Happy Read-an-Ebook Week!

It’s that time of year again – Canada’s Read-an-Ebook Week! For all my readers, I encourage you to take some time for yourself this week and read an ebook. And for those who haven’t heard, they’re giving out free ones at The Roses of Prose. If your pocket book’s a little stretched this week, all you have to do is download A Holiday to Remember from our website or Smashwords….


Candy Wright didn’t become a high-powered Manhattan business executive by letting men walk all over her. She watched her mother work herself to death to give her daughter a better life and is determined to make her proud. If that means not risking her heart, not letting any man get too close, then so be it.

Mitch Johnson lives a simple life in rural Georgia. Holding his secrets close. Hiding from the life he left behind. The last thing he wants—or needs—is a woman to remind him of his past. When the two are thrown together in a freak snowstorm, sparks fly. Mitch is everything she’s worked to escape. Candy is a reminder of his painful past. But the attraction between them won’t be denied. Will love thaw their frozen hearts, or will secrets tear them apart? One thing is certain; it will be a holiday to remember…

For other ebooks, visit the BOOKS page of my website! (You can get each of the novellas in my western romance trilogy for under $3.00 at Amazon! Read the 5-Star trilogy reviews here....) Here’s wishing everyone a Happy Read-an-Ebook week! What e-titles are you reading this week?

Abbey MacInnis: Positive Promotion!

Today I welcome a good friend of mine to 30 Days of Promo Goodness! Abbey MacInnis is a fellow author from The Way Back Home anthology as well as the author of new release His Fifth Avenue Thief. Along with contemporary romance, she writes historical, paranormal and erotic romance. Whether she’s being swept off her feet by a Medieval knight, regency rake, or cowboy or cop, her heroes are always strong men who’ll love their women unconditionally. On most days, Abbey can be found at her computer, penning her latest tale. A tale where love, respect, and passion combine to create a satisfying and happy ending. Guaranteed. She invites you to step in to the pages of her romances, to leave your worries behind and get swept up in her world.

Take it away, Abbey....

Thanks to Amber for having me here today and tomorrow. I’ve been reading all the wonderful posts on promotion, and found them helpful and interesting. I have nothing earth-shattering to share or promo secrets hidden up my sleeve. *g* Don’t I wish.

I try to think of promoting in a positive way. Yes, I’m promoting my books and my brand, but to me, it’s more than that. So rather than thinking of promoting as a way to just get your name out there, it’s about interacting with readers and fellow writers.

I have a website with newsletter sign up, and some of the social networking accounts such as:
Facebook fan page. Twitter and Goodreads. I also participate on the Kindle boards. I also have an
a Amazon author page, which is very important to have if your books are on Amazon. My blog
is a very recent venture I’ve started. I swore up and down I wouldn’t create one I finally caved after reading author Kristen Lamb’s books on social networking.

If you haven’t heard of Kristen, I strongly recommend her. After reading her books, I was really able to grasp what brand really is, and what mine is, and how to effectively promote myself while still having time to write.

Before reading Kristen’s books, I didn’t have a marketing focus. I’d occasionally send out a tweet and/or update my Facebook profile, but I wouldn’t interact on either of them religiously. As for a blog? Right, I have nothing to say that anyone would care to read. I learned that I need to be active in social media. I just didn’t know how to do this. I’d feel overwhelmed when I’d think of having to get out there and talk about my books. But my books aren’t what I’m promoting. I’m promoting myself. Readers won’t always remember stories, but they’ll remember the author if you take the time to interact with them.

Promoting can seem very frightening, but if you have a specific focus and yes, a plan, it’s not bad at all.

I take a few minutes each day to update my Facebook and Twitter statuses with content related to my brand with a promo update thrown in here and there. Interacting with my friends is crucial and fun too.

I browse the Kindle and Nook boards and forums. When I’ve finished reading a book, I’ll rate it on my Goodreads page. Goodreads is a gold mine for writers. There are hundreds, if not thousands of groups to join where you can simply interact and find potential readers of your target audience. That’s why having updates sent as daily digests is a gem. *g*

What I enjoy most of all is reading and commenting on blogs.

