Joylene Nowell Butler's Blog, page 21

IWSG: OWN WORST ENEMY

It's that wonderful time again, the first Wednesday in the month, Insecure Writer's Support Group day, compliments of our very own fierce and noble Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavennaugh. If you think this group sounds like a good place and you'd like to join, click here.


It's a simple process: 
 
"Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time. Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post." 

Our Twitter hashtag is #IWSG 

IWSG co-hosts this month are Julie Luek, Rachna Chabria, Beverly Fox, and Ilima Todd

Please stop by and thank them for their time and effort. Yay, Julie, Rachna, Beverly, and Ilima! You guys rock!

News:I'm excited and thrilled to announce we've created a new website for Insecure Writers Support Group. Lots of wonderful things are going to arise from this site, co-created by my fellow admins, in no particular order: 

Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh
Lynda R. Young 
Joy L. Campbell
Michelle Wallace
Susan Gourley/Kelley
L. Diane Wolfe
and me - Joylene Nowell Butler


We have a Facebook page HERE. 

  Our own special banner!

(drumroll, please) Check out the link for our INSECURE WRITERS SUPPORT GROUP's very own website!

 





Now for my post...



 Eden Robinson, Giller Prize nominee Laura Robinson, award winning journalist Daniela Elza, poet
I attended the Rural Writers in Residence retreat this past weekend in Smithers. During a poetry workshop given by Daniela Elza we had 5 minutes to answer the question: Why do I write?
After spending most of the time staring at the blank page, I finally wrote: Why do I write? I wish I could add something poetic and profound but in truth I write for the same reason I move, wake, breathe. I do all these so I can write. And I write so that tomorrow I may wake breathing. 

Daniela then asked us, "What haunts you?"  
Five minutes later I had written: One particular eagle flies by our window en-route to and from ... I have no idea. The first time we made eye contact it was a fluke. Or maybe not? I was standing at the upstairs window in the right spot at the right moment. His eyes met mine. Maybe he saw me as a predator? I don't think so. For three seconds our eyes locked and at once I sensed a familiarity, the belief that someone I knew was looking back at me. Since then when the leaves fall and the bare branches provide a clear line of sight, I wait for the eagle to glide past so that I may ask again and again, "Dad, is that you?"


In retrospect, my answers don't surprise me. I'm lost if I don't write. And if I can't write, I'm doomed; like a child grieving for parents who can no longer keep the monsters at bay.
What does surprise me is I thought I had my fears under control. I joined IWSG to help others overcome theirs. Yet, I attend a retreat and--through no fault of anyone's--suddenly my insecurities return with a vengeance. I was like a twisted pretzel, inspired by those around me yet thwarted by a sense of inadequacy. Who are you, Joylene, to be here among these gifted writers?
Since returning home I've been kinder to myself and my inner child. But having reared its ugly head, this feeling of ineptness has woke the monsters I was so certain were gone, and I'm left feeling wounded. Not a sensation I wanted to remember. Especially since I am a grownup. A writer. I have two published novels. A publisher. An award ... .
I'd forgotten how easily it is to be my own worst enemy.  



Please return Friday when Phyllis in her column ASK PZM answers the questions:


Q. What are the advantages of being your own publisher if you buy back the rights to your book? Do you buy all your books back? How do you distribute the book without the help of the publisher?
Q:  Have there been changes on Wattpad for publishing works-in-progress?

CassaStorm by Alex J. Cavanaugh! Released this week~!

Alex J. Cavanaugh's new book CASSASTORM is being released on Tuesday, September 17. Leave a comment and you're automatically entered to win a Cassa mug, Cass mousepad, swag, and a $25 iTunes gift card!

For those of you who may not know who Alex is...

Be ashamed. Be very ashamed.

Alex is our Ninja Captain and founder of the Insecure Writer's Support Group. You can find out more about us here. Alex is also author of the Amazon bestsellers: CassaStar and CassaFire.


I asked Alex a question I'm sure all of us want to know:

"Alex," I said. "How do you maintain your boyish figure while spending all those grueling hours sitting at the computer?"

