What I Wish I had Known for #Indiepub #Ebooks 1 and 2: An Open Letter to my Earlier Self Guest Post on The Book Cove goes LIVE today and is part of a series.
http://www.thebookcove.com/2014/11/author-sally-ember-edd-what-i-wish-i.html
Check on Mondays in December for the rest of the series! http://www.thebookcove.com
What I Wish I had Known for #Indiepub #Ebooks 1 and 2: An Open Letter to my Earlier Self Guest Post on The Book Cove goes LIVE today and is part of a series.
http://www.thebookcove.com/2014/11/author-sally-ember-edd-what-i-wish-i.html
Check on Mondays in December for the rest of the series! http://www.thebookcove.com
I started with #Smashwords after months of research, watching every one of the owner/founder, Mark Coker’s, informative videos, visiting many other forum and chat room sites and investigating other options thoroughly, in early 2013. I have not been sorry in the least.
In addition to their excellent customer support, easy-to-navigate website and ongoing info for #indie #authors, Smashwords publishes an excellent blog with researched, important, up-to-the minute updates.
Excerpts and the link to the full article from their most recent posting are here. READ and SHARE!
Smashwords Blog: Ebook Publishing Gets More Difficult from Here –
Here’s How to Succeed
Posted: 19 Nov 2014 03:59 PM PST
The article starts with “good news,” which I won’t rehash, here, but it is worth reading.
It’s the “bad news” we’re all needing to know about, for sure. Here are some highlights, but please go read the details.
“…most major ebook retailers have suffered anemic or declining sales over the last 12-18 months.”
“… after a decade of exponential growth in ebooks with indies partying like it was 1999, growth was slowing.”
“It’s easy to succeed when everything’s growing like gangbusters. It’s when things slow down that your mettle is tested.”
The article goes into depth about “What’s causing the slowdown,” which I also encourage you to read fully. Headlines, here.
“1. There’s a glut of high-quality #ebooks.”
“2. The rate of growth in the supply of ebooks is outstripping the growth in demand for ebooks.”
“3. The rate of transition from print books to ebooks is slowing.”
What can an indie author do, especially one like me, who still ONLY has ebooks?
I love Mark’s optimistic overview, including: “…tremendous opportunities still lie ahead.”
and “…there’s never been a better time to be an indie author. Millions of readers are hungry to discover, purchase and read their next great book.”
He then provides tips and tricks for our use, immediately and in the future, for “how to succeed” right now. Read about and incorporate them!
“1. Take the long view.”
“2. Good isn’t good enough.”
“3. Write more, publish more and get better.”
“4. Diversify your distribution.”
“5. Network with fellow indies.”
Mark Coker also penned the Indie Author Manifesto, well worth reading!
“6. Publish multi-author box set collaborations.”
“7. Leverage professional publishing tools.”
“8. Best practices bring incremental advantage.”
Mark offers his free ebook, The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success, and reminds us of the Smashwords Book Marketing Guide and to “review [his] prior blogs posts here, or watch [his] ebook publishing tutorial videos at YouTube.”
As I said, I watched all Coker’s videos. If you are an indie author, regardless of how many ebooks/print books you’re self-published or published with a small press, these videos are well worth your time.
If you’re new and you’re trying to decide where to start, I highly recommend starting with your own word processing program and then using Smashwords as your first “publisher,” because that means you MUST put your ebook into the format that succeeds going through their “meatgrinder” and having it come out fine. If you follow Smashwords’ free formatting manual EXACTLY (and I recommend you start to do it NOW, prior to your final draft) that experience then forces your ebook into the format the Smashwords’ meatgrinder accepts.
Once you fulfill that, you’ll have EVERY ebook version you need for your manuscript, correctly formatted already. With a few tweaks (literally, taking fewer than 10 minutes), your Kindle format (.mobi) is ready to upload to #Amazon directly from your having downloaded it to your own computer from Smashwords.
Smashwords also provides a PDF, an RTF, an epub (needed for #nook, #iBooks, #Kobo and other ebook retailers) and excerpt-size versions (your choice of how large an excerpt) of all these formats for you to download as well.
That means you can email ARCs of your ebook in any format to potential beta readers, reviewers, family, as soon as it’s in the pre-order phase at Smashwords (which I highly recommend you utilize).
Then, about ten days prior to its actual release, you can fix any last-minute errors readers/ reviewers/ you found, add any review excerpts to the front matter and update your links before submitting the final revision. You need that 10-day lead for the revision to get sent in its new version to all Smashwords’ retailer partners.
THIS IS ALL FREE! Smashwords takes a very small percentage of every sale, but that is it.
NOTE: Using Smashwords first means you can’t use Kindle Select Publication (KSP), only Kindle Direct Publication (KDP), but it’s worth it.
“9. You’re running a business.”
I print these in their entirety, to entice you to follow the link, below, and read this entire article. FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!
Mark’s Unconventional (but proven effective) Rules for Business:
1. Be a nice person. Treat partners, fellow authors and readers with kindness, respect and integrity. You’ll find as you develop your career, the publishing industry will feel smaller and smaller as you get to know everyone, and as everyone gets to know you. It takes a village to reach readers. All these people – fellow authors, critique partners, beta readers, editors, publishers, cover designers, publicists, retailers, and distributors – have the potential to open doors for you.
2. Be honest. Business relationships are built on trust and honesty. The fastest way to destroy a relationship is to be dishonest.
3. Be Ethical. Don’t cheat. Do unto others as you’d want done unto you.
4. Be Humble. Yeah, I’ve told you have superawesome potential within you. But know that you can always be better. Celebrate those who help you succeed. Always know that none of us can achieve anything without the support, encouragement and love of those around us. It takes a village.
“10. Pinch your pennies (an American saying that means, ‘be frugal with your money’).”
“11. Time Management.”
“12. Take risks, experiment, and fail often.”
“13. Dream big dreams.”
“14. Be delusional.”
I love this story, so I also print it here. Mark Coker is the real deal. An indie author himself (and that is one of the main reasons he founded Smashwords), he is also funny, smart, and insightful.
At the Pikes Peak writers conference three years ago, I had a fun conversation with uber-agent Donald Maas. Don had just told a room full of writers that self-publishing was a fine option if they didn’t want to sell any books. Later that night, we crossed paths at dinner. I told him I thought he was underestimating the impact self-published authors would have on the publishing industry. He told me he thought I was delusional. When someone doubts me, I feel energized. To have vision – to see what doesn’t yet exist – that’s delusional. Be delusional. What’s your vision? Know that every NY Times bestseller was absolutely nuts to write a book. Most books fail. Three months ago, three years after my conversation with Mr. Maas, Inc. Magazine named Smashwords to its INC 500 list of America’s fastest-growing companies in recognition of indie authors at Smashwords who sold over $30 million worth of books at retail last year. Who’s delusional now?
“15. Embrace your doubters.”
“16. Celebrate your fellow authors’ success.”
“17. Past success is no guarantee of future success.”
“18. Never Quit.”
“19. Dream big dreams.”
“20. Know that your writing is important.”
Mark supports and exhorts us authors so well, here, that I quote most of it:
“You are the creator of books. That makes you special, and it also burdens you with a special responsibility. No one else can create what you have within you. Your writing represents the manifestation of your life, your dreams, your soul and your talent. You’re special. Others might think you’re suffering from delusions of grandiosity but so what? What do they know? If you don’t believe in yourself, who will?”
“If you publish for the right reasons and you adopt best practices that make your books more available and more desirable to readers, your future is as bright as your imagination.”
“Thank you for everything you do.”
No, #MarkCoker: THANK YOU!
LINK TO FULL ARTICLE:
http://blog.smashwords.com/2014/11/ebook-publishing-gets-more-difficult.html
I started with #Smashwords after months of research, watching every one of the owner/founder, Mark Coker’s, informative videos, visiting many other forum and chat room sites and investigating other options thoroughly, in early 2013. I have not been sorry in the least.
In addition to their excellent customer support, easy-to-navigate website and ongoing info for #indie #authors, Smashwords publishes an excellent blog with researched, important, up-to-the minute updates.
Excerpts and the link to the full article from their most recent posting are here. READ and SHARE!
Smashwords Blog: Ebook Publishing Gets More Difficult from Here –
Here’s How to Succeed
Posted: 19 Nov 2014 03:59 PM PST
The article starts with “good news,” which I won’t rehash, here, but it is worth reading.
