LoveVickyHolt's Blog, page 4
August 12, 2014
Top Ten Games and Prizes for Facebook Book Release Parties
You've got your event scheduled, your guest list, your calendar cleared for a few hours...so what are you going to do to make your Release Party fun and memorable?
Games of course!
The name of the, uh, game is promoting your book. The games, quests and challenges should be geared toward maximum book promotion.
Also, keep in mind the order of the games. If one of your challenges is for the Release Party guests to invite more guests to the party, then make sure that challenge is at the beginning of your party!
Challenge: The More the Merrier. Have your guests invite their friends and associates to your release party. They come back and report when they have done it.Challenge: Social Media Parfait. Your guests share your book link on all their social media profiles. You can do this challenge one at a time if you need to fill more than one time slot with activities, or you can jumble them all together into one challenge. You're going to get mass exposure from this challenge, which is awesome.Game: Favorites and Variations. If your book is about vampires, then you invite your guests to find and post a photo of their favorite vampire __________. It could be movie, book, actor, portrayal whatever. Variations of this are endless. Your guests will love searching the web for fun photos of their fave actor or whatever.Game: Favorite Lines or Scenes from the Genre. If your book is Sci Fi, then have your guests, who are most likely aficionados of the genre, quote their fave lines or scenes from books or movies. The guests will love this, and often lengthy discussions will arise. Don't discourage these conversations! You want buzz going on, and you want it going on as a result of your book. The guests will associate those positive feelings with your book!Quest: Search and Find. Have your guests find facts about you or your book or past books. Don't be shy; this party is about your book, and therefore...about YOU! Have them visit your blog page, your Twitter profile or author page and find some trivia. They can PM you the answer. You can even plant things ahead of time if you like!Quest: You want buzz about your book. If you are publishing on Amazon, your book will have a sample option for readers. Send your guests on a quest to retrieve a line or scene or detail from the sample section of your book. That action of them clicking and reading will get their brains in the finding, clicking, buying mode! I'm not even making this up. (Check out THIS book for great info on internet marketing. It's called Convert Every Click and I really loved it.)Challenge: Share and Share Alike. Have your guests share your blog URLs, Facebook page for more likes and similar such things. You're boosting your exposure and trying to build up some brand recognition.Game: Set the Scene. The author whose release party I helped with had a great idea. She had the guests come up with suggestions for items that might be in a particular setting in her book 2. The winner's idea would be presented in the book! Some authors might have the guests play Choose the Name or something similar.Prizes: The obvious thing you want to give away is copies of your book! Ebooks are the cheapest prize to offer, and could end up with great dividends if you get some nice reviews out of it. A hard copy of your book makes a nice grand prize at the end of the Release Party. Other prize ideas are bookmarks, magnets, buttons or any other swag with photos or representations of your book on them. You can get super elaborate with beautiful gifts, or you can go easy. One author I know made lovely necklaces featuring the book cover for prizes. Another author was short on time, and the prize of the hour was ebooks. All good choices.Conversation and Etiquette: The way you behave at a FB Release Party is the same way you would in real life of course! Graciously welcome your guests. Like every comment you can, welcome conversations about all subjects that your guests bring up. Be gracious as they compliment you on your fantastic achievement. Not everyone has the ability to stick with a novel and get it published! Follow through with the prize winners. You can utilize PMs to get email information for prize distribution or snail mail addresses if needed. Thank everyone for coming and try to include everyone you can in comments and conversations so that no one feels left out.Facebook Release Parties can get hectic with your notifications beeping every few seconds! It's fun but it can be nervewracking. Just scroll through all the notifications and do the best you can. Lots of times guests hang out after the official ending of the party. Then you can slowly go through the rest of the comments you may have missed and like them or respond to them as needed.
This reminds me of the question of timing. If you have blocked out a two-hour time frame, then a good rule of thumb is to have eight games. You run your games in fifteen minute increments and close the games at the end of each one to limit the prize pool. Using your random picker web tool, enter the names of those who participated in the challenges and then you'll get your winner. It's so fun to announce the winners!
Your Release Party is a great time to reveal covers, make announcements about sequels or prequels, or announce release dates etc. Your guests are there because they are excited to celebrate your book with you, so the atmosphere is upbeat and positive. You're going to have a lot of fun with it, and you're pretty much guaranteed to increase sales as a result of just a couple hours of your time. Best of luck.
If you would like help running a Release Party, send me a note on Facebook and I'll give you more information. GOOD LUCK!
Games of course!
The name of the, uh, game is promoting your book. The games, quests and challenges should be geared toward maximum book promotion.
Also, keep in mind the order of the games. If one of your challenges is for the Release Party guests to invite more guests to the party, then make sure that challenge is at the beginning of your party!
