Crazy WRITER Life!

My life has been CRAZY!! I mean CRAZY CRAZY! You know that my amazing wonderful husband just refinished my kitchen and my office!

Seriously! They are gorgeous!

Anyways....my husband had an awakening (due to a few decisions we have been making lately) that life is too short NOT to enjoy what you have and what we don't have is a pool and the five sport carpools that we are in. . .shew!

Okay. . .he had me at the five sport carpools that I DRIVE! Man, wouldn't it be nice not to be in my car all the time and be able to use that amazing new office he did for me?

I smiled because we just don't have room in our back yard for a pool, but still the dream of not being in the car all the time was very appealing. Looooong story short. . .my husband and I found a house! A house that is a couple streets away from my guys school, which means no carpools, AND a . . .

WOW! So we put a full price offer on the house and got it! Then. . .two mortgages?? UH! Wait. . .someone wants to buy my house on the first day it went up for sale! And then another, and another! 

But today, I get to sit in my new office in my old house and write! My guys are home for a snow day, and I get the warm fuzzies listening to them in the house and looking out my windows at the beautiful snow falling while enjoying one of my last writing days in my new office.

BUT. . .the new house has an office that I will create to feed my muse just like I did here!

What about you? Have you ever gotten a wild hair and done something crazy? 

One comment will win an ebook copy of my newest novel, STRUNG OUT TO DIE!

**BONUS BEADED BRACELET PATTERN IN THE BOOK**

Holly Harper's life is finally getting back on the right track after her divorce from "what's his name." She and a group of divorcees have formed a strong bond plotting creative ways to get back at their exes and created a self-help group known as The Divorced Divas where their meetings are held in Holly's bead store, The Beaded Dragonfly.

It’s no secret that Holly’s ex husband, Sean Harper, and the wealthiest bachelor in Swanee, Doug Sloan, don’t get along because Sean is constantly fixing all of Doug’s shoddy handy man work. Plus all the Divas would love to get their claws in some of Doug’s money.

When Doug ends up dead on the floor of The Beaded Dragonfly with a string of cat eye beads around his neck, it’s up to Holly to figure out whose framing her.

Congratulations to Kim Reisdorf! You won the ebook copy of my latest Small Town Romance Short Story, THE DARE ME DATE! Just in time for Valentine's Day!! 

A Writer's Greatest Learning Tool

OBSERVATION is A Writer's Greatest Learning Tool


Train yourself to observe

Whether your a writer, artist, or storyteller in other media, one of the greatest skills you can develop is keen observation. There are many who see, but who lack vision, and there are still others who have vision but lack the ability to constructively communicate that vision to others. If you are to become a good or even great storyeller, you must be able to observe, and observe in detail.

Observing is more than just looking

Ever meet someone who can glance at a scene for a few moments and then tell you a great number of details? Some people do this naturally, but most have developed this ability, deliberately or not, over time. It's one thing to look, it's another to really SEE. One way to develop this ability is to spend some time at an ordinary place and start keeping track of what's going on. An intersection or a bus stop can be useful.At first, keep it simple, like getting a good image of what the place looks like, then start counting how many people/animals/cars pass through. As time goes by, start paying attention to the various details, e.g., appearance of people, the kinds of cars going by, and so on. Over time you will start to notice differences in how people talk, walk, and gesture, types of shoes, etc. It can also help to take a snapshot once every so often, perhaps even from different angles.

If you're an artist, you better carry a sketchpad of some sort with you everywhere you go. You don't have to sit and create the world's greatest life drawing, but it will help to use your sketchbook to train yourself to catch the details and subtleties of movement, mood, lighting, etc. I know of one artist who spent a whole year drawing stick figures to train his figure composition skills to great effect.

Become a people watcher. Try not to be creepy about it, some people won't react well to what they think is some leering perv staring at their every move, and some may like it too much. Start with individuals, just focus on a few details at first, like movement or mannerisms, and soon the other details will become easier to retain and capture.

Watch movies, particularly some of the classics, like the Hitchcock thrillers. Use your pause button and you will find yourself learning a lot about setting a scene, mood, etc just through camera angles, establishing shots, and composition.

What is the sound of a captive audience?

Another, very overlooked aspect of observation training when it comes to comics (and a good deal of other kinds of literature) is listening. It is entirely possible to depict very distinct dialects and 'voices' without making your work look like it was written by someone with very bad grammar and spelling. In some cases bad grammar might be necessary, But it is usually overdone. Don't just listen to sounds, but observe the actions connected to and resulting from those sounds... the way a pickup's bed sways and the cargo rattles as it goes over some rocks, or the way a person flinches when there's a sudden noise. These can be used to create be dstinct, defining scenes that will give your stories more gravity in your reader/viewer's mind.

