Tsu....who?

Most of you have heard about the new social media Tsu. Of course I'm over there! Come find me!

Tonya Kappes on Tsu.

Here are my thoughts....
1) It's easy to use.

2) The timeline feed is called a diary. It doesn't trickle like and move like Facebook's feed. AND it doesn't show me last status updates from a few days ago like Facebook does. It shows me the true up to date status of my friends/followers! I love that!!

3) It also give me the reach of ALL of my friends and followers, not like Facebook. For instance....I have 3k LIKES on my Facebook page. These are authentic likes from people who want me in their feed. Not just friend and go. They are LIKES.  I had a Holiday ISpy party and Facebook ONLY let 261 of my likes see the post. 

Facebook is making it harder and harder for authors to connect with their readers. 
4) Tsu is helping cut back on trolls. You aren't allowed to just share to be entered into a contest, or like to be entered into a contest. You really have to LIKE someone in order to use a share. This is priceless!

5) You can like, share, and comment to get a cut of their cash...I'm not really sure what I'm talking about here (hahahaha!), but it's still something Facebook isn't doing!

So are you going to TSU???

Reader Monday

I'm so excited to welcome the first Monday of the new year and a new series that I'm going to be featuring on Mondays. I'm calling it READER MONDAY (Yeah, creative...I know.)

The one thing that you should know about me is that I'm all about me readers! I love connecting with them here on the blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads, and in person. There is nothing more fun than getting together with people who love to read! Go on over to my website and check out my news and events for places I will be traveling to this year. I hope y'all let me know if you live near these places because I would love to hook up!

So when I decided to move my blog to reader friendly, I wanted to let readers have a day where they can talk about books, why they like books, who they like, how they fit riding into their busy lives, or anything that strikes their fancy! I'm pretty open to anything.

I'm excited to have my first guest reader today. Lori Hickey is a member of my STREET TEAM and she is so much fun! When I asked her to guest blog as a reader, I didn't know she was going to talk about me...little ole me;) But I loved it! This is exactly how I want my readers to feel when they meet me or read my novels! Lori summed it up perfectly!

Over a year and a half ago I found a new Author (with a little help from a friend) who writes fun, quirky, magical and laugh out loud stories where you fall in love with the characters. 

Since then I have read all of her books and am eagerly waiting for her next one. Tonya Knappes is her name and let me tell you she is so much like her characters. 

Since reading and finding Tonya, who lives in Kentucky while I live in Vermont, we have become friends. She is very involved with her readers and really cares about them.

She has her Street Team on Facebook which I am a part of. Tonya has book release parties that last for hours giving away lots of wonderful goodies including books that her author friends have written. 

So not only is she sharing herself with us she shares her friends with us too. This is a win win for everyone.  We have book group meetings on our Kindle Fires with Tonya. Not many authors do that. 

We’ve even had fun as a “Big Brother” group during the summer months.

I wake up every morning and turn my iPad on and go to Facebook for our morning hello and fun cartoons. This has become such a part of my routine. I would miss it if it was all gone tomorrow.

I could go on and on about Tonya and her books and everything else that she does for us but I’ll end here and hope that you will read her books and find them as enjoyable as I do.

What about you? Do you have authors that reach out to their readers?

My Experience With KDP Select

Collapse was released on July 6th, 2012.  In the month or so leading up to its release I had made the decision to go exclusively with Amazon in the KDP Select program.  I had done my homework, it seemed like the smart thing to do.  Just before the release, I had several people ask me if they would be able to get Collapse on the Nook.  Not wanting to disappoint them, I figured it wouldn't hurt to make Collapse available on other formats until sales dropped low enough to make the switch to Select.