Haha, Okay, that's a lie.

"Alex," I actually said, "how do you maintain the energy level required to do all the hosting, blogging, commenting, and editing that you do?

And wise Alex replied, "Energy drinks and lots of them!"
 
Then in his most serious of ninja voices, he added, "I guess I just go at it with the right attitude and enjoy. Can’t get tired if I’m having a good time."

Bravo, Captain Alex!




CassaStormBy Alex J CavanaughFrom the Amazon Best Selling Series! A storm gathers across the galaxy…

Commanding the Cassan base on Tgren, Byron thought he’d put the days of battle behind him. As a galaxy-wide war encroaches upon the desert planet, Byron’s ideal life is threatened and he’s caught between the Tgrens and the Cassans.

After enemy ships attack the desert planet, Byron discovers another battle within his own family. The declaration of war between all ten races triggers nightmares in his son, threatening to destroy the boy’s mind.Meanwhile the ancient alien ship is transmitting a code that might signal the end of all life in the galaxy. And the mysterious probe that almost destroyed Tgren twenty years ago could return. As his world begins to crumble, Byron suspects a connection. The storm is about to break, and Byron is caught in the middle…
“CassaStorM is a touching and mesmerizing space opera full of action and emotion with strong characters and a cosmic mystery.” – Edi’s Book Lighhouse

"Cavanaugh makes world building on the galactic scale look easy. The stakes affect the entire known universe and yet Cavanaugh makes it intensely personal for our hero. The final installment of this series will break your heart and put it back together."
- Charity Bradford, science fantasy author of The Magic Wakes


$16.95 USA, 6x9 Trade paperback, 268 pages, Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.
Science fiction/adventure and science fiction/space opera
Print ISBN 9781939844002 eBook ISBN 9781939844019
$4.99 EBook available in all formats

Find CassaStorm:
 Barnes and Noble 
Amazon
Amazon Kindle
Goodreads 

Book trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Umm2l0XdHc&feature=youtu.be



And now for what we've all be waiting for ... drum-roll, please

 (ratatatatatatatat...!

A photo of our fearless leader....





Alex, incognito...
Alex J. Cavanaugh has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and works in web design and graphics. He is experienced in technical editing and worked with an adult literacy program for several years. A fan of all things science fiction, his interests range from books and movies to music and games. Online he is the Ninja Captain and founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The author of the Amazon bestsellers, CassaStar and CassaFire, he lives in the Carolinas with his wife.

Website – http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/
Twitter – http://twitter.com/AlexJCavanaugh 
Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4287922.Alex_J_Cavanaugh 

ASK PZM: Sept 2013 Bublish

You may or may not have noticed that apart from sharing ASK PZM posts, I haven't blogged since May. Dead Witness was published in 2008, Broken But Not Dead in 2011. Consequently, for the past 5 years, I've been blogging, hosting, promoting, and marketing 24/7. Prior to that I spent 25 plus years writing, editing, and querying. And if that wasn't enough, last March we put the house on the market.

Suffice to say, I'm worn out. Most days exhausted. On occasion, simply uninspired. Because today is IWSG day, it seemed a good time to say that if you find yourself in a similar situation... know that it's okay. Sometimes we just need to do something else, like garden (paint a faux granite finish on our counter-top); in other words: regroup, and remember that everything will eventually get back to normal. Or perhaps onward to resembling something even better.

Now, on with the show!

Because today is the first Wednesday of the month, you know what that means -- YES, it's IWSG day, compliments of Alex J. Cavannaugh, our Ninja Captain! 

It's a simple process:   "Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your
struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time. Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post." 

My IWSG aren't exactly words of encouragement as much as they're me sharing with you Phyllis' answers to questions about marketing.  They've helped me; hope they help you. 

Our Twitter hashtag is #IWSG 
Now for Phyllis's post... 
Q: Have you been trying out any book marketing options?

