An Author and Reader Guide to StoryOrigin - Part One - Signing Up with SO and Integrating Mailing Lists

Hey all! I hope you're doing well and staying out of the way of the mess hitting the fan right now. Today, I'd like to introduce you all to a platform that's been getting a lot of traction called StoryOrigin. I'm not gonna lead in with a bunch of yakkity, so just grab your coffee or tea and let's get going!

*******AS ALWAYS, THERE IS NO COMPENSATION FOR ME TO DO THIS AND NO AFFILIATE LINKS ARE USED****** That being said, know that all opinions are my own, and I'm free to give them. ;)

First off: What is StoryOrigin?

StoryOrigin is a platform for authors to gain new subscribers to their newsletters through group promotions and swaps, give out ARC copies, have a universal book link page, and distribute audio codes. Newsletters are a huge part of most authors' marketing efforts, so you need to know how to make the most out of every tool available!

But there's more! I know, right? StoryOrigin is also a site for readers to find ARC copies and keep up with how they're doing on their reviews.

If you don't have a mailing list and want to use StoryOrigin for some other reason (ARCs, audio code distribution, etc...), this post isn't for you. Scroll to the bottom of this page and find the links to the next parts!

Best of all, right now, it's free, so let's get you enrolled!

There's a lot to go over, but we'll start with signing up, integrating all the mailing list types, and press forward from there. All posts will be listed and linked on all posts for easy navigation.

Start by going to the StoryOrigin homepage:

Click Login in the top right hand corner.
Click Signup! Where it asks if you're new to us. If you've already gotten this far, feel free to skip to the relevant content. :)

Enter Name and Email Stuffs. I'm making dummy accounts that will be deleted once this tutorial is done. If you have an author website, feel free to click to add it. You also need a privacy policy IF you have an email client that requires one, so go ahead and link it.
Next, you'll see a page that looks like this. We're gonna start at kinda the bottom and work our way up.

Go all the way to the bottom and click Author Profiles.

Right now, you have to have a new account to manage more than one profile, but hopefully, this functionality will be available soon. You should see your author name and website (if you added one) listed.
Let's go one higher and click on Integrations. This is where you'll connect your mailing list and a VERY important function of the site.

MAILCHIMP

Click the blue button to integrate and select your provider from the list. I'm going through each one, starting with MAILCHIMP, so if your provider is different, scroll down until you find that instruction. Select Mailchimp from the dropdown and click Authenticate Mailchimp.

Sign in to your Mailchimp account and click Allow.

There you go! All done! You should be taken back to the page on StoryOrigin that shows your Integrations. Your Mailchimp account should be listed like so:

MAILERLITE

On to the next one: MailerLite Click Integrate Email Provider and choose MailerLite from the dropdown. You should see this:

Your API key is found by clicking your name in the top right hand corner on MailerLite, selecting Integrations, then clicking USE next to Developer API. Will look like this:

Copy it. Go back to StoryOrigin and paste the string of letters and numbers in. Click save. MailerLite is now on your list. You should see it back at your Mailing List Integrations page.

ACTIVECAMPAIGN

Now, we'll go on to ActiveCampaign. Click Integrate Email Provider and choose ActiveCampaign from the dropdown. StoryOrigin walks you through this one:

Follow the directions (copyable text on ActiveCampaign is a little difficult to see, but it DOES copy):

and click Save. ActiveCampaign should be added to your Mailing List Integrations page.

AWEBER

Now we're headed to the next one! AWeber! Click Integrate Email Provider. Choose AWeber from the dropdown.

Click Authenticate AWeber, log in to your AWeber account, click Allow Access, and it should appear on your Mailing List Integrations page (I couldn't do this one because they want a credit card up front).

CONVERTKIT

But we're moving on to ConvertKit! Integrate Email Provider. Choose ConvertKit from the dropdown.

