Showing posts with label book promotion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book promotion. Show all posts

Monday, March 19, 2018

Storytime Book Reviews & Promotions Announces New Author Coaching Service

Happy Monday, good people of the blogosphere! Whew! I feel like I just survived the apocalypse. Complications of the flu. *shrugs* Anyway, I have some awesome news to share with you all today. While scrolling my Facebook feed, I saw that one of the promoters I know has a new author coaching service, thought you all might like to know about it, and offered to share for her. She has an awesome early-bird offer. Grab your coffee, or tea, and let's get going!


Storytime Book Reviews & Promotions announces new author coaching service.
This new service is $150.00 and comes with the following:
  • group sprinting
  • group discussion
  • one on one time for thirty minutes each week (many times this will be more than thirty minutes because I like to talk)
  • assistance with word tracking
  • help with plot development and character development
  • reading chapters and or full manuscripts
  • help with outlines/plotting/planning your book or series
  • discussions on time management
  • discussions on self care and health
  • promotion of a backlist title once a month in the Storytime newsletter/FB and Twitter
Storytime is run by Jennifer Malone Wright. Jennifer has been a published author since 2010 and has run Storytime since 2014.

You can find Storytime via the links below!

Website - https://storytimebookreviews.wordpress.com/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/storytimebookreviews/
Facebook readers group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1161764723843298/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Storytime4Ever
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/storytimebookreviews
Email contact - storytimebookreviews [at] gmail.com

That price is only if you get in the door now, so if you're interested, I'd jump ON it if I were you.

What do you think?

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

Jo

Friday, February 26, 2016

Readers Meet Authors - Authors get Free Exposure

Happy Friday, everyone! Whew! I'm worn out from all those book reviews. Seriously. I have another one coming next week for Asleep though. It will be done a little differently, because I'm going to let my daughter take part. First of many (I hope). Anyway, today, I'm telling you about a new e-mail list you should subscribe to as a reader, and the person you can contact for free addition to this list if you're an author.

Yep, that's right, I said free.

Ready? Get your clicking fingers warm, and let's get going!


Here's the site: https://sites.google.com/site/ourauthorscorner/

On the left hand side, a little way down the page, is the signup link. Just do it.

For authors, you'll want to contact this lovely lady on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010945659964

Please mention when you DM that you're interested in the author feature newsletter.

Are you in, or are you out? *grin*

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

Jo

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Call Off the Search


Call Off The Search

(A Novel of Spiritual Fantasy, Bi-sexual Romance) (The Comyenti Series Book 1)




Synopsis: The planet Bhan. For millennia, humanity has persecuted the beautiful and mysterious human-looking comyentis with a deep set envy and hatred; driving them from their lands; murdering and enslaving them wherever they find them. Why? Comyentis have powers that humans can only dream of. They can merge their minds with animals and use their abilities for the greater good. However they had one weakness that led to their downfall. 

Now, Sula, one of the last of her great and noble line, has been fleeing for her life, living in hiding for too long. With not just her own life but her whole species’ cupped precariously within her hands Sula is running out of time... 
As loneliness and alienation slowly engulfs her, a young attractive human steps forth and reaches out to her... 

Should Sula, who is after all half human, trust him? Can she afford not to? Will she be able to overcome her aversion to humans to save her species from extinction? 

Read "Call Off The Search", book 1 and cling to Sula as she fights for everything she holds dear: her husband, her female lover, her child, her hopes and her freedom. 



