M.B. Mulhall's Blog, page 26

Things I love: Technology

My first (and probably only) Vlog. It's informative, if not so pretty. Be kind! heh (and gah! Sorry it's so long. Who knew I was so wordy?)

Things I love: Books that make me laugh

If you read a lot of YA, you'll notice that humor seems to be greatly lacking in books today. So many are all about teen angst and drama and blah blah blah.  I'm guilty of writing it myself (because let's be honest, what teen life isn't full of angst and drama?) but I love a book that makes me laugh out loud.

Two that immediately come to mind are by author Libba Bray. Going Bovine, while definitely having its serious and sad side, it also has plenty of laughs as you go on a journey that involves a crazy angel and a dwarf/yard gnome. The other, Beauty Queens, is about a plane full of pageant girls that crash lands on a tropical island. Think Survivor meets America's Next Top Model. So.Funny.  It has all these great little footnotes and pageant rules thrown in.

If you read the blog this past Tuesday, you'll find my review for Lynn Messina's The Girls' Guide to Dating Zombies. Now you might not think of zombie stories as being funny, but that one most definitely is. I love the style of writing that has chapters of the guide worked into the bigger picture of the story. If you're a zombie fan and want a good laugh, definitely check it out! You won't be disappointed.

A couple others that had me laughing that you should look into? John Green  and David Levithan's Will Grayson, Will Grayson, which is another with a serious side, but definitely contains its humorous parts and one of my all time favorite books ever, Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  Don't just watch the movie folks. As usual, the book is *SO* much better.

Lastly I'm going to give myself a little plug (hey, it's *MY* blog! I can do that!…can't I?). As some of you know, I'm working on edits for an upcoming novel called Tears of a Clown. While I've always thought of myself as being kind of funny…in a dry wit/sarcastic kind of way, it's never really translated into my writing until recently. Editing it in public always gets me some weird looks because I can't help but laugh at my own writing. Hopefully when it comes out, you guys will find it equally amusing!

What book gives you the giggles? Do you write humor too? Share!

 

Book Review: The Girls' Guide to Dating Zombies

Title: The Girls' Guide to Dating Zombies

Author: Lynn Messina

Genre: Adult paranormal/Chick Lit

Amazon Synopsis:

Hattie Cross knows what you're thinking: Zombie sex? Ewwwww. But she also knows that since a virus turned 99.9999 percent of human males into zombies, it's statistically impossible to meet—let alone date—the remaining 0.00001 percent. So she writes "The Girls' Guide to Dating Zombies" to help her fellow single women navigate the zombie-relationship waters.

Her practical how-to impresses the CEO of the largest drug company in the world, and before she knows it, Hattie, a reporter for a downmarket tabloid that specializes in conspiracy theories, is sitting down with the woman who single-handedly invented the zombie-behavioral-modification market. Granted access to the inner sanctum of zombaceuticals, she meets an actual, living, breathing M-A-N.

Now Hattie, the consummate professional, is acting like a single girl at the end of the twentieth century: self-conscious, klutzy and unable to form a coherent sentence without babbling. Worst of all, the human male appears to have impaired her ability to think clearly. Because all of a sudden she's convinced a conspiracy is afoot at the drug company and it seems to go all the way to the top!

Personal Reaction:

What a fun book! I love how chapters of the Guide were mixed into the story itself. There are a lot of zombie books out there right now and this is a nice humorous twist on our favorite brain eating, foot dragging, reanimated humans.

Know why you should pick up this book (besides the interesting plot, the humor and the good writing)? You should pick it up for the zombie sex. Yes, I said sex. S-E-X. With zombies. Zombies who are missing limbs. Zombies who might loose a finger during fornication. Zombies on….Viagra! Come on now. Comedy gold! You know you want to read about it!

Questions:

Q) Is The Girls' Guide to Dating Zombies the first novel you've written?

Ha! The Girls' Guide is, like, the 17th novel I've written. It's the sixth I've published.

Q) Was there a lot of research involved in getting this work completed or was it off the cuff, pantser style?

