5 Tips For a Smashing Blog Tour

I got tons of emails after Nancy Straight's post where she suggested going on a blog tour, asking for more information on what the heck it even means to take your book on a virtual tour. 

Well, dear readers, the girls from Kismet Book Touring are here to give you 5 tips for planning a blog tour so that you can get out there and get noticed!

Six Questions with Cally Jackson

One thing you always see social media experts preaching is to engage with your audience. Today's guest is one of the first blog visitors I started to recognize as she became a regular commentor. It's been great following Cally Jackson from my blog to Facebook and Twitter. And now she's released her first novel, The Big Smoke and I'm thrilled to have her on Six Question Saturday!

Six Questions with Jennifer Snyder

 A few months ago I found the blog of author Jennifer Snyder. I obviously read a lot of blogs, but the thing that impressed me about Jennifer's was that she posted her monthly sales from the start of her self-publishing career. This gives you realistic expectations of what your results might be like after you put your book up for sale.

The Importance of a Great Website

Laura Pepper Wu is co-founder of 30 Day Books, a book studio that provides marketing tools and resources for authors. 

Not to mention a fabulous friend and inspiration to yours truly.

Is Paranormal Dead? with Lynn Rush

I was introduced to Lynn Rush

by my friend Kendall Grey. I joined Kendall on one of Lynn's Twitter Parties at hashtag #Rushed. She holds fun contests and I won a copy of her latest book Violet Midnight. Since I'm the type of girl who's never satisfied I decided to take it one step further and ask for an interview!

Building Author/Blogger Relationships with The Autumn Review

Authors need to be aware of the golden resources that are at their finger tips. One of the most important of these is the Book Blogger. 

Not only should they be loved, but they should be respected! Autumn of The Autumn Review is here with some insight from a bloggers perspective!

Your Book is Just the Beginning

Just a quick note and an infographic.... 

Are you tired yet? I love this stuff, but man-- it really is a lot! 

Thoughts?

From Blog To Book with Maryanne Wells

You've made friends on Twitter, right? So you know what I mean when I say I'm so lucky to have met the lovely Maryanne Wells on my Twitter stream.



Maryanne and I recently got together for a chat on self-publishing her novel, Matriculated Death. 



Some of the things we talked about:

How she came up with the idea for Matriculated Death during law school 

Writing a blog-story for friends from law school

Using beta readers and a well-trusted friend for editing, and needing brutal honesty when editing

Marketing strategies and how they'll change between pre-publishing and post-publishing

Reasons for self-publishing, particularly freedom to release books on your own schedule

Why Twitter has been a pleasant surprise in her marketing plan

Putting pieces of ourselves into our fictional characters

Writing under a Pen Name

Matriculated Death, Book One of The Undead Bar Association, is available from Amazon in either e-format or paperback. It sounds like a fantastic romp with all the creatures of the night, and I can't wait to read it!

Make sure to visit Maryanne at www.maryannewells.com

or Twitter- @maryannewells


Or

Leave a Comment or Question for Maryanne Below!

Getting Bendy with Hart Johnson

It's Friday, and that means we're talking about Writing. I am honored to present you with the talented and sweet Hart Johnson, whose novel The Azalea Assault was released under the pen name Alyse Carlson. Hart is serving up a wonderful post on the ever-intriguing art of The Plot Twist!




First, I want to thank Laura for having me. I'm thrilled to be here. When I asked if she had any requests on topics, she suggested I could talk about plot twists and I jumped at the chance. You see... I'm really twisted. But in addition to being twisted, I also LOVE twisty plots—those that turn back on themselves and surprise you, but that maybe you could have spotted earlier, or that make total sense once you have full information. These are NOT to be confused with the 'out of nowhere moments' that are just for shock value—that's cheating. Real life is allowed to do that to you, but not fiction. 

So how does one get bendy without cheating?

