ComiCon and Me

by Marsha Ward  @MarshaWard

Several months ago, I was invited to share a booth with a friend at Phoenix ComiCon. I went back and forth before I decided to give it a go. Now there are four of us authors in the booth.

ComiCon begins Thursday, May 25, and runs through Sunday, May 28.

I'm not positive whether or not I'm a good fit for the event. I write Westerns. ComiCon celebrates popular culture, particularly in the fields of SciFi & Fantasy. But before Firefly, there were Westerns, right?

If nothing else, I can take the expenses off my income taxes in several categories, including Advertising and Fees.

Although ComiCon is not strictly a book event, authors do participate, in both booths and at "Artist Alley" tables. For me, this will be an adventure in marketing, putting my author brand out there, conquering fear and anxiety, and trying to be an extrovert for four days.

I've been working on what books to take, how many copies of each book, how to display the books, how to decorate the booth, and other details. I've sent a ton of questions to my friend, read the policies of the show innumerable times (and I'm sure I missed something!), and even had nightmares.

Yes, nightmares. Horrible, vivid nightmares of having my car stolen from downtown Phoenix, thus stranding me 150 miles from home. Once I got my parking secured, though, the nightmares went away.

The last couple of days, I've been working on handouts. One handout showcases my major series, "The Owen Family Saga," and the other has a headline of "WESTERNS, America's Timeless Fiction," with photos of nine of my works, plus fifteen QR code links to various sites on the reverse.

I also made a ring-bound set of cards with large QR codes for those who wish to go purchase ebooks on the spot. Or just look at one of the books at Amazon.

Why all the QR codes?

In view of the demographic of the attendees, I've decided to take a minimum amount of paperback books, because this crowd is more likely to buy and read ebooks. I'm attempting to make it easy for them to purchase books of mine that catch their interest!  

There are tons of apps for reading/scanning QR codes. I'm hoping many attendees will have such scanning apps.

So much goes on at ComiCon that I probably won't be sitting around watching my feet swell as I thought at first. I might get to go roam a little to take in a panel, or just wander around and see the sights. I'm sure there will be cringe-worthy costumes, but some are likely to be spectacular--even if I don't know what show or comic book character they represent.

My friends have advised me to have fun. By gum, I'm going to have fun. Really, truly.

I'll be in the Four Carat Press Booth in the Lower Level Exhibit Hall, Hall Six, Booth #1797, against the south wall. Come say hello!

Building My Writer's Platform

Unleashed! is written, and I'm submitting to Literary Agents.  However, as many of you know, this part of the process is slow going.

It can take upwards of a month or two or six before I'll get a response on my book, if I get one at all. So, in order to keep from going crazy, I'm building my writer's platform. Ugh.

This means, building and maintaining my website, working on my blog, building a mailing list, and increasing my reach on social media.  I don't have 11K followers on Twitter, like Brandon Mull.  I don't have thousands of people on my e-mail list. Technically, I don't even have one. Yet. But I do have almost five thousand followers on my Pinterest account. Does that account for something?
I hope so, because what I learned from building followers on Pinterest is this: The first thousand followers are the hardest. After that, the ball begins to pick up momentum on it's own. Any work a person puts in after that, only increases the momentum.

It took a month of hard work - hours upon hours pinning and following others until they started finding me on their own.  Now, I average a few hundred new followers per month, putting in minimal work. If only I can translate that effort into an e-mail list.

At the ANWA Northwest Writer's Retreat last Fall, Leah M. Berry presented her book, Story Marketing: How to Have Fun Marketing Your Fiction Book. I was fascinated, enthralled, and excited by all the ideas she presented. Marketing has always been the hardest part of running a business for me. But she presented it in a beautiful little package that sang to my introverted soul!

I bought the book then went home and drafted a list of ways I could use her ideas for my book. Now I have 110 blogs, and a year's worth of tweets, Facebook posts, and Instagram ideas.

I know what you're thinking: "That's a lot of work!" But Seriously? If you're like me, you already spend hours in front of a computer editing, writing stories, and building entire new worlds. You've already done the work.  Why not use some of the material that didn't make it between the cover of your book to draw more potential buyers?

Right now, I'm in the throws of website creation and integrating the mailing list to the website.  I'll keep you posted on my progress.  Hopefully it will be good news!

Until Next time...

Ten Social Media "Marketing" NO-NOs for Authors

By Marsha Ward @MarshaWard

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been astounded at complaints I've seen in writer groups across Facebook on the bad manners of other "authors."

One published author mentioned that someone placed a post with all their books listed on her Facebook Author Page. Someone else said someone horned in on their Fan Group with a listing of their books. Another complained that someone hijacked her book launch event. Her own Book Launch EVENT! Again, this person posted a message listing all their own books. I didn't think to ask if it could be the same ill-mannered writer doing these unthinkable things.

Blogger and author Anne R. Allen posted about this problem eighteen months ago, and gave fair warning to new authors who sorely abuse Social Media in an attempt to sell books that their actions are undesirable. (It's possible some marketing "guru" is selling new authors really bad advice.) Anne came up with a countdown list of ten things not to do on social media, along with very good advice on why such actions are repellent, and that doing them are against the Ethical Author code.

