My Favorite Ways to Connect with Readers

Happy Monday, y'all! What a weekend! I had a fantastic time at Authors Rock Roanoke in Virginia, and it got me thinking about readers and how I like to connect with them. Sit back, grab your coffee and a cozy blanket, and let's get right into it, shall we?

Let's start with my least favorite way to connect and go from there. I don't prefer to message with anyone. Ever. It takes too much of my time, and I always end up leaving people on read. Folks end up with hurt feelings or assume I'm not interested. My truth is: I'm just too damned busy to have my phone in my face all day. If you have my number and message me, it's a crapshoot to know if I'll answer. Usually, I do, but it takes a while sometimes. So, don't message me. hahaha

Second least favorite is via social media. I do like to connect with people this way, but it's so difficult to keep up with every single channel, and like I said above, I'm really bad at responding. Sometimes I don't get the notification, and sometimes I just space out and forget. Don't let this stop you from hitting me up with a comment, but remember it may take me time to respond. If I ever missed something from you, I'm sorry! I'm booked out for days with my day job.

Last on the leasts list is email, but I do prefer that over either of the other two. I'll respond from there for sure, and we can have long conversations!!

Second favorite is running into people in the wild. Not at an author conference, but when someone recognizes me out and about and stops me to say hello. This rarely happens, because I'm more well known in author circles than reader circles (because of this blog), but I really love it when it does. Makes me feel kinda famous. :)

My favorite way to connect with a reader has to be in person. I really enjoy sitting down with them and shooting the shit. We can reach a deeper level of connection when we talk about our hobbies outside the book world. 

For example: I love to paint and create art, and I adore riding horses (I used to be an instructor). 

One of those things, you probably know from following me here for so long, but the other one, you probably didn't know before today. I've also had a ton of different jobs in my lifetime, so if you ever see me out and about, ask me about them! I'd love to chat. Maybe we've done similar things and have war stories to share.

This is why I most prefer to meet people in person. I can't ask you to buy my book because my brain doesn't work that way, but I can talk about nearly everything else. :)

So, hit me up. I love it!

Question: How do YOU like to connect with readers?

Thanks for reading and being cool. Next week, I'm planning to dive into some other things I think you might find helpful.

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Tools for Marketing - Author Edition

Happy Friday, everyone! If you happen to be in the Roanoke, Virginia, area tomorrow, pop on down to the Holiday Inn Tanglewood and say HI. We'll be there from 9:30am-2pm. If you don't have a ticket, you can get one here. It's a short and sweet book signing you'll have a blast at. Okay, let's get our scoot on.

Today, we're talking about tools on the market that will help you with book promotion and give you ideas if you get stuck in your narrative. It's mostly about the promotional side though. :) Grab your coffee or tea and let's get right into it!

There are a number of social media aggregators on the market that will help you schedule posts on your socials way in advance. All of them are different and give you different socials and options. We'll start with these, and I'll go over FOUR of them. There are others, but many want you to get a demo before you get a price or a trial run, and others not listed are astronomically priced. :)

For the sake of apples to apples, we'll assume each user has 10 channels they'd like to connect and one user.

Buffer

This is the only one of the four listed here that has a free option. 3 social accounts at no charge, 10 scheduled posts, and 1 user. If you're not running a company, this isn't a terrible value. From here, though, the price increases dramatically. For $60 a year, you get ONE channel. Each channel after that costs you an extra $5 per month. At our base of 10 channels, that's $600 a year with only ONE user. This can add up fast.

It does have a visual calendar where you can drag and drop your posts around, making it easy to fix when you screw up and schedule the right thing on the wrong day.

SocialPilot

7 channels are included in the base plan with one user. You have a content library where you can put things you use often like hashtag collections, images, videos, etc. You can add custom fields once you get to the premium level. This base plan will cost you $30 a month or $306 per year. 

There are no analytics on the base plan. If you want 11 channels (the closest to Buffer with 10), it'll cost you $50 monthly or $510 per year. Still better than 10 channels for $600. This 11-channel plan also lets you have up to 3 users.

Again, you have a calendar with days where you can drag and drop.

