently had two novels published by different publishers within the space of a month and have quickly discovered that all of the required promotional activity and social media ‘presence’ is very time consuming, far more than I had anticipated. All of which means finding the time to edit my next book (I’ve recently completed the first draft of it) and working on the scenes/plot/characters of the book I have outlined for after that is becoming more and more of a challenge. Don’t get me wrong, I’m delighted to have my work published and relish learning all about the promotional aspects of being an author, but as my writing time has now been squeezed considerably I’m having to be more creative about finding time to write and my solution is – write in bed!! My husband is one of those people who is always awake at about 5am and gets up to do the ‘early morning shift’ in our household - so I have a notebook by the bed and let my mind start working on scenes and dialogue as soon as I wake up and then I start writing them all up ready to be typed onto the computer in the appropriate slot in the working manuscript document whenever I get chance. I’ve found that I prefer writing in this way rather than sitting in front of the computer and writing straight onto it whilst in ‘the creative zone’. As the ‘boss’ at my day job doesn’t work on Fridays I try as much as I can to make Fridays my writing day – providing I don’t have design or proof reading deadlines for the business publications – and aim to keep promotion and social media to a minimum then as well so that I can get typing up all those scene notes. I currently have about 50 pages of notes to type up though – so this plan doesn’t always work!
Many thanks for hosting me on your blog today Kelly! My latest novel, published by Crooked Cat, is called How Do You Spell Love? Here’s the details:
Make A Wish… Kat can’t help wishing there was more to life than this. What happened to her dream job? What happened with Nathan? Summer is wondering where her life is going too… battling the developers of a controversial housing estate and working out why boyfriend Rob is increasingly distant. When the developers win the battle and move into town everyone’s life is turned upside down. Kat meets building site project manager Alex. She enjoys his company far too much, even though he’s on the town’s most hated list. Summer meets Tom who has plenty of relationship troubles of his own, so things could get really complicated. Soon everyone is keeping secrets, lives change and hearts are broken. Is everything falling apart, or does life just work in mysterious ways…
There’s a sneak peak of the book below and it can be purchased in paperback and ebook formats now on: *Crooked Cat Publishing http://www.crookedcatbooks.com/ *Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Do-You-Spell-Love/dp/1908910771/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1361800360&sr=8-2 *Amazon USA http://www.amazon.com/How-Do-You-Spell-Love/dp/1908910771/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361800417&sr=1-3&keywords=zanna+mackenzie
Extract from How Do You Spell Love? Kat pushed the last of the cottage cheese and shrimp sandwiches into the cool box and slammed the van door shut. As if her life wasn’t enough of a disaster zone as it was – no money, lousy job, losing Nathan, having to move back home to live with her parents – now this had to go and happen. Plus, of course, it didn’t help that today she was feeling shattered after spending half the night chanting some ridiculous protection spell in the middle of the allotments with Summer. Cringing as a van full of builders stopped at the nearby traffic lights, Kat braced herself for the inevitable. After the standard-issue wolf whistles had drifted across from their van, next came the leered, “Wouldn’t argue with that, love!” as one of them nodded towards her sparkling clean van, parked neatly at the curb. The words “A Bit of Crumpet on the Road” emblazoned down the side in deep purple, glittery lettering. Not for the first time Kat cursed her boss Janice for calling her bakery-cum-deli that name. Kat sighed, well it certainly drew comments from the public and from their customers, not always welcome ones, but as Janice was always keen to point out, any kind of publicity and attention was, in her eyes, good publicity and attention. Pulling her navy and white striped apron more tightly around her T-shirt and shorts, Kat ignored the builders and climbed into her van to begin that morning’s deliveries. As she indicated to pull out into the busy street in Luisborough, she mulled over the bad news – that she was to add the controversial Netherton Meadows housing development to her daily sandwich round. Netherton Meadows. Yippee. If Summer found out, she’d surely be ostracised for fraternising with the environmental enemy. This was a development that pretty much everyone in Luisborough had fought against for getting on towards a year. It had been the focus of STW campaigns. It went against everything that Kat believed in environmental-wise. Everyone hated the Netherton Meadows developers. Except, it seemed, Janice, who was perfectly happy to, in her words, ‘supply yummy builders with yummy sandwiches.’ Lost in thought, Kat just managed to spot the approaching traffic lights had turned to red and hastily slammed a foot on the brake. The van lurched to a halt and several boxes of crisps and one of the cool boxes in the back tipped over. Damn. It was shaping up to be one of those days. Ten minutes later she pulled into the car park of Printing Phenomenon, hauled some baskets and a box from the van and headed for the reception area. It was getting towards late July and was another one of those blazing hot days that made every little thing feel as though it required a huge amount of effort. The kind of day the people of the UK are so unaccustomed to, where all you want to do is get a large, cool drink and collapse into a deckchair for a long snooze. Two hours later Kat had visited all her usual drops, was extremely hot and bothered, and could put off going to Netherton Meadows no longer. Driving through the assorted vans, machinery and portacabins Kat parked next to a building marked as being the Site Office and hit the button on the dashboard. Tinkling chimes