I'll just give the ten no-nos headings. You must read the article to get the meat of Anne's excellent reasoning.

10. Forgetting that social media is social
9. Over-hashtagging and robo-posting
8. Emotional blackmail in demands for shares and RTs
7. Projecting a snarky, nasty online persona
6. Starting lots of blogs, webpages, and social media accounts
5. Pop-ups and other annoying gimmicks on your blog or website
4. Auto Direct Messages in reply to a follow—or advertising in a DM
3. Pitching your own book on somebody else's Facebook Page
2. Buying or trading reviews and trading "likes".
1. Putting somebody on your mailing list who has not signed up

~~~

Let me add this to number 1: "Adding someone to your product, party, or any Facebook Group without first asking for their permission."

If you know a new writer who is slipping up and annoying not only you, but your friends, please let them know about Anne Allen's advice.

Thanks!

Writing Book Descriptions AKA Book Blurbs

by Marsha Ward @MarshaWard

I've seen a whole bunch of authors lately asking for help in writing their back cover copy, a.k.a. book descriptions, a.k.a. book blurbs.

As usual, writers panic when they get out of fiction-writing mode and into writing the bits of non-fiction that help them either sell a book to an editor or publisher (pitch, synopsis), or sell the work to readers (book blurb). They start to sweat, thinking of the overwhelming job of writing just the right words to do these jobs.

Author Dean Wesley Smith thinks it's not all that monstrous a task. One only needs to realize that the job calls for sales copy, not elaborate descriptions of the plot or even of the characters. Just sales copy.

Mr. Smith wrote a short book on this topic called How to Write Fiction Sales Copy. I have found it to be a must-have book on my Essentials Bookshelf.

He says that it is imperative to get rid of two deeply ingrained bad habits when we buckle down to write our sales copy for a book.

1. We can't see beyond the plot
2. We tend to write about our work in passive voice

How to Write Fiction Sales Copy gives many excellent blurb patterns. Here is just one, a very basic blurb of four paragraphs. Yes, only four paragraphs, and short ones, at that.

1. Summary of character or world. Make it interesting, Nail down the genre, if possible.
2. One very short paragraph with short sentences about the first page of the plot.
3. Plot kicker line.
4. Why readers will want to read the story, mostly using tags.

I know you're saying gaaaa, how do I do that?

Let's see how it works for Smith's A Bad Patch of Humanity: A Seeders Universe Story

Most of humanity died one ugly day four years before. Now the survivors wanted to rebuild.

Angie Park’s job consisted of telling survivors outside of Portland, Oregon, of the plans to rebuild. But some survivors wanted nothing to do with civilization.

And some thought killing worth the price to pay to stay alone.

In the galaxy-spanning Seeders Universe, “A Bad Patch of Humanity” focuses down on an early event in Angie Park’s life, an event that starts her on her path to becoming a woman of legend in a hundred galaxies.

That's not so hard, right? You can do it, too! Resist any instances of "and then this happens." Use only action verbs.

To read more and quit having the vapors over book blurbs, go get this book, How to Write Fiction Sales Copy. It's well worth the price!

Space Bars - Use Only Once, Please!

by Marsha Ward

Did you know...

that when mankind used typewriters, we were taught to space twice after each sentence?

There was a good reason for that.

Each letter took the same amount of space, that is, each "M" occupied the same amount of space on the typed page as each "I".  We had to use two spaces after each period so other folks could more easily find the beginnings and ends.

But you know, we don't use those "mono-space" typefaces much anymore. Sure, you might use it for a manuscript, if you like the look of Courier, or obsess about the number of words on a page, but few modern writers are that nit-picky about the look of their manuscripts, and Word provides a nifty tool called "word count" that was missing from typewriters. Everything will be changed, anyway, once the manuscript becomes a book. The typesetter will take your edited electronic file and make it look all pretty for the printed page. They probably will use a different typeface entirely.

What does all that have to do with whether or not your thumb hits the space bar once or twice after a sentence? It doesn't even matter, right?

Wrong.

If you put in two spaces after a period at the end of the sentence (or, horrors, a space after a period at the end of a paragraph), someone has to massage your file to take out all those extra spaces. Someone at the publishing company. Someone who has to be paid for their time to do that.

I've been told on good authority that some publishers will pass up a perfectly good story/novel if the manuscript has two spaces after a period, because of the cost and hassle involved with removing the extra spaces!

Yikes!

!!!!!

Don't be that obnoxious writer. Keep your chances of being accepted as high as possible. Make things easy for your editor/typesetter. Restrain your thumb from hitting the space bar twice. It's not really that hard to quell the desire/habit.

Just do it!

Making Goals for 2016

by Marsha Ward @MarshaWard

I've talked about Goals and Goal Setting before. In 2012 I suggested that our goals be obtainable, that is, that we have control over the outcomes, and in 2013, I wrote about three categories into which I had broke down my writing business-related goals for the past year. I noted that writing down the goals in an achievable fashion made them so much easier to accomplish, and that I had completed many of them and had a productive year.

I continued making goal lists in 2014 and 2015, expanding the categories and seeing a lot of forward progress and accomplishments.