Loomly

This one is kinda funky on the pricing. There's a basic plan that's free, and you get the same as Buffer (1 user and 3 channels), but you can't see the other plan unless you email them for a quote. I hate doing this. Just be upfront with your pricing, please. Sheesh. It does have some cool features I've been playing with like instant post creation when your blog feed pushes RSS. Then it asks if it can post it. You can also see everything in one place like the others, and you can set posting times ahead.

Updating: I found out. It's $384 for two users and 10 social accounts, but there are a lot of things you don't get like analytics.

Hootsuite

This is one we all know and love but can't afford. They aren't for the casual user. Their basic plan is pro and starts at $99 per month. I know. For that $99, you get 1 user, 10 socials, suggested times for posting, and "so much more." At $1200 a year, I better get a gold sink with that. It used to be free, and then it went to like $5 per month. Pretty sure I have a post about it around the blog somewhere.

Now on to tools that won't cost you an arm and a leg for images or other fodder.

Adobe Express

This sweet nugget is free for the basics, and it includes a LOT of stuff. Here's the link if you'd like to see for yourself. If you're in the market for a lot more included stuff, it's $100 a year for one person. Worth it. No more buying stock photos. YAY!

Chat GPT

Be pissed if you wanna be, but this program can save you a TON of time coming up with social media share texts--yes, even on the FREE version. You tell it what channels you're pushing to, and it'll get all happy with the emoji and verbiage. Then you just copy and paste. I feel like it's not taking a job from someone else in this case; it's helping save YOU time. Be specific, and tell it if there's a specific hashtag you want it to use. You'll be cranking out content in no time.

It can also help you get unstuck if you're stuck by giving you ideas about what's coming next in your book. This isn't using AI to write; it's more like chatting with a friend and brainstorming ideas. Try it out! It gave me a wonderful idea for a twist in my newest serial killer novel (coming soon), and I'm sure it'll have you thinking outside the box in no time.

So, there they are! These tools will save you time, and for an author, time is everything. Get back every second you can.

I hope you enjoyed this post! If there are any tools you'd like me to mention in posts like these, let me know in the comments below. Yes, you'll need a Google account, but that helps me control SPAM and trolls. :)

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

5 Tools I Couldn't Publish Without

HUMP DAY! Just two days until the weekend. Wooooo! Welcome back to the blog, y'all! Today, we'll be talking about tools. You know, those things that help you along the way? These will be specifically for Indie authors, though any author could use them, I suppose. Trad pubbers don't really need the help though. Anywaaaaay, enough rambling!

Grab your coffee and a cozy blanket, and let's get right into it.

Number one on my list is Microsoft Word. There. I said it. I use this program to write all my stuff. Not only is it an awesome word editor, but when my computer crashed, it kept my most recent file. #MadLove for Word. I tried other writing tools (looking at you, Scrivener), and when the program died, so did 14k words. Never again. Ever. Ugh.

Second is Adobe Photoshop. Because I went to school to learn design and how to use this beautiful program, I can use it to make covers like these:

Third on my lovely list is Adobe InDesign. Again, because I went to school, I know how to make interiors that look like these (print books only):

HINT: Click on them to see them larger.

Fourth is Jutoh. This is what I use to create my ebooks and output them in a myriad of file formats. It does PDF, Word document, and used to do .mobi before it became obsolete. I can make pretty books like this:

Fifth on the list, and because there are now SO many options, is Amazon Author Central. I also publish to Smashwords (now Draft2Digital). Author Central just gives me the ability to do everything from publishing my paperbacks to ordering them.

So, there are the five tools I couldn't publish without. Marketing is another conversation we'll get into on Friday. I have time savers I plan to share with you all. :)

What tools could you not live without?

Thank you so much for showing up and reading. I hope you got something out of this post. If not, I hope it was a lovely read either way. No, I don't create covers for other people, but I edit and typeset for IBGW because those are the things I'm willing to do. My covers are my own. :)

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

What I Wish Readers Knew About Self-Published Authors

Happy Monday, and welcome back to the blog, y’all! I’m getting a little deep with the readers today, and we’ll be talking about all the things I wish y’all knew about us self-published authors. Up until very recently, and in some cases still, we were considered the red-headed stepchildren of the publishing industry. We produce crap, right? We have terrible editing and shite covers, right? Well, allow me to clear a few things up. :)

If you’re ready to hear the ramblings of a crazy person, hunker down with a doughnut and a cup of coffee, and let’s get into the nitty gritty.

