Posted in book tours, indie publishing, marketing fiction, social media, writing life, tagged Australian fiction, book tours, Coffee Club, indie publishing, Newcastle on December 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Book Tour: Week 3
We’re off again, this time to the Coffee Club, Kotara, in Newcastle to sign and sell a swag of books…or at least drink copious amounts of Nomi’s coffee trying.
And, as we did in Coffs Harbour, we will try to tweet our day (maybe this time it might even work).
Posted in book publishing, book tours, ebooks, Fiction, indie publishing, marketing books, middle grade fiction, platform, print books, social media, Teen Fiction, traditional book publishing, virtual book tours, Writing, tagged authors and amazon, Ebooks, indie publishing, marketing, middle grade fiction, virtual book tours, writing and publishing on June 15, 2014| 1 Comment »
three middle grade novels ready to launch, market and sell
almost
to find out how
stay tuned
…let the countdown begin…
Posted in book publishing, ebooks, Fiction, indie publishing, marketing books, Reading, social media, traditional book publishing, writingReading writing fiction, tagged amazon, Ebooks, Goodreads, indie publishing, Reader book buying habits, School Library Journal blogs 3, Teen fiction, teen reading habits on February 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Yesterday’s post about reader book buying habits got me curious…how exactly does my fourteen year old daughter choose the books she reads and buys?
Here’s the short answer:
1. She checks out Goodreads and follows the links to authors and books that look interesting
2. She reads School Library Journal blogs
3. She reads Book Review sites (sometimes she finds links to these on Goodreads)
4. She searches Common Sense Media to check for content and appropriateness (can you tell her mother’s a teacher?)
5. She goes to Amazon and downloads a sample chapter
6. If she likes the chapter she buys the ebook on her mother’s Amazon account
7. And finally, if she absolutely loves it she is then allowed to buy the print copy (a rule instigated by her mother who nowadays has to stand at the door of her study to place aforesaid books on perilously high piles of books bought indiscriminately over many years of bookshop trawling)
Conclusion…we love our local bookshop (and every bookshop between here and New Zealand) but the Internet has opened up our lives to a world of books we could never have otherwise found. We are voracious readers and will always love the texture and smell of books, and our house will always be full to brimming with the things, but our iPads with our iTunes and Kindle apps allow us the added pleasure off fossicking for reading treasure that until now we would never have had the opportunity to enjoy.
Posted in book tours, collaboration, Fiction, indie publishing, marketing books, middle grade fiction, platform, social media, Teen Fiction, virtual book tours, Writing, tagged book distribution, book marketing, book tours, fiction writing, social media, Teen fiction, virtual book tours on February 6, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Your book is finished and it’s time for the fun part, right? Time to hit the road and do the big tour. And, of course, if you’re anything like me, thinking big is the easy part. It’s what we writers do, isn’t it?
I was ready to hook up the Kimberly Kamper and head around Oz, stopping in at schools and libraries, selling books with gay abandon…I was a tad worried about being locked in a moving vehicle with my co-author for the several months this tour was going to take but, hey, I could always sit him in the back with the child locks on if he misbehaved.
But then I had to go and get this email from The Book Designer (www.thebookdesigner.com) with the title, 7 Top eBook Blog Tour Sites, written by Greg Strandberg at http://www.bigskywords.com.
Researching the marketing game has seen me write and discard several marketing plans in the last months as I’ve talked to editors, publishers, distributors, bookshops, school librarians and book fair co-ordinators. And I was ready to hit the road, even with my brother, actually he’d come in handy for flat tyres and such…
I mean, let’s face it, we writers spend all our lives cooped up in attics tapping away at our keyboards so can we be blamed for dreaming of a few champagne celebratory drinks after the hard work is done, followed by a road trip to make us if not rich then at least famous…
But it’s not how it’s done anymore…well, at least not exclusively…marketing nowadays means more time at the keyboard, blogging, tweeting and…err…touring virtually. Strandberg lists his top seven virtual tour sites in his blog but he’s written a book that lists fifty sites, Tour Your Book, 50 eBook Blog Tour Sites That Increase Amazon Sales, and it’s those last couple of words that has me unpacking the trailer before I’ve even begun…because if there’s one thing I’ve learnt from my marketing research it’s that ebook sales are what drive sales nowadays and, according to the gurus who run sites like http://www.thebookdesigner.com and http://www.digitalbookworld.com there’s only one way forward for we wanna be marketers of our words…and it doesn’t involve sunsets on deserted beaches with fishing rods and celebratory drinks…
Cheers…
Posted in collaboration, Fiction, middle grade fiction, platform, social media, Writing, tagged book apps, fiction writing, marketing, middle grade fiction on January 16, 2014| 4 Comments »
Research is such a wonderful thing…and knowing when to stop gathering information and start writing is a skill I mastered early on in my writing career. But marketing, well, that’s a different story. I’ve been working on my marketing plan for our middle grade reader novels for weeks and so far I’ve been happy with the results. Most of what we will be doing is within the realms of possibility, if not probability…
But then I had to go and blow it all with one tiny google search, http://www.digitalkidsauthor.com, by Sydney writer, Karen Robertson. If you have never thought about turning your story into an app then I suggest you don’t go there…but, alas, I was hooked. I downloaded the Author’s Guide to Book Apps and What is a Book App and Could YOU Create One? The capital letters are Robertson’s, not mine but already I’m screaming YES! YES! YES!
And my co-author and illustrator are groaning into their hands. Looks like fun, sounds like fun, so it’s gunna be fun, right? Better yet, the guys at Demibooks, http://www.demibooks.com, promise it’s easy…stay tuned…
Posted in Fiction, platform, social media, Teen Fiction, Writing, tagged fiction, Joel Friedlander, marketing, novels on December 30, 2013| 1 Comment »
The learning curve just gets steeper as I tackle the production and marketing side of publishing my novels. There’s nothing like a challenge to kick off the new year…and as usual I’ve set myself a couple of doozies.
First, to publish and market our three Cracker and Gilly mysteries, Forbidden, Old Bones & Merinda’s Gold – not to mention the accompanying Teacher’s Notes and Australian Curriculum Unit Plans as I pitch to the ever growing digital education market.
And second, my literary novel, the miner’s wife, with which I plan to tour and promote, using my marketing action plan…researched and drawn up with helpful tips from Joel Friedlander’s, http://www.thebookdesigner.com…
My TO DO list is pretty straightforward…editing, interior and cover design, proofreading, producing, printing, fulfilling orders, accounting, marketing, publicity and sales…let the challenge begin…
Posted in platform, social media, Writing on September 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »
I didn’t realize it was such a common theme song…I wanna do it my way…and the combination of fiction writing and self publishing allows just that…FREEDOM!!!
Posted in platform, social media, Writing on September 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »
I didn’t realise that adding ‘A Cracker and Gilly Mystery’ to the title of FORBIDDEN in our cover design would be a great sales decision. Readers like being able to identify with the characters of your story and they are keen to stay with them in any future adventures…we now have three ‘Cracker and Gilly’ mysteries in the cue for publication and our Young Adult readers are keen for more….I think it’s time to introduce my co-writer in crime, my brother and adventure sharer, who inspired our stories…stay tuned…he’s psyching himself up for the photo shoot…
growing up writing 