Bublish.com:I have been trying out various book marketing opportunities, and one such unique concept that is free to join is Bublish.com – where authors can upload the ePub format of their books and create “bubbles” that allow authors
to share the stories behind the book.  I have uploaded three ePubs so far – and you can see the first “bubble” for MRS. LIEUTENANT at http://bublish.com/bubble/view/1626 Plus I have spoken with Bublish founder Kathy Meis, and I am very impressed with her knowledge and her vision.  I expect this site, which is still in beta,
to truly blossom with connection opportunities for authors and readers.

KDP Select:I have also read Jeff Bennington’s ebook WINNING WITH KDP SELECT: 5 STEPS TO HIT #1 IN THE AMAZON FREE STORE and I have followed his steps for KDP Select free days for MRS. LIEUTENANT. Although I think his advice is very good, be warned that following the steps takes a financial investment as well as a time investment.





News flash: While it is generally believed at this time that each free download counts as 1/10 of a sale, I have just learned new information that seems to indicate the free downloads no longer count at all towards being considered as a sale.  If this info is now correct, it is important to keep in mind when reading the above book.  Perhaps the steps in the book recommended by Jeff Bennington will work for bargain book campaigns.

On the other hand, if you want your book to be discovered on Amazon, you do need to give it extra loving support. For example, I am assuming that you have recently reviewed your book’s keywords and categories as well as your Author Central profile on Amazon in order to make these the best they can be. (There are no more tags on Amazon.)





The perspective of Amazon reviewers:I have also read Theo Rogers’ ebook HOW TO GET GOOD REVIEWS ON AMAZON: A GUIDE FOR INDEPENDENT AUTHORS & SELLERS. This book is a big eye-opener because it is from the other side of the aisle, so to speak. We authors have one perspective – active Amazon reviewers often have a different perspective.







Particularly interesting is his admonishment to restrain from commenting on a negative review your book might get on Amazon. While I know how difficult this is to do, I agree with his advice.


Wattpaid update:In both the July Ask PZM and the August Ask PZM I mentioned my experiment with writing THE MOTHER SIEGE: A DYSTOPIAN THRILLER entirely on the free site Wattpad.  (Go to http://budurl.com/MSintro and click on the dropdown table of contents to read all the chapters written so far.)






I explained that to continue the experiment I created a “Mother Siege” blog on Tumblr at http://budurl.com/MStumblr for both the commentary posts I write in connection with THE MOTHER SIEGE and the automatic posts that I “share” from Wattpad each time I post a new chapter there. Now I have decided to extend the experiment by simultaneously writing a nonfiction project on Wattpad – TALES OF AN AMERICAN OCCUPYING GERMANY: A COLD WAR MEMOIR – at http://budurl.com/TAintro


I have also created a Tumblr blog for this project at http://budurl.com/TAtumblr







If you want to experiment with something you are currently writing, Wattpad may be a good option for you. Just be sure to click “All Rights Reserved” each time you upload a new chapter and be sure to add tags (think keywords).

Conclusion:The truth is that we authors could spend all day every day trying out different marketing options for promoting our books. But we also have to write our books besides do all the other things in our lives. It is a balancing act, and one we can only hope to do well.









 


Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON.   

You can see all her books at her author blog www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com and find her on Goodreads at www.goodreads.com/pzmiller

She is also the co-founder of the online marketing company www.MillerMosaicLLC.com



 


TWEET #1   "Different marketing options for promoting our books"  (click to Tweet)TWEET  #2   "Create “bubbles” that allow authors to share stories behind the book."  (click to Tweet) TWEET  #3   "The perspective of Amazon reviewers"  (click to Tweet)

ASK PZM: August 2013 Amazon Categories and LIsts

Q: Can an author have more than one pen name on the same Amazon Author Central account?This is an excellent question as I have been recently researching this for myself – speaking to representatives at both Amazon Author Central and CreateSpace. (KDP does not have phone contact at this time.)

Let’s start with the basics.