Those books you see with homemade covers and bad editing are usually an example of an author that doesn’t know what they’re doing. That’s all it is. As they grow and learn to be a person in the industry, they start to understand what it takes to make a great book people want to read and will tell their friends about.

If you think the first things out of Stephen King’s fingers was the brilliance it is today, you’re mistaken. He even talks about it in his book On Writing. He says the first things you write will always be absolute shit, and you should put it in a drawer and forget about it until you’re an established author. Then pull it out and laugh about it. First drafts should lay in a drawer until you forget what you wrote so you can come back to it with fresh eyes for edits.

New writers don’t start on a level that’s Christine worthy. They start somewhere around the I-want-to-write-and-have-drive-but-don’t-understand-what-to-do-next level. Then they write, and they rush to publish (because it’s so easy now and they’re excited).

Does that mean they shouldn’t be given some grace? No. It means they need to learn how to do and be better than they were day one. I mean, I started here, and I now have over fifty books published. That first stuff wasn’t the worst, but it also wasn’t the first thing I ever wrote. Those stories will never see the light of day, and I’ll certainly never publish them. Beg all you want. You’ll never see them. Nope.

Even my first book, Yassa, wasn’t great, as I said. I was one of those beginners. I grew.

Let me tell you a little something else you may not know:

Indie authors pay from their own pockets for editing and cover design. Unlike a traditional publisher, which handles every aspect of the publishing of a book (think: audio, editing, cover, different languages, etc.), an Indie has to do all that themselves.

There’s no team of people there. It’s usually just one person footing the bill for all of the above.

Now I invite you to listen to this podcast where I talk about what we make when we sell a book. I get very deeply into the numbers. Tell me, if we make just around $0.35 for each book we sell, how long it takes us to recoup a $3,000 edit? I’ll wait.

That’s right, $8,571.5 books sold. Most readers don't want to pay more than $0.99-$1.99 for a book, so here we are.

Add in marketing tools (because no one can do all this stuff alone) and the cover, and you’re looking at an Indie needing to sell TEN THOUSAND books to BREAK EVEN.

Most just think it’s not worth it and quit. Those of us who’ve been around a while know that we need to learn to do a lot of this stuff ourselves OR get a less expensive edit, which is where a lot of those nagging errors come in.

Even if you don’t think a book is worth five stars, maybe a nicely worded note to the author along the lines of “Hey, I noticed a number of grammatical errors, but I really love your writing style, and once you get your feet under you, I’d love to read some more! Keep me on your list for new releases, please” might just go a long way. Just don’t smack it with a one-star review.

Because they’ll improve. We all do. You want to be there to see that happen, right?

If you’re an author, be sure you listen to that podcast. It’s telling.

If you’re a reader, try to keep some of this in the back of your mind as you navigate the book world. Please.

I hope you all enjoyed this post! Which author have you seen come a long way? Colleen Hoover isn’t an answer. Hahaha That woman has always been the diamond she is now. No one truly discovered her until recently though. I'm talking about an author that started in the doldrums and is now doing very well. Do you know of a breakout author (one who hit with their first book)?

Well, that’s all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Biggest Mistakes I've Made as an Indie Author

Happy Friday, y'all! Today, I'm going to tell you about some of my biggest pitfalls as an Indie author. These are things I wish I'd never done, things I did that I regret doing, and things I hope you learn something from. If you do end up doing these things, make sure you understand that it may not work out when you sign up for whatever it may be or hire whomever. I'd say 100% of the time, these things got me absolutely nowhere and cost me time, readers, and money.

Ready? Oh, I know you are. Grab that coffee and a notepad; you're gonna want to write these down.

My smallest mistake was believing I could handle all the marketing of all my stuff alone. I couldn't, but I also simply needed the right tools to help me along and a good schedule for sharing my stuff. I had one but didn't have the other, and my work suffered because of it.

