#WWoW! Just Write!

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Why a Cartoon Works as an Erotic Author Persona

THIS POST ReBlogged from Author Marketing 101: Why a Cartoon Works as an Erotic Author Persona

Therese & Morgan Say: Are you still cringing at the thought of doing a photo shoot for an author portrait? Well, here is an alternative for those of you who may be camera shy or otherwise have a specific reason for not wanting to have your picture floating around the internet. We reached out to our dear friend, Sabrina York for her thoughts on why she chose to use a cartoon illustration instead of an author portrait. 'Her Royal Hotness' was an early supporter of our efforts and we will forever love her!

Sabrina Says: For the last century or so, I have worked in government for a very conservative organization. (Well, it seems like a century.) What I write is not conservative in the least. So I knew as soon as I sold my first steamy romance, I would need to use a pen name. It would serve as a tool to keep my personal and professional lives separate and would also allow me to write in other genres under another name if I so desired.

Because this separation between my worlds was so important to me, I hired a company (Visual Quill) to help with developing a branding strategy. We defined a profile for my core customer, and from that designed a logo and tagline, which I would use for all my marketing.

My core customer is, like me, a little reserved on the surface, but with a playful and naughty side. She has a snarky sense of humor and loves bling. These elements are all incorporated in my persona.

What are the hallmarks of an effective persona?

Professionalism

My philosophy as a newbie author was this: “Begin as you mean to go on.” It was my intention to be a bestselling author and I decided to behave like one from the very beginning. My thought was, this is big business. And big businesses have logos. They do not rely on photographs of their CEOs.

“But Sabrina,” you may ask. “How can a cartoon logo be professional?”

And I will respond, “Stop interrupting.” But then I will go on to share that any cartoon can be a professional logo…if it illustrates your brand. KFC and Wendy’s are two that pop to mind, but I won’t mention them because then I’ll get hungry.

Recognizability
A logo is far more recognizable at a glance than a photograph. As we all know, a customer must see your logo three times for it to sink into their consciousness (new studies reflecting our shortening attention spans suggests that number is closer to 17). By using my logo as my “face,” people see it over and over again on Facebook, blogs, marketing material, Goodreads, Pintrest, Twitter…and so on.

It has recognizability. They know, immediately, who I am. And if they’ve read my books, they know my brand. On that note, for those of you who regularly change your profile picture on Facebook, realize you are losing a little chunk of your brand recognition every time you do so.

A Shield
Because I use my logo rather than a photograph in my marketing efforts, it is easier to maintain personal privacy, or at least some distance from my personal persona. This may not seem important when you are just starting to build your fan base, but when 75% of your followers on Facebook (and closer to 95% on Twitter) are people you do not personally know, this becomes essential.

Friends of mine—erotic authors—who use their personal photograph as their profile picture, spend a lot of time fending off advances from individuals who think Facebook is a dating site. Apparently these charming fellows think erotic authors need a date…which is far from the truth. We are all too busy writing to date.

Other authors have shared even more disturbing stories about being stalked (and not in a good way), and fans who “friend” their husbands and children as a way to connect with them. It is an excellent idea to keep your personal business off social media—especially photographs of your children. If this is your business, treat Facebook, and other social media outlets, like a business site.

Advice on how to create your own persona
Think about who you are and what you write. What image do you want to portray? Is there a unifying brand you can apply to your persona? For me, my tagline, Her Royal Hotness, ties into the tiara in my logo. To extend the thread, I do a regular tiara giveaway and my promo pens are festooned with bling.

Everything ties together into a neat package. A package readers can recognize in an instant.

And if you were wondering why I felt the need to keep my private life private from my conservative employers, download a copy of my free teaser book and see for yourself: http://sabrinayork.com/home-2/sabrina-yorks-teaser-book/

Happy reading!

About Sabrina York
Her Royal Hotness, Sabrina York, is the award winning author of over twenty hot, humorous stories for smart and sexy readers, her titles range from sweet & steamy erotic romance to scorching BDSM. Connect with her on twitter @sabrina_york, on Facebook or on Pintrest. Check out Sabrina’s books and read an excerpt on Amazon or wherever e-books are sold. Visit her webpage at www.sabrinayork.com to check out her books, excerpts and contests. Don’t forget to enter to win the royal tiara!

Like my Facebook Author Page
Follow me on Twitter @sabrina_york
Follow me on Goodreads
Check out my Pintrest boards
Like my Amazon Author Page

Giveaways - There is no wrong way.

Hi! I hope you're having a lovely Thursday. Today I wanted to talk a little about giveaways. Is it ever hard to decide on what you want to giveaway?

You have a new release. Should you giveaway your new book? A gift card (and hope they will buy your book)? Swag? Or something else totally random?

While there is no real answer on what you should giveaway, I do have a few thoughts. When I first release a book, I don't do an actual giveaway of the book for awhile. Yes, my hopes are people will buy the book.

But I will giveaway a book similar to it. Maybe it's part of the series. I will giveaway the book before or the first in the series. Something that might entice them to want my latest. Such as with Arranged Love, my story Wanted: Wife has a similar feel to it. So I've been giving it away.

