Blog Spotlight #3 - Escape Reality

Happy Tuesday! EEEP! I have another lovely, Indie-friendly book blog (it's strictly a Facebook blog) to share with you all. Without any ado, whatsoever, I present: Escape Reality!

BLOG SPOTLIGHT:

Escape Reality Book Blog

Hi, my name is Shannon and I live in Georgia with my husband of 16 years and my son. We all love to play golf and hunt. It is really nice because we have a lot of family time and we spend a lot of time outdoors.

I read nothing but fiction because I feel the world has enough problems to make me sad, so I want to escape and read about other things (hence the blog name). I like to pimp and introduce others to new books and learn about new books. I love going to book signings and actually meeting authors. I have met some wonderful people through the street teams I am on and the book clubs that I am in.

I was encouraged by my husband and other blogger friends to do my own book blog because of my love for reading and pimping. So in November 2015 I finally did it. I have learned so much and I am still learning (LOL).

I have created open pimping days on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I don’t mind posting for anyone and I don’t mind helping other blogs out by posting their giveaways. We are all in this together. I do hope you will come check out my blog and join in.

I do want to give special thanks to my wonderful husband who helped me come up with the name, and everyone who has be wonderful enough to help me along the way to get it up and going.

So I hope you come for a visit, interact and share your love of books with me.

Social Links

Facebook Twitter

Be sure and give Shannon a visit and hit her up! How amazing is that?

What do you think?

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

Jo

Types of Blog Posts for Authors and Book Bloggers

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Today, I'm gonna talk about alllll those different kinds of blog posts authors and book bloggers create. If you missed the fun yesterday, be sure and check it out here. That's a Cover Reveal post; one of the post types I'll be talking about here in a second. Please, keep in mind these are general posts and not every single one on the planet. Ready? Grab that pen and notebook and let's get going!

Blog Post Types for Authors:

• Excerpt - A little snippet of your current work
• Coming Soon - Title teasers that can contain snippets or other fun things (like the general idea behind the new work)
• Opinion - Something you feel bloggy/passionate about
• How-to - All about the sharing of techniques used to write a novel
• Cover Reveal - Exactly what it says
• Tour/Info Post - Sharing information about a title (yours or another author's) either in a blog tour or not
• Giveaway - Yeah, you know this one, too
• Interview - You talking with another author and them talking back
• Research - Stuff you looked up and found interesting
• Resources - Places readers can look stuff up
• Release Day Post - Yet another one that needs no introduction

Now, that's not all the post types for authors, but it's enough to help you understand some of the options out there. Let's get into the next topic!

Blog Post Types for Book Bloggers (reviewers):

• Excerpt - A snippet of an author's work
• TBR - A reviewer's list of books to be reviewed
• Book Review - Yeah, I don't think this one needs explanation, either
• How-to - Sharing where you got your books and where others can find them or how to write a review
• Tour/Info Post - Either part of a blog tour or not, putting out information about a title
• Stacking the Shelves/Book Haul - What books you added to your shelf over a week
• Giveaway - Again, you can glean the meaning here from the title
• Cover Reveal - Revealing the cover of an author's book
• Roundup - Some bloggers you love and recommend your readers follow
• Interview - An interview with an author or other book blogger
• Vlog - A video of your book review
• Photo - A picture of your books or shelves

Again, these aren't all the post options. I'm just giving you something to brainstorm over. *grin*

If you ever find yourself stuck without an idea (you're making a schedule, right?), I hope this kicks your brain into overdrive.

Any questions?

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

Jo

One More Chapter - Indie Author Haven Page Spotlight

Happy Friday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'm here to talk with you about a page over on Facebook you should maybe give another (or a first) look at. Grab those steamy cups of coffee and let's get going!

There's this little page on Facebook rocking the Indie world with support and mad love for all things books. At the helm is Tawnya Peltonen. You should also check her out on Goodreads.

She's a serious reader and has given 676 ratings since 2011. That screams book lover to me.