Just above that on the rung was believing friends and family would help me with those things. Yeah, that didn't happen either. Would you believe I got a call from a sister who asked me how to buy my friend's book on Amazon when I knew damned good and well my sister hadn't read half of what I've written? Yeah. That's now my expectation. Bitter? Me? Not at all. It's just reality, and that's okay. Did it make me curl my lip? Yes, but I won't hold it against her.

Above that, we have losing my newsletter. Y'all, I'll be honest, I just didn't have the energy to keep up with any of this stuff after I lost my mama and Covid lock down happened. Because I couldn't write, I baked, and I sent that stuff via my newsletter, but then I lost my son. I kind of withdrew from everything and turned to art (you can see my sad gallery here). It's been a rough couple years, but losing that newsletter hit hard. That was over 500 subscribers strong.

One step higher, and we see letting that damned troll get to me and shutting off the blog. Sure, I still popped in to share books that were new, but it wasn't the same, and I know that. I'm not sorry because I am actually human, and those comments did actually hurt. Now you might understand yet another reason I make people log in to comment now. In addition to the spam. Spam was BAD. Anyway, I'm losing my train of thought. Back on the tracks, you!

Up another rung and we have joining boxed-freaking sets. They cost money most of the time, and I have yet to have had a good experience with one. I stopped doing them. With the first, there were sixteen authors, and each one was supposed to share and promote the others. I was quite a way down the ladder, but I did my part. Other people didn't. By the time it got to me, people had already pulled their books down. It was a mess. For the second, it was personal because it was supposed to be a boxed set for MS research. Our organizer ran off with the money. I EVEN MADE A SEPARATE DONATION. Boy, if I ever run into her...

Go a bit higher and you find shutting off from socials for as long as I did. It's not easy coming back from that, and I missed a lot of the booms the book world saw during that time. BookTok was a huge one. It's nearly impossible to get your audience back. I mean, I get it. Trust is gone. I was just going through some shit.

Not writing my novels is the next on the list. Though I have been doing things here and there (like the second Recipe for Redemption book), I'm not anywhere near as productive as I used to be. I have a list of ideas and nothing to show for it. Several books are nearly done, but I can't seem to find the time to finish them. I took on a job for a while working for a company as their marketing manager, and while their business grew, mine shrank like male anatomy in an ice bath. Go figure.

Now, my biggest mistake as an Indie author was not putting my money in the right places. I went through a couple stints with a couple of PAs that got me nowhere (that was costly), and I didn't put money where it might have helped me. I wasted a lot on swag and crap I gave away when really I should've used it to sign up for tools I needed to help my marketing and anything else that would've bought me time. Time for a writer is everything.

It takes a lot of time to do what we do. It takes a lot of luck to be successful at what we do. I feel like I have a whole other life to live, and I just keep aging like some tree. I've been a mom since I was very young, and my kids are now out of the house. Do I have time to do what I want to do? No. I don't. I'm gonna fight like hell to get it back though, and this time, I have a world of experience in my pocket.

Maybe my biggest mistake was not inventing a time machine. Doya think?

There you go. These were my biggest mistakes as an Indie author. Have you made any of these? Did you get anything out of this post? Drop me a comment and let me know.

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Why Rats Make Awesome Pets and Why You Shouldn't Get One

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the blog. :) If it's your first time visiting me, super welcome, and I hope you stick around. It's easy to subscribe; look to the right. So! Why are we all here today? Rats. We're gonna talk about those little fluffballs that steal our hearts then leave us, and I'll tell you why you shouldn't get one.

Ready? Grab a cup of coffee and get cozy, because we're diving right on in.

Rats, specifically fancy rats (not wild like their cousins), as pets were first bred for color variety by two men named Jack Black and Jimmy Shaw in the Victorian Era. Up until then, rats were wild and dangerous, and many people viewed them as pests. They were also used in betting arenas, but I don't like to think about the fates that befell those cuties. Very sad.

How can you tell the difference between a wildie and a dom? Basically, you look at color and ears. While some domesticated rats still have top ears, a large majority of them have what are known as dumbo ears (ears lower on the head, like Agnus--the rat in the picture here). Wild rats are usually brown, and dom rats are generally any other color (but can still be brown).

