Author Convention News for 2017 and Happy Birthday to Me

Happy Tuesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'm over on the radio yet again, but this time, I'm talking all things author conventions for 2017. Ready to listen? Here's your link that will go live at 11AM EST:

LINKY

Here's a quick breakdown of what you can expect to hear:

Your hostess, Jo Michaels, of the Jo Michaels blog, talks about author conventions. Some she's attended, some she hasn't, but all are worth checking out. Plus, a special announcement (or two). Be sure and pop back by Friday as I'm joined by Author Rachael Brownell to discuss Great Lakes Book Bash! But, for today, here are the links you'll need:

http://roanokeauthorinvasion.com
http://utopiacon.com
http://chaptercon.weebly.com
http://ozarksindiebookfest.com
http://greatlakesbookbash.com

If you missed my interview with the amazingness that's Liz C. Long, the lady behind RAI, you can find it in my podcast archives or click here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/adailycupofjo/2015/07/24/roanoke-author-invasion-information-with-liz-c-long

If you're dying to find out more about Ann Aguirre, you can find her online here: https://www.facebook.com/ann.aguirre or here: https://twitter.com/MsAnnAguirre

And you can find her books on Amazon here: Enclave (book one of the Razorland Trilogy) and Mortal Danger (read chapters 1-5 here on Amazon for free).

Oh yeah, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEEEEEE! hahaha!

Did you listen? What did you think?

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

Jo

Author Earnings - Indie, Indie Press, and Big 5

Happy Thursday, everyone! It's a radio show day. *grin* Join me on A Daily Cup of Jo at 11AM EST!

Linky

Here's what I'm talking about today:

Author Jo Michaels discusses earnings of Indie authors and those published with a small press as well as those published with one of the big five.

If you've ever wondered why you should go Indie, this radio show gives you one reason: author payouts. If you take marketing and all the other jazz out of publishing, and just focus on the earnings numbers, it might give you some insight into just how many books you have to sell in order to make a certain amount of money.

I'll be breaking it down for you. Be sure you have pen and paper handy. This is going to be fun!

Our base numbers will be $4.99 for the ebook against earnings of $5k. I will NOT be factoring in KU pages read numbers or earnings.

Book mentioned on the show can be found here: Bean Counting for Authors: Helping Writers and Creative Business Owners Grasp Accounting and Taxes by Christina Mercer

I do hope you all check it out! Listen closely, and have a pen nearby.

What do you think? Did you know all this? Does it change anything for you?

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

Jo

Book Review - The Girl in 6E

Happy Monday, everyone! Today, I'm giving you all a book review over on A Daily Cup of Jo! This time, it's for A. R. Torre's The Girl in 6E. My whole shebang about the characters and what I didn't like is available over on my radio show here.

Here's a little about the book up for review today:

Title: The Girl in 6E (Deanna Madden #1)
Author: A. R. Torre
Genre: Psychological Erotic Thriller
Length: 336 printed pages
Buy Link: Amazon Hardcover $4.99

Blurb:
I haven't touched a human in three years. That seems like it would be a difficult task, but it's not. Not anymore, thanks to the internet.
 
I am, quite possibly, the most popular recluse ever. Not many shut-ins have a 200-member fan club, a bank account in the seven-figure range, and hundreds of men lining up to pay for undivided attention.

They get satisfaction, I get a distraction. Their secret desires are nothing compared to why I hide... my lust for blood, my love of death.

Taking their money is easy. Keeping all these secrets... one is bound to escape.

 

What if you hid yourself away because all you could think of was killing? And what if one girl's life depending on you venturing into society?

 

Enter a world of lies, thrills, fears, and all desires, in this original thriller from A. R. Torre.

****Will not appear in review elsewhere. OMG at this cover! Hello! It totally speaks to the novel inside, and once you read it, you'll probably agree it's freaking perfect. So freaking perfect. I love the bright red, too. Perfect for murder.****

I grabbed this book at Utopia con in Nashville a couple weeks ago after having a little chat with the author over our favorite genres. She recommended The Girl in 6E, so I snapped it up and made her sign it. But that's how I came about owning a copy. Let's get to what I thought.

From a Reader's Perspective:
I was so in awe of the characters and how well they were developed. Torre did a fantastic job communicating the truly twisted nature of the main character, Deanna, that I was rooting for her at the same time I despised her. It takes some serious talent to make a reader both love and hate a character that way. There were a couple of other characters I liked, too, but those I discuss on my podcast review so I'm not going to repeat them here. Pacing was bang on. I think a book like this needs a quick pace to keep the tension amplified, and this one was beautifully done. Plot was twisted and perfect. Couldn't have happened any other way. World building... Well, there wasn't a ton because of the limited world of the MC, but what was done was described well without needling me to DEATH with unnecessary details. Loved it.