filled the air as Kat climbed from the driver’s seat and made to open the back doors of the vehicle. It was embarrassing enough that the van had the company name in large lettering along its side but, just to make sure that it received maximum exposure – and achieved maximum embarrassment – Janice had had some irritating chimes fitted to the vehicle too. Kat was under strict instructions to sound the chimes when she called at all of the sites where people came out to the van; such as they were about to at Netherton Meadows. A man came down the steps of the office with a grin on his face and walked towards her. “Hi, you must be Kat.” He wedged a clipboard under his left arm and offered a hand to shake. “I’m Alex. Project manager for the site.” “Hi,” mumbled Kat, spotting a group of hard-hat-clad builders advancing towards her with hungry expressions on their faces. “Right, lads,” Alex turned towards the men. “This is Kat and she’s very kindly agreed to venture onto this site to bring you all your lunch. Don’t give her any hassle, OK?” The men laughed and then nodded. “Sure, Alex. You’re the boss.” Fifteen minutes later it seemed that all of the team at the development had made their sandwich, crisp and drink selections and sloped off to devour them in the sunshine. Only one of the builders, a portly man who must have been twenty years Kat’s senior, had pushed the boundaries a little, despite Alex’s earlier warning. As he’d selected a smoked salmon and cream cheese roll – a choice that had surprised Kat somewhat, having pegged him as a ham and cheese kind of guy – he’d asked Kat if she’d fancy joining him for a drink sometime. She’d politely declined his offer, saying that she had a boyfriend. No need to tell him that, technically, she and Nathan were no longer an item. No need to tell him why either. Just as Kat slammed the van doors shut, Alex re-appeared from his office. “Thanks, Kat. I hope none of them caused any trouble?” he asked, taking off his yellow hard hat and running a hand through cropped dark brown hair in an agitated fashion. “No, they were all fine.” Kat forced a smile, struggling to tuck an escaped tendril of curly blond hair back into her ponytail. God, it was hot today. “Thanks for being so gentlemanly about their behaviour.” He grinned back at her. “No problem. I know what they can be like and as soon as I saw you getting out of the van I thought I’d better intervene. I’ve had enough problems getting a company to even contemplate coming to this site without them scaring you off on the first day.” “Problems? Why do you think that is?” asked Kat, sensing an opportunity to make sure this man was fully aware just how much the people of Luisborough were still against the development. “Because they hate us around here,” he said, shrugging matter-of-factly. “And that doesn’t bother you?” Kat was now leaning against the van, noting that Alex seemed, somehow, a bit different to the rest of the team on the site. He had a jaded air about him despite the fact that he was clearly much younger than most of the others. Kat couldn’t help noticing that he was also extremely good looking. “Yes, it bothers me but what can you do?” He sighed. “A job’s a job in this day and age. We all have to make a living, don’t we?” Softening a little towards him, Kat nodded and rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it.” He moved to stand next to her, propping himself against the van. Kat hadn’t realised until that moment just how tall he was. “Take you, for instance. I can’t imagine it was your lifelong ambition to drive around in a van with that name on the side of it. You must get no end of grief.” “I do but I need to earn some money to get my life back on track, so here I am.” “Is this your first job?” he asked, setting his hat and clipboard on the roof of the van and looking at her intently. “Pretty much. I recently finished a degree in environmental science and geography at university.” She added, trying to sound optimistic, “I’m waiting for my dream job to come along. In the meantime I work at the deli for a pittance and spend the rest of my time volunteering in a charity shop in town.” “Dream job, eh?” He turned towards her, brown eyes looking at her in a genuinely interested way. “What would your dream job be, then?” Kat smiled. “That’s easy. I’d love to work on a project like a nature reserve. Helping to preserve the environment, look after the wildlife. The charity shop where I volunteer is the Save the World one. My boss there, Summer, is a good friend and a great campaigner against developments like this.” Aware that she was telling him things that she hadn’t really spoken to anyone about since Nathan, she quickly turned away. He was a complete stranger. A stranger who stood for everything she was against. He was the enemy, supervising the building of a development that she, and many others, had fought to try to prevent. Reaching onto the van roof to hand the hat and clipboard back to Alex, she said, “I’d better be going.” “Sure. Thanks for coming out here.” He started to walk away but then paused, turned back towards her and added, “See you tomorrow, then?” Kat nodded. As she drove off, she felt more flustered than when she’d arrived. Unfortunately she had a growing suspicion that it had nothing to do with the hot weather or having to bring food to the development against her will. Rather, she suspected, it had much more to do with meeting Alex the site manager. Not a good sign at all.
Author Bio and links Author bio Zanna Mackenzie lives in the East Midlands in the UK with her husband, 4 dogs, a vegetable patch that’s home to far too many weeds and an ever expanding library of books waiting to be read. Being a freelance writer and editor of business publications is her ‘day job’ but, at every opportunity, she can be found scribbling down notes on scenes for whatever novel she’s working on. She loves it when the characters in her novels take on minds of their own and start deviating from the original plot! Formerly a travel agent and therapist (she has qualifications in clinical aromatherapy, crystal healing, naturopathic nutrition and herbalism) she loves walking the dogs and gardening – that’s when she’s not writing or reading! Zanna has written two novels, The Love Programme and How Do You Spell Love?