Challenge: The More the Merrier. Have your guests invite their friends and associates to your release party. They come back and report when they have done it.Challenge: Social Media Parfait. Your guests share your book link on all their social media profiles. You can do this challenge one at a time if you need to fill more than one time slot with activities, or you can jumble them all together into one challenge. You're going to get mass exposure from this challenge, which is awesome.Game: Favorites and Variations. If your book is about vampires, then you invite your guests to find and post a photo of their favorite vampire __________. It could be movie, book, actor, portrayal whatever. Variations of this are endless. Your guests will love searching the web for fun photos of their fave actor or whatever.Game: Favorite Lines or Scenes from the Genre. If your book is Sci Fi, then have your guests, who are most likely aficionados of the genre, quote their fave lines or scenes from books or movies. The guests will love this, and often lengthy discussions will arise. Don't discourage these conversations! You want buzz going on, and you want it going on as a result of your book. The guests will associate those positive feelings with your book!Quest: Search and Find. Have your guests find facts about you or your book or past books. Don't be shy; this party is about your book, and therefore...about YOU! Have them visit your blog page, your Twitter profile or author page and find some trivia. They can PM you the answer. You can even plant things ahead of time if you like!Quest: You want buzz about your book. If you are publishing on Amazon, your book will have a sample option for readers. Send your guests on a quest to retrieve a line or scene or detail from the sample section of your book. That action of them clicking and reading will get their brains in the finding, clicking, buying mode! I'm not even making this up. (Check out THIS book for great info on internet marketing. It's called Convert Every Click and I really loved it.)Challenge: Share and Share Alike. Have your guests share your blog URLs, Facebook page for more likes and similar such things. You're boosting your exposure and trying to build up some brand recognition.Game: Set the Scene. The author whose release party I helped with had a great idea. She had the guests come up with suggestions for items that might be in a particular setting in her book 2. The winner's idea would be presented in the book! Some authors might have the guests play Choose the Name or something similar.Prizes: The obvious thing you want to give away is copies of your book! Ebooks are the cheapest prize to offer, and could end up with great dividends if you get some nice reviews out of it. A hard copy of your book makes a nice grand prize at the end of the Release Party. Other prize ideas are bookmarks, magnets, buttons or any other swag with photos or representations of your book on them. You can get super elaborate with beautiful gifts, or you can go easy. One author I know made lovely necklaces featuring the book cover for prizes. Another author was short on time, and the prize of the hour was ebooks. All good choices.Conversation and Etiquette: The way you behave at a FB Release Party is the same way you would in real life of course! Graciously welcome your guests. Like every comment you can, welcome conversations about all subjects that your guests bring up. Be gracious as they compliment you on your fantastic achievement. Not everyone has the ability to stick with a novel and get it published! Follow through with the prize winners. You can utilize PMs to get email information for prize distribution or snail mail addresses if needed. Thank everyone for coming and try to include everyone you can in comments and conversations so that no one feels left out.Facebook Release Parties can get hectic with your notifications beeping every few seconds! It's fun but it can be nervewracking. Just scroll through all the notifications and do the best you can. Lots of times guests hang out after the official ending of the party. Then you can slowly go through the rest of the comments you may have missed and like them or respond to them as needed.
This reminds me of the question of timing. If you have blocked out a two-hour time frame, then a good rule of thumb is to have eight games. You run your games in fifteen minute increments and close the games at the end of each one to limit the prize pool. Using your random picker web tool, enter the names of those who participated in the challenges and then you'll get your winner. It's so fun to announce the winners!
Your Release Party is a great time to reveal covers, make announcements about sequels or prequels, or announce release dates etc. Your guests are there because they are excited to celebrate your book with you, so the atmosphere is upbeat and positive. You're going to have a lot of fun with it, and you're pretty much guaranteed to increase sales as a result of just a couple hours of your time. Best of luck.
If you would like help running a Release Party, send me a note on Facebook and I'll give you more information. GOOD LUCK!
Best Book Release Party Games and Prizes for Facebook Release Parties
You've got your event scheduled, your guest list, your calendar cleared for a few hours...so what are you going to do to make your Release Party fun and memorable?
Games of course!
The name of the, uh, game is promoting your book. The games, quests and challenges should be geared toward maximum book promotion.
Also, keep in mind the order of the games. If one of your challenges is for the Release Party guests to invite more guests to the party, then make sure that challenge is at the beginning of your party!