An acquaintance (more like a friend of a friend, I'm not sure I'd recognize the guy if I saw him on the street) had already self-published a few books the previous summer and I always kept a close eye on his rankings.  I also kept a close eye on his reviews, which were far from kind.  Some of the most horrible one star reviews I'd ever read adorned both of his books.  One of his titles had many accusations of being plagiarized pornography stolen from an erotic fan fiction forum (dressed up as science fiction for some reason).  "This man is a blight on the literary world, his grasp of the English language is tenuous at best" was one of the reviews that I remember most clearly.  He has since taken both of the books down and figured the third time's a charm with his recently released title.  His latest entry is also suffering similar reviews blasting his poor grammar skills and confusing plot. 

Okay, what does this have to do with KDP Select you might ask.  Thanks to the handy ebook tracking tool at Kindle Nation Daily I was able to track the progress of his work.  His work would usually hover around the 60K neighborhood on the rankings.  The days following his free promos, he would skyrocket into the 1-2K rank, even going as high as 692.  The next day, he would very quickly spend the next two days plummeting back to the 60K range.  This impressed me a great deal, clearly there was something to this KDP Select thing.  If the free promotion could propel a very poorly written book (based on reviews mind you, I only read the sample, which was awful) into the top 1000 then it was definitely worth giving a try.

Collapse had been available on non-Amazon outlets for almost a month and it was time to evaluate sales.  Here is where I was at when I made the decision to go Select. (Does not reflect paperback sales)

Amazon: 162 sales
B&N: 31
Kobo: 2
SmashWords: 1

The decision wasn't hard to make.  I had pointed the majority of my promotion back to the main sales page for Collapse here on this blog.   It's quite clear from those statistics that Amazon truly does hold the vast majority of the ebook market.  Going Select just made sense to me so on August 2nd I pulledCollapse from the other outlets and went exclusive with Amazon.

On August 4th and 5th I had my first free promo weekend.  On August 3rd I spent a great deal of time getting the word out to potential readers.  I was very fortunate to have a comprehensive list at my fingertips thanks to Rachelle Ayala's blog.  I made as many notifications as I could and programmed TweetAdder to start informing the Twitterverse of my upcoming promotion.  I also used the very efficient Tweet Teams at the World Literary Cafe to help get the word out.  For more information on how to effectively use Twitter for book promotion, please read my blog entry.

The free weekend was a huge success. Collapse made it to #17 on the Top 100 Free list and stayed at #1 on the Free list in both of my categories (War and Political).  On Monday morning, the instant my eyes opened I logged on the check the final stats - 13,957 downloads. 

The terrific promotional tool of staying on the Top 20 Free list right next to the Top 20 Paid list and staying at the top of my categories' Free lists was great exposure, but did it pay off in terms of sales?

Absolutely.

For the month of July, I sold 191 digital copies of Collapse on Amazon.  In the two days following my free promo weekend, I sold 218 copies and 51 borrows.  That's right, in two days, I sold more copies than I did the entire previous month.  I should note a disclaimer, I priced Collapse at 99 cents for the four days following the free promo.  Some might think that was the wrong move since I was missing out on a lot of money.  Maybe that's true, but I'm thinking long term exposure.  I am writing a series of four books and my goal is to get the first one out there to as many readers as possible so the series will be an overall success.  Also, I'm not financially dependent on my writing in any way at all so I'm free to gamble on my promos to find out what works best.  I was originally only going to keep the 99 cent price for the day following the promo, but darn it if the book didn't keep climbing up the ranks all the way to 1,159 and in the Top 10 on both of my categories.  Once it peaked and starting slipping back the other direction, I raised it to the regular price.

I have no regrets when it comes to Select, best decision I've made in terms of marketing.  As of the date of this post, my rankings have stayed in the 2K range whereas it was in the 15K to 20K range prior to the free promo.

*******************************************************************
Thank you so much, Richard for being here today and letting me post your honest and open blog about KDP Select. There is nothing better for Indie authors to be able to see numbers from another Indie author. 


Be sure to pick up Richard's award winning novel, Collapse. 
Check him out at his social networking sites!
Facebook 
Twitter

Keep the Numbers Coming in After the Release Party

This blog has been a little wonky this week! I'm not on my normal Monday, Wednesday, and Friday schedule. This is due to the fact that it started off as release week for my latest novel, A Charming Crime!

