Mindy Hardwick's Blog, page 47

Musa Publishing Anniversary Blog Hop

Musa Publishing is having an anniversary blog hop and giving away a FREE KINDLE FIRE. All you have to do to enter to win the FREE KINDLE FIRE is comment on Musa blogs during the hop. Each blog that you comment on will enter you into the drawing for the FREE KINDLE FIRE. To find a list of the blogs in the hop, go here, or click on the image above.

There are also FREE BOOKS to be won during the hop. Each Musa author will be giving away either one of their books or if their book is not yet published, the Musa author is giving away a book from their Musa imprint.

I am giving away a copy of STAINED GLASS SUMMER in any ebook format. There is also a free discussion guide available at my website here.

STAINED GLASS SUMMER is on Facebook and STAINED GLASS SUMMER is on Goodreads.

Twelve-year-old Jasmine wants to be an artist. But, can she escape the shadow of her artistic Father to discover her own path as a glass artist?

Story Blurb: Twelve-year-old Jasmine adores her photographer Father and wants to be an artist just like him. But when Dad abandons the family, Jasmine is sent to spend the summer with her Uncle on a Pacific Northwest Island. Soon, Jasmine is learning stained glass from island glass artist, Opal, and thinking she might just be developing a crush on Island boy, Cole. But, it’s not until Jasmine finds herself mentoring another young artist that she can truly let go of her Father and call herself an artist by her own terms.

The Rules of the Musa Blog Hop

1) HAVE FUN!!!

2) INVITE ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS!!! SPREAD THE WORD!!!

3) THIS TOUR STARTS: October 1, at Midnight (pst)
    THIS TOUR ENDS: Monday, October 7, at Midnight (pst)
    Winners will be drawn and posted October 9th! ***

Come Join the Party on October 7th at The Romance Review Forum to enter to win more prizes. http://www.theromancereviews.com/forum/


4) PARTICIPATION AT ALL BLOGS IS RECOMMENDED, BUT NOT REQUIRED. REMEMBER, THE MORE BLOGS YOU HOP and COMMENT ON, THE BETTER YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING PRIZES. EVERY AUTHOR & BOOK PAGE IS WAITING TO MEET AND INTERACT WITH YOU, SO PLEASE BE SURE TO SHOW THEM SOME LOVE!

5)Grand Prize of a Kindle Fire is for Us and Canada mailing addresses only. International winners will receive a $50.00 Musa Gift Card.

6) DID I MENTION TO HAVE FUN? ***Authors & Book Pages have full discretion to choose an alternate winner in the event any winner fails to claim their prize(s) within 72 hours of their name being posted or after notification of win, whichever comes first. Anyone who participates in this blog hop tour is subject to these rules***

Marketing Books

I’ve been reflecting on what is working and what isn’t working with regards to marketing my two books published this year. (WEAVING MAGIC and STAINED GLASS SUMMER).

I thought I’d share some of the findings to help others who are in the process or thinking about how to marketing their books.

So, in no particular order, here are some of the things I’ve done:

Goodreads Giveaway of Stained Glass Summer—Highly recommend.  I ran a giveaway for a month and had 899 people requesting the book. I also ran an ad on Goodreads for STAINED GLASS SUMMER. You can set the price and the amount of clicks you receive a day on the ad.  During this time, 150 people added the book “to be read” on their Goodreads list. This was a highly effective means of advertising and got the word out about STAINED GLASS SUMMER.

Blog Tours—I participated in two blog tours with cover reveals for WEAVING MAGIC.  One tour was 15 blogs, one was 20 blogs. In a cover reveal blog tour, the book’s covers all post on the same day on various YA blogs including many International blogs and blogs written by teens. This seemed to give the book a lot of exposure and got me a lot of new followers on Twitter and Facebook, but I’m not sure it sold many books.