For 2016, I have further refined my categories, and have a very ambitious writing and publishing program outlined for myself [Lots of prayers needed for keeping my nose to the grindstone!].

Here are the categories I've defined for 2016 and roughly what they include:

WRITE (works in progress and proposed projects)
WORK WITH OTHERS (cover designers, mostly, but also possibly audio book narrators)
PREPARE/FORMAT (mostly book bundles or new print editions, with some solo releases of previously bundled stories)
MAKE COVER FOR (upcoming releases)
PUBLISH (proposed schedule)
MARKET (expand frequency of mailings to Reader List, updating product interiors, re-doing keywords/categories)
PROMOTE (advertising and co-op sales)
INTERNET PRESENCE (blogging commitments and website upkeep)
EVENTS (what I plan to attend or where I'll present)
SERVICE (how I will give back this year)

I also outlined several business questions I have to address during the coming year.

Now, these goals still have nothing to do with my life outside of writing: my family, church commitments, educational pursuits, friends, and social events. Someday I probably will work them onto the list, but for now, my written goals still focus on the business side of my life.

What process or method do you use to set yearly goals? Does it work to help you achieve them? If not, what changes will you make for 2016?

Time to Step Up!

by Cindy R. Williams

   

      Life is changing fast, and I'm going to change too. I have watched many of my writing friends indie publish both ebooks and hard-copies. I decided to jump on the bandwagon. I have been writing for some years now and stacking up the stories, with ten now complete. I will send a few out to agents but some I want to experiment with and see what this new writing world is about.
 
 I own my own LLC already that I use to run my music studio, and sell my two books (CHASE MCKAY DIDN'T GET UP TODAY,www.cindyRwilliams.com

and an anthology which includes a few of my short stories titled, VALUE STORIES FOR A YOUNG WOMAN.)
With my LLC, I purchased a packet of 10 ISBN numbers, and have an account set up with Lightning Source-Ingram. I have CHASE MCKAY for sell on Amazon, Barnes Noble.com, and my website,
   
      So . . . I have a start. My platform is out there and moving forward.
 
     This year though, I want to learn how to format books on Create Space and Kindle. I have two great books I am studying called:

MAKE A KILLING ON KINDLE by Michael Alvear,


and HOW I SOLD 1 MILLION eBOOKS IN 5 MONTHS  by John Locke.
   
 

      I have been doing research by gleaning "how to" information from my ANWA friends whom have successfully indie published.
 
      I will continue to post what I am learning on this journey. Maybe it will help you take the plunge and get your completed and polished WIP out to the world.
 
      Fast changes are a comin'.  This is exciting!

Flitting Thoughts

by Marsha Ward

Have you ever had one of those days when the things you had planned to accomplish get sidetracked by the things you had to jump on NOW?

Yeah. Yesterday was one of those days.

I wanted to launch into my writing first off. I made the mistake of looking at my email messages. Yahoo! An annual co-op book sale was now available in which to participate. I needed to pick a couple of books to feature, gather the requested information, send that with cover images, then pay the nominal price to be listed.

Thought: while this is designed to sell books, it isn't writing.

I got a notice that I could download or view the new ANWA newsletter. I like to keep an archive copy, so I printed the newsletter out from the pdf file on the website. Yuck! It came out all mono-typey in a san-serif font. Almost unreadable! I've had this problem before. Then I downloaded the pdf, printed off the newsletter, and the type was now wonderful and marvelous and readable.

Thought: always download a document in pdf before printing.

I really, really need to write my own newsletter with announcements that I send out to readers (like for the discounted books I've arranged to sell), but I need a new photo at the top. I spent an hour or two looking through my photo images for the present header so I could check the dimensions before I made a new one. Could I find it? No.

Thought: GRRRRR!

Maybe I should just go watch a movie and eat popcorn.

That sounds good to me!

BTW, while looking for the above photos, I. Found. That. Dratted. Header. Misfiled, of course.

First Annual Payson Book Festival

by Marsha Ward

Yes, the first annual Payson Book Festival takes place on Saturday, this Saturday, July 25, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. at Gila Community College, 201 N. Mud Springs Road, Payson, ARIZONA (because other states have a Payson, too).

I will be at Table 46 in Room 403 throughout the day, except when I am giving my presentation, “Literacy Begins at Home: Build Reading into Family Activities,” from 11:00 to 11:30 a.m. in Room 401.

All of my Owen Family Saga novels will be in the Bookstore in Room 402 for your purchase. I'll be happy to sign and personalize your books.

Here’s a map of the layout:

Come meet over 60 authors from Arizona who will be on hand to talk to you about their books. Their work represents many genres, including children's books; mystery, western, fantasy, and romance fiction; and non fiction. Entertainment and food vendors are a part of the fun.

I look forward to seeing you on Saturday! Please tell your friends about this family-friendly event.

Don't sweat the small stuff

by Marsha Ward

Somebody on a Facebook Group for authors recently mentioned how tormented he/she was to see their cover art used on another book. That's the breaks of using stock images.

I've seen the exact image my designer used for Spinster's Folly, maybe on a website, or maybe it was a cover for somebody's Facebook Page. Here's an example I saw this week of someone else manipulating a specific element for cover art. It doesn't bother me. It's a totally different cover/look.

 