These principles can be applied to all the senses, and while your readers will probably never smell or taste your work, being conscious of the involvement of all the senses and emotions in the common and every day will better enable you to weave tales that will draw your readers in and capture their attention.



Sam Medina is an American writer from New Jersey. He is the creator of the popular award-winning webcomic series Jake the Evil Hare, and Darkfell: The Fetters of Wizardry. He received his BA from Princeton, and afterward served in the United States Marine Corps before going on to work as a stockbroker for a number of years, after which he founded started a wireless ISP company, and then opened a consulting firm which he operated until 2009, when he went began writing full-time with Jake the Evil Hare.

http://darkfell.com/
www.jaketheevilhare.com
Social Media Links:
facebook
twitter

Are You Painting Your Picture with Basic Crayolas or the 64-Pack? Using Personal Experience to Enrich Your Story-Telling

PLEASE let's give a BIG welcome to guest blogger ANNE MARIE STODDARD! When I asked her to guest blog, I never knew that it would be this fabulous!!! Be sure to check out her links at the end of this blog!

 I've never been much of a blogger (although I definitely pumped out a good angsty Live Journal and Xanga post or two back in my early college years--but those don't exactly count, now, do they?).  They say that not only should writers write every single day--we should blog too.  But about what?  How many posts about writing advice can you read before they all start to run together like a box of melted crayons? 

          Tonight, I'd like to mix it up a little bit.  Forget the "do's" and "don'ts" of how to  get published or market the perfect novel (Don't worry--there will be *plenty* more of those posts to come, but not tonight, buddy!).  Right now, I'm in the mood to talk about what fuels my writing (be it good or bad quality content), and how I got started writing again after taking a nearly 12-year hiatus.

          When I was younger, as far back as kindergarten, all I wanted to do was become a published author.  I spent playtime in kindergarten writing two- or three-page stories about the Easter Bunny (complete with illustrations brought to you by my imagination and a 64-pack of Crayola crayons--I even busted out the fancier shades like "Cornflower," "Timberwolf," and "Purple Mountain's Majesty"  If you've never colored in your sun or stars using "Macaroni & Cheese," you haven't lived, my friend!)  After the Easter Bunny, it was crazy witch stories, then  straight-up horror stories.

          I'll never forget the first full-length story I wrote.  3rd grade, Halloween, Mrs. Oliver's class at Southside Elementary.  The story was called "The Headless Prankster," and bless ol'  Mrs. Lisa's heart--I'm pretty sure she didn't read through the story before she decided to read it out loud to the class.  I have quite a few memories of watching scary movies with my dad and brother from in between the cracks of my fingers as I covered my eyes, and I guess some of those must have rubbed off on me, because my story was remarkably vivid and dark for a nine-year-old. 

          "The Headless Prankster" was about six teenagers (three girls and three boys, of course) who were camping out in the woods when--oh no!--suddenly a storm came and washed their tents away!  On that cliche dark and stormy night those kids found a house out in the woods with one light on upstairs.  One by one they each went into the house, never to return.  When the final teen made it into the house, what did she find?  (Here comes the icky part--seriously, what business did a third grader have writing this mess?)  What else?  A room with a bed, where each of the other teen's bodies lay, and each of their heads was on a pillow.  Oh yeah, and there was also a headless monster with holding a bloody scythe. I'll never forget the sound of Mrs. Oliver's voice when she read the next line to the class, the only line from my own story that has stuck with me for nineteen years:  "With of swoop of his ax, the Headless Prankster cut off her head, and it flew through the air, landing face-up on the last pillow."  That story was many things--but the one thing it most definitely was:  colorful.

          For the record, I don't need therapy.  I just had an extremely overactive imagination back then.  I went on to write a few more scary stories in sixth grade (I'll save those for another time, perhaps), but once I joined our middle school's band, my writing life was put on the shelf like an old forgotten paperback.  I stayed in band all the way through my fifth year of college, and--with the exception of the aforementioned Live Journal/Xanga posts and some incredible angsty post break-up poetry in twelfth grade, I haven't really written since until last year when I began "Murder At Castle Rock."  And you know what?  While sometimes I regret all the years I spent not writing, at the same time...I'm glad I didn't.

Now, hear me out.  I know authors say "WRITE EVERY DAY!!"  Well, NOW I am trying to do that---but those unwritten twelve years of my life? They were a gift to my present author self:  They were LIFE EXPERIENCE.  I'm not saying my life OR my writing are necessarily best-selling material, but I know for a fact that my fiction and dialogue are more interesting because of the personal experiences I draw from when I write them. 