It’s the “bad news” we’re all needing to know about, for sure. Here are some highlights, but please go read the details.
“…most major ebook retailers have suffered anemic or declining sales over the last 12-18 months.”
“… after a decade of exponential growth in ebooks with indies partying like it was 1999, growth was slowing.”
“It’s easy to succeed when everything’s growing like gangbusters. It’s when things slow down that your mettle is tested.”
The article goes into depth about “What’s causing the slowdown,” which I also encourage you to read fully. Headlines, here.
“1. There’s a glut of high-quality #ebooks.”
“2. The rate of growth in the supply of ebooks is outstripping the growth in demand for ebooks.”
“3. The rate of transition from print books to ebooks is slowing.”
What can an indie author do, especially one like me, who still ONLY has ebooks?
I love Mark’s optimistic overview, including: “…tremendous opportunities still lie ahead.”
and “…there’s never been a better time to be an indie author. Millions of readers are hungry to discover, purchase and read their next great book.”
He then provides tips and tricks for our use, immediately and in the future, for “how to succeed” right now. Read about and incorporate them!
“1. Take the long view.”
“2. Good isn’t good enough.”
“3. Write more, publish more and get better.”
“4. Diversify your distribution.”
“5. Network with fellow indies.”
Mark Coker also penned the Indie Author Manifesto, well worth reading!
“6. Publish multi-author box set collaborations.”
“7. Leverage professional publishing tools.”
“8. Best practices bring incremental advantage.”
Mark offers his free ebook, The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success, and reminds us of the Smashwords Book Marketing Guide and to “review [his] prior blogs posts here, or watch [his] ebook publishing tutorial videos at YouTube.”
As I said, I watched all Coker’s videos. If you are an indie author, regardless of how many ebooks/print books you’re self-published or published with a small press, these videos are well worth your time.
If you’re new and you’re trying to decide where to start, I highly recommend starting with your own word processing program and then using Smashwords as your first “publisher,” because that means you MUST put your ebook into the format that succeeds going through their “meatgrinder” and having it come out fine. If you follow Smashwords’ free formatting manual EXACTLY (and I recommend you start to do it NOW, prior to your final draft) that experience then forces your ebook into the format the Smashwords’ meatgrinder accepts.
Once you fulfill that, you’ll have EVERY ebook version you need for your manuscript, correctly formatted already. With a few tweaks (literally, taking fewer than 10 minutes), your Kindle format (.mobi) is ready to upload to #Amazon directly from your having downloaded it to your own computer from Smashwords.
Smashwords also provides a PDF, an RTF, an epub (needed for #nook, #iBooks, #Kobo and other ebook retailers) and excerpt-size versions (your choice of how large an excerpt) of all these formats for you to download as well.
That means you can email ARCs of your ebook in any format to potential beta readers, reviewers, family, as soon as it’s in the pre-order phase at Smashwords (which I highly recommend you utilize).
Then, about ten days prior to its actual release, you can fix any last-minute errors readers/ reviewers/ you found, add any review excerpts to the front matter and update your links before submitting the final revision. You need that 10-day lead for the revision to get sent in its new version to all Smashwords’ retailer partners.
THIS IS ALL FREE! Smashwords takes a very small percentage of every sale, but that is it.
NOTE: Using Smashwords first means you can’t use Kindle Select Publication (KSP), only Kindle Direct Publication (KDP), but it’s worth it.
“9. You’re running a business.”
I print these in their entirety, to entice you to follow the link, below, and read this entire article. FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!
Mark’s Unconventional (but proven effective) Rules for Business:
1. Be a nice person. Treat partners, fellow authors and readers with kindness, respect and integrity. You’ll find as you develop your career, the publishing industry will feel smaller and smaller as you get to know everyone, and as everyone gets to know you. It takes a village to reach readers. All these people – fellow authors, critique partners, beta readers, editors, publishers, cover designers, publicists, retailers, and distributors – have the potential to open doors for you.
2. Be honest. Business relationships are built on trust and honesty. The fastest way to destroy a relationship is to be dishonest.
3. Be Ethical. Don’t cheat. Do unto others as you’d want done unto you.
4. Be Humble. Yeah, I’ve told you have superawesome potential within you. But know that you can always be better. Celebrate those who help you succeed. Always know that none of us can achieve anything without the support, encouragement and love of those around us. It takes a village.
“10. Pinch your pennies (an American saying that means, ‘be frugal with your money’).”
“11. Time Management.”
“12. Take risks, experiment, and fail often.”
“13. Dream big dreams.”
“14. Be delusional.”
I love this story, so I also print it here. Mark Coker is the real deal. An indie author himself (and that is one of the main reasons he founded Smashwords), he is also funny, smart, and insightful.
At the Pikes Peak writers conference three years ago, I had a fun conversation with uber-agent Donald Maas. Don had just told a room full of writers that self-publishing was a fine option if they didn’t want to sell any books. Later that night, we crossed paths at dinner. I told him I thought he was underestimating the impact self-published authors would have on the publishing industry. He told me he thought I was delusional. When someone doubts me, I feel energized. To have vision – to see what doesn’t yet exist – that’s delusional. Be delusional. What’s your vision? Know that every NY Times bestseller was absolutely nuts to write a book. Most books fail. Three months ago, three years after my conversation with Mr. Maas, Inc. Magazine named Smashwords to its INC 500 list of America’s fastest-growing companies in recognition of indie authors at Smashwords who sold over $30 million worth of books at retail last year. Who’s delusional now?
“15. Embrace your doubters.”
“16. Celebrate your fellow authors’ success.”
“17. Past success is no guarantee of future success.”
“18. Never Quit.”
“19. Dream big dreams.”
“20. Know that your writing is important.”
Mark supports and exhorts us authors so well, here, that I quote most of it:
“You are the creator of books. That makes you special, and it also burdens you with a special responsibility. No one else can create what you have within you. Your writing represents the manifestation of your life, your dreams, your soul and your talent. You’re special. Others might think you’re suffering from delusions of grandiosity but so what? What do they know? If you don’t believe in yourself, who will?”
“If you publish for the right reasons and you adopt best practices that make your books more available and more desirable to readers, your future is as bright as your imagination.”
“Thank you for everything you do.”
No, #MarkCoker: THANK YOU!
LINK TO FULL ARTICLE:
http://blog.smashwords.com/2014/11/ebook-publishing-gets-more-difficult.html
15 #Fiction #Promos that should be Revised or Trashed Completely
I’ve read so many of these that I really can’t tell which ones are funny because they’re amusing or funny because they’re awful. Your comments welcomed!
All responsibility for the grammar, spelling, usage, punctuation and syntax mistakes belong to the authors and editors of the following promos.
Just consider each one to be followed by a [sic]
14. “Even the most powerful tracers can’t track you if the magical trace you leave behind is too old. But I can track almost anything, even dead trace. That makes me a unicorn, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and the Loch Ness Monster all rolled into one. In a word, I am unique. A very special snowflake. And if anyone ever finds out, I’ll be dead or a slave to one of the xxx criminal factions.”
13. “xxx had to admit—getting kidnapped wasn’t something she’d expected. Discovering her kidnappers were aliens who planned on selling her into sexual slavery, definitely tipped the scales into the truly bizarre. But she’s determined to fight her way through this–—until their slave ship is attacked, and xxx’s faced with an entirely new problem.”
12. “Can the xxx rally enough force to defeat the xxx warlord? Are they outmatched?”
11. “…an uncompromising adventure story about what it truly means to be human….Featuring complex characters and edge-of-your-seat action sequences, xxx will have readers guessing until the last page.”
10. “A great memoir about abuse, love, and dogs.”
9. “Very scary murder mystery about Riverdale New York. You’ll never do laundry again!”
8. “The baseness of his greed and the evil at his core is like a black oily pit centered around his body where his soul should be…”
7. “A triumphant intermingling of the sci-fi and mystery genres. Dog lovers will swoon over the dogs.”
image from http://www.cartoonstock.com
6. “If I could have put a noose around his neck, it would have been better.”
5. “Witchcraft, Spirit Possession, Sibling Rivalry and A Hot Vampire Viking!!!”
4. “The answer is in Nature and it requires eating it, not destroying it.”
3. “Even if you’ve never played an RPG, or killed a guy with an axe, you’ll probably enjoy these books.”
