Mike Hartner on Social Media Presence & Networkting @MHartnerAuthor #BookMarketing #Authors

How To Network Online to Sell Your Book

First, I must print this disclaimer. I’m not a marketing individual. And I, James, the second book of The Eternity Series which will be released in September 2014, is only the second book that I’ve tried to market. So, everything has been trial and error. But, I will borrow heavily from badredheadmedia.com’s Rachel Thompson, and several others, and the lessons they have taught me.

1. You need an Online Presence. Gmail+, FaceBook, Twitter, Pinterest…. They all have their uses. Personally, I’m on FaceBook, and Twitter.
2. Facebook has my personal page, where my family and friends reside, and then a Corporate page which is where I try to publicize The Eternity Series. And other projects that I have. BcBaldEagles.com also comes to mind. It’s also a separate corporate page. And the three pages share posts from each other.
3. Twitter is my second social media channel. @MHartnerAuthor is my identity, since Rachel once said, it’s better to publicize yourself as an author than to publicize individual books, and keep changing the identity. Son’t confuse people. Publicize yourself as an author.
4. First Rule of Social Media: It’s Social. Don’t Spam. Don’t spill every word saying ‘Buy my book’. Build relationships, show people your interests outside of writing. If you’re interested in Nutella, and Alaskam wilderness cabins, show that. If it’s quilting, crocheting and flowers you’re interested in, show that. Let people meet the REAL you.
5. Pluggio and hootsuite are great tools. Pluggio allows you to ‘drip’ every few hours news topics of your interest. Hootsuite allows you to post on more than one site from a consolidated dashboard. Both are useful.
6. Don’t expect everyone who follows you to remain. But help them by not including expletives in every second post, or every third word. Show them that you can enjoy life as much as it can frustrate you.

Social Networks allow you to reach out to a lot of other people. AS much as you want others to follow you, follow them. Find others with your interest. Other authors, other Nutella aficionados, other quilters, whatever… By following a wide range of others, a wide range of them will follow you.

BLOG, or get blog tours. Blog tours are GREAT exposure for your book. They usually have a wide and diverse cross section of reviewers, who are all interested, to some extent, in your writing.

HELP OTHERS. If you can help others with your lessons, do. If you can Share other’s posts, announcements, etc… chances are they’ll share yours. And your messages will get out to people you never expected.

90/10 Rule. At least 90 percent of your posts and blogs should be focused on things OTHER THAN selling your book. Great reviews are one thing you can announce more often. Share Reviews of books you’ve read. Even better if they’re current books (last five years). Even Better if you’re following the author when you post the review.

ENGAGE your audience. Snippets, comments, and reviews of everyone’s work are great things to post. Top Ten lists about your life, about your hobbies… all of these build audience.

And while you’re building audience, but not screaming BUY MY BOOK, chances are some people will buy it.

And that’s what makes social media so great. Being Social.

James Crofter was ripped from his family at age 11. 
Within a year the prince was a pauper in a foreign land. 
Is nature stronger than nurture? And even if it is, can James find the happiness he so richly desires? 

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Genre - Historical Fiction, Romance

Rating – PG

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Roland Hughes on Commercial Falsehoods & Tea Flavoured Coffee #AmWriting #Selfpub #Dystopian

One of the favorite things for commercial creators these days is to portray writers in coffee houses tapping away at their tablet or dumb-phone creating the great American novel or some such thing.  Personally I don't know any serious typist, writer or otherwise, who would even remotely consider typing on either a tablet or dumb-phone.  I mean that is like beating your fingers against concrete.  “Touch” typing, despite the name, has nothing to do with how solidly one hits the keys.  Those of us who type fast or learned on manual typewriters (okay, I understand kids today have no idea what a manual typewriter is) have some force in our fingers.  I've been known to cook a cheap keyboard in under six months.  I know of others who gladly pay north of $100 for a mechanical wired keyboard because their fingers go numb using a soft membrane keyboard.

What is perhaps the biggest falsehood of the commercials is that writers drink coffee.  I've never met one.  I come from the IT side of life so I drink Mt. Dew or iced tea.  Coffee in all its forms is just plain nasty.  I won't even mention what people's breath smells like after they take a swallow.  I can't imagine having to breath the air in a coffee shop for hours on end.  I'd rather take my chances with the visible air in Beijing.  We will not mention what a growing number of people consider coffee the beverage of, but it is a category nobody wants to join.