From an Editor's Perspective:
It was amazing. Seriously well done.

Rating:
1 Star for an excellent plot that kept me engaged
1 Star for pacing
1 Star for leaving some things to my imagination
1 Star for making me love and hate Deanna at the same time
1 Star for editing

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars. Thrilling to the last page. Recommended if you enjoy a good thriller where you're not sure what the MC will do next.

Other books in the Deanna Madden series are linked on the episode's page over on BTR.

Have you read it? Do you plan to? Did you enjoy the show?

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

Jo

Book Review on the Air - Chasing Eternity - Plus, Publishing World Talk

Happy Thursday! Today, we're over on my radio show at 7AM EST. Here's a brief rundown:

LINK TO SHOW

Your host, Jo Michaels, of the Jo Michaels blog, dives into the number skewing happening in the book world by the big publishing houses, and she warns you why you shouldn't believe everything you read.

Prefacing all serious discussion is a book review of the fourth and final novel in the Award-Winning, YA, Tala Prophecy series by Tia Silverthorne Bach.

In the series are:
Chasing Memories (book one) FREE ON AMAZON
Chasing Shadows (book two)
Chasing Destiny (book three)
Chasing Eternity (book four)
Chasing Forgiveness (the companion novella)

I mention my reviews for the previous books during the show. You can find them on my here via the following links:

Chasing Memories
Chasing Shadows
Chasing Forgiveness

Did you listen? What did you think?

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

Jo

Schedule - What to Expect from the Blog and Radio Show

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful 4th yesterday. I know I did! If you were here two weeks ago, you know that I spent last week thinking about what I was going to do with the blog and a re-launch of my radio show, A Daily Cup of Jo. Tomorrow will be my Utopia 2016 recap, but I'll get into the following next week. Well, no more rambling! Here's the new schedule!

• Mondays: On the radio! Highlights from the show will be posted here on the blog. Expect a book reading and discussion or review.
• Tuesdays: New author lessons. You wouldn't believe how many people don't know the basics. Devoting time to teaching all the things I assumed people knew and didn't. You old hats can probably skip these and be okay.
• Wednesdays: A new release, blitz, or other something like a guest post.
• Thursdays: On the radio! Highlights posted here. Expect news on new releases (with blurb readings) or stuff happening around the Indie author world.
• Fridays: Whatever I feel like talking about. Could be a new book from ME, or it could be random discussion. Tips and tricks for established authors will happen now and again, but it's mostly for me and my big mouth. I'll also post any book reviews I may have written on this day if I didn't do them on the air earlier in the week.

So, there you have it! Pretty exciting, eh? Yeah, it's also back to the basics of what I've been doing here since I started. Tips and books. *grin*

What do you think? Sound like we're gonna have some fun?

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

Jo

2015 in Review - 2016 Blogging Goals and Schedule

Well, happy Tuesday, everyone! If you've been a long time follower of the blog, you'll know I do a recap and goals post in January every year. Basically, I look over the last 12 months, decide what's working and what's not, and make goals for myself for the upcoming months.

2015 was a doozy! Here's what I accomplished this year:

• I published 245 posts on this blog - each blog post was an average of 300 words, for a count of over 70k.
• I held one massive event (12 Days of RR) and it was bigger than last year.
• I launched A Daily Cup of Jo to make my interviews more awesome.
• UtopYA (now Utopia) was attended in June.
• I took a position as the Utopia official blogger coordinator.
• I re-organized the blog for ease of navigation by my visitors.
• I reviewed 16 books for the 2015 Review Team (missed my goal of 20+).
• I wrote four novels - Markaza, M, Emancipation, and 7 - for a total word count of over 200k words.
• I published two writing books in a new series for kids.
• I typeset fourteen novels.
• I edited over 400k words.
• I proofread over 200k words.
• I have 58 new subscribers to this blog, and about 10 on Tumblr.

Here were my goals for 2015 (taken from last year's look back):

• Publish three novels and another anthology with the ladies of Fractured Glass.
• Attend UtopYA Con again in June.
• Publish a blog post every day (M-F) unless I let you all know otherwise.
• Write one book review per week (which should get me very close to 52).
• Keep up with my author interviews and make them bigger, badder, and more awesome.
• Find a way to launch my 12 Days of Review Requests event to the next level.
• Follow my schedule for posting to various social media sites and blogging to the Nth degree.
• Get the Review Team's posts into the hands of more readers.