Total off the cuff. Every so often I'd google zombie stuff but for the most part I just made it up as I went along.

Q) I *LOVE* that the website referred to in the book, http://zombiedating.wordpress.com/the... , is a real thing and it's chock full of info. What prompted you to make the site to go along with the book?

That was complete dumb luck. In the original MS, I referred several times to GirlsGuideToDatingZombies.com. Then, just as I was about to send the manuscript to the formatter, I changed it to the blog I'd started for the book. I had NO IDEA that it would link up electronically. When I clicked on it in the Kindle app and it went straight to the website, I was blown away. You should try clicking on the Potatoworks link. It takes you to a reading guide with tongue-in-cheek questions.

Q) Tell us the truth, was it liberating in any way to write a story where women hold all the worldly power?

Too liberating. I went off on a lot of tangent about how great things were, which I cut because, well, they were tangents.

Q) Would you be like your heroine, Hattie, and date zombies and make the best out the situation, were it to come to that?

Nope. Pretty sure I wouldn't. But then, I'm no heroine.

Q) Are you a zombie lover? Fan of other books and movies? Which ones?

I'm not a zombie lover. I don't like tense, scary or gross. (I couldn't make it past the first episode of Walking Dead.) But I love funny and absurd, like Shaun of the Dead.

(Ed. Note: LOOOOOVE Shaun of the Dead! Walking Dead too, but I can totally see the difference between the two and why you wouldn't be into the one)

Q) Big question: Which is better, the fast or the slow zombie? (Ed. Note: Meh fast zombies!)

I think anything that lumbers is terrifying.

(Ed. Note: I so agree!)

Q) Ever participated in a Zombie walk (Ed. Note: If not, let me tell you, they are chock full of fun and you should definitely give it a try if you can!)

I've never zombie-walked. Like I said, I find anything that lumbers terrifying = )

(Ed. Note: a fun way to get over your fear when you get to be one though! You ever find yourself in Jersey around Halloween, you call me. I'll zombie you up & we'll walk!)

Q) What can we expect next from you?

Wow. Where to start? My agent is still shopping around a middle-grade book about robots that I wrote a couple of years ago and she's talking to an epublisher about a novel I wrote about my never-ending movie option. (Going on year nine.) I have a plot in mind based on a Victorian novel I recently read. And then there's the possibility of a sequel to Girls' Guide. It hadn't occured to me but several people have asked about one now.

Q) Where can fans connect with you and purchase The Girls' Guide to Dating Zombies?

They can connect with me on my blog, zombiedating.wordpress.com or my website, lynnmessina.com. I'm on goodreads, twitter, facebook. They can get the book at Amazon or BN.

Q) Lastly, just for fun, if The Girls' Guide to Dating Zombies was turned into a smash Broadway musical, what would be big number be called?

That is the best question ever: Zombie-rama-roo.

Novel Publicity Blog Tour Notes:

Get The Girls' Guide to Dating Zombies on Amazon or Barnes & Noble – you know you want to!

And please vote for my blog in the traffic-breaker poll for this tour. The blogger with the most votes wins a free promotional twitterview and a special winner's badge. I want that to be me! You can vote in the poll by visiting the official Girls' Guide to Dating Zombies blog tour page and scrolling all the way to the bottom.

Be sure to enter for your chance to win an autographed copy of The Girls' Guide to Dating Zombies : ENTER HERE.

Check out this amazing book trailer!

Things I love: Series & Companion Novels

I'm the kind of girl who hates for a good story to end and nothing makes me more excited to come to the end of a book I have loved only to see there will be another in the series. So *EXCITED* I tell you!

A series is amazing because, for me, it means there's great growth with the characters. You get to learn more about them and their past and sometimes their future! There's the opportunity to expand on lesser characters or even bring in someone new to spice things up. That's not something you always have the chance to do in one book.