The real life thing which is most offensive is being forced to purchase tea, especially iced tea, from a place which also sells coffee.  Most of the people who work there seem to be coffee, or as it was so eloquently called in that wonderful television series Sanctuary, “brown mud”, drinkers.  When told they have to brew a container of iced tea they will simply dump out the coffee grounds, toss in some tea bags, and use the same brewer to brew the liquid they sell as tea.  It isn't tea.  It is tea flavored coffee and it is disgusting!

What brings this post to mind is car shopping yesterday.  I was at one of those “immerse the customer” dealerships yesterday.  They seem to be the new trend in car dealerships.  A small food court, play room for the kids, comfy chairs with multiple televisions, etc.  All designed to get the customer in the habit of spending time in the dealership.  I looked around while waiting and noticed quite a few writers typing away on netbooks and notebooks, nobody was typing on a tablet.  Since this was a dealership in the Portland area I imagine the ratio of writers to regular Joes and Janes was a bit higher than many other cities due to the large creative arts community.

Since I was there to empty my pockets on a new ride I left the trusty netbook behind.  Caffeine addictions must be fed, however, even if one isn't busy typing.  I took a chance.  I walked up to a food counter and ordered a glass of iced tea.  It was with some trepidation that I took my first sip.  I was pleasantly surprised and informed the old guy behind the counter.  I didn't call him an old guy to his face of course.  If he reads this and tells me to look in the mirror I will take no offense.  His response was an even greater surprise.  “No, we don't brew tea in anything that's been near coffee because what comes out isn't tea.”  It shouldn't come as a shock I bought my car there.

“John Smith: Last Known Survivor of the Microsoft Wars” is one big interview. It is a transcript of a dialogue between “John Smith” (who, as the title of the book implies is the last known survivor of the Microsoft wars) and the interviewer for a prominent news organization.

Buy Now @ Amazon & B&N

Genre – Dystopian Fiction

Rating – PG

More details about the author

Website http://johnsmith-book.com/

A Surprise in Class from THE REALITY MASTER (Vol.1) by @PMPillon #YA #SciFi #Excerpt

A SURPRISE IN CLASS

Joey kept the stone in his book bag, and now that he had it he was blasé about it, feeling none of the consternation that had preceded its acquisition; he didn’t get around to examining it and was starting to forget that he had it until several days later when he found himself in another spelling bee. Mr. Sheridan provided the words to spell and again Joey was one of just two students left in the competition when Mr. Sheridan again pronounced a word that made no sense to him, so he was forced to just guess, but guessed wrong. The other student spelled it correctly, and just like in the previous occasion, when Joey heard the word the second time he realized what it was and that he knew how to spell it. 

He liked Mr. Sheridan, but this was the second time that his imperfect pronunciation caused Joey to lose a spelling bee. It was a déjà vu all over again that he sure didn’t need. Because this time the winner was headed for the all-school bee, Joey was incredulous and more frustrated than ever; he wanted to scream and tear his hair out. It seemed like nothing could go right for him, but just then, he heard a buzzing in his book bag. This surprised him because he was sure he had left his cell phone at home. He put his left hand into the bag and felt the stone vibrating like a cell phone. He feared it might have hatched into something dangerous, so he let it go immediately, then shone his pen light at it to see if it had changed in some way, but it looked the same as when he found it. He pushed it over with a pencil and saw that it was the same all the way around, so he finally it out with his right hand and was astonished to see on its face a detailed scene depiction on a split screen in full color. Then a larger screen appeared, hovering in front of him, showing on its left side himself, misspelling the word. On the right side, he was both hearing and spelling it correctly. Joey could differentiate the voices simultaneously on both sides of the split screen. He gawked at this impossible scene, and eventually a question mark appeared straddling both sides, signaling that Joey was to choose between the two outcomes.

Joey sat and stared at this, speechless, in shock, as unable to react as he was when Frank’s rock came tumbling down the path straight at his head. At that very moment, a totally unexpected thought occurred to Joey: My mission starts now. This was too much for him. Not knowing what else to do, he shoved the stone back into his bag without responding to its apparent offer. When he looked up from the bag he expected to see the bewildered or even horrified faces of other students all staring at him, but instead he saw that the larger screen had disappeared and everyone, including teacher and students, was frozen in place, unmoving – like inanimate objects. Then they suddenly started to move again, but were seemingly unaware of what happened and were just sitting placidly, focused on the teacher. Only Frank, sitting right next to Joey, was staring at him – everyone else was clearly oblivious to this astounding event – and he whispered, “Jesus, Joey, you look spooked. Did you see a ghost, or what?”