I do the gift card thing and usually in $5 increments and give the winner 3 options: Amazon, Nook, or Starbucks. All of these you can do online. I don't know what they will buy with it. But remember, you don't know they are going to read your book either when you give it to them. It could stay on their hard drive. At least with the gift card, they've won something they'll use and if it's a super awesome day, maybe they will pick up my book...maybe they won't.

Swag. I've been published since 2011 and I've never really done the swag thing before. I don't like spending money on things I'm not sure about. I see swag (paper products mainly) and I see my money literally being put into someones trash can. Now, with that said, it doesn't mean you shouldn't give away swag. I actually just did my first swag pack giveaways. I have a conference coming up, so I ordered a bunch of stuff to bring a long. These probably won't be my best giveaways. I'm trying it, so I can't say yet how successful this is.

And on another note. If you're a brand new author and you're wanting to find new readers, then I do suggest giving away your actual book. Like I mentioned earlier, just know, not everyone you send your book to will read it. Books are given away every day and books are bought every day. I must admit, I have books I've bought with ever intention on reading, but then something else came on my kindle and that book got pushed aside 6 months ago now. However, don't let that discourage you, because some are going to read it. They are going to love it and when you're next book releases, you might have found your first few fans. And really, that's what this is all about. Finding fans who love your work. 

Giveaways are tricky, but there really is no wrong way. Readers love them. Many of them spend a lot of money on books, so getting something for free is always great.

Happy Thursday!

-Lacey

Are You EPIC? @EPICorg

EPIC, the Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition™ (www.epicorg.com) was established in 1998 and is a global organization of published authors and industry-related professionals who actively advocate continuing education and further enlightenment of electronic publications.

The EPIC eBook Competition™ is the oldest competition honoring eBooks and the ePublishing industry. This is a premier event for authors and publishing houses. The ARIANA Cover Art Competition™ celebrates artwork from imaginative and eye-catching eBook covers with this prestigious award, applauding the finest artwork of eBook publishing.

Literacy is close to the hearts of EPIC members and we are very proud of our New Voices Young Writers Competition™. This competition encourages reading and writing in public, private and home-based schools and is the perfect forum for young people to learn the versatility of eBooks, to experience a taste of the ePublishing world. This competition is open to young writers 11 to 18 years old.

EPIC’s annual conference, EPICon™, invites industry professionals to share the latest eIndustry information, hone writing and editing skills, and explore new markets and promotional ideas. Keynote luncheon speakers range from world-renowned authors to established publishing houses to eBook and print agents. For more information, please visit http://www.epicorg.com.

Now, why should you attend EPICon 2014? 

For the fabulous workshops?

For the entertainment factor?

For the exciting networking opportunities?

For the delightful Texas charm in San Antonio?

Yes! Yes! Yes! & Yes!

We have workshops to help Doctor a Sick Manuscript, Branding in the Digital Marketplace. The ABCs of Social Media and evenTaxes - the Dreaded Monster in the Closet. What about When Opportuntiy Strikes? The Perfect Pitch? Speed Dating with Publishers? The Gritty Details of Prison Life? Oh yes and don't forget Body Language for Writers and Paint the Picture.

All of this while networking with industry professionals, seeing old friends and making new ones at the eFiesta and Gala eBook Awards Banquet. Delight your senses on a San Antonio River Cruise and gear up for a Ghost tour of the historic--and haunted--Menger Hotel

Register today at EPIC.org!

This message was provided by Karen Cote from EPIC.

Connect With Your Readers

I've been reading this great book by Kristen Lamb - Rise of The Machines: Human Authors In The Digital World. I'm a little more than halfway through, but right now the biggest thing had has stuck with me is: TALK TO YOUR READERS! Or people on Facebook in general.

Kristen Lamb wrote something in the book that made a light bulb go off in my head that said, "Duh!"

To be honest, most of my time spent on my Facebook account is interacting with authors. I like their status's,

comment on them, etc. And I am going to admit, when non-author status's come through, I don't comment on them as much, because when I log in to my Lacey Wolfe account, I'm in author mode. It isn't that I don't care what they are saying. I do. I just don't interact.

Wrong.

I should be. Kristen Lamb made a great point. We are on social media to be social. And I was (I'm stressing was, I've changed my ways), that was on there to just be social with other writers. It's important to like the status's and comment on non-writers stuff. Why? Besides the obvious--to hope they like us and one day might want to read us--but to be social. To find new people and those we can build strong friendships with.

I am more than an author. I am a mother, daughter, wife. I have six cats and a spoiled rotten dog full of anxiety. I like to watch the SyFy channel. I just started to crochet. I love to wash clothes but hate to fold them. See where I am going?

When you get on Facebook or any social media, take a step back and remember, while you are an awesome writer, you're also so much more. And use that to connect with your readers/friends.

To learn a little more, check out Kristen Lamb's blog HERE and go on twitter under the hashtag #MyWANA. WANA stands for We Are Not Alone. And I can't recommend her book enough.