Challenge: The More the Merrier. Have your guests invite their friends and associates to your release party. They come back and report when they have done it.Challenge: Social Media Parfait. Your guests share your book link on all their social media profiles. You can do this challenge one at a time if you need to fill more than one time slot with activities, or you can jumble them all together into one challenge. You're going to get mass exposure from this challenge, which is awesome.Game: Favorites and Variations. If your book is about vampires, then you invite your guests to find and post a photo of their favorite vampire __________. It could be movie, book, actor, portrayal whatever. Variations of this are endless. Your guests will love searching the web for fun photos of their fave actor or whatever.Game: Favorite Lines or Scenes from the Genre. If your book is Sci Fi, then have your guests, who are most likely aficionados of the genre, quote their fave lines or scenes from books or movies. The guests will love this, and often lengthy discussions will arise. Don't discourage these conversations! You want buzz going on, and you want it going on as a result of your book. The guests will associate those positive feelings with your book!Quest: Search and Find. Have your guests find facts about you or your book or past books. Don't be shy; this party is about your book, and therefore...about YOU! Have them visit your blog page, your Twitter profile or author page and find some trivia. They can PM you the answer. You can even plant things ahead of time if you like!Quest: You want buzz about your book. If you are publishing on Amazon, your book will have a sample option for readers. Send your guests on a quest to retrieve a line or scene or detail from the sample section of your book. That action of them clicking and reading will get their brains in the finding, clicking, buying mode! I'm not even making this up. (Check out THIS book for great info on internet marketing. It's called Convert Every Click and I really loved it.)Challenge: Share and Share Alike. Have your guests share your blog URLs, Facebook page for more likes and similar such things. You're boosting your exposure and trying to build up some brand recognition.Game: Set the Scene. The author whose release party I helped with had a great idea. She had the guests come up with suggestions for items that might be in a particular setting in her book 2. The winner's idea would be presented in the book! Some authors might have the guests play Choose the Name or something similar.Prizes: The obvious thing you want to give away is copies of your book! Ebooks are the cheapest prize to offer, and could end up with great dividends if you get some nice reviews out of it. A hard copy of your book makes a nice grand prize at the end of the Release Party. Other prize ideas are bookmarks, magnets, buttons or any other swag with photos or representations of your book on them. You can get super elaborate with beautiful gifts, or you can go easy. One author I know made lovely necklaces featuring the book cover for prizes. Another author was short on time, and the prize of the hour was ebooks. All good choices.Conversation and Etiquette: The way you behave at a FB Release Party is the same way you would in real life of course! Graciously welcome your guests. Like every comment you can, welcome conversations about all subjects that your guests bring up. Be gracious as they compliment you on your fantastic achievement. Not everyone has the ability to stick with a novel and get it published! Follow through with the prize winners. You can utilize PMs to get email information for prize distribution or snail mail addresses if needed. Thank everyone for coming and try to include everyone you can in comments and conversations so that no one feels left out.Facebook Release Parties can get hectic with your notifications beeping every few seconds! It's fun but it can be nervewracking. Just scroll through all the notifications and do the best you can. Lots of times guests hang out after the official ending of the party. Then you can slowly go through the rest of the comments you may have missed and like them or respond to them as needed.
This reminds me of the question of timing. If you have blocked out a two-hour time frame, then a good rule of thumb is to have eight games. You run your games in fifteen minute increments and close the games at the end of each one to limit the prize pool. Using your random picker web tool, enter the names of those who participated in the challenges and then you'll get your winner. It's so fun to announce the winners!
Your Release Party is a great time to reveal covers, make announcements about sequels or prequels, or announce release dates etc. Your guests are there because they are excited to celebrate your book with you, so the atmosphere is upbeat and positive. You're going to have a lot of fun with it, and you're pretty much guaranteed to increase sales as a result of just a couple hours of your time. Best of luck.
If you would like help running a Release Party, send me a note on Facebook and I'll give you more information. GOOD LUCK!
Games of course!
The name of the, uh, game is promoting your book. The games, quests and challenges should be geared toward maximum book promotion.
Also, keep in mind the order of the games. If one of your challenges is for the Release Party guests to invite more guests to the party, then make sure that challenge is at the beginning of your party!
Challenge: The More the Merrier. Have your guests invite their friends and associates to your release party. They come back and report when they have done it.Challenge: Social Media Parfait. Your guests share your book link on all their social media profiles. You can do this challenge one at a time if you need to fill more than one time slot with activities, or you can jumble them all together into one challenge. You're going to get mass exposure from this challenge, which is awesome.Game: Favorites and Variations. If your book is about vampires, then you invite your guests to find and post a photo of their favorite vampire __________. It could be movie, book, actor, portrayal whatever. Variations of this are endless. Your guests will love searching the web for fun photos of their fave actor or whatever.Game: Favorite Lines or Scenes from the Genre. If your book is Sci Fi, then have your guests, who are most likely aficionados of the genre, quote their fave lines or scenes from books or movies. The guests will love this, and often lengthy discussions will arise. Don't discourage these conversations! You want buzz going on, and you want it going on as a result of your book. The guests will associate those positive feelings with your book!Quest: Search and Find. Have your guests find facts about you or your book or past books. Don't be shy; this party is about your book, and therefore...about YOU! Have them visit your blog page, your Twitter profile or author page and find some trivia. They can PM you the answer. You can even plant things ahead of time if you like!Quest: You want buzz about your book. If you are publishing on Amazon, your book will have a sample option for readers. Send your guests on a quest to retrieve a line or scene or detail from the sample section of your book. That action of them clicking and reading will get their brains in the finding, clicking, buying mode! I'm not even making this up. (Check out THIS book for great info on internet marketing. It's called Convert Every Click and I really loved it.)Challenge: Share and Share Alike. Have your guests share your blog URLs, Facebook page for more likes and similar such things. You're boosting your exposure and trying to build up some brand recognition.Game: Set the Scene. The author whose release party I helped with had a great idea. She had the guests come up with suggestions for items that might be in a particular setting in her book 2. The winner's idea would be presented in the book! Some authors might have the guests play Choose the Name or something similar.Prizes: The obvious thing you want to give away is copies of your book! Ebooks are the cheapest prize to offer, and could end up with great dividends if you get some nice reviews out of it. A hard copy of your book makes a nice grand prize at the end of the Release Party. Other prize ideas are bookmarks, magnets, buttons or any other swag with photos or representations of your book on them. You can get super elaborate with beautiful gifts, or you can go easy. One author I know made lovely necklaces featuring the book cover for prizes. Another author was short on time, and the prize of the hour was ebooks. All good choices.Conversation and Etiquette: The way you behave at a FB Release Party is the same way you would in real life of course! Graciously welcome your guests. Like every comment you can, welcome conversations about all subjects that your guests bring up. Be gracious as they compliment you on your fantastic achievement. Not everyone has the ability to stick with a novel and get it published! Follow through with the prize winners. You can utilize PMs to get email information for prize distribution or snail mail addresses if needed. Thank everyone for coming and try to include everyone you can in comments and conversations so that no one feels left out.Facebook Release Parties can get hectic with your notifications beeping every few seconds! It's fun but it can be nervewracking. Just scroll through all the notifications and do the best you can. Lots of times guests hang out after the official ending of the party. Then you can slowly go through the rest of the comments you may have missed and like them or respond to them as needed.
