Doris-Maria Heilmann's Blog, page 81

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Published on July 05, 2013 19:54

Got an Unfair Book Review after Your FREE KDP Days?

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Then you are not alone. I heard this from many authors, and don’t even want to call them reviews – as these people totally ignore the rules how to write a book review – rather bashing authors and their work. Some people are hoarding free books, without checking them before, they don’t even read the “Look Inside” part on Amazon’s page and then, when it is not the right genre or a book in a series, or when it is too long or too short, they write harsh complaints, instead of writing a fair and professional review.

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Just one example:

A great novel with 91 customer reviews, almost all in the 5-star range, received these negative “reviews”, after having the book up for two days on Amazon’s KDP Select.

1-Star Review

“I really can’t complain about this since it was a free book, but it…

By the end of the book, I didn’t like any of the characters….”

3-Star Review

“This was a “borrowed” book that I was able to get for being an Amazon Prime member. In a nutshell, this book entertained me for a few days, but I would not recommend it to a friend.”

90% of this books negative reviewers had not bought the book, one reviewer borrowed it through Prime Membership, the rest got it for free at Amazon’s KDP days, obviously without even reading the books description, nor the title headline (where the series was mentioned). These reviewers just took their frustration out via an Amazon “review”, bashing the free book they had received on their Kindle.

Another example:

A #1 bestseller book in its category, with almost 5,000 !!! reviews. From the 281 “reviewers”, who gave 1-Star, only three of them had actually bought the book! It really seems to be a pattern that people, who download the book for free are very often writing negative reviews.

5 star: (2,802)

4 star: (1,023)

3 star: (554)

2 star: (278)

1 star: (281)

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Let your readers and friends decide if these negative reviews are helpful

Rating the existing book #reviews as “helpful” or “unhelpful” makes a significant impact! Voting for the most helpful reviews, your friends have the power to move them to the head of the line…

Amazon has this rarely used function: “Help other customers find the most helpful reviews” and “Was this review helpful to you? Yes / No”

There is also another way to boost your book, in order to get more readers and reviews, which we explained in a former blog: ”HIGHLIGHTS” in your book: A great tool in Amazon’s algorithm list for book popularity.

Laura Miller is a senior writer for Salon wrote: ”Unless such a review is a spiteful slap-down written to gratify the un-examined resentments of the worst sort of reader, how welcome (let alone “useful”) can it really be?” And think about it: “…it seems the more success you have, the harder some people are on you…”

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Funny, negative reviews

Bestseller author Rayne Hall just blogged about negative, but funny reviews she received, some are really hilarious. Have a look at her article, sampling some of the stupidities for her highly popular novel Storm Dancer (dark epic fantasy novel):

“This book is too long. I had to spend many hours reading it. I’m busy and have other things to do.”

“The character of Queen Matilda is not believable”. There’s no Queen Matilda in the book.

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/ Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 785 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Tagged: customer book reviews, free books, hoarding free books from Amazon, KDP Select, Laura Miller, Unfair Book Review, was this review helpful?

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Published on July 04, 2013 20:37

Happy Independence Day America!

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To all Readers, Writers, Publishers, Editors … just to everyone who loves books: enjoy a wonderful July 4th! Embrace reading, writing, American literature – and the outdoors. Here some tips to do just that:

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100 Best American Authors

Goodreads made a list of American authors who write about the American experience. From F.Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Mark Twain to Margaret Mitchell, Jack Kerouac and John Irving – their most famous books are described in this great list of the 100 best American Authors. Wikipedia compiled a huge alphabetical list of American novelists.

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Writer’s Calendar

The AWP Writer’s Calendar contains a list of upcoming events for writers; deadlines for grants, awards, and calls for submission; and deadlines for AWP contests and programs.

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Writers Residency in the USA

Writers and artists residency are often listed together. Some are fully funded without fees; some are partially funded with fees; some offer stipends/awards; still others are project/work based. The Resartis Organization offers an immense database, sorted by countries and even by upcoming application deadlines. Plan your next retreat.

