Tonya Kappes : Linda McMaken

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Today Linda McMaken is stopping by! She's giving us the lowdown on how she came up with the "tractor" scene in her novel, Baer Truth! Be sure to enter for a ebook copy of Baer Truth and a cool book necklace!

The Tractor Ornament

Abby, my heroine in Baer Truth, has a little "tractor incident," that was inspired by her creator, me. Readers have asked me where this scene came from and I've lied, I've invented, I've shrugged, because I really didn't want to admit it came from a real life moment. So, here goes the truth, gulp.

As a young mom I was offered a job mowing area fields and roadsides by a local farmer, I'll call Bill. I was a country girl and did know how to drive a tractor, so how hard could mowing with one be? It was a great job. I could mow when I wanted, go home to the kids anytime.

Bill's idea of tractor mowing instruction was: "here's the tractor, it's full of fuel, flip this lever to engage the PTO and mow." With that, he went to his tractor and left me in the middle of a 400-acre field. I knew tractors, albeit smaller tractors. I was tough, I was woman, I could do this.

Starting the tractor - check - I got that. Using the clutch, that was a cinch. Engaging the PTO, piece of cake. Circling a tree – I so didn't get that.

I didn't pay any attention to that 7-foot wide bush hog trailing along behind me and it didn't exactly flow around a tree. I must have taken the lives of twenty trees with that bush hog before I realized what I'd done. Every new little sapling that had been lovingly planted was now only tiny spots of mulch in a vast field of grass.

When Bill came back to get me to break for lunch he stood beside those little spots of mulch, looked at me and said, "don't you know how to square off with a tractor?" Then he looked across the field I'd mowed and said. "Are you drinking or on something?"

I was aghast. "No! Why would you even think such a thing?"

"Get off your tractor, stand here, and look down that field." Well, there wasn't a straight row of mowed grass to be found. It seemed I was "tacking" to the right, and mowing in a very nice 30 degree arc. Bill shook his head, snorted and said. "Remind me to never let you plant my corn."

I told him I was being creative and making crop circles. My mowing became the stuff of morning coffee jokes at the local cafe where the farmers gathered.

Which however, wasn't as bad as what happened the following day.

We have a Renaissance Faire in the area where I live and we mowed the field where they park cars for the event. It's huge 200-acre field of scrub inhabited by rabbits, groundhogs and as I discovered, big-a** snakes. Seriously, there must be nuclear waste buried out there somewhere, because as I was mowing along, I saw this huge 100-foot long snake slither in front of my tractor.

Being a country girl, worms, spiders, bugs they don't bother me. Snakes however, well, that's an entirely different thing, and this reptile was out of my worst nightmare. The thing lunged toward the tractor, it's head rearing up like fanged coiled spring.

You should understand - I am on a big tractor that stands roughly six-foot above the ground, pulling a bush hog, a mower that is about seven-foot wide with multiple cutting blades under it. Yet when I see this Anaconda rear it's head (it seriously looked that big) I jumped to my feet on the tractor seat, screaming like one of those chicks in a bad horror movie.

It screamed so loud Bill heard me over two running tractors and came crashing across the field thinking I'd been swarmed by bees or was having a seizure.

I'm screaming, "Snake, Snake!"

He points to my bush hog and says, "Run over the damn thing."

I'm still screaming, shaking my head no, so he makes a pass in front of me trying to run over the thing and he misses it. The snakes head pops up, it's hissing, and jumping, and coiling up. By this time my screams are breaking the sound barrier because I know this snake on steroids is seeking me out and is going to bite me, squeeze me or whatever those wretched things do.

At this point, my tractor is plotting its own course across the field, with me half squatting, half standing on the seat screaming, and Bill is swiping back and forth trying to bush hog this snake, who is not about to be mowed over by anyone.

Suddenly, I came to a clanging stop against a metal farm fence post and was thrown off the tractor into a wet, gunk-filled ditch where a pack of hungry blood sucking mosquitoes and chiggers attack as though I was their last meal.

By now, performers and vendors at the faire were in the field, all dressed in Renaissance clothes

which made the day even weirder. They all look terrified as I'm sure they were thinking someone was being murdered in a horrific way right out of CSI. Bill was making circles in the field on his tractor, his head snapping around like it was on a stick trying to bush hog that snake, and I was trying to climb over the fence and shut off the tractor.

After repeating the above to my loving family they gave me a )(*()&) tractor ornament. Merry Christmas!!!

Be sure to check out Linda all over the web!

Linda is the Senior News Editor for Reader's Entertainment News, scriptwriter for COS Productions (booktrailers) and writes for many other print and online publications.

