The Future of Publishing with Joanna Penn

This week's video is an interview with Joanna Penn, who has been the biggest inspiration in my choice to self-publish. She has self-published two novels and three non-fiction books as well as created various courses and products to help others avoid the mistakes she's made during her time as an author. 

It seems I introduce everyone as my special guest, and that is true because I'm truly honored that my guests give me their time to be interviewed. But, Joanna is extra special to me because essentially everything I do is based on studying her website and podcasts closely. 

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.

The Alliance of Independent Authors with Orna Ross

I've said many times on this blog that my publishing role-model is Joanna Penn. And, through Joanna's  interviews and guest posts I've been introduced to a number of terrific writers who are making a splash in the self-publishing industry. 

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?

Self-Publishing on a Shoestring with Elizabeth Aloe

Today's Special Guest is a brand-new indie author, Elizabeth Aloe. I learned about Elizabeth on Tarryn Fisher's Facebook wall a few weeks ago. Tarryn announced The Next Class of Indie Authors who would be BIG. After reading about Elizabeth and her book The Reunion I immediately contacted her for an interview. I'm all about the Next Big Thing! 

Five Tips from a Self-Publishing Newb with Becca Puglisi

Ever since I first started visiting writing blogs I've been following The Bookshelf Muse for help with brainstorming ideas for writing with all the senses.

This past May, Becca Puglisi (along with co-author Angela Ackerman) self-published The Emotion Thesaurus with a bang and I asked them to guest post on some of the things they learned!

Your Facebook Profile as a Marketing Tool with Penny Sansevieri

Monday means Marketing and today it is such a pleasure to introduce Penny Sansevieri, CEO of Author Marketing Experts and author of many books including Red Hot Internet Marketing, to give us a lesson in connecting on Facebook!

Drawing Inspiration From Real Life with Toby Neal

One of the first books I bought to learn about self-publishing was a little .99 mini-book by Toby Neal titled  Building an Author Platform That Can Launch Anything. 

 Once I delved deeper into the subject, I saw Toby all over the Self-Publishing world doing guest posts and on Twitter. 

When an author has their hand in several things, you begin to recognize their name and picture. My respect for Toby grew as I began following her. Now, I've read her book, Blood Orchids and I am a full-fledged fan.  

I love this cycle: Recognition-->Respect-->Trust. I've seen it referred to as the ISYOT factor: I've Seen You Out There.

Some of the things we talked about:

Started writing at an early age- went to school for journalism/creative writing.

Got serious about writing when her kids were in high school.

Moved by a tragedy in her community where she was part of the Grief Response Unit.

Worked through her own grief by writing an anonymous blog about the death of two teen girls.

So inspired that she started a novel based on the tragedy, with her own twists.

Querying loads of agents, before signing with first agent.

Completely rewrote Blood Orchids at least once, meeting current editor during process.

Her agent retired before selling Blood Orchids to a publisher- prompting her to self-publish.

The amount of time and work involved in the self-publishing process.

How important it is to have a high-quality production team behind you.

Platform is essential for all authors self-published or traditional-published.

Her three part philosophy for authors: 

• Producing Top Quality Work
• Always Give Value For Your Readers
• Pay It Forward

Blood Orchids and Torch Ginger, the first two books in the Lei Crime Series are both available now.

Tweet with Toby or visit her on her blog!


If you've learned anything in this interview, please share with your friends!

And, as always, I love your comments!

Effective Tweeting with Tonya Kappes

When I ask other writers what they do to market and promote their novels, I get the big ole eye roll!

But why?

Marketing and promoting has NEVER been easier! Easy? Can you stop with the eye roll already?

Let me take a moment to explain. Believe it or not, you have a PR personality (Check out my blog post to take the test and see what your PR personality is HERE.)

It doesn’t matter if you are on introvert or extrovert, the internet has made it easier than ever to market and promote. And the fastest way to reach your target audience and gain a loyal following among your peers and readers is effectively using Twitter.

Another eye roll?? I’m starting to get offended…

I know we are all writers and it’s hard for us to say anything in 140 characters. How do we effectively market in 140 characters?

I’m glad you asked.

The most important thing on TWITTER is the # (hashtag).

But you have to # effectively or you will never reach the target audience you want to reach.

There are certain hashtags I use to get to my target audience. For instance, when I want to tweet my blog, I hashtag my tweet with keywords that will help me reach blog readers- #reader #marketing #indieauthor #amwriting (url here) or use #amediting #writertip #promoting #writer.

These hashtags help me reach you, my target blog audience.

