Terri Morgan's Blog, page 2

6,000 downloads in 72 hours

 Last week, my novel, Playing the Genetic Lottery, was #2 on the Kindle best seller list for several hours. How do I know? Because I checked the Amazon sales of my e-book almost every hour during my 3-day KDP select promo. For 72 hours I allowed anyone and everyone with a Kindle to download my novel for free. Although giving my hard earned work away at no charge seems counter intuitive to me, I'm hoping it pays off in the long run.

I've been a professional writer for over 30 years, but I'm a relatively new novelist. Playing the Genetic Lottery, which I self-published as an e-book in late 2011, and as a paperback last May, is my first work of fiction. Without a track record as a novelist, and the budget of a starving writer, I've had to get creative to promote my work. I've also had to educate myself as to the best ways to market my novel on a shoestring.

My self-education program initially consisted of reading everything I could get my hands on regarding self-publishing, book marketing, social media marketing and book promotions. In blog after blog I kept reading about writers offering free downloads to generate interest in their books. I was skeptical, but willing to keep an open mind.

After struggling to self promote my book with little success, I realized I needed some help. Sure, I sold a few copies here and there. But my sales were slow, and I had to admit I was in over my head, especially when it came to social media. So I took a deep breath, budgeted, and hired Donna Huber, who I met at www.girl-who-reads.com, to help me with my promotional campaign. She had a number of brilliant ideas, and I gradually learned to trust her suggestions. So when she suggested, for about the 5th time, that I conduct a free Kindle download promotion, I decided she was right.

We started planning the promotion about two months ago. That gave me ample time to scour the internet for websites that let people know about free e-books. I compiled a list of all the sites, then one-by-one checked each one out. Some weren't appropriate for my genre; others charged fees to have books listed. A couple I didn't qualify for, since I didn't have enough published reviews. I made notations on my list to avoid duplicating my efforts, and recorded the date I contacted each site and what response I received. By the time I was finished, at least two dozen sites had agreed to either post my promotion and/or email their members.

In the meantime, Donna booked an excerpt blog tour for me. Each blogger that signed up received an excerpt from my prologue. We encouraged readers to follow the excerpts sequentially to read the entire introduction. Many of the bloggers graciously allowed me to guest post on their sites in conjunction with the tour. And all listed the except tour schedule along with an announcement of my promo.

I posted the promo on my website and my book's facebook page, blogged about it, and tweeted to get the news out. Nearly 6,000 people downloaded the book, and it sure was fun to log onto Amazon and see my novel climb up the best seller list from 12 to 9 to 7 to 4 to 3 and finally to 2. Of course, those numbers have dropped now that the promo is over, but it sure was cool while it lasted. I hope everyone who downloaded it reads and enjoys my book, and tells their friends about it. I also hope readers will take the time to write a brief review on Amazon about my book.

In the meantime, happy reading.

Excerpt Tour

Come join me as I take part in an online excerpt tour. I'll also be guest posting on some of these wonderful blogs.
Monday Feb. 18
Alli's World http://mrscaptkirk51.blogspot.com/
Java John Z's Giveaways and Reviews http://javajohnz.blogspot.com
izz "pingle" bookish place & http://izzbookishplace.blogspot.com/
Bubbles. Deux. http://www.bubblesdeux.com

Tuesday Feb. 19
Library Girl Reads & Reviews http://librarygirlreads.blogspot.com
Recent Read http://www.recentread.com
Lindsay and Jane's Views and Reviews http://lindsayandjaneviewsandreviews.blogspot.co.uk/
Brooke Blogs  http://www.brookeblogs.com

Wednesday Feb. 20
Mary's Cup of Tea http://www.mmbearcupoftea.com
Books R Us http://www.booksrusonline.com

Thursday Feb. 21
Ali's Bookshelf http://alisbookshelfreviews.blogspot.com/
Tyrneathem http://www.tyrneathem.com

Friday Feb. 22
Alberta Ross albertaross.wordpress.com
Uttley's Take - http://mruttleysz.wordpress.com

Reality Check

Novelists, like screenwriters, sometimes get a little too creative with creative license for my liking. By that I mean their story lines strain credibility. Having a character who can stretch his limbs like Rubberman, or display any other super power commonly found in comic books, is fine in a fantasy or science fiction tale. However, when I'm reading a literary or contemporary novel I just cringe when I come across a scene that's grossly inaccurate. When a firefighter, for example, performs emergency surgery on a car crash victim who is trapped in a vehicle while the rest of the rescue team urges her on instead of using the jaws of life to extract the victim, I get annoyed. If the obvious errors happen too often, it can turn a dramatic story into a comedy for me. Or, in cases where the book is riddled with mistakes, like the one I started reading the other day, I'll stop reading. A book with five factual errors in the first 50 pages, just doesn't hold my interest.

