Live Love and Write!

Closing The Gate now on sale!

2012-03-11T17:53:00.000-05:00

Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and most online booksellers;
Will be in Hastings Murfreesboro store by end of March
Book Launch Hastings March 24 1-3 PM !

Please stop by!!

The UNTOLD Story--now on sale!! Barnes and Noble, Amazon...

2012-03-09T14:26:00.002-06:00

Report: U.S. threatens Apple, book publishers with price collusion suit

2012-03-09T07:36:00.002-06:00

http://blog.sfgate.com/techchron/2012/03/08/report-u-s-threatens-apple-book-publishers-with-price-collusion-suit/

Report: U.S. threatens Apple, book publishers with price collusion suit

The Justice Department has warned Apple and five major book publishers that it intends to file a lawsuit accusing them of colluding to boost the cost of digital books, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter

Blogging 101 --viewpoints

2012-03-05T07:24:00.000-06:00

http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/03/author-blogging-101-the-power-of-viewpoint/

3 Kinds of Blogging Viewpoints for Authors

Branding for authors.....

2012-03-02T08:53:00.002-06:00

http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/03/branding-where-marketing-and-writing-become-friends/

Do you Pin to gain Interest (Pinterest) for Authors --why you need it!

2012-03-01T15:54:00.000-06:00

Authors.....http://ebyline.biz/2012/02/the-writers-guide-to-pinterest/
Building your platform. Bethanne Patrick, Executive Editor of Book Riot and author of two nonfiction books, sees huge promotional potential for authors, but more in a creative than an overtly self-promotional sense. “One novelist I know, Randy Susan Meyers, has created boards characters in her novel: hair color, the way she dresses, places she would live,”

Are you listed in the TN Author database?

2012-03-01T11:15:00.002-06:00

http://www.utc.edu/Academic/TennesseeWriters/Tennwriters.html#S

Drop Cap Typography--how, what and why

2012-02-29T09:08:00.000-06:00

http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/02/book-design-6-variations-on-drop-cap-typography/

The tradition in book design of making the first letter in a paragraph larger than the rest of the type goes back pretty far. In fact, it predates printing entirely. This practice started with scribes.....

click on the link to read the entire article

Is a PRINTED proof review ALWAYS needed? YES!

2012-02-29T07:11:00.000-06:00

Is a printed proof necessary with each revision?

For printed books, the answer is a resounding YES

Always review a printed proof for your printed books –with EACH revision, no matter how minute!

I have seen changes occur in the manuscript that are not the result of changes made to the document.

During publication of a recent manuscript, I made seemingly minor change to the format of the title page. The electronic proof review indicated the changes were successful, and I accepted the book without reviewing a printed copy before allowing it to go into distribution. I very quickly learned that an error had been introduced on an interior page, having nothing to do with the updates I had made. After witnessing a few of these types of events, I decided to share my new practice with other writer/publishers.

Always review a printed proof for your printed books –with EACH revision, no matter how minute!

So, how did this happen? I am still not certain of exactly where the error source was, but I have identified a few potential sources of error.

Places where problems can occur

1) During the conversion of the word document into a PDF file, some details may be lost or changed

2) During the transfer of your files to the publisher/ printer, the file can become corrupted or incomplete

3) During the setup form the electronic manuscript to the printers software, alignment may be shifted

There issues may result in

1) Shifting of text boxes, table columns, etc resulting in changes to alignment, “disappearance” of letters, etc.

2) Loss of detail in graphics

3) Changes in color profiles

I am certain that the technical people can provide more detail and tips for setting up documents to prevent this, and those are welcome, but for me, the lesson is the same.

Always review a printed proof for your printed books –with EACH revision, no matter how minute!

Penguin sales top £1bn as e-book revenues grow 106%

2012-02-29T06:42:00.002-06:00

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/penguin-sales-top-%C2%A31bn-e-book-revenues-grow-106.html

now you, too, can be a cult leader--new mind control techniques!! on DVD!

2012-02-28T12:22:00.001-06:00

http://beyondmindcontrol.com/

hmmm--what is next?

Marketing & Selling your books

2012-02-27T07:06:00.000-06:00

http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/02/self-publishing-carnival-of-the-indies-issue-17/

this is an incredible issue wiht resources for everyone --whether self published or traiditionally published or just planning to publish!

Tips on marketing, blogging, linking and more!!

new documentary about Heavens Gate cult....

2012-02-25T15:45:00.002-06:00

http://documentarystorm.com/inside-story-heavens-gate/

Writers, publishers, both? Technophobes?

