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My Life is a Sitcom

May 10, 2017 by Tari Jewett in category Charmed Writer by Tari Lynn Jewett, Writing tagged as #amwriting, boys, Charmed Writer, Family, regrets, scripts, Tari Lynn Jewett, writing

Hunky Hubby with tools

Small mobs of kids surrounded our garage every Halloween when my husband carved pumpkins, not because he was especially artistic, but because he used a sawzall to carve them, and pumpkin insides and seeds sprayed everywhere while he worked. Our sprinkler system had “more power”, and when my mixer broke while I was making a birthday cake, Hunky Hubby came to the rescue by inserting a mixer beater into his electric drill. For years our three boys, took turns hiding a large plastic rat…in the dryer, in the pantry, wherever they thought it was most likely to scare me. If I left my phone unattended they would change their brother’s names on my contact list to things like ‘Ugly’ and ‘Creep’ and their own names to things like ‘Mom’s Favorite’ or ‘The Very Best Son’.

If this sounds like a season of Home Improvement, I thought so too. Hunky Hubby and the boys would prefer to eat meat off the grill and watch Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, while I wanted to see manners at the table and watch The Sound of Music. I could have written several seasons without making anything up.

In fact, of all my writing regrets, I most regret not writing an episode of Home Improvement and submitting it before the show ended.

So what is your biggest writing regret? Do you have one? Have you ever felt like your life was a sitcom, or tv drama and wanted to write a script?

The boys today with Grandma

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Cover review: Half ‘n’ Half Covers

May 8, 2017 by H. O. Charles in category Art, Cover, Design by H. O. Charles tagged as art, book covers, covers, design, graphic design

My eye was caught this month by these rather attractive, bipartite covers in the Thriller section:

What I really like about these three covers is the way they separate their titles into two halves using both contrasting colours and placement inside the background imagery.

Not only does this make a striking image, it also communicates the essence of the titles before the reader so much as thinks about the meaning of the words within them.

They tell you that there are two stories to be told, two points of view – a this and a that. Of course, the real world is not always so simple, and the stories within may not be either, but our human brain likes things to be reduced to simple statements, which is exactly what these covers are.

The great thing about this type of cover design is that it can be applied to so many novels, especially in something like the crime/thriller genre, where there is a question of innocence/guilt, or was it him/her? etc.

But the title has to work with the design. “He Said/She Said” is easy to balance and mirror, as is “My Husband the Stranger”. With “Two Sisters”, however, the designer has to forget the idea of perfect symmetry, and tie the words instead to background images that balance them out. Even though the words are different sizes, you are still left with the impression that they represent two individuals, who are likely quite contrasting in character, standing in that landscape.

So there you go – another design route to consider for your next novel!

I thought I’d also include a couple of “cover picks of the month” this time round, because they were so pretty (and tie in with what I was nattering on about last month re: minimalist titles and their covers)

Aren’t they pretty? And also slightly spooky?!

H.O .Charles, a cover designer and author, was born in Northern England, but now resides in a beige house in Suffolk.

Charles has spent many years at various academic institutions, and really ought to get on with writing a PhD, but frequently becomes distracted by writing fantasy fiction instead.

Hobbies include being in the sea, being by the sea and eating things that come out of the sea.

Cover designs: www.hadleighdesign.blogspot.com

Author: www.hocharles.com

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Visual Content Marketing for the Confused and Terrified Writer with Elena Dillon

May 7, 2017 by marianne h donley in category Writing: It's a Business tagged as Elena Dillion, Online Classes, Visual Content Marketing

Visual Content Marketing | A Slice of Orange

Visual Content Marketing for the Confused and Terrified Writer

Instructor: Elena Dillon

Cost: $79

Dates: On Demand at Teachable.com

What is visual content and why do you need it for your marketing strategy? And how does this apply to your author business?

The answer is simple.

Visual content is anything that uses pictures, graphics, video, etc. When you see a GIF of cats falling off tables? That’s visual content. A pretty graphic with a quote from a book? Visual Content. Those fabulous cooking videos where they make a cinnamon roll apple pie in twenty seconds? Visual content.