This reminds me of the question of timing. If you have blocked out a two-hour time frame, then a good rule of thumb is to have eight games. You run your games in fifteen minute increments and close the games at the end of each one to limit the prize pool. Using your random picker web tool, enter the names of those who participated in the challenges and then you'll get your winner. It's so fun to announce the winners!
Your Release Party is a great time to reveal covers, make announcements about sequels or prequels, or announce release dates etc. Your guests are there because they are excited to celebrate your book with you, so the atmosphere is upbeat and positive. You're going to have a lot of fun with it, and you're pretty much guaranteed to increase sales as a result of just a couple hours of your time. Best of luck.
If you would like help running a Release Party, send me a note on Facebook and I'll give you more information. GOOD LUCK!
August 11, 2014
Ten Tips to Have a Successful Book Release Party on Facebook!
I recently had the opportunity to help run a Facebook Book Release Party for a FB friend. It was SO. MUCH. FUN!
In full disclosure, I kind of strong-armed my way into it, which is unusual for me because I'm generally not a pushy person. I just got so excited about her new book coming out!
Anyway, here's a little rundown on how to do it. It's VERY SIMPLE.
Create an event for the release party. It can coincide with the day you release your book, or it can be as much as a month into it. It doesn't make sense to do it much later than that. The first week is the best time.Invite friends, acquaintances and strangers to your event!Advertise your release party. If you don't want to be annoying, just mention that you are having one, and tell people to ask for invites.Plan the time frame for your party. I've seen them last as short as two hours to as long as three days!Prepare an itinerary for your party. Usually games/quests/challenges are the order of the day.Write your script ahead of time to make it easier.Block out the time you will be 'attending' your release party. My DH knew ahead of time that I would be unavailable to take care of kids etc. so that I could run the party. A little preplanning makes it a successful event. Have stock photos of party balloons or snack trays just for fun, plan how you will choose random winners for the games, and have an idea of what the prizes will be too. I used
In the party I helped run, the book's ranking started out at 96,000. By the end of the FB release party, it was at 46,000. And the next morning the author's book had reached 21,000 in rank. What a huge accomplishment!
Have a lot of fun with it. I'll blog tomorrow about the best kinds of games to play and prizes to offer. If you are interested in having someone help you with a FB Release Party, find me on Facebook and send me a PM.
In full disclosure, I kind of strong-armed my way into it, which is unusual for me because I'm generally not a pushy person. I just got so excited about her new book coming out!
Anyway, here's a little rundown on how to do it. It's VERY SIMPLE.
Create an event for the release party. It can coincide with the day you release your book, or it can be as much as a month into it. It doesn't make sense to do it much later than that. The first week is the best time.Invite friends, acquaintances and strangers to your event!Advertise your release party. If you don't want to be annoying, just mention that you are having one, and tell people to ask for invites.Plan the time frame for your party. I've seen them last as short as two hours to as long as three days!Prepare an itinerary for your party. Usually games/quests/challenges are the order of the day.Write your script ahead of time to make it easier.Block out the time you will be 'attending' your release party. My DH knew ahead of time that I would be unavailable to take care of kids etc. so that I could run the party. A little preplanning makes it a successful event. Have stock photos of party balloons or snack trays just for fun, plan how you will choose random winners for the games, and have an idea of what the prizes will be too. I used
In the party I helped run, the book's ranking started out at 96,000. By the end of the FB release party, it was at 46,000. And the next morning the author's book had reached 21,000 in rank. What a huge accomplishment!
Have a lot of fun with it. I'll blog tomorrow about the best kinds of games to play and prizes to offer. If you are interested in having someone help you with a FB Release Party, find me on Facebook and send me a PM.
August 2, 2014
Three Tips for Writing a Trilogy
A trilogy is an ambitious project for a beginning Indie author, no doubt. But it is doable.
It's just like eating an elephant...one bite at a time.