2. “An eyeless body. A menacing stranger. And a tangled mystery. It’s the summer of 1923 and two cousins hunting for hidden gold stumble on an decayed body.”
image from http://www.thetoddanderinfavoritefive.com
Finally, my absolute favorite:
1. This is not the best-written book in the world. It’s not even close. To be quite honest, referring to it as a ‘book’ is something even I haven’t quite got accustomed to yet. If you read it, good luck to you. You’ll need it. Sometimes I think parts of it must have been written by monkeys or something, but then I feel sorry to the monkeys for suggesting that they’d write such drivel, and I go and bake them a cake to make up for it. But this is beside the point. Not just because the monkeys have no idea why I’m bringing them cake.
Share! Mark your calendar! I am LIVE on the #radio TODAY, 11/5, Wed., 3 – 4:20 PM CST CHANGE IN TIME!
Listen! 1380 AM in St. Louis, MO, or go online from anywhere (link below)
with Charlotte and Jim, #Gayborhood
Listen LIVE! http://1380thex.com/thegayborhood
7 Tips for #Metadata Magic for Self-Publishers
By Betty Kelly Sargent, guest blogging on TheBookDesigner.com
posted by JOEL FRIEDLANDER on 9/29/14
image from http://www.thebookdesigner.com
“…if you are publishing electronically with #ebooks and/or #POD [Print On Demand, like CreateSpace or LuLu], almost the only way potential readers can discover your book is through the carefully selected keywords in your metadata.”
This article lays out how #self-pub #authors can “create specific, tailored-to-fit-your-book #metadata that can help your customer/reader slice through all the noise out there and find what you have written.”
“If you need a little help coming up with just the right #keywords for your book, check out: http://www.googlekeywordtool.com.”
image from http://www.digireado.com.au which also has a great article about metadata
I list the 7 Tips here, but you should go to the article (links below) and find out more about how and why to use these Tips.
- Title
- Genre
- Emotions
- Story Elements
- Target Market
- Marketing Suggestions
- BISAC [Book Industry Standards and Communication] Subject Codes
“If you still need some help try going to http://www.Amazon.com/books and take look at how other authors of books in your category describe their work.”
“You can even narrow your search by going to http://www.amazon.com/kindle-eBooks and type in a descriptive word or two and see what other words pop up in the drop-down menu.”
The screenshot, below, shows the category rankings system in Amazon and how to “game” it for your book’s best sales and search optimization:
image from http://okdork.com
“The good news about metadata is that you can update it any time so you might want to go back and freshen yours up a little.”
“Betty Kelly Sargent
is the founder of BookWorks, and The Educated Author which will launch in January. She was Editor-in-Chief of William Morrow, Executive Editor at Harper Collins, Fiction and a Books editor at Cosmopolitan and is the author of seven traditionally published books and one self-published book.”
Reach Betty on Twitter: @BookWorksNYC and visit her site: http://www.bookworks.com/ Subscribe to her blog! It’s great!
Read the full article on Joel’s site and subscribe to his blog as well:
http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2014/09/7-tips-for-metadata-magic-for-self-publishers/
http://arcaniarts.com/index.php/fall-clean-book-sale
FALLING LEAVES, FALLING PRICES
Clean Indie Reads, the home of Flinch-Free Fiction, is having a #Fall #Book #Sale
October 5 thru October 11!
Check out all the sale books HERE! http://arcaniarts.com/index.php/fall-clean-book-sale
Or, if you would like to go directly to Amazon and peruse the sale books by genre, check out these on Listmania: http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/byauthor/A1DSK2JI3W8GDJ/ref=cm_aya_bb_lists
To celebrate, we are having a #blog #hop where you can learn more about some of our authors and their books. Our bloggers will also be answering the question: “Do the changing seasons influence your writing and/or choice of books to read?”
Please join the discussion on this site by commenting, below, and please visit all the participating blog sites: you might win a prize or two! Happy Hopping!
My post:
The Sirian Experiments‘ Take on Changing Seasons
The best science-fiction series I have ever read that utilizes the idea of changing seasons is Doris Lessing’s The Sirian Experiments, which won the Man Booker Prize in 1981. It is Volume III of her Canopus in Argos: Archives Series, a masterwork of new ideas in philosophy, gender identity, sexuality, social relationships, ecology, geology, psychology and so much more. I highly recommend you start at the beginning and read the entire series. Then, start over. Really.
The main premise of The Sirian Experiments which relates to today’s thematic question is this: Humans and Earth itself are an experiment conducted by those from the planet Siria. Part of that experiment was to tilt Earth on its axis, creating seasons in most parts of the planet, and then to track the effects of this tilt on humans.
The main way that humans responded to this tilt was that we developed varying emotions. According to the Sirian experimenters, humans’ becoming emotionally labile, meaning quite reactive, sometimes inexplicably positive or negative, was a direct result of the planet’s switch from having temperate, monochromatic climates to having changing/seasonal climates.
Fascinating, right? After many centuries of observation, the Sirian experimenters further theorized that the more extreme the climate seasons changes were, the more radical the changes in the emotions of the humans living in those latitudes became. Those that lived closer to Earth’s equator and therefore experienced fewer and smaller annual seasonal changes were the least emotional, for example.
With the more recent understandings of the ways reduced sunlight affects many people, bringing to our attention extreme reactions, such as SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and high rates of suicide in latitudes of Earth that have fewer annual days/hours of sunlight, we now have support for Lessing’s “far-fetched” propositions.
Interestingly, SAD wasn’t “discovered” until after Lessing’s books had been published (SAD was formally described and named in 1984). Hmmmm…..
I recently moved from a more monochromatic climate (the San Francisco Bay Area) back to a more temperate/seasonal climate (Missouri). I wonder if I will become more “emotional”? I grew up here and I lived in temperate climates for most of my life, only inhabiting the more monochromatic climates for the last 15 years or so. However, that time also coincided with intensification in my Buddhist meditation practice, higher attendance at more and longer meditation retreats, many periods (years, not months) of unemployment, and fewer intimate relationships, so the experimental “controls” fail for THIS experiment.
All that being known, I am interested to find out how returning to a place that has actual seasons affects me. I’ll let you know!
First: have to buy some new winter boots. Mine rotted and molded from lack of use. LOL.
Second: get some more good books!
If you, as I do, like to curl up with a good book as we sit by a warming fire or other heating source as the weather gets rainier, colder, snowier or frosty, please consider getting the volumes in Lessing’s Sci-Fi series.
Then, for even more fun, download the first volume of my own sci-fi/ romance/ multiverse/ utopian Spanners Series, This Changes Everything (which is free) and then, Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, as well. Also, please try some of the others’ books in this CIR Blog Hop!
Here are my books. All links can be found on my website: http://www.sallyember.com Look right and scroll.
Now PERMA-FREE everywhere ebooks are sold.
Now $3.99 wherever ebooks are sold.
Volume III, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, due out early in 2015. Volumes IV – X in process.
All Spanners‘ cover and logo art by Aidana Willowraven.
As always, REVIEWS ARE APPRECIATED!
Blog Hop Schedule
(please note: not all bloggers will be offering giveaways):
Check out all the sale books here.
Disclaimer: Comment by 11:59:59 PM Central time on October 10, 2014 for your chance to win. Please leave your email address with your comment. Winners will be contacted by the blog owner by October 13, 2014. Only one entry per ISP address. The contest is open to international readers unless stated by the blog owner. No purchase necessary to enter. Odds of winning depend on number of entries received. The giveaway is the sole responsibility of the blogger. Clean Indie Reads is in no way responsible for providing prizes during this blog hop. Void where prohibited
Please visit the other sites in this Blog Tour! Schedule/URLs above and here: http://lindacovella.com/events-news/clean-indie-reads-fall-sale/
Many thanks to Linda Covello for organizing this and to all who participate as bloggers, all of you who visit, and especially all of your readers who comment, buy, download, read, and review our CIR books!
Enjoy your Clean Indie Reads!
Share /reblog this post!
Proud member of Clean Indie Reads!
http://arcaniarts.com/index.php/fall-clean-book-sale
FALLING LEAVES, FALLING PRICES
Clean Indie Reads, the home of Flinch-Free Fiction, is having a #Fall #Book #Sale
October 5 thru October 11!