When I tweet my book, I use #mystery #ebook #2.99 #bestseller #womansleuth #beadedjewelry #streetteam. Those hashtags help me reach my target reading audience.

Here are some tips to help # your way to success:

1) Pick KEY hashtags. Like I said earlier, pick hashtags that are already out there. Don't make up your hashtag that NO ONE will see. If you aren't sure what hashtags to use, go to the search box on Twitter and start typing in key words that will help you find your target audience.

2) Keep your tweet short. Sometimes you can do too many hashtags and the reader gets lost in the tweet. Even though you are limited to 140 characters, that too can be too many sometimes. You have to pick out key words to get their attention.

Here are some popular hashtags for writers:

#amediting  posts from people who are editing

#amwriting  posts from people who are writing

#askagent  agent questions and answers

#author

#authors

#editing

#fictionfriday

#fridayflash  flash fiction on a Friday

#nanowrimo  national novel writing month

#novels

#novelists

#poem

#poet

#poets

#poetry

#pubtip  publication tips

#publishing

#scifi

#selfpublishing

#vss   very short story

#webfic  web fiction

#weblit   web literature

#wip   work in progress

#wordcount

#writegoal

#writequote

#writer

#writers

#writetip  writing advice

#writing

#writingtips  writing advice

#wrotetoday 
 

Some hashtags are specifically “chats” – which means they work in the same way as all tags, but are mainly used at certain agreed times : 
 

#journchat

#kidlitchat

#litchat

#scifichat

#scribechat

#storycraft

#writechat

#yalitchat   young adult literature chat 
 

Don’t just think about your tweets. You have to give back! 

Your likability factor is a key to tweeting.

If you only promote yourself, readers and your peers will see right through it. Make sure that you are giving back and retweeting your author friends.

AND connect with your readers! Since I write mystery and novels with jewelry beading themes, I make sure I go to those hashtag groups and interact with those tweepeople.

I have found some GREAT targeted bloggers in these groups. For example, my target audience is jewelry beaders for my novel CarpeBead ‘em. Through effective hashtags, I have found some great blogs that teach people how to make jewelry or blogs where they gather to talk about beading. I began to follow those blogs and comment. Once I became ingrained into their community, I asked if I could write a guest post about why I love beading and how I wrote a novel about it.

This is a great way to gain new readers and loyal followers on Twitter!

So get your tweet on and # effectively to reach your target audience.

Do you tweet effectively?

Tonya is an Amazon Movers and Shakers, and International bestselling author. She writes humorous cozy mystery and women’s fiction that involves quirky characters in quirky situations.

Splitsville.com, the first novel in the Olivia Davis Mystery Series, is a double finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the Mystery and Humorous Categories.

Carpe Bead ‘em  is a finalist in Amazon’s eFestival of Words in the Women’s Fiction Category.

She travels to various writer's groups giving workshops on marketing and promoting no matter where you are in your career or what journey you take in publication. Tricked Out Toolbox~Marketing andPromoting Tools Every Writer Needs is a bestselling non-fiction novel where Tonya teaches writers how she made it to International bestselling status with her marketing plan.

Become a member of Tonya’s STREET TEAM! It’s a gathering place of readers who love Tonya Kappes novels and Tonya gives away monthly prizes! To sign up for Tonya’s STREET TEAM, newsletter, view book trailer, and upcoming news, check out Tonya’s website, Tonyakappes.blogspot.com.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonyakappes

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonyakappes11

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4423580.Tonya_Kappes

Learning the Ropes with Ashley Barron

Ashley Barron was one of the first people I followed on Twitter, and to this day I continue to learn so much from her.




Her blog is a favorite among self-publishers, and she really lays out the steps for blogging (successfully) as she's learned through the past 12 months.


In May she published her first full-length novel, Ava.

 Some of the things we talked about:

Always been a voracious reader, three years ago the story of Ava came to her.
 
Put writing aside and took a year to learn the business of publishing and marketing.
 
Using Twitter as a marketing tool, tweeting blog posts and making friends.
 
Make your blog posts accessible to newcomers, different info is relevant at different times.
 
Publishing Ava through all e-retailers by the end of summer.
 
Using beta readers to find errors, lessons learned about editing.

Keeping the story arcs and character bios straight for a 26 book series


Changes to her marketing plan to include time to write & stay informed- Community News

Ava, the first book in the Priyas series, is now available on Amazon. Look for it soon on iTunes, Kobo and Smashwords.

Tweet with Ashley or if you haven't been to her blog, make sure to visit today and learn how she mastered blogging and social media for authors, you won't regret it! 

Like my interviews? Let me know in the comments and Please share with your friends on Twitter!