Find out more about Zanna at: www.zannamackenzie.blogspot.co.uk www.zannamackenzie.co.uk Twitter: @ZannaMacKenzie Facebook: www.facebook.com/zanna. mackenzie Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/10703273-zanna-mackenzie
Quiz time. Who knows what SEO means? Ten points if you said Search Engine Optimization. Hundred points if you know what the heck that means.
I’ve heard the term bounced around quite a few times, but mostly by social media experts. All the writers I know just shrug their shoulders, having no clue what it is. It’s important, that’s all I know. The higher you’re ranked by some obscure and highly secretive mathematical equation, the better. If you google your name and it shows up on the first page, you’re doing great. If you google your name and it shows up on page twenty, then you’ve got some work to do.
Last week I pointed out a benefit of blogging. Frequent blogging helps your SEO ranking. Blogging once a month doesn’t. Another thing I discovered last week in my social media workshop has to do with links in your posts. You see, if you have dysfunctional links, it hurts your ranking. The more bad links there are, the worse your ranking. I checked my blog using Broken Link Checkand discovered I had well over 100 broken links. It didn’t take long to discover most of them were from my Cool Links Friday posts. They used to work but not anymore.
Because it would have taken more hours than I care to think about to fix the problem, I deleted all my Cool Links posts. I then went back and cleaned up as many of the remaining posts as possible that had broken links.
This took me over two hours, but at least I’ve made the SEO gods happier. In fact they were so happy, when I entered ‘New Adult damaged characters’, my blog is on the first page, right above the reviews for some of my favorite NA novels. Exactly where I want to be, especially when my books are released.
Have you done anything to increase your SEO ranking? Or is this the first time you’ve heard the term?
Unless you’ve been wandering lost in a desert for the past year, you are aware that the publishing industry is rapidly changing. With it, the number of self-published, small press, ebooks, and traditionally published books being published each week is dramatically growing. What does this mean? More people are trying to gain the reader’s attention. The same reader we want to check out our own new release.
Elana Johnson blogged last week on how we’re starting to suffer from a social media hangover. Promotional activities (blog tours, giveaways, interviews) that used to be effective are now turning people off. Some readers still enjoy them, but most don’t bother to read the posts. I don’t. Katie Mills also talked about this change. Based on comments from their posts and other places, as well as personal experience, this is what I’ve learned:
Covers are important. If your cover looks amateurish, no one (other than your mom) will be interested in your book. When you send the JPEG file to be used on another blog, make sure you send one of high resolution; otherwise, it will look blurry and amateurish.
A compelling title always tromps a dull one.
Make sure your blurb is tight and interesting. If your blurb is dull and vague, I’m not going to read your book. I’ve seen a number of self-published books lately with great covers and boring blurbs.
Don’t irritate people with your promotion. As we all know, this is a serious issue with Twitter and Facebook. If you want people to pay attention to your new release, then please avoid spamming. If you DM someone who just followed you back, you can guarantee they WON’T read your book (or blog) if you tell them to.
Use Goodreads wisely. Goodreads is a great way for people to find out about your book via word-of-mouth. Plus, fans of your books can check the site for the release date of your next novel. It’s also a good way to invite your “friends” to your book-release party. However, I often delete the announcements (unread) unless I’m excited about the book or the author is a friend of mine.
Word of mouth is your best promotion. Not long ago, a blogging friend mentioned Easy by Tammara Webber on her blog. We started talking about the book. Because of that, I bought it and read it right away (even though my TBR pile is out of control). I then told my CP, who also read it even though her TBR pile is as bad as mine. We both love the book and have told others about it.
Be selective with your blog tours. You are better off having your book reviewed on a major book blog (if possible) than swamp your blogging circle with a blog tour. According to the comments on Katie’s and Elana’s posts, most of us avoid reading posts that are part of a blog tour, especially when a number of the blogs we follow are part of the tour. The exception is if the topic is of interest to us. Then we stop to read it.
Keep your promotion small, unless you can spread it around so it’s not hitting the same people again and again. Every so often, subtly remind us about your book. I might not buy it right away, but the reminder later on might be all I need to pick the book up. This is more effective than over promotion, which tends to turn some people off a book.
If you’re going to do an interview, KEEP IT SHORT. Most of us don’t have time to read to a 750-word plus interview, unless it’s by our favorite author. Personally, all I care about is the book. Write a great story and I’m sold.
Make sure your book is professionally edited. Later next year, I plan to release a New Adult novel I’m currently working on, and plan to have the book professionally edited (that includes structural edits, line edits, and copy edits). Why? Because I want the word-of-mouth to be good. Need I say more?
Start working on your next project. The best promotion for your last book is your next one. I loved Easy so much, I had to read the first book in Tammara Webber’s Between the Lines series. I’ve already read the first two books and can’t wait to read the third one.
