Elyse Salpeter's Blog, page 16

Twitter: Why it Does More Than Simply Sell Books

Come follow me @elysesalpeter

Today’s blog is about the power of twitter. Many writer’s only media platforms include using Twitter and Facebook to promote their books. I never see them talking to people, just at people, and I think that’s a huge mistake and missed opportunity. These same authors get frustrated when they don’t get a lot of sales with this strategy and they come to the conclusion that “twitter really doesn’t help with book sales, at all.” I tend to agree, to a point. I believe twitter offers writers amazing exposure and I believe it holds the key to so much more that they haven’t even explored yet. Here’s some interesting things I do with twitter that have nothing to do with me just posting a “read my book” link.

#1) WRITING GAMES: On Fridays there is this awesome cool hashtag called #FP, which stands for Friday Phrases. What you do is simply type that hashtag in the tweet and WRITE a short story all in that same tweet. It is so much fun and offers a lovely way to get the creative juices flowing. And you’ll read other great entries and you can comment on them, building some cool relationships. Authors love nothing more than feedback and they appreciate it so much when you comment. Here are the two I offered this week:

#FP The child pulled her Grandpa along. “Just a little further Papa.” She led him to an open grave. He shook at her next words. “We’re home.”

“What’re you chewing?” I asked my 3 yr old.” “Orange gummies.” He licked his lips. “Mommy!” My 10 yr old cried. “Where’s my goldfish?” #FP

What’s great is that if people following the thread like it, they comment, you get retweeted and you might gain some new followers, too! Super fun. If you’d like to learn more about Friday Phrases, click here: http://fridayphrases.com/

#2) REVIEWS: This is harder, and more time consuming, but I look at all the threads and see the reviews that bloggers do. If I think they tend to review books like mine, I’ll start my research. I will follow them, then go to their webpages and start the process of writing them an email to see if they’d like to review one of my books. While time-consuming, it’s a great way to reach people I never would have met before and get an honest review from someone validated.

#3) FOOD: I love to talk about food. I wanted to do something different once for the holidays and the most amazing thing happened when I posted “Help, I need suggestions.” There are people from ALL OVER THE GLOBE on twitter and one woman told me her grandma’s recipe for a holiday dish called “Lobio,” which is Georgian Green Beans in Walnut Sauce. I made it for Passover and it was SO GOOD. Here’s the recipe to serve 6:

Ingredients

2 pounds fresh green beans cut into 2-inch pieces

1/4 pound light-skinned walnuts

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 small onion, finely chopped

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro leaves, chopped (about 1/4 cup)

1 teaspoon ground coriander

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)

2 tablespoons sweet paprika

1/2 cup vegetable stock

salt

Directions

1. Bring a medium pot of lightly salted water to boil. Add the green beans, return to a boil, and cook for 2 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water to set the color and stop the cooking. Reserve.

2. Place the walnuts and garlic into the bowl of a food processor and puree to a paste. Transfer to a medium-size bowl. Add the onion, cilantro, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, paprika, and vegetable stock and process until smooth. Season to taste with salt. Reserve.

3. Arrange the green beans on a serving platter. Drizzle decoratively with the walnut sauce and garnish with additional paprika for color.

#4) SLANG: In one of my books, there is an older gentlemen from the UK. I have been researching British slang and including it in the book. I then appealed to my #UK tweeps and started asking questions such as “Can my character say Gawd Blimey and Bloody Hell?” Or “What does Stone the Crows” mean? I can’t tell you how many people chimed in with what are BETTER ways to say what I’m trying to get across. How some of my phrases were just regional or simply not used any longer. What an amazing resource these people were and I never would have gotten these honest answers in a quicker fashion. I can read as many internet British Slang sites as I want, but when I have someone living there, right now, telling me “how it really is” – that is invaluable.

#5) INTERVIEWS: I had an author interview right on twitter! How crazy is that? #writerskaboodle will help you do an author interview and for 1/2 hour straight people come on, along with the moderator, and ask questions about you and your books. What a great way to answer your reader’s questions, live, via tweets.

