My Pants Are on Backwards!

I was just posting on Facebook that I noticed my pants were on backwards. I drove my kid to school and pumped gas dressed like this--with a saggy bottom hanging awkwardly on my front side (thank goodness I didn't stop off at Walmart only to get tagged as a 'Walmart Shopper'). The sad thing is, all this happened over two hours ago and I still haven't turned my pants around. I guess I'm a bit busy these days trying to figure out how to market my ebook. (Where should I spend my meager marketing budget in this overwhelming on-line world?) So this being said, I've decided to take a break with this particular blog while I spend the next few months posting interviews and reviews on other blog sites. But don't worry, I won't leave you alone in this crazy journey of seeking an agent and establishing a writing career. I have enlisted the help of fellow writer, blogger and agent seeker, Chris Wollam. Chris is a member of the writing group I attend (Southeastern WA Chapter of the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Association). He was one of the people who took time to help me edit my book proposal (he helped me immensely!), and he's currently working to perfect his own book proposal before sending it off to wonderful agents. Chris is a great guy, eager to learn, eager to write and eager to share his journey with you. He will begin posting this week, telling us a bit about himself and about his proposal. I will chime in once in a while, whenever I find something interesting that you need to know about.

Which reminds me, Inkubate is having a contest, see website for details:

Registration Process. Entrants register by completing a profile on the Inkubate website and submitting at least one literary work (the "Entry") to Inkubate. Entries must be uploaded to the Inkubate website and tagged for The Literary Blockbuster Challenge by December 15, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. (U.S. Eastern Standard Time). You may submit up to three (3) Entries to The Literary Blockbuster Challenge. (You may upload additional works to the Inkubate website for review by agents and publishers separate and apart from The Literary Blockbuster Challenge, but only novels are eligible for The Literary Blockbuster Challenge.) This is the only method by which you may register and submit Entries to The Literary Blockbuster Challenge. Any submission received in any other form or manner will not be acknowledged, will not be deemed an Entry, and will not be returned. 

-deidre

Book Touring--Will it Help?

You may be asking yourself, if I publish an ebook do I have to market it? The answer is an overwhelming "Yes!" (If you want people to read it, that is).  The problem with ebooks is that your wonderful book sits on a shelf, not with 100 other similar book titles (like it might in a book store), instead it shares shelf space with thousands of titles. Take my spiritual memoir Saving Mary: The Possession for instance. It shares shelf space with 13,131 other memoirs. If someone were to scroll through all the memoirs (and only REALLY avid memoir readers would ever do this), the time it would take to reach my book is well over 25 minutes. (I scrolled for 25 minutes and then got bored--and I only made it to book 1,369!) Of course, along the way I got side-tracked by other wonderful books. Which obviously means--had I been looking for a memoir to read, I would have bought one most likely by book 100 (never ever to notice poor Saving Mary).


So that being said, I am going on a book tour--a virtual book tour. (I won't even have to leave my office.)


Check out Shadow Blog Tours where I am having a Quote Party! on May 5th (my B-Day, by the way).

I'm also at the Virtual Book Tour Cafe, starting May 21.
You can also follow the Orangeberry Virtual Book Tour, starting June 8th.
And I will be at the Young Adult Novel Reader in June.

As far as advertising goes, I've paid for advertising on Kindle Nation Daily and Kindle Fire Department.


So far, I have 30 blogs lined up to showcase my book and five ads set to feature my book. And I'm hoping for more. I'll let you know if any of this helps with sales.

GREAT TIPS FOR MARKETING THAT EBOOK

I'm a bit overwhelmed with the whole self-publishing thing. I guess I wasn't aware of how much marketing would be needed. Now, don't get me wrong I'm not complaining. I'm enjoying all the marketing--it just takes A LOT of time: a lot of emails, a lot of planning and re-planning. Right now I'm arranging eBook blog tours. That being said, sometime down the road I will be evaluating the different tour guides that I'm working with. So far everything is going smoothly; I'm meeting great people who love books, and reviewers are coming on board to read Saving Mary: The Possession (the story of how I went and got myself possessed at the age of 17). If you need reviewers one great place to find them is on book blogs, but I'm also working with:

-http://www.yanovelreader.com/
-http://purplepenguinreviews.blogspot.com/
-http://www.battyforbooksandlovingit.blogspot.com/
-http://www.virtualbooktourcafe.com/
-http://www.shadowblogtours.com/
-http://darianwilk.weebly.com/

Oh, and here's another tip for marketing, be sure to set up a Google Alert account. This allows you to track the internet for any posts that come up in regards to "your name, your book title, your subject matter."