Remember the purpose of social networking. The key word here is social. This is your chance to make genuine friendships. Friendships that could eventually lead to positive word-of-mouth about your book.
How do you decide what books to read? Are there any forms of promotion that especially turns you off? Do you have any other suggestions for getting your book noticed?
Today is a real treat :) I have Marsha Ward here today to talk a little about herself, how she writes, why she writes, and if she's a pantser or a planner... How did you become interested in the Civil War? Author Robert Newton Peck once said that every historical writer has their favorite war. While his was the French and Indian War, mine turned out to be the Civil War. I don’t know what sparked my passion for it. It could have been reading some of historian Bruce Catton’s work, or Gone With the Wind, during high school. My interest certainly did not stem from a personal or family issue, since none of my relatives fought on either side. If they had, they’ve have been Union soldiers, and my characters fought for the South. That said, my current novels actually have post-Civil War settings, dealing with the aftermath of that great struggle, so they fit more in the classification of Western Migration novels, or Settling of the West. Very cool. Tell us about your novels. The Man from Shenandoahbegins as Carl Owen returns from the Civil War to find the family farm destroyed, his favorite brother dead, food scarce, and his father determined to leave the Shenandoah Valley to build a cattle empire in Colorado Territory. Crossing the continent, Carl falls in love with his brother's fiancée while set to wed another girl, but he might lose everything if the murderous outlaw Berto Acosta has his way. Carl battles a band of outlaws, a prairie fire, blizzards, a trackless waterless desert, and his own brother-all for the hand of feisty Ellen Bates. Ride to Ratoncontinues from there: after losing the heart of his fiancée to his brother, James Owen leaves home to make a new life for himself. The turbulent world of post-Civil War Colorado Territoryis fraught with danger and prejudice that increase his bitter loneliness as personal setbacks threaten to break him. Then James's journey brings him into contact with another wayfarer, beautiful young Amparo Garcés, who has come from Santa Fe to Colorado to marry a stranger. Through a twist of fate, their futures are changed forever when their lives are merged in a marriage of convenience. James and Amparo undertake a hazardous horseback trek over Raton Passto Santa Fe, battling their personal demons, a challenging language barrier, and winter's raging storms. My third novel, Trail of Storms, goes back to tell the tale of a peripheral character from the first novel. Jessie Bingham and her family flee post-Civil War Virginia after her sister suffers a brutal attack, and together endure a perilous trek to New Mexico Territory. When she hears her former sweetheart, James Owen, has taken a wife, Jessie accepts Ned Heizer’s marriage proposal on the condition they wait until journey’s end to wed. But then Jessie encounters James again... and he isn’t married now! Spinster’s Follyis the fourth book in the series, and tells Marie Owen’s story. Marie lives in a land that is long on rough characters and short on fitting suitors. Her desire to get married before she winds up a spinster propels her into making hasty decisions that drive her into the arms of a sweet-talking predator, landing her in unimaginable dangers. Wow, all of those books sound like they would be great reads. How much research was necessary to make your books so historically believable and where did you conduct most of your research? Did you visit the locations where you set your novels? I read 150 books to research my first novel. Some I bought, but most came from the library. Over the years that I’ve been writing the series, I have been able to do some on-the-ground research, and I recently took a trip back East to visit Civil War battlefields and other areas in preparation to write my next book. I’ve also been amassing books on the Civil War in the last year. Lots of books! In the earlier years, I conducted several interviews with people familiar with the areas I wanted to learn about. Photographs were also helpful, as were the state guides produced as WPA projects during the Great Depression. I’ve found several very good online sources for research on my later books. Are you a pantser or a planner when you write? I definitely write by the seat of my pants, once I have an idea for a story and know who my characters will be. I’m doing more planning now than I used to, though, so I don’t spend way too much time rewriting. However, I’ll never again write a complete synopsis early-on. That doesn’t work for me, because my brain then thinks I’ve already written the book. While I’m writing, I make various charts and spreadsheets to help me analyze the number of occurrances of different points-of-view, and events within scenes. This helps the revision process goes faster. I now use a great writing software program called yWriter5, which allows me to focus on one scene at a time. This is important, so that I don’t become daunted by the vastness of the project. A huge upside to using it is that the software is free! I'm a writer too, so I like to ask other writers. 'What's your writing schedule like?' Very fragmented. I’m easily distracted, but when I’m white-hot in the initial draft, I can write for up to eight hours, broken up by short breaks. This is only possible because I live alone. I wish I had a better schedule. Almost every writer I know wishes the same thing!
I know I do lol... actually, I wish my fingers and eyelids kept up with my brain lol. Have you held a "day job" in addition to your writing? Yes. Through the years I mothered my children, and then worked as a journalist, an educator, and in a retail store. I’ve also volunteered with several organizations, doing websites, newsletters, and a multitude of other chores.
Something I'm always curious about... How do you promote your books? I have a website and a couple of blogs, I’m active on Facebook and other social media venues, and I’m always looking for ways to let people know I’m an author, such as giving talks and networking with various groups. I find that word of mouth from enthusiastic readers drives the most sales, though.