You have one Kindle account in which you can upload any number of ebooks with the names of different authors. The Kindle Direct Publishing platform is exactly that – a publishing dashboard in which you indicate the name of the author or authors of each Kindle ebook you upload.
Once you are an author with a book on Amazon, you should claim (it is free) your Amazon Author Central profile. This is very important – and I go into detail about this in my ebook TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO MARKET YOUR BOOK ON AMAZON AND FACEBOOK. (See http://amzn.to/N0vLiF)


Now comes the new part I just learned:

You can have three separate pen names (author names) on each Amazon Author Central account. This means three separate Author Central profiles. And if you have more than three separate pen names, you can get additional Amazon Author Central accounts using the same email and different passwords.


Why would you do this? 
Actually, the first question is why have pen names?

· You may be writing under a pseudonym for security reasons (such as a whistle blowing book).

· You may be using different names for different genres and want to feature separate identities that do not connect to each other.

· You may want to use different names for different genres and publicly acknowledge the connection between your identities.

To make this clearer, let me tell you what I have done:
I had several fiction and nonfiction books on my original Amazon Author Central profile. This meant, for example, that people who read one of my fiction books and then came to my profile to see if I had more fiction books could be confused if they saw several nonfiction books at the top of my book list.

And while they could sort my books on different criteria such as publication date, at this time they cannot sort by genre on Amazon Author Central profiles.  Huh?
I decided to make it easier for readers of a book of mine in one genre to find more of my books in the same genre. My first step was to ask Author Central if I could control which of my books are seen first on my Amazon Author Central profile. The answer was ...

But, the Author Central rep told me, I could put my plan into action of separating my fiction and nonfiction books into separate Author Central profiles.
Here is what I did (note that the author names are all variations of my own name):
I changed the author name in the KDP dashboard for all my nonfiction ebooks from Phyllis Zimbler Miller to Phyllis Z. Miller. This then gave me the right to have a second Amazon Author Central profile in the name Phyllis Z. Miller.
Next I changed the author name of the YA short story PINKY SWEAR to P. Z. Miller in preparation for the children’s picture books I am starting to write. This gave me the right to have a third Amazon Author Central profile in the name P. Z. Miller.
With the help of an Author Central rep (these steps authors cannot do themselves), I then moved my nonfiction books to the Phyllis Z. Miller profile and PINKY SWEAR to the P. Z. Miller profile, leaving all my other fiction books on the Phyllis Zimbler Miller profile.


I now have these three separate Amazon Author Central profile links:

www.amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller

www.amazon.com/author/phylliszmiller

www.amazon.com/author/pzmiller




Q: Can you explain the different lists on Amazon such as top rated, best seller and popularity?The answer to this question is quite complicated and I am not an expert on this subject. I recently read David Gaughran’s ebook LET’S GET VISIBLE: HOW TO GET NOTICED AND SELL MORE BOOKS, and he does a terrific job of explaining the important differences in the various Amazon lists. Equally important, he explains what you can do to legitimately influence your book being included in these lists.


Note: Particularly important to consider are the differences in the best seller and popularity lists. One such difference, according to Gaughran, is that, while these two lists have the same Kindle categories and subcategories – paid and free ebooks are included together in the popularity lists while paid and free ebooks are separated in the best seller lists.
Although I have not yet started to experiment with what I learned from this book, I am looking forward to utilizing some of Gaughran’s information.


Personal book marketing notes:In conclusion, I’d like to share info on something I have added to my Wattpad experiment.
If you read the July Ask PZM, you learned that I am experimenting with writing THE MOTHER SIEGE: A DYSTOPIAN THRILLER entirely on Wattpad. (I would appreciate it if you would click on the Wattpad dropdown table of contents to read the first short chapters published so far –- http://budurl.com/MSintro – as the number of “reads” may help the story get noticed.)


Because this dystopian thriller takes place only 36 years from now and because it deals with some important current topics such as privacy issues and genetic control, I wanted to write commentary along with the writing of the novel.
While I can add comments to my own published chapters on the Wattpad site, I decided to add to this overall experiment by starting a “Mother Siege” blog on Tumblr. (While it is taking me time to get comfortable with this particular hosted blogging site, Tumbler is an interesting site, and it was recently acquired by Yahoo.)
To see my blog on Tumbler, click on http://budurl.com/MStumblr for both the commentary posts I write in connection with THE MOTHER SIEGE and the automatic posts that I “share” from Wattpad each time I post a new chapter there.