That's why when I decided to write my first novel after working for over 30 years as a freelance journalist, I spent weeks doing research even before I typed P1 on my blank computer screen. My novel, Playing the Genetic Lottery, is a fictional memoir of a woman who grew up with two schizophrenic parents. It was important to me that I portray the devastating mental illness accurately, even though I was writing fiction.

I began my research for calling a friend who has a brother who is schizophrenic. Chris and I have been close friends for over 20 years, and I've gotten to know his brother Charles fairly well. Over the years Chris has shared with me some with me some of the challenges he and his family have faced trying to get Charles the care he needs. Chris was happy to provide me with detailed information about his brother's illness and treatment programs. He also discussed the impact his brother's illness has had on their family. During one of our conversations, Chris also pointed me toward several resources, including the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

I scoured the NAMI website, and followed links to over a dozen different sites. I bought some of the books Chris recommended, and I checked out nearly every book I could find on schizophrenia from my local library. After I began writing I gave chapters to Chris, and a couple of other friends who are familiar with mental illness, to read. Based on their comments, I rewrote several of the chapters .

After conducting all that research, and my long experience writing non-fiction, my first few chapters ended up reading like a text book. I rewrote those as well after my husband reminded me that the role of a novelist is to reveal, rather than tell.

I'm taking a similar approach with what I plan to be my next novel. Now that I have one novel under my belt, I felt I had the credibility to call up professional strangers and ask to interview them. Most of the people I've contacted have been extremely gracious in sharing their expertise and experiences, although a few have yet to return my calls or respond to my emails. In those cases, I asked my sources to recommend others who could help me fill in my knowledge gaps. Several people I've interviewed have also offered to read drafts for accuracy and realism. And yes, I've spent hours on the internet, cleared out the shelves of my local library, and bought several books that have proven to be excellent resources.

The only drawback I've found to conducting so much research is that, at least for me, it's hard to stop. I'm not sure if that's because I love learning about new things, am worried about overlooking something, or if it's a way of procrastinating. So far, I've conducted enough research to fill four file folders. I've outlined the novel, created my key characters, established a setting, and even bought a new flash drive to back up my drafts on. Working on this blog post made me realize it's time to stop researching and start writing. While I want to make sure my novel passes the reality check, I have to write it first.

On the Shelf of My Local Library

Playing the Genetic Lottery is my ninth book, but my first novel and my first self published book. So for me, it's very special, and I still get a thrill when I see the cover of my novel. I'm pleased to have it offered for sale in all four of the independent bookstores in Santa Cruz  County, where I live. I'm so pleased, in fact, that when friends and family visit from out of town I usually take them to one or more of the bookstores so they can see my novel on the shelves. 
I'm happy to say that so far my visitors have been excited to see my book for sale, or at least done a good job of pretending to. And now I'll have another venue to show them. Last month the Santa Cruz Public Library System purchased four copies of Playing the Genetic Lottery. While the copies have to be entered into the library system and processed before becoming available to borrowers, I'm excited for several reasons. As an avid reader, and a longtime library patron, I'm looking forward to seeing my book on the shelves in some of the library branches that I've spent so much time in. I'm also very happy I was able to sell copies to the library because I was under the impression they didn't purchase self-published books.
I had been told that by another writer who also self-published her novel. She complained to me that her local library refused to buy her book, although they did accept a donated copy. She was miffed, because the librarian told her that libraries only buy books from established publishers. Even though she volunteered regularly at her local library, the libraries acquisition department refused to make an exception for her. After hearing her diatribe about the unfairness of it all, I
was almost convinced she was right. 
Fortunately, however, I've been a journalist for most of my career, and as such, have been trained to be skeptical. As a reporter, I always tried to get “facts” confirmed by more than one source. And as a reporter, I've learned not to be afraid to ask questions, even if you suspect the answer will be “no comment,” “leave me alone,” or something more hostile. So last month, when I was at the library, I asked the manager who I needed to talk to about selling my book to
the library system. She gave me a name and a number. As it turned out, the woman she suggested I contact wasn't the correct person. But she was friendly and offered to find out who was. Ten minutes later, my phone rang, and another
friendly woman from the library administration department was on the line,
asking for information about my novel. To make a long story short, the following morning I hand delivered the books along with an invoice.
 I don't know if my local library system bucks a trend and makes exceptions for local authors or not. I do know, however, that if you don't ask, the answer is always no. And I'm very glad I did ask. As a writer, I want my work to be read. Sure I'd prefer it if each reader purchased their own copy of my book, but as a new and relatively unknown novelist, I'm always looking for ways to get the word out about Playing the Genetic Lottery. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising I've found, and the more people who read it, means there is likely going to be more people talking about it. And as a longtime library patron, I'm proud to have my latest book on the library shelves for others in my community to enjoy.  
Terri's note: This post  for Morgen Bailey's outstanding blog.

