Deb Simpson's Blog, page 21
December 1, 2011
Deb's Live Love & Write Best of the Blogs 12/01/11
Deb's
Live, Love & Write Best of the Blogs Issue 12/01/11
Nominated for Pushcart Prize
From
Murfreesboro Writers Group Annmarie Lockhart announced last night that Susan Ashley Michael's poem "Flying on Fat Tuesday" has been nominated by vox poetica for the prestigious Pushcart Prize. The poem was inspired by memories of her late husband, Robert Michael, and will be included in the upcoming MWG anthology, Motivation.
From the Book Designer Blog http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2011/12/virtual-book-tours/
You've probably heard that virtual book tours are a great way to promote books, but did you know that there are several different ways to showcase authors and their books through a virtual tour?Virtual book tours can include book reviews, guest posts on blogs, interviews on podcasts or radio shows, social network events, contests, book giveaways, and more. These tours are sometimes called book blog tours or virtual author tours, or abbreviated as VBT.Tours are often done as part of the launch of a new book, but they can be successful any time after the book is published. They are just as effective for fiction and nonfiction books — only the venues and the type of content will vary.Types of Virtual Book ToursA traditional virtual book tour typically lasts about one to three weeks, with a different tour stop each day. Original content is provided to each tour host and you can continue promoting the tour stops even after the tour is over.An extended tour goes beyond the traditional tour and can last for several weeks or months. One variation is to publish a series of articles on each blog you visit. Or schedule one guest blog post or interview per week on an ongoing basis.A short "blastoff" tour of one to five days on lots of blogs at once is designed to push up the book's sales rank on Amazon within a short period of time. One option for this type of tour is to provide all of the blog owners with standard content, rather than providing unique content to each blogger. The content could be a book excerpt, an author interview, or a book review by the blog host.You can design an entire tour around social media, or mix social media appearances with other tour stops on blogs, podcasts and online radio shows. Social media tour events can include Twitter chats, organized discussions on Facebook, and video chats on Google Plus.Another strategy for a virtual book tour, especially during a book launch, is to combine a tour with an "Amazon bestseller campaign." In these campaigns, people who buy a book during a certain time frame receive bonus gifts from the author or from JV partners who contribute bonuses and help promote the event.No matter what type of virtual book tour you plan, it's important to be well organized and to get started with the planning at least two months in advance. To learn how to organize your own successful virtual book tour, check out the new Virtual Book Tour Magic
From NPR
What Sticks: Five 2011 Books That Stay With You
Moby-DuckThe True Story Of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost At Sea And Of The Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, And Fools, Including The Author, Who Went In Search Of Themby Donovan Hohn•Hardcover, 402 pagesMelville's influence has run deep this year, providing, among other things, the central motif for Moby-Duck, Donovan Hohn's quest narrative about 28,880 bath toys lost at sea in 1992. What begins as a seemingly whimsical search for rubber duckies spilled overboard in hurricane-force winds in the North Pacific becomes a primer in oceanography, a whale of an adventure tale and an eye-opening inquiry into the disturbing, growing environmental effects of plastic pollution and climate change on our oceans. Carried off on the current of his own questions, Hohn quit his private-school teaching job to become a self-proclaimed "amateur driftologist." He avidly tracks the possible paths of the floatees far beyond his comfort zone. His obsessive odyssey takes him on storm-wracked voyages to Alaska, Hawaii, a Chinese toy factory and the Arctic Circle in the company of oceanographers, beachcombers and merchant mariners. While his quest, like Ahab's pursuit of the great white whale, has its excesses and longueurs, Moby-Duck has indelibly altered the way I think about the roughly 71 percent of the Earth's surface covered by our no longer so shining seas.Go to the blog to see the other 4! http://www.npr.org/2011/12/01/142618892/what-sticks-five-2011-books-that-stay-with-you
A New Blog dedicated to the members of the Heaven's Gate Cult -=contribution, info, pictures, ideas, welcome! http://hgclass.blogspot.com/
November 27, 2011
Heaven's Gate Class Members: To Family & Friends of Heaven's Gate ---Heavens Ga...
Heaven's Gate Class Members: To Family & Friends of Heaven's Gate ---Heavens Ga...: This blog is dedicated to the Class--those departed and those still on Earth Please add comments, updates, pictures, etc about the individ...