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Some Outdoor Fun for July 4th

What better place to celebrate the nation’s birthday than at one of its National Parks? That’s what the National Park Foundation, with more than 400 national parks, would like to remind people around the nation. To offer some guidance, it has released a list of free events at national parks where people can celebrate Independence Day. Try these:

FLORIDA, Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, St. Augustine
PENNSYLVANIA, Gettysburg National Military Park
WASHINGTON State, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
WASHINGTON, D.C, The National Mall and Memorial Parks
WYOMING, Fort Laramie National Historic Site

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Made in USA

To celebrate U.S. Independence Day — the Fourth of July — ABC News curated a list of products made in the United States that are on sale this holiday weekend.

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Holiday Websites USA

The British Daily Mail compiled a list of “The Best Holiday Websites USA”.

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Happy Birth America! Have Fun on July 4th!

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/ Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 790 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Tagged: 100 Best Writers in America, America, American Novelists, Independence Day, July 4th, Made in USA, National Holiday USA, Writers Residency in USA

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Published on July 03, 2013 19:43

Twitter Psychology: Why Would You UNFOLLOW Me?

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Courtesy of: WhiteFireSEO, a Utah SEO Company an SEO company located in northern Utah, offering Search Engine Optimization consulting and social media management for business across the globe.

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Why would you follow me on Twitter?

39% of users polled said they’d rather follow a personal account that shares on all of their interests

61% said they’d rather follow a focused account that shares on a handful of topics

80% of those with over 500 followers said that they’d rather follow a focused account

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Unsurprisingly, interesting content is the best way to get someone to re-tweet you, along with humor, while an offered incentive or adding “Please RT!” to the end of a tweet are rather ineffective. Tweeps don’t care if you give them things or ask them to help; they will re-tweet you if they like your stuff or think you’re funny.

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So, why would you un-follow me? Read the whole article on WhiteFireSEO Website

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/ Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 785 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Tagged: re-tweet, Tweeps, Twitter, Twitter psychology, unfollow, WhiteFireSEO

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Published on July 02, 2013 19:58

What You CANNOT Do on Facebook

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Has your Facebook account ever been suspended? Well mine is – since February, after only being there for five months: I was offered by Facebook a whole bunch of people to choose friends from. Oh, nice, I thought, and selected everyone who looked friendly. Only days later I received an email, that my account is suspended for a month as FB’s rules were broken: you can only choose friends you know personally. But hey, why on earth did they contact me in the first place, and offered me to choose “friends” ???

Since then, every time I log in, they prompt me to identify people from a photo album, which often consists of cats, vacation scenes, jewelry and yes, also people at parties or riding on a bike. “Sorry Facebook, but I have no clue who’s cat that is, and I am not able to remember everyone’s name. Actually I am very bad with names.” As I am totally happy at Google+ (which is also much easier to use) and Twitter and Goodreads, I don’t need Facebook really, never liked it, did not spend much time there – and now I finally gave up this silly photo-game… So sorry guys, but when YOU invited me to be your friend on Facebook, I don’t even get your invitation. And please don’t ask me anymore to “like” you on Facebook.

Now I learned that Facebook suspends and punishes even big corporations for minor flaws. Read a great blog by marketing guru Anna Gervai:

Did you hear about Velvet Burger? They are one of the most recent companies to have their Facebook page deleted for breaking the rules. They waved ‘bye bye’ to almost 10,000 fans in the process. You may have also heard that Hell Pizza went the same way – losing their page and 20,000 fans along with it. Hell managed to get their page back through someone-who-knew-someone who worked at Facebook, but sadly – in most cases – if this happens to you, you’ll be starting from scratch.

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When you created your Facebook page for your business you ticked a box saying you have read and agree to the terms and conditions. I know, I know, of course you didn’t actually read them (and I don’t blame you, there are pages and pages to read) but ignorance is definitely not bliss. As Facebook says “We reserve the right to reject or remove Pages for any reason.” And they’re not kidding. Don’t think you’ll get a warning either! Poof! One day it could just be gone.

