Tag Archives: Book marketing

Social Media is here to stay…. #MFRWauthor

Another Friday, another blog challenge topic from MFRWauthor. Heehee. This one’s another easy peasy one to write.

Up until I had my first book published, the only Social Media platform I used was Facebook. It kept me in touch with my daughter who’d been in college, and I had fun seeing the posts from all her friends.

Fast forward to June 2014. I signed my first book contract and was told by the publisher that I needed to have a social media presence in order to garner readers and followers. I think the first thing I said was “no.” All I wanted to do was write, not be on-line with strangers all the time talking myself and my book up. That thought went the way of the dinosaur when I found out how effective a marketing tool being on social media sites can be, and in reality, is.

With my daughter’s and my best friend’s help – both of whom are techy and marketing gurus, I started this website, joined Twitter, found Pinterest and Instagram, and became a Goodreads “author.” In addition, I developed a FB following on my author page.

By the time my second book was released, I was proficient in all these sites.

And every time I thought I was done, another “must be seen on” social media site emerged. Book Bub, Triberr, Tumbler, Linked-In came along and with them, my participation.

But this is a blog about our favorite SM platforms, so to be true to the challenge, my absolute favorite it TRIBERR. The reasons vary, but the main one is REACH,  a term that gives new meaning to what you really think it mean.

On TRIBERR I follow many book-, romance-book, and writing web-blogs. Each site has at least a reach of a minimum of 2000 readers. A few have hundreds of thousands. What that means is, if I a member of that TRIBE, ( and yes, that’s what it’s called!) and I post a new blog, the potential for people who don’t know me from Adam to see it is huge. Really huge. Of course, there is reciprocity involved in all this. If I want my blog posts to be seen, I need to publicize other blogs as well. Tit for tat; or in this case, blog for blog. Every morning I log onto my Triberr account and then scroll through the Tribes I am a member of. When I see interesting posts, or posts I feel will be beneficial for my followers, I schedule them on my Twitter feed. That way, my 2000+ Twitter followers, get to read things by people whom they do not ordinarily follow.

Get it?

If you’re a blogger, Triberr is a great place to garner new readership, so that’s why it is my current favorite SM site.

And you can follow me on Tribber ( and all my other sites) here:Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me// Triber// Book Me

Now, since this is a blog challenge and hop, visit the other authors here to find out what their favorite social media platforms are and why.

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Filed under #Mfrwauthors, Author, Author Branding, branding, Romance, Romance Books

Is it Narcissism, or something else? Why I blog…

I had a random acquaintance ask me the other why I bother to blog. The way she phrased it was “does anybody really want to read about your daily life? I mean, all you do is write, right? That’s kinda boring.”

Those of you who know me probably think you know how swift, cutting, and murderous my reply to her was. You would be wrong. I actually stayed silent and just stared at her. She was probably thinking, “well she can’t even come up with a creative reply, so she mustn’t be that good a writer.” In reality, I was thinking something else.

And it wasn’t 75 ways to verbally vivisect her.

Her question got me thinking: “was she right? Would anyone who doesn’t know me, and even those who do, want to read a blog about my life as a writer? Why would they?” And the fact that I think people would, well, does that make me a little narcissistic in some way?

Heady stuff.

I had to take a step back and consider the reasons why I started writing a blog to see if I could truthfully answer that question.

The moment I signed my first book contract, the marketing instructions I was sent stated that I needed to begin an online presence so I’d have a platform to inform the public ( the people I didn’t know personally) about my soon to be released book. I joined Twitter, developed a Facebook author page, and then this blog. In the beginning, it really was just a venue to promote my book. It quickly turned into something more, though. I started writing about my life as a writer, my struggles, creative ideas to break through writer’s block that I’d learned from other industry professionals. It became a place to recap conferences for writers who couldn’t attend them, a place to promote good books I’d read, and new authors I’d found whose work I wanted to share.

And through all of this, I kept getting more readers and subscribers, to the blog- the majority of whom I’ve never met!

There’s a way on WordPress you can get your daily analytics to garner info on how many people are reading your blog, clicking it through it and when ( like, what time of the day). Every day when I check those analytics I see a lot of data and it’s all good, so that means people really do want to read what I have to say, receive what I want to share, get to know the authors I’m introducing. And that makes me feel good. Really good.

So, to the fringe acquaintance, if you’re reading this ( and who am I kidding because you’re probably not!) take that!

Oh, and those 75 ways to verbally vivisect you? Yeah, I came up with 143. In less than 10 minutes…just saying. So the next time we meet…

When I’m not being narcissistic, I mean, WRITING, you can find me here: Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me// Triber// Book Me

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#Memes for COOKING WITH KANDY; #LyricalShine

One of the parts of the publishing business I have absolutely no knowledge of is marketing. Until my first book was published in 2015, I didn’t even have any idea how powerful social media was with trying to get your book noticed.