Check out all the sale books HERE! http://arcaniarts.com/index.php/fall-clean-book-sale
Or, if you would like to go directly to Amazon and peruse the sale books by genre, check out these on Listmania: http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/byauthor/A1DSK2JI3W8GDJ/ref=cm_aya_bb_lists
To celebrate, we are having a #blog #hop where you can learn more about some of our authors and their books. Our bloggers will also be answering the question: “Do the changing seasons influence your writing and/or choice of books to read?”
Please join the discussion on this site by commenting, below, and please visit all the participating blog sites: you might win a prize or two! Happy Hopping!
My post:
The Sirian Experiments‘ Take on Changing Seasons
The best science-fiction series I have ever read that utilizes the idea of changing seasons is Doris Lessing’s The Sirian Experiments, which won the Man Booker Prize in 1981. It is Volume III of her Canopus in Argos: Archives Series, a masterwork of new ideas in philosophy, gender identity, sexuality, social relationships, ecology, geology, psychology and so much more. I highly recommend you start at the beginning and read the entire series. Then, start over. Really.
The main premise of The Sirian Experiments which relates to today’s thematic question is this: Humans and Earth itself are an experiment conducted by those from the planet Siria. Part of that experiment was to tilt Earth on its axis, creating seasons in most parts of the planet, and then to track the effects of this tilt on humans.
The main way that humans responded to this tilt was that we developed varying emotions. According to the Sirian experimenters, humans’ becoming emotionally labile, meaning quite reactive, sometimes inexplicably positive or negative, was a direct result of the planet’s switch from having temperate, monochromatic climates to having changing/seasonal climates.
Fascinating, right? After many centuries of observation, the Sirian experimenters further theorized that the more extreme the climate seasons changes were, the more radical the changes in the emotions of the humans living in those latitudes became. Those that lived closer to Earth’s equator and therefore experienced fewer and smaller annual seasonal changes were the least emotional, for example.
With the more recent understandings of the ways reduced sunlight affects many people, bringing to our attention extreme reactions, such as SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and high rates of suicide in latitudes of Earth that have fewer annual days/hours of sunlight, we now have support for Lessing’s “far-fetched” propositions.
Interestingly, SAD wasn’t “discovered” until after Lessing’s books had been published (SAD was formally described and named in 1984). Hmmmm…..
I recently moved from a more monochromatic climate (the San Francisco Bay Area) back to a more temperate/seasonal climate (Missouri). I wonder if I will become more “emotional”? I grew up here and I lived in temperate climates for most of my life, only inhabiting the more monochromatic climates for the last 15 years or so. However, that time also coincided with intensification in my Buddhist meditation practice, higher attendance at more and longer meditation retreats, many periods (years, not months) of unemployment, and fewer intimate relationships, so the experimental “controls” fail for THIS experiment.
All that being known, I am interested to find out how returning to a place that has actual seasons affects me. I’ll let you know!
First: have to buy some new winter boots. Mine rotted and molded from lack of use. LOL.
Second: get some more good books!
If you, as I do, like to curl up with a good book as we sit by a warming fire or other heating source as the weather gets rainier, colder, snowier or frosty, please consider getting the volumes in Lessing’s Sci-Fi series.
Then, for even more fun, download the first volume of my own sci-fi/ romance/ multiverse/ utopian Spanners Series, This Changes Everything (which is free) and then, Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, as well. Also, please try some of the others’ books in this CIR Blog Hop!
Here are my books. All links can be found on my website: http://www.sallyember.com Look right and scroll.
Now PERMA-FREE everywhere ebooks are sold.
Now $3.99 wherever ebooks are sold.
Volume III, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, due out early in 2015. Volumes IV – X in process.
All Spanners‘ cover and logo art by Aidana Willowraven.
As always, REVIEWS ARE APPRECIATED!
Blog Hop Schedule
(please note: not all bloggers will be offering giveaways):
Check out all the sale books here.
Disclaimer: Comment by 11:59:59 PM Central time on October 10, 2014 for your chance to win. Please leave your email address with your comment. Winners will be contacted by the blog owner by October 13, 2014. Only one entry per ISP address. The contest is open to international readers unless stated by the blog owner. No purchase necessary to enter. Odds of winning depend on number of entries received. The giveaway is the sole responsibility of the blogger. Clean Indie Reads is in no way responsible for providing prizes during this blog hop. Void where prohibited
Please visit the other sites in this Blog Tour! Schedule/URLs above and here: http://lindacovella.com/events-news/clean-indie-reads-fall-sale/
Many thanks to Linda Covello for organizing this and to all who participate as bloggers, all of you who visit, and especially all of your readers who comment, buy, download, read, and review our CIR books!
Enjoy your Clean Indie Reads!
Share /reblog this post!
Proud member of Clean Indie Reads!
10 Obsolete Beliefs that Can Block Self-Publishing Success
by Anne R. Allen
This is an excellent post with pertinent, supportive, specific information for indie writers. Please read the whole article on her blog (link is below).
My favorites of Anne’s 10 points:
#1: Do we really need paper books to be “successful”?
Apparently not: “EVERY SUCCESSFUL INDIE AUTHOR YOU’VE HEARD ABOUT IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS HAS MADE THE BULK OF THEIR INCOME SELLING E-BOOKS.”
image from: http://blog.nathanbransford.com
#4: Does book “swag” sell books?
Apparently not: “Toys don’t sell books. Word of mouth from readers sells books. Especially word of mouth online, where people can simply click through to a buy page.”
image from: http://lizcoley.com
and, best of all, #10 (and previous ones relate to this as well):
“So what’s the best way to launch a book in this new publishing world? Nobody really knows. Sometimes books take off and the author doesn’t have a clue why…”
Imagine this next image with a big red line diagonally running through it!
image from: http://ebooklaunch.com
What do I keep reading/hearing, repeatedly, sells more ebooks? QUALITY and QUANTITY, both. Write well and publish a lot!
Please go to Anne’s site, read and comment/thank her for the rest. Great post, Anne. Thanks!
posted 8/24/14 and STILL HELPFUL every day!
http://annerallen.blogspot.com/2014/08/10-obsolete-beliefs-that-can-block-self.html
10 Obsolete Beliefs that Can Block Self-Publishing Success
by Anne R. Allen
This is an excellent post with pertinent, supportive, specific information for indie writers. Please read the whole article on her blog (link is below).
My favorites of Anne’s 10 points:
#1: Do we really need paper books to be “successful”?
Apparently not: “EVERY SUCCESSFUL INDIE AUTHOR YOU’VE HEARD ABOUT IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS HAS MADE THE BULK OF THEIR INCOME SELLING E-BOOKS.”
image from: http://blog.nathanbransford.com
#4: Does book “swag” sell books?
Apparently not: “Toys don’t sell books. Word of mouth from readers sells books. Especially word of mouth online, where people can simply click through to a buy page.”
image from: http://lizcoley.com
and, best of all, #10 (and previous ones relate to this as well):
“So what’s the best way to launch a book in this new publishing world? Nobody really knows. Sometimes books take off and the author doesn’t have a clue why…”
Imagine this next image with a big red line diagonally running through it!
image from: http://ebooklaunch.com
What do I keep reading/hearing, repeatedly, sells more ebooks? QUALITY and QUANTITY, both. Write well and publish a lot!
Please go to Anne’s site, read and comment/thank her for the rest. Great post, Anne. Thanks!
posted 8/24/14 and STILL HELPFUL every day!
http://annerallen.blogspot.com/2014/08/10-obsolete-beliefs-that-can-block-self.html
First of all, thanks for financial and technical support to my niece, Sarah Miranda, my sister, Ellen Fleischmann, and my son, Merlyn Ember. Thanks, also, to WordPress.com techhies and Q & A and fora participants.
Second, but equally important, I am grateful to all of my readers, responders, rebloggers, guest bloggers and/or followers for your interest, suggestions, support and interactions. My site would be dead air without you!
On my one-year Anniversary of my Blog, what many call a “Blogaversary,” I am summarizing and analyzing my accomplishments and progress, to date. Let me know what you think!
My Blog Stats
I ended my first full year of blogging with 243 Followers. 208 followers are on WordPress; 35 are on Tumblr.
THANKS, all!
I started with a site that was new and unknown so it wasn’t even rated by ALEXA. I had zero “backlinks.”
Today (8/9/14), I have 128 Backlinks. My ALEXA international rating is 419,061 out of over 4 millions sites.
For the USA, sallyember.com is rated 68,034 out of over 2 million sites.