#6) COMMUNITY: That’s right. Community – this wonderful world is all about people engaging with each other. This morning I posted about how I had no idea what to post for my blog today. Within minutes, people from all over the globe offered suggestions and I realized, “OMG, twitter really isn’t all about selling my books,” it’s about building a community of like-minded friends who can all engage and help each other.

So, my advice to writers is get out of the mindset that you are only using twitter to hustle your books. Have fun with it. Engage your followers. Ask questions that you really want the answers to. You will be surprised at how much more you get out of this wonderful resource.

If any of you use twitter differently, I’d love to know! And please come on over and follow me at http://www.twitter.com/elysesalpeter

Book Signings – Finding your Hook for the Right Venue

Book Signing at a New Leaf

I’ve heard different theories of thought on book signings. Some people LOVE them and think that the best way to sell your novel is in person. Other authors who live predominantly in the digital world feel like you could reach thousands of more people with the right digital platform than the effort of doing a signing. That may be true, but online you simply don’t get the face to face you would if you have a reader standing in front of you.

So, I wanted to look for a venue for my novel, THE HUNT FOR XANADU. The book is about a young girl on a quest to avenge the death of her parents, murdered in their efforts to find the mystical land of XANADU. Along the way, she discovers something amazing about her own inner soul. It’s steeped in Tibetan Buddhism, takes place around the world, and is a thriller with a great twist.

I’ve done a few promotions and gotten some press, but I really wanted to do an in-person signing: a) for the experience and b) to see if I can get the word out to a different audience.

At first I called my local Starbucks. It’s a huge place and the manager was completely on-board. We were going to pick a weekend between holidays where biz was slow and it would help her drive traffic to the store and I was going to bring a lot of local people in. Then we tried to get confirmation from the Corporate office and they SHOT ME DOWN. They claimed that a signing would “interrupt their business.” Um, ok. I’d be in a teeny corner of this huge shop, bringing people in and purchasing products. Hmmm…

So then I started thinking… what is my hook? My first novel is a thriller called FLYING TO THE LIGHT and is about a young deaf boy. That novel’s hook was all the deaf websites and deaf schools. Even special needs fairs, sign language events, etc…

For XANADU I figured Asian, Tibet, food, meditation, tea… I called Buddhist bookstores, meditation centers and then decided, why not a Tea Shop? I contacted the owner of A NEW LEAF tea emporium in Garden City, NY, and gave her a copy of my novel, discussed my social media platform and discussed how I would drive business to her event, and we did it. She was amazingly gracious and gave out samples of free tea and 10% off to anyone that came into the store during my signing. I decided to put out all my novels and purchased a bunch of Asian cookies and wafers – all individually wrapped with Chinese writing on them for authenticity.

I contacted the local papers and I was covered in the Garden City News, The Roslyn News and then, Long Island Newsday put the event and a big picture of me in the Fan Fare Books section. I was getting calls from everyone! I also did a few “events” on Facebook and Goodreads to announce it.

Overall, the event was a lot of fun. While I wished there was more native traffic to the store, it was a very cold day out so not as many people were walking around Garden City as normal, but still it was great. I had a few friends show up to fill some tables and then a bunch of people came in simply because they saw me in the paper. Quite a few people came in looking for “the author.” After four books, I’m finally feeling that yes, I can own that title.

The most wonderful news is the owner would love to have me back when I publish Book #2 in the series, which is titled THE QUEST OF THE EMPTY TOMB and, even better, this jumpstarted me having a signing at THE DOLPHIN BOOKSHOP – one of the large independent bookstores on Long Island – this has been on my bucket list. I believe this is going to happen now in June.

So, find your hook, any way that you can, and run with it. Even if it’s silly, just try. You never know.

Can Getting Rid of Gluten and Dairy Get me Back to Bootcamp?

Climbing a Rope at Bootcamp

Besides the fact that I love to write (I mean, who doesn’t know at this point that I do?) What people may not know is that I love exercising. I absolutely adore it, but I haven’t been able to do it in over a year. October, 2012, I had been in a Bootcamp class. I’m talking “hardcore stuff.” Now, I won’t compare what I was doing for an hour with what Marines do day in and day out in their military training, but the Marines who taught us told us that it was close.