BONUS: August 6-8 you can get my romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY for FREE on Kindle. This URL is good for eight different Amazon country sites: http://smarturl.it/k8641l





 
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON. You can see all her books at her author blog www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com and find her on Goodreads at www.goodreads.com/pzmiller

She is also the co-founder of the online marketing company www.MillerMosaicLLC.com


If you have a question for Phyllis, contact me at cluculzwriter at yahoo dot ca and I'll be sure to pass it along. 

ASK PZM: July 2013 - book marketing

Q: How can I evaluate which of my book marketing efforts are worthwhile?

This is a very good question and one that has no definite answer. In fact, the answer is probably different for every author.

But let’s look at some things to consider:



Goodreads giveaway:

At the moment you must give away physical books, which is a reason in itself to use Amazon’s CreateSpace to produce a paperback of your Kindle ebook.

The important metric here for purposes of getting exposure for your book’s title is how many people have added the book to their “to read” shelf.

While I cannot measure if any person who signed up to get my books for free then went out and bought the books, I can tell that those books for which I have had giveaways have many more readers putting the books on their “to read” shelf than those books that have not had giveaways.

Kindle Select free download days:

If you have had a decent number of downloads (and that number is dependent on your type of book, the number of free days, etc.), have you seen a bounce in your book’s sales a few days after the book went off the free list?

And if you have other books, especially ones in the same series, have you seen a bounce in the sales of those books?

Lowering the price of a book for a special $.99 sale:

Did you sell more books at the lower price? Then when the book returned to its higher price, did you continue to sell more books than you had originally sold at that price?

Paying for ads on various book sites:

This option seems considerably harder to evaluate. At the moment I am trying out two different services, but there is really no way to tell whether they are having any effect. As the investment is not huge, I feel it is worth trying.

In conclusion, it is not just about the financial investment. These evaluations are also about the time constraints on your writing time. While you want people to know about and buy your books, you also want time to write them.

And did I mention the time for blogging, social media participation, Facebook groups, etc.?

Q. What do you think of posting unpublished work on sites such as Wattpad?

Previously I had posted excerpts from two published works on Wattpad. But now I am using the site as a way to motivate myself to write new chapters of my work-in-progress dystopian thriller THE MOTHER SIEGE.

Of course, I am also hoping to pick up fans who will be interested in reading the entire book when I finish. And it is way too early to tell if this strategy will work.

Click here to read chapter 1 of THE MOTHER SIEGE on Wattpad – and take a look around the site.

(And if you wonder why I decided to write such a story – read the explanation at http://www.phylliszimblermiller.com/t... )

Then consider whether this site might be a good place to experiment with a story that you are currently writing.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON. You can see all her books at www.ZimblerMillerbooks.com and find her on Goodreads at www.goodreads.com/pzmiller

She also writes about book-related topics at her author website at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com and is the co-founder of the online marketing company www.MillerMosaicLLC.com

ASK PZM: July 2013 book marketing

Q: How can I evaluate which of my book marketing efforts are worthwhile?

This is a very good question and one that has no definite answer. In fact, the answer is probably different for every author.

But let’s look at some things to consider:



Goodreads giveaway:

At the moment you must give away physical books, which is a reason in itself to use Amazon’s CreateSpace to produce a paperback of your Kindle ebook.

The important metric here for purposes of getting exposure for your book’s title is how many people have added the book to their “to read” shelf.

While I cannot measure if any person who signed up to get my books for free then went out and bought the books, I can tell that those books for which I have had giveaways have many more readers putting the books on their “to read” shelf than those books that have not had giveaways.

Kindle Select free download days:

If you have had a decent number of downloads (and that number is dependent on your type of book, the number of free days, etc.), have you seen a bounce in your book’s sales a few days after the book went off the free list?