Advice to anyone contemplating writing a Civil War novel? Do thorough research, keep accessible notes, then let the fingers loose.
Finally, How would you like to be remembered? As a kind person who could write a little. Thank you so much, Marsha, for being on my blog today... and HAPPY RELEASE DAY!!!!!!
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(I love that book cover!!) What exactly is Spinster's Folly? Marie Owen yearns for a loving husband, but Colorado Territory is long on rough characters and short on fitting suitors, so a future of spinsterhood seems more likely than wedded bliss. Her best friend says cowboy Bill Henry is a likely candidate, but Marie knows her class-conscious father would not allow such a pairing. When she challenges her father to find her a suitable husband before she becomes a spinster, he arranges a match with a neighbor's son. Then Marie discovers Tom Morgan would be an unloving, abusive mate and his mother holds a grudge against the Owen family. Marie's mounting despair at the prospect of being trapped in such a dismal marriage drives her into the arms of a sweet-talking predator, landing her in unimaginable dangers. This fourth book in the Owen Family Saga is infused with potent heart and intense grit.
Marsha Ward is an award-winning writer and editor who has published over 900 pieces of work, including three previous novels in the Owen Family Saga, numerous newspaper articles, and sections in books on the craft of writing. She is a member of Western Writers of America, Women Writing the West, and American Night Writers Association. Born a while ago in the sleepy little town of Phoenix, Arizona, Marsha grew up with chickens, citrus trees, and lots of room to roam. She began telling stories at a very early age, regaling neighborhood chums with her tales as they snacked on her homemade sugar cookies and drank cold milk. Visiting her cousins on their ranch and listening to her father's stories of homesteading in Old Mexico and in the Tucson area reinforced Marsha's love of 19th Century Western history. After many years in the big city, Marsha now makes her home in a tiny hamlet under Central Arizona's magnificent Mogollon Rim. When she is not writing, she loves to spoil her grandchildren, travel, give talks, meet readers, and sign books. Here are links to my author pages at Smashwords and Amazon: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/marshaward http://www.amazon.com/Marsha-Ward/e/B003RB9P9Q/ And links to my Social Media sites: Website: http://marshaward.com Author Blog: http://marshaward.blogspot.com Character Blog: http://charactersinmarshashead.blogspot.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authormarshaward Twitter: http://twitter.com/MarshaWard Online Book Release Event at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/333393153425853/
If I were to ask you what your author brand is, could you tell me?
I’d heard the term before, but until I recently read social media guru Kristen Lamb’s blog, I hadn’t given mine much thought.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, a brand is “an identifying marked burned on livestock or (especially in former times) criminals or slaves with a branding iron.”
Oh, wait! Sorry. Wrong definition. You don’t need to rush off to your local ranch and ask them to burn a symbol on your butt. I mean you can if you want, but it’s probably not recommended. And I’m not sure how effective it would be for selling your novel.
Anyway, after checking my old marketing textbook, I decided to skip on sharing its super dry definition. Instead, I consulted a number of great resources on author brands. And of course, they all had differing opinions as to what it means. But here’s the basic gist of them.
What’s in a Name?
The first thing you need to consider is your name. According to Kristen Lamb, this is your brand. Because of this, she recommends your name is in your blog’s URL. Mine is. Is yours? She also suggests your name is in the title of your blog. Okay, I fail on that point. And until I started writing this post, I didn’t realize my name wasn’t even on my blog. #majorbrandingfail. It’s now in my sidebar.
What’s Your Niche?
Shelli Johannes Wells talked about the author brand during WriteOnCon last year. The writer brand describes how people view you based on your books. Maybe you write YA paranormals. Great. But so do so many other YA writers. What differentiates your style from someone else’s?
For example, Kiersten White (Paranormalcy) writes humorous YA paranormals. When we pick up her books, that’s what we expect. Problem with this is what will happen if her next series is much darker? (btw I’d still buy it since I love dark paranormals).
Do you have a style you like to write in? Maybe humorous, dark, or suspenseful. If you blog, can you incorporate your style into your blog? Lisa and Laura Roecker are a perfect example of this. Their witty, entertaining voice captures the hearts of their blog followers. And you can expect the same from their novel, The Liar Society.
Who Are You?
Author Roni Loren explained that your book and genre are only part of your author brand. The real you is the other part. What does this mean?
Be yourself.
Of course if the real you is rude and obnoxious, then you might be headed for trouble. One hundred years ago it wouldn’t have been a big deal. Now thanks to social networking, it can be your ultimate doom, especially if editors discover this (and they will) before they offer you a contract.
Shelli Johannes Wells also covered this in more detail during WriteOnCon.
Obviously these three things aren’t as clear cut as they sound. What happens if you’re published in several different genres? When you say Stephenie Meyer, most people think of sparkling vampires. But she also wrote a successful adult science fiction novel (The Host). This is why a number of authors, such as Nora Roberts, write different genres under different pen names. Each one has a different author brand associated with it, but she’s still Nora Roberts.