Oh, how I loved that class. I love it so much I got up at 5:30 am to get to a 6:00 am class, three to four times a week, where the Marines would “lovingly” yell at me, put me through exercises, make me climb ropes, run laps, lift tires, etc, for a full hour. When class was done, I was a disgusting, sweaty, smelly mess (along with the other fifteen insane people with me), but I felt incredible and I thought I was looking great.

But then I got hurt. In one class, I was doing jumping jacks holding a heavy bar, and thinking I was fine… when suddenly I wasn’t. Something “sort of snapped” in my back. I remember slowly falling to the floor and getting numb. I thought maybe I just twisted wrong (the numbness was my body’s way of keeping me ignorant to what had really happened.) I tried to continue the class but couldn’t and as the day progressed, I was basically crippled. After all the subsequent doctors and MRI’s we discovered two herniated disks. L4 and L5. Sciatica, numbness.. pain. This is basically textbook and nothing new. But, the disks are sitting on nerves and other fun stuff, so no matter how textbook this is… it hurts.

So what have I been doing to fix this? I did nothing for about eight months. I couldn’t. And then this past October I started with a chiropractor who gave me some relief. Then, this past week I started acupuncture and I also changed my diet. I read that gluten and dairy cause inflammation. I figured, “what if I could just get rid of them as much as I could from my diet?” It really wasn’t that hard to do – you just have to prepare. Brown rice pasta has replaced regular pasta, brown rice instead of white, I’ve made quinoa and lentils, I broil and bake instead of breading and frying, and I purchased gluten-free crackers.

What was interesting was this. Two weeks ago, I went on this diet for the first time for a week. I was pretty strict, though there were one or two meals I “cheated” because I wasn’t home and there was food in front of me. Regardless, I would say I changed my diet 90% that week. Looking back, I realize my back felt better. Then when the week was done, I went hog wild and chowed down on Chinese food for two days, started drinking milk again, yogurt and cheese for breakfast, bread at lunch, and wouldn’t you know, three days later my back went out… and bad. Lots of sciatic pain. Hmmm… so, back to the chiropractor, added my first acupuncture treatment and went BACK to the gluten-free/dairy free diet.

Verdict? Three days after being in the worst pain I’ve been in months, I’m so much better. Coincidence? A combination of everything? I don’t know, but I really believe that this “little cocktail of treatments” is hopefully working. The fact is, if I don’t add to my own problems by eating foods that CAUSE inflammation, maybe I can keep the nerve pain at bay – just by watching what I put in my mouth.

So, the verdict is out on exactly how this is going to go, but I’m hopeful. My next acupuncture treatment is Wednesday… I’ll keep up the diet and I’ll report next week. So far, so good.

My goal? Maybe I can get back to bootcamp one day. But for now, I’ll take “tying my shoes without flinching,” thank you very much.

Clean Eating – Will it Make Me a Better Writer?

Maybe it’s winter. Maybe it’s the cold. Maybe I’m just being lazy. It can be any, or all of these things, and I can make every excuse in the book, but the fact is, I’m not eating well recently. Instead of grabbing a yogurt for breakfast, I’ve been indulging on bacon and egg sandwiches. Instead of a salad for lunch, I’m grabbing sushi, stuffed with tons of rice or these big thick udon soups that are loaded with noodles and sodium. Dinners are usually fine, but then by 10:00 pm, I’m downing ice cream and chocolate bars (and I’m not talking about Hershey’s but the real good stuff – Godiva and Lindt) Can we say sea salt and dark chocolate? I’m drooling.

Now, I haven’t gained as much weight as you would think, but I’m not feeling all that great. My back hurts, I have no energy and I’m finding myself stressed. I’m trying to write a book and I have to concentrate and research things and I’m finding it’s a chore. I can’t seem to concentrate on things for more than a certain amount of time.

So, I’m trying to switch things up. My chiropractor and his wonderful receptionist did this healthy eating cleanse for 21 days. I found it tremendously intriguing and while I don’t have the capacity to do that intensive a treatment since I travel on biz, have a family and go out with clients, I can modify my diet. I’ve set a tiny, teeny, little goal. ONE WEEK. For one week only, I will try to avoid milk, white flour, gluten and meat. I’ve been instructed to “make as much food as I can at home” instead of eating out, go organic as much as I can, and up my water intake tremendously. It’s day #2 of this endeavor and so far, so good.