To me, blogs are more personable. You’re in a setting where you can chat directly with fellow bloggers about topics that interest you. It doesn’t feel like work when you’re chatting about your favorite books or authors you all love, or about the current post of the day.

Bloggers and their readers can get to know one another a little better because they aren’t like FB or Twitter where it seems everyone has something to say practically every minute. I have my blogs that I read and comment on regularly. Through reading the other comments, I’ve followed/friended or been followed/friended by other regular readers. This in turn, has led to tweeting or having my status retweeted. To track whether commenting on blogs is leading browsers to your site, Google Analytics is a wonderful tool to utilize.

On social media, good karma is a must. I treat my friends like friends whether they retweet or like or retweet my status updates or not. Replying, offering encouragement or a retweet can go along way, especially when it’s heart-felt.

There are so many promotional options out there for authors, it’s difficult to choose which will garner you the most sales. There’s no magic way to springboard you to the top of all the bestseller lists, though I’ve read some authors views on that. I do what works best for me. I have enough in my life that can stress me out, I refuse to let interacting with potential readers and authors be one of those things.

I used to see promotion as a chore, but it’s all in how you think of it. Yes, you have something to sell, (yourself), but there’s more to you than just what you write. You have to connect with people on a more intimate level than just “Hey buy my book.” It took me awhile to figure out what works best for me, but I think I’ve finally found it.

I’ll be at work today. I’d love to chat, but it’ll have to wait until later. I’ll respond as soon as I can! Thanks again to Amber for having me!


Thank you for sharing with us, Abbey! Readers, find out more about Abbey and her books at www.abbeymacinnis.com and tune in tomorrow for an excerpt from her latest romance, His Fifth Avenue Thief....

MIDNIGHT SUN by MJ Fredrick

We continue today with author MJ Fredrick and her latest romance release, Midnight Sun, available now at Amazon....


This wasn’t the adventure she’d signed up for…

A sexy boss, a rough crossing, and pirates—all Brylie Winston wanted was a job to help her earn money to buy her own restaurant. She hopes to earn it by working as a chef on a cruise to Antarctica. But she’s slept with her boss, which throws her off-balance even more than the rough seas and warnings of pirates in the area. And he’s determined to have a repeat performance…

Bad boy former snowboarder Marcus Devlin is running from his reputation, sent to learn the family business after decking a senator’s son and making the papers. So maybe he indulged in a last-minute fling before boarding his family’s cruise ship to Antarctica. Perhaps Fate is showing him that wasn’t so bad—the gorgeous redhead who snuck out of his bed is on the cruise. She’ll be a lovely distraction during his exile.

But when South American pirates take over the ship, his instinct is to protect her and the other passengers. But what does a spoiled rich boy know about saving people’s lives?


Excerpt from Midnight Sun:

“Marcus.” Her face was pale in the dim light, her eyes dark with fear. “I can’t. The passengers. We have to get them to safety. You know what my father said.”
He hesitated. Every molecule in his body, that he’d trained himself to listen to, told him to bolt, to hide. But she was right. The passengers were his responsibility.

“I’ll go.” He couldn’t allow her to come up her father’s bleeding body on the deck. He couldn’t be sure the man had been shot, but he’d been bloody close to the terrorists. Damn, he wished he knew what was going on, if the security guys had gone into action with those power hoses—and if that had been effective.

“I have to go. My father—”

Gunfire below them cut her off. Automatic weapons fired in staccato bursts, and hand guns popped. Ours or theirs? Screams from the passengers. Marcus realized getting all the passengers to the interior of the ship, in one place, would make it easier for the terrorists to hurt them. No. He and Brylie had to find a way to hide, to call for help.

“We won’t be able to get to them without getting caught ourselves.” He flinched when another gunshot went off, this one closer, from what sounded like the stairwell. He jumped up and hit the ceiling tile with the tips of his fingers to make sure it moved. When it shifted to his satisfaction, he turned to Brylie, who was wild-eyed and tense enough to snap.

He placed a hand on her shoulder to focus her. “Trust me.”

He went down on a knee, forming a cup with his hand and she placed her booted foot into it. Straining, he lifted her until she could reach the ceiling. She shoved a tile out of her way and pulled herself through as he rose, pushing her along.

“Good girl,” he muttered.