Before you freak out at the thought of having more than one brand, Meg Cabot and Richelle Mead both write YA and adult novels, and each has only one brand.
So what about you, do you have an author brand? Is this something you’re considering, or are you going to wait to be published first?
I’m currently taking an online social media workshop through the YARWA. So far it’s been interesting. Last week we came up with keywords that describe us and what we write. We then used Google Adwords to determine the level of competition (low, medium, high) that uses the same word or phrase. I have no idea why we’re doing this. The relevance will be revealed this week (I hope).
While I was goofing around (aka procrastinating from what I was supposed to be doing), I searched for ‘Stina New Adult.’ The result showed my blog, Twitter, Goodreads, and Pinterest accounts, and several guest posts I’ve done. That wasn’t a surprise. The surprise came when I scrolled down to the bottom of the second page. I’m not the only Stina who writes YA and NA. That’s right. There are two of us, but the other Stina lives in the US. I live in Canada. She writes paranormal stories. I write contemporary romances.
This discovery leads to an important point. Why is she buried on page two and I take up the majority of the first two pages (and beyond)? The reason is because I’m more active with social networking, or more specifically, because I blog. She showed up because her book is on Goodreads.
As an author, you want to be easily found if someone googles your name. If they can’t remember your full name, will they still be able to find you, or will you be buried somewhere where they are less likely to see you? While looking for you, they might discover another author and buy her book instead.
What are you doing to make sure your name appears at the top of the list if someone googles it?
Facebook, Twitter, and blogging (along with other social media sites) are great ways to connect with writers, readers, agents, and editors. We know that we need to filter what we say so we don’t damage our reputation and books sales. But what about the private groups we join, where we’re supposed to be able to chat or ask questions about the publishing industry? How open can we be there?
Not long ago, members from one author group became upset when it was accidentally discovered that an author in the group was also a popular agent. Members of the group felt betrayed, because they were saying things that they didn’t necessarily want someone directly involved in the publishing industry to hear.
A similar incident happened to me. I was going to share something with a group I’m in, but then changed my mind at the last moment. And good thing I did. What I didn’t know at the time was that there was someone in the group I didn’t want to share my news with—for good reason.
With more and more agents and editors becoming authors, we have to be careful what we say. The person you might be complaining to could end up being the agent or editor you wanted to query, and you’re just turned them off. Or you might announce something prematurely, not realizing you’ve just announced your news to the “wrong” person.
Do you monitor what you say in private groups when sharing your news and concerns regarding the industry? Do you think that industry professionals should make it clear that they are agents or editors (I’m not referring to freelance editors) when they’re in a private group with other writers?
Two months ago, I blogged about a recent trend in which many New Adult authors aren’t using websites for their main hub of activity. They’re using their blog to substitute as a website. All the information about their books, their latest news, where they can be found in the world of social media is located on their blog via the use of ‘pages’.
Last week, I read H.R. Sinclair’s post on having a website verses a blog verses a wlob. I knew what the first two meant, but had no idea what a wlob is. Turns out it’s a blog that has a static landing page instead of the dynamic page that we’re use to seeing. Author websites typically have a static landing page. You click on a header to go to the author’s blog.
I knew you could do this with Wordpress, but until H.R.’s post, I had no idea that you can now do it with Blogger. (Warning: it’s a lot more complex than it is for Wordpress.)
I’m considering making changes to my blog this summer, which will include a new design. The question is: do you find wlob’s annoying? Would you prefer to go straight to the blog page? Or are you okay with seeing the static page first? Do you even check out author websites?
Used with permission from Debbie Ridpath Ohi at Inkygirl.com
Today at the Querytracker blog, I’m talking about snubbing your potential fan through social media (in order words, why you don’t want to ignore writers/authors in your genre who follow you on Twitter).
This morning I’ll be finishing the first draft of my NA contemporary romance sequel. It’s then going on a vacation while I work on several blurbs for my agent. She’s helping me decide what my next NA contemp project will be.
What are you doing writing wise this week? (Or are you currently taking a break from writing during the summer?)
On the last Wednesday of each month, I’ll be showing off the covers of new releases belonging to my blog followers. And with each book, I’ve asked the author to share a short writing quote to inspire you. (Yeah, I realize it's now May 1st. I kind of screwed up when I checked the calendar).
Before I introduce you to the upcoming New Adult thriller Bitter Angel by Megan Hand, I want to tell those of you who are planning to query soon that I wrote about Agent Stalking this week on the Querytracker blog. It’s a valuable lesson as to why you should filter your thoughts when using social media sites.
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I guess for inspiration I would say: It's Numero Uno about the writing. If you don't love your characters, others won't either. Spend time with them, get to know them, become their best friend. When that's finished, find where you fit, dig your hole nice and deep, and prepare to grow roots. Those roots will keep you through the toughest storms. And the publishing world is stormy for sure, so pack an umbrella! :)
Torn between two realities. A choice that will mean life or death. But she won’t know anything… until she wakes up.
College sophomore, Lila Spencer lived Friday night twice. She doesn’t know how or why, just that she did. As if she split in half and went in two different directions.