And if you have other books, especially ones in the same series, have you seen a bounce in the sales of those books?

Lowering the price of a book for a special $.99 sale:

Did you sell more books at the lower price? Then when the book returned to its higher price, did you continue to sell more books than you had originally sold at that price?

Paying for ads on various book sites:

This option seems considerably harder to evaluate. At the moment I am trying out two different services, but there is really no way to tell whether they are having any effect. As the investment is not huge, I feel it is worth trying.

In conclusion, it is not just about the financial investment. These evaluations are also about the time constraints on your writing time. While you want people to know about and buy your books, you also want time to write them.

And did I mention the time for blogging, social media participation, Facebook groups, etc.?

Q. What do you think of posting unpublished work on sites such as Wattpad?

Previously I had posted excerpts from two published works on Wattpad. But now I am using the site as a way to motivate myself to write new chapters of my work-in-progress dystopian thriller THE MOTHER SIEGE.

Of course, I am also hoping to pick up fans who will be interested in reading the entire book when I finish. And it is way too early to tell if this strategy will work.

Click here to read chapter 1 of THE MOTHER SIEGE on Wattpad – and take a look around the site.

(And if you wonder why I decided to write such a story – read the explanation at http://www.phylliszimblermiller.com/t... )

Then consider whether this site might be a good place to experiment with a story that you are currently writing.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON. You can see all her books at www.ZimblerMillerbooks.com and find her on Goodreads at www.goodreads.com/pzmiller

She also writes about book-related topics at her author website at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com and is the co-founder of the online marketing company www.MillerMosaicLLC.com

ASK PZM: June 2013 - Author Pseudonyms

Because today is the first Wednesday of the month, you got it! It's IWSG day, compliments of Alex J. Cavannaugh, our Ninja Captain!

It's a simple process:

"Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time. Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post."

Our Twitter hashtag is #IWSG

Because IWSG Wednesday falls on the 5th, I'm sharing Ask PZM's Q&A, chalk full of excellent info.

Q: What do you think of authors using pseudonyms for their books?

First, let's break down this question into different reasons for using a pseudonym:

Authors may be writing a whistle-blowing book, for example, and for their own security they may feel they need to use a pseudonym. In this case the identity of the author is kept secret and thus the author does no publicity efforts. (Okay, maybe a TV interview with the person's face disguised and the voice electronically altered.)

The topic of the book is usually so explosive that the identity of the whistle blower, besides obviously being an insider, is not important to promoting the book.

In the past a pseudonym was also used for various other reasons. As I recall, at one time publishers felt that an author should only publish one book a year in a series. If an author wanted to publish a second book during that year not in the series, then a second author name was used.

Anyone disagree with my memory that this was a prevailing concept at one time?

Eventually this changed and books started carrying author identification such as "Ruth Rendell Writing as Barbara Vine'" to utilize an author's fan base in one genre to promote the author's book to a different fan base.

In another example, I know of one mystery writer who chose a different last name because she wanted her books to be shelved in bookstores near the front of the alphabet instead of at the end. In this case, she was the “face” attached to the author name, but the name wasn’t her own.

Now let's look at the world of pseudonyms in today's publishing world, especially with the popularity of ebooks:

One interesting consideration is that many self-published book authors have been having major success with releasing several books in a series a month or so apart from each other. Instead of waiting to release a book a year in a series, authors can enable the fans of a series to read a new book soon after reading a previous book.

I personally like this option and think it makes for happy readers and happy authors.

Clarification: If you are using your own name but shy away from photos of yourself, you can choose to use a drawing of your face rather than a photo. But you should have a personal human "look” rather than a book cover as the image on your Facebook profile, for example.)

Now we come to social media in this discussion:

Social media has opened up online connections between authors and their fans, and the importance of this is demonstrated by Amazon’s recent acquisition of Goodreads.

Due to the relationship building ability that social media gives authors, I personally do not see the advantage to using different author names for different types of books written by the same person. I recommend you create your online social presence with pictures and personal information using whatever name you have chosen as your author name and stick to it.