I’ve made two different white bean dips, mushroom sauce to go on brown rice pasta with salmon, eggplant lasagna (broiled, not fried eggplant) with daiya cheese,tofutti ricotta and brown rice noodles, and lentil stew – stuffed with veggies. Everything I’ve made the rest of the family ate and it’s been a hit. I think they were surprised actually.

For me, I ‘ve snacked on the lentils throughout the day, adding a bit of hot sauce or the bean dip. I’m finding that eating them fills me up greatly.

So, after two days, am I feeling clearer? Can I conquer the world yet? That verdict is still out, but I feel pretty good that I am trying this. What is the very worst thing that happens? I feel better? Get more energy? Lose some weight?

Here’s the recipe for that white bean dip I made yesterday:

1 Can Cannelli White Beans

1/2 juiced lemon

2 garlic cloves

2 tbs olive oil

salt/pepper to taste

handful of fresh parsley

Mix all the ingredients together with a hand blender or food processor and refrigerate. Seriously easy. If you want to up the ante like I did tonight (since I had to make it again because my daughter ate all of it), I cooked cauliflower florets for 10 minutes, mixed it with all the ingredients above and added fresh rosemary. The added cauliflower changed the recipe from a creamy one to more of a hummus texture, which I know will be a hit with my daughter. She loves hummus, but is allergic to it (a chickpea allergy???), so this is a fine substitute.

If you’re feeling adventurous, take a peeler and make strips of parsnip, put on light olive oil and salt and bake at 425 degrees for 10 – 14 min (turn over halfway) – let cool – super good with the dip.

So tell me, what do you do to feel healthy? Any good, simple recipes you’d like to add in the comments below? Love to hear them! Simple please…

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And lastly, writing: I’m building my newsletter. If you’d like to join my e-mail list for announcements about upcoming book releases, please do so here: http://elysesalpeter.com/contact.html I promise NEVER to sell or distribute your email to anyone else.

SWEEPSTAKES: SWEEPSTAKES! The 10th person to join my newsletter is going to win a signed copy of FLYING TO THE LIGHT – with the original first cover. The 20th person will win a signed copy and so will the 30th. I will do this up until the 100th new newsletter fan! The contest will go until the new book cover is released in early March.

Building an Email List – SWEEPSTAKES TO WIN A BOOK – 10 AVAILABLE!

First edition cover – only 20 left in existence!

Hi everyone, I’m getting my email newsletter up and running. My plan is to make announcements only monthly and/or if I have a new book release… which I will have by March.

Many of my readers have read my YA thriller, FLYING TO THE LIGHT. It’s a book about a young deaf boy who knows about the afterlife and now people are after him for the answer. The publishing company who represented this book folded and I was fortunate to have an agent pick it up. But, nearly a year later he still can’t sell it, or the sequel that is ready to go. Why? Because the book was “already out in the field” and publishing houses don’t want to take on another publishing house’s book unless I can confirm oodles of sales. While I was told FLYING TO THE LIGHT was the biggest seller at the old publishing house, my sales weren’t high enough to warrent a look. (think Harry Potter or Fifty Shades sales)

So, that said, he’s released them back to me. I’m working on a new cover and going to get it back out into the world. Which brings me back to newsletters. I’ve been told this will be the best and most efficient way to reach my readers. So, if you’d like to join my e-mail list for announcements, trivia and games, please do so here: http://elysesalpeter.com/contact.html I promise NEVER to sell or distribute your email to anyone else.

SWEEPSTAKES: The 10th person to join my newsletter is going to win a signed copy of FLYING TO THE LIGHT – with the original first cover. The 20th person will win a signed copy and so will the 30th. I will do this up until the 100th new newsletter fan! The contest will go until the new book cover is released in early March. How’s THAT for a sweepstakes?

Come on over folks and enter.

Ever Use Ebay To Pay For Your Writing Efforts?

As many of you know, I tend to do a lot of things at once. I’ve got a full time sales job, I write, and I’ve got a family. I’m finding it a little hard to manage all of it, but hey, that’s life and now, I want to release a few more books to the world, but find myself needing funds.