The Land of Heart's Desire Giveaway

Princess Edane heard a voice singing on a May Eve like this, and followed half awake and half asleep, until she came into the Land of Faery, where nobody gets old and godly and grave, where nobody gets old and crafty and wise, where nobody gets old and bitter of tongue.  ~WB Yeats, "The Land of Heart's Desire," 1894

This is a quote by a favorite Irish poet of mine, WB Yeats.  His poetry inspired images of magic and a mysterious people just out of our reach.

It's only fitting to introduce this special giveaway with a touch of magic. I've been blessed by the friendship of a group of lovely authors who write in the realms of Irish fairy stories and folk lore. As you may know, my novel in progress has basis in Irish mythology as well, so it was an instant attraction to the #FairyTribe on twitter.

Two of the #FairyTribe (Sophie Moss and Diane Reed) recently got together with me to discuss this phenomenon that has taken place across the interwebs, the banding together of authors in all stages of publication. Like the mystical land of Eire, this group has a magic all it's own. 

As we talked, it was amazing how similar the paths to publication have been for these lovely ladies. Both share a love for all things Irish, making it a no-brainer that their debut novels would be based on magic and romance.

Diane Reed is the author of Twixt, a novel of magical realism featuring Rose-our skeptical heroine trying to start her life over, when after her 30th birthday, circumstances force her to take a new look at her life and challenge the her beliefs in magic and love.

After writing the manuscript, Diane attempted to have it traditionally published. The replies she received all had a similar tone- strong story, but not something that would sell. Publishing houses felt that it was not quite a fantasy, but not quite women's fiction, either.

Diane decided she didn't want to compromise her story, so she self-published. Knowing nothing about marketing or social-media, she didn't sell many books that first month.

She thanks her lucky stars she met fellow author Sophie Moss, who had recently been through a similar experience. Sophie took Diane under her wind and showed her the ropes of Amazon's KDP select and how to maximize the free days offered through the program. At one point during Diane's promotion, Twixt reached Number One on Amazon's Free list.

A few months before Diane's publication, Sophie had published The Selkie Spell, a story based on experiences living in Ireland and the movie The Secrets of Roan Inish. 

After spending several years writing The Selkie Spell, Sophie queried agents and, like Diane, was told she had a fantastic story, but they didn't think they'd be able to sell it.

After hearing that reply enough times, Sophie decided if nobody else thought she could sell it, they could all just watch her sell it.

The Selkie Spell is about Tara, an American doctor who finds herself moving to an island offshore of Ireland. When a mysterious woman tells her she has the power to break a 200-year old spell, she gets caught in a world somewhere between magic and reality.

The synchronicity between Diane's and Sophie's stories is nothing short of magical, and if you've spent any time chatting with them, don't be surprised if you come across a patch of coveted four-leaf clovers!

To celebrate our love for Irish folklore Diane, Sophie and I have come together to put on a magical giveaway featuring copies of their books- Twixt and The Selkie Spell as well as art prints created by honorary #FairyTribe member Liza Lambertini.

Twixt- Midnight Flight

The Selkie Spell- Drawing Down the Moon

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fostering Success with Melissa Foster Part I

Today's guest is Melissa Foster, best-selling author and founder of the World Literary Cafe, The Women's Nest, 
and Fostering Success. If you've spent any time at all in the Indie Author Community, chances are you've seen her name.

Things we talked about:

• How Melissa became a writer
• Waiting until her children were in school before devoting time to writing
• Writing, editing and publishing her first three books
• How much her writing process has changed after each book
• Querying agents for Megan's Way
• Hesitancy to call herself "self-published" in 2009 because of prejudices at the time
• Going through a vanity press and why she doesn't recommend this route
• Reasons why small press still has a place for some authors
• Her goal of having at least one book traditionally published and why
• Melissa's ability to create a huge community for authors
• Why a support system is critical for authors 
• Fostering Success, a publishing education platform for authors

Melissa's books are Chasing Amanda, Megan's Way, and Come Back To Me.

Like this interview? Please be sure to share it with your pals!

Dancing Naked in Dixie with Lauren Clark

Sometimes when you least expect it, life throws you a bone that is just so awesome, and this interview is one of those times.

 I saw a video interview done by Laura at 30 Day Books featuring Lauren Clark. I just loved listening to her talking about her story, and actually put her on my interview list of "Authors to Contact Someday".

Meanwhile, I followed her on Twitter. I don't remember if I tweeted her to tell her I thought the video was great or not. Doesn't really matter.

Because- Lauren Clark actually contacted ME!