It’s what will get your content seen. As a matter of fact, statistically your readers are 44% more likely to engage with visual content. Hmmm. 44%? Hard to ignore. We all want to work smarter not harder, right? In this class, you will learn:

How to decide what kind of visuals will work for you and your business
How to create all kinds of visuals
How to make one piece of content work in many different ways
Drive traffic where you want it to go (your website, lead page, Amazon or other retailer page)
Save time and effort in your marketing efforts

Who should take this class?

This class for you if you’ve never created any kind of graphics on your own. It’s for authors who need to learn how to create visual content for their author business and are unsure about using new technology. We will go over:

Strategies for smarter marketing
Tools that make visual content easier to create and more manageable
How to plan out your content and marketing so it takes up less precious writing time.

And believe it or not? I’ll make it fun. I’ll teach you how to create a graphic while you’re standing in line for coffee. =)

About the instructor:

Who Am I?

I’m Elena Dillon, an author of the award winning Young Adult Breathe series. When I’m not writing, I love to help my author friends with technology and social media. I’ve taught Social Media for the Confused and Terrified, Pinterest for the Confused and Terrified, Visual Content for Authors and spoken at numerous conferences, chapters and groups about social media and indie publishing.

Most of the time, I’m a wife to my husband of twenty-six years, mom to my two grown kids and servant to my high-maintenance English bulldog, Brutus, while I wait, not so patiently, for grandbabies.

Enrollment Information

Visual Content Marketing for the Confused and Terrified Writer

Instructor: Elena Dillon

Cost: $79

Dates: On Demand at Teachable.com

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THE FUN OF PROMOTION–Enjoy the Game

May 6, 2017 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as LA Times Book Festitval, Linda O. Johnston, Malice Domestic, Mysterious Galaxy, promotion

Pets Romance & Lots of Suspence The third book in my Barkery & Biscuits Mysteries, BAD TO THE BONE, will be officially released in a couple of days–May 8. And I’ve been quite busy promoting it already.

Do I enjoy promotion? Yes and no. I used to be uncomfortable getting in front of crowds doing any kind of public speaking. Now I do it all the time.

For example, I recently attended Malice Domestic, a conference focusing on cozy mysteries. Both authors and fans attend, and it’s a lot of fun. I was on a panel called The “Paws” that Detect: Animal Companions with several other authors, and we were asked questions and got to explain how the animals in our books help our stories. Fun!

I also went to an authors’ event at a local library branch that was reopening after being remodeled. There, I was on a panel discussing–no, not dogs this time, but promotion. I got to share ideas with the other panelists who approached part of it similarly and some differently.

I attended the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books a few weeks ago, where I encouraged passersby into the romance writers’ booth and also did some signings at the mystery writers’ booths. I talked to a lot of people there, and not only about my writing–though that played a major part.

Promotion 2 | Linda O. Johnston| A Slice of Orange

Gay Kinman, Linda O. Johnston, Glen Hamilton, Stephen Buehler, Anne Bannon at SinC/LA booth #367

I’m attending a birthday bash at the Mysterious Galaxy bookstore soon, where I’ll also get to talk about my new release.

Then there are all the blogs I do–including A Slice of Orange plus my other scheduled ones such as Killer Hobbies, Killer Characters, and InkSpot. And I’m also currently on a blog tour to promote my new release, where I’ve written blogs and responded to interview questions for some sites and will also have my new book reviewed or highlighted on other sites.

So what are the things I enjoy about all this? I get to talk about myself and my writing and meet other people and share ideas and… well, I’ve definitely learned that writing isn’t only about writing. Not now–not when one is published. So I might as well have fun doing it, since it’s part of the game!

Promotion 3 | Linda O. Johnston | A Slice of Orange Linda first novel was the 1995 Love Spell time travel romance A Glimpse of Forever. Since then she has published over 40 novels—mysteries and romances, including paranormal romance and romantic suspense.

Linda has two new books out for 2017. May 8th will see the release of BAD TO THE BONE, the third book in the Barkery & Biscuits Mystery Series. On June 1st, her book PROTECTOR WOLF (Alpha Force) a part of the popular Harlequin Nocturne series of paranormal romances will be published. Both books are available for preorder.