Guest Blogging and Book Giveaways—I’ve done a lot of guest blogging and giveaways with both my books. These did result in some sales and reviews, but it is a lot of time to write the blog interviews and line everything up. So if you’re going to do guest blogs and giveaways, I’d recommend limiting your scope of time to a month or six weeks after the book is published, otherwise you won’t get any writing done on anything else.  I’d also recommend doing those guest blogs and giveaways after the book publishes. People have a short attention span and they won’t remember the book on a blog if it’s not out and they can’t buy it. I got into his dilemma with WEAVING MAGIC. It was not uploaded to all the outlets for months, and consequently lost a lot of my guest blogging I had lined up for the spring.

SWAG: There is a lot of talk about book swag. This is everything from bookmarks, postcards to pens to bracelets, to magnets, to you name it..the possibilities are endless. You have to have something for booksignings, bloggers and giveaways. But what works? My swag was primarily bookmarks and postcards. I sent a bunch of postcards to friends and family announcing STAINED GLASS SUMMER. I sign bookmarks and postcards at signings. I’ve mailed a ton to librarians and teachers I know. But, the best use of those postcards and bookmarks? Keeping them in my purse and car and when I’m at the coffee stand, the veterinarian, the hair stylist, the grocery store, and someone asks me about my job, I pull out those bookmarks and postcards. My Mom sold books to my Grandparent’s nurses and caregivers by handing them bookmarks and postcards in the hospital. I’ve sold books to the guy who picked up my used clothing by handing him postcards. I’d highly recommend them, and I would say use a quality designer for at least some of them.

Twitter: This is probably been my least favorite.  I did pick up a couple guest blog opportunities from Twitter, but I’m not sure how effective Twitter is in the sale of my books. It seems like there is a lot of competing noise on Twitter and it’s hard to get anyone’s attention. It also seems as if you need to be on it a lot to pick up anything of substance.

School Visits and Workshops:  These are probably one of my favorite things to do and they sell books to both parents and kids. Plus, in a lot of cases, I am getting paid for the visit. STAINED GLASS SUMMER is available for libraries, and school and library visits really help with sales to libraries.

Facebook—This has been a tricky one. I took out Facebook Ads for both my books and linked them back to the book’s Facebook page. While this did give me a lot of “likes” on both pages, Facebook has a setting so my updates on the book pages only get to the people who “like” the posts on a regular basis. So, my audience of who sees those updates seems to be slim.

Book signings: Book signings at conferences such as RWA Chicago and the Everett Evergreen Waterfront Book Festival have been fun. The best part in Chicago was meeting other Musa authors and having a table together. At the Everett Book signing, I got to talk to a lot of local romance writers.  I’m not sure how many books were sold, but the personal connections were invaluable.

Team Approach: Some of my more successful on-line marketing comes by teaming up with the other Musa authors through our various blog hops and our Facebook page.  One word of caution on the team approach. I write for three different epubs and it is next to impossible for me to participate in all of the various social media outlets with all three publishers. I have chosen to participate the most with Musa. That’s not to say, I don’t post on my other publisher’s Facebook page, etc,  I do. But, I limit the chunk of my group promotional time to Musa such as our upcoming blog hop where you can win a free Kindle Fire!

Write a Short Story or Novella Series: One of the biggest surprises for me was how well my romance short story, LOVE’S STORMS did coming out of the gate. Some of that was because of the story’s price point at 99 cents, some was because of how well the publisher (BookstoGoNow) works with Amazon’s system and gives the book away for free at various times, and some was because I hit on the trend of writing a contemporary, sweet romance which are in high demand right now. I quickly wrote two more short novellas in the series. LOVE’S BID (just released) and LOVE’S CHRISTMAS GIFT (Coming in December).

One surprise was having those romance stories listed on Amazon and Barnes and Noble gives readers that much more of an opportunity to find my other two books, WEAVING MAGIC and STAINED GLASS SUMMER.  In the days of browsing bookstores, this would not have been as important as it is in the days of ebooks when there is so much on the market and readers don’t know how to find a good book. Once they find an author and like that author, it’s easy to click and download all of that author’s books.