          I'm currently writing a mystery series set in the music industry in Atlanta, Ga, and it fits for me because I actually did work in the music industry in Atlanta.  I've created a fictional world that is an altered reality to the music venues I also worked at in Athens, GA in college.  In that world I've created rock stars, venue employees, and even a radio station based on rock stars I've met, people I've worked with, and a culmination of the many radio stations I've worked for.  There is even a scene in my upcoming novel, "Murder At Castle Rock," that is very closely drawn from a real-life experience that I happened to me when (*spoiler alert!*) I nearly wrecked a radio station's cargo van while driving back from a promotional event. My stories wouldn't be nearly as colorful without those years I spent storing up the "Timberwolf" grays, "Cornflower" blues, and "Purple Mountain's Majesties" of my real life to use for later. I wouldn't have it any other way. 

          If you're new to writing, or even if you aren't and you just took a long hiatus like I did, fear not:  In all those years you weren't writing, YOU LIVED.  Now, don't just use your basic 8-pack of colors to tell a bland, unimaginative story--reach into that 64-pack of Crayolas that is your memory bank and draw from those personal experiences.  Feel free to embellish as much or as little as you like, but remember how real those times were for you, and try to capture that on paper.  I can almost guarantee you'll get a better story out of it.

 Anne Marie Stoddard used to work in radio, and it rocked.  She goes to concerts like it's her job--because sometimes, it actually is.  After studying Music Business at the University of Georgia, Anne Marie has worked for several music venues, radio stations, and large music festivals, and  she currently creates promotional contests and writes music trivia for a media company. Aside from all things music, she loves college football, anything-pumpkin flavored, and a good mystery. Anne Marie recently is the winner of the 2012 Decatur Book Festival & BookLogix, Inc. Writing Contest for her manuscript for "Murder At Castle Rock," a music industry murder mystery.  It will be published in the coming months and will be her first full-length novel. 

For more information and updates on Anne Marie's work and the release of "Murder At Castle Rock," like her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmStoddardBooks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AMStoddardBooks

Website: http://www.amstoddardbooks.com/index.html

Marketing for the HOLIDAYS!

Boo! Gobble, gobble! Ho, ho, ho!!!

No! I have not lost my mind!! I know it is ONLY September. . .but now is the time to start thinking about marketing and scheduling marketing for the holiday season!

If you aren't~TODAY IS THE DAY TO START!!!

1) Holiday Cards

I hope you have started an opt-in newsletter on your site or blog where you have gathered your readers. You will need to put together a small letter telling them how much you appreciate them and maybe add a coupon code for a discount on one of your novels or gently ask them to gift a copy of your novel to one of their friends. Give something back to your readers!!!! 

I keep an address book with the physical address of my STREET TEAM members. Not only do I send out a few little notes each month, but I send each and everyone of them a real card for the holidays. I think it's so important to reach out to your readers and let them know how much you appreciate them.

2) On Line Holiday Party

Everyone loves a good party! Especially one where you don't have to leave the comfort of your own home or even dress up!! 

It doesn't matter what your PR personality is. You can host a fun party with virtual food, drinks, music, etc...Video tape yourself welcoming them to your party. Give away a couple holiday gifts. Nothing expensive...what about one of your writer friend's book? Or ask your writer friends to donate a book and give them away! 

3) Box Set Your Books

I'm currently in the process of boxing my Grandberry Falls series into a box set that will be out just in time for Christmas! I will be pricing them a little under the $9 that it would cost to purchase all three separately  because I want my reader to feel like they are getting a bargain. Plus it's a great gift to give!

4) Holiday Sampler

Now...this is a good one too! This year I'm putting together a group of award winning authors for a Holiday sampler! The sampler is just that (I'm NOT revealing the title yet), we have all submitted a sample of one of our novels in a combined free download with all the author's information. It's a great treat for readers to find some really great reads by sampling them first.

I will blog on this process later.

5) Specific Holiday Promotions From Major Sites

I love Kindle on the Cheap and Nook on the Cheap! They are offering a great promotional deal for authors that is pretty sweet. Check out the video:

Check out the Santa Sampler HERE 

"What happens when you put an author in charge of your advertising program? Great things, if you ask April Floyd, owner and leader of numerous Facebook reading groups and The-Cheap.net. You know April if you've ever listed your book with the Facebook group Authors on the Cheap. After two years of always giving authors shout outs for free, Ms. Floyd has expanded the site, her Facebook groups and finally caved to author pressure for an ad program where they could schedule dates for a nominal fee.

Teamed up with author Elizabeth Ann West, the new marketing director for The-Cheap.net, this autumn and winter the Piggies have something new in mind when it comes to holiday promotions: make everyone happy.

“I wasted over a hundred dollars myself last year on promotions that were my book with dozens of others, a Kindle Fire giveaway, and massive social media likes that meant nothing to the person clicking hundreds of author pages to enter the giveaway.” said Ms. West.

The Piggies are proud to announce Santa Sampler, a reading competition for their readers that will provide raw market data back to every author who signs up.

“Our readers have enjoyed our recent ebook giveaways where they read the sample and answer a trivia question.""