In green are the ones I accomplished. Orange indicates something I did most of. Red is what I totally failed at. Totally. There is no in between place there.

So, here are my goals for 2016:

• Publish three novels and another anthology with the ladies of Fractured Glass and 7.
• Bring Emancipation into the world kicking and screaming.
• Do more to share promotion with other authors (back of book excerpts, etc...) on every book I publish.
• Write at least 20 book reviews.
• Cut off my client list at IBGW with the ones I work with now. It's getting overwhelming.
• Do more with A Daily Cup of Jo - see new schedule below.
• Hold an online workshop for authors - details to come.

There you have it. I don't reach far, and I keep my goals reachable. One of them is already done: Cut off my client list at IBGW. This will give me time to do a better job for the clients I already have and give me more time to write and focus on things I need to do.

Here's the new blog posting schedule, so you know what's coming:

• MONDAYS: I'll share news I find on Facebook and Twitter. Could be writing articles, new release information, or information about something going on in the writing world. You never know!
• TUESDAYS: Author Spotlights for NEW Indies.
• WEDNESDAYS: This is my day for writing. There will be no Wednesday posts unless it's about a new release, or cover reveal, or something else like that.
• THURSDAYS: Blogger OR Reviewer spotlight. I'll be bringing you information on bloggers and reviewers that help Indie authors.
• FRIDAYS: Whatever Jo wants. You may get a post, and you may not get a post. Again, it'll be whatever. If I write a review for a book, this is the day it'll show up.
• SATURDAYS: Daily Cup of Jo shows for the week will be highlighted.
• SUNDAYS: Nada. This is my day off all the things.

This will start next week. We'll see how it goes. As you all know, if it's not working, I'll change it.

Did you do a look back for the year and set goals for the next? What are they? Share!

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

Jo

Interview with UTOPiAcon Founder Janet Wallace

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Oh man, do I have an awesome thing for you today! Yesterday, I had the pleasure of interviewing Janet Wallace, founder of Utopia and Social Deviants. You won't believe the mind-blowing discussion we had over on the radio show. Janet is such an inspiration to so many people.

You simply must listen.

Head on over to my interview with Janet on A Daily Cup of Jo via Blog Talk Radio here.

OR

Find the episode on iTunes!

Open the app with this icon on it:

And click on search in the bottom, right-hand corner.

Type in: A Daily Cup of Jo

Listen to all the awesome!

What did you think? Was it fun and informative?

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

Jo

Q&A With Listeners of A Daily Cup of Jo

Happy Wednesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'm going to be asking you all some questions I'd love to have a few answers to. These will all pertain to my podcast, so if you haven't listened, I'll be linking you up to a couple of short productions and a couple of long ones. Ready? Get your typing fingers and your ears ready and let's get going!

Here are the links:
Introduction to the podcast (10 min) Hosted by Jo Michaels
Utopia Veteran Interview (45 min) Hosted by Jo Michaels (and Ren Reidy when possible)
Utopia Resolutions (30 min) Hosted by Ashley Bodette and Maria Pease
Utopia Revolutions (30 min) Hosted by Christina Marie
Utopia Revelations (30 min) Hosted by Jo Michaels
Interview with The Indie Pub Podcast - SM Boyce and JN Chaney (45 min) Hosted by Jo Michaels
Roanoke Author Invasion - Liz C. Long (45 min) Hosted by Jo Michaels

I'm going to start with a list of specific questions, then move on to general ones.



Thank you so much for your time!

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

Jo

Roanoke Author Invasion

Happy Thursday, everyone! Today, I'm going to be talking about an author signing event happening in Roanoke, Virginia, on April 2, 2016. Ready? Grab a cup of Jo and let's get going!

If you missed it, I did a radio interview with one of the wonderful ladies behind RAI, Liz C. Long, that you can catch up on here. It's about forty-five minutes, but we cover a ton of information about the event and surrounding area. Plus, Liz drops some information about next year that hasn't been revealed yet!

So, what is Roanoke Author Invasion?

From the website:

Join 30+ bestselling authors of contemporary and paranormal fiction and more at the Holiday Inn Tanglewood in Roanoke, Virginia, on April 2, 2016 from 12pm-4pm. Enjoy an afternoon of books, giveaways, and more as you get the latest releases from your favorite authors and discover new voices!