Out clubbing with her friends, Heather and Nilah, the girls rock it out and party hard. What begins as an innocent night will lead to a deadly fight for their lives, and Lila might be their only chance for survival.
In bed with her boyfriend, Jay, Lila is safe and warm as she drifts to sleep in the arms of the man she loves. Until she is sucked into a horrifying nightmare of her friends' deaths.
As the sunlight warms her face on Saturday morning, the two scenarios collide. But there can be only one outcome. Will she wake up in her warm bed with Jay by her side, devastated and grieving for her friends? Or was she there to save them?
You can enter to win a free advanced review copy of my new book, THE DECEPTION OF DEVIN MILLER! Just click HERE... ****Two things before you read this post: Do you know the story of the Little Red Hen... and do you know who Benedict Cumberbatch (BBCs Sherlock) is... Read on... ;)
**** Do you know the story of the 'Little Red Hen'? It is an old fable. I tried to find the original writer but couldn't (if you have any idea, leave a comment.)
The basic story (and I'll have a very special reading of it at the end of this post... by a very famous... um... villain/detective *hint* ) is that this little red hen is going to make some bread. She has to plant the wheat, gather the wheat, turn it into flour, and bake it.
Along the way, she asks her friends for help. The rat, the cat, and the dog all say no...
Except...
When the Little Red Hen asks if they want to eat it. They all jump up and go in for supper. And do you know what she tells them? NO! Because they haven't done any of the work.
So... how does this relate to being a Mama and a Writer? When I first started writing, the husband wasn't very happy about it. To him, it was a hobby-- like his fishing-- and it was taking a lot of time... which it was. A LOT of time (now it takes longer bc of social media lol) He was happy when I got my first book contract. He was proud when the book came out. When I started writing the second book... wow. He wasn't thrilled. He thought this was a one hit thing, I suppose. He thought one book a year would be great. I had to explain for any writer now days to get their name out, you have to write 3-4 books a year-- which is daunting with 3 small kids and a full time job. Finally, when people started actually buying the book and people started talking to him about it, he got very excited! He loved my writing and has made every effort since then to 'give me time' to write. It took a year of unhappiness (on that front), but now he's one of my most vocal supporters. He wasn't there for the planting, harvesting, or cooking-- but he's there for the final product. Unlike the Little Red Hen, I'm just happy he's on board now :) If you are trying to write and there is someone not exactly with you, I understand. But it will pass. My husband is very excited about my self-publishing my 3rd book! I NEVER thought he would be. People surprise you!Okay... great. That hits writing, but what about being a Mama? For months, I took my oldest 2 girls to tumbling practice. Toward the latter, my sister came with me. The husband took them a few times, but mainly, it was me. I definitely paid the tuition (though my mother did pay for the recital). The point is, I was there 95% of the time. I did most of the leg work when it came to getting them to and from tumbling. On the day of the recital, everyone was there. My 2 year old started acting like a sleepy, cranky 2 year old and I had to take her out. Guess who didn't get to sit in her seat and 'eat the bread' of watching her girls' recital? Yup... We, as Mamas, get the not so pleasant jobs at times. We get the cleaning up the messes, the arguing, the crying when we brush their hair-- but the others get the 'reward' (the bread at the end of the story) Should we get bitter about it? Well, no... doesn't mean we don't sometimes though. It's human. What about you? Do you have some Little Red Hen moments in your life? Did they (like my husband) turn around and become one of your biggest supporters? And JUST IN CASE you don't know the story of the Little Red Hen-- and just if you are having a bad day-- here is Benedict Cumberbatch (star of BBCs Sherlock and Star Trek: Into Darkness) reading... The Little Red Hen(Proceed to fangirl now if you must ;) ) (from youtube)
Thanks to book review websites like Goodreads and Amazon, a reader can decide if they want to read a book or if they should skip it because of the reviews and ratings.
Last month, I posted about a poorly edited book* I had read that ended up with some surprisingly high ratings on both Goodreads and Amazon. Since that post, I’ve noticed an unexpected finding. The way people rate self-published books is different to how they rate traditionally published ones. I’m consistently finding that the overall ratings for self-published books are higher than the ones for books that are traditionally published.
One reason for this is because we may be tougher on traditionally published books due to their cost. When a self-published novel costs only $1.99, we tend to be more forgiving. We’re less forgiving when we shell out $10 for a book. And watch up if we pay significantly higher than that, which is the case for hardcover books. It doesn’t mean the self-published books are better. It just means we’re dealing with a whole new level of subjectivity.
Do you find you are tougher when you rate traditionally published books verses self-published ones? Do you think this inequality in how books are reviewed is fair to authors and readers alike?
* I'm currently reading Hopeless. It's not the book I was referring to.
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And the winner of the book Social Media Just For Writers is:
I'm so excited to have Jennifer Comeaux here today and learn about the second in her Edge novels, Edge of the Past (Astraea Press, Nov. 2012) Edge of the Past is the sequel to Life on the Edge-- I'll give you the book covers to see if you can figure out what these books are about...