Ashley's Review

Ashley Smith is a young woman living with schizophrenia. The founder of Embracing My Mind, she frequently shares her story with others to educate people about mental illness and provide a living example of how to successfully live with the disease. When I first discovered her work and her webpage, www.embracingmymind.org, I thought she would be one of the best people to provide me with feedback about my novel, Playing the Genetic Lottery. She wrote this wonderful review of my book, and posted it on her blog. Here's the link: http://overcomingschizophrenia.blogspot.com/2013/01/terri-morgans-book-review-of-playing.html

Light Up A Life

I wrote this article for the Santa Cruz Sentinel earlier this month. It was published on Sunday December 2. I'm running it in my blog, along with one of the photos I took to illustrate the story because so many people told me they were touched by the story.

The holidays can be an especially difficult time for those who have recently lost a loved one. Simple rituals and ceremonies, in the company of others who are also
grieving, can help ease some of the pain. And both grief and relief were evident on the faces of participants in the second annual Light up a Life event yesterday afternoon in Capitola Village. Hosted by Heartland Hospice of Santa Cruz County, the hands on event allowed people to decorate Luminary bags in honor of their loved ones in the company of others who are also mourning a loss.

“Holidays tend to trigger a lot of grief for people,” said Forbes Ellis, the bereavement coordinator for Heartland Hospice. “This memorial event gives people more support and provides a space and place for the bereaved.” 

Despite overcast skies, a small, but steady stream of people made their way to canopies set up near the bandstand to create a customized memorial bag for a relative or friend they were grieving. Over the course of the afternoon, roughly 60 people of all ages created personalized memorials, sipped coffee or tea, snacked on pizza and cookies and listened to live music. All materials and refreshments
were donated by Heartland Hospice, and  Celina Gutierrez, of Celina and the C Monkeys donated her time to play the ukelele and sing.

 “It's perfect to have the event here,” said Ali Eppy, as she decorated a bag in honor of her sister Nancy, who passed away a little over a year ago. “She was an ocean lover and she loved coming to the beach.”

Mary Anderson, who was decorating a bag in honor of her brother Jim O'Loughlin,
agreed. “He lived in Capitola, and liked the ocean and boats,” she said. “I know
he's here today.”

People set their completed bags on the seawall overlooking the beach, after weighing them down with sand and placing a battery powered candle inside. At about 5 o'clock, just as dusk was settling in, the candles were turned on and people formed a semi-circle facing the seawall for a brief memorial. The rain, which had held off most of the afternoon, began to come down lightly while Celina  played and sang Somewhere over the Rainbow and many of the mourners wept. 

“A ritual like this is a way to process (a loss) on a non-verbal level,” Ellis said. “It
allows people to take another step through their grief process.”

Capitola Mayor Michael Termini, who had earlier proclaimed December 1 as“Heartland Hospice Day,” said he was pleased hospice had chosen the bandstand area for the memorial.

 “The location is perfect for such a sweet, touching and moving event,”Termini said. “It's a very intimate, friendly beach environment.”

Heartland Hospice Services has been providing comfort, symptom management and palliative care services for terminally ill patients in Santa Cruz County for the past decade. Its employees care for patients in their homes, at skilled nursing
facilities, or assisted living centers. Services are tailored to individual
patients and families to address their unique needs, and ensure they understand
their health care choices while respecting patient's spiritual beliefs and
practices. Heartland Hospice also offers bereavement services to provide emotional support to family members.

Goodreads Giveaway Winners

My Goodreads giveaway ended today, with five lucky readers each winning a signed first edition copy of my novel, Playing the Genetic Lottery. I just finished packaging up the copies to Marie, Ashleigh, Teresa, Erin and Kelley, who were selected by Goodreads as the lucky winners. Thanks to everyone who entered!