Meet Natasja




Mrs Hellenthal is residing in the UK, with her partner, two small children, two small dogs and a cat who all follow her around the house at the same time.
She is an eco-warrior, animal lover, vegan and her hobbies include outdoor activities such as hiking, wild camping, swimming and snowboarding. She grows her own vegetables and loves to get her hands dirty in the garden. If there is any time left she loves to write speculative fiction that entertains people but at the same time makes them think. Her work has been described as 'thought-provoking'.
'The Queen's Curse' was her debut novel and has received some great reviews.
It's a heroic Spiritual Fantasy novel in the old tradition, yet with original and surprising elements. It attracts attention from a wide range of people, both straight and gay as it deals with many issue's such as: justice/injustice, power, lesbian romance, freedom,adventure, magic, immortality, intrigue, soul searching, love, life, loss, near death experience and sword and sorcery.
In this book the author explores more than the ancient battle between good and evil so common in Fantasy literature. What is evil and how does someone become bad? Available for Kindle and in Paperback.
In her writing she deals with big psychological and ethical themes and struggles of life such as death, love and loss and tries to build strong characters as realistic as possible, for even though the genre is Fantasy she wants people to feel connected with her heroes and villains as they would with their real life people.
Mrs Hellenthal is influenced by writers such as Marion Zimmer Bradley and Tanith Lee, Kahlil Gibran and Hermann Hesse.
She is currently working on Book 2 in the Epic Fantasy series, The Comyenti Saga,'Children Of The Sun' which will be released Summer 2014!
Book 1 in the series, 'Call Off The Search' was published on the 26th of December 2013 and is available both for Kindle and in Paperback.
'Chained Freedom', a stand alone fairy-tale for adults but part of the Comyenti Series, was released in February 2014.
Please like and share her facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Natasja-Hellenthal
Feel free to leave an honest review and rating if you enjoy her books.
For the latest news and updates follow her blog on http://natasjahellenthal.wordpress.com or Twitter on @natasjahellenth

I hope you all get a chance to check out the book!

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

Jo

Thursday, January 23, 2014

A Look at Blog Tour Companies

Happy Thursday, good people of the blogosphere! Not a lot of lead-in today, because this post will be a long one. Warning you now so you don't get your knickers in a twist over it. Of course, I imagine a good number of people will be rankled by what I have to say below. Hopefully, my words will make you stop, think, and spend your money wisely or reconsider the way your tour company works to truly provide the promotion your authors need. Grab your pens and notebooks and let's get going!

First of all, let me say I won't be quoting prices from any particular blog tour company. We'll use my fictional one called A-1 Super Great Fantastical Wonderbar Blog Tours (A1S). I did a search and they don't exist as of the date this post is going live.


Now, A1S offers a tour that's all inclusive for $300. This money gets you:
  • 1 Month of Promotion
  • 30 Tour Stops
  • 10 Reviews
  • 1 Facebook Party
Your other 20 stops will be guest posts or author interviews. Great! Sounds good to have 30 blogs feature your book over the course of a month, right?

Let's look at the numbers.

A1S has 15k followers on Twitter. 250 people subscribe to their blog. 12k people like them on Facebook. Seems like a pretty good deal, huh?

But... Come on, you knew that was coming.

How many of those followers are readers of your genre? Better yet, how many of those followers are readers at all? Even more intriguing, how many of those followers are readers hungry for exactly what you're offering?

My guess is, most of them are authors who have previously used the service OR are tour hosts with the company and not your target market: readers of books. My second guess is, you'll either get 1 or no posts on their blog. Most often, Tweets are marked #BookTour. I don't know about you, but I glaze over those when scanning my feed.

Before I jump ahead, I'm gonna break down what you've paid for above and show you why there's a flaw in the system.
  • 1 Month of Promotion - This includes all the items listed above on various blogs. I've learned (from speaking with other authors) that you oftentimes appear on the same blog more than once. And you get, what, one tweet a day? Oh, my bad, you get two.
  • 30 Tour Stops - 10 of these stops will be reviews so no work there. But now you have to come up with either a guest post, an interview, or an excerpt from your book for the other 20 days. All of these are things you have to provide. So what? Well, if it takes a day away from your writing and there's no return (I'll get to that in a moment) you just wasted a whole day. Besides that, there's no guarantee these blogs target your genre of book or that the blogs have been alive more than a year (do you know the statistics for blog life?).
  • 10 Reviews - Reviews are an Indie author's life blood. I get it. But if that review doesn't get posted to Amazon, what good is it doing you? A review that sits on a blog, stagnating, rotting in the archives, doesn't do anyone any favors. Oh, and those reviews can be any star rating. While I admire honesty, the tour companies don't guarantee they'll match your book with bloggers who prefer your genre. This could be an EPIC fail.
  • 1 Facebook Party - Really? What are they gonna give away? Free copies of the book you sent? Swag (you have to mail)? Paperbacks (again, that falls to you)? And people show up because they're hungry to win something and go away, never giving two sh*ts about you or your book. It's likely the partygoers are the blog tour hosts.
What's the flaw? These posts aren't targeted. You could have a book about witchcraft that ends up on a Christian blog. Do you really think their readers are going to rush out and buy your book? Is it conceivable to think the blog owner would write a glowing review? No. No. NO!