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The bad news is claiming you didn’t know you were breaking the rules won’t cause Facebook to reverse your page deletion decision. The good news? With a little learning you can prevent the next victim being your page.

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There are Facebook rules that page admins break on a daily basis, so included in the list of what you CANNOT do that follows below are no doubt many you’ve been guilty of. Even if you’ve been playing by the rules, you might read them and think “But everyone does that! Why can’t I?”. To paraphrase mothers around the world “If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?”. Kidding aside, it really isn’t worth flouting the rules.

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So here’s my list of the most commonly broken Facebook rules you simply cannot do with your page. Pay attention, so your page is not the next in line for the chopping block!

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Promotion Rules

Here’s where you’re going to feel guilty as these are broken all the time. It’s these rules that caused Velvet Burger to lose their page (and their 9,500+ fans along with it).

You CANNOT…

Run any sort of promotion, competition, sweepstakes etc on your Facebook page using Facebook’s features and functionality – ie: make sure you use an app or ‘custom page’ and not ‘like this update’ / ‘share this photo’ / ‘upload your photo to our page’ / ‘add a comment’ (and so on) to enter (a more complete list follows below).
Hold Facebook responsible: So you must include a disclaimer that releases Facebook of any responsibility – eg: You’ve got to mention something along the lines of “This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook”. This is best put on the page/s of your app and in your terms and conditions on your website. Following on from above, you must also disclose who the entrant is giving their information to. The usual wording is “Participants are providing information to [your company name and the name of any other companies who see entrants information] and not to Facebook.”
Use any Facebook features or functionality as part of the promotion or participation other than liking your page, checking in or connecting to your app.
Use Facebook features or functionality as a promotion’s registration or entry mechanism – ie: the act of liking your page or checking in cannot automatically register or enter the person in your promotion. Basically a condition of entry can be to like your page but the fan must then complete their entry on your Facebook app or custom page.
Use the Like button as a way of voting (eg: most likes wins is not okay). Any other Facebook feature or functionality cannot be used for voting either (eg: The person who invites the most new fans wins …)
Notify winners through Facebook – ie: don’t use Facebook message, chat or posting on the winner’s page, your page or another company’s page to notify winners.
These rules apply when promoting your promotion as well! So when you advertise (eg: Facebook ads) or reference a promotion (eg: in a Wall post) you need to follow the rules..

Wall Promotions: These types of promotions are therefore NOT OK (often called Wall Promotions) because you’re using Facebook features and functionality to run the PROMOTION. Don’t do this:

Share this [update / photo / video etc] to be in to win…
Upload a photo / video …
Every 25th new fan wins…
Add a comment …
Invite your friends to like our page …
Answer this question …
Photo with the most likes wins …

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Data collection

Whether promotional or not, whenever you collect content or information from a Facebook user, you have to make it clear that you (and not Facebook) are collecting it.

You’ll need to notify Facebook users and obtain their consent plus tell them (or link to your website privacy policy or terms and conditions page) how their information will be used by you.

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Your Page Name

Your page name and your Facebook username must reflect / match your company name.

So if your company sells milk called Moo Juice then your page name should be ‘Moo Juice’ or ‘Moo Juice Milk’ but not ‘Milk’ as you can’t call your page a generic term – eg: ‘Beer’ or ‘Pizza’.

Your page name cannot be entirely in capitals unless your organisation’s name is an acronym. So the Bank of New Zealand can call their page BNZ but just because your logo has your name all in capitals, if it’s not an acronym, your page name cannot be all caps. You also CANNOT use character symbols, such as bullet points or excessive punctuation or trademark symbols, in your page name.

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New Cover Photo Rules

Want to read Facebook’s new cover photo rules for yourself? And here are some examples of cover photos from brands breaking the new rules.