But, not only does she love books, she's also a huge advocate of Indie authors. Tawnya reads and reviews Indie books often, and shares a bunch of our giveaways on her page on Facebook known as One More Chapter.

Support people who support Indies!

This link will take you to her page.

Once you're there, check out her newsfeed; you'll be astonished at the number of promo posts there with Indies at the core.

Maybe you already love OMC. Perhaps you gave it a like way back when and forgot about it. Interaction is a great way to get pages you love back in your newsfeed. 

As an alternative, you can also use the dropdown under the like button to get notifications or add the page to an interest list (don't worry, Facebook will walk you through the process of creating an interest list if you don't have one already).

Either way, go show this page some love, and enter to win one of the amazing giveaways running. There are always a ton!

What did you think? Did you check it out?

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

Jo

Blogging for Creatives

Happy Friday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'm gonna talk with all you bloggers about a book I think you need to have on your shelves, and give you some of the highlights. I do love non-fiction how-to books, and I've recommended a number of them here on the blog. However, I like this book on blogging above any other I've come across.

So, I figured I'd talk about it. I originally picked the title up from the library, but have gone on to purchase my own copy since. I also grabbed one to give away during the panel I'm moderating at utopYA called "So, You Wanna be a Book Blogger/Tuber?" I have a great post on panels coming up for you next week, so I'm not delving into all that too deeply.

The title of the book is Blogging for Creatives: How designers, artists, crafters, and writers can blog to make contacts, win business, and build success, and it's by Robin Houghton. You can get a copy from Amazon here for about $16.

Moving on!

Now that you know the title of the book, have seen the cover, and where you can snag a copy, let's get to yammering!

Here are a few of the section titles and what you can hope to find:
1. Get Started - this covers many things like group blogging, what a blog is, and how to find a niche.
2. Blogging Tools and Technology - She discusses how to choose a host, and recommends some widgets.
3. Step-by-Step Setup
4. Creating an Eye-Catching Blog - Color, typography, and other fun stuff.
5. Creating Great Content

Anyway, you can see where I'm going with this. Plus, Ms. Houghton gives you awesome inspiration screenshots throughout.

If you're a seasoned blogger, you may not get a lot out of this book; but there were some tips and tricks in there I didn't know, and it helped me pull a new level of creativity out of my hat.

You know my utopYA author interview series? Yeah, the idea for that came from this book.

Looking to make money with your blog? This book will guide you through the process of setting everything up.

It's awesome. Period. As a bonus, you can check it out from the library for FREE!

You're still here? What are you waiting for? Get to it!

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

Jo

What's Above the Fold?

Happy Thursday, good people of the blogosphere! I know you're all excited that tomorrow's Friday, but I'm still bringing you a little tip today that may or may not explain a few things and/or make your life a hair easier. I hope you brought your coffee, pen, and paper! Let's goooooo!

So, today is all about that little thing in bloggerland known as a fold. What the heck? Nothing on the web folds, Jo!

Yeah, I know things don't literally fold, but let's think of a blog like a newspaper for a moment, shall we?

Everything a reader sees before they have to scroll down is considered above the fold. Now that we have the terminology down, let's get to what should be there and why it matters.

Examine my blog. You're looking at it right now, and you may still be where you haven't scrolled yet, so take a moment and really look. If you've moved down, scroll all the way back up.

What's the first thing you see? My name, right? Then a description of what you'll find on this blog.

After you see that, you notice I'm involved with utopYA con and INDIE Books Gone Wild. Now it's time for pages on my blog I think everyone who visits should become familiar with.

Awesome. Now you know where you are, why you are, and what kinds of things you can expect to find, right? Stopping here for a moment to talk about why those things matter and do a short comparison.

Remember when I talked about your blog as a newspaper? If you have one handy, grab it. Leave it folded in the middle, please. If you don't have one, use your imagination (or the picture below) to recall what they look like.

Now, you see a description (All the News That's Fit to Print), a title, a date, a price, and a headline, yes? Move on down and see the author's names and the good stuff.