If you want to check your site’s rankings on ALEXA, get the free extension to your toolbar and check about once every few days by going to your main page/splash page, then clicking on that icon on your toolbar.
I aspire to have a Google Page Ranking: yet to be earned.
Total Number of Visitors/Views: 8326
I figured out early on how to cross-post each of my blog entries to my personal/author’s pages on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (although I mysteriously have to “refresh” this connection periodically, according to prompts from WordPress).
Later, I added Goodreads, Amazon, Shelfari, BookLikes, and Google+ as well as my Spanners Series page on Facebook as automatic recipient posting sites.
About twice a month, I utilize one of the images in each of my original content entries and put those posts on my Pinterest “My Blog Posts” board, which then automatically cross-posts to Twitter and Facebook, again.
Mostly due to these cross-posting, my Followers on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn and Goodreads have all increased dramatically. When I started my Blog, I was brand-new to Pinterest, Author Central, and my series’ pages, and mostly inactive on LinkedIn and Goodreads; and had only 7 Twitter Followers. Here are the Blogaversary comparison stats.
FOLLOWERS/LIKES/CIRCLES TALLIES, August 10, 2013 – August 10, 2014
(all links are on the right sidebar of my website)
Twitter 7 to 3441
Pinterest 0 to 208
LinkedIn 200 to 500+ (LI maxes out the count at 500)
Facebook personal 232 to 1438
Facebook Series page 0 to 937
Google+ personal 0 to 1301
Google+ Series page 0 to 29 (not much action, here; can’t get blog to cross-post)
Goodreads author page 110 to 1113
Amazon Author Central page 0 to 142
PAGE/POST VIEWS
My highest-ever number of views in one day was 197, spread around several posts and pages.
Month-by-month Views/Visitors:
Aug, 2013 = 114 (first day was August 10)
Sept. 200
Oct. 307
Nov. 528
Dec. 535
Jan., 2014 = 999
Feb. 1,144
Mar. 740
Apr. 580
(concussion/accident 4/6/14; offline a lot April – June)
May 830
June 872
Jul. 1,161
Aug.(to date) 326
Highest single-day Views = 197
Average Views/Day
for 2013 (5 months): 13
for 2014 (7 months): 30
Blog Posts
200 of my 357 posts (about 40 are reblogs) had 10 or fewer views. These include ALL of the Serialized Excerpts of my sci-fi series, Volumes I and II, most of the reports of these books’ reviews, and many others that I thought were more popular than that.
One of my posts was featured on “Freshly Pressed,” the elite selection gleaned from among all daily blog posts, highlighted for that day in WordPress’ Blog Reader!
Views by Country
Views by visitors from 111 countries
Highest = USA, with 5,909
2nd = UK, with 484
3rd = Canada, with 354
4th = Australia, with 155
5th = Germany, with 128
6th = India, with 125
The rest are 60 or fewer; many are just 1 or 2, so far.
Highest page views were for my site’s main pages:
–ABOUT (my blog’s splash page), with 2,001
–the Home page’s Archives, with 1,703
—The Spanners Series page, with 492
For individual posts, the highest number of views were for:
—#Buddhism and #Science: the Facts, the Yogis, the Practices , with 232
—My #Literary #Meh List 2014: 15 Plots, Devices, Characters I’m BORED with, with 205
—Why My First Experience with Using #Pre-Orders Will Help Get My NEXT #Ebook Higher on #Best-Seller Lists, with 185
—15 Points about the #Effects of #Concussions on #Meditators’ #Brains, with 160
—Pros and Cons of #Writers’ Critique Groups, with 112
—When #Spiritual #Teachers Respond with #Countertransference, with 110
Total number of comments (and half or more are my replies): 202
Setting aside the two posts with the most comments that were part of Blog Hops, the next-most commented-upon post was
—15 Points about the #Effects of #Concussions on #Meditators’ #Brains, with 12
BLOGGING and BOOK MARKETING ASSESSMENTS
I learned a lot about how to assess my book marketing efforts from many people. I excerpt from PROMOTING MY BOOK , by Lee Gale Gruen, with my commentaries as to my progress/use of these ideas and link to Lee and her sites at the end of this section.
(I first saw this article posted in “Funds for Writers,” compiled weekly by the wonderful Hope Clark: http://www.chopeclark.com Thanks, Hope!)
I am therefore scoring myself on Book Marketing for my first two self-published ebooks according to Lee’s great list, below, of marketing tips and ideas. Let’s see what I learned!
Lee recommends these activities, below, and I agree:
Lee also talks about “creating” one’s own marketing “tools,” and I get an A+, here! I’ve done them all and I hadn’t even seen this list prior to doing them!
Lee’s advice for how to “Promote Yourself” caused me to realize how much I still have to accomplish here. The BOLD ones are TO BE DONE.
BIO: Lee Gale Gruen is an actress, author, speaker, and blogger. Her book website is: http://AdventuresWithDadTheBook.com. Her blog, “Reinventing Myself in My Senior Years” is at: http://LeeGaleGruen.Wordpress.com
My Overall Grade/Score for Year One in Blogging and Book Marketing
Well, I give myself an A+ for effort
I earned about a B- for effectiveness, I think (but it’s difficult to make comparisons since I don’t have others’ stats nor know their efforts).
If I’m going by the numbers of books sold (Volume II of The Spanners Series, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, just went on sale June 9) or sold and downloaded since Volume I of The Spanners Series, This Changes Everything, went permafree on April 1 and went on sale December 19, 2013, the dates don’t jibe and the numbers won’t be impressive (to me, anyway). We all have Hugh Howey to thank for that, right?
Plus, even though I can get rankings or paid sales stats from some sites, I can’t get sales or free download numbers from all sites. So, the numbers below are not all-inclusive; they’re just what I can get. Here are the stats for book sales and downloads:
12/19/13 – 3/31/14 Sales and 4/1/14 –> Free downloads for
Volume I of The Spanners Series, This Changes Everything
66 books sold
2296 free downloads (about 40 for reviewers)6/9/14 –> Sales for
Volume II of The Spanners Series, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever
4 sales
4 free downloads (all for reviewers)
I look forward to becoming more “visible” via this and other parts of my “author platform” in my second year blogging and being a fiction author.
Please comment and share your experiences! Best to you all!
Thanks so much, +Rayne Dowell, +Michael Daniels, +Sheila Strover and, of course, our hostess with the mostest, +Meloney Hall, for having me on, schooling and supporting me in my first working #Google #HOA (#Hangout On Air)!
Watch this #author have a sort-of #interview while I’m learning how to use the technology, right there.
Laugh (and learn!) on YouTube (both links go to the same place):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1z17xLtttg
From CJ Lyons of No Rules, Just WRITE!, http://www.norulesjustwrite.com/:
“If you’re as sick of hearing about the industry woes as I am, then here’s a chance to celebrate our readers (and maybe get some new ones!)
“I’m declaring Monday, July 14th Digital Book Day!”
(that’s also Bastille Day, btw!)
[I included This Changes Everything, Volume I, The Spanners Series, ’cause it’s PERMAFREE!–Sally Ember]
cover art by Aidana Willowraven.
Come to http://www.digitalbookday.com TODAY, July 14th to grab your book and others.
“CJ Lyons”
“PS: please, please share this with any review site/blog/book club/writers group that you know!”
Today is the day! http://www.digitalbookday.com
Go get some new *free ebooks*! Find some new #ebook #authors! Start with me/mine: be patient and keep trying! Site is very busy!
Re-posting this to keep supporting the Blog Hop sponsored by Julie’s Book Reviews! #Rafflecopter Give-Away info at the end of this post!
So many #Indie #Authors, so little time! However, WE Indies deserve and need your attention for all our hard work!
Please take a few minutes, maybe every day during these LET’S CELEBRATE INDIE AUTHORS event days’ blog hop, organized by Julie’s Book Reviews, hosted here: http://juliesbookreview.blogspot.com/, July 1 – 14.
AND please do one or more of these supportive actions:
BTW: if the author’s site has a “Tip Jar” or “Donate” button, especially when s/he has offered free books/ebooks or other content, please consider leaving a donation, however small. Much appreciated!
Now PERMAFREE everywhere ebooks are sold!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KU5Q7KC @$3.99
The Spanners Series logo and cover art by Aidana Willowraven
Click on THIS Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for your celebrating and supporting Indie Authors today and every day! Share!