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Facebook Ads

Before you run Facebook Ads, have a careful read through the Facebook Advertising Guidelines. There are so many that it deserves it’s own article so for now you’ll have to do your own homework

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DISCLAIMER

Do not use this article to decide if what you’re doing is or is not okay! Other than the fact that I haven’t made a complete list of ALL the rules, Facebook updates the rules all the time! You’ll need to do your own research or check it past your Facebook Rep or agency to be sure. You can get started here:

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Given how often these rules are broken and the fact the Facebook’s terms and conditions sprawl over multiple pages; I hope you’ve learned a lot. Please consider liking or sharing this article with your network to help other business owners, marketers and page admins avoid falling into the page deletion trap! Just pick one of the sharing options at the top of my web page or below, thank you in advance

About Anna Gervai: Get the latest Marketing Gum articles about Facebook and social media first and free, subscribe by email here for free updates:

Follow Anna on

@annagervai

http://nz.linkedin.com/in/annagervai

http://pinterest.com/annagervai/

Among countless other great articles, Anna wrote one you shouldn’t miss:

Why only 1 in 6 fans see your Facebook page updates & how to fix it + what is Edgerank? – See more at: http://www.marketinggum.com/author/anna/#sthash.7CHs6cUW.dpuf

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/ Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 790 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

.

Tagged: ads on Facebook, Anna Gervai, Facebook rules, http://pinterest.com/annagervai/, http://www.MarketingGum.com, https://plus.google.com, promotion rules

Professional Writers Association of Canada

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Published on July 01, 2013 21:14

HAPPY CANADA DAY !!! HAPPY CANADIAN WRITERS!

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July 1 is Canada’s National Day, and today’s blog post is dedicated to everything Canadian. The Canadian government is supporting and fostering literature, writers and publishers, even ISBN’s are FREE in Canada!

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There is a huge list of government grants and support for writers and publishers. The Canada Council for the Arts offers a range of benefits for professional Canadian writers, collectives and publishers. In addition to providing support for the creation, translation, publication and promotion of Canadian literature, the “Writing and Publishing Section” funds among others for example author residencies, literary readings and festivals, as well as new areas of activity such as rap poetry, storytelling and electronic literature.

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PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT BENEFITS

Just one of many provincial benefits for publishers is the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit, offering generous tax deductions.

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WHERE and HOW TO OBTAIN A FREE ISBN IN CANADA

Good news for Canadian authors and publishers: the ISBN application process is simple and free of charge – but only if you are living in Canada and your publishing company is registered in Canada.

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COPYRIGHT CANADA

What Every Writer Needs to Know About Copyright. Register your manuscript or articles online to the Copyright Office, Canadian Intellectual Property Office Web site (fee Can $50).

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CANADA’s ONLINE BOOK RETAILERS

Mobile media and cloud computing emerged over the past years and enabled the e-book market to rapidly expand worldwide. These are just a few of the numerous possibilities to submit e-books in and to Canada:

Native – PowWow

http://www.Amazon.ca

http://www.Chapters.indigo.ca

http://itunes.apple.com/ca

http://www.kobobooks.com

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CANADIAN WRITERS DON’T NEED AGENTS

“You must get an agent!” is an advice that aspiring authors hear and read everywhere. Is it really true? Not for Canadian writers! Beacon Literary Services owner Julie Ferguson says: ”Publishing statistics in Canada demonstrate that it is simply a misconception caused by American influence. In Canada, only ten percent of books are agented. Aspiring and established authors here successfully submit the majority (10,000) of the titles published every year directly to editors.” Julie Ferguson wrote a great blog post for Canadian authors, explaining in detail how publishing “north of 49th parallel” works, with a link to Publishers.ca, featuring listings and contact information for several important literary agents and agencies in Canada.

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CANADIAN SHORT STORY PRIZE 2013

Canada Writes, with partners CBC, Canada Council for the Arts, Air Canada’s enRoute magazine and “The Banff Centre”, are pleased to announce the Grand Prize winner will receive $6,000, courtesy of the Canada Council for the Arts, and will have his/her story published in Air Canada’s enRoute magazine and on the Canada Writes website. She or he will also be awarded a two-week residency at The Banff Centre’s Leighton Artists’ Colony, and will be interviewed on CBC Radio. The 4 runners-up will each receive $1,000, courtesy of the Canada Council for the Arts, and their stories will be published on the Canada Writes website.