And what a week it has been!! AND it's still going.....

Many of us promote the first day or two and then let the book fly alone. THAT ISN'T GOING TO CUT THE MUSTARD!!

I know I'm always throwing marketing and promoting ideas and the post on HOW TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL RELEASE PARTY ON LINE was a big success in the blog world. BUT I'm here to tell you that it doesn't stop there.

This is how my release went.
Monday: I posted on my street team a Facebook status and a tweet. I asked my STREET TEAM members to kindly post these into their accounts during the day because Tuesday was party day on the STREET TEAM Facebook page!

A Charming Crime made it to #8k in the Amazon store and #61 on the mystery best seller list.

Tuesday: I had over 50 authors lined up to donate a book to STREET TEAM members only. This way I was able to host a give away on my STREET TEAM every 20 minutes. This was my way of giving back to the writing world (authors to find new readers) and my STREET TEAM for promoting their hineys off on Monday.

I had virtual characters from A CHARMING CRIME making appearances, virtual parties through out the day, virtual drinks, party crashers, and tons more give aways other than books! It was a HUGE success.

That didn't end it for me. I knew that I had to continue to reach those readers who aren't on my STREET TEAM.

Wednesday: Just because the first two days are over, you still have to promote! Take it to the boards! Get on Kindle or Nook forums and be sure to pimp out your novel! There are so many readers there! They are looking for great books just like yours!!

Don't stop there! Go to your on line groups! Tell the world that your book is available!!

Thursday: Get on Facebook (YES! You really need to be on Facebook!)!

Be sure that you LIKE the Amazon, Kindle, Nook, Sony, Kobo pages! Don't just say "BUY MY BOOK," put your blurb out there and a new release along with 'THE FIRST THREE COMMENTS WILL WIN A FREE EBOOK OF A CHARMING CRIME!"
This really does work! BUT you have to gift them the copy...which a win for everyone. You gain a new reader and it's out there for the others to check out. AND if you are in the giving spirit, you can surprise gift a few more comments!

Friday: Visit all your sites! This might take a few more minutes, but hopefully you will have a lot more comments. Interact with your people!!! This makes the reader/author relationship so strong!

The following week:
Make sure you have set up a blog tour for TWO weeks after the launch. Don't just target other writer's blogs, you need to target the audience of your book. For instance....My first novel, Carpe Bead 'em, has a beading theme. I set up blog tours on beading blogs! They love to bead, and love to read about beading! That book became #1 on Amazon's Movers and Shakers!

Blog on genre blogs! Readers flock to them, looking for new books/authors, AND offer a free book! They like it, guess what? They go back and buy your entire back list! See where this is going?

Third week out: You will go back and ask the people who read your book to post a review of your book. Good or bad! You need reviews!!  

Also this week, see what streams your novel is in. I mean "who bought your book, bought this book." Check out those authors. See if they have blogs, visit their blogs, become their friends, PR BUDDY each other!

Fourth week: Continue to connect with people and start the next book if you haven't already!!!

What do you do to make your online book launch continue to sell  more of your book?

TIPS to a SUCCESSFUL BOOK RELEASE ON-LINE PARTY!

We spend months writing our novel, editing our novel, talking to everyone we know about our novel, even go as far as a tweet or two or a couple Facebook status' about how many words you completed that day on your novel.

And the time comes. . .

Either you have a publisher that publishes your novel OR you are the publisher. You put a tweet out and make your status on Facebook "happy book birthday" or "it's launch day of my novel." Then. . .silence. You are on to the next one.

What happened? For MONTHS you talked about this book, you boosted about the word count you achieved or we cried with you when your muse wouldn't cooperate. Those were the fun times of saying you had a novel, but when it came time for it to be published and purchased, how did you exactly get it out into the public??