I thought it sounded like a great opportunity. But the point is that there are so many promotional tools out there for you to take advantage of! Use all your resources, which include your writer friends. Put your heads together and think of some GREAT PR buddy promos you can do for the holidays. It might even be to host a party together...anything...just don't let the days slip away and the holidays creep in without you looking at your marketing plan!

Do you have anything cool planned for your holiday marketing plan?

A CHARMING CURE RELEASE DAY!

Today is the day!! It's a new release for the Magical Cures Series! A Charming Cure is the second in the series and full of June Heal and all her fun!!

How did I prepare for this release?
I did exactly what has worked for me in the past.

1) Street Team

As you know I have a very active STREET TEAM. A month ago I posted a poster to my STREET TEAM with the date and time on it. Of course it started the hype of my GRATITUDE TO THEM.

2) Put an all call out to my author friends

I posted on my writer groups, goodreads, and blogs asking for donations. Why? At the release party I don't promote my book. . .directly. . .I promote all my author friends books.

I had over fifty authors donate their ebook or print book to the release party. I want to give back to my readers too! They love finding new authors and what better way to find some than by getting free books?!

If my readers like their books, I can guarantee my readers go back and buy all of the rest of the author's books. My STREET TEAM is so amazing and full of avid readers.

3) Release the book!

Why did I release the book three days before the online release party?

Simple.....to spread the buzz! The release party is all about gratitude. I ask the authors that donated to spread the word about the release and in return they get access to my 300 + STREET TEAM members on the release day!

I ask my 300+ STREET TEAM members to tweet and facebook the release so we can party at the release party instead of trying to spread the word.

4) More marketing....

I posted to all the groups that allow you to post and promo new releases on Facebook. Groups like Kindle Mystery, Cozy Mystery Cafe, Kindle Nation Daily, Cheap e-reads and many, many more!

I looked at my @ feed in Twitter and thanking everyone who tweeted the release and retweeted their tweet.
Clicked on the Facebook feed and thanked everyone who put the release in their status.

This is an ongoing marketing tool. I'm so grateful to everyone who has promoted this book. There is NOTHING better than PR BUDDIES!!

Next Friday I'm going to tell you all about the release party. It was much different than the last release party I had with the first book in The Magical Cure Series, A CHARMING CRIME.

Go ahead! If you like my blog and get something out of it....can I ask you a return favor? Will you please tweet my release and put it in your facebook status??


Tweet:
RT @tonyakappes11 #womensleuth June is back and making more #potions A CHARMING CURE http://amzn.to/NIyEud #mystery #paranormal

Facebook

Check out Tonya Kappes' new paranormal cozy mystery release A CHARMING CURE!! 
http://amzn.to/NIyEud

Tips For Writing a Novel

If you are anything like me, you listen to writers that you think have become successful in your definition of success. You take in every single word they say.

Over the past few years I have put my ear to the grind stone and have really tried to make my writing career just that. . .A CAREER.

The authors that I consider successful have a few tips in common, a few tips that they continue to say over and over when I hear them speak.

1) Write What You Want:

With the freedom to write the story you feel in your heart, you will be able to connect with the story, characters, and the plot.

With the wonderful world of self-publishing, we have defined our own success. We have blazed a way that has made us unique to our own worlds and words.

You have to freedom to spin the details as you want to. You have the wonderful advantage to fit your story into what ever genre you want to fit it into. That's amazing!

2) Write Every Single Day!

Butt in chair, hands on keyboard!! I don't know who came up with that statement, but it rings true every single time. There is no way you can produce a novel without the words. You can't publish a blank book, well. . .I guess you could, but they'd find you! They'd stone you! (Okay so they won't stone you, but you get the picture!)

3) Turn Off Your Inner Editor!

Give yourself permission to just write without the hassle of going back to edit your work. You have to go back and edit later, so wait! Get those words out of you head and on the paper.

If you stop to go back and edit, it ends up disrupting your flow of writing and you can't get back into the groove of things.

4) Be Inspired!

Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.
― Roald Dahl

Guys might roll their eyes at this, but there is something to be said about the perfect quote or image to help spark that great scene or plot point to continue with your manuscript.

For every novel I write, I keep a journal. I put the date in the front and begin to collect items, as I go along, that remind me of the idea. I let an idea/plot stew in my head for a few months before I even begin writing it. This is generally because I'm already deep in another novel.

Collecting these little tid-bits keeps me excited about the upcoming manuscript/novel, and when I am ready to sit down and start the new novel, I have all I need at my finger tips.

It might be as simple as finding a fence with an amazing background. I can plan an entire chapter around my character hanging out by that fence, along with describing the fence and background. Or even just the vivid colors are enough to spark my juices.

5) Read, Read, Read!!

I know you are so tired of hearing everyone telling you to read. Don't take it from me, take it from the MASTER!! Watch the video below!!!!




Share any tips that you may have for writers about writing and leave it in the comments! Until then. . .keep WRITING!