She sent me an email inviting me to read her book and review it on my blog. MY BLOG! I know!

Lauren is the award-winning author of Stay Tuned and Dancing Naked in Dixie.

Things we talked about:

• Lauren's background as a journalism major and news anchor.

• Her learning process finishing several manuscripts before deciding to publish Stay Tuned.

• Publishers showed interest but nobody gave her a contract.

• Self-publishing increase caused her to pull Stay Tuned out and bring it to Emlyn at Novel Publicity

• How scary it is to have people critique your work.

• The importance of having as many eyes on your work as possible to perfect it.

• Lauren's author branding which is one of the most remarkable I've seen.

• Online and offline author platform, how to connect with readers and stay in touch.

• Real relationships she's formed all over the globe: Rebecca Berto, Jen Tucker, Dina Silver.

• Speaking engagements and book clubs she's attending to build an offline following.

• Self-Publishing is a team effort- Damonza and DuoLit plus Novel Publicity and 30 Day Books

• How she came up with the concept for Dancing Naked in Dixie.

You can find her at www.laurenclarkbooks.com or Twitter and Facebook

Like this interview? Please be sure to share it with your pals!

When Life Hands You Lemons, Self-Publish with Kendall Grey

Kendall Grey is the author of Inhale- released May 1, Exhale- released June 1 and the soon to be released Just Breathe.

I have to tell you- I think this is my best interview yet! I hardly made any mistakes, and despite the fact that the video aspect didn't record Kendall and I had a great time!

Things we talked about:

• Writing a full length novel, how many words are enough/too much?
• Pulling your passions together to create a great story- in Kendall's case Whales and Science, Australian Folklore, and Sexy Australian Rock Stars :)
• The correct way to say Gloucester
• Kendall's roller coaster ride of Querying and Submitting
• Her ultimate decision to "Choose Herself" and Self-Publish
• Delegating cover design and editing
• How sales have been since her release
• Coming up with a Marketing Plan
• Paying for reviews, Google ads and Goodreads ads
• Building a back list and a LONG TAIL
• The cause Kendall supports- a group that teaches kids about whales

I highly encourage you to follow Kendall on Twitter, she's a hoot! Also, check out her Facebook page, fair warning: You Will Be Entertained! 

Group Promotions: Authors Helping Authors

You wrote a fantastic book, the cover is perfect, you've asked your friends and family to help spread the word.

Now what?

Some authors decide to pay for publicity, some take it on themselves to use social media as a marketing tool.

Is that really enough?

The answer is probably not.

There is a secret weapon that inexperienced writers need to discover, or risk being buried under the masses.

Before I tell you what the secret weapon is, let me tell you a story:

Last week I was browsing through my Twitter stream when the hashtag Reads4Free showed up several times in a row. I am only human- I love free things, so I investigated!

There was a group of Indie Authors running a promotion to support each other and offer their 8 books for free all on the same days. I browsed through the list and came across a YA title by Elise Stokes, Cassidy Jones and Vulcan's Gift. It looked interesting, so I followed the link to grab my free copy.

Throughout the day, the hashtag kept popping up. I followed it again and read the story of the authors banding together. I thought it seemed neat and checked out another title by Shannon Mayer, Sundered which has a freaky zombified cover. Nuff said.

 After I closed out the Amazon page from my second freebie of the day, the post with all 8 novels was looking back at me. We're FREE, it said to me. You might like us!

Oh, R.S. Guthrie- I enjoyed a blog post you wrote- Click- I downloaded Black Beast...

Yes. I downloaded all 8 titles. 

As I clicked the Buy Now title for the eighth time, a light bulb went off in my little brain.

These authors, they know what they're doing. I had never heard of half of them, but there I was- downloading their titles.

Being introduced to their work. And to them. Brilliant.

You see, there are a lot of readers in this world looking for your book. They read a book a day, some of them. Can you keep up with that demand?

I didn't think so.

So, how does your reader find your book? Maybe friends tell each other about books they loved. But, rather than wait around for that to happen, there is the secret weapon we talked about earlier.

Authors sharing their audiences. There is no competition, the turnaround rate is too fast.

Authors forming groups, tweeting each others links, posting on each others blogs. 

At first the idea of promoting free books seems like a small thing, but think of the effect getting your name out there will have on your career.

ISYOT- I See You Out There. Readers, whether they read your free book or not, will remember your name. They'll recognize your book when browsing and see what else you have available. You're not a nobody stuck in a sea of nobodies anymore.

Leave a message in the comments if you've gone Free with a group, or if you know of an author who has. We all want to know your story!

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

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.