Three tips that have helped me along the way during this process are as follows:
1) Keeping notes, either jotted down on paper (a dedicated notepad is kind of important) or on a phone app, such as Google Keep
I started writing notes as plot ideas and crucial elements came to me, that way, when it wasn't convenient to write at that moment, I was still able to capture the mood by jotting down a few key phrases. I have a distinctive pad of paper and I told my family, "If you ever see these papers floating around DO NOT THROW THEM OUT". I am happy to report that they listened, and I will find them stashed on the important paper pile if they get away from me.
Google Keep is my favorite note-keeping app. I like the choice of colors, the block layout that presents on my phone, and it has become a habit to open it up and add notes of things I don't want to forget. Super easy to access and read, and it's great to have one place to go to for keeping up with the ideas that sometimes flood my mind.
2) Outline/Plot/Scheme/Happy Endings
So every author is different. Some have a definite outline that they strive to follow as they write their book. I know a guy who used a spreadsheet...complete with graphs...to chart out the story arc of his book. It was awesome! Other people jump in without looking, (like me!), and just follow their noses to the end.
Whatever your writing style, it is uber important to know what 'Z' is. What I mean is that you really gotta have an idea of what your The End page is going to look like. Even if it is only a vague notion, that vapor of an idea is going to be important in giving your piece direction. So you have your point A and your point B...but make sure your general idea of an ending is somewhat figured out. A destination is a good thing to work toward. Head towards your 'Z'.
3) Pay Attention to Your Genre
Let's be real for a minute. Writers are artists, and we like to create, be our own voice, march to the beat of our own drum etc. But predictability sells. Why did vampires get so big so fast? There was a formula that the authors followed, and the readers ate it up.
So if you're writing dystopian urban fantasy, you might want to pay attention to the best sellers in the genre. What is their story arc like? Do the main characters get separated in Book 2? Does the protagonist have a faith crisis in Book 3? We all want to be different, but there are a few things that readers come to expect in their genre of choice. You might want to give them what they're seeking, if you want to sell a lot of books!
Hopefully these ideas will help you along as you work on your Trilogy. I'm going to get back to '98'! I'm almost halfway and loving it!
Good luck.
It's just like eating an elephant...one bite at a time.
Three tips that have helped me along the way during this process are as follows:
1) Keeping notes, either jotted down on paper (a dedicated notepad is kind of important) or on a phone app, such as Google Keep
I started writing notes as plot ideas and crucial elements came to me, that way, when it wasn't convenient to write at that moment, I was still able to capture the mood by jotting down a few key phrases. I have a distinctive pad of paper and I told my family, "If you ever see these papers floating around DO NOT THROW THEM OUT". I am happy to report that they listened, and I will find them stashed on the important paper pile if they get away from me.
Google Keep is my favorite note-keeping app. I like the choice of colors, the block layout that presents on my phone, and it has become a habit to open it up and add notes of things I don't want to forget. Super easy to access and read, and it's great to have one place to go to for keeping up with the ideas that sometimes flood my mind.
2) Outline/Plot/Scheme/Happy Endings
So every author is different. Some have a definite outline that they strive to follow as they write their book. I know a guy who used a spreadsheet...complete with graphs...to chart out the story arc of his book. It was awesome! Other people jump in without looking, (like me!), and just follow their noses to the end.
Whatever your writing style, it is uber important to know what 'Z' is. What I mean is that you really gotta have an idea of what your The End page is going to look like. Even if it is only a vague notion, that vapor of an idea is going to be important in giving your piece direction. So you have your point A and your point B...but make sure your general idea of an ending is somewhat figured out. A destination is a good thing to work toward. Head towards your 'Z'.
3) Pay Attention to Your Genre
Let's be real for a minute. Writers are artists, and we like to create, be our own voice, march to the beat of our own drum etc. But predictability sells. Why did vampires get so big so fast? There was a formula that the authors followed, and the readers ate it up.
So if you're writing dystopian urban fantasy, you might want to pay attention to the best sellers in the genre. What is their story arc like? Do the main characters get separated in Book 2? Does the protagonist have a faith crisis in Book 3? We all want to be different, but there are a few things that readers come to expect in their genre of choice. You might want to give them what they're seeking, if you want to sell a lot of books!
Hopefully these ideas will help you along as you work on your Trilogy. I'm going to get back to '98'! I'm almost halfway and loving it!
Good luck.
July 10, 2014
The Writing Process Blog Tour
This is my first ever Blog Hop! Thank you for joining me today as I expound a little on the inner workings of my psychotic creative mind!
Thanks go out to Victoria Clapton for inviting me to hopalong on the blog tour. You can find her musings at the charmingly named, http://www.southerndisappointments.bl... . Ms. Clapton wrote and published two of my favorite thrillers: Dark Light and Luminous Shadows.
So here are my answers to the following questions:
1) What are you working on?
I'm working on book 2 in my Rise of the Battle Bred trilogy. I got this crazy idea for a paranormal story in 2013 and wrote 97 in about a year. This year is dedicated to writing '98'. Obviously the third book is '99'. More and more I'm thinking my book titles sound like the price rollbacks at Wal-Mart.
2) How does your work differ from others in the genre?