His celestial companion was waiting for him

Precariously climbing a sea-side cliff near Big Sur, ten-year-old Joey Blake was as yet unaware that near his grasp was an object, so odd, mysterious and alien to earth that it would change his life forever and the lives of countless others in the next few astonishing days. Reaching up as far as he could for a handhold it was just there; it had subconsciously lured him, occupied his mind, and made him find it. It was like he was meant to see and discover this object of unimaginable power … the power to change reality.

Time travel and more

This young adult series of sci-fi fantasy novels begins with The Reality Master and continues through four other exciting and amazing stories about time travel and mysterious alien devices. Joey and the reader will face dangerous shadowy criminal organizations, agents of the NSA, bizarre travelers from other times and even renegade California bikers and scar-faced walking dead.

- Vol 1 The Reality Master
- Vol 2 Threat To The World
- Vol 3 Travel Beyond
- Vol 4 Missions Through Time
- Vol 5 The Return Home

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Genre – Science fiction, Fantasy, Young adult

Rating – G

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John E. Wade on the 10 Elements of Heaven on Earth & Its Impact on Readers #Motivation #AmReading

While I know this size of this small book indicates that it will be a quick and easy read—and does not take long to read—its impact on the reader will be much deeper than they might anticipate. As billed, the book indeed contains “inspiring quotations and insightful essays.” The chapters are organized by topics, which are the ten elements of heaven on earth which I have identified: peace and security, freedom, democracies, prosperity, gender harmony, racial harmony, spiritual harmony, ecological harmony, health, and moral purpose and meaning. There is also a chapter entitled, “Individual Paths to Heaven on Earth,” which includes some well-known quotations, as well as quotes from “regular people” who state what heaven on earth would feel like for them.

I previously published How to Achieve a Heaven on Earth, and the four other co-authors of Glimpses of Heaven on Earth each contributed an essay to this first book. I think readers will be interested in reading about the different backgrounds of each of the co-authors, as I am a retired CPA who now devotes my time to investing and writing. I have several active blogs which can be found on www.JohnEWadeII.com, www.HeavenOnEarth.org, and www.HonestJohnWade.com (which focuses on politics). 

Charlotte L. Piotrowski spent ten years litigating complex cases before she turned her attention to writing, editing, and content creation for websites and blogs on a freelance basis. Charlotte and I both live in New Orleans, and work closely together on my many creative projects. Daniel Agatino practices law and teaches in New Jersey, while Michael Nagler founded the Metta Center for Nonviolence (www.mettacenter.org) and Martin Rutte is the founder of Project Heaven on Earth (www.projectheavenonearth.com) and is a popular inspirational speaker. I think this diversity is what really brings this book alive and makes it so relatable to any reader.

Not to brag too much, but I think we did an excellent job locating and including wonderfully inspiring quotations that truly relate to each of the ten elements. Here are some examples:

“Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshipped.” - Calvin Coolidge

“Prejudice is the child of ignorance.” - William Hazlitt

“I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.” - William Penn

There are many lesser-known quotations included as well, and as should be evident, the more you really contemplate the quotes, the more impactful they become. I expect each reader will have her or his own favorite portions of the book, to which they will want to return time and time again. For this reason, I believe this book is destined to become a classic. It can truly help to start some much-needed and interesting dialog. So I cannot help but to highly recommend this book, and hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Editor and author John E. Wade II has compiled a spiritual guide of invaluable insight for finding peace and meaning in life while making the world a better place for all. Along with co-authors Charlotte Livingston Piotrowski, Daniel Agatino, Michael Nagler, and Martin Rutte, this collection of enlightening essays and inspirational quotes from renowned thinkers and leaders throughout history provides the intellectual tools needed to live a more harmonious life.

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Genre - Inspirational

Rating – G

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LUCIFER & THE INDIGO KIDS - Hannah - by @Lord_Ra_Krishna #MustRead #Poetry #AmReading

~Hannah~

Butterflies and Blunts
Surfboarding in outer space

Amber and crystals
on my fingers
Beautiful tattoos on my face...

Inspiration...
Interracial...
Cocaine nights
And track shoe days...

Inspired me to live my music...
I won't forget the way we slept

Like two snakes on Hermes Scepter
Entangled in a warm embrace...

The name... the same...
Backwards or forwards...
H-A-N-N-A and H

Yellow diamonds on a butterfly ring
Her name is tattooed on my neck

Now we're married / then divorced
In strawberry fields is where we met...

Krishna... Buddha... Jesus... Loki...
Achilles.... Alexander and me
Interracial... and taboo...
I won't forget the way we slept

Was it love? Or just a fling?
Do you still have that butterfly ring

I think I took it back from you...
You hurt my feelings in the club...

Like somebody else I know?
And we are kinda married still

A god no monster can defeat...
But love is my Achilles heel

1000 leagues beneath the ocean
Further than the deepest depths...