-Lacey

Lacey's Favorite Ways To Use Facebook For Promo

Today I wanted to talk a few of my favorite ways you can use Facebook for promotion. Aside from posting your buy links all the time, there are other ways to entice readers into check out your  books.

Flash Giveaways - What is this? You ask people seeing the post to like and comment on the

post. If you're using a fan page, this will help more people see the post. If you have a new release, this is a great time to post the blurb and cover and give something away that is not your new book. Because I hate to say it, but you want people to purchase the book, right? In my thinking, if you just give the book away, people are going to wait until it's offered as a giveaway again. I am a big gift card giver. They don't have to buy my book with it of course, they can get anything they've wanted.

Anyway, flash giveaways are quick giveaways. A few hours or a day. Your choice. But it's something that as more people like, comment, tag, and share, your info is being shared. And how great is that? It's so hard to reach new readers outside of your usual reach. Hopefully you find one that loves you.

Graphics - These are to be eye catchy and you can include excerpts, buy links, etc with them. And I usually use the website pizap.com. Very easy to use. Anyone, in my opinion, can make eye catching graphics there for FREE! Here are a few I've made before to give you an idea.

And finally, check out these pages. They have forms you submit for them to promote your books. It works! And they want your books to share on their pages. Go check them out!

What To Read After Fifty Shades of Grey: https://www.facebook.com/WhatToReadAfter50ShadesOfGrey
 eBook Korner Kafe (non-erotic): https://www.facebook.com/EBookKornerKafe
Korner Kafe Exposed: https://www.facebook.com/KornerKafeX

#WWoW! Indie Authors Use NetGalley!

There are new opportunities on NetGalley for self-published authors! And I'm so excited about what this means -the doors it opens- for Indie authors. There are basically three options but I've found OPTION THREE to be the most affordable and beneficial for Indie authors.

What Does NetGalley Do?

NetGalley provides a place where authors/publishers can upload their ebooks (ARCs or older titles) and reviewers can request a copy for review. If approved, NetGalley readers will read and review the titles.

NetGalley gives you fast and easy access to the 120,000 bloggers, journalists, librarians, booksellers, and media people who use NetGalley. And these reviewers are some high profile groups - movers and shakers in the book review realm.

Three ways for Indie Authors to join NetGalley:
OPTION ONE Indie authors can upload their ebooks to NetGalley manually. For $400, you can post one title for six months.
OPTION TWO Indie authors can upload their ebooks to NetGalley through the IBPA program. For $350, they will help you in posting one title for six months.
OPTION THREE 20 indie authors can form a co-op that will have access to 20 title slots for one year. Each individual author can swap out as many titles as they need during that year. The cost is $300 per author for the full year of access, unlimited number of titles.


GOOD NEWS! I jumped at OPTION THREE. When I found it difficult to find space in current CoOps, I decided to form my own. Indie authors interested in being a part of the BECKONING ROMANCE CoOp, contact me. Be sure "NetGalley CoOp" is in the subject header.

LOOK AT THESE STATS FROM THE All Night Reads CoOp (found on Susan Kaye's blog)

"Within a day of getting All Night Reads started, we had 11 titles live in the catalog, with 446 approved requests, of which 286 downloaded right away and 1 person had read and reviewed. ALL IN ONE DAY.
After a week, 19 titles with 2,216 approved review requests (2,185 actually downloaded) and 36 reviews."

THOSE ARE SOME SOLID STATS!

So, $300 feels like an awful lot of money. BUT... here's why it's worth it...

1. It includes a year's worth of NetGalley access for as many books as you want! NetGalley allows you to switch them out which means you could have a new book live each month.
2. It saves you the time of querying reviewers/ bloggers directly. No more cold call emails!
3. It exposes your book to the right reviewers. NetGalley allows the reviewer to request the books they believe matches their reading interest so your book lands in the right hands.
4. It puts your book in front of a diverse audience. NetGalley reviewers include librarians and other media people, as well as book bloggers, general Goodreads reviewers and booksellers.

Indie CoOps are popping up on NetGalley. For information on another Indie CoOp, follow this link to Patchwork Press where my idea to form my own originated from. Here's another author speaking about her experience in forming the All Night Reads CoOp.

It's a new opportunity for Indie Authors! CHECK IT ALL OUT. Then let me know if you want to be a part of the BECKONING ROMANCE CoOp. All genres welcome. We'll begin in 2014 as soon as we have twenty members!

Keep Writing!

Paloma

#WWoW! Holiday Hops! Authors: Join Now.

Looking for promotion opportunities this holiday season? There's a lot going on you can still get involved with. The holiday season is a great time to promote your books. Many readers are getting ready to take some time off and relax... with some good books. So get your books out in front of them!

Marketing for Romance Writers is hosting a holiday blog hop from December 13-15, 2013. Any author with a holiday-themed book is welcome. You have to be a member of MFRW but it's free to sign up and the benefits far surpass blog hops. SIGN UP HERE.