2012-02-22T08:24:00.001-06:00

Click here to go to the articles blogpage

One thing that happens when you go to a writing conference is you end up spending a lot of time with writers. Many kinds of writers. And that can be very instructive.
There were several hundred writers in attendance at the San Francisco Writers Conference, which ended yesterday. Throughout the four days there were writing workshops, keynote addresses, “ask the pro” sessions and a lot of panels and presentations about options in self-publishing.
Although most of the sessions were on writing topics, the incredible popularity and explosive growth of self-publishing, both with new and already-established writers is the obvious rationale for presenting this material. And there were some people who were clearly interested in pursuing the self-publishing option.

Slogan of the Day

In almost every presentation, somewhere along the line I heard, “It’s the best time to be a writer.”
And why not? Armed with only a laptop and an imagination, a writer today can create her own publishing story, gather fans, learn to market her books, and start to make real money though book sales if she keeps at it and has good skills.
In many of these self-publishing presentations there were stories told of authors who had followed this same path and arrived at the promised land, where agents and editors are calling you with six- and seven-figure offers.
Just before the big panel I was part of on Saturday morning, I read in Publishers Weekly about the latest, Brittany Geragotelis, who used the reader community Wattpad to accumulate over 16 million reads of her work, attracting a six-figure contract from Simon & Schuster.

The Dark Side: Still There

It was also interesting that many writers had never considered self-publishing. On the last day of the conference there was a big, two-hour panel discussion on “The Great Adventure: Joining the Self-Publishing Revolution,” moderated by Carla King (Self-Publishing Bootcamp) and including Mark Coker (Smashwords), Brian Felsen (Bookbaby), Jan Johnson, (Turning Stone) and Jesse Potash, (PubSlush). And me. Pretty good panel, wouldn’t you say?
The room was reduced to half its usual size by dividers, and it was still only about half-full.
Where were all the writers?
They were upstairs, standing in a long, long line that snaked from a room at one end of the hotel, through the lobby and in front of the front desk. Each grasped a sheaf of papers and many looked nervous.
This was the core of their visit to the conference, and maybe the reason a lot of them paid to come to San Francisco: “Speed Dating With Agents.” A chance to sit down and talk face to face to a literary agent is a powerful draw for an unpublished writer.
I thought about some of the writers I know. Many are quite technophobic. Just learning Word is a major accomplishment. I know people who can write prose that will melt your heart, but they never figured out how to attach something to an email.
These writers will never join my training course. They might read the blog because you can get it in your email. The whole thought of “formatting” makes them nervous. They just want to write, and let other people take care of the rest.
I’m not so sure it’s the best of times for these writers. It could be coming into the worst of times. As popular fiction moves to ebooks, publishers try to find an economic model that will survive digitization, and marketing becomes a necessity for the average author, what are non-technical writers to do?
Most of the new self-publishers who are in the news get there through using social media for marketing. Many are bloggers or do blog tours. This is a community in which uploading to Kindle Direct Publishing is about as easy as booking a flight online.
But even in 2012, many writers aren’t there yet, and the dream of landing that contract lives on.
Do you think there will be writers who are pushed aside by the technical requirements of the new era in publishing? Or will there always be publishers to take care of the business end of things for writers who want no part of it?

Free writers cnference in Chattanooga --twice annually!

2012-02-22T07:07:00.000-06:00

http://www.meachamwriters.org/schedule.htm

supported by an endowment

free
closeby
good presenters
timely topics

WOW!

Goodreads and book promotion!!

2012-02-19T10:12:00.000-06:00

http://ellelapraim.com/how-to-use-goodreads-for-self-promotion/

How To Use GoodReads for Self-Promotion

Written by Elle LaPraim on December 6, 2011 · 4 Comments

My friends thought I was crazy when I said I was going to write an article about all the things I have learned about self-promoting on Goodreads.com (http://www.goodreads.com/). I tried to tell them these were not my insider secrets, but rather tips and etiquette I have learned from being an active member of this online community. Goodreads can be an extremely useful and free tool to your marketing, but the difference between acquiring a successful following of individuals buying your book, and completely alienating the online community is as simple as etiquette.

Goodreads is an international, online reading group community. You sign up and can immediately chat with people from all over the world about any kind of literature you’re interested in. If you have an interest, it’s represented there and if not, feel free to start your own group and begin inviting people. Although I believe the group originally started in order to bring readers together, the growing popularity of self-publishing has brought new and established authors there in droves. Goodreads is completely free for the user and therefore an ideal way to get your work in the hands of readers. There are several ways to market yourself and see almost instant results. I have found that if I spend an hour or two on the site, I see the numbers of my stories sold on Amazon go up by the next day. Although that sounds very enticing, I want to stress a very important point before I go any further. If you are only interested in a quick result and not being part of a community, or do not have the time to put in, then Goodreads is not for you.