After all, do you really want to create a fake social media persona to use with a pseudonym? What does this do for building trust with your readers?

And what about social media sites whose terms of service expressly forbid you from having two personal accounts under different names? You can risk being thrown off the site in both your names.

Okay, I may have convinced you not to use a pseudonym for different books by the same author. But what about signaling to readers that the current book you are promoting is not in the genre of other books of yours?

In my opinion, the answer is making sure that your book's cover, title, subtitle and description clearly “telegraph” the genre and, if appropriate, the target reader age (Middle Grade, Young Adult, etc.)

For example, look at Yael K. Miller’s Middle Grade novel on Amazon: JACK STROM AND NEW ORLEANS HOODOO: BOOK 1 OF HURRICANE HOODOO at http://amzn.to/14z8Zxd





The cover has the image of a young teen boy. The title and subtitle are in a familiar format for Middle Grade supernatural stories, and the description immediately notes the age of Jack Strom, which is another way to signal the target reader age.

If you write books in different genres, look at your covers, titles, subtitles and descriptions to see what these “telegraph.”

And after all, since many readers enjoy different genres of books, why shouldn't an author enjoy writing different genres?

Just make sure that your fiction and nonfiction books do not confuse people as to which is which!

Q. What can you tell me about author taglines?

I read an interesting post from blogger Jean Oram about this topic, and her post inspired me to write a blog post of my own (see http://budurl.com/authortaglines ) because this is such an important question.

I think an author tagline can help deal with possible confusion over an author writing in several genres. For example, you could choose a tagline that specifically states your genres – "I write hard-boiled detective novels and bodice-ripping romance novels."

Okay, maybe this is not the best example, but you should get the picture.

In my case I added my current tagline to the top right-hand corner of my author site www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com and then added a second sentence of clarification that included a call to action:

"I write what I love and what I know. See my fiction and nonfiction books on Amazon at www.ZimblerMillerbooks.com"

(Note that this URL is one I got and redirected in order to shorten my customized Amazon Author Central profile URL at www.amazon.com/author/phylliszimblerm... )

Try coming up with author taglines for yourself – and then think of places you can use the taglines.

And do use the comments section on this post to share your taglines.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON. You can see all her books at www.ZimblerMillerbooks.com and find her on Goodreads at www.goodreads.com/pzmiller

She also writes about book-related topics at her author website at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com and is the co-founder of the online marketing company www.MillerMosaicLLC.com

Editor Ray Rhamey, Flogging the Quill

The first page of my ms KISS OF THE ASSASSIN is being edited today on Ray Rhamey's Flogging the Quill. Nothing like having fresh eyes take a look.

ASK PZM: May 2013 - Amazon Goodreads 2

Q: What elements comprise an effective book page on Amazon?

http://cluculzwriter.blogspot.com/201...

IWSG - Respect Yourself

Because today is the first Wednesday of the month, you know what that means -- YES, it's IWSG day, compliments of Alex J. Cavannaugh, our Ninja Captain!

It's a simple process:

"Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time. Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post." 

Our Twitter hashtag is #IWSG

 

 Now for Joylene's titillating post:


  ~ ~ * ~ ~
Writing ain't easy. Novels, blogs, articles, posts, or even greeting cards come from sweat and tears and hair-pulling.



We certainly don't do this for the money.

Our bouts of happiness are fleeting.

 

When I was a kid, one of my chores was to clean the bathroom. I'd whine and complain, and my mum would say, "The bathroom isn't going to clean itself." When that didn't work, she'd add, "Clean the bathroom, you little brat--Or else!"

I never had to ask what the "Or else" was.


I can whine and complain about my current WIP or my attempt at marketing, or my writer's block...  but it all boils down to the same three things:

- writing ain't easy
- the book won't write itself
- writing is who I am
 

Then why am I sit playing Temple Run2 on my phone?



 Or watching House Hunters on HGTV?



I'd say I wasn't suffering from insecurities, but I'd be lying.



There's no solution to being a writer and being insecure.



But what if that "someone" is yourself?