So, one writer suggested I try selling stuff on ebay to pay for edits and covers. I’ve bought and sold on ebay before, but I’ll be honest, I’ve not made any sort of killing. I once sold 25 articles of boy’s clothing for $2.99. Really? It wasn’t even worth my time to pack up the stuff. I think I might have even lost the money on the shipping. Though I did clean out my son’s closet, so I guess that was good.

Nevertheless, I’m going to try again. Why not? My house is filled with great games, clothes and video games my kids have outgrown. I’ve given away so many things to so many people that maybe I should attempt to sell it and bring some of that money back “in-house.” But does it work? Will I make enough to change my book cover for my young adult novel, FLYING TO THE LIGHT? I don’t know, but I’m going to give it a try. First product up is a LeapPad game that’s still in the plastic case it came in. My kids never even got a chance to play this and for some reason I kept it around for eight years! Yeesh. Interested? Make a bid here (and so far there are none after 2 days… sigh): http://www.ebay.com/itm/My-First-LeapPad-Learning-System-Game-I-know-my-ABCs-NEW-/191064912007?pt=Educational_Toys_US&hash=item2c7c5b3087

Have any of you had success with ebay? What works best? No minimum price, a minimum price or a buy it now option? I’ve decided it’s like my books – I’m putting a price on it and we’ll see what sells and hopefully I’ll a) make enough money to pay for some things and b) clean up my house!

Love to hear your thoughts.

Day #8 LAST DAY of the Fantastical Blog Hop

Well, the fantasy blog hop is coming to an end, but let’s leave with a bang. Up today is author David Cassidy for his novel, Velvet Rain. Check out this great write-up!

HE WAS BORN A MIRACLE. IT WILL TAKE ONE TO SAVE THE WORLD.

Kain Richards is the last of his kind–and a man on the run. So when this mysterious drifter falls for a beautiful and sensible Iowa farmwoman, he knows full well the perils of getting too close. And yet, for the first time in his miserable existence, life feels normal … feels real. But as those around him soon realize, reality is not what it seems. For when a tragic accident forces Kain’s hand, his astonishing secret–and godlike power–changes their lives, and the world, forever.

And these reviews:

Velvet Rain is a dark thriller of suspense, horror, and drama. [Contains graphic violence and profanity.]

“Exceptional writing on a par with Stephen King …”

“Dean Koontz would be proud of this writer …”

“A dark horror-thriller … reveals the evils of humanity … the demons hidden under human flesh.”

“It’s a gripping read–at times chilling, at times humorous, and at times deeply moving.”

Here is a link to purchase this great novel: http://amzn.to/1iyTEQH

This has been a great event for me so far. If you’d like to purchase my novel, THE HUNT FOR XANADU and take advantage of the sale price, please feel free to link to it here: http://amzn.to/MslDH3

Lastly, I’m also doing a goodreads giveaway for THE HUNT FOR XANADU. Please feel free to enter that here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20297588-the-hunt-for-xanadu?from_search=true

Day #7 Fantastical Blog Hop

Today is Day #7 of the Fantastical Blog Hop and things are going GREAT! Up today is author Joseph Lallo for his novel, The Rise of the Red Shadow.

Check out this great recap:

Every story must begin somewhere. For the warrior who would come to be known as the fearsome Red Shadow, the story began in a forgotten glade deep in the land of Tressor. It was there that a pair of trackers, eager to retrieve a lost slave, instead found an orphaned malthrope. Had it been a human, it might have been treated with compassion, but in the eyes of human society a malthrope was a monster, a mix of fox and man believed to be a murderer and thief by its very nature. The beast was to be sold for a handful of silver, but fate intervened in the form of an old blind slave named Ben. Under the learned hand of the one human who believed in his potential, the young malthrope would instead be given the wisdom to take his first steps on the long journey to his destiny.

The Rise of the Red Shadow chronicles the early life of one of the most mysterious figures of the Book of Deacon trilogy, the creature called Lain. It tells of his years working and learning on a Tresson plantation until a dark day of vengeance and bloodshed finally set him free. From there you will follow as he finds his place in the world, learning what it is to be a malthrope, and turning to the purpose that will guide him for the rest of his days. It is a story of love, hate, and lessons hard-learned, revealing the painful choices one must make to become the hero the world needs.