As you can see when you compare the two images, the other designer flipped the image of the girl, changed the skirt, changed the face, moved the arm away from the body and added a hand. Nice work!

One of my mother's favorite sayings was "Don't sweat the small stuff." By that, she meant to say that there are many things in life to deal with, but the "small stuff" is certainly less important to waste brain power on than big things. Another way of putting this would be "Pick your battles."

So what if another author or cover designer also buys the same image that shows up on your cover! Just make sure that each book you write is outstanding!

Indie Author? Go read the linked article

by Marsha Ward

I'm a confirmed Indie Author, which many of you already know. I ran across a link on The Passive Voice Blog leading to a blog post by M.C.A. Hogarth that all indie (and probably lots of traditionally published and hybrid) authors should read, oh, maybe every three months or so. It's very affirming. I recommend you read the comments at The Passive Voice, and also, when you click his link to the article, the comments on the blog post, too.

I Am an Indie Midlister (and That's Okay!)

I think the big take-away quote for me is the following:

I do not begrudge my peers their better sales, because they don’t need to fail for me to succeed. This revelation is deeply freeing, because it means I can be thrilled for their successes, and fine with my own more modest accomplishments.

What a great outlook!

Life is a Whirl

by Marsha Ward

This month will be one of the most crazy-busy that I can remember!

It started out viewing five sessions of the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That is always a very good way to fill my spiritual wells.

Then began a week-long Blog Book Tour for my newest novel, Gone for a Soldier. I got a few great reviews from that, and lots of other kinds of publicity. I hope to sell some books from the effort. I hope!

I decided to revamp my website, using WordPress technology wedded to my hosting site. That is still a work in progress.

I agreed to write three interconnected short stories, and the deadline is breathing down my neck. Along the way, I lost the flash drive upon which the work resided. Fortunately, I had printed out the text, so I re-typed the story, but my notes are gone.

I saw the film, Meet the Mormons, and was able to stop by the visitation for a man who was way too young to leave his family. This meant a day-trip, but it all went well until I got caught in a huge traffic jam on my way home. The highway closure was caused by a very serious accident, which resulted in a snarl that kept me sitting in gridlock and in a convenience store parking lot for four hours.

I put the ebook version of one of my novels, The Man from Shenandoah, up for free on a few sites for the week that ends this coming Monday. It's at Smashwords.com in all ebook editions and at BarnesandNoble.com as a Nook ebook. I don't know if Amazon will match the price before then, but check out the other sites.

This week will be my 50th Class Reunion. Oh. My. Gosh! Where did 50 years go? How could I be so old?

And then, next week I'm traveling again. I'll participate in a book signing, and present a class twice at a writers conference.

After I return, I'm going with relatives and friends to the Phoenix Temple Open House. I need to cram visit teaching in sometime that week. And then...

The month will be over!

Putting it all down this way makes me even more aware of how frenetic it has been and will be.

What was the most busy time of your life?

Just Because Clean eBook Sale: $0.99 cents or less!

by Marsha Ward

Hello! It seems my mind is running in book promotion mode lately, so I thought I'd share one I'm currently involved in with you all. This is a Clean eBooks Author Promotion! I've banded together with several other authors to bring you a bunch of cool books for hardly any cost. One book is FREE!

This promotion runs from now until Saturday, September 20, 2014 at 11:59pm MST. Enjoy these fantastic, clean eBooks! :-) I know my credit card is going to take a hit this week.

Discern, Katon University Book One

Andrea Pearson
$0.99
Kindle, Nook, Smashwords

Nicole Williams is an Arete—a fourth child with magical abilities—yet no matter how hard she tries, she can’t Channel her power. In fact, she seems to be the only student at Katon University who fails at magic.

That doesn’t stop magic from finding her. It starts with magical currents and possessed books before moving quickly to cursed spiders and freaky shadows. Nicole turns to her best friend for help, along with fellow student Austin Young, who is considered by all a magical rarity. He also happens to be the hottest guy on campus and just might be interested in her.

Nicole soon finds herself competing to be included on a university-led expedition to Arches National Park. She is determined to show everyone, but mostly herself, that she does belong. Yet, to qualify for the trip, she must produce at least a speck of Wind magic, and that appears to be impossible.

As the competition progresses, Nicole wonders if she’s making the right choice—especially when she learns that the strange fossils they’ll be studying in Arches might not be as dead as everyone thinks.

Prejudice Meets Pride

Rachael Anderson
$0.99
Kindle, Nook

After years of pinching pennies and struggling to get through art school, Emma Makie’s hard work finally pays off with the offer of a dream job. But when tragedy strikes, she has no choice but to make a cross-country move to Colorado Springs to take temporary custody of her two nieces. She has no money, no job prospects, and no idea how to be a mother to two little girls, but she isn’t about to let that stop her. Nor is she about to accept the help of Kevin Grantham, her handsome neighbor, who seems to think she’s incapable of doing anything on her own.