Like 2 snakes on Hermes Scepter
I won't forget the way we slept

"This “new age” book of poetry reflects the diverse views and philosophies of it’s author Ra Krishna EL. It’s an intimate, humorous and thought provoking group of poems intended to evoke strong emotion. To quote the German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, this style of poetry can be called “Zukunfts poesie“ which translates into “Poetry of the future”, where truly original ideas are presented thru poetry. Also known as post Nietzschean poetry.

It’s subjects include society, pop culture, love, religious dogma, God and the new age of Aquarius. This book was written and published during the false incarceration of its author in Chicago’s notorious Cook County Jail, the largest jail in the country."

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Genre - Poetry, Philosophy

Rating – PG-13

More details about the author

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A LIFE LESS ORDINARY by Victoria Bernadine @VicBernadine #Women #AmReading #ChickLit

The coffee shop wasn’t very busy.  Only a couple of tables were occupied, with several more people standing in line. Manny sat rather nervously at her table sipping her third vanilla latte and wondering if she was as crazy as Rebecca and Daisy claimed. This would be her fourth interview today of a potential travelling companion and she hoped this guy would be more of a possibility than the other three she’d already met. Oh, they all seemed nice enough, but Olive had been jittery and they’d quickly realized their personalities would never mesh well enough to travel together for six months. Isaac had had a predatory, speculative gleam in his eyes as he looked her over–and she hadn’t needed Harvey to tell her to stay as far away from him as possible.

Darius was very sweet and charming, just eighteen, but he couldn’t pay his own way, and Manny wasn’t about to support him for six months. He’d shrugged and accepted her decision with an adorable smile and she offered to call Daisy’s boss, Max, to see if he had any work that Darius could do. Darius had thanked her and even paid for their lattes, and they’d chatted for a good forty-five minutes before he’d finally gone on his way. Yes, he would have been a good choice–and she might change her mind if she didn’t find anyone before she left in two weeks.

You can always go by yourself.

I know. But it would be more fun with someone else.

You’ll have me.

Manny glanced at Harvey sitting in the chair across from her. He was dressed casually in jeans and a button down shirt open at the throat to show the strong lines of his neck and chest.

You’re not real.

Harvey winked at her. Just checking.

She shook her head and Harvey blinked out of existence as the door opened and a darkly handsome man walked in. He paused in the doorway and removed his sunglasses as he glanced around the small room. Securely hidden in her corner, Manny considered him.

Tall; over six feet. Dark. Handsome, with large, dark eyes and full pouty lips. His black, tousled hair and dark stubble on his face gave him a sexy, scruffy appearance. He was slim, with broad shoulders, narrow hips and long legs encased in jeans.

I’ll bet he has a great ass.

I’ll bet you’re right.

He’s like a younger version of me.

Manny blinked at the man standing in the doorway and realized Harvey was right. Oh, they didn’t exactly look alike, but they had similar colouring, and a similar underlying confidence and arrogance in their stance. Probably something natural when you’re that naturally gorgeous, Manny thought ruefully, or, in Harvey’s case, thatunnaturally perfect.

I’d almost be jealous…if I was real.

But you’re not–and he’s quite something. I wonder who he’s here to me…eeet.

Her internal dialogue trailed off as the stranger’s gaze met hers. He gave a half smile and headed towards her.

For the last fifteen years, Rose “Manny” Mankowski has been a very good girl. She turned her back on her youthful fancies and focused on her career. But now, at the age of 45, she’s questioning her choices and feeling more and more disconnected from her own life. When she’s passed over for promotion and her much younger new boss implies Manny’s life will never change, something snaps. In the blink of an eye, she’s quit her job, sold her house and cashed in her pension, and she’s leaving town on a six month road trip.

After placing a personal ad for a travelling companion, she’s joined in her mid-life crisis by Zeke Powell, the cynical, satirical, most-read – and most controversial – blogger for the e-magazine, What Women Want. Zeke’s true goal is to expose Manny’s journey as a pitiful and desperate attempt to reclaim her lost youth – and increase his readership at the same time. Leaving it all behind for six months is just an added bonus.

Now, armed with a bagful of destinations, a fistful of maps, and an out-spoken imaginary friend named Harvey, Manny’s on a quest to rediscover herself – and taking Zeke along for the ride.