But….the biggest marketing lesson I learned….

Spend some time marketing your book and approach marketing from many angles (blogs, giveaways, Goodreads, signings, workshops, conferences), but…the key to marketing your book is….

Write the next book!

(And a hint…write your next couple books as a series or spin off to your first one…Readers will be more likely to find that first book, and for you as the author, it’s so much easier to write a story where the world is already created! And for STAINED GLASS SUMMER fans….I do have a Christmas short story submitted to Musa. The story is about Jasmine’s friend, Lexi. And, yes, Sammy and Opal and Jasmine do make minor appearances. Stay tuned for news on that story!)

Imaginary Animals Blog Celebration

One of my favorite mixed-media artists, Carla Sonheim, has just published a new book, DRAWING AND PAINTING IMAGINARY ANIMALS

I’m looking forward to reading her book and integrating some of the exercises into my creative writing workshops for kids. You can find Carla’s book here:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

I met Carla at JournalFest and took her “Wretched Girl Journaling” class. Last winter, I interviewed Carla about mentors. You can find that interview here.

In order to celebrate her new book, DRAWING AND PAINTING IMAGINARY ANIMALS, Carla is hosting a two week blog celebration with drawings for her new book, on-line tutorials, and more.  Stop by her blog and join the celebration!

Romance Novella Published

The second story in my sweet, contemporary adult romance series is now available! LOVE’S BID is the second novella in the Sailor Romance Series. The stories are published with BooksToGoNow (BTGN), a royalty paying e-publisher.

LOVE’S BID is available at Amazon for the Kindle here. Or you can click on the cover below and it will take you to LOVE’S BID Amazon page. The story will be available at Barnes and Noble for Nooks soon.

Will bidding on love overcome the past?

BLURB: Cassie Richardson enjoys serving as President of the Sailing Club Foundation Board and overseeing the smooth running of operations. But, when former boyfriend, Eric Atkins, steps in to fill the role of Board Treasurer, things begin spiraling out of control. Soon, Cassie and Eric are tossed together in an auction and find themselves bidding on love. But will a bidding war be enough to overcome the past? Love’s Bid is the second short story in the Sailor Romance Series.

LOVE’S BID is the second in the Sailor Romance Series, and tells the story of best friend Cassie and her first love, Eric.

If you haven’t read the first story in the series, LOVE’S STORM is available for Kindle at Amazon and at Barnes and Noble for the Nook.

I am currently working on the third and final story in the Sailor Romance Series entitled, LOVE’S CHRISTMAS GIFT.

Story Blurb: Smart and savvy Sabrina runs a small bed and breakfast in Western New York, and is doing everything she can to risk falling in love again. Meanwhile, sexy and successful Damon has the world at his doorstep–except for the one woman he’s never forgotten, Sabrina, his first love. When the town hosts a Sailing Regatta, Damon shows up at Sabrina’s Bed and Breakfast as one of the crew in the race. But, surrendering to love is not easy, and it will take a storm to show both Sabrina and Damon that some things are worth holding onto. LOVE’S STORMS is the first in the Sailor Romance Series.

LOVE’S STORM is available for Kindle at Amazon and at Barnes and Noble for the Nook.

Art Collage Card from a Reader

I wanted to share a collage card which was sent to me from a reader of STAINED GLASS SUMMER. She wrote, “I got this idea of the collage card from Jasmine and her art contest project.”

Very cool!  If you have any art inspired by STAINED GLASS SUMMER, email me a picture and I will share on the blog. If you are under 18, don’t forget to get a parent or guardian’s permission to post the art work.

Accepted to an MFA Post-Grad Semester

I’ve been running a poetry workshop at Denney Juvenile Justice Center for seven years. I started as a volunteer and met with the kids once a week, after school, on their units.