Once you set up a Goodreads account you can begin joining reading or writing groups. I recommend only joining groups you are really interested in for two reasons. One, you probably won’t have enough time to keep up with twenty different groups and two, you will not have anything to contribute to a group you care nothing about. Since I am a self-published writer who writes mostly Sci-Fi and Fantasy, I belong to a lot of the self-publisher groups as well as Sci-Fi and Fantasy groups. I like to belong to these groups not only because that is what I write, but also, because I write in these genres, I also like reading them. I belong to Kindle and Nook groups as well because those readers are my target audience since those are the devices I publish on. Find the groups that work for you.

After you join a few groups, you will find that most of them ask you to write in their introduction folder. This is a great place to tell people that you’re a writer and to even tell them a little bit about your work. Self-promoting in this area is acceptable as long as you’re also telling them a little bit about who you are as a person as well. So go on, tell them you dream of owning a unicycle one day, or all about your devotion to all things knitting. They just want to know you. There is a little button on the top right of the comment box where, if you are published on any of the major websites like Amazon or B&N, you can put a picture of the cover of your book and a link to where people can buy it. That’s very helpful and widely used.

When you have finished that, scroll through some of the folders on that group and write on some of the topics that interest you. This is where people go wrong; they go straight for the folder that allows self-promotion, leave their book info there and never write on the site again. Then they wonder why people don’t buy their book. Some people even just “spam” by leaving their book info in a place where it does not belong, like a folder titled “What did you think of the last Lord of The Rings Book?” That is a huge no-no and will anger potential readers as well as get you kicked out of the group. Remember, it’s a community and people want you to participate, so feel free to promote your book in folders that the moderator has allowed, but it is important to contribute to the group as a whole. You just might learn something as well; I know I learn something every time I am on. I typically spend about an hour on Goodreads several days a week. You may not have as much time as I, who am a full time writer, but don’t underestimate the importance of self-promotion. When I am on, I respond to people’s questions, I talk with others about books I have read, and I also sometimes start my own threads and ask questions of others. People get use to me, they feel like they know me, and often they will friend request me or go on my profile and find out I am a writer and buy my book because they feel like they know me. It’s that simple, but you need to be genuine and remember its reciprocity. You will only get something out of it if you put something in.

Ok, so if I have one big secret it is this: mention you are a self-published writer without advertising. People can see right thru advertising. All the time I am on groups chatting with people and someone will say, “Oh yes, I deal with what you’re talking about in my book Blah Blah Blah,” and they add a link. That just makes people mad. Instead try this, “As a self-published writer myself, I, too, love reading books where I feel like I can identify with the character, like Eugenia in ‘The Help’. I found her refreshing.” That way you have mentioned you’re a writer without hitting them over the head or distracting from the conversation. If someone is interested, then they can look up your books on your profile at a later time. I notice I get a lot of people buying my books because they really liked the insightful things I have to say and wonder what I talk about in my books. I have also bought books from self-published authors on Goodreads for the same reason.

So the trick is to go into it with the reader in mind. Remember Goodreads was started for them and most people are there to have a genuine conversation about the books they love. If they find a new wonderful author like yourself, that is an added bonus, and it should be to you as well. Good luck and welcome to the community!

Bookbaby...fees, foibles, and facts....

2012-02-17T19:57:00.002-06:00

http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2011/11/25/self-pub-spotlight-bookbaby-hidden-fees/

Advance Orders now being accepted!!

2012-02-16T21:49:00.000-06:00

www.PineyDPress.com

Most importance factors in selling books?

2012-02-11T18:55:00.000-06:00

Content
Appearance
Marketing
Who you Know

The answer --in the order of importance for SALES--is
1) Who you know (all potential buyers or influences)
2) Marketing
3) Cover & Appearance
4) Content

Why?
Who you know makes a difference in finding opportunities to tell people about your book and that's where it begins --whether it is in person or online--it starts with relationships

Marketing --where you talk about the book, how you talk about it, how others talk about it, how often images of the book are seen, or descriptions of the book are heard, affects how well it is remembered and that affects purchasing

Cover and appearance---we are all drawn to imagery --it speaks to us in an immediate way that words cannot. it is the image that most often drives us to pick up the book --to read the back cover, and thumb thru the index...

Content-this is what affects how we as readers perceive value--was it everything we expected and hoped? If so, we are likely to remember the author and be interested in future works.

So, the message is that they are ALL vital--what part is most importance depends on what you are trying to accomplish, but you can't get books into readers hands without relationships....

so, the message is really that its relationships that matter---

Next book blog bit form Deb --platform--why you need it and what it is!

