Jet or Snail

My husband made fun of me a few days ago. I bought new running shoes, expensive shoes because I have old knees and I need good shoes. They felt so wonderful on that first day out on the road. I returned home after an hour's run (dripping sweat, not a pretty picture) and told my husband I ran fast and felt great in my pretty new footgear. He laughed and said steady might be a better description than fast. Okay, so I resembled more a snail crawling through peanut butter than a world class marathoner, but the pace felt perfect for me at my present stage of life.

Our pace at many things changes at different stages of life and career.  Seven years after my first publishing contract, I write much faster (and I hope better) than I did all those years ago. I was satisfied with finishing one novel during those early years of being a writer. Now I'm trying for four per year. It's the pace that fits me now.

Can you write a novel in one month? Two months? One year? Four years? I feel more comfortable every day with my pace as I settle into being a full time writer. When I was working on the day job full time and as my children grew up, I'd advanced to a two novels per year pace. But those were first drafts. There was still a lot of editing and rewrites to be done. Being comfortable and enjoying the journey is part of the fun of being a writer. There's plenty or room in this world for jets and snails.

In case you're worried about young people and the state of reading and writing in our society, let me introduce you to a young man, a teenager actually, who is celebrating some of his short, short stories being published. Patrick Stahl's drabble titled, Trying to Make a Living is featured on Specklit. I hope you'll stop by and leave a comment for Patrick. He's a very cool young man and a gifted writer.

Every write a drabble? Are you comfortable with your writing pace? Has it changed over the course of your career? Ever see a snail gliding through peanut butter?

A Place At That Table

The war between Amazon and Hachette continues. Most of the writers I know haven't taken sides. The specific facts are being held secret but one thing we can all be sure of is that it's about the money. And by that I mean how much Hachette makes and how much Amazon makes on the books they sell. Both love writers only in so much as they make money for their companies. Both love readers because they buy the products Hachette and Amazon are selling.

Like many writers, when I started bleeding out that first novel, I imagined it on the shelf in bookstores and libraries. Book tours and signings ... and of course those lovely paychecks that would allow me to quit the day job and write full time. The dream slammed into the heavily fortified gates of the big boys of publishing. At that time, about eight years ago, they had no place for a science fiction romance though perhaps it would be labeled dystopian today. A small publisher took a chance on it and on my next ten romance novels. Shortly thereafter, speculative fiction romances took off.

I would love to sign a huge money contract with a big publisher but I'm content to be where I am, working with two small publishers. If they would ever listen to someone like me, I would tell the traditional publishers to get off their entitled asses and catch up. They jumped into the paranormal romance trend after small publishers made it popular. They dragged their feet getting into the digital market. And now Hachette is selling books right from their website? Did I hear that? Well guess what, Hachette, my small publisher has always done that. And not only do they sell them at a discount, when they sell a book directly from their website, they make more money and pay me a higher percentage. Win for them and win for their writer. Is Hachette paying their writers more if they skip the middle man? Or are they only providing links so readers can go to a different middle man than Amazon. Didn't investigate that.

It's not that I'm not concerned about the ongoing publishing war. There are probably ways it could affect those of us with small publishers too. Is Amazon a bully? Sure. Just like Walmart is to their vendors. Do most writers sell most of their books through Amazon? Sure. We all have a place at this table but we won't have much say in what is served.

So my romance books are available on my publisher's website at a discount. Here is an interesting article from The New York Times titled Amazon, a Friendly Giant as Long as It's Fed.

Do you feel like this battle affects you? Any advice to traditional publications if they want to stay in business? Do you shop at any of the 'bully' stores like Amazon and Walmart?

Don't forget to visit the IWSG site today for another enlightening post. Check out the new links found on all the pages.

Week Wrapup

Thanks PK Hrezo for her great post on how having a newsletter is an important part of promotion. And good luck to Cate Masters on her ongoing promotional tour for Goddess, Awakened.

A few words of wisdom from my Old Farmer's Almanac planner.

If there be no remedy, why worry? (Old Spanish Proverb) I tried to pass this on to my students shortly after 9/11. Three Mile Island, the nuclear plant, is actually in our school district. There was lots of extra security there for a while and a few false alarms when fighter jets took to the sky looking for threats. There is an airport not far from TMI and for weeks after 9/11 most of what we saw in the skies while we were outside for PE classes were military aircraft. Some flew very low. Now our school has a intricate evacuation plan if anything happened at TMI but truthfully, no way would the buses get out on the congested highways they'd have to travel. So when those low flying planes would go over and my students would get nervous, I told them not to worry. If the worse happened, we were all going to die and rather quickly. There was nothing we could do about it so why worry. For some reason it didn't comfort them the way it should have. Kids!