Another problem with touring blogs is: You can't guarantee your book will land on a blog with a good following of readers. If the blog hosting your book only has 13 followers... Well, you can see where I'm going with that. And is it crazy to suggest maybe those "followers" are previous authors who appeared on that blog? I think not.

Don't even get me started about those tour hosts who don't post when they're supposed to. Dear me...

But, Jo, it's about the exposure!

Really?

Let me clear that up for you with some numbers. We all love numbers because they don't lie.
  • 30 stops where each blog has maybe 100 people that actually read their content (and that's really a generous number). Okay, that's 3,000 right there. You're right. It is. 3,000 random, non-targeted people who may or may not be readers. Most likely, you'll be lucky to reach 10 readers of your specific genre who actually read the content on one of the 30 blogs your book appears on. Oh yeah, I forgot you're on some of those same blogs more than once. Nevermind. See my point?
  • 10 reviews that could all be one or two stars and slam your book into the nether. This is gonna hurt you more than it helps. In this case, you PRAY those reviews don't hit Amazon. Yikes. If the tour host does post the review on Amazon, you've provided a copy of the book. There's no "Amazon Verified Purchase" on the review, and the reviewer has to state that you gave them the book. *shifty* So your 4.42 star average on 35 reviews (20/5*, 10/4*, 5/3*) could plummet to 3.8 stars with just a couple of bad reviews and you have no control over it. As a matter of fact, if your tour company isn't targeting people who enjoy your genre, the likelihood of that happening increases ten-fold.
  • 1 Facebook party that gets you 10 additional likes on your author page by the hosts of the tour company and a lot of stuff to mail out afterward (does the money ever stop leaving your pocket?). Totally worth it. Not. Even if you get 1k new likes, with the way Facebook has changed things up, you'll be lucky to reach 5 of those people.
After day one, your exposure post sits on that blog, buried day after day by new content created. Unless someone searches specifically for your book, they probably won't stumble upon it.

And don't tell me you aren't out there through the whole tour, marketing your rear end off to drive traffic to those blogs. Oh man, are we crazy or what?

After all that, I'm now going to hit you with something you may not want to think about. But I need you to think about it. How many sales did that tour get you? How did you go about tracking those sales? A good rule of thumb here is to use a specific, shortened link with a marker attached. Use bit.ly for this if you have to so you see with your own eyes I'm not blowing smoke up your bum. Chances are, you'll get maybe 20 clicks.

Oh, wait! Most tour companies won't let you send in your own links. Why? Because they add their affiliate code to them and they probably don't want you tracking those clicks anyway. If you still feel you must tour, avoid companies that won't let you use your own links. They're in it for THEM, not for you.

I have a couple of friends who recently paid for blog tours and I'm going to share a little of their experience with you.
Friend A has a very popular YA book with great reviews on Amazon. This friend did a month long tour much like the one above (sans FB party). While the book was on tour, it was on sale for $0.99 (regularly $2.99). A number of great reviews were written, with maybe half of them making it to Amazon. A couple of the tour hosts never posted about the book (most tour companies say they aren't responsible for this if it happens... Like HELL they aren't).

Guess how many sales this author got over the course of the tour?

NONE. That's right, not a single one. And that book hit Amazon's top 100 overall during its free period. It has a very high rating and not a single one or two star review on over 20 reviews. Plus, it's in a popular genre. Go figure.