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WRITE FOR AIR CANADA INFLIGHT MAGAZINE “ENROUTE”

Writing for airline magazines, such as enRoute represents a real opportunity for freelance writers. Travel pieces are a staple of in-flights, yet airline publications also offer articles on technology, business, sports, and food, as well as lifestyle trends. Find as much of the articles online. Or try to get hard copies. Since in-flights are not sold on newsstands, request a copy from the magazine’s publisher and ask traveling friends for their help.

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Canada Day in Ottawa

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HOW TO OPEN A PUBLISHING BUSINESS IN CANADA?

Authors are smart and able to start their own publishing business, REAL publishing, not POD and not Vanity Publishing: Finding and getting quotes or referrals for an editor, a book lay-out company or book designer, cover artist, e-book formatting company and a printer is not difficult.

Setting up their own company can be done online – in minutes.

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READING CANADIAN BOOKS and ARTICLES

English is English! – No! Not at all! Canada and America are two countries separated by a common language – this is how George Bernard Shaw’s statement could be converted. Many American (and other) readers are surprised to learn that there are huge differences in spelling between English-speaking countries. A book, written and published in Canada, needs almost to be “translated” into American English and vice versa.

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BERTON HOUSE Writers’ Retreat, Dawson City, Yukon Territory

Professional Canadian writers who have one published book and are established in any creative literary discipline(s) — fiction, non-fiction, poetry, play-writing, journalism — are all encouraged to apply for Canada’s most northern Writers’ Retreat. The Writer’s Retreat offers writers time, and a remote location to pursue their professional projects. The writer will be housed in the Berton House at no cost in rent or utilities. Travel costs to and from Dawson will also be covered! The writer is responsible for a public reading in Whitehorse and Dawson City and a summary of their stay at Berton House.

Applications may be submitted by mail or email to: jdavies@writerstrust.com

Berton House Writers’ Retreat, c/o The Writers’ Trust of Canada

200-90 Richmond St. East, Toronto, ON M5C 1P1

http://www.bertonhouse.ca/retreat.html

A monthly honorarium is provided to help cover food and other living expenses. The competition to be a writer-in-residency during the 2014-15 season is now open. An online application form is available. The deadline for submissions is October 4, 2013.

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Canada Day celebrations July 1, in front of the Parliament in Ottawa, Ontario. Image courtesy NCC.

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HAIG BROWN RESIDENCY

Published authors are being invited to apply for the 2013-2014 Haig-Brown House Writer in Residence position. The residency entails spending the winter months (or a portion thereof) living in the Haig-Brown Heritage House, which is under the management of the Museum at Campbell River on Vancouver Island (BC).

The modest four bedroom house reflects the character of writer Roderick Haig-Brown and his wife Ann. Located in a peaceful setting on the banks of the Campbell River on Vancouver Island, it contains a Heritage library and is surrounded by two acres of garden and 17 acres of public parkland.

The writer’s time will be divided between pursuing personal writing projects and providing literary advice and support to the local community, and participate in Museum winter programming. A stipend of up to $2000 per month, depending on available funding, will be provided.

Please include a resume (maximum two pages), a list of publications, a one-page proposal of anticipated community activities, and a sample of work in progress (20 pages); with reasons why the residency would further your work. Forward your application package to Sandra Parrish, Museum at Campbell River, Box 70 Stn A, Campbell River, BC V9W 4Z9. Deadline is January 31, 2014. For further information contact sandra.parrish@crmuseum.ca.