Relationship Maps

One of the things I like to do, and I definitely did it for The Azalea Assault, is to draw a diagram of how people are connected to each other—connections the reader isn't going to learn for a while, necessarily, but that as a writer, you can drop hints about (or at least not contradict) earlier in the story. 

This is CRITICAL for suspects (how are they connected to the victim and how are they connected to people our sleuth cares about (or the sleuth herself)—for maximum impact and tension). [just as a tattle on myself, in plotting, I decide SET-UP first, VICTIM 2nd and SUSPECTS 3rd—so these come early—they are primary building blocks] I figure each suspect should be connected to the victim and at least one character that is only one degree of separation from our sleuth so we have a reason to care or be suspicious—or at least have reasonable source for information about them. 

But to be connected, there needs to be some history. Maybe it is current history—simultaneous with the plot—or maybe it is history history. One of the reasons this is so important is because, while our sleuth will now and again question people she finds suspicious, most real suspects don't have a reason to be forthcoming—and if they lie, there needs to be a way to uncover that, eventually. Someone who knows the suspect (or sees them do something) can act as an informant (sometimes worried and protecting, sometimes suspicious and accusing).

Clues and Herrings

In addition to informants, there are honest to goodness clues—things found at the crime scene or on the suspect, or in the suspect's space that connect them to the victim or a reasonable motive [this is my 4th 'plotting' step—connect EVERY suspect to the victim in some way or other]. 

Some of these clues are really part of the mystery and the OTHERS are called red herrings—clues laid so the reader (and sleuth) is misled... This just makes for a story that keeps delighting and surprising. Think of the mystery shows you may watch (my contemporary favorite is Castle, though I've been watching since Murder, She Wrote or Hart to Hart and Magnum PI)--there are ALWAYS clues that lead to the wrong person in the mix. It just makes for better story-telling. It helps engage the reader/viewer—keep them guessing.

UN-Cluing... 

This is an important piece of solving the mystery—one-by-one each of the FALSE clues and suspects needs to be debunked, unveiled or... um... murdered... *cough* Yes... often there is a second death and typically it changes the landscape—either it is the prime suspect, or it is a person who really isn't CONNECTED to the prime suspect, so makes the sleuth rethink matters entirely.

Getting Caught

Another trick to really increasing the tension is to make our SLEUTH not particularly stealthy... When your sleuth gets caught snooping, she has to talk fast, and SOMETIMES somebody dangerous catches on to what she's up to, putting her in danger. I don't do that (only) to be rotten, but because it tightens the screws and makes the story have more tension. Somebody who is ALWAYS good at their job is fabulous and all, but not that interesting. Have you ever watched a no-hit baseball game? I by far prefer minor league baseball for the same reason—errors make it more interesting to watch.

Time-lining 

My final trick, and I do this in all my fiction, not just mystery, is timelining. Some writers can fly by the seat of their pants and still end up with a great story, but I don't believe in pants. They are binding and uncomfortable (and have allowed me to write myself into a corner on more than one occasion)--I write a timeline. And as I look at the main events that HAVE to happen to solve the mystery, I think about 'what is the most interesting way from A to B? Or... What might happen between A and B that will then pay off at E? And I add those little details to my timeline. I am not a true outliner. I'm a statistician by day and too much structure just makes my voice sound clinical, but knowing the details to hit before they come up again feels like I can then create a little treasure hunt for readers without having to plunk in all the hints on the rewrite, which can seem contrived. So there you have it... Bendy Plotting A-La-Tart



The Azalea Assault Cam Harris loves her job as public relations manager for the Roanoke Garden Society. It allows her to combine her three loves, spinning the press, showing off her favorite town, and promoting her favorite activity. She's just achieved a huge coup by enlisting Garden Delights, the country's premiere gardening magazine, to feature the exquisite garden of RGS founder, Neil Patrick. She's even managed to enlist world-famous photographer Jean-Jacques Georges. Unfortunately, Jean-Jacques is a first-rate cad—insulting the RGS members and gardening, goosing every woman in the room, and drinking like a lush. It is hardly a surprise when he turns up dead. But when Cam's brother-in-law is accused and her sister begs her to solve the crime, that is when things really get prickly.

