Jordan Castillo Price's Blog, page 55

Appreciation #26 - the stuff that just works

I woke to a chirping at 3am. Now, my smoke alarm is hardwired into my house's electrical system and emits a BLAAAAAT that's loud enough to blow me out of bed. So I realized it was the carbon monoxide detector my ex's family had given us maybe five years ago.

My first thought as I handled it was, "So there could be carbon monoxide present and my response is to find the thing and take out the batteries." But I reasoned that when that chirp-thing happens, it just means the batteries are dying. Plus my furnace is only 2 years old and my stove and dryer are electric.

So as pissed as I was to be woken at 3am and awake until 5, I decided I could hardly fault the device. It's been working all these years--I frankly don't even know how many--without a problem. And really, most of my stuff is the same way. It just works, and I don't worry about it. I truly appreciate that.

Appreciation #25 - progress

I killed my to-do list today! Some stuff I was eager to get going on (the next hunk of Magic Mansion) and some stuff I was dragging ass on (the cover of Partners second edition, because my first proof was awful.) I tell ya, this "time pod" work method is magical for me. I had no idea what kind of toll mental fatigue was putting on my productivity and progress. It rocks to do a boatload of stuff and still have the energy to check in and say hi at the end of the day.

So, hi! I hope you all had days of awesomeness too!

Appreciation #24 - mornings

I've been thinking about the difference  between being grateful for something, and appreciating something. It seems to me that "gratitude" implies a prior lack of the thing in question, or perhaps that you needed to earn it, or wait for some larger force to bestow it upon you. Where appreciation feels somehow...closer to what I'm talking about. It feels cleaner.

Anyway, I'm a morning person. I love mornings. I love having the day all stretched out before me and ripe with the possibilities of what might happen in that time.

I also have something I call "morning-mind" where apparently my IQ goes up about 100 points. I did some work in Excel with my morning-mind yesterday and discovered several important things that will improve my workflow. Believe me, I take ample notes!

How awesome is that?

My books made Sunita's best of 2011 list on Dear Author. Twice.

And there are only eleven items on it.

I love it!

Gratitude #23 - humor

There's a big estate sale that's been going on for some time, out in the country between the town where I live and the next town. They have a really big sign out on the county road that says SALE-GIFT IDEAS, and directly below that it says GUNS.

Ha ha! I love you, here's a present, POW.

Magic Mansion - a few more hours to vote

I'm thinking ahead to the next few eliminations in Magic Mansion, and I'm realizing that this particular vote is going to be the second-last voting round! (The last few chapters of a story are too critical to put to a vote. It's more important to me to have a satisfying ending than to be democratic.)

So this is it, second-last voting round ends in 12 hours. There's still time to get your vote in, and it's a close race!

Step into the Mansion

Just in time for Christmas

I ventured out to do my food shopping even though I knew it would be crowded, it being Christmas week. Better now than Friday, at any rate. The locally-owned grocery store has baggers walk your groceries out to the car for you and they're not allowed to accept tips. I had a kid walk me out to the car I didn't recognize, maybe 19 or so, and we were chatting. As I closed my trunk and looked up, I saw he had a BIG OL' HICKEY.

Ha ha! Good for you! (I enjoy writing about that initial blush of young, lusty love, and I've been there myself, so I'm no one to criticize.)

However I'm sure your parents will be very pleased with your Christmas Hickey when grandma sees it :D

Rebirth on Kindle

Rebirth has finally hit the Kindle store, yay! Every now and then I need to do some extra procedure to prove I own the rights to a title of mine. I'm fine with that. I like knowing there are safeguards like that in place.

The listing is here. I'd really love it if you could click some of the ebook's tags!

If you wrote a review for Rebirth back when it originally came out and you'd be willing to transfer that review to the new edition, that would be great.

And if you want to write a review for it in general, that's fabulous!

Gratitude #22 - garbage day

Thankfulness doesn't always need to be earth-shattering, or serious! I'm appreciative of garbage day, especially every other week when the recycle guy comes. I love the feeling of clearing out the wastebaskets and getting the corrugated cardboard out of my living room.

I'll never be one of those people whose floors you can eat off of--high levels of cleaning just aren't a priority for me--but I'm always pleased to clear clutter.

Five Things You Can Give Your Favourite Authors (by Josephine Myles)

Originally posted by [image error] josephinemyles at Five things you can give your favourite authors for Christmas (and they won’t cost a penny)

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JosephineMyles/~3/xoEoPGFUmAs/

http://josephinemyles.com/?p=3004

I’ve been thinking lately about ways I can let my favourite authors know how much I appreciate them, and things I can do to help them boost their sales – but without spending any money myself because it’s not in plentiful supply right now. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

Sending fan emails

There are few things nicer than opening up an email to discover a letter from a reader saying how much they enjoyed one of your stories (or all of your stories!) I always get a bit embarrassed writing them in case I come across like a deranged sycophant, but I’m getting over that and making an effort to write them more often. Feel free to ask questions about the story – most authors will be delighted to talk about them in more detail.

Five star Amazon reviews

These can have a real impact on sales, as for many authors (especially in our genre), a significant portion of their sales will come through Kindle editions. Because of the way Amazon works out its rankings, four and five star reviews have far more impact than a lower star rating with a glowing review. It can also help if you tag the book with as many relevant tags as you can think of, as this will help it show up more often when customers are idly browsing.

Reviews and ratings elsewhere

Amazon might be the biggie, but reviews on Goodreads and other bookseller’s sites can be valuable too. If you bought a book from Fictionwise, All Romance eBooks or elsewhere, have a check to see if you can leave a review/rating. Reviews don’t need to be long. Even just a couple of sentences saying why you loved something can be valuable in attracting new readers.

Listopia/Listmania votes

You can create a Listmania list on Amazon with your top ten favourite books with a specific theme. Goodreads have the Listopia system where you can create your own lists or add a book to an existing one. You might want to check if a favourite book is already on any Listopia lists (detailed on the Goodreads page for that book) and add your vote to help bump up its ranking.

Blog/Tweet/Facebook with links

Any way yo u can get the word out about a favourite book or author will help them in some way. It’s even more valuable to them if you include links to their blog and/or website, as incoming links help boost their search engine rankings, meaning more new readers might discover them when browsing.

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Jordan Adds:
Another easy way to help out the authors you like is to click on the tags that are already there beneath their books on Amazon. When the tags have lots of clicks, it affects the search algorithm and makes these books more discoverable to potential new readers who are searching for something different to read. It's easy, and it's anonymous.

In fact, I have a few things that came out this month that can really use your tag-clicks. It will take you less than a minute. I ESPECIALLY need them on the maze books.
50 Odious Over-and-Under Mazes
50 Excruciating Mazes
Fire Thief
Body Art: a Thriller