After a couple years, I switched over to the school program and we were able to write grants to support the workshop.  During the first four years, a book of the teen’s poetry was published through the Blanche Miller Trust Art Grant. We printed 500 books each time. Some of the books were distributed out to the community, some went to workshops with me at conferences, high schools and middle schools, and some were given to the kids in the poetry workshop.

Then, over the last two years, we built the program to include a blog and began to use young adult literature and memoir in the workshop. I shifted the workshop to be a concentrated week of consecutive days which allowed the kids to read a book, or two, and discuss the story as well as write poetry.

During the first four years, I kept journals about the experience. I recorded the events of the workshop, how I felt, what worked, what didn’t work, my frustrations, the successes, and the lessons I taught.  After four years, I took those journals and combined them to draft a memoir entitled, “Kids in Orange.” I let that story sit for a year, and then went back and began to shape it into narrative flash fiction and non-fiction pieces. Some of which have been published on Sarah LaPolla’s blog, Glass Cases.

In January, I will be taking a new challenge with this work, I will be doing a post-graduate semester at Vermont College in the Writing Program. In July 2005, I earned my MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College. Twice a year, I traveled back to Vermont to attend ten day residencies, set a plan for the semester, and attend lectures.

The post-graduate semester is a little different. First, I don’t have to travel back to Vermont at all.  Second, it’s only a semester program, not a two year program. Third, I will be working in the adult writing program and not the Writing for Children Program. Although, I see my work in progress as something teens would read, I need the guidance of those who write memoir and narrative non-fiction. The post graduate semester allows you to pick who you would like to work with, and I will be working with Kurt Caswell  as my adviser to guide me through this process. I’m really thrilled because Kurt has experience teaching teens in juvenile detention and he wrote a memoir about working with teens on a Navajo Reservation entitled, In The Sun’s House: My Year Teaching on The Navajo Reservation. Kurt is also a native Northwestern from Oregon, and that makes me happy.

Why did I decide I needed a post-graduate semester? There were a couple deciding factors.

1. This project is something which means a great deal to me, but I have a lot of challenge with it. It’s a complex project with my story interwoven with the kids, and I’m trying to tell it in flash narrative pieces rather than a straight prose form. I needed some guidance through the deep dark woods of writing this one.

2. I hold a Washington State Teaching Certification, and in order to keep that current, I am required to take a certain number of credits every five years. I haven’t taught in a classroom as a teacher for ten years, so I don’t have the advantage of being able to take clock hours through a school. But I don’t want to let go of my certification. There is a lot of education and hours behind that certification, and I like to know I could return to the classroom if needed. Health care gets a little sticky out here in the freelance world and that causes me worry sometimes.

So between now and then, I am working hard to finish up a couple more romance novellas as well as a draft of my middle grade, Granddad’s Toys.  The nice thing is I’ve learned to juggle multiple writing projects in multiple stages, and the work with “Kids in Orange” has always fed my other writing ideas, so I’m looking forward to an intense concentration for six months on a project that means a great deal to me.

Stained Glass Summer Booksigning

I’ll be signing PRINT copies of STAINED GLASS SUMMER on Saturday, September 15 at 1:00 p.m. at UpperCase Bookshop in Snohomish. UpperCase Books is located at 1118 First Street in downtown, Snohomish.

I’ll be signing with my great, writer friend, Carole Dagg, author of The Year We Were Famous. You can find out all about Carole in this blog post I wrote here.

But even better is that day, local non-profit Seattle7Writers is presenting a Cash Mob BOGO (Buy-One-Give-One) Event to support S7W Pocket Libraries. Buy any book and Uppercase will donate a book to a Pocket Library. It’s the ultimate pay-it-forward cash mob! Support an indie bookseller, and the bookseller gives back to the community with the gift of reading.

Seattle7Writers collects and donates used and new books to a variety of sites in the Puget Sound region. These pocket libraries provide entertainment and education for women, men and children who are currently without homes or bookshelves of their own. In 2010 we donated over 1,500 books to Seattle Education Access, ROOTS, and the Pat Graney foundation for their women’s work release program.  In 2011 we donated 3,683 books, and 2012 is off to an excellent start with 5,073 books.