Two years have made a world of difference, let me tell you.

One of the facets of marketing I have come to treasure are things called memes. A meme is defined as:

  • an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation.
  • • a humorous image, video, piece of text, etc., that is copied (often with slight variations) and spread rapidly by Internet users.

Kensington/Lyrical has put together a series of memes for my upcoming release COOKING WITH KANDY. I’ll be using them in my Twitter feed a great deal for the next few weeks, in addition to Facebook, but I thought I’d give you a little sumthin’ extra today and show them all to you. I’ve got permission from my publicity team ( and don’t I just lovelovelove saying that I have a publicity team!) to use them at any time in promotion, so here you go:

 

And just to refresh your memory:

Blurb:

Sugar and spice and everything sexy make the perfect recipe for romance in this brand-new series by Peggy Jaeger. Look for exclusive recipes in each book!

Kandy Laine built her wildly popular food empire the old-fashioned way—starting with the basic ingredients of her grandmother’s recipes and flavoring it all with her particular brand of sweet spice. From her cookbooks to her hit TV show, Kandy is a kitchen queen—and suddenly someone is determined to poison her cup. With odd accidents and threatening messages piling up, strong-willed Kandy can’t protest when her team hires someone to keep her safe—but she can’t deny that the man for the job looks delicious. . .

Josh Keane is a private investigator, not a bodyguard. But with one eyeful of Kandy’s ebony curls and dimpled smile, he’s signing on to uncover who’s cooking up trouble for the gorgeous chef. As the attraction between them starts to simmer, it’s not easy to keep his mind on the job, but when the strange distractions turn to true danger, he’ll stop at nothing to keep Kandy safe—and show her that a future together is on the menu. . .

Excerpt:

He made his way to the other side of the room, ignoring the stares and whispers of the crowd, found the lounge, and knocked. “Kandy? It’s Josh. Can I come in?”

It was Gemma who answered. “Yes.”

The sisters were seated in twin floral Queen Anne chairs, Gemma reclining back in hers, arms crossed over her chest. Kandy was opposite, head wrung in her hands.

“Cort thought you could use this.” he said, handing her the champagne flute.

He’d expected tears, but was surprised to see Kandy’s beautiful face pinched in a scowl, her eyes flaring with sweltering anger and venom when she looked up at him.

“Thanks.” Kandy took the drink and downed half of it in one gulp.

When she wiped her lips with the back of her hand, the corners of Gemma’s mouth lifted and she asked Josh, “What did you do to the turd?”

“Explained he needed to leave, put him in the elevator, and made sure he went down in it.”

“Made him how?” Kandy asked.

“Little persuasion trick I know. His wrist’s gonna be sore tomorrow. Maybe for the next few days.”

“You physically removed him?” Gemma asked.

Josh almost laughed at the excitement in her voice. He shrugged. “Yeah. He was going to follow Kandy if I didn’t.”

“Please tell me you have unmarried, available brothers at home,” Gemma said.

It hurt to keep the smile from his face, but he did. “Three, in fact.”

“Are they all like you? No, scratch that.” She sighed, the sound wistful. “I doubt there’s anyone like you.”

“If you mean are they all workaholics and career-driven, then no. They’re not like me. But they are available.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.” She glanced at her sister and said, “Well, looks like my work here is done. She’s all yours now.” She stood and kissed the top of Kandy’s head. “Evan Chandler is an egotistical, phony prick. Remember that.”

“How could I forget it?” Kandy grabbed her sister’s hand and kissed the back of it. “Thanks.”

When Gemma left, Josh took her empty chair. “You okay?”

She took a deep breath before saying, “Mad, but okay. I underestimated him.”

“How so?”

“I didn’t think he’d have the guts to crash my party. I thought he was too much of a wimp to risk it after our last encounter. Guess I was wrong.”

She stood and crossed to the vanity. Peering at her reflection, she ran a lazy hand through her hair, fluffing the curls. She caught his gaze, watching her, in the mirror. “Aren’t you going to ask me about it?”

He’d considered it. But the weary look in her eyes told him he was better off asking Stacy or Gemma. “No. If you want to talk, I’ll listen. Otherwise, you’ve got a pretty fancy shindig going on out there.” He cocked his thumb in the direction of the ballroom. “Maybe you want to get back and enjoy it. Bask in the adulation,” he said with a good-natured grin.

She turned to him and her eyes softened, losing the skepticism he’d just witnessed. When her lips moved upward into a small, lazy smile, the dimples dancing, his legs went a little soft and he was thankful he was seated.