To have more than one book allows the author to write these great spinning tales that can be intricate with twists and turns and surprises. I also like that most of them stick to trilogies. While I don't mind more books (Hey, if it's good, it's good! I want it to go on!) I sometimes worry the authors are trying to stretch things out with pointless filler just to keep the series going.  I don't find that happens very often, but I have seen it on occasion. As much as I love the True Blood/Sookie Stackhouse books, I fear they may be headed that way. I loved the stories lines (definitely a guilty pleasure for me) but now I'm just not sure where it's going to go and still stay fresh, know what I mean? I hope I'm wrong. Another problem when a series is too long is that something could happen to the author.  When I say this, the Wheel of Time series immediately comes to mind. Robert Jordan died after writing eleven books of the series, leaving it unfinished. Thankfully it has been picked up and continued by another author, but that doesn't always happen, just look at Stieg Larsson for example. We got a trilogy out of him, but he did have more books planned. Shame we won't ever see them. These kinds of things could keep people from even picking up the first book for fear of getting involved and then never knowing what happens.

Companion novels are a love of mine as well.  A companion novel is a book that may focus on a lesser character from a previous book or they may all take place in the same town (where the town itself is a character).  Some great examples of companion novels are Anna and the French Kiss  and its companion Lola and the Boy Next Door.  While Lola focuses mainly on..well Lola, Anna and Etienne come back from the French Kiss to play a role, which I love.  My other favorite companion novels? Maggie Stiefvater's Lament and Ballad.  One book focuses on Dierdre (Dee) while the other focuses on her best friend James. I love the switch in perspective and I believe there's even a third book in the series which will kind of take it out of the companion novel category for me, but I'm so excited to have another book that that doesn't matter to me!

My present to you guys today, is a list of some of my favorite series for you to check out:

A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones): George RR Martin

The Uglies : Scott Westerfeld

The Hunger Games: Suzanne Collins

Gregor the Overlander : Suzanne Collins

Harry Potter : JK Rowlings

The October Daye Series: Seanan McGuire

The Maze Runner series: James Dashner

The Studies and the Glass series : Maria V Snyder (The two end up overlapping, which I loved!)

The Fionavar Tapestry Trilogy: Guy Gavril Kay

The Wicked Lovely Series: Melissa Marr (this series is a bit different in that the odd numbered books are the main story where as the even numbered books are companion novels!)

I could keep going and going, but hopefully some of these will catch your eye and you'll get hooked and want to read more series as well.  The perk of most of the ones I've posted above is that they are finished series so you won't have to wait for another book to come out! That always drives me crazy.  Enjoy and please feel free to share some of your favorite series or companion novels!

Things I love: YA novels!

Anyone who follows my blog knows that I write young adult novels, but they're also the majority of the books I read. Maybe you're wondering why a uhh thirty something year old woman is almost exclusively reading books "aimed" at teens. I'll tell you why.  They are good stories dammit.  Many of them discuss issues and positions I was in as a teen; first love, peer pressure, trying to find myself, etc. I can relate to so many of the things these characters go through and it reminds me of the somewhat simpler times of being young.

Also, contrary to popular belief, young adult fiction is not all fluff and dumbed down stories.  Many deal with hard hitting topics like drugs and rape and depression. They can turn readers onto other authors such as Shakespeare and Camus.  They give teens an escape from their problems and maybe someone , real or not, to look up to if that character has gone through some of the same issues they are experiencing in life.

Are some of the stories silly and fluff filled? Surely, but you can find adult  novels that do the same thing. I think hooking a young reader is the best thing an author can do. If someone told me my books got them interested in reading, I'd be over the moon.

Since we're discussing the love of YA, now would be a good time to mention I'm taking part in the I Heart YA Giveaway Hop! That means I get to give someone a free YA e-book! YAY free book!! It's better than a box of chocolate and flowers that will die.

I'm giving away an amazing YA book by my writing partner and friend Patricia Lynne. Her book, Being Human is a great twist on a vampire story. It's about family, bonds and learning what it takes to be human. I love that it spans several years, but not an insane amount of time. This vampire isn't hundreds of years old. The story is touching, entertaining and an overall good read. It gives you that paranormal fix you need but without shoving the same ole story in front of your face. I *heart* it and I'm excited to be able to offer it to you guys!