If you’re in the San Diego area, Linda will be at the Mysterious Galaxy Birthday Bash on Saturday, May 13th

BAD TO THE BONE

$11.35eBook: $9.49

Author: Linda O. Johnston
Series: A Barkery & Biscuits Mystery, Book 3
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Tags: 2017, A Barkery & Biscuits Mystery

Who killed Wanda Addler?

More info →

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EPIC FACEBOOK AD FAILURE…IT WAS ALL MY FAULT

May 5, 2017 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed tagged as Ads, Facebook, Marketing, Newsletters

Facebook Ads| Tracy Read | A Slice of Orange I am a huge fan of Facebook [FB] Ads. Having said that. Let’s get started.

Like most Indie Writers, I am my own marketing director and publicist. Ultimately, I am the only one getting the word out about my books. No matter how many people I bribe, I mean beg to post on their social media or who voluntarily spread the word, getting the word out is on me.

I have been fortunate to participate in book promotional events

I have been very fortunate to participate in a couple of book promotional events that helped build my mailing list. As well as, using Facebook ads.

The first time I placed a FB ad, I didn’t expect thousands or even hundreds of subscribers. I was just hoping someone clicked the ad. Facebook Ads | Tracy Reed | A Slice of Orange

I thought my first FB ad, did decent…reach 3,050, subscribers 46 and $23.47 over a 5 day period. The second time I placed a FB ad the reach was 2,589, number of subscribers 81 and $53.49 over a 7 day period. [I might be off on my duration by a day or two.] Again, I thought those were good numbers. I tried it one more time. This time the reach was 3,609 with 144 subscribers at a cost of $74.47. [Each ad was done with a different book or a free book.]

Reality Check

I recently got a reality check when it came to my results…these were not that good. Another thing I didn’t do, was keep good records. All I was looking at was how many subscriptions I got and not going over budget.

I recently completed Mark Dawson’s course on Facebook Ads and realize I could have done better. [This isn’t a post for the course or Mark Dawson.] Some of my classmates have been posting their results and even the examples in the lectures, revealed, I could have done much, much better.

I finished the class excited about correcting my mistakes. I know I can’t fall prey to the writer’s golden rule, “Don’t compare your progress/success to another writer. I hear myself saying the words and see them in this post. Yet, I can’t help but compare my results to much more successful writers.

Facebook Ads 2 | Tracy Reed | A Slice of Orange I ran a couple, okay a few ads and the results were horrible. See for yourself.

Reach Clicks

1,416 50

3,307 43

1,318 32

686 29

No, those aren’t my Amazon rankings, but the results of my FB ads. I got so frustrated. I ran these numbers by my accountability group and in the FB group for my class. Check out the ads throughout the post and tell me, what the problem is, because I’m stumped.

My numbers were doing so badly, I would change ads in the middle of the day or only let the ad run a day, maybe two. I finally settled on one ad and then I pulled the rest. I let that ad run three days, but the numbers never got any better.

I posted my issue on my class group and someone in my FB group came up with the only thing that made since…reviews. I have a nice library or catalogue, but I don’t have a lot of reviews on the books I was trying to sell. True, there are a couple of ads that are bad, but the reviews is the thing that really made the most sense. I also changed the audience, but the numbers didn’t improve.

The ad with the reluctant heiress, is the one I finally settled on.

Apparently, reviews play a much bigger part than I knew. Let me back track, because that makes me sound ill-informed. I know reviews are very important. It was just when I ran the ads to increase my mailing list they really didn’t matter because I was looking to increase my mailing list. Not sell books. Facebook Ads 4 | Tracy Reed | A Slice of Orange

Again, not to push Mark’s course, but in the course, he shared a way to build a mailing list via an email sequence. [I’m in the process of setting up an email sequence. I’ll post about that later.] I thought I could dive right into the ad game without expanding my mailing list. My mailing list is over 2,100. Like most writers, I’ve had some unsubscribe, which is cool. I’ve also had some join organically. However, I need to bump that number up. Let me rephrase that, I want to bump it up. A larger list, can improve my sales numbers. More possible readers equals more possible sales. Which can also mean a bigger pool or source of reviews.

I am determined to correct my epic FB ad fail and start over. Step one, increase my email list. Step two, set up a new FB ad attached to an email sequence. Step three, get some reviews.

I plan to put my new plan into action on next week. I’ll update you next month.

Tracy Reed | A Slice of Orange