 

Alyse Carlson is the pen name for the author some of you may know as Hart Johnson.

She writes books from her bathtub and when she isn't writing, does research for a large,
midwest University or leads the Naked World Domination Movement (your choice).

Links 
Barnes & Noble Paperback or Nook
Amazon Paperback or Kindle

Requesting Book Reviews with The Bookish Babe

This is a topic that I've been thinking about for a long, long time. In the past few years, book blogging has become an art form. I love reading reviews of new releases and posts about old favorites.

I believe a lot of authors overlook the importance of the book blogging community, whether from ignorance of negligence, I don't really know.

With the fairly recent explosion of digital publishing, book bloggers are even more important than ever. I hope Andrea's post will teach new authors and remind the ones who've been at it for a while, the ins and outs of having your book reviewed.



First off, thanks to Laura for having me. The idea that someone actually wants to hear what I think makes me giggle.

I wasn’t sure how to approach the topic of Indie/Self-Pubbed authors, bloggers, and reviews.  There’s a lot that’s been said about the topics. I’m not sure I add anything new or worthwhile to the discussion.  But I’ll try.
Laura asked me to give a few tips about what to do and avoid when approaching bloggers for a review.  Let’s start with what NOT to do:


Please don’t ask for a review via GoodReads, Twitter, or FB


I go on GoodReads strictly as a reader. I don’t hang out there a lot. I check out reviews of books I’m interested in,  update my book status, and add new books to my to-read list. That’s it.
If you ask for a review on Twitter, that just seems lazy. And awkward. What if I don’t want to read your book? Do you really want me to put that out in the twitterverse? I’m usually a really nice person on twitter, and wouldn’t actually do that. But I have seen authors get blasted for requesting via Twitter and it makes me cringe. The exception to that rule?  My good friends.  The people I talk to almost daily. They can hit me up anytime. Usually it’s just to let me know an email about their book is headed my way.
If you ask me for a review on my blog’s Facebook page, there is a 99.9345% chance that I will not see it. I am tragically in denial over the new Facebook. And though I’m trying to do better about posting there, still NO.


Crappy, Lazy Review Requests


If you’re going to request a review, take the time, do a little background work. I know, authors are busy. Guess, what? So are reviewers. It takes a lot of my time to read your book, write a (hopefully) meaningful, unique, helpful review. Then, I have to cross-post to all the sites, tweet links and post it to FB.  That takes a lot of my time. So, if I have to hit a bunch of links to find your cover and synopsis, then chances are I’ll just hit delete. Also, make sure that I read the genre your submitting.


Don’t be weird


This sounds funny, I know.  I am completely serious. I have gotten some strange requests in the time I’ve been blogging.  So have my friends. I have two favorites. In one, the author seemed to really think he was a vampire.  He talked about how he became a vampire, and his lonely existence. I mean, I think I know what he was going for, but dude, it was strange. The other request still baffles me. I’m not sure that I wasn’t being Punk’d. In that one, the author requested a review for a book that he and his Momma wrote about their dead cat, and about said cat’s life (?) in heaven.  Oh, and he included a YouTube video with a song they wrote. I really wish I hadn't deleted that request. I would love to watch it again.

Okay, the part I like: What TO do when requesting.

Let me know in some way that you’ve read my review policy


Doing that lets me know that you respect my blog and my time enough to do your homework.


Be clever


That’s a tall order, I know. And it’s not a requirement. I won’t delete a request if you don’t make me laugh. But I will take a closer look if you do. I’ve taken several books for review that I would have skipped without the clever request.