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CANADIAN WRITER ASSOCIATIONS

Writers Guild

Canadian Writers Union

Canadian Authors Association and Branches

Crime Writers of Canada

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RCMP-officers-on-horse, courtesy NCC

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CANADA WRITER CONFERENCES

Surrey Intl. Writers Conference Oct 25-27, 2013 Surrey, BC

Guelph, Ontario Writers Conference

Writers Conference Orillia, Ontario

Ontario Writers Conference Ajax, Ontario

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WRITING CONTESTS in CANADA

compiled by Can Authors

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LIST OF CANADIAN WRITERS

Past and present writers, including poets, novelists, children’s writers, essayists, and scholars. compiled in a Wikipedia article.

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PUBLIC LENDING RIGHT PAYMENTS TO AUTHORS

Canadian authors receive approx. $10 Million per year/ in average $600, and up to $3,500 The Canada Council for the Arts distributes annual payments to Canadian authors through the Public Lending Right (PLR) Program as compensation for the free public access to their books in Canadian public libraries. Canada is one of 29 countries with an active public lending right payment program. Well, not bad to be a writer in Canada! Happy Canada Day!

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/ Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

.

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 785 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

.

Tagged: Air Canada, Art Council of Canada, Canada Day, Canada's National Day, Canadian books, Canadian literature, CANADIAN SHORT STORY PRIZE, Canadian writers, enroute magazine, government grants for publishers, wiriter's residency in Canada

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Published on June 30, 2013 20:00

What Do You Have Friends For? Part 2

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Last year I wrote this article, and shortly after it was published, Amazon made one of their infamous “experiments”, removing the LIKE function on their website. It took only a couple of months, until they started to remove the TAGS from their websites, at least in North America. In the meantime these TAG function is gone on the UK sites as well… As Amazon stated this move as an experiment, I did not change the article, always hoping that they re-instate these great ranking and sales tools.

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But I guess it is safe to say, these features are gone forever, and therefore have now been deleted from the article. However there are more possibilities for your friends to help you to improve your Amazon ranking, and the article got two functions that can be used by your fans: Listmania and review-ratings.

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How friends and family can help to improve your Amazon Ranking will be a reminder how they indeed can help you so much – they even don’t need to buy your book (again), only signing up on Amazon is required. Amazon can give a great book a big boost to “be discovered”.

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These Amazon features will take only seconds, but they can make a huge difference in your books ranking – and for sure subsequently in the success of your work. Ask all your acquaintances, fellow writers, friends and family to:

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Write a REVIEW

Even if the book already has lots of reviews already. As more reviews as better for the author and as more potential buyers can see the popularity of the work. Amazon rules are against family members’ reviews. So ask only the ones with a different name/address for a review. They need an Amazon account and at least made previously one purchase of a physical or digital item.

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LISTMANIA:

Amazon allows all account holders to create a “list” of their favorite things…such as books, and it is called, Listmania! So if you have written a book, your friends and even you can create a Listmania! list, and certainly include your own book.

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“HIGHLIGHTS” in your book

They is another item in Amazon’s algorithm list for book popularity: If you friends have a Kindle, let them highlight some wise or fun quotations from the book. Or any information they find useful in a non-fiction book for sample. If enough people share their highlights, they will show up in your e-book. Amazon will then display these so-called “Popular Highlights” by combining the highlights of all Kindle customers and identifying the passages with the most highlights. Which in turn ascents your Amazon ranking.

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Good old-fashioned word of mouth

Let your friends and family brag about your books, or mention it in their blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Google+ sites or in their emails with a link to your site or your Amazon page. To help them send regularly images and info about you or your books that they can copy/paste into their social media sites.

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Help with “blurbs”

Your friends or family members might have websites and blogs. Ask them to consider sending out a short note about your book, which can help you sell more books. If they allow you to use their words in your “praise” section on your author website.

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Rate useful reviews:

Amazon asks readers “Was this review helpful to you?” YES or NO? Rating the existing reviews as “helpful” or “unhelpful” makes a significant impact. Reviews with the most “helpful” votes appear on the BUY page ”Most Helpful Customer Reviews”.