It doesn't matter what journey of publication you find yourself on, you still have to market your novel. Most publishing companies don't even have a marketing department anymore that will set up  book signings, send you your author swag, or pat you on the back anymore. All self published authors have to do their own marketing during a book launch.

So put on your marketing hat and use these sure-fire tips to help launch the best on-line book release party!!

1) When you start writing your novel, start talking about it all over. I mean ALL OVER. Post pictures on Pinterest of your characters, or things that remind you of your story. Talk about your progress on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, the bus stop, anywhere someone will listen.

2) Set your release date in stone! If you are with a traditional publisher, they set your date for you. But self published authors have the option to decide when to release their novels. I suggest you release your book baby on Tuesday. Tuesday is when  all traditional novels are released and you want the same respect for your novel as a traditionally published novel.

With that said, you want your self published novel available in all ebook stores that you can. This means that you have to upload your novel days before your release date to make sure your novel is available the day you say it's going to be available.

I always upload to Createspace a week earlier because you have to get a proof copy of the print or check it out on-line. I also upload to PubIt four days before my release date because it takes them a few days to get it published. I publish on Smashwords the day before the release day and publish on KDP (Amazon) three days before.

I want to make sure my book is available in all forms on the day I say it's going to be.

3) Two months before your release day, set up a blog tour. If your book has a theme, google blogs with that theme. You will be surprised how many blogs are out there. They might not be book blogs, but who cares! You want to reach readers and if you target the market (what better way then hitting the theme of your novel) those blog followers will want to purchase your book! They are invested in the theme of your book and will want to read your book.

My novel, Carpe Bead 'em, has a beading theme. I looked up blogs that had anything to do with beading. It was GREAT! I had a blog tour just for beading enthusiasts. Carpe Bead 'em hit Amazon's Movers and Shakers list in the first couple of weeks of release and made it to number one! I know it was due to blogging on those targeted blogs because they emailed me. They celebrated with me.

You also want to hit reader centric blogs. Those can also be googled. I always ask Melissa at Melissa's Mochas, Mysteries, and More or Dru's Book Musings because both of these sites target mystery readers. I also hit a few reader centric blogs that aren't mystery, but some of the followers could be mystery readers or willing to read a mystery. And I hit a few writer blogs. I make sure I have at least ten guest blogs during the first two weeks of my release day. If you need more help finding someone to host you, ask your groups on Facebook. There are so many authors/readers willing to host you, but you have to ask!

I suggest putting together a press kit that has your author photo, short bio, book list, and all your links in a PDF, as well as a nicely written note about how much you would love to do a guest interview, guest post, or what ever. Offer a ARC (advanced reading copy) of your book, even if it's in the last stages of editing. Be sure to let them know that it's in the final stages of editing, but they will get the point of the novel.

Be sure to keep a list of blogs you queried and mark on your calendar the date of your guest post. GET YOUR GUEST BLOG TO THEM A WEEK EARLY!!

4) Make a STREET TEAM!! I have been promoting this street team idea for a couple months ago and I'm telling you that it's so much fun!! I invited a few readers and it's expanded to over 250 members. It's a place where my readers love to gather and we talk about everything from books to the weather.

Just like you, I post when I have good writing days or bad writing days. My readers are there for me. They see what it takes for an author to get a novel completed and all the hard work that we do to get a book into their hands. On the flip side, I'm still in awe how they spend a second of their day invested in one of my books. My STREET TEAM is where I give back to them!

Now that Amazon and Barnes and Noble have made it so easy to gift a book, I hold a give away of other author's books, my swag, gift cards, or even a kind word. Recently I hosted a contest where I asked my Street Team to help me name a character. I gave the characteristics and told them I would mention them in my next novel. Simple. Free. Easy! I had over 47 comments! And got some great names!!!

On release day, I will politely ask my STREET TEAM members to post a link to my book and where their friends can buy it. That is all I ask of them.

5) Have a virtual release day party!!! It doesn't matter if you are an introvert or extrovert PR PERSONALITY~it's an on-line party and you get to hide behind your computer!