Prejudice Meets Pride is the story of a guy who thinks he has it all figured out and a girl who isn't afraid to show him that he doesn't. It’s about learning what it means to trust, figuring out how to give and to take, and realizing that not everyone gets to pick the person they fall in love with. Sometimes, love picks them.

Your Eyes Don't Lie

Rachel Branton
$0.99
Kindle, Nook

Sometimes Surviving Isn't Enough . . .

Years of living on the street and fending for herself have made Makay Greyson tough and resourceful, if a bit disillusioned. She's come a long way from sleeping in parks and scavenging for food. Her entire focus is on providing a better life for her young brother, one without fear of loss and neglect.

That certainly doesn't leave time for Harrison Matthews, who from their first meeting sends fire through her veins and upsets all her carefully laid plans.

Makay has done things she isn't proud of to survive, and those choices now threaten the small amount of security she's created-and any chance of a future with Harrison. They've been raised in two very different worlds, and the secrets they both hide can only lead to disaster. There is only one chance to make it right, and one misstep could be fatal.

Your Eyes Don't Lie is a story about facing fears, sacrificing for those you love, and about a girl who thinks she isn't worth loving and a guy who knows she is.

A Fantasy Christmas

Cindy C Bennett, Stephanie Fowers, and Sherry Gammon
$0.99
Kindle, Nook, Smashwords

Three mystical tales that make for fun reading as the weather turns cold. Enjoy the romance, the magic, and the joy of Christmas and fantasy while you snuggle up in a blanket and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate.

Halfling by Cindy C Bennett
Banished from the South Pole, Kara tries to carve out a new life among the elves of the North. It’s not easy with a secret to protect—a secret she's cursed with by the unusual circumstances of her heritage: half-elf, half-fairy. In the North, she’s assigned to work with Seb on a special project. He's the most gorgeous elf she’s ever seen - and the orneriest.

As if being banished wasn’t punishment enough.

Seb introduces her to Trystin, a fairy from the nearby fairy forest. Trystin discerns her secret right away and promises to teach her how to use the powers given to her by the very thing she’s fighting to keep hidden.

Aphrodite by Stephanie Fowers
Nothing is simple for Aphrodite’s daughter, especially love.

Scorned by society in regency England, Affry longs for romance. Upon encountering a dashing nobleman at her aunty's Christmas' ball, Affry gets caught in a lovely intrigue with disastrous results. Worse, she wins the interest of the gods. Now the furies of the underworld and Hades himself are after her.

When all is fair in war, Affry must use love as her weapon—but only for the one who’s stolen her heart.

Loving Marigold by Sherry Gammon
Young Marigold Yarrow has a secret. She’s also in love with Jack Mahoney. In the middle of her ninth grade year, Jack's family up and moves to Port Fare, New York, leaving the small town of Sugar Maple, West Virginia - and Marigold - far behind.

Nine years later Jack and Marigold meet again. They join forces to weed out the shady Abbott boys. The unscrupulous brothers are illegally selling moonshine near her home on Sugar Maple Ridge. And they'll do anything to get Marigold to leave the ridge. Anything.

But this time it could be magic that tears Jack and Marigold apart.

Ride to Raton

Marsha Ward
$0.99
Kindle, Nook, Smashwords

Thinking he's been treated unjustly by his father, James Owen leaves the family homestead to make a new life for himself.

The turbulent world of post-Civil War Colorado Territory is fraught with danger and prejudice that increase his bitter loneliness as personal setbacks threaten to break him. Then James's journey brings him into contact with another wayfarer, beautiful young Amparo Garcés, who has come from Santa Fe to Colorado to marry a stranger. Through a twist of fate, their futures are changed forever when their lives are merged in a marriage of convenience. James and Amparo undertake a hazardous horseback trek over Raton Pass to Santa Fe, battling their personal demons, a challenging language barrier, and winter's raging storms.

"Ride to Raton is a pure western, complete with bad guys and broken hearts and even a dog. The sequel to The Man from Shenandoah features James Owen, the younger brother. Marsha Ward writes a fantastic romance against a vivid southwestern backdrop. James begins this book as a hurt young man, but by the end of the book, I really could see him grow up and become a man. Made tougher by circumstances he has no control over, James realizes that the love he thought he had lost was nothing compared to what Amparo shows him. Amparo is a young Hispanic lady, forced to leave her home in Santa Fe to marry a stranger in Colorado. She bravely faces her uncertain future, relying on her faith to get her through. She is sweet, loving and she provides a great contrast to James's rough exterior. With an ending that surprised even me, Ride to Raton is not your usual romance. However, I do recommend it for western lovers—even the cover is wonderful! Marsha Ward once again shows us her gift for old fashioned storytelling!" ~Jen Hill, Roundtable Reviews

The Husband Maker

Karey White
$0.99
Kindle, Nook

Charlotte’s a girl with nicknames. She may not love being called Charles or Chuck, but the hardest nickname to take is the one she was given in college, the one that’s followed her now for too many years. They call her “the husband maker” and sadly, it fits. Every guy she's dated since high school has gone on to marry the next girl they date. Not two or three girls down the road. The very next one.

Is she doing something wrong or is she just cursed?