By voting for the most informative and helpful reviews, your friends have the power to get them moved to the head of the line. Raising the position of the most descriptive reviews is especially helpful if the publisher missed to give the book an effective blurb.

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How many reviews did YOU write recently? It’s a give and take…

Compare two books with identical sales numbers: the one which has been promoted with these features is much higher in the (intern) ranks, which means it will be more featured on Amazon and subsequently will sell better in the future. If you write a review for another authors’s book, remember: Anything less than 4 stars means “NOT RECOMMENDED” to the AMAZON ALGORITHMS. 2-star or 3-star reviews are going to hurt the author’s sales, no matter how much you rave in the text. Also: a review is not an essay about your personal taste, e.g. if you liked the hero or not. It is all about the book, not about you. Get tips how to write a review, and maybe let your friends know about it ….

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/ Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 785 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Tagged: Amazon ranking, help from friends, helpful reviews, highlight e-book lines, Listmania!, rate reviews, write a book review

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Published on June 29, 2013 17:36

Got Already Your Amazon Website?

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Success

Many authors skip this powerful marketing tool – or don’t know about it. Once your book goes live on Amazon you are eligible for an Amazon Author Central Account – and your very own web page on Amazon. Best of all: There is no advertising on your site, just a (great large) image of your book(s), your reviews and your book’s description.

Not only get your website a very high page rank, Author Central tools are very effective in marketing your books and promoting yourself as a published author. Use your Author Central page to provide more information for your readers: upcoming events, a complete listing of your books, more images and videos, your book trailer and even excerpts from your blog.

How to set up your Amazon Author Central Account

Amazon explains: once published, expect to receive an email from Kindle Direct Publishing announcing the news and inviting you to create your Amazon Author Central Account. Note your book’s ASIN enclosed in the email. You will need this to locate your book later and associate it to you as the author.

You need a separate account, both for the UK and US versions of Amazon; you have to do everything twice, and be aware that the two versions vary slightly.

Amazon Author Central UK: http://authorcentral.amazon.co.uk

Amazon Author Central US: http://authorcentral.amazon.com

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Just sign up for free accounts on both sites, and follow the instructions to set up your page:

Add a professional author photo (and additional photos)
Add your books
Add a biography (make sure to update this accordingly)
Add a blog RSS feed (a great way to get your blog in front of new people and encourage them to follow you – currently only at the US version)
List events, such as book readings or book launches
Add videos (e.g. trailers for your books)
Add your Twitter address so people can see your latest Tweet and easily follow you
Set up the “Search Inside/Look Inside” feature
Add your photo & biography. Be the ‘face’ of your book.
Link your blog – Import your blog using the RSS or Twitter feed.
View and edit the list of books you have written – the Amazon system doesn’t always get it right. If you have written more than one book, it will link your titles together, and allow your readers to find all of your work.
Edit your product description and about the author section, add any professional reviews you have had.
Track Your Sales – Find out where your sales are happening using the geographic location function and find out your Amazon ranking.

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One of the biggest advantages as an Amazon Kindle published Author is your eligibility to create an Amazon Author Central Account. This means that you are offered your own web page, complete with a URL, on a powerful Amazon website just for you. Use all the space that is given to you.

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted, and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/ Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

.

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 790+ of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Tagged: Amazon Author Central Account, Free website on Amazon, Kindle Direct Publishing, UK and US versions of Amazon, your reviews and the book description

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Published on June 28, 2013 19:47

Why Authors Need Lots of Marketing Skills

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Social Media floods the market with content producers, e.g. writers. If you want to make it as a writer, you will have to separate yourself from the crowd so your work can be found and appreciated. Here are some tips for your writing success:

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# 1 is to know the industry

Even after they get a book deal, many authors are surprised to find the majority of the marketing depends on them. Get to know the publishing industry and what kind of writing sells and what can be marketed. It will save yourself a lot of time and effort in the long run. Keep up with what’s hot by reading Writer’s Market, Goodreads or Script. Knowing the publishing field also means knowing what rights you have as an author.