Tomorrow is also the full moon, known as the Buck Moon this month. And if your garden tools are rusty, the Almanac suggest you soak them for several hours in a bucket of cool, strong black tea.

Hope you enjoyed my Almanac wisdom and carry it forth into your weekend. Would you have been comforted if you were my students. Ever try that cure for rusty metal? Did you design a newsletter yet?

The Marketing Funnel by PK Hrezo

The Marketing Funnel

Thanks so much to Susan for letting me take over her blog today. I always enjoy her posts so it’s a pleasure to be here. When she told me she thought a post on marketing would be good, I got all excited. That’s because I just finished a month long course on the subject, and want to share it.

So what’s a marketing funnel? I’m glad you asked. It’s what every author needs in order to maintain an active relationship with readers, fans, and customers. This is done by having an email list or newsletter.

I know you’ve all heard how important it is to have a newsletter/email list before, just as I had, but having its relevance broken down to me over the recent course really drove it home. Here’s why:

It’s a proven fact that email recipients are more likely to buy your book over anyone who sees it on social media. Social media is NOT a reliable marketing tool. Most of the time ads and promos just pass by as white noise or don’t get seen at all. Someone who signs up for your email list/newsletter, however, is actively agreeing to become accessible to you.

How does the funnel come into play? Well I mentioned that social media isn’t reliable for selling books, but it is reliable in harnessing potential email recipients, therefore turning all your social media outlets into a single funnel for your main marketing tool: the email list/newsletter.

They work together. Let’s say you run a clever blog, but don’t get on Twitter or Facebook much. No problem. Just make sure you have a place for people to sign up for your email list on your blog. Make sure it’s visible.

Same for Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn … If you use them regularly and have fun status updates and participation, make sure your home page filters back to your email list. You’re collecting and funneling potential customers and clients into this list, so that when you do send out your newsletter announcement of a new book or special offer, they will absolutely %100 see it.

Everyone uses email. Everyone.

If you’re like me, you’re inundated with emails and the thought of getting more makes you cringe. But not everyone out there is a writer who gets the amounts of email we do, so give them the chance to connect with you in a reliable way that will make your contact with them personal, and allow it to grow.

Think of social media as your tools and use them to funnel in strangers so that they become real fans. This allows you to connect with new readers.

Make a plan and stick to the tools you’re good at. You can’t do all of them well so don’t try. And if you want a surefire way to bring people into your email list, give away something for free when they sign up. Things that work well are first eBooks in a series, or PDF reports of what works for you--like tips on craft or cover designs. This is the age of DIY and if you offer something useful, they will come.

You don’t want your newsletter to be JUST promo stuff either. Give your readers something of value each time, whether it be content you’ve already shared on your blog or directing them to a recent post ON your blog. Then, include your latest announcement or offer. This will keep the people on your list opening your emails.

Share what you’re learning while you’re on this journey and offer to help others.

Many of you are like me and have worked hard on maintaining a blog presence, so this idea of adding another job to an already time consuming one is a bit daunting. I get that. But the problem with blogs nowadays is that people are not going out to look for them anymore. Your followers may or may not see your posts, but the same details in an email list WILL be seen when it’s convenient for the person to open their email.

This is some of what I learned from Tim Grahl’s marketing course. I took it because I’m not good with marketing—I’m a creative person, an artist, and I’m better at the actual production. But I knew I needed to change that attitude, especially since I’m indie and in charge of ALL my marketing.

If you’re not familiar with Tim, he’s the successful author of Your First 1000 Copies, which he indie published last year and has just hit 10k in sales. He shares his story here in this link—about what worked and what didn’t, and I highly suggest listening to it.

http://outthinkgroup.com/webinars/how-to-sell-10000-copies-a-celebration?

Thanks so much for stopping by here today! If you have any questions on using email and newsletters as a marketing tool, just ask in the comments and I’ll answer to the best of my ability. If you’d like to sign up for my email list, here’s the link: http://eepurl.com/O0s5b
I give my email list an exclusive first peek at what I’m working on and special offers only available to them.

Tell me, what have you found to be a successful marketing tool? Is there anything you dislike seeing? Do you think we’re too overloaded with promos on social media? Please share … 

 PK Hrezo is the author of Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc. and Diary of a Teenage Time Traveler. Her sequel, Induction Day, is due out late summer. You can find her on her blog: http://pk-hrezo.blogspot.com/

Or website: http://down-the-rabbithole.com/

Thanks, PK, for taking over my blog today. You're very convincing about the newsletter. You've given my so much to think about. What do all you readers think?

Goddess, Awakened

Congrats to Cate Masters on her newest release. Her latest is set in a contemporary world but prepare yourself for all kinds of magical shenanigans. Here's a short blurb from Goddess, Awakened.