Find The Enthusiasm For Writing

"Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Nothing was every achieved without enthusiasm." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson


I'm not sure where all of you are located, but I'm in Kentucky and the weather is turning a chill in the air. Fall is coming and I LOVE IT!

. . .my writing not so much. . .

My walks have gotten longer, my outside time has gotten longer, my snuggle in my bed has gotten longer, and my writing time has gotten. . .shorter!

What happened to my mojo where I couldn't wait to get up in the morning? What happened to my characters fighting over who was going to talk to me first in the morning? WHAT HAS HAPPENED???

I might be a bestselling author and have an amazing STREET TEAM and helpful blog. . .but I too get the life sucked out of me at times, not very often, but  it does happen.

Why now? Usually this time of the year is when I curl up with my laptop, journal and pound out the words.

This made me sit back and think about my career goals and how bad I want success? Asking myself how can I maintain the passion that I've always had.

Here are a few tips I came up with:

1) Hide and Seek!

Simply stated, FIND the passion!!
I went back through my journals, I keep a journal for each novel I write, and see all the quotes, photos, ideas, and inspiration that kept me going with them.

I realized that I hadn't done that with my current WIP. I have simply just wrote, wrote, and wrote, feeding my creative mind very little. We all must eat or we waste away to nothing. AND that is NOT what I want.

2) Keep it!

WOW! Once I found the passion by going back through my journals, it was easy to slip back into the basics of why I started writing, the joy that it brought me, escaping into the world that I have created. A world that so many others have enjoyed.

This feeling made me even more passionate about writing and fall in love with it all over again. But how do you maintain it?

You have to figure out what keeps your passion for writing. For me, it's getting those inspirational quotes or amazing reviews from my book that I cut out, the readers, the creation of making up a new world and mapping it out. All of these things helps write each one of my stories.

It's all about maintaining the passion you have for writing.

There is NO way that I'm alone in how I've been feeling lately! You have to have some tips that help maintain your passion, WHAT ARE THEY?

How To Sell More Ebooks

Okay....did the title grab you?

Most of the emails I get from other writers are asking me the same thing: What do you do to sell so many books?

My answer:  there is NO guaranteed one thing that will help sell your ebook.
But there are things that will help contribute to selling your ebook.

1) Have a good cover!

No matter how much you hate the saying "don't judge a book by it's cover," well, we do! You have to have a great, professional cover. If you are making your cover and have zero graphic art background, please I beg you, invest in a cover artist OR make the cover super simple.

2) Edit, edit, edit!

Your mom, aunt, grandmother, sister, neighbor etc....love your book and helped you edit it. Do you want to sell ebooks or not? Did I hear you say yes? Then invest in a real-to-goodness editor! Take your career seriously and invest in it!

3) Format

There is nothing more annoying than a poorly formatted book. Just a year ago, most place you could upload an ebook had a different format requirement and I learned to do epub since it is a universal format, today it is much easier and most of them take a word document. BUT keep everything the same format in the doc. If you center the chapter heading, make sure you center ALL of them!

You can always hire someone to format for you.

4) Think rollercoaster

What? Yes, hands in the air!!! Unfortunately, sales fluctuate. That is something you can't control. You just have to ride it out. There are some months that I have found to expect not so many sales...like August when kids are going back to school, AND May/June when people are getting out of school and going on vacation.

Don't be discouraged. You have to remember that even though you might have to reformat your novels as the technology gets better, your ebooks are forever!

5) Number of books

I swear this is a big one if you do numbers 1-3 above!! I can proudly say that LAST MONTH, for the first time, my books made more money than my day job as a child therapist! I've been self-published for over a year and a half, in June I published my ELEVENTH book!!! I've always heard that it takes at least five novels to really start selling...it took me ELEVEN!!!

6) BE EVERYWHERE!

The KDP select thing has taken off, but I still believe that it's not a great idea to have all your eggs in one basket. Of course I would take a deal with Amazon like my friends, Jessica Park and Nancy Naigle, just did, but across the board I think you should have your books everywhere so everyone can find you.

With all six of these, I'm NOT guaranteeing you success! Still. . .if you want to have success, you have to put the time and energy into what you want successful. Being an author is NOT an over night successful career. It takes time, great writing, and chipping away at what might/might not work.

Do you have anything to add?

Using Libraries As A Marketing Tool

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.

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

Things to Avoid When Marketing Your Book

Last week I had a very successful marketing strategy that was put together by the GREAT EIGHT. I was lucky enough to be apart of the group and what we did worked! But will it work next time?

I have an amazing STREET TEAM. I had an amazing online book release party in June. I have another one planned for September 25th that is slightly different, but will it be as successful?

My books are priced on a range from .99-2.99. Is that working?

