Authors of the Free World

I love blogging and LinkedIn because it allows me to meet some incredible people. One in particular is Nick LeVar—a writer and an ex-military soldier, who I thank for his service to our country, and for his writing talent. He is one of those people who writes from the heart. Through my group participation on LinkedIn, and Pay It Forward on my blog, I was able to get to know Nick. He has worked on creating a site, Authors of the Free World (AFW) for over a year and it has finally launched. The site assists authors with publishing needs while the authors focus on their creation. There are plenty of sites providing author services, and a lot of free information out there, but the most important thing is finding devoted, hardworking people—and this is the team you want on your side.

I am a member of AFW, and you will find information about me and what I offer under my Profile. Our team has experience with writing and publishing through trial and error, and years of working in the industry. When you get a chance, stop on over and subscribe so you can get all the free and discounted goodies offered. Hope to see you there.

Author Services and Writing,

Bea

A Writer’s Guide to Marketing and Promotional Etiquette

I feel it’s as good a time as any to post a guide for writer’s etiquette. Like most writers, I’m connected to several social networking sites and groups to ‘expose’ myself, meet new and interesting people, and promote my works. For a short time, I even did ‘Pay It Forward’, where I featured an Indie author on my blog, and in return, they were to either feature an Indie author on their blog or read and review an Indie author on one of the large outlets, such as Amazon or Goodreads.

I recently searched for a writer’s guide to marketing and promoting etiquette, but I haven’t found one. Since I was unable to find anything, and I’ve come across some annoying behavior, I thought I’d start A Writer’s Guide to Marketing and Promotional Etiquette. All authors, traditionally and self-published, need to learn some etiquette when it comes to getting the word out in a way that can be digested instead of making us swallow whole (No, this is not an erotic post).

You wrote a book and you want everyone to know about it. It’s your mission to get the word out and put your book in the forefront of the hundreds of books published every day because, quite frankly, you’ve written the best book of the millennium, right? You join all the social network sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Goodreads; join groups that are connected with these sites; and ask for reviews and author features on people’s blogs. Great! You’re headed in the right direction. These are all great ideas for online promotion, but with these promotions come some etiquette. The way you conduct yourself while promoting your book, can either make or break your sales.

1)  If you have a Facebook page, and you plan to ‘like’ everyone else’s page, you should ‘like’ their page and leave a nice message with a link to your page. We’re all busy, and it takes time to find someone’s Facebook page. Providing a direct link to your page with a simple, “Hello, I came across your page on Goodreads and thought I’d stop by to say hello” is a great start to a possible long friendship.

2)  If you only have a Facebook account to promote your works, then you’ll have problems receiving acceptances to your friend requests. Most people like their private life to remain private, and they don’t want a nameless, faceless person snooping around their Facebook digs. It’s important that you create a Facebook page for promotional purposes.

3) If you’re following people on Facebook, you should periodically respond to their posts, such as congratulating them on their successes or sharing their new publication. When people see your name pop up enough, and you’re spreading the word about their accomplishments, they’ll definitely remember you. Simply following someone isn’t scoring you points.

4)  If you’re on LinkedIn, and signed up to several writing groups to promote your work, promote your successes the right way. Don’t send out a mass email to everyone you’re following, letting them know you just published your book, and everyone who read it gave it a 5-star rating. Bull crap! We’ve all published or are in the process of publishing, and we know that you got the 5-star ratings from family and friends. Unsolicited emails are an intrusion, and quite frankly, when I receive them, I mark them as ‘pain-in-the-ass-newbie-author’ and most likely wouldn’t buy your book.

5)  If you’re on LinkedIn, get involved in group discussions. People are more apt to buying your book after having some conversations and learning about you than they are coming across your promotional link.

6)  If you have an author page on Goodreads, and you belong to groups, get involved by entering into discussions. Post your promotions in the appropriate places. Goodreads is an opportune place to connect with readers and writers. Don’t burn bridges ... or books.

7)  If you’re doing an author feature on a blog, it’s YOUR JOB to provide all the necessary information and to make sure it’s edited. When you do an interview, and there are several misspelled words, run-on sentences, fragments, anyone reading it will assume your book is a grammatical mess. How you write is a reflection of you and your books. We all have mistakes in our works, but keep it to a bare minimum. Also, provide all the information needed to promote you and your book, and that includes links to your website, blog, where they can buy the book, etc.