The Romance Studio hosts PARTIES. Authors can sign up, submit a blog post, join the contest and engage with readers. They have an actual party site so you draw from a new circle of potential readers.Their Christmas Party is from December 17-23, 2013. CHECK THEM OUT HERE.

Romance Beckons is hosting the Merry Mistletoe Blog Hop from December 20-23, 2013. All holiday-themed books or blog posts are welcome. SIGN UP HERE. No donation required. Each site is just asked to provide their own prize.

The Winter Spanks Blog Hop is being hosted by Spanking Romance Reviews. It runs from January 2-4, 2014 so it's a bit after the holidays but it gets to readers during that post-holiday hump. CLICK HERE to
Sign Up.

Okay, what are you waiting for? There's got to be at least one of these that suits you. Hurry! Get signed up and start promoting your books during this holiday season!

Paloma

Stuck on the plot. My tips. #wwow

It's been a few weeks since I posted, and for that, I'm sorry. I've had some personal things going on that pulled me away from blogging as well as writing.

Today I wanted to talk a little but about writing, writers block, and plot bunnies. I often see authors posting status's or asking in groups what they should do when they feel stuck on a book they are writing, and yet

another story is calling to them.

First off, I don't believe in deadlines. Of course, if you follow me on facebook, you'll see I mention them for myself and now you're thinking I'm some weirdo. But what I mean is setting deadline and stressing about it. I usually start writing a book and make a goal as to when I'd like it done. It either happens or it doesn't. And guess what, I'm fine either way. Stressing makes this job no fun. And I intend to enjoy this career.

So what to do if you're stuck. Do you force the words out or walk away? I usually say, walk away for the time being. You can come back and most of the time you will. If another story is calling, then write it. I can't tell you how many times I've been working on a book and something else calls to me. And bam, I can write that book in no time. Yeah, you might have about five work in progresses, but eventually you will finish them and they will make out to the world. But don't force a book.

I'm gonna be honest here too. I have one book out that was forced. It's in a series and in that series, it's the one that gets picked up the worst and has lower ranked reviews. At the time the book was with a publisher and I had a set deadline to have the book with the editor. And the book just wasn't flowing for me. So I forced it.

The best part of being a indie or small press writer, is that you usually don't have those dreaded deadlines. So enjoy it. Don't push yourself to write something that just isn't ready.

-Lacey

#WWoW! Authors join Read Tuesday!

Here's an opportunity for authors to promote their books during the holiday season... READ TUESDAY.

It'll be a huge day like Black Friday, but for buying and gifting books at amazing sale prices.

In 2013, the date for Read Tuesday will be Tuesday, December 10.

It's SIMPLE TO SIGN UP and participate. In fact, I've already done it! My self-published books will be part of this HUGE HOLIDAY SALES EVENT!

THE ORIGIN OF READ TUESDAY

*taken directly from the READ TUESDAY Website.*

On Black Friday and Cyber Monday, there are great discounts on electronics, tools, toys, and clothes, for example, but very few books seem to be discounted more than usual. There are millions of books to choose from. Most tend to remain at ordinary prices during these big sales events.

Read Tuesday is a special event dedicated to big book savings. Thousands of books will be on sale on Read Tuesday. This is a great opportunity for readers to stock up on books from their favorite participating authors and publishers.

Discounted books also make great gifts for the holidays. It’s easy to gift e-books, returns are not a problem with most retailers, the gift is delivered instantly (but you can schedule when to have it delivered), and there are no shipping and handling charges. Share the gift of reading.

Read Tuesday is also a great opportunity for authors, small publishers, and booksellers to benefit from a huge holiday sale event. Books are featured in their exclusive catalog once you sign up for the event.

FOLLOW READ TUESDAY ON TWITTER.

FOLLOW THE READ TUESDAY BLOG.

So, with the countdown beginning to the holiday season, here's a chance for authors to promote our books to shoppers. This event is going to be huge with a large marketing campaign that will ensure maximum exposure. Sign up. Join the hundreds of other authors participating already.

Then, get back to work... and Keep Writing!

Paloma

#WWoW! It's NaNo Time! @NaNoWriMo

What's NaNoWriMo?
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by November 30.

YOU WRITE. NOT EDIT. YOU ONLY WRITE. WRITE. WRITE.

Who can sign up for NaNoWriMo?
Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought fleetingly about writing a novel. That means YOU can do this.

**I participated for the first time in 2012. The result was my book HOLD MY HAND that I published in April 2013. Proof that this system can work.**

How do I sign up for NaNoWriMo?
Go to their website. Register. It's that easy. The accountability is all yours. If you try it and don't succeed, try again next year (or not).

Is there any support?
Yes! You can find writing buddies -these are other writers in your genre who you can share ideas with online. You are also placed geographically into regions of writers. Each region has a leader who often hosts in-person writing events too.

There's also this great program called COME RIGHT IN where local venues are supporters of NaNoWriMo. What does this mean for you? Well, if you’re a Wrimo, it means you’ll have a space in your neighborhood where you can get to know your fellow writers and simultaneously pen your NaNo masterpiece! If you’re a staff member at a library, bookstore, another community organization with space for writers—or a student or faculty member at a college or university—you’ll be able to welcome a flood of avid novelists and engaged community members into your space.