Here's the deal, your marketing plan needs to be fluid and always changing. In my non-fiction book, The Tricked Out Toolbox~promotional and marketing tools every writer needs, has an entire section on budgeting and marketing plans along with printable worksheets so I won't go into it here. BUT I'm am going to give you some tips to avoid when marketing your book.

1) DON'T ASSUME THAT WHAT WORKED FOR ME WILL WORK FOR YOU!!

Over the past couple months I have noticed a lot of authors start a STREET TEAM, even asked me to join theirs. Which I love joining, but I don't want anyone to think that because I have one that's very active means that you will have one that is very active.

I'm very social, so having a very social STREET TEAM is easy for me. Being on line with them a few times a day is easy for me. So you need to find that uniqueness of YOU and spin it to reach that target reader.

I don't just mean the STREET TEAM. I mean everything from ads to pricing your novel. What works for JK Rowling doesn't work for me. What works for Stephen King might not work for you. You make you unique and stand out!

2) ALL PUBLICITY IS GOOD PUBLICITY. . . NO!

I've heard so many times that authors are out there giving their opinion on traditional publishing vs self publishing, why .99 is the only way to price your novels, KDP is the only way to go. . .etc. . .
These authors that have such strong opinions get a bad rap. They really do! And it doesn't help sell their novels.

I know that I won't ever read certain authors because they have voiced their opinion on this years election in the United States. I have seen authors post so many posts about who their favorite candidate is and posting some really nasty negative things. As an author, I don't believe in pushing my values on any of my readers! It completely turns me off and turns off their readers.

All in all, the writing community is very small and you can ruin your reputation in one fall swoop. Be nice. And pay it forward!

3) DON'T BE TOO PUSHY!

I'm all for making money on my books. But I'm not all for losing readers by pushing my books.
Definitely connect with readers! Connect with them when your book comes out. Yes! I want you to let them know that your book released. . .but don't do it a month later and everyday after that.

After your email blast that you have a new novel out, don't keep emailing blasting.

4) LISTEN TO YOUR GUT!!

Just like a muse, your gut tells you exactly what you should be and shouldn't be doing. It's easy to blast out at other authors or readers that upset you. OR readers that email you to let you know that there is a mistake in your book OR when a negative review is written on Amazon etc....

Let that stuff pass. Like I said, the writing community is very small. You don't want that snarky reputation like some authors have. It's a turn off to everyone!

5) SHOW DON'T TELL!!

How many times have we heard this?

Well, I don't mean in your writing, I mean in your interaction with your readers and your peers. Show them that you are a gracious author. You appreciate them. It doesn't have to be with money. You can put quotes in your twitter feed or update your Facebook status with gratitude quotes.

REMEMBER, the reader wants to get to know you! And the more they invest in YOU, they will buy your books no matter what!

Tips to Promote Your Book

When I was a kid, Phil Donohue came on every morning at 9 AM. He always had on one or two guests. If it was one guest, that guest got the full hour. If he had two guests, the hours was split up into thirty minutes each.

Have you seen interviews today? Or even just the weather on your local news? Everything is under three minutes. Even interviews on the most popular shows like Ellen. She has multiple guests and games during her one hour show. Her guests only get three-four minutes until she takes a commercial break. 

Why is this? And what can we learn?

Attention spans have really decreased over the last thirty years, and our lives have gotten busier. Just think about it. If you go to look at a car, you don't want to sit there for hours as the car dealer tells you how the car was made, the history of the car, etc...

You want to know what's in it for you! Why should you buy that car?

Same thing when you release your novel or when you talk about your novel.

Most readers aren't going to say to you: "Why should I buy your novel?" "What's in it for me?"

They are going to say: "Tell me about your book."

Then. . .you vomit! You go on and on about the hero/heroine/villain or the meticulous assassination plot that took you months to research and write perfectly.

Well. . .READERS DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT! Let me repeat READERS DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT!

You need to give them something that will make them think that your book is worth their investment, their time, and how people are going to react when they tell someone that they are reading your book. 

I know! I never said the reader was fair, but these are what they are really thinking!

Every reader is looking for something different when they pick up your book. But the emotional reason is still the same. What's in it for me?

Sooo. . .how do you do this?

You are going to give them Tasty Tips. Tasty Tips is my term that I use to get my reader hooked. 

I don' tell readers what my book is about, I tell them little things to wet their mouths. 

First off my covers are appealing to my target readers. That is one of the greatest emotions in everyday life. You know it and I know it. When we see someone, we judge them before we talk to them. Right or wrong, we do it.

Same with books.

Secondly, I use my social media and STREET TEAM to post little tidbits about the plot I'm writing. Or I may do something humorous that my heroine did because my readers expect funny in my writing. Or I might just let them know fun facts about ways to kill people. . .after all I am a mystery writer. 

Did you know that you can die if you eat too much nutmeg? OR you can die from an over dose of nicotine if someone puts liquid nicotine in your shampoo bottle and you massage it into your scalp?