When Kyle Aldsworth enters the picture and sweeps her off her feet, Charlotte begins to hope that maybe she's not destined to be single forever. A senator’s son with political aspirations of his own, Kyle's wealthy, handsome, and in need of a wife. Will Charlotte be disappointed yet again, or will she finally be able to make a husband for herself?

Life, Love, and The Pursuit of Free Throws

Janette Rallison
Free!
Kindle

Josie loves hottie Ethan Lancaster, the captain of the basketball team, but she never can do or say the right thing in front of him. So how can it be fair that Ethan is only interested in her best friend, Cami, when Cami isn’t even trying for his affection? Or is he?

Cami dreams of winning her basketball team’s coveted MVP award, and earning the chance to take the court during a special halftime demonstration with WNBA star Rebecca Lobo, but her best friend, Josie, is a better player. So how can it be fair that Josie is a shoo-in for the honor if she is barely interested in basketball in the first place and isn’t even trying to be the best? Or is she?

Told from two points of view, this novel of freshman life, love, and the pursuit of free throws displays the same delightful humor as Janette Rallison's other comedies.

My Forever: A Triple Treat Romance Box Set

Annette Lyon, Karey White, Cami Checketts
$0.99
Kindle, Nook

A Portrait for Toni  by Amazon bestselling author Annette Lyon
Toni has no idea what she’d do without her best friend, Carter. Who else would she be able to vent to about her parents, her job at the dance studio, or her latest relationship woes? That is, until he starts questioning Toni, saying he thinks she has an eating disorder. Then she starts dating Clint, and somehow that puts a deeper wedge between her and Carter. When she’s hospitalized after an on-stage collapse, and Carter stupidly starts in with advice about food and weight, she sends him away. One night after a performance, Toni tries to mend the hurt between them. Instead of finding Carter, she stumbles onto proof that he has feelings for her that go way beyond those of a friend. Toni is left with the very real prospect of losing Carter forever, unless somehow she can return his feelings—but that’s impossible. Isn’t it?

My Own Mr. Darcy by USA Today bestselling author Karey White 
After being dragged to the 2005 movie Pride and Prejudice by her mother, sixteen-year-old Elizabeth’s life changes when Matthew Macfadyen’s Mr. Darcy appears on the screen. Lizzie makes a promise to herself that she will settle for nothing less than her own Mr. Darcy. During the six intervening years, she finds all of her suitors lacking—they just aren’t Mr. Darcy enough. Coerced by her roommate, Elizabeth agrees to give the next interested guy ten dates before she dumps him. She starts dating Chad, but she believes her dream comes true in the form of wealthy bookstore owner Matt Dawson, who looks and acts like her Mr. Darcy. But as Elizabeth simultaneously dates a regular guy and the dazzling Mr. Dawson, she’s forced to re-evaluate what it was she loved about Mr. Darcy in the first place.

The Broken Path by Amazon bestselling author Cami Checketts 
Injured in a debilitating accident at age six, Ethan Searle believes women eye him with a mixture of pity and disdain. He’s tried love before. He won’t again. He meets his match in a precocious two-year old who loves him despite his disability, even while her mother seems bothered by everything about Ethan. Autumn Reader escaped her abusive marriage with her beautiful daughter and a stack of fear. She can’t make the mistake of trusting a man again. Autumn’s daughter becomes enraptured by Ethan. Despite Autumn’s best intentions, she finds herself following her daughter’s example. When her ex-husband reappears, threatening everyone she loves if she won’t submit to his demands, Autumn has to learn to trust or lose her chance at real love.

Still Time

Maria Hoagland
$0.99
Kindle, Nook, Smashwords

Thrust into the chaos of her mother-in-law’s hoarding and forgetfulness, LDS church member Alyssa Johnston wishes she could retreat to a simpler time when her kids were small and almost anything could be fixed with a hug. But reassurance and a quick distraction no longer erase the pain of a missionary son who is struggling, a young teen who is bullied, or a daughter who is distant. As Aly’s own life and relationship with her husband plunge out of control, she wonders if her faith will be enough to keep her family—or herself—from falling apart.

Still Time is a deeply moving story about a woman’s faithful journey into the next phase of her life. You will laugh with Aly, feel her sorrow, and see yourself in Maria Hoagland’s realistic, heartfelt portrayal of a woman’s struggle to keep her family safe and hold back time as long as she can.

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Ring Around the Rosie

by Marsha Ward

Because so many people are helping me with my Book Launch Party and Blog Tour in coming days, turnabout is fair play. My friend, Julie Coulter Bellon, is launching her newest book, Ring Around the Rosie, so here is her book's information. There's also a giveaway, so please take part!

Ring Around the Rosie Blog Tour and Giveaway!


Title: Ring Around the Rosie
Author: Julie Coulter Bellon
Genre: Action/Adventure
Publisher: Self-published
Date of Publication: July 2014

I'm participating in the blog tour for Julie Coulter Bellon's new novel, Ring Around the Rosie! There are awesome prizes being given away, so be sure to scroll down and enter to win!

Synopsis:
Revenge is a dish best served cold . . .

As the ex-wife of a law enforcement officer, Sarah Reed has known loneliness and loss. In order to cope, she makes a life for herself that's full of routine while building a wall of ice around her heart. Everything about her is as predictable as she can make it until a tiny detour for her ex-husband, Ron, changes her life forever. Caught in a bomb crisis, Sarah is taken hostage by a man who wants Ron and everyone around him to suffer—and his idea of suffering is more terrible than Sarah had ever dreamed.