Think about it. If you're looking for incentive or a jumpstart or need to power through a new book, this is a great program. I wrote my first self-published book HOLD MY HAND during NaNoWriMo 2012 and plan to do it again this year. Want to join me? Once you register, look me up and I'll be your on-line Writing Buddy!

Paloma

#WWoW!: How to Use Social Media To Build Your Brand Without Making Yourself a Nuisance #MyWANA

Hello fellow authors! Welcome to Tammy's Tidbits here at Writer's Words of Wisdom. Each week I try to share the information I've learned along my journey to become published. It's been two years since my first erotic romance was published. Now with three pen names, five books published, and the launch of my own publishing house I can honestly say...whew! What a wild ride! 



Some may say I must have found the secret to succeed in this author eat author world, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I'm still learning the ropes and feeling my way around to find the best methods to connect with fellow authors, readers, publishers and everyone else in between.  I've gone from having zero social media accounts to having six different blogs, two separate websites, five Twitter accounts, multiple Facebook accounts and pages,LinkedIn, Tumbler, StumbledUpon, Pinterest, two Goodreads author accounts, and all the email accounts to go along with the pen names and my publishing house. 

Can it get anymore complicated?  Yep, but let's Not. Go. There.  LOL!

Recently I looked back through all of my Facebook and Twitter feeds and noticed way too many promotions. Hashtags seemed to be sprouting out of everywhere. It was just too much. Sort of like this video. 

While this skit made me laugh, it also made me reevaluate my own use of those things. I'm involved in a few different author support groups and the use of hashtags is encouraged by all of them.  Trust me, you'll know those of us in those groups by the sheer number of tags in our posts. 

What does it do? Ultimately instead of helping get the post noticed by new connections, it ends up only being used by those in the same group. Sure it's nice to have so many folks retweeting all of your posts to their followers, but eventually the venues get saturated with the same tweets over and over again. Readers just skim through and ignore these tag loaded entries.  

Social media is supposed to be SOCIAL. You're supposed to interact and connect with people who genuinely want to know about you and your work. They want to know you're a real person even if you do have multiple pen names. They want to know you have something in common with THEM. 

Kristen Lamb's book Rise of the Machines: Human Authors in a Digital World shows you how to be social and make connections with people in and out of the publishing world. She shows how you in turn can be someone who connects others to each other and thereby broadening your influence and building up your brand...YOU. 

You'll learn what NOT to do too such as 

• Never immediately send someone a private or direct message thanking them for the connection and asking them to "like" your pages or buy your book. 
• Never expect someone to "like" your pages simply because you just liked theirs.
• Never expect an automatic follow back 
• Never post your own book promotion on another author's Facebook Page or Wall without their permission.
• Never set up automatic tweets or status updates throughout the day and think that will fool others into thinking you're actually online.

Those are just a few of my pet peeves when dealing with other authors and their street teams. That sort of behavior doesn't build up your brand, but makes you and your brand #1 on the "unfriend, unfollow and block" list.

I can hear you all now. "But authors are supposed to support each other. What's wrong with asking them to help out?"

It's ANNOYING. When you don't even bother to take the time to socialize with people before you hit them with the commercials to buy your new book, you really tick them off. It appears to them, all you want is a book sale.  

If you really want these folks to help promote you, then you have to share a bit about yourself. Comment on their posts and get personable. This makes people WANT to check you and your work out. If they like it, they'll promote you all over the place using "word of mouth" advertising at it's best.  If you choose to be the annoying infomercial all the time, folks will be turned off and tune you out. They'll also tell others about your rude behavior. "Word of mouth" at it's worst—for you and your brand that is.

I'm going to try to revamp all of my social media sites to be less promo and more interaction. Why don't you give it a try too? Pick up Kristen's book and see if you've been doing more on the "don't" list than on the "do."  Use her advice, and connect with folks all around the world. You'll be surprised at how your book sales will just fall into place. Mine are starting to pick up and it's only been a week since I started making changes. 

Go on, give it a try. You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain here. 

~Tammy

Learn More About Tammy

Tammy Dennings Maggy is a best selling, multi-published poet and erotic romance author with Siren and Sassy Vixen Publishing. Her writing explores many facets of romance from ultimate betrayal to finding your soul mate. Her poetry serves as a companion to her novels and has inspired entire series all on their own. Tammy and her alter egos Lia Michaels and Stephanie Ryan make up the core authors at Sassy Vixen Publishing and together they've created the shared world series Temptations Resort. Look for the first books in that series to come out later this year.

Now happily married to her own Muse and soul mate, she continues to live her dream and act as secretary to all her characters demanding to have their stories told.

Check out:

Tammy's Website
Tammy's Blog
Tammy's Books on Bookstrand, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords,  and iTunes 
Sassy Vixen Publishing
Friend Tammy on Facebook
Like Tammy's Facebook Author Page
Friend Tammy on Goodreads
Friend Tammy on Pinterest
Follow Tammy on Twitter
Find Tammy's Videos on Youtube


If you'd like to share your experiences in the publishing world, please contact us about setting up a guest appearance. We'd love to hear from you!