Thirdly, I hold reader contests for the books I'm writing now. Currently I'm working on the second Olivia Davis novel, and in the first novel, Splitsville.com, Olivia owns a breakup service. I needed some new material for reasons why people breakup with their girlfriend/boyfriend, so I went to my STREET TEAM. 

I asked them to tell me funny and ridiculous reasons why they have broken up with someone. The breakups flooded in! I never once told them the plot for the second book! But I got them interested and the buzz going about the second Olivia Davis novel. They can't wait to buy it! I appealed to two emotions: love and humor.

All in all, you don't need to SELL YOUR BOOK, you need to focus on the experience of how the reader is going to feel when they are reading your book. 

These Tasty Tips you are going to give your reader will help them invest in the emotional of the question they really want to ask, "What's in it for me."

Are YOU a Bestselling Author?

Is your book buzz worthy? Do you aspire to be a bestselling author?
Are you doing the same marketing and promoting of each book the same way? Doing the same ole things hoping that it will work with each book you put out?

Well. . .it won't!

In order to be a bestselling author you have to evaluate what works and what doesn't. You have to have a plan.

Your writing career does not afford you to keep trying things that don't work.

Let's discuss the bestseller's status. Most traditional authors turn their heads at any other bestsellers status other than the big ones like New York Times, USA Today, etc....BUT they are missing the boat on creating more buzz for their novels!

It's so important to make those Amazon and Barnes and Noble bestsellers lists. Once you make the lists, your novel gets put into those algorithms and make you more visible to the readers. Amazon will even promote you when you get high enough on the lists, which again. . .makes you more visible to your target audience. So CLAIM your bestseller status when you make one of those lists!!!

Still. . .you have to get there. Is your marketing and promoting plan doing it for you? Are YOU a bestselling author?

Now, I'm assuming that you have written a really great book. A book with an amazing cover, no editing issues, perfect formatting~NO ISSUES!

Before that book is uploaded or goes to print, you should already have your marketing plan put in place!
I'm not talking about setting up a blog tour, giving our ARCs of your novels to reviewers, making swag for your author brand. These are things that I hope you are already doing without me telling you.
I'm talking about entering major awards, do free audio podcasts for your blog site, plan reader events by using your Kindle or google plus chat. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX!!!

A few months ago the eFestival of Words announced the finalist in all their book categories. I was pleasantly surprised when I was alerted that Carpe Bead 'em was a finalist in the women's fiction/chick-lit category. I have no idea who nominated me to thank them, so I knew if I won, I was going to have to give back even more than I already do to my readers.

My readers got so involved with voting me to the WINNER status! I looked at all the winners. ONLY 8 of the winners had over 20 reviews and 4.5 ratings. Guess what we did. . .WE THOUGHT OUTSIDE OF THE BOX!!

We wanted to offer our award winning novels at a crazy price. Not to mention that we could PR BUDDY each other. My readers would LOVE my co-winners books. We all lowered our price to .99 for two days. We came up with a graphic and blog post to help get the word out.

We dubbed ourselves the GREAT EIGHT and reached out to all our blogger friends, put together a banner, contacted Amazon, contacted all REAL heavy hitters at Ereader News Today, Kindle Fire Daily, Pixel Of Ink, Digital Book Today , Indie Ereader, as well as Amazon giving us a page to ourselves!

But we didn't stop there! We each had an award winning book and we wanted to make those bestsellers lists so we could get into more reader's hands. So....we each had a call out to all our social media groups asking for people to post a blog that we had come up with. The blog had all the links and pictures they needed. There was no work on the blog owners part! We did it for them.

We have over 100 bloggers post the blog, not to mention all the Facebook and twitter status our followers had posted.

Now....a year ago when I released Carpe Bead 'em, Ereader News Today featured my Carpe on their own. I didn't pay for a thing! The owner had written me to tell me that he had heard my book was good and he was going to help me sale a few copies. FEW COPIES???

Last year I sold over 7k copies from just Ereader News Today! It was amazing. I didn't pay for an ad or even knew who Ereader News Today was. BUT Carpe went straight to #1 on Amazon's Movers and Shakers list and stayed there for THREE DAYS!!!

Fast forward to last week when my book was lumped with the rest of the GREAT EIGHT! Only on Ereader News Today, the second time around, Carpe Bead 'em found an audience of over 1200 new readers! Before the promo, Carpe was at 30k rank, after the Ereader News Today hit Carpe ended in the ranks at #375 in the paid store. WOW WOW WOW!!

Amazing! Right?!

It wouldn't have happened if we didn't think outside the box. The entire GREAT EIGHT became bestselling authors, again, that day!

Do you think that you can think outside the box and become the bestselling author you deserve to be??

Making it to the finish line!

Do you know how long it takes for someone to train for a marathon? Do you know what they have to do in order to be in shape to run that marathon?