Most importantly,


Have all your ducks in a row


This one makes me happy.  Include a short introduction that lets me know who you are. Let me know you’ve read my review policy. You have a synopsis, a cover, and links to your GoodReads or Amazon page so I can look at reviews.  Out of all the requests I’ve received, two authors stand out: Liz Long, author of Gifted, and Nikki Jefford, author of Entangle and Duplicity. Liz was clever, unique and included all the info pertaining to her book. Nikki had all of her ducks in a row. She had all the relevant information about her book, and she had everything lined up and ready to go for a blog tour. I couldn’t say no to either of these ladies, not that I wanted to.

I hope these tips help authors out there. I know I feel better getting it off my chest.

Laura also asked me to talk about why bloggers are important to authors, particularly indies. I don’t know that I have personally impacted an indie author. I’d like to think I have. I do know that I love to see them succeed. I love to help spread the word about their books, to introduce them to a new reader. All I can do, basically, is be a supporter, a cheerleader.  And I am so happy to do that. Just this morning, I was looking at two indie books, What a Boy Needs by Nyrae Dawn and Inhale by Kendall Grey.  When I opened Inhale it was the first time I had opened the finished copy, and my words about that gorgeous story were on the first page! To know that what I had to say meant that much to the author blew me away. I teared up like a big sissy. Then, when I opened What a Boy Needs, the author had thanked me and a few friends for our encouragement. Again, tears. 

So, yeah, I guess I do know that I have some impact on indie authors. But to be honest, they’ve had just as much impact on me. Those words that they included in their books mean everything to me.

No More Starving Artists with Beth Barany

On today's interview, my guest is author entrepreneur Beth Barany.
Beth started her career helping writers get there message out into the world. As a certified Creativity Coach, she has a passion for helping authors build successful careers. She teaches through speaking, coaching and consulting with authors. Her non-fiction includes a book for authors- The Writers Adventure Guide.

Beth also loves creating strong female characters who empower women and girls to be the heroes in their own lives. Her fantasy novel Henrietta the Dragon Slayer is available now, with Book 2 coming out this summer.

Some of the topics we discuss in the interview:

• Her beliefs in strong marketing practices online and offline as well. 

• Every author needs to have a home on the internet, whether they are involved in Social Media or not.

• An author website or blog plus a newsletter are important tools for all authors.

• No matter where you go, carry a copy of your best work. 

• Nobody wants to be sold to- develop real relationships and people will naturally be interested in what you do.

• Speaking, coaching and consulting engagements are great ways of meeting new people while providing multiple income streams, nobody needs to be a starving artist anymore.

• Some exciting new speaking opportunities she has coming: How to Pitch to Agents and Editors with her husband, author Ezra Barany;The Women's Fiction Festival in Italy; Creativity Pays keynote speech.

• While she has self-published her books, she has partnered with a publisher to distribute some index cards to accompany her Writers Adventure Guide. The publisher can put her product in places she might not be able to reach on her own.

• Beth is a strong advocate of writing and critique groups. It's important to have accountability and feeback from other writers.

Beth can be found at her website www.bethbarany.com and also on her blog writersfunzone.com/blog where she posts tips for writing and marketing for authors as well as inspiration and creativity. Visit to get a Free Self-Guided Journaling Course for Writers.  For Author Entrepreneurs, visit ArtistEntrepreneurship.com

Flying By The Seat of Your Pants with Suzan Tisdale

Laiden's Daughter

If you're an author, chances are you've spent some time researching marketing. You've probably been working on building that coveted author platform. That's what you're supposed to do, isn't it?

Well, when I asked author Suzan Tisdale what her secret to selling nearly 20,000 copies of her book since December, she laughed and said, "I really don't know!"

Of course, I had to interview her. Authors are supposed to do all of these things to be successful. So, how much of the success factor is good planning, and how much is pure chance?