8)  If you’re doing an author feature on a blog, it’s YOUR JOB to promote that blog post. Don’t expect the author feature to post on the blog, and you’re going to get an influx of people swooning to know you and to buy your book. It doesn’t work that way. Promote the blog post on all your social network sites AND keep returning to the post to respond to comments. When an author can’t even take the time to thank the blogger for the post or respond to comments, then readers probably can’t find the time to buy the book.

9)  If you request a book review, and someone reads and reviews your book, thank them. I don’t care if they gave you a 1-star or 5-star rating. Send them an email, thanking them for their time and review. We all hate those low ratings and reviews, but when you ask for a review, you should expect nothing but an honest one.

The more people get to know you, the more they’re willing to buy your book. The more annoying you are, the more likely you’ll lose some readers.

Promoting is a lot of work, and we can’t put all of our time into it. I’ve been guilty of poor etiquette myself, but I plan to change it. It really helps to have family and friends spread the word. If you can concentrate on one social network at a time, move to the next, and then the next until you’re back at the first one, people will at least get a glimpse of you, and then you continue the circle. Remember, you’re trying to build an audience, like other writers, so reaching out and connecting with people is one of the best ways to do it.

Do you have any tips for marketing and promotional etiquette?

Writers and Etiquette,

Bea

Flatmate!

The featured authors and Pay It Forward have come to an end, so back to my life, writing, publishing and other odds and ends I plan on throwing in. As some of you know, I moved to Germany and we’re living in a two bedroom flat. Flats in Germany are pretty much gutted, and it’s up to the new renters to wallpaper, paint, put in flooring, kitchen cabinets, etc. There are some flats that might have the floors and walls done from prior owners, but for the most part, you’re on your own to make it pretty. The place was a wreck when we first saw it, but we felt we could make it our home. There’s still plenty of work to be done on it.

I was in Germany for a month in February looking at flats with my Love, and we picked a flat with a balcony. We both wanted a place where we could sit outside and enjoy the good weather when it decides to stick around. Even though the flat we picked needed a lot more work than the others, we chose this one for its location and because it had a balcony.

Here are a few pictures of our flat and its surroundings. In the first picture, our balcony is the second floor middle balcony. The second picture are the flats across from ours. It’s nice because they are a decent distance away. We live on the South Side of Alt Stadt (old town/city). It's only fitting I live on the South Side since I grew up on the South Side of Chicago. 

This picture is of the kitchen sink area. I took this picture when we were looking at flats back in February.

Here’s the AFTER picture. My Love wallpapered and painted the walls white, put in the sink, cabinets and appliances before I got here and I started doing more of the decoration. I painted the tiles and the spice racks hanging on the wall.

This is a picture of the kitchen window; to the right is where the tiles and sink go.

And here is what the kitchen window and sink look like now. I’ve gone the cheaper route when decorating. The leaves that are by the window are real leaves. I collected them from around the area and from one of the forests, and then glued them on the wallpaper. I wasn’t sure if they were going to stick, but so far, I wake up in the morning and they’re still there.

The plant on the windowsill is a rose plant we bought at the Euro store (same concept as the dollar tree) and this plant hasn’t stopped growing. It’s great to see it.

Here are pictures of the living room window and balcony door. These were also taken back in February.

Winter can be gloomy in Germany, so I wanted a bright pick me up color for the living room. We both agreed on ‘mango’. We still have the flooring to do, we’re going with wood floors, so please ignore the 'ugly' carpets. 

The corner cabinet in this picture was a dark wood. I sand papered it and painted it a cream color. The paper ball light is from IKEA. I spray painted it to match the walls. It was hilarious, because when we turned on the light, everything was orange. I felt like I was in the orange light district. Instead of throwing it away, we bought two cheap white lights (one is next to corner cabinet) to offset the orange.

The plant sitting on the corner cabinet is a holly tree. We found one and replanted it. 

That's it so far regarding decorating. I’ll be back to share more.

Decorating and Plants,

Bea