As a novelist, I DO! We are marathon runners that not only train to write the novel, but bring others along with us. We have to keep our readers in mind when we train for our marathon.

Just like a marathon, there is NO sprint to the end when writing a novel. We have to have an endurance that will last for months. An endurance that will carry a reader all the way through. So in some way, the reader is also going the distance with you. You have to keep the readers engaged, in a pace that sometimes takes them up a hill and then down the hill with a few strides along the way.

This is not an easy feat! We have to take a story line and engage the reader from cover until THE END!

There are a few tips that can help get us trained for the marathon.

1) Write your novel all the way through with out stopping.

I can hear you groan now, but hear me out. This is hard for many of us. It's hard not to revise and edit as you write. I have been one of those that stop and go back to change something, only to throw me off track at where I had truly stopped in order to go back.
This stops your creative process and in turns puts a halt to your writing.

Try to write the entire novel and resist the urge to go back and revise. This allows your mind to keep the story line you had in your head to stay true to the story line.

You will have a better understanding of your novels beginning, middle, and end. You will not have wasted your time revising and polishing when you are going to be doing that when the novel is finished.

I didn't say write fast. I said write your novel all the way through. It takes me three months to get a complete first draft and that is not going back to edit or revise until THE END is written. If you try to  write without going back to edit, you will surprise yourself on how quickly you will get your first draft completed.

2) Scene, scene, scene

Does your scenes tie into your complete novel? The reader is SMART! The reader will know when a scene doesn't advance the plot of your novel and they will put it down or write a bad review.
This is the next step after you write that first draft. You will want to go back and reread your first draft completely.

At the beginning of each chapter, I ask myself several questions: How does this chapter move the plot or story line? Is the scene dramatic enough to hold the readers attention? Does the chapter lead into the next chapter? Is the descriptions vivid enough for the reader to feel like they are placed in the scene? Is the emotions of my characters felt in the soul of my readers?

Not every single chapter is going to have those questions answered, but I do know that my chapter is going to propel the plot of the story.

Make a list of questions. If your scenes/chapters fail to answer your questions, you need to cut that scene.

3) Chapter beginnings

Go back to the beginning of each of your chapters. Do they start the same? Do they all sound alike? BORING!!!

Be sure that you are starting each chapter differently. This helps pique the readers mind, carrying them to the end of the marathon.

4) Mini-Scenes

These are so much fun to write! I love looking for lulls in my first draft. It's the perfect place to add a little humor or mini-scene to your novel. Don't let there be any dead space on the pages for your reader's eyes.

This is where I beef up my quirky characters by making them just a little bit more quirky.

I hope that you really consider these tips when starting your next novel. I think you will be surprised on how effective it is when you can write your story all the way through without going back to revise or rewrite.

Writing a novel is hard work, just like training for a marathon. Some can go the distance and some can't. I know you can! And in the entire process, you need to keep your reader in mind. After all it's said and done, your novel becomes your readers. They claim it for their own and you are running along side them.

Tips To Indie Success

Last week I had to pleasure of going to the Lowcountry RWA chapter and speak on how to market and promote your novels effectively.

It was great because most of them are just now seeking the Indie way. As a matter of fact, a couple of them are dropping their publishers (and I mean big six) and going the independent route. Of course I still claim that any road to publication is the right road for you, but I'm a big champion in the indie arena!

Being Indie has made so many dreams come true for me. Including this blog! If it weren't for all of the marketing and promoting techniques I used to make it on Amazon's Movers and Shakers, double finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, and winner in the women's fiction category of the eFestival of Words!

I can tell you to buy The Tricked Out Toolbox for all of my tricks, but no matter what I say, there are three BIG tips that bring about INDIE SUCCESS:

1) Successful Indies don't bash other writers! We help them. When we see something other writers are doing that isn't etiquette, we politely and privately email them. If they take the advice, great! If not, no sweat off the successful Indie's back because they tried to help someone.

If that someone comes back with a bitter pill and begins to publicly bash the successful Indie...guess what, that someone looks like a fool! That doesn't promote our craft, our colleagues, or our passion.

2) Successful Indies don't sit on their laurels. They don't wait around to see if their novel is going to be published. They write the book, establish a relationship with their readers (STREET TEAM),  and continue to market their novels.

Successful Indies put their money where their mouth is and laughing all the way to the bank!

3) Successful Indies don't talk about their ideas, they WRITE them! GASP!!! Yes, to be a successful Indie, you have to continue to write, write, and write. Get the next book out there for the reader.
Write in all genres and get those GREAT stories out there!

Now do you want to be successful? GO DO IT!

What do you think is a good tip to Indie success?

One lucky comment will win a copy of my marketing and promoting book, The Tricked Out Toolbox! Be sure to check back on Sunday because I will be announcing the winner Sunday night!