With a little help from a goddess, battling evil is a piece of cake for Jocelyn Gibson.
A descendant of the goddess Isis, Jocelyn Gibson may have forgotten about the realm of magic, but it hasn’t forgotten her. When Eric Hendricks is targeted by a demon, Joss must step in to battle the evil and save the town’s awkward, but endearing, vet…who also happens to be the man she loves. Joss’s new inn, a culinary career specializing in cooking with lavender and a new love all make for a fine recipe of disaster. She needs to embrace her inner goddess and harness the powers she never knew she had before it’s too late.

Hope over to Cate's blog. She has a lot planned for the next few weeks in promotion.

The summer if flying by and I'm loving this warm weather. It does distract me from writing so I'm back to doing most of my creative work at night after the sun sets. My next book has grabbed me and the word count is mounting quicker than I expected. I wish I could write as fast as Cate and some other writers I know but I've learned to accept my own pace. If I write two to three thousand words per day I feel like I'm flying.

Have you visited Cate yet? How many words a day do you usually write? Does a pretty day distract you? Don't forget to visit the IWSG blog today for some bits of wisdom.

Please make sure you visit on Wednesday when PK Hrezo guests on my blog with a compelling post about marketing.

Happy 4th and Dog Days

Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans. I hope we all remember what the day means as we indulge in cookouts and perhaps some swimming. I hope my east coast friends don't get stormed out as Hurricane Arthur spins his way up the coast.

My trust Old Farmer's Almanac planner told me that the Dog Days of summer started yesterday, July 3rd and will extend through August 11th. At least for us in the Northern Hemisphere. Here in PA, this humid sultry season will extend deeper into August. As I mentioned before, I love this weather. The moniker of 'dog days, goes all the ways back to the Romans and even the Greeks who associated the dog star, Sirius, with this time of year. Wikipedia explains that the Sirius no longer rises at the same time as the sun in the summer so we don't have to sacrifice a red dog anymore to forestall the evils of the hot weather such as spoiled wine, dogs going mad and all those killer fevers that plagued mankind during that era. Good to know.

I'm working on my next romance novel, another space adventure, and weather is going to come into play as it did in one of my previous novels. In The Marine's Heiress, the first part of the novel was set on a planet that had a peculiar but predictable weather cycle. Every tenth day, drenching downpours would move across the occupied area of the distant world. Of course the weather issues came into play in the novel's plot. There are lots of things to consider when world-building for science fiction or fantasy. Weather can be a minor or major factor an author needs to create.

So what fun are you having this holiday? Did Arthur hit you? Are you familiar with the term 'dog days?' Did you cook out today?

IWSG: July Version

Welcome to this month's IWSG post. This supportive group was started by that energetic writer and musician, Alex J. Cavanaugh. And now the group is supported by a blog all of its own and a Facebook page. Find the entire list of participants in the hop here. Try to visit a few new friends this month.

In this sometimes lonely business of writing, most of us develop online friendships with other bloggers. I can't imagine doing this without the support of the blogging community. How do you select the bloggers you follow and visit often?

I can't highlight all the blogs I love here but I'm going to give a few examples of blogs I visit numerous times per week and why.

Some blogs have a little bit of everything such as Alex J. Cavanaugh's blog. Movie reviews, promotion, support of other writers, occasional music stuff and links to other interesting sites. I almost always click on a link I find in his posts.

Some blogs have content that I find very interesting. I love science and Stephen Tremp feeds my curiosity with the variety of facts he puts together on his posts.

Some bloggers have a lot of craft advice and I learn something every time I visit. Such as Anne R. Allen's blog or L. Diane Wolf who keeps me updated on the latest industry news.

Some bloggers impress me with how supportive they are. If you want to make a friend who will appreciate your friendship in return, visit Robin. You haven't known blogger love until you appear on her Here's to You Thursday.

One of my ongoing goals that I'm not even close to reaching is to break into the short story market. Shannon Lawrence posts links to all kinds of short story markets once per week. Recently I've been sharing them with my daughter who is considering sending out some of her writing.

Then there are the blogs that make me laugh. I just enjoy them. These bloggers just have an entertaining way with words. There's Pat who prepares his posts about two light years ahead of time. Mark Koopmans gives a delightful insight into being a stay at home dad. Ivy amuses me in so many different ways I can't describe them all and she's my heroine in couponing savings. Then there's my friend, Ava Quinn, former Possum Queen. I still haven't tried those recipes.

Those are just a few of the blogs I follow and as you can see, it's for a variety or reasons. Most of them are loosely connected to writing though not all the posts are about writing. I couldn't stay active in the blogging world if the blogs I frequent weren't entertaining and fun.

What do you look for in the subject matter of blogs you decide to follow? Do you enjoy a variety or do you stick with one subject? Is there a blogger that makes you laugh? Have you visited more of the IWSG bloggers?