Things we talk about:

• Her book Laiden's Daughter , and how she came to write it. I'm reading it right now, and I'll tell you she has just the right amount of action and sweet romance to keep you turning the page.
• Authors who have inspired her: Laurin Wittig, Julie Garwood, Carmen Caine.
• Why she decided to publish it through Amazon KDP.
• Her marketing efforts, or lack thereof. How she played with the pricing and the effect on her sales.
• What she plans on doing next. Findley's Lass Book 2 of Clan MacDougall series is due out in December 2012.

Now, I want to know how you feel about the hit or miss world of publishing.

What are steps you're taking to build your platform, and why do you think some authors just hit it right?

The Virtual Book Tour with Ali Luke

Book tours can get expensive, with booking venues and all the driving. Add that to the time away if you have family or a day job and it can really be a problem. 

When I saw that Ali Luke was taking her book, Lycopolis on a virtual blog tour, I thought it sounded like a great idea. It's the best of both worlds: you get people interested in reading your book and visiting your own blog, plus you can do it all from your own home.

I've been wanting to try a video interview for a while now, so I asked Ali if she'd be game, and luckily for me she agreed. Imagine getting to chat with a writer in the UK in real time-what a treat! 

If you haven't heard about Ali, she has a fantastic blog and also frequently posts on some of the top blogs in the writing industry like Problogger, Copyblogger and Write to Done.

In the interview we talk about:

• Her book Lycopolis and writing what you know. She has a background in the roleplaying community and it inspired her to write the story of a group on online roleplayers.

• The virtual book tour she's done throughout April and May and the benefits of touring from your home by writing guest posts and doing interviews for other bloggers.

• Although this is her first published novel, she also has published a few short stories and a fantastic set of ebook guides specifically for bloggers. She's also working on the upcoming Publishing Ebooks for Dummies, which I am looking forward to.

• Some tips on coming up with new ideas for blog posts. With the constantly changing publishing industry, she always has a long list of ideas for blog posts such as ebooks and the digital publishing world. If you haven't already, I recommend visiting her blog for excellent tips on the writing craft.

• The many publishing options available for the independent author. Ali has Lycopolis on Amazon, and also Smashwords which distributes it to other vendors (Barnes & Noble, Kobo etc.) She also used CreateSpace for the Print on Demand version. Since she's in the UK, the shipping rates for UK customers were too high, so for those readers it's also available from Lulu.

You can find Ali at her blog, Aliventures or on Twitter.

RSS Feeds Made Simple

Is your inbox flooded with notifications of blog updates? 

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the idea of visiting all of your favorite blogs, especially when your time is limited as it is?

Do you sometimes get frustrated by the volume of your unread email- sometimes even hitting "Clear All"?

If you answered yes to either of those questions, it might be time to look into getting a blog "reader". When I mentioned RSS feeds in a post not too long ago, I got a few emails asking what I was talking about.

RSS (Real Simple Syndication), according to Wikipedia,  is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format

OK, so what does that really mean?

It simply means you have another option to receiving updates via email, or each and every blog on your bookmark list to check for updates.

Have you ever listened to the Weekly Top 40 on Sunday? Rick Dees doesn't work for your local radio station, but rather his show is Syndicated to play on multiple channels across the country. You don't have to go find his show, it comes to YOU.

Same with RSS feeds, but this is for the content you want to read/listen to/watch on the web.

You can get really technical, but this blog is all about keeping it simple, right?

The first thing you need is a "Reader". There are a few options here, but for the sake of keeping it simple, let's talk about the "Google Reader". If anyone is super curious, we can expand on this in the future.

When you go to a blog, instead of clicking "Subscribe via Email", look for the little orange tab pictured above. That is where you can subscribe via RSS. Once you click on it, it will send the updates to one simple place-the Reader.

When you hop online to see what's new, you go to this one place, scroll through all the recently updated titles until something grabs your attention, then either expand it inside the reader or visit the website, it's your choice.

Have you been wondering what that little orange button meant, anyway? Do you have a RSS feed for your blog? Consider getting one, and while you're at it, subscribe to my feed. :)

And the Award Goes To...