November 26, 2011
Heaven's Gate Class Members: Willow
Heaven's Gate Class Members: Willow: WLW/ WLWODY Willow Traditional Name: unkown Homeplace: unknown Current Status: unknown [picture requested
November 25, 2011
News from Writer's Digest --2012 Yearbook
New-at Barnes and Noble- Avenue! 2012 Writers Digest Yearbook
Here is my top 5 from this great --just purchased--publication!
1) Creativity Portal is once again in the top 101 websites for writers and is now #2! Creativity Portal!
2) Some indie bookstores are now charging admission to attend author events like book signings! AARRGH
3) A Publishing industry expert is saying that within 3 years, a publisher (even an indie) will be able to reach 50% the book buyers without needing to print books and risk inventory (by using print on demand)
4) Fantasy and Sci-Fi remained strong sellers for 2011 and are projected to continue in 2012
5) This is the era of the Ebook--Amazon sold more ebooks in 2011 than printed books, with Kindle leading the pack at 75% favor and Nook close behind at 70%!
This is a Must read for all serious writers!
Here is my top 5 from this great --just purchased--publication!1) Creativity Portal is once again in the top 101 websites for writers and is now #2! Creativity Portal!
2) Some indie bookstores are now charging admission to attend author events like book signings! AARRGH
3) A Publishing industry expert is saying that within 3 years, a publisher (even an indie) will be able to reach 50% the book buyers without needing to print books and risk inventory (by using print on demand)
4) Fantasy and Sci-Fi remained strong sellers for 2011 and are projected to continue in 2012
5) This is the era of the Ebook--Amazon sold more ebooks in 2011 than printed books, with Kindle leading the pack at 75% favor and Nook close behind at 70%!
This is a Must read for all serious writers!
November 20, 2011
A great Event at Fairytale Books in Nashville!
Authors of Herman's Journey a true caterpillar to butterfly story!
Another of the local authors reading her books of children's poetry
Fairytale Books!
Deb Simpson talking to Herman's "mom" (Author)
November 17, 2011
November 16, 2011
Sales or Marketing?
Link for original story
I talk to writers every day who are thinking about publishing their own books. Some have friends who have self-published, so they know it can be done. Or they've read the blogs of writers who are doing well in the Kindle store. Or they are just tired of waiting for the agent, the editor, the publisher to get back to them.
Whatever the reason, there's one objection I hear more than any other from these writers:
"I just want to write, I'm not a salesman."
And that's too bad. I think this attitude represents a real misunderstanding on the part of authors. Here's why.
It's About Marketing, Not SalesThink about the difference between marketing and sales.
Book marketing means promoting your book to people who are likely to be interested in it. The main activity of marketing is communicating to these likely purchasers.
Sales, on the other hand, is completely different. It's the process of making transactions, the exchange of money for books, in this example.
You can't sell a book to someone who's not interested in it or who doesn't want to buy it.
Marketing your book, on the other hand, is something similar to what you are probably doing already when you talk about your book to friends, family, or other writers.
I talk to writers every day who are thinking about publishing their own books. Some have friends who have self-published, so they know it can be done. Or they've read the blogs of writers who are doing well in the Kindle store. Or they are just tired of waiting for the agent, the editor, the publisher to get back to them.
Whatever the reason, there's one objection I hear more than any other from these writers:
"I just want to write, I'm not a salesman."
And that's too bad. I think this attitude represents a real misunderstanding on the part of authors. Here's why.
It's About Marketing, Not SalesThink about the difference between marketing and sales.
Book marketing means promoting your book to people who are likely to be interested in it. The main activity of marketing is communicating to these likely purchasers.
Sales, on the other hand, is completely different. It's the process of making transactions, the exchange of money for books, in this example.
You can't sell a book to someone who's not interested in it or who doesn't want to buy it.
Marketing your book, on the other hand, is something similar to what you are probably doing already when you talk about your book to friends, family, or other writers.
November 14, 2011
Is Penn State the ONLY issue? NO! Talk to your kids!
REALITY CHECK: The U.S. Department of Justice reports that sixty-seven percent of all sexual assault victims are children. One in four girls and one in six boys will experiences some sort of sexual abuse before the age of eighteen. Ninety percent of children are victimized by someone the family knows and trusts. Forty percent of offenders who victimized children under age six were juveniles. [Data varies]