It's a mashup of authors and fans from all over who get together and share a love of books.

Here's the official Facebook page:

Roanoke Author Invasion

If you're a book blogger and would like to help promote the event, or if you'd just like to help out, you can volunteer here.

What do you think? Will you be checking it out?

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

Jo

A Daily Cup of Jo - Veteran Interview with Elizabeth Kirke

Happy Monday, everyone! Today's post will be short and sweet because we're officially kicking off the radio show (and I'm super nervous and unable to think right now). Ha!

You'll remember my guest, Elizabeth Kirke, from the interview I did with her a while back (find it here).

Jump on over and join in at 10am EST! You can find us here. We'll open the floor to questions the last five minutes of air time.

If you miss it live, you can always listen to it later via the same link. I hope you enjoy it!

What do you think? Did you listen?

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

Jo

A Daily Cup of Jo - Podcasts and More

Happy Tuesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I have some major announcements to make. As you all may know, I'm the blogger/tuber coordinator for Utopia Con 2016 (eek!). I've decided to change/shake some things up after a chat I had with the one and only Janet Wallace this morning.

I'm very proud to announce the coming of my podcast and radio show: A Daily Cup of Jo.

Not only will you get to hear some amazing authors, but I'll be talking with editors, photographers, and more of the folks rocking the literary world.

You'll see a couple of changes happening on the blog by way of appearance, but I'll still be here every weekday to bring you posts about writing, blogging, and reading.

Here's the channel link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/adailycupofjo

You can give it a follow now, or wait until the first episode goes live and subscribe on iTunes.

I plan to keep all interviews and discussions short (under half an hour), so you don't glaze over while listening.

Wait! It gets better! There will be official Utopia interviews going on! That's right, those shows will have imagery and space all their own. This is going to be epic, y'all.

Watch for an announcement post on the official #Utopia2016 bloggers this week. EEP!

What do you think? Did you check it out at all?

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

Jo

World of Ink - Radio Show Sponsorship

Happy Monday, everyone! Sorry you aren't getting an author interview today; I had some things fall through. Fingers crossed it'll be here tomorrow! So, for today, I'm gonna talk about something I did last year that I had a blast with. I also got to meet a couple of really amazing ladies that I'll tell you about later in this post. Ready? Grab your pens and notebooks and let's get going!

The World of Ink Network

Virtual blog tours, book trailers and marketing services; along with radio shows on books, authors, illustrators, the publishing industry, marketing and much more.

That's from their website. You can find them here.

Now, on to my notes from my experience with their radio segment. You can go listen to past interviews and stuff here, and you can check out my interview here.

I saw where one of the hosts posted on Facebook to indicate they were looking for author sponsorships for their WOI radio show. Since I've been a guest with Sandi Tuttle a couple of times, I was familiar with how it worked, and I asked for more information on WOI's sponsorship levels/costs. Their response time was wicked fast, and I was never left out of the loop on anything that was going on.

I was thrilled when I received their package. It wasn't super expensive, and they guaranteed to run my book covers and information about my blog for the whole month of October. Plus, I was getting to spend time talking with women who are successful and strong in their own right.

Everything was well coordinated, and my phone rang right when it was supposed to on the day of the interview.

What took place after that ring was nothing short of awesome. We chatted about books, editors, utopYA Con, writing, strong women in fiction novels, and so much more.

Who did I get to talk with?

Marsha Casper Cook and Willow Cross. Both are super fun to chat with, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. Marsha was pleasant and easy to talk to, and Willow is a fellow writer who also features strong women in her novels. We had a lot in common.

It was awesome.

Now for other information (like sales during my sponsorship).

I sold 85 books that month, and had 582 downloads of my free books on Kindle.

So, yeah, I recouped my costs. Both monetarily and in new potential fans of my work.

I don't pay for blog tours, so this sponsorship was something I could really sink my teeth into.

As you all know, I don't get kickbacks for anything I recommend on the blog, and I only suggest things I've tried myself and had success with.

WOI is totally worth every penny I spent.

Now, I wanna hear from you! Have you ever sponsored a radio show? Ever done an interview? Gimmie your links!

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

Jo

Radio Interview

Happy Friday, good people of the blogosphere! Wednesday, I was interviewed on the World of Ink's radio show by Marsha Casper Cook and Willow Cross. I invite you all to listen to our discussion on writing, marketing, and other writerly things.

Here's the link!

Jo Michaels on World of Ink

Hope you enjoy it :)

Did you listen? What did you think?

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

Jo