Click on the hyperlink: Click here in the text. It will bring you to the page shown below. You can also get there by logging into ConvertKit, choosing Account, then Account Info. The arrows show where the info is on the page. You have to click SHOW to get the API Secret.

Click save, and ConvertKit will be added to your Mailing List Integrations page. And that's it! Super easy to add your mailing list(s)!

Next time, we'll go over the next two tabs up: Subscribers and Posted Mailing Lists.

Links to all other posts in this series will go below this line (I'll add them as they're completed).
Part Two - Subscribers and Posted Mailing Lists

Thanks for reading, and remember to WRITE ON!

Jo

HeadTalker - What it is, How to use it, and Why it's Awesome

Happy Monday, everyone! Today's post is going to be rather long-ish, but you'll want to read all the way to the end. We'll be getting into a new marketing tool called HeadTalker. I'll show you why it's awesome, how to use it, and go into how you can apply it to your current marketing strategy. Ready? Grab those pens and notebooks, and let's get going!

As you're all aware, I'm never paid for anything I talk about here on my blog, and there are no affiliate links. This is why I'm free to speak my mind. I don't owe anyone anything, and no one owes me. Recommendations made here are 100% because I loved the product. Now that I've restated that, we can move on.

I'm gonna start with a big WHAT IS HEADTALKER? snippet.

HeadTalker works like Thunderclap, a social media blasting platform, with more options and more ways to get your message trending. Plus, HeadTalker has some REALLY cool features Thunderclap doesn't.

If you don't know what Thunderclap is, go check out this post.

Please understand, I'm not saying you should use one of these over the other, but HeadTalker is another platform to put firmly in your corner because of the features.

Speaking of, let's get rolling on those, shall we?

Social Media Platforms - There are Four

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Tumblr
• LinkedIN

Campaign Features (this is where it gets really cool)

• Video (book trailer!)
• Share Image (I'd love to see them add design specs to this and the next one)
• Background Image (see comment above)
• Media Embed (images, music, etc...)
• Set Supporter Goal (between 25 and 500 - ANY number)
• Include a Giveaway

I have to be honest, when I saw all the bonus features, I got really excited. I did run an experiment to see just how it worked, and I'll get to that after I show you all the "fill me out" things (which will happen now).

CLICK THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE

As you can see, you have a campaign title, message you want to go out, a URL, the place to embed your YouTube video, featured photo and background photo, a category, your story (which you can edit at any time without having to resubmit and will hold things like music and photos), your supporter goal, a start and end date with a time to go live, and a giveaway option.

Now, once approved, you can't change your URL or message. Those are fixed. You'd probably have to delete your campaign and start over.

Anyway, I did a little test to run through the functionality and check out all the features. Here's how I set mine up:

CLICK THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE

I also did a $20 giveaway (the minimum, to see just how it worked). One thing I didn't use was the background image option because I wasn't sure what it was and didn't want to muck up the look.

Once my campaign was live, I got a PayPal invoice for $22. HeadTalker takes 10% off the top for handling the giveaway for you. Not too shabby. I put it out there and don't have to worry about it again. For what it's worth, I love simple. *grin*

Now, here are the stats broken down by time:

15 min shot

30 min shot

45 min shot

1 hour shot - Notice I hit my goal of 35

6:56PM

At 10:27PM I got a message that said my HeadTalker was trending and was on the homepage. 

SCORE! After that, this happened!

1:01AM

8:36AM

10:45AM

4:22PM

Today at 11:33AM

As you can see, the numbers are astounding (I'll give a comparison to the other one on Thunderclap in a moment). Now, when I first got the message that my campaign was ready to start gaining supporters, there were a number of links included (this is also pretty fun, so stay with me).

There was a link to the HeadTalker Academy (I highly recommend going through this even if you think you know what you're doing - several tips and tricks there.

Another took me to FAQ (self explanatory, no?).

Still another took me to Success Stories (those were fun and interesting to look through - think of it as a "what works well" class).