If you missed it live on 6/11/14, Barry Eva, A Book & A Chat, interview with #author, Sally Ember, Ed.D., 7 PM EDT, you’re in luck!
You can listen to the show ANY TIME: http://www.newvisionsradio.com/index.php/en/2014-02-26-19-59-03/a-book-and-a-chat
Also, Barry’s previous shows are archived: http://abookandachat.blogspot.com
We discussed. laughed and exclaimed about MANY topics (with a few surprises), including Volumes I and II of The Spanner Series, her background, inspirations, dreams, meditation, multiverse timelines, future memory, quantum physics and interspecies research, utopian science-fiction, speculative fiction, romance’s place in science fiction, paranormal stories without werewolves and vampires, plans and much more.
http://www.newvisionsradio.com/index.php/en/2014-02-26-19-59-03/a-book-and-a-chat
Who is Barry Eva and what is this show?
http://abookandachat.blogspot.com/
“A Book and a Chat has proved a hugely popular radio program with people of all ages. With over seven hundred shows already recorded, Barry’s format of ‘a chat over a cup of tea’ has received nothing but rave reviews from guest and listeners alike.
“The writer of a successful young adult romance book, Across the Pond, Barry has himself appeared on a large number of radio and TV programs.
“A Book and a Chat is a program for writers and readers, not so much a literary show, more like… let’s sit around have a cup of tea and a few laughs.”
More about Barry Eva (from his website):
“Born in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Barry, also known as ‘Storyheart,’ left his beloved England in 2000, moving to the USA. Better known for his short romance stories on the ‘net and in his book, Stories from the Heart. Barry is popular for narrating his stories on local TV or as a guest on other media stations,where his whit, oratory, and old-fashioned English charm make him a popular interviewee.”
His shows are usually on Tuesdays and Sundays at 6:30 PM ET and Wednesday at 7:00 PM ET
Want to listen to earlier shows?
Barry used to be on Blog Talk Radio, so here is that link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/across-the-pond
If you do get to listen, please comment there or here: http://www.sallyember.com
If you missed it live on 6/11/14, Barry Eva, A Book & A Chat, interview with #author, Sally Ember, Ed.D., 7 PM EDT, you’re in luck!
You can listen to the show ANY TIME: http://www.newvisionsradio.com/index.php/en/2014-02-26-19-59-03/a-book-and-a-chat
Also, Barry’s previous shows are archived: http://abookandachat.blogspot.com
We discussed. laughed and exclaimed about MANY topics (with a few surprises), including Volumes I and II of The Spanner Series, her background, inspirations, dreams, meditation, multiverse timelines, future memory, quantum physics and interspecies research, utopian science-fiction, speculative fiction, romance’s place in science fiction, paranormal stories without werewolves and vampires, plans and much more.
http://www.newvisionsradio.com/index.php/en/2014-02-26-19-59-03/a-book-and-a-chat
Who is Barry Eva and what is this show?
http://abookandachat.blogspot.com/
“A Book and a Chat has proved a hugely popular radio program with people of all ages. With over seven hundred shows already recorded, Barry’s format of ‘a chat over a cup of tea’ has received nothing but rave reviews from guest and listeners alike.
“The writer of a successful young adult romance book, Across the Pond, Barry has himself appeared on a large number of radio and TV programs.
“A Book and a Chat is a program for writers and readers, not so much a literary show, more like… let’s sit around have a cup of tea and a few laughs.”
More about Barry Eva (from his website):
“Born in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Barry, also known as ‘Storyheart,’ left his beloved England in 2000, moving to the USA. Better known for his short romance stories on the ‘net and in his book, Stories from the Heart. Barry is popular for narrating his stories on local TV or as a guest on other media stations,where his whit, oratory, and old-fashioned English charm make him a popular interviewee.”
His shows are usually on Tuesdays and Sundays at 6:30 PM ET and Wednesday at 7:00 PM ET
Want to listen to earlier shows?
Barry used to be on Blog Talk Radio, so here is that link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/across-the-pond
If you do get to listen, please comment there or here: http://www.sallyember.com
Looking for some great summer reading in the sci-fi/ romance/ paranormal/ multiverse/ utopian/ speculative fiction genres? Adults, Young and New Adults will all be intrigued and entertained, informed and inspired by The Spanners Series, by Sally Ember, Ed.D.
Just released for sale TODAY, 6/9/14, is This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, Vol. II.
for RELEASE DAY 6/9/14: GIVEAWAY RULES:
1) Visit my website sallyember.com or my boards on Pinterest.com/sallyember, sallyember.Tumblr.com or Google+ or FB Spanners Series’ page and FOLLOW no later than midnight PDT (California, USA) 6/9/14.
2) DM me on what you Followed
3) and what you thought of your visit!
4) I will then DM you a coupon for FREE download of Vol II!
Sci-fi/ Romance /Multiverse/ Paranormal/ Utopian ebooks, The Spanners Series, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, is on sale EVERYWHERE ebooks are sold starting today, 6/9/14, when all Pre-orders download! Smashwords, Kobo, iBooks, nook @ $3.99, while VOL I, This Changes Everything, is permafree!
http://www.sallyember.com/ for all links, OR qualify for the GIVEAWAY!
Or, be a GRWAT supportive fan and PURCHASE/DOWNLOAD, RANK/RATE, REVIEW, SHARE about my ebook on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KU5Q7KC
How would YOU do with the changes after finding out we are not alone in the multiverse?
This Changes My Family and My Life Forever is the story of the first five years After Public Contact with the Many Worlds Collective (2013-2018), “The Transition” to full membership for Earth. Many of the changes, reactions, struggles and circumstances accompanying these years are related from the points of view of the main character, Dr. Clara Branon’s, adult son and his cousins as well as some of those cousins’ children. One of Clara’s nephews in particular, Moran Ackerman, who becomes Chief of the Psi-Warriors and all OverSeers, tells of his experiences and training in assuming those roles for Earth after having been a Rabbi and middle school teacher.
TCMFandMLF‘s content is edited/curated and also partly narrated by Esperanza Enlaces, Clara’s Chief Media Contact, a contemporary of Clara’s son, so some of Espe’s story and many parts of Clara’s are included as well.
all cover and logo art by Aidana Willowraven
Reviews, Excerpts, Interviews, and more, including all buy links: http://www.sallyember.com Follow Sally on Twitter @sallyemberedd or this blog on WordPress or Tumblr http://sallyember.tumblr.com/ for excerpts from and news about upcoming Volumes!
Only $3.99 everywhere ebooks are sold.
Vol I, #THISCHANGESEVERYTHING, is PermaFree!
This Changes Everything, Vol I, The Spanners Series, includes anecdotes and events from the entire span of the series, with specific details as to how it all begins. Dr. Clara Ackerman Branon, 58, begins having secret visits from holographic representations of beings from the Many Worlds Collective, a consortium of planet and star systems in the multiverse. When Earth is invited to join the consortium, the secret visits are made public. Now Earthers must adjust their beliefs and ideas about life, religion, culture, identity and everything they think and are. Clara is selected to be the liaison between Earth and the Many Worlds Collective and she chooses Esperanza Enlaces to be the Media Contact. They team up to provide information to stave off riots and uncertainty.
The Many Worlds Collective holos train Clara and the Psi-Warriors for the Psi Wars with the rebelling Psi-Defiers, communicate effectively with many species on Earth and off-planet, eliminate ordinary, elected governments and political boundaries, convene a new group of Global Leaders, and deal with family’s and friends’ reactions. In what multiple timelines of the ever-expanding multiverse do Clara and her long-time love, Epifanio Dang, get to be together and which leave Clara alone and lonely as the leader of Earth?
This Changes Everything begins the 30-year story of Clara’s term as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, continuing in nine more Volumes of The Spanners Series.
Thanks to everyone in my family, friendship and authors’ support circles on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and LinkedIn for helping these Volumes and future ones get into YOUR hands! Special thanks to Aidana Willowraven, Cover Artist Extraordinaire!
Are YOU ready for the changes?
Thanks to Dvorah Lasky and many others, especially Nina Amir and her Virtual Book Tour advice and tips, I am better prepared than ever to release my next ebook in The Spanners Series, Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, 6/9/14.
Buy links, reviews, interviews, excerpts, more: http://www.sallyember.com
Thanks, all, in the Book Marketing Challenge 2014! Great month of activities, events, blogs, webinars, teleseminars and more. Much appreciated.