Check out these reviews:

“I absolutely loved all the Book of Deacon series, and this one was just as wonderful.”

“Rise of the red shadow was truly an amazing book, it was impossible to put down!! I loved how the author thought out every detail on how events can change.”

And the book trailer for the series…

To purchase the novel please click here: http://amzn.to/1lEtwbO

If you’d like to join the event on Facebook, please do so here: https://www.facebook.com/events/205889079615386/

This has been a great event for me so far. If you’d like to purchase my novel, THE HUNT FOR XANADU and take advantage of the sale price, please feel free to link to it here: http://amzn.to/MslDH3

Lastly, I’m also doing a goodreads giveaway for THE HUNT FOR XANADU. Please feel free to enter that here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20297588-the-hunt-for-xanadu?from_search=true

Day #6 Fantastical Blog Hop

Today is Day #6 of the Fantastical Blog Hop and on the hot seat today is author P.L Blair for Shadow Path.

Here’s a recap:

Magic and crime. Agatha Christie meets J.R.R. Tolkien in “Shadow Path,” the first book in the new Portals series by author P.L. Blair. An Ogre murdered with a rune-inscribed sword is just the beginning as Kat Morales, a very human detective on the Corpus Christi, Texas, police force, and her Elf partner Tevis McLeod follow a blood trail that leads to Pixies, necromancy and Magic of the Blackest kind … to its climax in a stronghold Between worlds, where Tevis must duel spell for spell with a former lover who wants to see her old flame extinguished permanently.

And some really wonderful reviews:

“A well developed and written book. P.L. takes an older genre, “crime/police stories”, and twists it into a unique tale with fantasy and magic. It is an enchanting blend!”

“SHADOW PATH is a combination fantasy, suspense novel that I fell in love with from the very first line.”

Check out the great book trailer here:

Please click here to purchase the novel:http://amzn.to/1keOmgv

If you’d like join the event on Facebook, please do so here: https://www.facebook.com/events/205889079615386/

This has been a great event for me so far. If you’d like to purchase my novel, THE HUNT FOR XANADU and take advantage of the sale price of $2.99, please feel free to link to it here: http://amzn.to/MslDH3

Lastly, I’m also doing a goodreads giveaway for THE HUNT FOR XANADU. Please feel free to enter that here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20297588-the-hunt-for-xanadu?from_search=true

Day #5 Fantastical Reads Blog Hop

It is Day #5 of the Fantasy Blog Hop and my author promotion day was yesterday. I had so much fun, interacted with a ton of people, did a giveaway and sold some books. Overall, it was such a great success! And now, today is a new day, and the author in the spotlight is S.L. Wallace, writing CANVAS SKIES.

Here’s a recap:

Greed. Power. Class division. Resistance.

The Terenian government has worked hard to divide the haves from the have-nots. Guy Bensen, Elite bachelor of the year, wants a better life for everyone. Thief/hired killer, Keira Maddock, hungers for equality. Together, they might be able to change society.

Meanwhile, due to tragic events caused by the Divide, Keira’s younger sister, April, has left her baby in the realm across the sea. Now she returns to Terene. With the arrival of two very different men, her life becomes complicated. In order to be safe, April must hide her identity. In order to live, she must open her heart.

Check out these great reviews:

“The world building is wonderful, the characters are likable, and the writing is done well.”

Regina Ryals

“It’s fast and keeps you flipping the pages (or swiping your screen) till the very end.”

Andrew Augustine

Her book trailer is here:

To purchase Canvas Skies click here: http://amzn.to/1fNZEUF

If you’d like to join the event on Facebook, please do so here: https://www.facebook.com/events/205889079615386/

If you’d like to purchase my contemporary fantasy thriller, THE HUNT FOR XANADU, and take advantage of the sale price of $2.99, please feel free to link to it here: http://amzn.to/MslDH3

Lastly, I’m also doing a goodreads giveaway for THE HUNT FOR XANADU. Please feel free to enter that here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20297588-the-hunt-for-xanadu?from_search=true