“Yeah,” she said, moving to him. When he stood, she linked her arm in his. “Thanks. You’re right. Let’s go have a party.”

He mimicked her smile, glad he could help.

“You’re not so bad, Keane. This bodyguard thing might be fun after all.”

It was a moment before he trusted himself to speak. “I aim to please.”

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2cavJvc

If you’re looking for me, I’m usually here: Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me// Triberr

 

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Filed under Alpha Hero, Author, Characters, Contemporary Romance, Cooking, Kensington Publishers, Life challenges, love, Lyrical Author, Netgalley Reviewer, Romance, Romance Books, Strong Women, The Laine Women

Synopses and Blurbs and Word Count, oh my!

Okay, so book 3 in the MacQuire Women, FIRST IMPRESSIONS, is in final production right now and I’m hoping it will be released in September, since it’s a fall themed book. This is the cover.

FirstImpressions_w9816_2_85

I know!

Gorgeous, isn’t it? I love my artist at the Wild Rose Press, Rae Monet. She’s done all three covers for me so far and – please, Jesus – she will do the rest.

But I digress.

It isn’t enough just to write the story any longer. Along with the story a writer must also pen the dreaded SYNOPSIS and (gulp!) the official BOOK BLURB. The synopsis is a detailed (or not) outline of the plot of the book. For most authors, writing a synopsis is tantamount to being tossed into the ninth circle of hell for all eternity. And that’s not an exaggeration. The blurb is that little mini description the publisher places on the back of the book or for hardcover books, on the inside jacket cover. It’s supposed to be the tease that lures the reader into wanting to purchase and read your book.

Until I had my first book published I never knew the author was responsible for writing this. You’d think it would be easy. Just sum-up the book’s main theme, right?

Ha!

It’s about as easy as putting together a car from scratch without directions, diagrams, or pictures. Or any outside help, mechanical or human.

Not kidding.

First of all there are word count restrictions of between 100 and 150, maximum. I am a verbose writer. And by verbose I mean I write A LOT of words. The task of paring down the storyline into what amounts to about 10-15 sentences is torture. Add that you must hit the high points of the story, identify the hero and heroine, describe them and the conflict resounding around their relationship ever coming to fruition, PLUS make it sound exciting and buy-worthy, well…this is why I’m sweating right now as I write this piece. Writing a blurb gives me more indigestion than Crispy Crème donuts – and I had to have my gall bladder removed after eating just one of those suckers. I really did.

But I digress. Again.

Back to the blurb. I have been told by manymanymany people in the publishing realm that a blurb can make or break a sale. Pressure, much? When I wrote my first one for SKATER’S WALTZ I thought I really did a great job. I was proud of it and the hours it took to do, so I sent it in and just knew it was perfect.

Not so much.

It took three back and forth trials between me and the burb committee (yes, there is one, and it is made up of WONDERFUL and SMART PEOPLE!) before the blurb was deemed publishing-worthy.

For THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME, I took everything I learned from the first blurb debacle and did my best not to make the same mistakes. I must have done something right this time because it only came back to me once.

For book 3, FIRST IMPRESSIONS, I let myself get cocky and knew – knew! – there was no way the blurb I wrote was coming back this time.

Yeah, no.

It took two tries, but I think they did a fabulous job guiding me in the right direction. Read for yourselves, this is the official blurb:

Family Practice Doctor Clarissa Rogers’ first impression of Padric Cleary is biased and based on gossip. The handsome, charming veterinarian is considered a serial dater and commitment-phobic by his family and most of the town. Relationship shy, Clarissa refuses to lose her heart to a man who can’t pledge himself to her forever.

Pat Cleary, despite his reputation, is actually looking for The One. When he does give his heart away, he wants it to be for life. With his parent’s marriage as his guidebook, he wants a woman who will be his equal and soul mate in every way.

Can Pat convince everyone – including Clarissa – she’s the only woman for him?

I truly can not wait until the book is released. It’s my favorite so far – and I know every writer says that when they’ve got something new coming out, but this one really is. Pat and Clarissa’s story was an absolute pleasure to write and I’m thrilled I get to share it.

I’m currently editing the 4th book, The Voices of Angels, and I am putting off the blurb until I absolutely need to submit it. Trying to come up with something that will wow the reader is much too exhausting right now. Better I write the story down and get that good and right. Then and only then will I tackle the blurb.

I’ll also have to make sure I have a couple bottles of Rolaids handy as well when I do.

 

 

 

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Filed under Author, Contemporary Romance, Family Saga, First Impressions, Life challenges, MacQuire Women, Romance, Romance Books, Skater's Waltz, There's No Place Like Home