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Make friends with Google+, Pinterest, Twitter and network

As a good writer, you already have the ability to write concise, interesting, and funny prose. It should be a breeze for you to build a following of people that includes literary agents and book editors that could assist you in getting the word out about your work, or even offer you a deal eventually. Don’t use this as a chance to hit them over the head with your book, yet demonstrate what a good writer you are and they will want to read it on their own. Content Marketing!

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Get to know the E-publishing route

For an unknown author, it might be the best way to get your work in front of people. E-publishing is one way to get your material into a professional, digital format that can be downloaded. Learn how to converse your book – or hire an e-book formatting company to prepare your work for listing on the Kindle, iPad, Sony Reader etc. – but only after it is carefully edited!

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Create your own website & blog

It shows far more professionalism if you have your blog on your own website, or get a self-hostedWordPress.org page. Consider making chapters of your writing available for free on your site, and don’t sell ads, it just looks plain cheap. Learn how to operate a digital store. Paypal is the industry standard for accepting payments, including the major credit cards. And to protect your customers, learn how to use save webpages and procedures (https).

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Maximize your web traffic and sell online

Maximize your visibility on search engines by using clear and accurate keywords in your site title, description, and body. To move up to the top of the search list, you need to have lots of links from other web sites to your page; submit your web pages to various sites that deal with your topic and encourage them to link their readers to you in return of the favor. Tips how to get more inbound-links.

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Create a media kit

Microsoft Publisher is all you need to make a professional press kit to send out to newspaper- and magazine editors, radio and TV journalists, or agents. Include in your materials the market research you have done to show how many readers could profit from your new book, and include the best bits of material from your work.

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Create a book trailer*

Rent or buy an inexpensive camcorder or just use your laptop webcam. Shoot an introductory video of yourself for your site and your latest book project, or upload a highlight reel to YouTube of key points in your work. Keep it simple. Read even more how to create a book trailer in my e-book:

111 Tips to Create Your Book Trailer, featuring valuable tips and links to video tutorials, free music downloads and free images, as well as tips how to market your book video. Available at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008Y15YYO

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Brand yourself as a writer.

Establishing yourself and your writing as a brand involves knowing what your core strength is. Create your “Elevator Pitch” to convince readers why they should get your book. Be available for: an interview for a blog or a neighborhood weekly, a “local authors” day at a small bookstore, or even speaking engagements across the country. It may not be easy first, as being upbeat and on your game at all times requires work. Traditional media outlets like radio and TV are turning more and more towards the new wave of internet writers and bloggers.

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With the tools described here, and using social media, your book marketing doesn’t require any financial investment. Depending on your level of involvement, it may demand quite a bit of time commitment, at least in the beginning. However, as more you use these marketing tools, as faster you can handle them and as more visitors and buyers you will get.

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More about Search Engine Optimization:

http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2011/12/10/23-questions-google-is-asking-you/

http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2011/08/12/thanks-joel/

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 785 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Tagged: book publishing markets, book trailer, brand yourself as a writer, create a media kit for your book, Elevator Pitch, how to get more inbound links, professional press kit, radio & TV interviews, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Writer's Market

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226791

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Published on June 27, 2013 20:23

Secret of Colors

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Psychologists have studied how people are affected by colors and found a strong correlation between colors and emotional responses. Choosing the right color is crucial in determining how your book cover, your logo or your author brand is viewed. Be also careful with the background of your portrait photo / avatar!

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Psychology of Color Infographic

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Info-graphic by WebpageFX Their advice: Nearly 85% of consumers name color as the primary reason that they purchase a particular product. 93% look at visual appearance when they buy a product and color improves comprehension, learning and readability.

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My comment: When you choose/design a book cover, a website or a logo for your publishing business, it’s important to take into account the way people interpret color. And be aware that colors often have different meanings in various cultures. Read more about the psychology of color:

http://www.colour-affects.co.uk/psychological-properties-of-colours

http://precisionintermedia.com/color

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/

.

Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 785 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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