WWoW! Guest Blog for Exposure!

Let's talk about writing Guest Posts for other blogs.

There are benefits to being a guest on another blog. The exposure you gain magnifies because you are able to reach out to more readers. Since most bloggers have guest spots, its not too difficult to find blogs you fit with. Writing a guest post puts you in front of a whole new audience and can increase your own blog's following. Blog readers that haven't yet heard of you now get their first impression and may then follow you... and maybe even buy your books!

Here are some GENERAL GUIDELINES to follow:

Be Relevant to the Host Blog. Know before you sign on that your genre is a fit for this blog's followers. You don't want to post erotic romance on a sweet romance blog. You also likely won't want to post paranormal on a contemporary blog.

Be Polite. Follow all the guidelines the Host Blog provides. They are hosting you so its the least you can do. Most will tell you when they need your post and how they want it provided.

Be Aware. Know what the format of your host blog is. You will want to submit the correct things the host blog regularly includes. For example, know if they include a book cover or a banner. Can you include an excerpt? What length?

Be Knowledgeable. It's about more than self-promotion. We all need to promote our books but most blogs are looking for more content in a blog post. Unless agreed upon otherwise, your post should have a topic for discussion. Write about something you have knowledge on - maybe a topic that fits with your latest book.

Be Connected. Include links back to your own website or blog when relevant to your post. Back links will connect your blog to the host blog and benefit both. Use these links to reference prior posts on similar subjects.

Be Loud. Follow up on you guest post by promoting it on your own social media outlets. Visit the host blog on the day of your post to respond to comments and interact with followers. One idea I use sometimes when guest blogging is to write a brief post on my own blog that drives traffic to my guest post. This sends my followers to a new blog they might enjoy.

Want to Guest Blog?

We offer guest blogging opportunities here on WWoW! You can submit a guest post and we will schedule it into the next available Friday. Tell us about a success you had as an author. Just share your experience. Our blog is all about Writers sharing their knowledge with other Writers. You can also include some promo of your latest book.

Send your guest post HERE. Use the subject line: "WWoW! Guest Post".

WWoW! Use Tweepi!

Tweepi is my favorite tool to use with Twitter.

Tweepi helps you make sense of your Twitter social graph with stats. You will be able to learn about the number of people you haven't followed back, the number of people who aren't following you, search people who your friends follow and much more. It makes it simple to manage your account by doing the following things much easier than manually through twitter...

FLUSH UNFOLLOWERS

This tool allows you to unfollow users who aren't following you back.

RECIPROCATE

This tool helps you find all the users that follow you, but you don't follow back. Then you can follow them back with a click of a button.

CLEAN UP INACTIVE FOLLOWERS

This feature allows you to unfollow users who no longer keep active twitter accounts. It's likely that you're following more than a few hundred people on Twitter. You must've noticed that many of these users either don't engage in conversations, never retweet anybody, or simply just ramble about nonsense stuff all day long (no links to useful content whatsoever!). You can use Tweepi cleanup tool to filter these people out and unfollow them. The Clean-up tool enables you to filter out those inactive and unwanted tweeps by letting you check out their details and decide for yourself!

FIND NEW FOLLOWERS

This feature gives you a resource for finding users with similar interests. The most common way to find and add people with the same interests as you, is to find a popular user within your area of interest and add people who follow these known users.

Tweepi helps you analyze and filter tweeps out -the geeky way,

with numbers in a table- based on their activity and sociability. 

How do you start using Tweepi?

It's only 5 simple steps.

1. Go to http://tweepi.com/
2. Choose "login" (to start using Tweepi for free which is all you need)
3. Enter your username/email with your password and click "Authorize app"
4. Create a Tweepi account with your first and last name and your e-mail
5. Start using Tweepi!

The first time you go through your account, it may take awhile but as you then update it every few weeks, it

becomes less of a chore. You'll find it worthwhile to create a SAFE LIST so you never accidentally unfollow someone you want to follow regardless of any stats. For example, you might be following a celebrity who doesn't follow people but you won't want to unfollow them. You might be surprised though at how many people you follow that aren't  following you and vice versa. Tweepi gives you the tools to make your Twitter account be exactly what you want. Make it work for you using Tweepi.

Then, get back to it...

Keep Writing!

Paloma

#WWoW! Street Teams make an Impact!

Let's Talk About Street Teams.

Likely, you've heard this term before. They're popping up all over the place as authors take advantage of their most valuable resource - their readers. Readers -especially bloggers/ reviewers- are vital to a book's success because their opinion goes a long way. Some have an established reputation as being a person to turn to for book recommendations. Why not partner with them if they love your books/ series?

That's exactly what creating a street team is... partnering with readers who like your books so much, they want to share them with other readers. A Street Team is a group of readers/bloggers that are fans of a particular author and want to spread the word about books they love. They're just doing what they already do - reading what they like and telling their friends. There's no recipe as to how many members per street team, benefits to offer or rules to follow. Each author has their own style.