Magazines and anthologies seeking submissions!

2012-02-10T15:28:00.002-06:00

http://www.newpages.com/classifieds/calls/

Even the "big guys" make mistakes!

2012-02-10T12:41:00.000-06:00

Today's Top Stories

1. LEO Pharma hit with sales-rep OT suit

By Tracy Staton

Comment | Forward | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

The sales-rep overtime fight is spreading. Four LEO Pharma salespeople have filed a putative class action, alleging they're owed overtime under U.S. wage-and-hour laws. The reps accuse LEO of misclassifying them as exempt from overtime, even though their duties include non-exempt activities, the law firm Sanford Wittels & Heisler said in a press release announcing the suit.

I think they meant punative....

Twitter Tools for Authors

2012-02-10T09:05:00.000-06:00

http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/02/5-top-tools-for-promoting-your-book-on-twitter/

by Steven Lewis (@Rule17)
Today I have the pleasure of introducing readers to Steven Lewis, another great blogger and self-publisher who I met on Twitter. Steven is a prolific writer, an author and helps people publish their books to the Kindle platform. Today he’s got great tips for you if you want to use Twitter to promote your book. Here’s his article.

The five best tools for promoting your book on Twitter
Twitter is the second greatest source of traffic to my Taleist self-publishing blog after Google. As your blog is also where many of your readers might go before buying your books that promotional power makes Twitter an essential part of any author platform and marketing strategy.
Fortunately Twitter is an ecosystem in which talented developers are thriving by making useful tools. Five in particular have become crucial to me since I realised the importance of Twitter to my success and started taking my use of the network seriously.

Klout
Klout tries to quantify how “influential” you are on Twitter. There’s room for debate about how Klout measures this but it’s undoubtedly a useful benchmarking tool. I use my Klout score as feedback to gauge how useful I’m being to my followers.

Tweepi
If you want more followers and you aren’t a Kardashian, you have to go out and find them.
I use Tweepi to find people with common interests. If you follow Joel on Twitter, I think you and I might find each other interesting.
Tweepi lets me enter Joel’s Twitter handle — @jfbookman — to see a list of his followers and select which ones I want to follow. (It’s worth noting that one of Tweepi’s premium features allows you to exclude people with a low Klout score, just one indication of how Klout is becoming important in the Twittersphere.)
Naturally I’m hoping that this is reciprocated and that you’ll follow me back. I’ve met some great people this way.

Tweriod
Having made all these new friends I want to know to know when the best time to connect is. I have followers all over the world and there’s no point tweeting when most people offline.
Tweriod will give you a report of when your followers are most active so you can concentrate your tweets around those times or at least hold off the most important ones till they will reach the biggest audience.

Hootsuite
For me 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. turns out to be a good time but I’m exercising and having breakfast then, not tweeting.
Hootsuite lets me schedule tweets so I can be sure messages are going at the best time. When I write a blog post, for instance, I tweet three times in 24 hours so I reach all time zones.
With Hootsuite I can also have a column for each of my lists and columns for replies and direct messages. This is important to me because there are some people I follow especially closely and I want to see all their tweets. That’s hard to do when you’re receiving tweets from thousands of people.
TweetDeck has similar features.

Buffer
Tweeting links to content that self-publishers will find interesting requires finding those links in the first place. I do this mostly in the evening while I go through my RSS feeds on my iPad. If I tweeted all the links as I found them, I’d be sending out a burst of tweets. This would be a shell burst that might overwhelm followers who were awake and I wouldn’t reach any followers who are active at other times.
Ideally I would spread these tweet out over the day but with a focus on the times when Tweriod has told me they’re most likely to be useful. This is exactly what Buffer lets me do. I send the tweets to Buffer and it rations them out to a schedule I set.
Tweeting with Klout
You might have soldiered through all that and thought it’s too complicated. If you do feel that way, maybe pick a couple of ideas and work on those. I can tell you that my Klout score was 40/100 when I started and it’s now about 50. That might not sound too high but wait till you try it till you judge!
What are your favorite tools for promoting on Twitter?
Steven Lewis writes the Taleist self-publishing blog, where you can sign-up for his social media check-up, a free email course showing you easy ways to make sure you’re using social media to maximum effect in promoting your books.

Press Kit for Authors--what to include!

2012-02-09T18:24:00.000-06:00

http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2011/03/book-marketing-your-online-press-kit/

When you’re launching and marketing your book it can be essential to get attention from the media. It may be big media, niche market media, trade magazines, book reviewers, book bloggers, talent bookers or any number of other representatives of print, electronic, or broadcast media.