Captain Ron Reed has seen the worst of humanity in his job with the Hostage Negotiation Team, but he never expected his past to come back with a vengeance—literally. Aaron Starks, a criminal explosives expert, has stolen next-gen bomb technology and uses it to force Ron to bargain for the lives of his team and his ex-wife, Sarah, the woman he still loves. But the situation escalates when Ron discovers that Starks has an even bigger objective in mind—using the bomb to show how vulnerable America and her people truly are.

Ron is willing to risk everything to save his country and those he loves, but when negotiations break down, will his sacrifice be too little too late?

Excerpt:
Her words were cut off by a blast of hot air and fire, an explosion so large it blew them all backward. Ron hit the floor hard and lay there dazed and groggy. Glass and debris rained down. Confetti-sized menus and napkins floated like snowflakes in slow motion all around him. For a second the entire world was a silent tunnel with him at the end of it. It would be so easy to just close his eyes and let the blackness suck him down into unconsciousness. But he couldn’t. Not yet. Get up. Get everyone out.

“Sarah?” he croaked. He tried again. “Sarah?” His legs felt like lead and the urge to just lie back was stronger than ever. No. Keep moving. “Claire?” He coughed and tried to catch a breath, but couldn’t get the oxygen to his lungs. With a shallow intake of air, he turned over on his stomach and used his arms to raise himself to a sitting position. The inside of the diner looked like a destructive madman had rearranged it. The booths were toppled or stacked on top of each other. The hostess station was next to him now. The only thing that was still standing where it had before the blast was the four walls, the ceiling, and the antique counter. “Sarah,” he called again. “Bart? Colby?” The little girl. Was she still in the back with her mother?

No one answered. Where is everyone? He crawled forward. Sarah had been nearly right beside him. Now there was no sign of her. He rubbed his eyes and coughed. Moving slowly, he prayed she was alive. It didn’t take long to find her sandwiched between an overturned booth bench and the podium for the hostess station.

Praise for Ring Around the Rosie:
"Julie Coulter Bellon proves once again she is a master at capturing her audience from the very first page . . . Unlike most suspense novels, the most suspenseful portion of Ring Around the Rosie is the first two thirds of the book . . . Suspense readers as well as anyone who just enjoys an absorbing story will enjoy this one."
~Jennie Hansen, Meridian Magazine

"Julie Coulter Bellon is one of my favorite romantic suspense writers, and this book is her best so far! It charters deep emotions and a complex plot. At the same time it traces the resurrection of a marriage. It has good writing, good plotting, and a very satisfying ending."
~Award-winning romance author, G.G. Vandagriff

Buy Links:
Amazon / Barnes and Noble /  iTunes / Kobo

Author Bio:
Julie is married with eight children and eleven published books. She loves to travel and her favorite cities she's visited so far are probably Athens, Paris, Ottawa, and London. She would love to visit Hawaii, Australia, Ireland, and Scotland someday. She loves to read, write, teach, watch Castle, Hawaii Five-O, and eat Canadian chocolate. Not necessarily in that order.

Find Julie:
Website * Blog * Facebook * Twitter * Sign up for my newsletter

Giveaway

Prize #1---$30 Amazon Gift Card
Prize #2---Booklovers Basket
Prize #3---Four Book Set of Hostage Negotiation Team series
Ends 9/15/14

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't Be Afraid of Social Media

by Marsha Ward

Last Saturday I gave a class at a writers' retreat held at the Merritt Center and Lodge in Payson, Arizona, by the Rim Country District of Arizona Press Women, (now known as Arizona Professional Writers). On the program it was called "Don't be afraid of social media to promote your work." I expanded the topic to include other online tools for marketing yourself and your products.

I introduced the concept of "1,000 True Fans" being a goal to work toward to ensure a living wage from writing. I wrote about that here. We talked about the importance of having an Internet presence of some sort, either a website or a blog. I challenged the participants to quantify their readership by using a worksheet to identify who "follows" them on whatever social media outlets they use or what lists of contact information they have assembled. I encouraged them to commit to use at least one social media or other outreach to their readers, whether it be a Facebook Page, a blog, live events, a newsletter, or Twitter. Then we had a lively question and answer period to end it all.

To my great relief, the class was received well, and I got a lot of comments from the attendees. I even sold a couple of books afterward. It was a good day.

What social media or other methods do you use to become and stay engaged with your readers?

Marketing Your Books

by Lucinda Whitney 

 Back in June I attended a one-day Indie Publishing conference and one of classes I took was taught by Abel Keogh, who has extensive experience with marketing on his day job.

His class was called "The 5 Best Ways to Market Your Book":
#5— Know your audience well. It seems kind of obvious, but you can't market if you don't know who the audience is. By reading reviews (both positive and negative), blog comments, etc, you can get a firmer grasp on this.

#4— Target your media blasts. This goes hand in hand with the previous one. Once you know your audience, you can target your efforts more efficaciously. For instance, if you plan a blog tour, arrange it with blogs that cater to the same genre as your book.