Friend B has another popular YA book that's been hailed as unique, fascinating, and well written. This one also did a blog tour recently. At least 10 or so reviews went up on blogs during the tour. Very very few made it to Amazon.

Want to take a guess at how many sales there were? This book is also well reviewed with a very high average.

Now that I've completely disheartened you, it's time to tell you where your money might be better spent.

I have no personal experience to back this up with, but I know many people who've used it and they swear by it. Plus, the company isn't afraid to show you their statistics. Best of all? They target people interested in your genre. There's also no additional work needed from you beyond producing a great book! Holy crap!

Book Bub.

I'll say it again:

BOOK BUB.

Take a look at the prices here. Now scroll down to the Teen and Young Adult genre (which both of the books above are in). Look at the average sold numbers.

Why does it work? Because they're in the business of connecting readers to the books they want. Their target market isn't authors.

Now that you know, what the heck are you waiting for? Again, numbers speak for themselves.

Blog tour companies would be wise to follow that business model. Build a list of blogs that target specific readers, have been around a long time, and who are trustworthy. Guarantee you'll put the author's book into the hands of people who enjoy their genre, and, for the love of all that's good, have some sales numbers to back up your business.

Rethink what you're doing.

I'm not compensated by anyone for my thoughts and opinions on my blog. I'm just tired of seeing Indie authors waste their money. We don't have a lot to spare to begin with. Will I be gracing Book Bub with my business very soon? You bet your butt I will.

Guess what else? You have a pretty good author clique going, right? Why not organize your own tour if you want/need exposure? It'll take about the same amount of time and it's free.

I know that was long. I'm sorry. But I hope you were paying attention. I do speak my mind.

What have your experiences been? Did this post help? Leave me a comment and let's talk about it.

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

Jo

Friday, October 4, 2013

Fall Into UtopYA Party 2

Happy happy Friday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I bring you a couple of posts from the Fall Into UtopYA party! If you don't know what UtopYA Con is, click the name to find out. Tickets are on sale now. So, sit back, relax, and read on! There are a ton of wonderful books for you to check out and a lot of Rafflecopter giveaways!

UtopYAfall


Something Great by M. Clarke


something great cover
* This is a New Adult romance novel recommended for ages 18+ due to sexual content and mature subject matter.
Synopsis:
She didn’t know what she was missing…until he found her.

Maxwell Knight was positively trouble, dangerously good-looking, and seductively charming. He was everything Jeanella didn’t need in her life. Only Maxwell didn’t see it that way. His pursuit was relentless, making her even more determined to push him away.

Fresh out of college, life was simple and plain for Jeanella Mefferd. Every part of her life was smooth sailing; her friends, her job, and even the guy she’d started dating. Then one night, while at dinner, she spotted someone who made her feel things she’d never felt before—dangerous, heart pounding and breathless heat. Thinking she would never see him again, she brushed it off, but when she started to run into him unexpectedly, all she could think of was how he made her feel with his sweet flirtations. Everything about Maxwell Knight screamed trouble, especially when she found out he was her new boss’s son. Now, heading to a New York fashion show, would she be able to focus on her career instead of Maxwell, who had been scheduled to attend with her? As much as she tried to forget their encounters, his good looks, smooth words and determination to win her over gravitated her toward him. The next thing she knew, her mind was utterly consumed by him. Would she be willing to ignore all the dangerous signs and jump into his arms? Or would she miss out on the chance of finding something great? 

Add Something Great to your Goodreads shelf.
Purchase Something Great for 99cents on Amazon.com.
M. Clarke
About the Author:
M. Clarke also known as Mary Ting resides in Southern California with her husband and two children. She enjoys oil painting and making jewelry. Writing her first novel, Crossroads Saga, happened by chance. It was a way to grieve the death of her beloved grandmother, and inspired by a dream she once had as a young girl. When she started reading new adult novels, she fell in love with the genre. It was the reason she had to write one-Something Great. Why the pen name, M Clarke? She tours with Magic Johnson Foundation to promote literacy and her children's chapter book-No Bullies Allowed.