I made a Facebook event page on my STREET TEAM page for an all day event of fun! I went to all the Facebook writer groups that I belong to and asked them if any of them want to donate one of your ebooks to my release day. The response was unbelievable!!! I had over fifty authors donate an ebook to my release day!

(This is one of my STREET TEAM TOTES. EASY and FUN! I got the bags at the Family Dollar for $1!!! I made my STREET TEAM LOGO and printed it on iron on paper! Easy! And fun!! These are going to be given away on release day!!)

Not only is it a win for my readers, it's a win for authors for new readers to discover them! I'm able to give a book away every twenty minutes on release day! PLUS I'm going to be giving away a few copies of my own novel as well.

And I've talked it up all over Facebook and Twitter! I belong to a tweet team and the only tweet I have been using is JUNE 12 the release of A CHARMING CRIME (add facebook link) prizes every twenty minutes!! And I have a couple others that are being tweeted, but you get the idea.

These are just a few things that I do and that have been successful for me. What about you? Do you have any great tips to a successful release day?

BTW. . . my new release is next Tuesday, June 12 for A CHARMING CRIME!! Come on over and join my STREET TEAM if you'd like to participate in winning some GREAT novels!!

Not In Your Face Marketing. . .Content Marketing

There is nothing worse than going into a department store and the sprinkler effect of getting sprayed by the cologne lady! Is there?

What about those authors who constantly market their books on Facebook or Twitter or their blog?

We become a little numb, don't we? I'm an author and I even get so sick of it.

CONTENT MARKETING 

This has been a big buzz word for authors lately. And it's super important we all fully understand what CONTENT MARKETING is and how it will increase your sales and on-line presence.

What is content marketing? Simple. . .it's the content you put out there that offer something to the reader, your readers. Not 'buy my book' posts, but something that truly gives back to the reader and helps you make a connection to them that will keep them coming back.

I do this in several ways. I have a STREET TEAM I give back to each month to let them know how much I appreciate them. I don't release a new book every month, so it's evident I'm not pushing my books on them. We talk about what they are reading, some of their favorite author swag, and just life. It helps them see that I put my pants on one leg at a time just like them.

I use this blog to reach out and give back to writers. All the blog posts might not apply to you, but I try to cover different topics that has helped me over the past few years in this roller coaster business. All the post come from my heart and they are as truthful as I can be. My only intent is to pay it forward without expecting anything back.

I have two profiles on Facebook (besides my STREET TEAM). One for writers and readers is my LIKE page and the second is a more personal page. But I accept all friends on my personal one. I opened the LIKE page recently because the personal page has a 5k person limit. It's been great because I mainly post writerly things on the LIKE page and put personal pictures up of my three teenage sons, two dogs, and other silly stuff my family does. Readers love it! I don't push my books or buy me. Every so often I will remind readers I have a STREET TEAM  and want to give back to them. I will definitely post a new release or any awards my books might get.

Twitter I post inspirational posts with hashtags on gratitude, payitforward, happiness, inspiration...you get the point. I also belong to a tweet team where I promote other authors. Of course I still throw a few of my blog posts in there or promote my books, but it's not the main content of my Twitter.

As you can see, the few things that I do is to connect with readers and writers on a completely different level than just me being a writer. If people like you, they will buy your books. They will invest in you as a reader.

Here are the questions you need to ask to build your CONTENT MARKETING strategy:
1) What is your expertise?
2) How do you use your website?
3) Who is your audience?
4) How will you make money?

How can you use Content Marketing to increase your on-line presence and sales?

LIGHTS, CAMERA. . . BLOG EXPOSURE

We blog because we want people to invest in us. We want the loyal reader to come back time and time again. We all have different reasons to blog. Do you want readers, other authors, or both? Either way, without exposure you won't have either.

Last week we talked about how to gain more subscribers, but how are you going to get those subscribers if you don't have the exposure?

Are you ready to generate blog interest?