#3— Blogging, which can be either frustrating or effective. Some simple ways to make it work better for you is by having entertaining and informative content; by NOT making it about your books (your readers will get tired of the same subject all the time); by making your blog a place where readers want to go (refer to #4 and #5); by writing to your target audience, and by blogging regularly (and even on the same day).

#2— Email Newsletters. Don't send the newsletter unless you have something worthy to say (like announcements about a new book coming out). When sending announcements and other news, share them on the newsletter first, and then on other platforms.

#1— Write a new book. And why is the best way to market your book writing another one? Because word of mouth is the best marketing tool. With each new book published, your readership will increase, and so will the word of mouth referrals.

And there you have it. Five simple ways that help market your new book, but simple always works better. Thanks, Abel, for the tips.

10 Reasons, according to Mark Coker, Why Indie Authors Will Capture Half of the Ebook Market by 2020

by Marsha Ward

I've been an admirer of Mark Coker—who founded Smashwords.com in 2008—ever since I became a Smashwords user and content provider in 2009. His business is author-centric, and he is a stalwart supporter of indie authors and their issues.

Recently he did a blog post about the reasons, as he sees them, why indie authors are headed toward taking a larger share of the ebook market. This upward surge is in the nature of a revolution beneficial to independently publishing writers and authors. I share those with ten points with you here.

1. Print will continue to decline as a book-reading format as more readers transition to screens. The transition to screens will be driven by the low prices, selection, exceptional discoverability and instant reading pleasure delivered by ebooks.
2. Brick and mortar bookstores will continue their march into the sunset with more store closures. I'm not happy about this, but I don't see the trend reversing unless bookstores start serving wine and pot brownies in their cafes.
3. The perceived value of publishers will decline in the eyes of writers as the importance of print distribution declines. Print distribution is an important glue that holds many writers to their traditional publishers. When publisher stickiness decreases, writers will be tempted to explore the indie author camp.
4. Indie authors have learned to publish like professionals, which means self publishing will lead to more better books, and more diversity of better books. The professionalism and sophistication of indie authors has increased dramatically in the six years since we launched Smashwords, and this professionalism will increase in the future as indies pioneer tomorrow's best practices. These authors are publishing books that are quality-competitive with traditionally published books, but priced dramatically lower. As a result, these authors have the ability to under-price, outsell and out-compete the ebooks from traditional publishers. It means indie authors will have platform-building advantages over traditionally published authors.
5. The number of self-published ebooks will explode, and these ebooks will continue to enjoy democratized access to professional publishing and distribution tools such as Smashwords, and democratized access to global online retail distribution (every major ebook store wants to carry self-published ebooks). Every author - even indie authors - will face increased competition from the glut of high quality works that never go out of print.
6. The most successful indie authors are mentoring the next generation of authors. Indie authors act like a vast publishing collective of writers helping writers.
7. The stigma once associated with self publishing is melting away at the same time the stigma of traditional publishing is on the rise. Indie authors are in the cool kids club now. They know they can publish with pride and professionalism, and they're developing teflon skin that deflects the once ego-bruising criticism levied by self publishing naysayers. If you haven't been to a writers conference lately, go to one. A few years ago, writers would leave conferences depressed in the knowledge that their dream agent only accepts one in 10,000 queries. Today, writers attend conferences and learn to self publish like a pro. They leave the conference upbeat in the knowledge that one way or another, they'll publish their book their way.
8. Writers are discovering the joy of self publishing. If publishers are from Mars, authors are from Venus. They speak different languages and hold different values. The rewards of self publishing transcend the conventional and myopic commercial metric value systems of publishers. Indie authors are enjoying total creative control, faster time to market, ownership over their publishing future, and the flexibility to innovate and evolve their immortal ebooks which will never go out of print. Indie authors enjoy the freedom to serve their fans as they want to serve them. Icing on the indie author's cake: Indie ebook authors earn royalty rates 4-5 times higher than they'd earn from traditional publishers.
9. Readers don't care about the publisher name on the ebook's virtual spine. The brand they care about is the author brand. Indie authors are learning to build their own brands.
10. The growing rift between writers and publishers will cause the next generation of writers to avoid shopping their books to publishers, and will undermine the goodwill of writers who until now have been loyal to their traditional publishers. Writers are angry. After centuries of living on the bottom rung of the publishing ladder, they're feeling their oats and relishing their new-found power and respect.

Thank you, Mark Coker, for your foresight and willingness to create a business that is helping to bring an Indie Author Revolution to pass.