Today, 6/7/14, we culminate this month of learning and sharing among #authors by asking you to visit each of the sites in our Blog Hop and learn more!
Here is Nina’s checklist, in case you were wondering:
Virtual Book Tour Checklist
Before you begin your virtual book tour, be sure you have everything in place to ensure your appearances build your mailing list as well as sell books. Here’s a checklist you might find useful:
Nina also offers 5 ways to build one’s email list during this virtual tour. Read more of her posts, get her books, learn from her experience: http://ninaamir.com/
For a complete list of articles and experts gathered for this great month: http://buildabusinesswithyourbook.com/author/dvorah/
However, this author is behind the curve and hasn’t set up to capture followers’ emails, yet. WILL DO SOON!
Best to all you #authors! Check out the other blogs on this HOP (partial list below):
Destinations on the Blog Hop Trail
Hop 1: Sara F. Hathaway: Survival in The Changing Earth’s Book Publishing World
Hop 2: Connie Dunn: Blog Hop Fun
Hop 3: Astrid Nicholls: The Book Marketing Challenge: An Important Lesson
Hop 4: Anne Lorene Tezon: Baby, We’ve Just Birthed a Book Business!
Hop 5: Gina Briganti: Welcome, Book Marketing Challenge Blog Hoppers!
Hop 6: Peggy M McAloon: A Concise and Proven Book Marketing Plan
Hop 7: Donna Winters: Goodreads for Authors
Hop 8: Moreen Torpy: Organizing a Book Marketing Project
Hop 9: Pam Fitros: 30-Day Book Marketing Challenge – A Literary Antipasto
Hop 10: J.Q. Rose: Time to Celebrate at the Book Marketing Blog Hop
Hop 11: Roxanne Smolen: Marketing Equals Visibility
Hop 12: Elizabeth Armstrong, Ph.D.: Lifestyle Transformation with the Help of Author Ecosystem
Hop 13: Marilynn Dawson: Blog Hop Stop Wrapping up The Book Marketing Challenge
Hop 14: Desiree Cox: Write it and They Will Come, Right?
Hop 15: Kateryna Kei: The Book Marketing Challenge: a Lucky Coincidence for Authors 😉
Hop 16: Gloria Oren: I did it! I complelted the 30 day Book Marketing Challenge
Hop 17: Loretta Alvarado: Facebook Fanpage First Friday Artwalk
Hop 18: Hayley Clarke: ‘Bribe’ Idea’s That can be Used to Build an Email List
Hop 19: Kate Loving Shenk: The Book Challenge is a Rewire
Hop 20: Patti Tingen: I Have a Plan
Hop 21: Renee Alter: A Book Marketing Challenge
Hop 22: L. Shoshana Rhodes: The 30-Day Book Marketing All-You-Can-Eat Buffet!
Hop 23: Kim Miller: Why You Should Blog (It’s Not Just About Marketing!)
I’m wondering how you, as a reader, use Goodreads? What about if you are an author: do you visit often and use it? How do you use #Goodreads?
At first, I just visited, as a #reader. I noticed what books are being featured or recommended (paid ads or in groups’ discussions), what types of groups there are, what groups are active, and what lists exist on Listopia. I marked books I had read and ranked a few, but didn’t write any reviews or read any.
As a reader, I now have: 905 ratings | 102 reviews | avg rating:4.10
When I began to come closer to launching my first book as an #author, I re-established myself on Goodreads with an author page. I added the nonfiction book I had co-authored many years ago, then I added my first science-fiction/romance ebook to my page.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7237845.Sally_Ember
As a reader/author, my use of Goodreads changed a lot after that. I began not only to list books I had already read, but I started to use Goodreads as a kind of readers’ journal, and I:
1) put books on my “want to read” shelf. This means Goodreads posts and could email me (but I shut that down) “Recommendations” based on what I read and ranked highly.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/15085128?shelf=read
https://www.goodreads.com/recommendations
2) put books on my “currently reading” shelf and kept up the status of where I was in reading each one (I usually read several books simultaneously, one or two nonfiction, one or two fiction.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/15085128-sally-ember?shelf=currently-reading
3) began to acquire friends/fans and to respond to “friends” requests moer promptly.
I now have 1005 “Friends” and dozens of “followers”: I have 83 “fans”; follow almost 288 GR members (mostly authors or reviewers) myself
https://www.goodreads.com/friend
https://www.goodreads.com/user/15085128-sally-ember/followers
https://www.goodreads.com/author/fans/7237845.Sally_Ember
https://www.goodreads.com/user/15085128-sally-ember/following
(GR has an algorithm, like Facebook, that limits how many new “friends” a person can add per day, so sometimes I added an author or reviewer as a “fan” or “follower” instead. It seems arbitrary and silly, to me, but that is the deal. This policy means I seem to have 295 “favorite authors,” but that just means I had to become a “fan” rather than a friend, so this list includes authors I support but haven’t read anything from, yet.)
4) joined several groups as a reader, several more as an author, and started one of my own, as an author.
https://www.goodreads.com/group
5) made an effort to keep up with “notifications” from these groups, responding when I felt inspired, commenting or asking questions occasionally. I also get some notification sent directly to my email, but I don’t read them in both places.
6) posted about my own ebook(s), including their launches, pre-orders, sales, becoming permafree, reviews (needing and getting). I also posted each of the related videos (author readings, Q & A, Book trailers) on my Author’s Page and my own Videos page. I also created and will create launch “events” on GR for each ebook’s sales launch date. If I had print books, I would/could do “giveaways,” but GR doesn’t provide avenues for ebooks giveaways (yet).
https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/7237845.Sally_Ember
https://www.goodreads.com/videos/list_author/7237845.Sally_Ember
7) linked my Goodreads page to my blog so that the feed appears on it and put a Goodreads widget on my blog that shows what I’m reading.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7237845.Sally_Ember/blog
8) linked my Goodreads reviews to my blog and Facebook pages so that my reviews and activities appear on those.
9) voted on and added my ebooks to lists and voted on others’ books on Listopia; also became more aware of and using Shelves more and putting books I’m reading/want to read on Shelves.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18772075-this-changes-everything
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21841757-this-changes-my-family-and-my-life-forever
I have also listed my Series as a Series on GR, which means it can appear on those pages/groups that seeks series books.
Scroll all the way down on any book’s page to see its first lists and then click on “more” to see pages and pages of lists my ebooks are on. VOTE on them, please!
10) added more books to my ‘want to read” lists to support other authors, especially those who became my friends/fans.
11) noticed what books others in my groups, friends/fans communities had read/were reading and put some of those on my “want to read” lists.
12) began to write an ongoing status/review and final review of every book I was reading, which then posted on my blog and on Facebook. These comments and activity appear on my author’s page as recent “updates.”
13) recently began pasting those reviews from Goodreads onto Amazon for those books, with the rating and slight editing (when necessary). I have a way to go to “catch up,” but it’s a good way to remember what I’ve read these last 12 months or so.
14) developed a new interest in and respect for book reviewers, prolific authors, new authors, and readers who populate Goodreads, reading more of the posts to groups and noticing their authors’ pages and blogs. I
15) followed a few of the blogs I saw excerpted on Goodreads due to what I read on these authors’ pages.
16. added “metadata” to my books and plan to add more. This is a tricky maneuver I needed help from a GR “Librarian” to accomplish and don’t know much about accessing on my own, but apparently this data helps my ebooks appear in more searches.
Please comment on how YOU use Goodreads and what you think of its usefulness to the readers/authors communities! Thanks.
Happy reading, reviewing, writing, commenting, ranking, voting, and shelving!
Before I put my first sci-fi/romance/multiverse/paranormal/speculative fiction ebook, This Changes Everything, Volume I of The Spanners Series, up for sale, I attended free webinars, read guidebooks and blog posts and did a lot of research to find out how other fiction ebooks authors managed this journey. I discovered many techniques, procedures and tips which I employed, including what price to use for sales, how to use a pre-order period, and when to offer a book for free (and why).
I have blogged about some of these topics already, but I haven’t written, yet, about why I decided to make Volume I “permafree” last month. I just did it. Now for the explanation, which is then going to be further explained and augmented by the article I’m including a link to, below.