It’s your job to make their job easy.

There are many times you’ll want to send information to media contacts. It’s become common for authors to maintain their own media kit on their website, on the site for their book, or on their blog.

It makes sense. You can point inquiries to your Press or Media page, and make available lots of information to make it easy for busy reviewers, editors, reporters or researchers to get basic information on their own schedule.

I’ve been putting together a media kit for A Self-Publisher’s Companion, and studying some of the others I’ve found online.

For instance, Tim Ferris of The 4-Hour Workweek fame, has a full media kit with press release, book summary and sample interview questions. He also has a large assortment of photos of Tim Ferris to choose from.

My doctor Marty Rossman just published a book with Crown, a major trade publisher. I took a look at his site for his new book The Worry Solution. In addition to photos of the author and a bio, this page is heavily weighted toward interviews. It features extensive sample subjects for 8 different interviews, and a list of 15 possible interview questions.

Seth Godin’s new publishing venture, The Domino Project, has, as you might expect, a robust Press page with excerpts, Q&As, and press releases for the enterprise as a whole and each title. Their media kit is a bold and effective 9-page PDF that tells the story of Domino in a compelling style.

For a self-published author with a lot of experience I took a look at Susan Daffron’s Publishize Press Page. Note that well after publication Susan went back to add awards her book had won so the press page was kept up to date and effective as a tool to sell her book.

What to Include in your Online Press Kit

You can get creative with your press kit, but keep in mind that reviewers will expect certain elements. These include:

A press release, usually the one you write for the book’s launch.
Author bio, including previous publications and qualifications to write the book. Include author’s platform information.
Author photo, and it’s smart to include high-resolution files for print and low-resolution for online use.
Book photo, with the same resolutions as the author photo.

Many other items can and are added, but keep in mind that throwing more information at people is not always a good strategy to get them to pay attention to your message. Some great additions might be:

Sample review. These can be very helpful to writers who are in a time crunch, and who isn’t?
Sample chapter
Interview questions
Photos that can be used in a story about the book or its subect
Reprints or transcripts of interviews about the book
Testimonials from early readers with authority or celebrity

The easiest way to make your press kit available is to put all the documents into a PDF or a ZIP file and put a download link to the file on your book’s Press or Media page. This page works best when it’s in your navigation, or you provide a link on the home page of your site. The idea is to make it easy to find.

I was surprised to find that a number of writers with books out right now didn’t seem to have a press kit at all. Or it may have been that it was really, really hard to find.

Since we rely on publicity and spreading the word about our work through other people’s networks, it makes sense to me to make sure your press kit is obvious and easy to download.

Where to go for writers....

2012-02-09T09:14:00.000-06:00

Did you know?

A lot of the info you look for and wonder about is available to you free of charge on the following blogs, websites, and Facebook pages:

Murfreesboro Writers Group Blog (http://murfreesborowritersgroup.blogspot.com )

· 3600+ views

· 300+ postings

· News about our members

· News from our members

· News about events and changes in the marketplace

· How to critique tips

· MWG rules and meetings

Live Love & Write (Debs blog) (http://dhslivelovewrite.blogspot.com )

· 6800+ views

· 400+ postings

· Tips on self publishing

· Tips on marketing

· Tips on building a platform

· Resources for writers

· Calls for Beta readers (and definitions of what a Beta reader is )

· Book giveaways

· QR codes—what they are and why they matter

· Setting up an Amazon Author page –how, where and why

· Ideas for getting published—Creativity Portal and more

Simple Self Publishing (http://simpleselfpub.blogspot.com )

· 2000+ views

· 250+ postings

· Tips on selecting a publishing company

· Tips on how to self publish

· Tips on issues in the marketplace for self publishers

· Resources for publishing

www.ClosingTheGate.com

· A complete page on the cult, its members, the mass suicide, pictures, and more

· Info on book signings and giveaways

· Resource links for help with cults, mental illness, sexual abuse, etc

· Bibliography

www.DebSimpsonBooks.com

· example of an author media kit

· examples of book media kits

· examples of publication listings

· links to all social media locations for the author

· author to author books reviews

· historical info on the Central State hospital (where Debs mom was) –and why it matters

· Paris pics

· Links to the MWG blog

· Anthology sales

· Sale of Debs books

· Links to resources and author websites

Facebook

· Event listings for our group members

· Announcements and news about members

· News about publishing industry

· Requests for Beta readers

Goodreads (www.goodreads.com)

· Requests for Beta readers

· Book giveaways

· Book reviews

· Author events

Motivation -available on Piney D Pess website!

2012-02-08T12:17:00.001-06:00

Piney D Press