Day: April 7, 2014

Lessons I Learned in Publishing

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Robin Tidwell

Guest post
by Robin Tidwell

For years, decades really, I’d been saying I was going to write a book. In fact, my family had always expected that I would, even when I was a child. As a teen, I submitted my share of drama-filled angst to magazines, and collected the usual rejections.

I started writing for websites, opinion and experience pieces mostly, and then more non-fiction and news articles. But it wasn’t until my husband and I opened our bookstore (2011-2014, RIP), that I finally got cracking on that book.

Naturally, it wasn’t The Great American Novel that I’d started a few years prior, but a dystopian suspense story fueled by a late-night salsa snack. Continue reading “Lessons I Learned in Publishing”

Google+ Circles: Making them Work for You

circle google colorThe role of Circles on Google+ is probably one of the most underutilized tools in social media. Last week we touched on Google+ and tips on how to utilize the giant social media platform. Based on the comments and interactions from that post, I thought this was a good time to delve deeper into Google+ Circles.

Google+ Circles are a way of organizing the people you follow on Google+. You can set up as many different Circles as you would like. One big advantage of Circles is that you can control how each Circle appears to the viewer. In other words, if you create a “Work” Circle, you can choose what information viewers see. If you want your co-workers to have access to your phone number or email, you can make that visible for just them. Continue reading “Google+ Circles: Making them Work for You”

Featured Book: Under Witch Moon

Under Witch MoonUnder Witch Moon
by Maria E. Schneider
Genres: mystery, paranormal
Available from Amazon.

Maria E. Schneider’s Under Witch Moon is a blend of mystery, romance and magic; a ride through Santa Fe in an underground world of shape shifters, witches and spells. Making a living as an earth witch is easy–until you have to investigate a murder or two.

Excerpt:

“Lynx, I’m talking about breaking and entering! This is not a big job, this is–” I gulped. “Illegal. And I can’t ask you to do that. I need to ask you instead to…take action if I don’t come back in a certain time.” His face clouded with disappointment. “You don’t think I can do it?” I snorted. “Of course you can do it. And it would be better for me if you did it because I can’t use spells to get the doors unlocked!” He considered this, along with the plate of food I put in front of him. “If you can’t use spells, who you gonna get to open the door?” “I’m going to have to figure out a way to open it without spells.” He took a bite of food and tried to talk around it. “So why you ain’t going to ask me?”

What others are saying:

“One of the books I’ve read recently is Under Witch Moon, by Maria E. Schneider, and it had me laughing out loud (much to the consternation of the non-reader driving the car).” – Books on the Knob.

Experts Talk Marketing Strategies at Virginia Book Festival

virginia festival of the book At the Virginia Festival of the Book, this past March 23rd, several authors and experts talked about the best ways to build platform, as well as some specific marketing strategies. Last time we looked at platform building. Now, let’s look at marketing.

First and foremost, when it comes to marketing, think about trying to reach your reader. This is something that indie authors can do particularly well. Jane Friedman, former Writers Digest publisher who now teaches digital publishing at the University of Virginia, noted that traditional publishers have failed in gathering information about readers. “They’re selling to bookstores, so they don’t have these great email lists or insights into the market,” Friedman said. Authors can look more broadly at readers and try to reach them. Email is an especially effective way. Continue reading “Experts Talk Marketing Strategies at Virginia Book Festival”