Here's a list of links to some author's street teams for ideas on how to begin your own:

Cat Johnson  |  J. Kenner/ JK Beck  |  Heather Hildenbrand  |  Donna Grant

A Street Team is an indie author's secret weapon. In this article at Kobo Writing Life, an in-depth description of one author's experience puts it all into perspective. Read it here.

You might already have bloggers sharing your books with other readers. A Street Team just makes it all more official with “target tasks” such as hosting a blog stop, liking books at on-line sites, placing reviews on goodreads, sharing cover reveals, pinning on Pinterest, posting updates on facebook or tweeting about new releases. Most authors design a street team that works best for them. Typical perks to being part of a street team include an exclusive facebook page, yahoo or google+ group, swag, earliest available ARCs, blog badge, link back to blog, sneak peeks at WIPs, and "personal" on-line access to the author. Some authors even choose to have incentives and/ or prizes for participation.

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It's Your Team - You Make It What You Want!

There are a lot of books in the world and authors need help to spread the word. A street team is a fun way to interact with fans while asking them to do what many already do … and it has added perks (for you both).

CLICK on the ROMANCE BECKONS STREET TEAM BADGE to the left to read about my Street Team.
Check It Out... and then... Keep Writing!
Paloma

#WWoW! Just Link It.

Let's talk about LINKING. My rule of thumb is when in doubt, just LINK IT! What am I talking about? Really, everything. All of your social networking accounts, blog, website, tumblr - literally everything - should be linked.  Because then you are doing the work once while your impact is huge. It's that easy.

Are there accounts you shouldn't link? Nope but there may be some more geared towards different types of posts. It's still okay to link them because there is always overlap and as long as you aren't spamming out oodles and oodles of promo, your goal should be to extend your reach (and sell more books).

Now time to get to work!

First and foremost, have your blog connected into your social media sites, particularly facebook and twitter. This means each time a post goes up on your blog, it automatically goes to these programs for you. Here's promo without anymore work than setting up your single post. You can set up these links in the SETTINGS account of your blog. Blogger allows you to link with Google+ also and I recommend you do it even if you do nothing else with Google+ (yet).

Link your blog to Networked Blogs on facebook. You can search for the app on facebook and select SYNDICATE to connect your blog. Here is another way for potential readers to find your blog and follow you. It is becoming more and more popular so jump on it! Doing this also means your blog posts are automatically sent out via facebook. If you have an author's page, you can even choose to have them sent there instead of your profile.

Other TOP TWO places to link your blog (that have a bit more to it than just linking):

Triberr - Build your reach exponentially. See my previous post with specifics on this site. This is a bit more involved than just linking though completely worth it.

Goodreads - Thousands of readers use this site. If you don't create an author's page and utilize it by linking, you are missing a big opportunity for networking regardless of the horror stories we see with reviews on goodreads. Check in about twice a week to see if you have any messages, reviews, etc. Most importantly, link your blog to post to your author page! See mine here.

Another place to link your blog is in search engines that give potential readers more places to find you. Most have widgets for you to add to your blog but some just simply place you into a database to be more searchable. My favorites are: BlogNation - BlogTrain - Blog Lovin' - Writing Blogs - Linky - AuthorsDb. Be sure to set up all your links in each of these - most require your blog rss feed so have that handy - so each time you post in one place, your information spreads out across the web.

Finally, make a list of all social networking sites you belong to or any on-line accounts.

Here are some of the most common: facebook - twitter - google+ - LinkedIn - tumblr - stumbleupon - YouTube - Picasa. Go into the SETTINGS options in each of these and be sure you have linked as many of them together (and with your blog!) as possible. There are other sites you might choose to use and regardless of which ones you choose, just be sure to link them.

Remember every time you link it, you reduce your work in half while doubling your reach.

I don't suggest you spend hours a day on these sites.

In fact, linking your accounts means your time spent on marketing decreases even though you are visible in more places. Once these accounts are established (& LINKED!!), you will need to do little more than your regular blog posts. A few of these places I mentioned take extra maintenance but it's minimal and worth it.

How does this help your business?

You will advertise to a wider audience as you increase your reach. You will write more because your time spent marketing will decrease. It's a simple case of Win-Win.

So, what are you waiting for? Just Link It!

And Keep Writing!

Paloma

#WWoW! AUTHORSdB is the Place To Be.

A Place for Readers to find Authors. 

Ever heard of the Authors Database?

The fact is every author is looking for a way to reach more readers. Here is a simple way to make that happen with a very small amount of effort. Authors and businesses that offers services to authors can be listed 100% FREE on AUTHORSdB. It is currently the only FREE database of authors that includes social media, book listings and so much more. AUTHORSdB is a place where information is available on authors and is fast becoming the place readers can learn about up-and-coming authors. Get in on this opportunity now as it continues to grow even larger. 