More shouting from the deck had him hesitate. She was safe, but did he have time to follow her up, or would he get caught and give her away? He scanned her room for a quick way to give him a boost, but using something like that would leave a clue about where they’d gone. He closed her bedroom door and looked up into her face as she leaned down to help him.

He grasped her wrists, and with his foot on the railing on the other side of the hallway, he pushed himself up and into the crawlspace beside her. He got the paneling in place just as he heard footsteps in the hall. He cradled Brylie against him, feeling her shivering, as a loud crash sounded down the hall, then another.

They were kicking in doors, looking for passengers.

What the hell did they want?

MJ Fredrick: Tweet This!

Our guest today is author MJ Fredrick! Readers, be sure to welcome her to our 30 Days of Promo Goodness event here at The Cozy Page!

Take it away, MJ...


I think I would love Twitter even if I wasn’t a writer, just because it’s quick and easy and informative. I learned about Michael Jackson, Osama Bin Laden and Amy Winehouse from Twitter, because I have it on more often than I have the news.

But I’m here to talk to you about promoting, so…


GETTING STARTED

Signing up for Twitter is very easy. Make sure you use the name you write under. If someone else has that handle already, change it to JaneDoeAuthor or JaneDoeWriter or JaneDoeRomance. You don’t want your handle to be too long, because you only get 140 characters, and if you’re doing promotion and want someone to “retweet,” or pass on, what you’ve said, your long handle can make that difficult.

Come up with an interesting bio. I won’t follow someone with no bio, or one that seems too self-serving. It need not be clever, but pertinent information, like “I write for Carina Press” or “avid book lover” will tell us something about you.

Clever is good, though. Caroline Fyffe has, “Walking across America on my treadmill one step at a time....” on her bio. Cute, huh?

Finding friends is the next challenge. Twitter will happily let you import friends from your email account and your Facebook, or any other social media. Once you have a few friends, you can peruse their friends and follow them. You don’t need to send a request, and just because you follow them doesn’t mean they’ll follow back, but they might. I never thought Jill Shalvis would follow me, but she does!

Fridays on Twitter are “Follow Fridays,” marked by the hashtag (more about that later) #FF. Lots of people mention people they follow, and you can follow them as well. Again, not everyone will follow you, but some will.


USING TWITTER TO YOUR ADVANTAGE

Reply to tweets. Get in conversations. Twitter is not just about promotion. Engage with people. But don’t do it just to engage. Find things you’re interested in. Lots of people talk about TV shows (beware of spoilers!), sports, books, news articles. It’s amazing how you get to know people, too. I remember things about people on Twitter I don’t remember about my own family! I sold at least one title to a girl because she and I both had crushes on Jeffrey Dean Morgan and I used him as the model for my hero in one of my books.

Retweeting is like sharing on Facebook, or passing it on. I retweet interesting news articles, reviews of friends’ books, funny sayings, release day information. When you retweet, people take note and may return the favor.


PROMOTING

On Amazon and Smashwords and The Wild Rose Press, and probably others, there is a “share” button. When you click, it will open a Twitter dialogue box, complete with a link. You can add your screen name and a quick blurb and a hashtag or two and send it on. Try not to use all the characters allotted so people can retweet it for you.

Using hashtags will help you get read more widely. Hashtags are the words that begin with the number symbol (#). You cannot have any other punctuation in a hashtag or it will break it, so some of them look odd. But they’re fun. People can follow the hashtag to find things they are interested in. Some that I use are #amreading (good to use with your link above) or #amwriting. #1k1hr is for writers doing writing sprints. #kindle will get you noticed by people who use Kindles. A great list of hashtags is here.


WORKING TOGETHER

One thing I’ve found effective is working with a group of other writers to retweet promotion messages. I’ve done this with The Wild Rose Press group, who use the hashtag #twrp, and the Wet Noodle Posse, who don’t use a hashtag. We set up a day or an afternoon, post a promotional blurb, and everyone retweets it to their followers.

Yes, we have some of the same followers so they get the message more than once, but the blurb does get to more people that way. You can include your website, a clever sentence, anything to drive traffic to your book.


Thank you, MJ, for the Twitter tips! Readers, tune in tomorrow for a peek into MJ's latest release, Midnight Sun....