1) FACEBOOK and TWITTER
Are you rolling your eyes at me?? DON'T! These two social medias are wonderful ways to drive traffic to your blog. Do you belong to groups on Facebook that allow you to promote your blog? I'm on at least ten of these, and every time a new blog is posted, I get on those Facebook groups and add a brief description of the blog along with the URL. Not only is it easy to click on, but it gives a little detail to what the blog is about. You have to be sure to give back as well. Make sure you check out other authors in those groups and visit their blogs too.

Twitter is great to reach that niche using hashtags. These hashtags link you to the target market you want to reach. You can also continue to drive traffic to your blog by using a reoccurring service like SOCIALOMPH.COM to schedule updates of your tweets. Every time I write a new blog, I make a tweet that will reoccur daily for two weeks.


2) NETWORK
There are several Facebook or on-line groups that have tweet teams, or blog teams that will help spread the word about your blog. Remember that you should always give back even when some of those members don't always do it. It's all about networking!

OR you can exchange blog tweets with a group of authors that you might be close to. Kindle Boards have a great thread called HAVE YOU POSTED TO YOUR BLOG LATELY. That is a wonderful place to put your post and find other great blogs to follow.

I'm on two tweet teams and I also exchange tweets about blogs/books with other authors. I also pick out a couple tweets I love from others or blogs that I came across and schedule those through my SOCIALOOMPH account to reoccur. Most of the time I never let the author know I'm tweeting or Facebook or putting a link in my blog.  Always give back and don't expect anything in return. It's good KARMA!

3) HEADLINES THAT POP
Try to come up with something catchy for the title of your blog. It's almost as important as the title of your novel. I have to admit that I'm not the best at coming up with names, but I never give up.

4) LABELS/ SEO
Be sure to add labels to tag your posts. You simply list main words that your blog is about in the label area. This helps get those labels out in the blog sphere and when someone Googles a certain topic, your blog will pop up somewhere in that list. Why are SEO so important? Great blog to check out because I'm really NOT good a explaining it.

The labels I generally use: social media, marketing and promoting, tonya kappes, writer tip, writer blog, inspiration, networking etc....


5) LINK TO OTHER POSTS
If you talk about another author or blog or give information written by someone else, you should always link back. Or if you talk about a blog you previous wrote, make sure you link back to that post.
Have you noticed all the red words in my posts? Those are link backs to different things. It could be a previous post, another blog by someone else, links to book, etc....
This makes it easy for the reader to click and be exactly where they need to be instead of going through the hassle of trying to figure out what you were trying to say. One click and they are done. This makes your blog reader friendly.

How do you get blog exposure? There are so many ways to discover new readers!

Use Your Facebook To Find Readers

When I blogged about whether you should have a personal Facebook page or a like Facebook page, I never imagined what came with a like page.

Facebook gives you INSIGHT. This is something that having a personal page does not give you. The personal page is just that. . .personal. The like page is a business page and will track all sorts of information, information that can be used to track your sales and what your readers are liking the most about your page.

You need to understand these INSIGHTS!

Here are some key things that you will learn about your like page:

1) How engaged are your followers?
2) What topic is making your followers engage?
3) How many followers are passive or active?
4) How many like, comments, and shares are you getting?

Every one of these come in a handy grid that you can even export for your records.

Knowing these statistics will help you decide what is and isn't working for you. If you post a picture of your dog and you get fifty likes or you post a picture of a pair of shoes and get ten likes...obviously you are going to post more pics of your dog. Now your "dog might be sitting next to you as you edit" OR sitting next to your newly published book. You are not only reaching that target that loves your dog pics, but it's getting your book out there too. Plus you are keeping your readers happy by posting those pictures which mean your "likability" factor is good and they are more likely to buy your book.

You always have to remember that this is your career. You spend a lot of time on social media and you need to know what is working and not working for you.

How do you use your Facebook in your favor?

Personal or Public. . .Which Facebook Page Should You Have?