Basically, everything above the fold on a newspaper is to tell you who, why, and what. It's the same with a blog. People need to know what they're getting into at a glance. Period.

But bloggers have extra stuff that should be above the fold:

• Date of most recent post
• Headline of most recent post
• Some way to share the post (or the blog)
• A way to subscribe to updates

I'm a thorough believer in less is more. Load time matters as much as aesthetics. More than fifteen seconds and folks leave. But the four items above are essential. Why?

Date: So people can see at a glance you're active now
Headline: So folks can be attracted to your writing
Sharing: Do I have to explain this one? Mine's buffer, but you can use anything.
Subscription Method: So people don't lose your awesome blog

Folks might look around for a way to subscribe or share if it's not in their faces, but don't bet on it. Make it easy to keep up.

I'm not going into other things you need to have. Everyone chooses differently. I used to have my bio, all kinds of widgets and banners and things, but my blog took forever to load. I cleaned house. Confusion does not encourage repeat visits.

Do you love it here? Why? Why not?

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

Jo

Time for Books 2015 Review Team Signups

Happy Thursday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I have a little surprise for you all. Something I've been thinking about doing for a while, but I'm just getting around to. Get your 2015 TBR list ready to be filled, and come join me for a ton of bookish fun. This will go hand in hand with the 12 Days of Review Requests event coming up in just a couple of weeks. Get all cozy and I'll explain what prompted me to do this.

As you all may know, I curate a book review magazine on Flipboard that I update weekly. If I can search a Twitter hashtag, it makes it easy to find and curate reviews without searching through a bunch of crap that doesn't go.

Plus, I think it'll be nice for the authors in the event to be able to come check out who reviewed their books and read/share some of those reviews.

I have almost 2k readers and over 30k shares of the reviews I put in my magazine so far. Anyone who joins up will be included in my roundup each week. So, that being said, here's what I'm asking you to do:

Go to this page and follow the instructions to sign up. Every time you post a book review on your blog, enter it here and tweet about it with one of the hashtags on that page (#2015ReviewTeam or #Time4Books).

Stick the pretty team badge on your website somewhere. This one:

Yeah, I went with a time theme because of UtopYA Con. *grin* But I like time for books because, let's face it, it's always time for books.

That's it. Just join up, read, and post and tweet your reviews. Let's work together to bring more exposure to all: authors and book bloggers.

If you'd like, you can also join the Goodreads event here. That way, you'll get a reminder the day before the pitch fest begins.

Thanks for being awesome, everyone!

I signed up as HUNGRY and pledge to read between 21-40 books in 2015!

What do you think? Did you sign up?

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

Jo

12 Days of Review Requests Coming Soon!

Happy Tuesday, everyone! As most of you know, I drop the blog posts for twelve days every year in December and devote all my time to accepting review requests from authors. Well, this year, we're doing things a little differently! Grab a cup of coffee and let me tell you what's changed.

First of all, you'll still get your twelve days of pitching, but you'll be marketing to a much larger audience this year.

Why?

Because I've invited some really awesome people to join in the fun. They're readers, they're writers, and they're book reviewers eager to get their hands on your books.

HOLY MOLY!

I know. I said the same thing.

But wait! There's more.

This year, you'll have an opportunity to win a brand new Kindle Fire HD6 16GB in white with no special offers every day of the event, as well as daily prizes donated by those same authors, readers, and bloggers who are coming together to look at your novels. After all, this is an event for readers and writers.

Are you getting excited? I am!

I'll be releasing the names and URLs of the people participating sometime next week. Until then, go familiarize yourself with the rules here. That's where the links to each day's post will go live, too, so you may want to bookmark it.

I'm making it bigger, badder, and more awesome for all you book writers, readers, and bloggers this year. Let's have some fun, read some amazing books, and write some reviews!

Official announcement post will go live on December 7th, the day before the fun starts, so be ready!

What do you think? Wanna join in as a reviewer? Watch for that signup form next week.

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

Jo