Buy Now @ Amazon & Smashwords

Genre – ChickLit, Contemporary Fiction

Rating – PG-13

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 Connect with Victoria Bernadine on Twitter

Blog victoriabernadine.wordpress.com

Kirsten Mortensen Problems vs. Solutions When You Dream @KirstenWriter #AmWriting #SelfPub

Writing and Dreams. Not That Different

By Kirsten Mortensen

I love to dream. And not just because it’s so night to get a good night’s sleep. I love to dream because I’m utterly fascinated by the experience of finding myself in a strange world—often occupying a strange identity—that seems utterly complete and coherent while I’m inside it. What a marvelous thing, consciousness is, to be able to send us into dream worlds!

I also believe my love of dreaming is very closely related to my writing.

In fact, I think writing—especially writing fiction—is very similar to dreaming. You might even say that writing fiction is a kind of controlled, waking dream.

Think about it.

When you dream, you relax. You turn your attention from everyday life. And you let another part of your mind—one that exists independently of the mind where you live while you’re awake—take over. It creates characters, settings, plots, story lines. Things “happen” that cause you to react emotionally. Problems present themselves—and so do solutions.

Now think what happens when you write fiction. You relax your waking mind, and turn your attention away from everyday life. You let another part of your mind take over. And it starts creating characters, setting, plot twists . . .

With me so far?

Now how about this: suppose that paying attention to your dreams helps you to build bridges between the part of your mind you use to create fiction, and your waking consciousness—the part of your mind you need to capture what you’ve created and write it down.

Isn’t that an intriguing thought?

I know that I’ve been paying close attention to dreams my whole life, and during many periods of my life I’ve kept dream journals. And something else: there are times—especially when I’ve been getting enough sleep—when I’m able to consciously control my dreams. Sometimes I realize I’m dreaming (an experience known as “lucid dreaming”). Other times, I feel like I’m a movie director. If I don’t like what’s happening, I’ll change it.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to believe that this practice has helped me as a writer. It’s very subtle, but I can feel it when my mind “switches” to a different mode, the mode where I’m generating fictional characters, fictional worlds.

I believe there’s a connection. Scientists know today that when we practice any task—whether its navigating city streets, doing Sudoku puzzles, or memorizing poetry—our brains become better at that task.

I’ve written about this topic at length in a non-fiction book I published, called Writing, Dreams, and Consciousness.

And I believe that the work I’ve done as a dreamer is one reason that the world I created in my latest novel, Dark Chemistry, is so vivid that readers tell me it makes a strong impression on them. That world really does exist—I know. I’ve dreamt it!

So here’s my proposal: paying attention to dreams—keeping a dream journal, for example, and writing down what we can remember of our dreams when we wake in the morning—is a way of training our brains to create fictional worlds.

What do you think? Do you remember your dreams? Have you ever kept a dream journal?

And if you decide to try, to see if it helps you develop a writer, please let me know. I’d love to hear about your experience.

A woman's worst nightmare

Drugged by something...that makes her think she's fallen in love.

All Haley Dubose has ever known is beaches and malls, clubs and cocktail dresses.

But now her father is dead.

And if she wants to inherit her father's fortune, she has to leave sunny Southern California
for a backwater little town near Syracuse, New York. She has to run RMB, the multimillion dollar
chemical company her father founded. And she has to run it well.

Keep RMB on track, and she'll be rich. Grow it, and she'll be even richer. But mess it up, and her inheritance will shrink away before she gets a chance to spend a dime.

Donavon Todde is her true love. But is it too late?

He's RMB's head of sales – and the more Donavon sees of Haley, the more he's smitten.
Sure, she comes across at first as naïve and superficial. But Donavon knew Haley's father. He can see the man's better qualities stirring to life in her eyes. And Donavon senses something else: Haley's father left her a legacy more important than money. He left her the chance to discover her true self.

Donavon has demons of his own.
 
He's reeling from a heartbreak that's taking far too long to heal. But he's captivated by this blond Californian, and not only because of her beauty. It's chemistry. They're right for each other. But has Donavon waited too long to woo this woman of his dreams? Because to his horror, his beautiful Haley falls under another spell. Gerad's spell.

A web of evil.

Gerad Picket was second-in-command at RMB when Haley's father was alive. And with Haley on the scene, he's in charge of her training. But there are things about RMB that Gerad doesn't want Haley to know.

And he must control her. Any way he can.

Romantic suspense for your Kindle

Will Haley realize that her feelings are not her TRUE feelings?
Does Donavon have the strength left to fight for the woman he loves?
Will the two of them uncover Gerad's plot to use RMB pheromones to enslave the world?
And even if they do – can they stop it?

Buy Now @ Amazon & Smashwords

Genre – Romantic suspense

Rating – PG-13

More details about the author

Connect with Kirsten Mortensen through Facebook & Twitter

Website http://kirstenmortensen.com/