If I had to do it all over. . .

would I have made my Facebook page a Fan Page?

I joined Facebook in 2008. At that time you could have a personal page or a fan page. I was starting out on the publication journey, for real this time, and decided to check out this new Facebook gig. 

Little did I know what I was in store for. 

Fast forward to today and the fan page is loooooong gone. 

Here is Facebook’s response to why they changed the verbiage: 

Why did "Become a Fan" change to "Like"?

To improve your experience and promote consistency across the site, we've changed the language for Pages from "Fan" to "Like." We believe this change offers you a more light-weight and standard way to connect with people, things and topics in which you are interested.

I'm not a big FAN of calling my readers FANS....that is a whole different issue that we will discuss later, but before now my choices were personal Facebook page or Fan Facebook page. Now my choices are personal page or a like page or both. 

I posted a question on my only Facebook page about switching over. Author H.P. Mallory was gracious enough to give me a little advice, and I took it. She suggested NOT to get rid of the personal page because you risk losing a lot of followers. I decided to have two pages, one personal and one like. . .little secret. . .they are both for my readers and friends. 

Why? Why would I want to rock the boat and add another page for people to follow? 

Simple! Maybe not that simple. I sat down and made a list of why I wanted to have a like page. And I thought you'd benefit from these questions too:

1) How many friends do you have on Facebook?

2) Would those friends move over to a like page?

3) A friend page is limited to 5,000.

4) A like page is unlimited.

5) What type of privacy do you want?

6) Is you personal page really personal and not something you'd share with the world of Facebook or readers?

7) Are you building an author brand and what type of personality do you want to give?

8) Are you trying to make friends or sell books?

These were questions that I asked myself. I decided to have a Facebook account to get my name out there. The person that I am on Facebook is the exact person I am. I quote inspirational quotes to my friends and family so I share them on Facebook. I take care of the people I love and don't bother with the people who are negative, just like I do with jealous writers or negative writers. There is nothing on my personal Facebook page that I wouldn't share with author Facebook page. 

The biggest reason I decided to go with a like page is the limited number of friends I can have on my personal page. Either way. . .both pages will have the same updates, pictures, and quotes! 

So come on! LIKE me!! Tonya Kappes, Author

Do you have a Facebook? Let's swap likes!

YES, I'm a HYBRID!

Many, many times I have stated that I believe the publishing industry is so different from when I first started out.

Years ago, the only way to get your novel published was to get an agent, and then hope the agent sold your novel to a publishing house. My, my have times changed.
Over the past couple years the ebook revolution came barreling through like a tornado and has left the publishing industry in a mass destruction.

Many of us really saw this as an opportunity. I was ready to take the leap.
The leap was really like a big heave. I had already been promoting myself, creating my voice through blogging, going to writer's conferences, building a platform all without having my first novel, Carpe Bead 'em, out there.

Why did I decide to go the self-publishing route? I had written a couple of women's fiction novels and women's fiction was really hard to break into going the traditional route. Plus it had some chick-lit in it, which everyone told me that chick-lit was DEAD! DEAD!
So my journey began. And it has been a super successful journey. I've been on over 32 bestsellers lists, Amazon Movers and Shakers list three times, and sold over 35k ebooks in five months. Nothing to turn your nose up at.

But as I stated earlier this week in my blog AT WHAT POINT DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'VE SUCCEEDED, my dream still continues.
I've succeeded in the indie journey. I've gotten some really GREAT readers that I probably would've never found. The indie journey has given me some great opportunities. I've met so many indie authors and have shared a great deal of information between us.

Not only have I met some great indie authors, I've met some REALLY amazing traditional authors and industry professionals.

I've continued to keep a toe in all parts of the publishing industry by blogging, conferences, I'm a guest speaker for writer's groups, networking, marketing and promoting others, and being on social media 24/7 all while being a mother of three wonderful teenage boys, wife to an amazing man, and friend to many.