While my paranormal series has the typical hallmarks that make YA Paranormal a genre that women come back to again and again, mine is different for a couple reasons. First, I am a huge fan of Regency romance novels, so my writing style tends to slip into that cadence. While I make every effort to have a consistent contemporary feel in my series, I also make no apologies for the occasional nod to Regency that I allow to spill onto my writing. I like to think it makes my paranormal series classy. Second, my characters are really into each other, but they're not overtly sexual. I like being able to recommend my books to anyone, including the friends of my kids, without worrying about offending innocent minds.
3) Why do you write what you do?
Yeah, so if someone had told me five years ago that my debut novel would be a YA Paranormal I would have scoffed at them. I've been 'working on' several Regency novels for over ten years, finished a couple, submitted a couple to publishing houses, and also been busy having several kids. Historical sweet Regency novels were my first love and the books I go back to read when I want to have a 'feel good' reading experience. During a long pregnancy I decided to give YA Paranormal a try, and...uh yeah, I got hooked. So many fun fantasies! Werewolves, vampires, ghosts, demons etc.! Anything goes!
The problem arose when I stumbled upon a couple that weren't very well written. And then I stumbled upon a handful that were astounding. And they were self-published. Suddenly I saw before me the possibility that I could write something and get it out in the public eye without jumping through publishing house hoops. I sat on that epiphany for a while, minding my own business and having that baby.
But it didn't take long for the seed to germinate and once I got my amazing idea for a paranormal romance, I just knew I had to run with it. I had read several great series that followed a specific formula: Three books, offer the first one for free, hook your readers, then sell books two and three. That's what I had always intended to do, and that is my plan once books two and three are completed. If I were to change anything though, I would leave 97 with more of a resolution as the ending. I've had several reviewers and readers complain that the ending was too abrupt, and sadly, I do agree with them.
4) How does your writing process work?
Insert evil laugh. Uh.
Well, first I have to wake up in the morning, and then I have to feed my children, and change diapers, and make sure they're wearing clean clothes, and then I have to scrub toilets and sweep the kitchen floor, and fold and put away laundry, and wash the dirty sheets and brush my teeth or maybe even shower, and then check the email and pay bills, and answer the phone and update my Facebook feed, and referee sibling arguments and police internet usage, then I have to feed the children again and help them get a show to watch, and navigate guilt for not playing on the floor with them so I might indulge in reading some books to them or making a Rainbow loom bracelet. Of course by this time someone has probably spilled milk on the kitchen floor, overflowed a toilet and lost a library book. Wait...what was the question?
Oh right. Well, it's been kind of difficult this year. See in 2013 when I wrote '97' my baby was an immobile infant. He's a completely different animal now...a toddler and into everything. I would like to have 98 finished by December 15, but I'm only about 1/4 of the way done.
But maybe that's not the question. Writing Process.
Believe it or not, I just sit down and start writing. I do have a notepad and even more important, GOOGLE KEEP, the best app ever for my smartphone, where I keep notes about where my story is headed, conversations they have, details I want to include etc. I have a general idea of where I think the story is going and when I finally get to sit down and write, I just hitch a ride with my characters.
Once I have the bare bones down, then I go back and flesh it out. Once I've fleshed it out, I go back again and edit. And once I've done an edit, then I'll ask a select couple people to read what I have. Those fresh eyes are incredibly helpful in catching things I've missed.
Probably the best thing I do for myself is force myself to vomit out the story. I have to constantly tell myself to just get the dang story out of my head and onto the paper. I can fix it later. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist, and it can be paralyzing to allow that to dictate what I write the first time around.
Thank you for reading about My Writing Process!
I have nominated three other authors to share their process as well. I'm looking forward to reading posts from Colleen Blackstone, John Murray McKay and a third author yet to be named. Their journey starts on July 17th.
Thanks go out to Victoria Clapton for inviting me to hopalong on the blog tour. You can find her musings at the charmingly named, http://www.southerndisappointments.bl... . Ms. Clapton wrote and published two of my favorite thrillers: Dark Light and Luminous Shadows.
So here are my answers to the following questions:
1) What are you working on?
I'm working on book 2 in my Rise of the Battle Bred trilogy. I got this crazy idea for a paranormal story in 2013 and wrote 97 in about a year. This year is dedicated to writing '98'. Obviously the third book is '99'. More and more I'm thinking my book titles sound like the price rollbacks at Wal-Mart.
2) How does your work differ from others in the genre?
While my paranormal series has the typical hallmarks that make YA Paranormal a genre that women come back to again and again, mine is different for a couple reasons. First, I am a huge fan of Regency romance novels, so my writing style tends to slip into that cadence. While I make every effort to have a consistent contemporary feel in my series, I also make no apologies for the occasional nod to Regency that I allow to spill onto my writing. I like to think it makes my paranormal series classy. Second, my characters are really into each other, but they're not overtly sexual. I like being able to recommend my books to anyone, including the friends of my kids, without worrying about offending innocent minds.
3) Why do you write what you do?
Yeah, so if someone had told me five years ago that my debut novel would be a YA Paranormal I would have scoffed at them. I've been 'working on' several Regency novels for over ten years, finished a couple, submitted a couple to publishing houses, and also been busy having several kids. Historical sweet Regency novels were my first love and the books I go back to read when I want to have a 'feel good' reading experience. During a long pregnancy I decided to give YA Paranormal a try, and...uh yeah, I got hooked. So many fun fantasies! Werewolves, vampires, ghosts, demons etc.! Anything goes!
The problem arose when I stumbled upon a couple that weren't very well written. And then I stumbled upon a handful that were astounding. And they were self-published. Suddenly I saw before me the possibility that I could write something and get it out in the public eye without jumping through publishing house hoops. I sat on that epiphany for a while, minding my own business and having that baby.
But it didn't take long for the seed to germinate and once I got my amazing idea for a paranormal romance, I just knew I had to run with it. I had read several great series that followed a specific formula: Three books, offer the first one for free, hook your readers, then sell books two and three. That's what I had always intended to do, and that is my plan once books two and three are completed. If I were to change anything though, I would leave 97 with more of a resolution as the ending. I've had several reviewers and readers complain that the ending was too abrupt, and sadly, I do agree with them.
4) How does your writing process work?
Insert evil laugh. Uh.
Well, first I have to wake up in the morning, and then I have to feed my children, and change diapers, and make sure they're wearing clean clothes, and then I have to scrub toilets and sweep the kitchen floor, and fold and put away laundry, and wash the dirty sheets and brush my teeth or maybe even shower, and then check the email and pay bills, and answer the phone and update my Facebook feed, and referee sibling arguments and police internet usage, then I have to feed the children again and help them get a show to watch, and navigate guilt for not playing on the floor with them so I might indulge in reading some books to them or making a Rainbow loom bracelet. Of course by this time someone has probably spilled milk on the kitchen floor, overflowed a toilet and lost a library book. Wait...what was the question?
Oh right. Well, it's been kind of difficult this year. See in 2013 when I wrote '97' my baby was an immobile infant. He's a completely different animal now...a toddler and into everything. I would like to have 98 finished by December 15, but I'm only about 1/4 of the way done.
But maybe that's not the question. Writing Process.
Believe it or not, I just sit down and start writing. I do have a notepad and even more important, GOOGLE KEEP, the best app ever for my smartphone, where I keep notes about where my story is headed, conversations they have, details I want to include etc. I have a general idea of where I think the story is going and when I finally get to sit down and write, I just hitch a ride with my characters.
Once I have the bare bones down, then I go back and flesh it out. Once I've fleshed it out, I go back again and edit. And once I've done an edit, then I'll ask a select couple people to read what I have. Those fresh eyes are incredibly helpful in catching things I've missed.
Probably the best thing I do for myself is force myself to vomit out the story. I have to constantly tell myself to just get the dang story out of my head and onto the paper. I can fix it later. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist, and it can be paralyzing to allow that to dictate what I write the first time around.
Thank you for reading about My Writing Process!
I have nominated three other authors to share their process as well. I'm looking forward to reading posts from Colleen Blackstone, John Murray McKay and a third author yet to be named. Their journey starts on July 17th.
June 30, 2014
Little Bunny Foo Foo Bloghopping Through the BlogForest
Keep your eyes peeled, I will be having a little bloghop here soon.
HOW goes the book writing, you ask?
Well, it goes. It goes slowly, but it goes. I was going to opine a bit about it here, but the twenty one month old has a poopy diaper, and that pretty much sums up why the book writing is happening so slowly.
There's always poop of one kind or another to deal with. Sigh.
Stay tuned for the BlogHop.
HOW goes the book writing, you ask?
Well, it goes. It goes slowly, but it goes. I was going to opine a bit about it here, but the twenty one month old has a poopy diaper, and that pretty much sums up why the book writing is happening so slowly.
There's always poop of one kind or another to deal with. Sigh.
Stay tuned for the BlogHop.
April 14, 2014
Review Percentages
So I 'sold' over a 1000 books. AWESOME!
My question is this: at one point do the reviews start coming in? I'm not gonna hold my breath, peeps, and I'll tell you why.
When I first got my Kindle, I didn't know there were such things as free books. Then a month or two later someone let me in on a little secret: the free book list.
Oh. My. Word.
I went crazy! I was downloading books like a junkie with a fifty dollar bill. Books, books and more books! Books in every genre! Books for every taste! Books of every length!
At some point, I did actually start reading the books. But, such a long list of To Be Reads. I wish I had written down the method I used to choose which ones I read first. Was it an engaging cover? A clever blurb? A title that had me so curious I couldn't wait?
Generally, I choose books by my mood. If I'm in the mood for a romance, a historical romance, a paranormal...I can tell. I have a specific emotional thing going on in my head and I know what I need.
All of this babbling to say...when I finally got to a book to read it, I probably forgot whether or not it was a free deal or one a friend had recommended. And before I had written and published my own, I didn't know the value of a well-written review!
This is why I'm not going to hold my breath to wait for more reviews. The people who got my book for free were probably, like me, browsing the free books and downloading file after file. Who knows when they will get around to actually reading mine.
And that, my friends, is why I should probably get back on the PR campaign in social media. If I can get the word out there to a wide enough audience, hopefully I can catch a few of the buyers and remind them to read that cool sounding book they got for a song.
My question is this: at one point do the reviews start coming in? I'm not gonna hold my breath, peeps, and I'll tell you why.
When I first got my Kindle, I didn't know there were such things as free books. Then a month or two later someone let me in on a little secret: the free book list.
Oh. My. Word.
I went crazy! I was downloading books like a junkie with a fifty dollar bill. Books, books and more books! Books in every genre! Books for every taste! Books of every length!
At some point, I did actually start reading the books. But, such a long list of To Be Reads. I wish I had written down the method I used to choose which ones I read first. Was it an engaging cover? A clever blurb? A title that had me so curious I couldn't wait?
Generally, I choose books by my mood. If I'm in the mood for a romance, a historical romance, a paranormal...I can tell. I have a specific emotional thing going on in my head and I know what I need.
All of this babbling to say...when I finally got to a book to read it, I probably forgot whether or not it was a free deal or one a friend had recommended. And before I had written and published my own, I didn't know the value of a well-written review!
This is why I'm not going to hold my breath to wait for more reviews. The people who got my book for free were probably, like me, browsing the free books and downloading file after file. Who knows when they will get around to actually reading mine.
And that, my friends, is why I should probably get back on the PR campaign in social media. If I can get the word out there to a wide enough audience, hopefully I can catch a few of the buyers and remind them to read that cool sounding book they got for a song.
March 22, 2014
Free Books
You hate to do it, but desperate times and all that...
I offered my book free for two days. It's amazing to see the number go from 5 sold, to almost 1000. Not making a red cent, but the publicity!
It's what I keep telling myself. It's a marketing tactic!
What I want to know is, what are the statistics on reviews from every 1000 customers? Being a reader long before I was a purveyor of Kindle books, I know that a good deal of folks won't actually read the free book for a while. I STILL have books on my Kindle that I got for free and then forgot about.
I just hope the exposure nets me some good PR.
In the meantime, I'm knuckling down on Book 2.
Have a good weekend. And if you want a free book:
http://www.amazon.com/97-Rise-Battle-Bred-Holt-ebook/dp/B00H7QLK8G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395536619&sr=8-1&keywords=97+by+holt
I offered my book free for two days. It's amazing to see the number go from 5 sold, to almost 1000. Not making a red cent, but the publicity!
It's what I keep telling myself. It's a marketing tactic!
What I want to know is, what are the statistics on reviews from every 1000 customers? Being a reader long before I was a purveyor of Kindle books, I know that a good deal of folks won't actually read the free book for a while. I STILL have books on my Kindle that I got for free and then forgot about.
I just hope the exposure nets me some good PR.
In the meantime, I'm knuckling down on Book 2.
Have a good weekend. And if you want a free book:
http://www.amazon.com/97-Rise-Battle-Bred-Holt-ebook/dp/B00H7QLK8G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395536619&sr=8-1&keywords=97+by+holt
February 26, 2014
Review Fireworks
There you are, swimming along in Book 2, trying not to obsess about Book 1 and whether or not you sold any this month.
And then reviews start coming in from your Goodreads Giveaway...and then you're soaring in the clouds! Someone loves your book!
Someone relates to it on a personal level, identifies with the characters and can't wait for Book 2!
And then another review comes in, and this one is from a reader who doesn't fit your market group...is so out of your market group in fact, that you can't believe they even turned to the first page, and THEY loved your book too!
What a glorious happy day!
And now you're feverishly working on Book 2 so you can deliver and make your readers happy too!
And then reviews start coming in from your Goodreads Giveaway...and then you're soaring in the clouds! Someone loves your book!
Someone relates to it on a personal level, identifies with the characters and can't wait for Book 2!
And then another review comes in, and this one is from a reader who doesn't fit your market group...is so out of your market group in fact, that you can't believe they even turned to the first page, and THEY loved your book too!
What a glorious happy day!
And now you're feverishly working on Book 2 so you can deliver and make your readers happy too!
February 10, 2014
Daydreaming About Twilight's Marketing Team
Just think about it. If us Indie authors had the power and backing of Twilight's publishing house...how far could our work go?
Pretty dang far.
Over 100 million copies sold. Translated into 37 different languages.
Twilight_Cover by vampynicole
Of course, the things we love about independent publishing might also be gone.
For example, I LOVE my cover and I don't know if a publishing house would let me have the leeway I want with regard to my cover designs. (Thanks Navy House!)
Same goes for story concept and creative license and all the things that make up our stories that we would be loathe to change.
Until the day our books get BIG we might have to wonder though...would a House make us change this that and the other, and in turn...would we sell 100 million copies?
Write on.
Pretty dang far.
Over 100 million copies sold. Translated into 37 different languages.
Twilight_Cover by vampynicoleOf course, the things we love about independent publishing might also be gone.
For example, I LOVE my cover and I don't know if a publishing house would let me have the leeway I want with regard to my cover designs. (Thanks Navy House!)
Same goes for story concept and creative license and all the things that make up our stories that we would be loathe to change.
Until the day our books get BIG we might have to wonder though...would a House make us change this that and the other, and in turn...would we sell 100 million copies?
Write on.