She is also the author of a humorous romantic comedy trilogy set in Wyoming. Her first book Baer Truth - Book One of the Three Baer's Trilogy (where a vegetarian punk rocker finds herself stranded in the middle of Wyoming beef country) was released last year to 5-star reviews. The second book in the series, Baer Necessities has also garnered 4 and 4 star reviews. She is also the author of The Granite Rose, an historical set in ancient Rome.

You can find Linda online at:

Website: http://www.linda-mcmaken.com/

Blog: www.makenwords.blogspot.com

Baer Truth Booktrailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaA8p65oOeo

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lindamcmaken

Twitter: http://twitter.com/makenwords

Her books can be found at:

Desert Breeze Publishing: http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/StoreFront.bok

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Three-Baers-Book-ebook/dp/B005HB1J0W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345521283&sr=8-1&keywords=baer+truth

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-three-baers-book-one-linda-mcmaken/1111901113

BE SURE TO ENTER FOR YOUR FREE COPY OF BAER TRUTH AND THIS CUTE BOOK NECKLACE!

Marketing to Libraries

In today's Internet age, many authors are overlooking their local library as a great place for promotion. I'll be honest, you won't sell hundreds of books at a library booksigning, you may not sell any. You need to remember that promoting your books at the library isn't about immediate sales, it's about building a readership, and possibly your own personal marketing team.

Even librarians can’t know all the authors in a genre and when they meet an author who has presented a program at their library they are more likely to recommend their books to patrons.

When you participate in a library book discussion, reading group or booksigning, you are building great word-of-mouth future sales. If patrons at the library enjoy your presentation, you can be assured your book will be checked-out. You did donate a copy or two didn't you?

Once it has been checked out, you'd be surprised how many patrons will purchase your book not only for themselves but as gifts, and very often, if you have a backlist that the library doesn't have, those patrons will purchase it and donate it to the library. This means even more readers will have access to your books. Library patrons are readers, and those readers love to talk about books, work to make sure it's your book they are talking about.

You need to think of library visits as a long term career investment. While you won't often sell too many books at your visit, you will gain readers and most importantly a librarian or two that will "sale" your book.

Patrons daily ask me for a good book. If you've visited and you write in the genre they are looking for, you can be assured I will recommend your book. After all, you took the time to visit my library, talk with my patrons and donate a book.

After that initial visit, don't be a stranger. Send the library a press release of your latest book, send promo's like bookmarks - yes we still use them. Send cookies - honestly you'd be surprised how far a box of cookies will go in marketing your book across that circulation desk.

If you haven't visited you library in a while, stop by, get a library card, pick up or subscribe to their newsletter, friend them on Facebook and Twitter (most libraries today have a presence on social media, take advantage of it), these will tell you the type of programs they have.

Who to contact:

In most large libraries they have a public relations coordinator, in the smaller libraries you will want to contact the director.

Write an intro/contact letter or e-mail to the library.

If you visit their website, they usually list the staff. A few points to include in this letter:

· Introduce yourself.

· Tell about your book.

· Give an overview of the intended audience.

· List your availability for a visit, panel or booksiging.

· Give your book information – publisher, ISBN, where it can be purchased, and ask if they would like a donated a copy prior to the event. This will allow patrons to check out the book before you appear.

· Also, if you have foreign editions of your books, look at the library demographics. Many serve non-English speaking residents and would love to receive those editions.

Author Panels
Do you know of other authors that live in your area? Contact them and the library about a possible panel of romance authors, mystery or sci-fi authors. Having several authors appear together can draw a bigger crowd, giving you and them more exposure to potential readers.

Use the Internet

Once you have a library event books, use the Internet to shout about it. Ask the library to link to your website or blog from their event announcement page and you should link back to them. Use your email list, group forums, and writer organizations to publicize the event.

No, you will not get rich speaking at the library. What you will gain are new readers, word of mouth advertising, a sales crew at the circulation desk, public speaking experience and the opportunity to support an extraordinary institution. Come on, your an author, the library was your first love.

Linda has been the Public Relations Coordinator at a public library for fifteen years. She is the Senior News Editor for Reader's Entertainment News, scriptwriter for COS Productions (booktrailers) and writes for many other print and online publications.

She is also the author of a humorous romantic comedy trilogy set in Wyoming. Her first book Baer Truth - Book One of the Three Baer's Trilogy (where a vegetarian punk rocker finds herself stranded in the middle of Wyoming beef country) was released last year to 5-star reviews. The second book in the series, Baer Necessities will be released on September 11, 2012 from Desert Breeze Publishing, and will be available on Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. She is also the author of The Granite Rose, an historical set in ancient Rome.