Author Contact Links:




Burning in Water by Arielle Caldwell


1005322_484574031625271_656415096_n (1)


Marya with Strong Image Editing, has done an amazing job with the cover! She had done each one for The Nerita Torlan Trilogy by Arielle. Burning in Water is book one in the series.

The Nerita Torlan Trilogy, Book One

Synopsis:
Nerita is the twenty-two year old daughter of a water goddess who was given to Cari, a fairy, to be raised by on land. Her memories are bound and shifted after Cari disappears.

Gavan, her trainer, helps to strengthen her powers and helps her to realize her true potential. When she is old enough, he takes her to Camberton to meet the queen of the fairy folk, Rueh. While there, she learns the truth to her past and the future she is meant to have.

The more time she spends around Gavan, the harder it becomes to deny her feelings for him. He is holding on to a secret that shocks and hurts Nerita. Can she forgive him for what he could never tell her?

She is confronted by Ahlic, the shifter who has taken everything from her. Now that her powers are getting stronger, she sets out to find him and bring down his kingdom. Along the way, she discovers more about herself than she could ever imagine; forever changing her life.

Can the daughter of a goddess be strong enough? Or will she falter; costing the lives of those around her? Follow Nerita on her journeys of love, sorrow, and vengeance.

arielle
About Arielle:
Arielle Caldwell began writing in grade school but never pursued a career in it until early 2012. She started writing poetry in middle school and progressed to books a few years later. She is a proud Cajun from Louisiana but was raised in Pensacola, Florida. Shortly after graduating high school, she joined the US Navy where she met her husband and became the mother of two wonderfully crazy little boys. After separating from the military, she decided to go to college in Texas. A year later, she moved back to Pensacola when offered a job at the naval base as a civilian contractor. She is currently juggling college, work, family, writing, managing her website, Arc Indie Reviews, and being a columnist for APSS, the new Small Publishers of America newsletter. She loves going to the river with her family and friends or to the water park for a few hours. Her Kindle is overflowing with books, she loves rock music the most, and she loves to sing and dance with her children around the house. Her first series, The Nerita Torlan Trilogy, has two books currently released. “Burning in Water” is her debut book, also being book one in the series with “Drowning in Fire” book two, released as well. Book three is “The Awakening” and in the works. “After-Ending” is her dystopian novel that has a planned release of beginning to mid 2014. She resides in Pensacola with her husband, two kids, and their Great Dane, Scooby.


Contact Arielle:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fire in the Darkness (Darkness Series #2)


FID_1800x2664
Synopsis:
It's been four weeks since Ember Brycin witnessed what her powers are capable of. The Electrical Current Storm has turned Seattle, Washington into a natural disaster zone. The death toll is in the thousands with countless others homeless and hungry.

And Ember is the one who caused it. Something she will have to live with every day.

Those people who were unable to escape either turned quickly into gangs or live in shelters. Ember, on the other hand, can’t do either. With a price on her head and a Dark Dweller on her ass, she is constantly on the move. Both Light and Dark are hunting her for their own purpose to use her as a weapon or a pawn in the war between the Unseelie King of the Dark and the Seelie Queen of the Light.

Em needs help but doesn’t know who to trust: Lars, the mystery man Torin told her to find? Torin, the Seelie Queen’s personal knight, who has sworn to keep Em safe? Or Eli, who wants to turn her over to the Unseelie King, but whom she has an undeniable, intense connection with?

No matter what she chooses she will probably lose—her life or everything and everyone she loves

Add Fire in the Darkness to your Goodreads shelf.
Fire in the Darkness can be purchased at Amazon.com
 
About the Author:
stacey marie brownStacey Marie Brown works by day as an Interior/Set Designer and by night a writer of paranormal fantasy, adventure, and literary fiction. When she’s not writing, she’s out hiking, spending time with friends, traveling, listening to music, or designing.


Author Contact Links:


I hope you all get a chance to check out some of these books!

Did you see anything above that intrigued you? Why?

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

Jo