As a new fiction author, I do not yet have a significantly sized “following” or “fan base.” So, I spent a lot of time finding out how one acquires readers and keeps them coming back for subsequent books, since I planned a 10-Volume series. I read others’ stories of their journeys, articles about successes and failures, and took extensive notes I still refer to, from the many webinars I attended.
cover art for all covers by Aidana Willowraven.
So, The Spanners Series now has Volume I, This Changes Everything, in permafree status everywhere ebooks are sold because Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, entered its pre-order period @$1.99 on April 1 and goes on sale June 9 at $3.99.
Since Volume I went free, the number of potential readers (reckoned by the number of downloaded volumes) has gone up 4000%. I am not joking.
I can’t see how well the pre-orders are going for Volume II, yet, or know what the sales figures will be. Reviews for it are due any day, now, and will keep coming in over the next several weeks, if all goes as planned.
I plan to post Volume I on more freebie sites and keep doing interviews, blogging, “creating and posting good content” as I work on Volume III, This Is/Is Not The Way I Thought Things Would Change, which is due out late in the fall of 2014.
I will check in periodically here to let you know how sales and downloads are going and what else happens.
Until/unless I become a gazillllllionaire author who doesn’t need to “bring in new readers” (when does that happen?), Volume I will remain free.
All downloading and purchase links for The Spanners Series as well as links to bloggers’ reviews, interviews and my archived blog posts are at http://www.sallyember.com on the right side panel.
If you want to learn more about Book Marketing, #authors, http://buildabusinesswithyourbook.com/access/aff/go/sallyember It starts this week/weekend!
Silver passes are FREE. Gold passes cost money, but I’m on Silver and it’s great! Lots of blog posts, interviews, videos, and more to help us do better with marketing wherever we are in our process. Check it out! Here’a a list of what’s offered just via the blog, just week one!
Sharon Williams: Developing Your Author Platform and Social Media Presence
Deborah Bateman: Building Your Online Platform as an Author
Eric Van Der Hope: 5 Steps to Developing an Effective Author Platform
Gina Akao: Marketing Your Book with a WordPress Blog
David Wogahn: SEO for Books: Optimizing Your Amazon Book Listing
D’vorah Lansky: Harness the Power of Your Amazon Author Central Page
Ellen Violette: How to Market Your Print Book or eBook in Just Minutes a Day
Penny Sansevieri: Harnessing the Power of Goodreads
Leeza Robertson: Quote Yourself on Goodreads
Amy Harrop: Leveraging the Author Tools of Goodreads to Promote Your Books
Michael Bloom: Promoting Your Book on Your Facebook Author Page
Bryan Cohen: Sixteen Heads Are Better Than One, on Facebook
Want to know more about making books permafree and see if these principles apply to YOUR books? Check out this article, linked to below.
Best to you all!
Why Free Is Your Best Marketing Tool And How To Harness It from The Future of Ink by PENNY SANSEVIERI
Great ideas, examples, and info as well as links to other helpful articles for authors like me who are doing our own marketing:
http://thefutureofink.com/free-is-best-marketing-tool/
Before I put my first sci-fi/romance/multiverse/paranormal/speculative fiction ebook, This Changes Everything, Volume I of The Spanners Series, up for sale, I attended free webinars, read guidebooks and blog posts and did a lot of research to find out how other fiction ebooks authors managed this journey. I discovered many techniques, procedures and tips which I employed, including what price to use for sales, how to use a pre-order period, and when to offer a book for free (and why).
I have blogged about some of these topics already, but I haven’t written, yet, about why I decided to make Volume I “permafree” last month. I just did it. Now for the explanation, which is then going to be further explained and augmented by the article I’m including a link to, below.
As a new fiction author, I do not yet have a significantly sized “following” or “fan base.” So, I spent a lot of time finding out how one acquires readers and keeps them coming back for subsequent books, since I planned a 10-Volume series. I read others’ stories of their journeys, articles about successes and failures, and took extensive notes I still refer to, from the many webinars I attended.
cover art for all covers by Aidana Willowraven.
So, The Spanners Series now has Volume I, This Changes Everything, in permafree status everywhere ebooks are sold because Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, entered its pre-order period @$1.99 on April 1 and goes on sale June 9 at $3.99.
Since Volume I went free, the number of potential readers (reckoned by the number of downloaded volumes) has gone up 4000%. I am not joking.
I can’t see how well the pre-orders are going for Volume II, yet, or know what the sales figures will be. Reviews for it are due any day, now, and will keep coming in over the next several weeks, if all goes as planned.
I plan to post Volume I on more freebie sites and keep doing interviews, blogging, “creating and posting good content” as I work on Volume III, This Is/Is Not The Way I Thought Things Would Change, which is due out late in the fall of 2014.
I will check in periodically here to let you know how sales and downloads are going and what else happens.
Until/unless I become a gazillllllionaire author who doesn’t need to “bring in new readers” (when does that happen?), Volume I will remain free.
All downloading and purchase links for The Spanners Series as well as links to bloggers’ reviews, interviews and my archived blog posts are at http://www.sallyember.com on the right side panel.
If you want to learn more about Book Marketing, #authors, http://buildabusinesswithyourbook.com/access/aff/go/sallyember It starts this week/weekend!
Silver passes are FREE. Gold passes cost money, but I’m on Silver and it’s great! Lots of blog posts, interviews, videos, and more to help us do better with marketing wherever we are in our process. Check it out! Here’a a list of what’s offered just via the blog, just week one!
Sharon Williams: Developing Your Author Platform and Social Media Presence
Deborah Bateman: Building Your Online Platform as an Author
Eric Van Der Hope: 5 Steps to Developing an Effective Author Platform
Gina Akao: Marketing Your Book with a WordPress Blog
David Wogahn: SEO for Books: Optimizing Your Amazon Book Listing
D’vorah Lansky: Harness the Power of Your Amazon Author Central Page
Ellen Violette: How to Market Your Print Book or eBook in Just Minutes a Day
Penny Sansevieri: Harnessing the Power of Goodreads
Leeza Robertson: Quote Yourself on Goodreads
Amy Harrop: Leveraging the Author Tools of Goodreads to Promote Your Books
Michael Bloom: Promoting Your Book on Your Facebook Author Page
Bryan Cohen: Sixteen Heads Are Better Than One, on Facebook
Want to know more about making books permafree and see if these principles apply to YOUR books? Check out this article, linked to below.
Best to you all!
Why Free Is Your Best Marketing Tool And How To Harness It from The Future of Ink by PENNY SANSEVIERI
Great ideas, examples, and info as well as links to other helpful articles for authors like me who are doing our own marketing:
http://thefutureofink.com/free-is-best-marketing-tool/
Great way to do that is to vote on your favorite indie published book in each category. If yours isn’t there, submit it! You can vote up to 5 times!
Share! Please Vote for YOUR favorite (could it be THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING?) on the “50 Self-Published Sci-Fi Books Worth Reading” in Indie Author Land!
http://www.indieauthorland.com/vote-50-self-published-books-worth-reading-201314-science-fiction/
There are also other lists. Submit/vote up to 5 times! Leave comments, too.
http://www.indieauthorland.com/vote-early-vote-often/
“Execnote” “Nimble” “Commun.it” “Pocket”
If these sound like foreign terms, you’re not alone. Indie authors and many others doing our own marketing and outreach are inundated with tasks, content, tweets, posts, blogs, podcasts and videos until we’re ready to explode.
We have to get our social media to be more manageable, don’t we?
Let Andrew Jenkins explain and provide reasons for you to learn about and start using these social media management tools!
Thanks, Andrew!
\
http://arcompany.co/10-tools-to-make-your-social-media-management-easier/
Sharing books, author voices, and news from the University of Washington Press
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Every Second Thursday | 5-8pm
A novelist with a passion for reading and traveling shares his view of the world and his adventures.
Rejuvenate, relax and revitalize with holistic healing.
Information & Analysis on Global Mass Transit Industry
Stories to warm the furry heart and soul
Local Burien News and Stories that support Human Flourishing and Balanced Community Conversations. Topics include Education, Government, Sports, Lifestyle and Community Perspectives.
Updates from King County's School-based Partnerships Program
Community News For All of Seattle's Capitol Hill
News that connects you
An interdisciplinary research project on cities and the night.
Manhattan's little, quieter island and beyond
Smile Always
#Evola #Traditionalism #Metaphysics #Initiation #Esotericism #JuliusEvola #SpiritualHierarchy #Transcendence
Sally Ember, Ed.D. 
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