So, come in and buy a PRINT signed copy of STAINED GLASS SUMMER and UpperCase Books will donate another book to a Pocket Library. It’s a win/win for all!

Art Journal Giveaway

Today’s giveaway at the Euterpe YA Back-to-School event is sponsored by Jasmine of STAINED GLASS SUMMER. Jasmine has convinced me to give away a very cool art journal. (The type that has heavy paper and you can do mixed media or art journaling), as well as a great chalk clipboard for fun doodling and listmaking.

Jasmine is writing about her summer adventures on the Euterpe Blog and she wanted to share a bit here.

Summer Adventures by Jasmine

On the first day of school, there are two things you can count on.


There will be a lot of talk about the Rules


Teachers will ask you to write an essay about your summer vacation.



I’m not very good with following the rules. Dad says it’s the artist in me. But, I am very good with list making! So, the night before my first day at the Island Middle School, I wrote a list about my summer vacation.



I rode a ferry for the very first time. Cars actually drive on the ferry and people commute to work every day on the ferry!


A chicken laid colored eggs! They looked just like dyed colored Easter Eggs.


I met a very nice Boy. Boy’s name shall remain nameless—just in case he reads my list!


I rode bikes all over the island with Boy! And, I enjoyed riding bikes.


I learned stained glass with Opal.


I entered a contest—but I did not win—and that’s okay.


I went for a boat ride with Boy. We didn’t see any Orcas, but we saw a lot of tourists looking for Orcas.


I learned that it’s too cold to swim in the Sound off the Island.


I kissed Boy!


I was an art mentor.




I’d love to hear about your summer vacation, but not in an essay. I convinced my author, Mindy Hardwick, to give away an art journal. (It’s the good kind with the heavy paper so you can paint and do art collage).


To find out the details for how to enter go here

Goodreads Giveaway Winner

Happy Sunday, everyone! I’m very happy to announce the winner of the Goodreads Giveaway of STAINED GLASS SUMMER is:

Todd Moody

899 people requested STAINED GLASS SUMMER in the Giveaway!

Congratulations, Todd! I will be mailing your book out on Monday.

There are a couple other giveaways still going on.

You can win a free ebook of WEAVING MAGIC at YA Book Addict Blog here or at Living for the Books Blog here. These giveaways are U.S or International.

Tween and teen bookgroups can win a set of STAINED GLASS SUMMER, discussion guides, and Skype an Author visit with me at the Euterpe Back to School Extraveganza here.

And on Monday, I’ll be announcing how to win an art journal and clipboard chalkboard as a part of Euterpe’s Back to School Extravaganza. Remember those cool clipboard chalkboards I made this summer for the workshops? You can see a picture of them here. Now, you will be able to win one of those!

The fun is just beginning!

Win A Stained Glass Summer Prize Package for Bookclubs

Do you know of a tween or teen book group? Are you a teacher or librarian who uses literature circles? Euterpe (Musa Publishing’s middle grade and young adult novel imprint) is having a Back To School Event. Every day next week, there will be drawings for books and prize packs.

The grand prize is a FREE set of ebooks (any format) of STAINED GLASS SUMMER, free discussion guides, and a free SKYPE author visit with me! That’s a pretty good deal!  If I was a teacher, and my students had access to ipads, Nooks, or Kindles, I’d enter to win! This is a perfect opportunity for a class who doesn’t have funding for author visits. If a small group of students reads and discusses STAINED GLASS SUMMER (and those ebooks are free), then the whole class can visit with me on Skype!

You can find all the details for winning FREE copies of STAINED GLASS SUMMER, discussion guides, and a free Skype Author Visit with me here.

Please feel free to share this with any teachers/librarians you know who might have a small group of students who would like to enter to win a free set of STAINED GLASS SUMMER, discussion guides, and a Skype author visit!