Goodreads Giveaway

Thank you to each and everyone of the 580 people who entered my Goodreads giveaway. I wish I could send a copy of Playing the Genetic Lottery to each and everyone of you. And congratulations to Kelley, Erin, Teresa, Ashleigh and Marie, who were the winners. I hope you enjoy reading my novel.

Holiday shopping for my dog

Terri's note: I joined a group of writers from around the world to simultaneously post on our blogs about what our pets want for Xmas. Here's my entry. You can find the link to others' posts at the bottom of this post. Happy Reading and Happy Holidays!

My dog Lucky is the best dog in the World. At least that's what I tell him. Actually, I tell him he's the bestest dog in the world, because we neurotic pet owners tend to get a little loose with the grammar around our four-legged kids. Naturally, I believe Lucky, who is a yellow lab mix, is the smartest dog in the world too. And he's certainly one of the most pampered. So when I think about what to get him for the holidays, I'd like to imagine this canine genius would prefer receiving, say the latest version of the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language or perhaps the complete works of Doctor Doolittle. Lucky, however, certainly has other things in mind.

Instead of a scholar, Lucky is more of a fetcher. As in fetcher of tennis balls. And tennis balls only. To be honest, Lucky's primary distinguishing feature is that he's tennis ball obsessed. Give him a bone, and he'll look at it with suspicion. Give him a squeeky toy and he'll walk away disappointed. Throw him a stick, and he'll look at you in disgust. Try to fool him with a rubber ball, and he'll refuse to return it. For Lucky, it's tennis balls, and tennis balls only. So while I wish my baby dog was
a little more diverse in his interests, he's easy to shop for. I'd go to the
local sporting goods store for a bag of 24 new tennis balls if I didn't already
have more than a dozen new balls stored in the garage. That's in addition to the
24 or so tennis balls scattered around the yard. The only thing Lucky likes more
than a new tennis ball is an old one. Preferably one that has been seasoned by
the elements.

So instead of shopping for Lucky at the bookstore, on Amazon.com, a shop where you can buy Gifts for the Gifted, or the sporting goods store I'll probably go to Plan B. I suspect his wish list, if he had one, would consist of ham, turkey, chicken, fish, steak and hamburger. So after I shop at the bookstore for a gift for myself, from Lucky of course, I'll be swinging by the supermarket and bringing home the bacon for the bestest dog in the world.

Follow this link to read about what other writers' pets want for Christmas!
 http://www.inlinkz.com/script.php?id=204858&nojump=1&key=IL3ptJulmVnxk
 

What to Name My Novel

Normally I have to struggle to come up with names. Some people name their cars. Mine is just “the Honda.”Some people are quick to pin a label on others. My husband could look at someone, and instantly
come up with a nickname for them that was spot on. I, on the other hand, spent weeks agonizing what to call our dog before finally giving up and keeping his old name. (Lucky came pre-named when he adopted us when he was middle aged.) So
I normally should have had trouble deciding what to call my first novel. 
Fortunately, that wasn't the case.

My novel is a fictional memoir of a 32-year-old wife and mother who grew up with two schizophrenic parents. Schizophrenia is a devastating mental illness that tends to run in families. If a person has a parent with the disease, they have about a 25 percent chance of developing it themselves. If someone has two parents with the disease, that number goes up to about 50 percent. My protagonist is well aware she's at risk, and that concern haunts her even after she passes the ages when it normally manifests itself. Despite that, she's still obsessively terrified of developing schizophrenia, and even more worried that she may have passed along the genetics for the disease to one or both of her children.

I did a tremendous amount of research on mental illness before I sat down to start writing my novel, and I was struck at how universal those fears are among children of schizophrenics. Many people in that position are afraid to risk having children. So was my protagonist. Having children, I've always thought, is taking a big leap of faith and hoping the roll of the dice comes up favorably and your child is born healthy. The roll of the dice is much more chancy for those who may carrying the chromosomes that lead to a devastating disorder. So while I was working on my novel, I gave the book the working title Playing the Genetic Lottery.

The working title seemed so appropriate to me that I don't even recall when I came up with it. So when I was finished, and preparing the book for publication, I saw no need to change it. Playing the Genetic Lottery is one of the few names that I didn't have to struggle to come up with. It just seemed to fit perfectly and convey what the book is about.