And don't forget to check out Kindle Nation Daily where you can place kindle ads, including ads about your kindle give-aways.

Global eBook Awards--Now Open!

If you've published an eBook (or made a fantastic book trailer or if you think your cover art is awesome), you might want to enter this year's Global eBook contest. It costs $79.00 bucks, per category. Check it out Here.

Also check out their eBook resources.

In addition, the National Indie Excellence Awards Is Now Accepting Submissions for 2012.

And finally, on June 1st the EPIC eBook awards will be waiting for your eBook submissions for their yearly contest.


It's a busy time for eBook authors.

Engaging the Literary Agents--Here I go!

I began blogging my journey of finding a literary agent on October 31 of 2011. Why do I want an agent especially now when Ebook publishing is gaining ground? My answer is still the same, market. There is an Ebook market and there is a hard-copy market, so as an author why not enter both and maximize my visibility as well as gain the perks of having an agent:
-agents help with editing
-agents help with marketing
-agents help with getting into bookstores (yes, bookstores are still around)

I initially set my hands to the task of this particular blog because of an email a prospective agent sent to me on October 25th. He wrote, "'Not visible enough,' is a comment I receive all too often [from publishers]." He wrote this to describe my lack of a platform--which pointed toward my scant chances of ever finding an agent. His email got me thinking, "I'm not visible...and in this day and age, I probably should be. Why am I hiding?" So I set my mind to becoming an author...with a platform. Following my mentors' advice (agent Mike Nappa and agent Michael Larsen) I wanted to be sure that:


* I am highly visible on the internet
* I am engaged in social media
* my internet presence is professional
* I can run a grass roots campaign
* I can sell books
* I have PR worthy accomplishments
* I understand marketing

If I could do these things, agent or no agent, I would be sure to give my books the best possible advantage--a platform from which to meet my prospective audience.

Before I started, I can actually say that when I Googled my name--only my Facebook page came up.Now when I Google myself, an onslaught of pages comes up. First my website appears, and then the page with my upcoming conference (Hosted by Author Paul Young of The Shack). My blog also shows up, my book on Amazon, my Twitter, my LinkedIn, my fan pages, my Author's Den, my Book Blog page, my Goodreads page...and as soon as I begin gaining book reviews those, too, will show up. A big change from just six months ago.

But being visible on the internet isn't just about Googling your name. When other people search certain subjects--in which I am interested--there, too, a perspective agent should find my name. This is where blogging becomes extremely helpful, as well as other niche websites: such as my new conference website, Is the Holy Spirit a Woman.com which will be going live within a month or so.

But that's not all I did to ready myself for prospective agents. Let's remember the all important Proposal and Sample Chapters. These two ingredients took some time to fully bake:

* I read books on how to write a proposal
* I researched other books in my field and spoke with other authors
* I found a great editor--everything is now edited and in tip-top shape
* I studied how to write an engaging query letter

After six months of work, I am now ready to approach a literary agent. Gosh, I can't believe I'm finally ready! I feel like I'm going to a fabulous job interview--wait, I am going to an interview!  I'll keep you posted.

Ebook Up on Amazon Kindle

I've been away on vacation visiting family, waiting patiently for my Ebook to go live on Amazon. My Ebook Saving Mary: The Possession went up on Monday. Thank you to those who added reveiws on Amazon! Self publishing has been exciting; I'm glad I did it. But I guess now it's time for the really hard work--marketing. If anyone has got some really great ideas for marketing Ebooks drop me a comment.

Saving Mary Amazon link


When I get back from my vacation I will start with my query letters, and the job of finding an agent begins!!