There are plenty of ways to enter, but the only one you HAVE to do, is answer the first question below.  Best of luck and be sure to click the above I Heart YA Giveaway Hop button to see who else is participating and how you can find books from them as well!

Please leave your responses and if you liked & followed in the comments below. Thanks and good luck!

1) If you could play any character (male/female, human or not) in the movie version of a YA book, who would you choose and why?

2) Like my Facebook page: MB Mulhall

3) Follow me on Twitter: @queenbeetf

4) Follow the blog

Book Review: Blue Sky Days

Title: Blue Sky Days

Author: Marie Landry

Genre: YA Contemporary

Amazon Summary:

A year after graduating from high school, nineteen-year-old Emma Ward feels lost. She has spent most of her life trying to please her frigid, miserable mother – studying hard, getting good grades, avoiding the whole teenage rebellion thing – and now she feels she has no identity beyond that. Because she spent so many years working hard and planning every moment of her life, she doesn't have any friends, has never had a boyfriend, and basically doesn't know who she is or what she really wants from life. Working two part-time jobs to save money for college hasn't helped her make decisions about her future, so she decides it's time for a change. She leaves home to live with her free-spirited, slightly eccentric Aunt Daisy in a small town that makes Emma feel like she's stepped back in time. When Emma meets Nicholas Shaw, everything changes – he's unlike anyone she's ever met before, the kind of man she didn't even know existed in the 21st century. Carefree and spirited like Daisy, Nicholas teaches Emma to appreciate life, the beauty around her, and to just let go and live. Between Daisy and Nicholas, Emma feels like she belongs somewhere for the first time in her life, and realizes that you don't always need a plan – sometimes life steers you where you're meant to be. Life is wonderful, an endless string of blue sky days, until Nicholas is diagnosed with cancer, and life changes once again for Emma in ways she never thought possible. Now it's time for her to help Nicholas the way he's helped her. Emma will have to use her new-found strength, and discover along the way if love really is enough to get you through.

Personal reaction:

Blue Sky Days was a very sweet coming of age kind of story. There's first love, first heartache (although not for reasons most people go through), deciding what to do with one's life and standing up for one's self. The romance is cute and sweet but not without struggles and hurdles to overcome.

I have to admit, this isn't the type of story that I normally go for. I tend to like my romances a little more…intense, but this was a nice change of pace and it was certainly enjoyable. I think it will appeal to a very large crowd, especially those who enjoy a good love story but don't want to blush while reading it.

Questions:

Q) Is Blue Sky Days your first novel?

My first published novel, yes. I've written several others, but none of them were worth publishing!

Q) What went into the making of the book? Did you need to do a lot of research?

There wasn't a whole lot of research involved. Riverview, the setting for the book, is a fictional place in Canada, so I had carte blanche and was able to make everything up regarding the town. When it came to Nicholas's cancer diagnosis, I had quite a bit of personal experience with leukemia because my dad had leukemia when I was little, but I did have to do a bit of research to make sure I got certain facts straight. I also did some research on construction, Nicholas's profession – my editor helped me quite a bit with that.

Q) What prompted you to keep the story so sweet when a lot of today's YA romances are more…let's say, gritty?

Part of it was that I didn't want to do what everyone else was doing. Sometimes it's refreshing to read about a young adult relationship that's not fraught with tension and angst and drama. The obstacles Emma and Nicholas faced were very different from the obstacles most other teens deal with, so I thought their relationship should be different to sort of balance it all out.

Q) What was the hardest part of Blue Sky Days to put on paper?

Most of the second half of the book was hard for me. Nicholas's diagnosis, treatment, and then the whole climax – I would sit and bawl my eyes out as I wrote it because these characters were so real to me and I loved them so much, it hurt me to put them through that kind of pain, even though I knew it had to be done. I drew so much from personal experience that it was like re-opening an old wound and pouring it all onto paper. I tried to add in some fun and humour, though, to make it a bit less painful – if not for me, then at least for the readers.

Q) What or who inspires you to write?

So many things. I'm an avid reader, and always have been, so I draw inspiration from other writers. I also draw inspiration from real life – I'm a shameless eavesdropper and will often get ideas for storylines or dialogue from eavesdropping. My family inspires me every single day in a million ways. And music inspires me – U2 is my favorite band, and I've drawn so much inspiration from their music. They've been there for me when it felt like no one else was.

Q) If you could have dinner with any author, past or present, who would spend the evening discussing your book, who would it be?

That's hard! For years, I've said I want to be Nora Roberts when I grow up because she's such a beautiful, prolific writer. I have a million questions I'd like to ask her, and I'd like to hear about her personal journey as a writer. I'd also give just about anything to meet JK Rowling and pick her brain. To be in the presence of such genius would be mind-blowing.

Q) What are some of your favorite works by other authors?

I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, and have read the books multiple times. I also love Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maude Montgomery, the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis, Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. Recently, two of my favorite books were Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson, and Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. (Ed. note: Amy & Roger & Anna & the kiss were two of my favorite reads from last year! Make sure you pick up Lola and the Boy Next Door too! Companion novel to A&tFK!)

Q) What can we expect from you next?

Right now I'm switching gears and working on an adult book. I guess it would be categorized as chick lit – there's romance in it, but it's not the main focus of the story. I had planned to write a contemporary adult romance with some minor elements of magic, set in Ireland, but this new idea came to me a few days before Blue Sky Days was released, and I just had to go with it. I do plan to go back to writing YA eventually, though.

Q) Where can fans follow and connect with you?

I'm everywhere! I have a book blog and an author blog – Ramblings of a Daydreamer, and Marie Landry, Author respectively. I'm on Twitter, GoodReads, and I have a Facebook fan page for my writing in general, and one for the book – Marie Landry, Writer, and Blue Sky Days by Marie Landry. I love connecting with people, so friend me, follow me, tweet me, chat with me, whatever!

Q) Lastly, for fun, if Blue Sky Days was being made into a major motion picture, who would you want cast to play Emma and Nicholas?

I've been waiting for this question! I originally got the idea for Nicholas from Ryan Gosling's character in The Notebook, so ideally he would play Nicholas, even though he's 31 now and Nicholas is 22. He's got the look, the style, and he's Canadian. I've also pictured Chad Michael Murray (from One Tree Hill) as Nicholas, but again, he's a little older. It took me months to figure out who would make a good Emma, and I finally realized that Nina Dobrev (from The Vampire Diaries) would be perfect. Dark hair, dark eyes, beautiful, and she's Canadian, too. I'm hoping that once people read the book, they'll start giving me ideas for who they'd cast as Emma and Nicholas – I think I'm almost too close to it, because they've always been real people to me.

On a final note:

Marie would like to thank the people who have supported her by showing her appreciation in some small way. So, for every person who buys a copy of Blue Sky Days during the tour and sends Marie proof of purchase via email to irishstar_83{at}hotmail{dot}com she will enter you into a giveaway to win a book of your choice up to $12 CAN from The Book Depository.

If you're interested in purchasing this sweet and touching romance, you can find it in the following locations:

AMAZON: here

SMASHWORDS: here

The Active E-book

While some of you are still new to the whole idea of an E-book, there are others who are taking it to a whole new level already. No rest in the technology movement forward!

Introducing the Active E-book, brought to you by Coliloquy Digital Publishing!

So now you're probably asking, what the hell is an Active E-book and why do I care about it.  Remember those Choose Your Own Adventure books old ole? Well an Active E-book is quite similar to those, although with less choices for you to make. It's an app for your Kindle and the choices you and other readers make will help drive the story later on if it's part of a series (as in the author will write the future books in the series with the choices of the readers in mind!). Because the choices are "recorded" you do have to have your wifi enabled while you read, but it's not that big a deal.

At the moment, there seems to be six available titles, with three of them aimed at the young adult market.  I think that is a good direction to go in since thanks to social networking and other apps where they can easily voice their opinion and interact with others,  they will enjoy being able to have a hand in the making of the story.

Now the the major difference between these Action E-Books and the Choose Your Own Adventure books is that the reader doesn't get to make as many choices in the story. I've only come across one or two decisions to make in what I've read.  You may be thinking "That's it? What's the point?" whereas I'm thinking "Yay the story keeps moving!" I found the old books were lacking in-depth stories and  while the choosing was fun, it felt kind of jarring. I prefer the lesser amount of choices for a more coherent story line.

You do have the option to go back an change your choice, which I love. I haven't done it yet myself so I'm not sure if when you make a different decision how much of the remaining story line changes. I'm excited to find out though!

While it isn't an exact replica of the old books, I think it's something new and fun and definitely worth looking into. I love these new ideas and that it allows readers to become more invested in a story. Hopefully that will prompt non-readers to get more excited and look forward to reading more. What could be better than that?

Things I love: Strong realistic characters

Being that this silly month is all hearts and flowers and blah blah romance, I decided many of my blog posts for February will be about things I love, related to books and writing that is.

As part of my blog tour going on this month, I was asked to write a post about my favorite books and how they inspired me (hard!) and I got to the point where I started discussing aspects I love rather than titles (so much easier) and one of the things I really love is a strong realistic character, especially when that character is female.

Now when I say strong, I don't necessarily mean physical strength (although that can be nice). I mean more mentally and emotionally. I'm not a fan of the pushover (even if I can be one  at times).  Let me clarify myself though. When I say I want a strong emotional character, that does NOT mean emotionless!  I'm down with a character who can kick some ass but still shed a tear or two if they see someone hurting a puppy. I think it's unrealistic that a character would show no emotion except maybe determination.  If you want your characters to be believable, three dimensional and realistic, then make sure they show a range of emotions. Maybe they don't want to ruin their macho, tough as nails exterior they've got to show to their companions or villains, but that doesn't mean we can't see their mask crack and crumble when they're alone or no one's looking.

I love a character with a strong send of self and an agenda in life. I love it when they say they won't become the stereotypical ditzy girl who plays games in order to catch a guy and they stick to that. Yes, yes, love can change a girl, but that doesn't mean she has to totally change herself to suit him(or her) and dump all their friends, etc.  I guess I just like it when characters stay true to themselves because that's how I am and how I like others to be.

So give me your strong realistic protagonists, people. I want to come to love them, just like you do.

Why do we do it?

I often see fellow writers griping about having to write, having to edit, having to re-read. I admit, I'm guilty of it as well. Non-writing types may see our complaining and ask "If it's so much of a pain in the ass, why do you do it?"

Why do I do it? Why suffer through, especially when it's not even my "real job"? Because, whining aside, I love it. Now those same people are scratching their heads asking me "Why do you love it? Sounds tedious. Sounds frustrating. Sounds…boring."  Can it be tedious and frustrating? Hell yes. Boring? Not so much, although I'm not sure non-writers will understand that.

Maybe you think my reason is cliche, what I'm expected to say, so let me go a little deeper.  Why do I love to write? I love the power. Yes, I said power. I live in a world where I often feel I have  no control over what happens to me. Call it fate. Call it destiny. Call it karma or bad luck. Whatever it is,  it frequently leaves me feeling helpless, beaten down.  When I write, I have control over my fictional world. I have the power to make things work out the way I want them to (providing my characters cooperate, other writers will understand what I mean). It lets me play out scenes from my own life in ways I wish they would have gone.

Writing provides an outlet. It lets me be the bitch I'm normally too polite to be in real life. It lets me be the pretty girl, the popular girl, the girl has things come more easily to her. It lets me be the hero or the villain or the spunky sidekick.  Does that mean all my characters are representations of me? No. Yes, I've been picked on and bullied and had my heartbroken more times than I'd like to remember, but my characters are most definitely not me.  There may be an aspect here and there. They may use a phrase I'm fond of in real life.  They may lust over the same kinds of things that I do, but they're definitely not me, so please don't start analyzing them trying to figure me out. It won't work.

Why else do I love writing? I love that it allows others an escape. Reading is one of my biggest passions and I love to spend a night on the couch, under a blanket, escaping into a world that is not mine.  A place where my issues and troubles take no part.  It's magical, you know? I love that I might be able to do that for someone else. While I'm kind of shy to have people read my work (insecurities, I've got 'em!) I am so happy when they come back and tell me they enjoyed it, that they're looking forward to a sequel, that they're on Team Gabe/Chaz/Judd/Jazz (I am totally having shirts made for people! Heh). It feels good to know I can help others.

Writing is a passion. It's more than a hobby. It's time consuming, heartbreaking, amusing, hard work.  Sometimes, I love it and hate it at the same time. I know some of you know what I mean by that. I might grumble and complain. I might opt not to hang out with friends and stay in on a Friday night to write. I might get bald spots from pulling my hair out in frustration, but it really is worth it in the end. To have just one person say they loved it? Kind of makes it all worth while people.

So why do you do it?

Adventures in Promoland: Twitter

The next stop on our magical little journey of self-promotion is Twitter.  I've done posts on Twitter before and most of you probably know I think it's one of the best networking and promotional tools an indie author can have. I've talked about using different clients and how to set columns up and make sure you're using hashtags, etc., but today I'm going to discuss a bit about the do and do nots of self-promoting on Twitter.

Firstly, there's the follow/following. Obviously you want a large following so you can reach a lot of different people. That doesn't mean you should blindly just follow everyone back. I found the way to get the most out of Twitter is to follow people whom you find interesting or could be a help to you and your career.  Besides, do you want to promote your book to bots and Drunk Hulk? – I don't know that he'd be interested in our writing- Break up the people you follow into lists and then make the important groups columns in the client you use. If everyone is lumped together, you're going to miss out on tweets and conversations that may be relevant to you.

The amount of people who follow you should help determine how often you can get away with promoting your work. If you've only got 50 followers, it's very likely those people are going to see your tweets often and get annoyed at seeing the same thing over and over. If there's one sure way to get me to unfollow or boot you to a list of mine that I don't monitor, it's the constant spam-like promoting of your book. There's no exact equation on how many tweets you can send in a certain amount of time, but use some common sense people. Better yet, use your client's scheduling option to set up your tweets for throughout the day. That way you will know exactly how many times a day you're going to promote and when. It's also handy to have tweets set up for overnight. You will hit a whole new group of people from around the world and you won't have to deprive yourself of sleep at the same time.

Another no-no? The direct message thanking for the follow while pimping your book at the same time. Drives.Me.Crazy. I know I'm not alone too. Many of my other  friends have complained to me about that. I am more likely to buy a book from someone on Twitter if I get to know the person first. If you're shoving your book at me in the first second, I'm not going to be interacting much with you and probably won't look into your book. Just being honest folks.

When promoting your book, don't be scared to change up the wording of your tweet. Add parts of reviews, a piece of your query, a pitch, a hook, whatever might catch people's attention. Changing it up could catch the eye of someone who previously ignored another tweet. Besides, if you're tweeting the same thing over and over, people will get bored and annoyed and perhaps unfollow you. Who wants that?

Also, don't forget the hashtags people! There are plenty of publishing and book related hashtags that you can use to help your promotional tweets reach an audience beyond your followers. There's #ebook, #indiepub, #indieauthor, etc. I haven't had a chance to research and try them out yet, but I am sure there are tags out there specific for Nook and Amazon Kindle users that I think will be very helpful. Here's a good article that lists a bunch of tags you can use: click here

Finally folks, remember, there is more to promote than just your book. Promote your website, your author webpage (Facebook or otherwise) and yourself. Talk to others, ask questions, comment on things.  Personally, I am more likely to buy someone's book if I've talked to them some. Maybe I like their sense of humor or their  personality. Maybe something they said resonated and interested me. Those are the things that prompt me to check out someone's work. If I like what they have to say, I will probably like their writing as well. Be sure to re-tweet things you like and help promote other authors too. They may be kind and return the favor.

Using Twitter can really help build your fan base and sell books. Just be smart about how you use it and don't abuse your followers with spam. Take advantage of the hashtags and help promote your fellow indies. I don't think you'll come to regret it.