Rats are intelligent, have been known to show empathy, grieve, can be litter trained, and are more than willing to be trained for the right treat (or any treat, really). A lot of people call them pocket puppies because they behave a lot like dogs. All these traits come together to make rats one of the best ever pets.

At one time, I had five, and I'm peppering their photos in as we go here. Mine were all females because I love the mischief they get into and how much energy they have. I got Agnus because I'd had a rat when I was younger, and she was my bestie. Her name was Baby, and we ran all over town together. She adored sitting on my shoulder and just hanging out. I didn't know at the time you need more than one for that rat to have a full life, and I didn't know rats couldn't be kept in tanks because there's not enough ventilation. Boy, did I make some errors in the beginning I had to undo quickly. haha. ha. Ugh.

For starters, you need at least three rats for a proper hierarchy to form (this is one reason you shouldn't get one--you should get MANY). I had Agnus for two weeks before I traipsed out and picked up Gemini (shown on the right here--LOOK at her EARRRRS). Man, did we ever bond. They were trained to come to me when I called them and jump in a bag-type carrier when they were ready to go back to their cage and have breakfast freshies (fruit and veg, and the occasional meaty treat).

Gemini started chasing my bestie Aggie around and biting Agnus's tail. Solution? Get another rat.

Here's the rub: You can't introduce just one rat when the other two are six months older like that. You have to get at least two more rats so they have same age, same sex company. You do not want to mix males and females. Baby rats are cute, but these critters multiply at an alarming rate. So, I got three girls (Shelia on the left here, Ethel on the right down below, and Betty on the left a little lower) in case one passed away for some reason.

They all lived. They were quarantined in a separate cage for two weeks then introduced to my other two girls via what's known as the carrier method. So, I had FIVE rats. I decided to give them the best lives I could, got them the biggest, best enclosure I could, and built them a nice playpen around it so I could just open the door and give them time in the out.

Rats need at least an hour of active time outside their cage daily so they can run and stretch their legs to ward off Hind Leg Degeneration or HLD. We had a lovely routine, and I never had an issue getting them back in the cage after they'd been out. Food is a wonderful motivator. hahaha

While I did have five rats, Aggie was my heart rat and the one I was most closely bonded with. If you haven't figured it out yet, she was the only one I really wanted. All the others were literally for her.

Another reason you shouldn't get a rat is because they'll die and break your heart. Aggie lived almost two years, which is the standard, but Gemma died first. After that, they dropped like flies. It's so hard to have them, love them, and lose them so quickly. Both of those girls died in my arms, and the others... Well, they went on their own.

One thing to remember about rats is that they only live about two years, so they're in your life for a flash, but you're in theirs forever. Whatever you can do for yours (if you get some) while they're on this earth is something they'll have their whole lives. My girls loved puzzle toys with treats in them, and they adored their rat tree (huge cat tree, but we don't talk about those here).

You also may not want to get a rat if you have other pets. Rats should never be around other pets, and cats should never be in the room with rats. It only takes seconds for an accident to occur, and I've seen some pretty messed up cats because the rat got scared and attacked. Same goes for dogs. Rats have enormous teeth that can cut through tendon and muscle like butter.

They need enrichment daily through either pea fishing (that's what Betty is doing up there) or some other kind of puzzle to make them work to get their food. They don't want pellets fed to them in a bowl; wild rats have to hunt and forage, and their counterparts need that stimulation. Besides, would you want bland cardboard fed to you in a bowl? No. Yuck.

A lot of people complain about the smell of rats (but they REEK, Jo!), but I found if you clean the litter box twice a week, the cage every two weeks, and have an air purifier nearby, you'll never smell them. Not ever. 

They can also be goofy and funny. They each have their own little personality, and it's fun getting to know them. If you want a rat as a pet, please seek out an actual breeder who breeds for temperament and health rather than coat color or ear type. You'll thank me later.

So, the reasons to have rats as pets far outweigh the downsides. They're a lot of work, which makes them totally unsuitable for small children to manage alone, and they're expensive if they have to go to the doctor (Agnus, I'm looking at you), but they give so much love and affection in return. Plus, they fit in your pocket, which is pretty cool.

Here are some fun pictures of Aggie and Gemma to brighten your day. What's better than rats in hats?

I hope you all enjoyed this post and learned a thing or three, and I hope to see you again!