But, by far, the most interesting one took me to the HeadTalker Market. This is the place where you can pay others to support your campaigns or have others pay you to support theirs. Now, I don't know about you, but I think this is flipping brilliant. If you can't get the support you need any other way, or if you're serious about making the biggest impression possible and have the cash to lay out there, I don't see limits on your potential reach. Might be better than doing a cash giveaway. Hell, it might be awesome as a passive kind of income, too, if you have a strong social media presence.

So, anyway, for a price (from $1 on up, depending on social reach ability), you can get limitless support for your campaign. I didn't do this, but the option is totally there.

Now for a comparison screenshot of my other campaign. We set this one to go at noon, and HeadTalker to fire at 5PM day of release. This was taken today at 11:33AM.

Is there even a comparison? It's literally crazy, right? Or am I missing something?

What do you think? Will you make the jump from one to the other? Use both? Do you see any downsides?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Announcing: the Twin Flames Trilogy by Danielle Bannister

Happy Hump-Day, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I bring you an awesome little tidbit about a series I think you'll all enjoy. Sit back and grab a read.

I wrote a review for Pulled, the first book in the trilogy, back in October, 2012. While I never posted it on the blog, you can check it out over on Goodreads here. Here's a snipped from the review:

"From a story perspective, Pulled was an excellent one. I am compelled to Google "twin flames" and see if it's actually a part of mythology. I took a mythology class but we never discussed that topic. I love books that introduce me to new things, and I adore stories that leave me room to fill in the blanks with my own imagination. The main characters were nicely fleshed out."

Without further ado, I give you the information for the whole trilogy! Click the headings for the book trailers!

Pulled

Blurb:
   When college freshman Naya meets Etash, a terribly scarred sophomore, she finds herself inexplicably ‘pulled’ toward him.
   As Naya and Etash fight against the pull drawing them together, they discover that their connection is too strong to be denied. A connection deeper than either of them could fathom.
   Together they will learn that this is not the first time they have been ‘pulled’ together.
   Nor will it be their last.
   Get Pulled into a love story like no other.

Pulled Back

Blurb:
   Some believe that true love never dies.  Instead their love is simply, reborn. 
Jada is not one of those people. Used to being moved around by a father running
from his past by drowning his sorrows in booze, Jada learns that love is for fools.
   Until she meets Tobias and Hawk; childhood friends since birth. What will happen to their friendship when fate takes over?
   Two flames will reconnect while a third burns with rage.
   Will the reunited lovers burn bright? Or will their flames be smothered?
   Get Pulled Back into a love story that has been reborn.

Pulled Back Again

Blurb:
   What if the love of your life was taken from you?
   What would you be willing to risk to get her back?
   Jada and Tobias thought moving away from their former predatorial friend, Hawk, would keep them safe.     
   They were wrong.
   Join Twin Flames, Tobias and Jada, as they fight to keep their love burning bright.
   Get Pulled Back Again into a love story that has no end.



About the author:
Danielle Bannister is a work-from-home mom of two children, Tristan and Marina, living in a small coastal town in Maine with her husband Jason and bunny Floppinator. She has her BA in theatre, her Master’s in Literary Education, and has written two other novels, Pulled and Pulled Back as well as a collection of short stories entitled Short Shorts.

You can follow her writing struggles on her website
Find her on Facebook
Or Tweet her @getpulled

Time for the buy links!
Pulled: FREE on Amazon
FREE on iBooks 

Pulled Back: $2.99 On Amazon
$2.99 On iBooks

Pulled Back Again: $2.99 on Amazon
$2.99 on iBooks

I hope you all enjoyed reading this little blurb! Tomorrow, back to our regularly scheduled program. Don't forget, while you're here, head on over to the guest post for Monday written by M.R. Polish, one of the authors attending UtopYA Con 2014.

And pick up a copy of Mystic~Bronya while it's still FREE on Amazon!

What do you think about the Twin Flame trilogy?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo