M.J. Kane's Blog, page 17

This Writer’s Life V-Log: January 4, 2015

It’s 2015 and I’m trying something new! Instead of written blogs, I’m going to V-log! Tell me what you think! Happy New Year!

 

 

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  5 Prince Publishing

Add some Southern Romantic Suspense in your life for .99 cents!

Bestseller, Land of the Noonday Sun, is on sale for .99 cents November 27th to December 2nd! 

 

About the Novel…

When two strangers have nothing left but their dreams, they forge a relationship in Nantahala, North Carolina, a small town know as Land of the Noonday Sun.

Cassandra is the beautiful, yet analytical daughter of a wealthy attorney. Destined to follow in her fathers footsteps, her life of privilege suddenly shatters, and she finds herself with no home, career, or money. A glimmer of hope arrives in a letter from the grave, promising a happier existence. Cassandra stands to inherit over half a million dollars if she can live in the sleepy little town of Nantahala for six months. Falling in love, however, was not part of the deal, and without warning, she finds herself fighting for two lives.

A man with a traumatic past is able to turn his life around and is happy with his chosen career as a whitewater guide. Everything changes, though, when fate hurls a woman into his path. His carefree life is in turmoil, and his former weaknesses threaten to overtake him. Will he be strong enough when tragedy strikes and is once again in danger of losing everything he loves?

 

Amazon

Check out the rest of the Southern Suspense Novels!

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Thank you for stopping by! I love to make new friends. Got questions or comments? Leave a comment, or connect with me online!  If you’ve enjoyed this post, sign up for the monthly newsletter and follow this blog!

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BLACK FRIDAY-CYBER MONDAY .99 CENT SALE!!!!!!!

Have you read the first novel of The Butterfly Memoir Series, A Heart Not Easily Broken? If not, this sale is for you! Have you told your book club or best friend about it but they are dragging their feet to get a copy? Gift them one for the holidays!

Take advantage of the great eBook price of .99 cents!!! (Limited time only!!)

If eBooks aren’t your thing, grab a copy in paperback!

Don’t have time to sit down and read? Immerse yourself in this audio experience for FREE!!! (Visit the Audible website for details!) 

Check out this 5 minute audio clip! 

http://mjkanemedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/AHNEB-5-min-audio-clip.mp3

About the Novel:

Ebony is a smart, sexy, career-oriented black woman who wants nothing more than a summer fling with a man who challenges her mind and body. What she doesn’t expect is a blond haired, blue-eyed bass player—who won’t take “no” for an answer—to accept the challenge.

When Ebony’s attempt at a brief fling turns into more, despite negative reactions from friends and family, she finds juggling love, family, and career are nothing compared to the ultimate betrayal she endures. Now her dreams spiral into lies and secrets that threaten her future and her best friend’s trust.

Click for more information on The Butterfly Memoirs Series!

Available at the following retailers!

AMAZON     AUDIBLE     BARNES & NOBLE     iTUNES

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Thank you for stopping by! I love to make new friends. Got questions or comments? Leave a comment, or connect with me online!  If you’ve enjoyed this post, sign up for the monthly newsletter and follow this blog!

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Join me for Girls Night Out!

 

 

Looking for a few hours to get away and rejuvenate? Want to make some new friends? Would you like to meet me?

Join me and other positive women at the Girls Night Out Spa and Networking event! It’s FREE!!!! There will be makeovers, massages, raffles, gift certificates and more! I’ll be doing some autographed book giveaways as well. I look forward to seeing you there!

*Sponsored by The Sisterhood Projects*

When: November 8, 2014 from 4-7 PM

Where: 5351 Rock Springs Road, Lithonia, Georgia 30o38

Call: 404-368-1753 for more information! 

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Thank you for stopping by! I love to make new friends. Got questions or comments? Leave a comment, or connect with me online!  If you’ve enjoyed this post, sign up for the monthly newsletter and follow this blog!

MJ

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  5 Prince Publishing

Storytellers….REVISITED!

The Wordsmith Writers of Clayton County were happy to have COS Records Recording artist, Swavatar Jack join us on Sunday at Barnes & Noble! It was refreshing to hear a voice regarding a different style of writing…music!

Swavatar Jack started rapping at the age of 15, and more seriously for the past 10 years. What was once poetry in an attempt to woe a girl he liked, turned to lyrics as he developed a style of rapping from artists he admired. I have had the privilege of watching him grow as a lyricist and artist for the past six years as he’s worked with my husband’s production company, 3D Sounds.

What has always impressed me is Swavatar Jack’s ability to hear a melody and write meaningful lyrics in a matter of, what seemed to me to be, minutes. Be it music about partying and living life to it’s fullest, or songs that deal with the trials of life, love and relationships, his inspiration comes from, “My past. My experiences help me put a voice to my music.”

Isn’t that what authors do? We use our past as inspiration for our characters personalities and their stories. And of course we embellish from time to time, because sometimes fiction is wayyyyyy better than the reality!

When asked how he finds inspiration outside of personal experiences, he said paying attention to what goes on in the world. Politics, the news, and what’s happening in the community are all sources of inspiration for song writing. One of the most powerful references he made was to a song he recently published that focuses on a hot topic: the all too many instances of youth being slain by police. His song, Police Brutality address the topic and pays homage to those who have fallen victim under questionable circumstances.

Next we talked about the challenges. Authors have the use of thousands of words and hundreds of pages in order to develop a story that readers will connect with. It can take weeks or it can take years. Song writers, regardless of their genre, have significantly less words and only a certain amount of bars to tell a story in less than six minutes. Talk about challenging! It takes imagination, creativity, a dictionary, and a thesaurus to get the trick done. Swavatar Jack says it also helps to have a good grasp of the English language. English was his favorite subject in school. Listen to his lyrics and you can tell, he’s got a way of making a few words say so much!

Writers group members jumped at the opportunity to ask questions and were surprised to discover how much writing music and writing novels had in common!

Regardless of word count, novel writing and song writing have one thing in common: the amount of time it takes to hook a reader or listener is key! For authors, we have to hook a reader (or agent) with the first 10 pages. If we fail, months of heard work go down the drain. Song writers have 30 SECONDS to hook a listener. And yes, song writers have to edit their work, too.  But as he pointed out, the strongest selling point of a song is not the lyrics, it’s the chorus. (Sounds like our 10 pages, right?) If the chorus sucks, listeners will quickly turn the station. Think about that the next time you hear a song for the first time on the radio!

Did you know song writers have to edit, too? While they don’t pay hundreds of dollars to an editor as we do, they have to trust their ears to know if what they have written makes sense and flows correctly. It also helps to collaborate with other artist who will point out if something needs to be worked on. Sounds a lot like a beta reader, right? Often times a track is recorded, played back, changes made to the lyrics, and rerecorded several times before a song is finished. And again, while we have months to do this, song writers have to do it in a matter of hours or days in order to complete an album by deadline.

In parting, Swavatar Jack gave some very timely advise that is good for any writer, regardless of what genre or medium you write in, “Stand out. Be different. Don’t be afraid to cross the line in order for your voice to be heard.”

Sound advice from an Indie Artist to Indie Authors!

To learn more about Swavatar Jack and his music, visit his website and download his mixtape. Be sure to follow him on Facebook and Twitter, and YouTube, too!

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Thank you for stopping by! I love to make new friends. Got questions or comments? Leave a comment, or connect with me online!  If you’ve enjoyed this post, sign up for the monthly newsletter and follow this blog!

MJ

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M.J. Kane…Featured Author at the 2014 B.R.A.B. Reader and Author Retreat!

October 10-12, 2014 was history in the making for M.J. Kane and M.J. Kane Media.

Building Relationships Around Books is an online book club found on Facebook. After winning the B.R.A.B. Breakout Author Award for 2013, I was invited to participate in the 2014 Reader and Author Retreat held in my hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. It was the first time I’ve had the pleasure of meeting so many of my readers in person, some of whom I’ve talked to online. Needless to say, it was a very satisfying and humbling experience!

I also had the privilege of meeting some vets in the publishing world. I joked about being the baby of the group since I had the fewest published novels, but nonetheless, readers felt as though I deserved to be there.

Here are some of the highlights and pictures!

The event started on Friday night with a Meet & Greet Character Themed baby shower. Donations were given to be donated to a local women’s shelter. Dinner was served, and then baby shower games were played, then everyone was free to mix and mingle. The highlight of the evening for me was when the authors were introduced to everyone, (we were sitting at tables among the readers). When my name was called and I raised my hand, the table behind me turned around and said, “M.J., we were looking for you!!”

Meeting the Fans…a memory I’ll never forget!

Saturday morning started with a brunch, followed by a Q&A panel session with the authors. Readers were able to come up to the microphone and ask any and every question they had on their mind regarding the books we’ve written, characters, who gets to choose the book covers, and how to get published. Then there was a chance to do one-on-one greetings, book sales, and book swag giveaway. My readers were surprised when instead of having books to sale, I gifted them a free copy of the recently released audio book version of A Heart Not Easily Broken.

Press conference anyone? Readers came prepared with questions…and we were ready with the answers!

Saturday evening ended with a Semi-formal dinner and dance. Once again, we were able to chat with fans and other authors while being entertained by live performances and music. Announcements were made regarding this year’s B.R.A.B Award Nominations.

Featured Authors: Keith Thomas Walker, Maureen Smith, Deborah Mello, Sienna Mynx, Angie Daniels, Iris Bolling, Keith Kareem Willams, AlTonya Washington, Delaney Diamond, M.J. Kane

 

These ladies were a joy to hang out with over the weekend! Authors Delaney Diamond, Sharon C. Cooper, Synitha Williams, and Deborah Mello.

This event was the highlight of my second year as a published author. Not only did I have a chance to connect with my readers face-to-face and answer questions about the characters of The Butterfly Memoirs series and whose story is coming next, I had a chance to connect with local book clubs who are excited about making my series a part of their reading list! I look forward to connecting with them in the future.

I’d like to thank each and every reader who participated in the B.R.A.B. Reader and Author Retreat. Without you guys, Indi Authors wouldn’t have the support we need in order to push our careers forward.

To the Ladies of the B.R.A.B., thank you for reaching out to me and asking me to participate in this event.

Now, what’s next for M.J. Kane? Stay tuned to find out!

 

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Thank you for stopping by! I love to make new friends. Got questions or comments? Leave a comment, or connect with me online!  If you’ve enjoyed this post, sign up for the monthly newsletter and follow this blog!

MJ

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Storytellers…

When you think of a story, what comes to mind first? Books, right? What about a good movie, a well-written television series?

Have you ever wondered what it takes to write lyrics to a song?

Songs are stories put to music. Yet, unlike short stories or novels that give authors thousands of words and hundreds of pages to tell their tales, songwriters us rhyme, rhythm, and music to do the same in minutes. Have you ever wondered how they do it?

Join me and the Wordsmith Writers of Clayton County on October 26th, as we welcome lyricist and songwriter, Swavatar Jack, as he shares his song writing talents and how he incorporates his life stories into music. Swavatar Jack is signed to Cos Records and recently released his first mixtape, Jack the Ripper. Check him out and meet with us. I’ll see you there!

When: October 26th, 2-4 PM

Where: Barnes & Noble – Southlake 

1939 Mount Zion Road
Morrow, Ga. 30260
PH: 770-471-2227

 

Download Mixtape | Free Mixtapes Powered by DatPiff.com

 

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Thank you for stopping by! I love to make new friends. Got questions or comments? Leave a comment, or connect with me online!  If you’ve enjoyed this post, sign up for the monthly newsletter and follow this blog!

MJ

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So you’ve published a book, are you ready for what comes next?

Marketing, promotions, getting readers to like your work and write a breath taking 5-Star review on every sales platform where your book is sold….

Simple, right?

In theory, but NOT in practice!

Welcome to the world of being a published author! It’s rough, it’s tough, it’s blood (not literally!), sweat, and tears. It takes hours of hard work to secure just one sale. It takes hours of work, funding from your pocket (even if your signed to a publisher), and time to get your face, name, and book before the masses.

**FACT: While it’s great to be able to say, ‘I’ve sold my first book!’, your road to successful sales doesn’t actually start until you’ve sold book number 101.**

Sales of a new product are like the ripples of a rock thrown into a pond. They start out small and spread out over time.

Think about it: no matter what you’re selling- Mary Kay, Avon, or yep, even books- your first sales are usually from friends and family. Eventually you get out of that close nit circle and sell to their friends and extended family. From there, the ripple effect goes further by way of word of mouth sales.  By the time you reach your 102nd sale, your reaching readers who are not your direct network of friends. Now you’re reaching the tip of the iceberg when it comes to finding new readers to convert to fans.

The first place most authors go to sale there work is on Facebook. By now you should have an author page created that is under your pen name and not your private page. If not, do it now! As an author, you should separate you friends and family from your professional life. The last thing you want is a potential fan or reader to visit your FB page and read everybody’s business except what has to do with your work. Nope, not cool, not professional, and not selling yourself as an author.

Notice, the operative word in that statement is SELL YOURSELF.

No matter how many books you write, every reader is not going to like your work. Those who do may not feel every story you write is their favorite. Think about your favorite authors. Chances are you have read everything that has their name on it. No matter how outstanding their writing is, or how great the story, there’s at least one book that didn’t quite do it for you. It could have been a character that worked your nerves, or a plot that didn’t grab you. Did that change the way you felt about the author? Probably not. At some point you’ve taken the time to follow the authors career, read interview after interview, watched YouTube videos, or made it to a book signing and met them in person. You grew to like the author and dedicated hours of your life to reading every book they have, even if it’s not one of your favorites. Why? Because they sold you on themselves, not their work.

In this new age of publishing, how do you sell yourself?

Get from behind the computer and away from constant Facebook promotions. Everyone is doing it, and to be honest, after a while, your posts become the annoying commercial you see on TV twenty times a day…you ignore it. Try some of these promotional techniques:

Twitter: Twitter is a billboard the runs 24/7. You don’t have to spend hours a day working it. Instead, invest in programs such as Hootsuite and BufferApp. For a small monthly fee (typically $9.99) you can create an account that will automatically shoot posts into the cyber community at whatever time you want them to go to whatever social networking site you chose. Earn sales while you sleep!

Pinterest: Everybody’s pinning…are you? Create an account with your author name and use it to share things about your book, be it pictures of locations, your ideal character look-a-like, and more. Let readers connect with you outside of your novel.

Instagram: This is a great place to find and connect with readers while sharing a bit of yourself. Be careful about adding images of your kids and family members in order to keep that part of your life separate from your author persona.

Blogging: Yep, a lot of people try to avoid this part of working your author platform, but I promise you, it’s needed. Your blog is all about you. Share your books, current WIP progress, and other things that interest you. Run contests, giveaways, and create dialogue that draws readers to you, and again, allows you to sell yourself.

Once you get these steps down, the next step will be searching out paid promotions. As scary as it sounds, there are some out there that range from FREE to EXPENSIVE. Do what works best for your wallet. Try these techniques:

Do you have a network of authors who blog and have a following? Are they already published and seeing success in their work? Ask to do a guest post on their website. Talk about your work or a topic that is book related. Introduce your stories to their readers. Remember, readers READ!!! Your book is not going to be the only thing they read all year. Voracious readers are like honey bees; they float from book to book, telling their friends about the best ones they’ve read. Once an author has plugged you into their network, reciprocate the favor do the same for them. Ask them to guest post on your blog (see, having a blog comes in handy! You don’t always have to be the only one to come up with content!). Introduce them to your readers and have their readers find you when following their favorite author. Pollinate those flowers!
Check out websites such as BookPinning, and if you write romance, The Romance Reviews. These sites allow you to promote your work for free by uploading your book cover and sales links at no charge, and sharing them with their followers. TRR allows you to create a free account and connect all of your published work in your author profile. If you blog and add their banner to your site, you earn free promo points every month that allows you to create a bigger sales listing on their site, for FREE! (Blogging pays off!!!)
If you have a few bucks to spend, try Ereader News Today. If you meet the qualifications, you can request a promotion that goes out to THOUSANDS of readers with no money being paid up front. You only pay based on documented sales that come from their link, AFTER the promo campaign has been completed. Visit the site to learn the details.
If you’ve got the big bucks, BookBub is the way to go. The big publishers use it all the time, and every author I know who has used it has only had great things to say.

 

As you see, success in the publishing game takes work. You have to search out and find what works best for you. Don’t be afraid to try something new. And remember, to see success, you have to put in the WORK! Good luck!

 

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Thank you for stopping by! I love to make new friends. Got questions or comments? Leave a comment, or connect with me online!  If you’ve enjoyed this post, sign up for the monthly newsletter and follow this blog!

MJ

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  5 Prince Publishing

M.J. Kane Media Presents: A Heart Not Easily Broken is now on AUDIBLE!!!

Reality Romance comes to life! Get immersed in the story and swept up in the reality of this 5-Star Amazon Bestselling novel!

Since the publication of A Heart Not Easily Broken (Book 1 of The Butterfly Memoirs), readers have asked when the audio book would be available. I am happy to announce that it’s FINALLY HERE!!!! And like my stories, this is NOT your typical audio book!

 

Click these links to hear the audio sample and BUY your copy today!

Click here for Audible!

(Not an Audible subscriber? Sign up for Audible, make A Heart Not Easily Broken you FIRST purchase, and it will be FREE!!!)

Click here for Amazon!

Click here for iTunes! 

Ebony is a smart, sexy, career-oriented black woman who wants nothing more than a summer fling with a man who challenges her mind and body. What she doesn’t expect is a blond haired, blue-eyed bass player—who won’t take “no” for an answer—to accept the challenge. 

When Ebony’s attempt at a brief fling turns into more, despite negative reactions from friends and family, she finds juggling love, family, and career are nothing compared to the ultimate betrayal she endures. Now her dreams spiral into lies and secrets that threaten her future and her best friend’s trust.

 

What to learn more about the story? Click here for Character Diary Posts, Bio’s, Chapter One, A Deleted Scene, and a FREE Short Story! 

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Thank you for stopping by! I love to make new friends. Got questions or comments? Leave a comment, or connect with me online!  If you’ve enjoyed this post, sign up for the monthly newsletter and follow this blog!

MJ

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  5 Prince Publishing

Back-to-School with the Georgia Cyber Academy! August 11 – September 5, 2014

Hi everyone! I know, I know, it’s been a while. My last post was shortly after my youngest kids completed the CRCT. I was supposed to do a follow up, but life stepped in and I got so busy that I decided to wait until the start of the school year to catch everything up. I hope everyone had a good summer!

So, the 2014-2015 school year has started, what’s new in my home school world? A lot!

For starters, my two home school ‘experiment’ kids, (lol), finished off the year doing a lot better than I expected! One finished with All A’s and one B (6th) and the other had B’s and C’s. (7th). He learned a lot about the difference in home school and brick-and-mortar schools, namely the fact that you can’t be lazy and think it’s going to be okay. After some tears, discussions, and encouragement, he’s determined to get a much better start this year (this will be the first full year in the GCA; we started January 2014), he knows that if he puts his best foot forward in the beginning, then he’ll have a better chance of being successful at the end. Fingers crossed!!!

The first week consisted of taking Math and Reading Scantrons to see where they are with their grades. Next came the start of OLS class work and pretests in each subject to again, access the students on what they do and don’t know. Live classes didn’t start until last week, after Labor Day. So of course it’s time to really dig in and get the wake up/work routine down. I’m sure we’re going to have a week or two of frustration before the dust settles.

A new element to our home school world is my oldest daughter’s decision to complete her final year as a senior in the GCA program and not return to Mount Zion High School where she was an Art Major in the Magnet program. This was a really bold move for her. Here’s why:

1) She started the Magnet program in the 9th grade, went through two rounds of auditions to get in (she failed the first time).

2) It was a great experience, and she’s learned a lot about photography, digital art, drawing, and painting.

3) With this being her senior, her portfolio must continue to grow to a certain level in order to qualify for an art scholarship. She’s almost there.

Like I said…the decision was a bold move. Here’s why we feel confident about it:

Working from home will allow time for her to work at her own pace without distraction from other students in school. There are no teachers lumping her in a category of disruptive students when she asks a question. There are teachers qualified to do the job and not ones who do more time fussing than teaching.
No more bomb threats, random drug dog searches/pat downs, or school lock downs, or her coming home telling me police were at school because somebody was suspected of having a gun.
No more sitting for hours in a classroom doing nothing because she finished her work early, but the school schedule says she has to stay in Social Studies for an hour and a half. She can take this time and direct it back to continuing to grow her art portfolio, or find a job. (By the way, she’s completed several small art projects during the summer and is starting her own business)

Oh and the distraction of boys that are up to no good…did I mention there’s less issues with that, too? LOL, okay, more of a parenting thing than anything to do with her education! 

Additional benefits we’re enjoying this year with the GCA include:

My daughter, 7th grade: This week my youngest daughter, who is in the 7th grade, got invited to join The National Junior Beta Club! So you know what we’re about to do! We are so proud!

My son, 8th grade: He did a month of online Math tutoring to help him with some issues he had last year. He’s also signed up for math tutoring four days a week through the GCA in addition to his math class.

My daughter, 12th grade: Upon acceptance into the program, she was given a brand new HP laptop and printer to work with. Now each of my kids has their own computer to work at their own pace. She’s on point with her classes for the most part. She has credits to make up for a failed semester of Spanish II (the teacher she had really sucked. So did mine when I was in high school!) and a semester of Biology. She’s taking a semester of credit recovery classes for the first semester. Upon completion, she will be on track for graduation. She’s also taking an ACT/SAT prep class to prepare her for taking the SAT in December. Did you know they offer a FREE TESTING WAIVER? If you qualify, you can get up to two! We are filling out that paperwork! Oh and check this out, she’s taking a Culinary Class! It’s the first time it’s been offered through the GCA. Can’t wait to see how this goes. I’m sure there will be plenty of blog info to share in the months to come!

Stay tuned!

 

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Thank you for stopping by! I love to make new friends. Got questions or comments? Leave a comment, or connect with me online!  If you’ve enjoyed this post, sign up for the monthly newsletter and follow this blog!

MJ

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  5 Prince Publishing