This is just a quick post, just as a thanks to my newest friends in the blog o sphere. In the past week I've received a few nominations from some fantastic bloggers-3 for Liebster awards, and one Kreativ
Blog award. What can I say, I'm flattered! It's been the usually craziness around here, so it's taken
me longer than I would've liked to make the following shout-outs:
The Liebster's were from-
Kristi - Thank you so much for sharing my blissful journey with me, it is a pleasure!
Michelle - Thank you for your kind words, it really does mean a lot that you find my blog informative.
Sharon - Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, I'm so glad to have met you!

And then there is also the Kreativ from LJ - Thanks Laura Jean, from another Laura Jean :)

I'm not going to take the traditional route here, which is to nominate others for these awards. That would require me nominating twenty two bloggers, and unfortunately my time is limited. But, I want to just take a
moment and touch on the topic of community. During the past month or so, I've met and chatted with several
women that I never would have had the opportunity to meet if not for the net and social media. It's an amazing
time we're living in, and I'm so grateful to each and every one who've provided laughs and support for my blossoming career. Writer's are an amazing, eclectic bunch, but we all share the love of creating and that's all we need to form lasting bonds.

Be Helpful, Be Successful

What's in it for me?

As a species, human beings are selfish. I'm sure that's not news to you. Oh, we want to be helpful and self-sacrificing, and maybe we sometimes even succeed. But deep down, it's just our nature to look out for number one.

If you want to be involved in any type of network building, you have to break through your natural tendencies. You're writing a book. Good for you. But, why should anyone else care?

What's in it for them?

I see a large number of people, (myself included at times) who just expect to blog about themselves, and that will be their golden ticket to fame and fortune.

It will never work.

One of the greatest teachers of how to build relationships to help you grow your business is Chris Brogan. I've been following his blog for a few months now and hope to follow his example as closely as possible. He has a simple formula for success that I find inspirational:

• Be Helpful

• Ask Questions

• Check-In Regularly

• Make Useful Introductions

Is there is one thing that he advises NOT to do?

Don't ask for ANYTHING in return!

Do you ever run into people doing all the wrong things on the Web? How do you handle it?

Leave me a comment. Let's Talk.

Find What Works to Build Your Platform

Imagine five years from now when you have 10,000 Twitter subscribers and 50,000 blog subscribers. Each day when you log in to check your email, you have pages of eager requests for your attention. What will you have done to get yourself to that point?


 Large followings don't just happen, do they? I've been experimenting in April, and I want to share what things I've found to be the most helpful in building my platform and growing my audience.

• Make Goals Having a goal in mind is not the same as having clear, written out goals. Something about putting your goals on paper (or monitor) cements your commitment. I find that the cork board next to my desk is a great place to pin my personal goals, so that when I feel particularly lazy, they are there to stare me down O_O .

• Create a Schedule  Everyone is busy. Using the I have no time excuse doesn't fly in the real world, so it shouldn't fly in your virtual world, either. The truth is that if you want to be a writer in today's world, you need to schedule time to write and time to nurture your followers. Five minutes before lunch, ten minutes after. First thing in the morning, or just before bed. The point is if it's important to you, you make the time.

• Focus on What Works There are so many ways to connect with readers and writers on the web, how do you decide which one is best for you? I think the only way to know is to experiment. In April I've decided to tweet daily, and it's been a true eye-opener. I started the month knowing next to no one, now I find myself checking my Twitter feed even when I don't plan to, just to see who's on. Which brings me to my final tip...

• Avoid Too Many Distractions  Like anything else, Social Media and blog-reading can become huge time suckers. It's easy to become too focused on Twitter or your RSS feed, but if you're so busy posting/reading updates, when do you write? 

I hope one or more of these thoughts resonates with you. I've had a great month meeting new people, and I hope to keep the momentum up in May. Make sure to leave a message in the comments about what you're doing to grow your following! And, follow me on Twitter too :) .