BUY LINKS FOR EDGE OF THE PAST: AMAZON BARNES AND NOBLE SMASHWORDS
Hmmm... do you sense the theme?
(And aren't these AWESOME book covers! Seriously, gorgeous!)
Life on the Edge and Edge of the Past are New Adult novels, a very big upcoming genre in literature between young adult (12ish-18ish) and adult (over college age... ish).
And do you have to like skating to like these books? Well, did you have to know how to do surgery to watch ER or drink blood to watch the Vampire Diaries (ewwww)?
So, what is Edge of the Past about...
Emily’s skating career and personal life have never been more golden. She and her partner Chris have won every competition they’ve entered this season, and she’s found the man of her dreams in her coach Sergei. But when one of the biggest competitions of the year takes Emily and Sergei to Russia, Sergei’s past explodes into the present and makes Emily doubt everything in their future.
And what's reading the second book before you read the first one? It's like watching The Bourne Legacy without seeing the Bourne Identity or Return of the Jedi before they ever went away... FREE BOOK ALERT!!!! Jennifer wants to help you with that. She has agreed to give away 1 ebook copy of LIFE ON THE EDGE (Edge, #1) to a reader of this blog (You my friends... you! And is there anything better than free??????) All you have to do to win is leave a blog comment telling me which book cover you like the best: Life on the the Edge or Edge of the Past.
Personally, I'm all about the second one because purple is my favorite color... I need to make this blog purple (but I digress)
THE WINNER WILL BE RANDOMLY CHOSEN FROM THE BLOG COMMENT PARTICIPANTS. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. CONTEST ENDS AT 7 AM MONDAY, FEB. 18th.
GOOD LUCK!!! This is definitely a book you want to win!
Wanna know what book 1 is about????
Nineteen-year-old Emily is new to pairs skating, but she and her partner Chris have a big dream–to be the first American team to win Olympic gold. Their young coach Sergei, who left Russia after a mysterious end to his skating career, believes they can break through and make history. Emily and Chris are on track to be top contenders at the 2002 Winter Games. But when forbidden feelings spark between Emily and Sergei, broken trust and an unexpected enemy threaten to derail Emily’s dreams of gold.
And here is an excerpt from EDGE OF THE PAST...
Excerpt Sergei pressed me up into the star lift, and I noticed some of the other skaters idling and watching us. We sped past them, and Sergei set me down, preparing for the closing seconds of the program. In time with the final piano notes, I edged away from Sergei, and he rushed toward me, trapping me in his arms for the ending pose. I gasped at the passion with which he grabbed me. His eyes held my gaze then slowly drifted down to my mouth, and my body hummed from the fiery energy between us. I leaned into his chest and squeezed my fingers harder around his biceps. A few of my training mates erupted with applause and whistles, and Sergei jerked backward. He didn’t say anything as he took off to cool down, leaving me alone in the middle of the ice with more than my muscles burning.
About the Author Jennifer Comeaux earned a Master of Accounting from Tulane University and is a Certified Public Accountant in south Louisiana. While working in the corporate world, she sought a creative outlet and decided to put on paper a story that had played in her head for years. That story became Life on the Edge, her first published novel. When not working or writing, she is an avid follower of the sport of figure skating, travelling to competitions around the country. Those experiences allow her to see a different side of the sport and serve as an inspiration for her writing. Jennifer is blessed with a wonderful family and friends who have encouraged her to pursue her dream of being a published author. Author social media links: Website Twitter Facebook Goodreads
For many writers, once we’ve made the decision to pursue a writing career, we become so focused on finishing our book, we often don’t think about what comes afterwards. And with more options available to us than a few years ago, it’s important that we look at the big picture, no matter where we are in the pursuit of publication.
How to Publish and Promote Your Book Now! By L. Diane Wolfe is a thorough guide that will benefit writers, no matter where they are in the writing process. It covers everything you could possibility want to know about writing and beyond. In total, there are eighty-four chapters, each ranging between two to three pages. Topics cover all aspects of traditional and self publishing, social networking, marketing, and promotion. And with each topic, the book explains everything you need to know so that you can make the choices that are right for you and your project.
Chapters include:
Pros and Cons of Traditional Publishing
Going the Traditional Route
Business Setup (i.e. what you need to know if you’re self publishing)
Developing a Website
The Media
Reviewers
Where to Send Review Copies
What to Expect From Reviews
Newsletters
Because each chapter is short, you won’t find the level of information that you might find in a book or online workshop focused on that specific topic (for example, writing newsletters). But it is a great resource for figuring out what you need to do to succeed. The book is also filled with links you can click on for additional information on various topics. This makes the book invaluable, regardless of which publishing route you choose.
Have you thought much about promotion, regardless of where you are on the publishing path? (and that includes those of you writing the first draft of your first novel).
Note: I’d like to thank L.Diane Wolfe’s publisher for providing me a copy of the book for the review.
Available February 5, 2012 Publishing/Marketing, 214 pages $14.95 Trade paperback ISBN 978-0-9827139-5-2 $4.99 Ebook ISBN 978-0-9827139-9-0 Available in all Ebook formats