• AUTHORSdB uses software that engages search engines. Once you're listed in AUTHORSdB, you get these benefits: 

1. Organic (non-paid) Google backlinks. These are sorely underutilized but critical to Social Media Marketing.  I received a tweet notifying me, after only 48 hours of registering, that I was now indexed in Google search!
2. Tweets. AUTHORSdB tweets Google alerts when authors get indexed in Google.Whenever an author is listed, they tweet "@[author name] #gotlisted NEW AUTHORSdB Pls RT [link back to author details]"

• AUTHORSdB likes the author's facebook page(s) and when liked back, they share something from the authors Facebook page.  (NOTE: You need a Twitter and Facebook page to qualify)
• AUTHORSdB adds their authors to Google+, LinkedIn & Pinterest.
• Author Awards acknowledge authors in a variety of ways for many different types of interaction. After posting about AUTHORSdB with a back link on my author blog, I was given this banner for my blog.
  

GET LISTED. For FREE and through a quick registration process, you can have your name included in the Authors Database at AUTHORSdB.com. You will be able to 1. Create an account, 2. Add your bio, photos and book images, 3. Add all your social media contact information, 4. Add your 'Buy Here' links to Amazon, B&N, etc, and then they share for you.

It takes just a few minutes to extend your reach exponentially. List yourself as an Author 100% FREE and then reap the benefits the exposure from their automated promotions. What are you waiting for? Get registered and then get back to writing!

Paloma

#WWoW! Feed140 Maximizes Author Efficiency.

WWoW! Here's a simple recommendation to simplify your on-line life... what more could you ask for?

Here's another suggestion of an on-line tool to try. It's an application to store a playlist of tweets that are sent out intermittently throughout my day without me needing to actually send them. BOTTOM LINE: Feed140 allows writers to maximize your Social Presence with minimal time investment. I’m telling you about it because it’s another way I save time on promoting. And less time promoting is more time writing!

Feed140 is a “social network marketing efficiency tool that delivers a constant stream of updates to your followers automatically” with minimal effort on your part.

• You create the tweets. 
• You set the delivery schedule. 
• You control how frequently Feed140 publishes tweets from your playlist. 
• You can have Feed140 deliver a certain number of tweets each day from your playlist. 
• You can also add your RSS feed(s) to a general queue so it automatically filters those in daily as well. 
• You can have Feed140 ‘mix in’ updates from your playlist as a percentage of the total updates from your main queue.

However you choose to use it, your promotional messages are delivered automatically while being certain you don’t overwhelm your followers. It’s great! Feed140 lets you create a series of high-quality tweets that are then delivered over time without another thought.

STEP ONE: Playlist.

Spend some time composing High-Quality, Attention-Grabbing Tweets that are Relevant. Creating solid content for your social network updates should take some thoughtful consideration. You will spend 20ish minutes each week to update your playlist of tweets. Here’s some ideas: Provide links. Display your work. Highlight your strengths. Use messages you want to reiterate consistently to your followers. Advertise your books. Promote your blog features. Distribute buy links. Promote your publisher. Link YouTube book trailers or other videos.

The tweets in your playlist can be published in sequence or mixed on shuffle play so your tweets are sprinkled about in random order.

STEP TWO: Queue.

Aside from the one playlist you are allowed with a FREE ACCOUNT, you have a queue. The queue is the direct feed into your twitter account – you fill the queue with both your PLAYLIST and RSS FEEDS.

This means you can add your RSS feeds from your blog, website or any of your Social Bookmarking Accounts (i.e. Digg, Google Reader, StumbleUpon, Tumblr). You can connect any or all of these to Feed140. Then each time you click the Digg button, star an article in Google Reader, or give a site the thumbs-up in StumbleUpon, it will automatically be added to your Feed140 queue and be delivered based on the criteria you chose for delivery. Your queue will fill up fast with interesting and entertaining content for your followers.

THIS IS PRETTY COOL. Pre-load date-specific messages with the ‘Scheduled Updates’queue. You can use the Feed140 ‘Scheduled Updates’ queue to send special promotions and book releases that are date-specific. You simply enter tweets into your queue and select the date (and even the time) you want the tweets to be delivered. Feed140 takes care of the rest. Tada! Your own personal twitter assistant.

THIS IS IMPORTANT. 
This does not take the place of other interactive tweets! Twitter is about CONNECTING, not just SELLING. I consider my Feed140 playlist my baseline – an auto-marketing program that spreads the message of my product (my books) and provides links to my store (my blog and website). Feed140 allows you to deliver a consistent base of content on your Twitter account BUT it is only one-step as it maintains your visibility to your followers even on those days you don’t have time to log in. Your playlists will never replace authentic live interaction, but their value is to provide a solid base of consistent content.

THIS IS NOT SO IMPORTANT... but I thought I should mention it… You can pay for prefabricated playlists but it really isn’t necessary. Creating enough content to keep your audience engaged might be challenging but we’re creative people – you can do it yourself. However, if you should choose to, these playlists are set in categories that give you the edge as a thought leader in a certain niche.

Use your Twitter (plus facebook coming soon) more efficiently. Give your twitter account a base with solid messages to followers with just a few minutes each week. It’s really very simple.

Keep writing!

Paloma