Have you ever owned a rat? What did you love most about them? Interested in getting some and have questions? Ask me. I'm an open book.

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

How My Writing Has Evolved Over Time

Welcome back, good people of the blogosphere, and happy Monday. We're going to have a beautiful week, so prepare yourselves! Today, we'll be taking a look at some of my earliest writing (both here on the blog and in my first novel, which coincide, weirdly) and see just how cringe we can make the experience (for me, obviously). This should be a riot. I haven't visited my early blog posts for a long time. haha

If you're ready to get going and laugh alongside me, grab some coffee and settle in. Here we go!

My first-ever blog post can be found here. This was back when I didn't understand what the hell a blog was or how to run one. I literally thought I could write a gabillion posts on one book. Boy, how naive was I?

Bold as I am, my dumbass posted a snippet from my book, and when I read it now, I want to slap myself silly. Let's just grab the first paragraph and have a looksee.

*********

He screamed, louder this time, as Temujin cut off another one of his fingers. I involuntarily flexed my own in response to the act. I had never seen a man fight like my friend had last night. It was like something other than his own mind was working his muscles, causing him to strike and slash like a harbinger of death. It made me appreciate that I had made a friend of him and not an enemy. When he began to peel back the man’s skin from his body, I almost vomited. I took a few steps away and turned my head.

*********

While this isn't terrible, it's not great, either. How would I write this today? Let's just see...

*********

He screamed again, louder than the first time, as Temujin removed another one of the man's fingers with the swift strike of a blade. 

I involuntarily clenched my fists. I'd never seen a man fight like Temujin had last night. It was as though he was possessed, a demon from Hell working his muscles, causing him to strike and slash like a harbinger of death. It made me glad I'd made a friend of him and not an enemy. When he began to peel the man’s skin back from his body, I took a few steps away and turned my head, nausea roiling. 

*********

This is how I'd revise. New character, new paragraph, and staying in one tense (first-person past). While Jamuka is the person from whom we're getting the story in the prologue, it's still about the other man. Not a bad opening line for a book though.

Now, let's go back and take a peek at my first advice blog. You can find it here. It's not exactly advice, but it is book-world news about closing bookstores.

All I can think of as I read my rambling diatribe is the sad loss of contractions. You'd think, someone who writes like I do now would've been into contractions from the start. Nope. I suppose I loved writing everything out formally. *vomit* It also sounds so transactional. Like, who the frack did I think I was? Zero humility. Though I still have very lofty opinions of myself, they're much more focused than they were back then. hahaha

Okay, those two were from 2012 (I've been around a while), so let's jump forward to 2014. Check this one out. We're talking about fun writing exercises, and I seem to have adopted my style for a greeting by then. I also have become far more comfortable with my readers, and even went above and beyond by making printable things for y'all.

Gonna jump forward to 2016 and see how we fare now. Surprisingly, I found a post where I talked about my MS diagnoses. Didn't think I'd done that before. Don't I look stupid? LOL! You can see it here, and you'll notice I was putting a lot of images in my posts back then. Scroll down to the comments section, and if those don't make you tear up... Yeah, you don't have a heart. 

I also noticed a BUNCH of my 2016 posts were cover reveals and new releases. How freaking dull am I? Jeesh.

Okay, now we'll go to 2018 and see where I was...

44 posts that year compared to 71 the year before and hundreds the years before that. You could literally see me slowing down. *cries in my coffee* I even remember the troll who caused me to halt the blog. Boy, was that frustrating. I got nasty comments telling me how I wasn't doing enough... I wrote a whole post about it. Well, to hell with them. I was doing what I could at the time. Ugh. Don't sign up for that newsletter!! It's dead and gone. Also to be resurrected sometime in the future!

I did come across this beauty of a post while I was digging. It's still how I write today and how I'm able to crank out thousands of words in just a few hours. Go enjoy it because I seem to have honed my blog voice by then.

I've gotten awfully wordy today! I hope you had a good laugh and were riveted to the page long enough to get down here. I'm excited about what Wednesday will bring, and I hope to see you all back here for that. This was fun and cathartic. :)

That's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON! <----this has stayed with this blog since day one. *happy tear*

Jo