I've always maintained that I want an agent, I want to be traditionally published, I want a movie, I want it ALL!

I hear many indie authors say that going indie is the best way to reach readers. I whole heartily agree with that, but I also believe you can reach readers the traditional way too. The distribution channels are much different than being indie.
Bookstores may be going on the extinct list, but they are never going to go away. And I mean books in grocery stores, Targets, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Walgreens, etc. . .

I want to be everywhere, including the internet and all the stores above. It's never been about the money for me. (That is why I went to college, went back for my masters, and have a day job.)
It's about a dream. It's about showing my boys that when you want something so bad, work so hard, and continue to have a great attitude while accomplishing it, dreams do come true.

My dream of obtaining and agent has finally come true. I didn't haphazardly query agents from query tracker or Publisher's Marketplace. I had to have the right fit. I wanted someone who has grown as the industry has grown, embrace self-publishing, realize that no matter what that I'm there for my readers/authors and continue to pay it forward, as well as still promote and market myself 110%.
Not only did I find all of that in one agent, but also the entire agency.

I accepted representation from agent Barbara Scott at Wordserve Literary Agency. Not only do they embrace the indie journey, they promote it and me. They were so impressed with how far I have come and the trail that I've blazed in my career.

I will continue to self-publish as well as try to get traditionally published.

Why lose the money to an agent when I've been so successful?

Success can not be measured by money for me. Success is peace of mind, knowing I have made my dreams come true, knowing that I've gone as far as I can, personal fulfillment, and at the end of the day-being a good role model/example for my boys (who, btw, are over the moon that I have an agent) by teaching them that they can do anything in life with a little elbow grease.

My true readers will follow me no matter where I go. I've had nothing more than wonderful outpouring of support from readers over the past couple of days, as well as authors.
After all, a writer can't have too many readers.

So. . .Yes! I'm a true HYBRID WRITER!

Top Three Things To Boost Your Career

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of speaking on a couple of panels at The Jeffersonville Crossing Writer's Conference. I was on the mystery panel, since I write mystery, and the "journey to publication" panel that discussed traditional vs self vs small publishing.
Over the past couple years of doing speaking events, most authors that I've come across at conferences always tend to ask the same thing, no matter what panels I'm on. This weekend was no different.
This is GREAT for me! This is exactly how I came up with the idea of my non-fiction craft book, THE TRICKED OUT TOOLBOX~PROMOTION AND MARKETING TOOLS EVERY WRITER NEEDS.
"What is your top three advice tips for social media?" is the number one question I'm asked.
Social media still takes author's breath away.  No matter what road of publication you've decided to take, all three of these will work.

1) AMAZON CENTRAL PAGE is a must. This is where you can list everything you can about you (the author) to help reach readers and other authors. Not only does it link all your books to you, you can put in your own bio, all your book trailers, any pictures you want to display, link your blogs, link Twitter feed, Facebook feed, EVERYTHING!
You can even create pages about your characters, setting, your novels in general. This might seem like a lot of work, but it's not. Once you take a few minutes to do it, you don't have to do anything to maintain it unless you need to change something on it.
Every so often I will update my bio or add a new book trailer. Setting up this account should be first on your list.

2) LINK, LINK, LINK! I'm sure you are on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, and now AMAZON CENTRAL. You can link your blog, Twitter, and Facebook to these sites. This will save you so much time because once you post to your blog, it will automatically go to your feeds  and you won't have to go in and manually tell your social media peeps about your blog. The feed will do it for you. This gives you more exposure. All of this just takes a little time and it's FREE!

3) PAY IT FORWARD. Give back! Give a little KARMA. Visit a few author sites, leave a comment, share a couple of someone's Facebook status', or retweet a few of your tweeps.

The only thing these TOP THREE require are time. AND NOT A LOT OF IT! I know you are creeping on Facebook, playing around on Twitter, or even hanging out on the Kindle Boards. You can use that time to create these and you will be actually doing something to help boost your career.

Do you have a top three that you want to share?