Erin’s Comments (group member since Jan 28, 2017)

Erin’s comments from the Navigating Indieworld Discussing All Things Indie group.

Alex wrote: "I know this may seem silly, but I just don't understand the mentality of people like that. If you don't like a book you can say as much without being nasty, and there's no need to attack an author,..."

It's baffling isn't it? I went to review a book once and saw through the comments that the author and another reviewer had been engaged in a two year back and forth argument. Can you imagine! Accusations of bullying and review rigging were flying like bullets. The comments were wayyy more exciting than the book :/

Justin wrote: "I found this out the hard way. When I got my first negative review on here I did the worst thing you could..I wrote the person. I know, it was dumb but I was an amateur and didn't know you shouldn'..."

Ouch, that is a true review horror story. But yeah, I agree with everything you'r saying. I don't get bent out of shape about negative reviews but this one bothered me on a professional level because the reviewer was another author in a review round and she did not read the book. At all, in my opinion. And to me that is a breach of the terms you agree to when you agree to participate. But again, totally agree with you :)

Theodore wrote: "Erin wrote: "Theodore wrote: "Erin wrote: "Theodore wrote: "I will also tell you that my lead character, disabled Iraqi War veteran Det. Louis Martelli, NYPD, always listens to Country-Western when..."

Perrrfect! Thank you very much.

Theodore wrote: "Erin wrote: "Theodore wrote: "I will also tell you that my lead character, disabled Iraqi War veteran Det. Louis Martelli, NYPD, always listens to Country-Western when he's in the car alone. Here's..."

I'm in! I also think my hubby would love this guy. He's a huge Sandford fan. Can you link the book here? It makes it super easy for people to check it out.

Theodore wrote: "Erin wrote: "Theodore wrote: "I will respond to your question with one specific reference: the ending of my mystery/thriller End Game, the third book in Cold Blood, my Antarctic Murders Trilogy, de..."

;P

Theodore wrote: "I will also tell you that my lead character, disabled Iraqi War veteran Det. Louis Martelli, NYPD, always listens to Country-Western when he's in the car alone. Here's an excerpt from Death by Wall..."

This is too much!! My next novella is about a rancher and his lady-love so a lot of great western and bluegrass has been on my playlist lately - yee ha!! I may have to check out this book :)

Theodore wrote: "I will respond to your question with one specific reference: the ending of my mystery/thriller End Game, the third book in Cold Blood, my Antarctic Murders Trilogy, depends critically on the timing..."

Ooh that is SO cool - I'm getting Gary Oldman vibes! And a sudden desire to pull the covers over my head...

What kind of music do your characters explore space, solve crimes, commit crimes, pursue a love interest or explore the world to? Annnd...when you're writing what's on repeat on Spotify or your 8 track player or your...Victrola?

*snaps fingers, chair dances while waiting*

Margaret wrote: "Another great idea from a great group! Looking forward to learning as I definitely need the help. So much of what comes after the writing is overwhelming, I'll take any advice I can get."I wish goodreads had a 'like' button lol.

Christine wrote: "This is a great idea, Erin. I look forward to learning more about AMS from Nicole."

Thank you - I'm with you. AMS is one of those things that I consider, go to the site to begin, look around and then go goof around on Youtube because the process seems overwhelming lol.

Eldon wrote: "Awesome idea Erin :D Should be informative!"

can give one on taglines ;)

You guys be sure and let us know what topics you would like to see covered :)

Erica wrote: "Thank you for the help! This is probably a stupid question, but can I change my theme in the future if my website needs change? Also, can I make changes to the HTML code that comes with a theme inc..."

You can def change the theme. I'll pick a theme, add my content and then switch it to six or seven themes in one sitting just to see which one suits me. You can also tweak the codes quite easily by altering the source files. This can only be done in Wordpress.org and not Wordpress.com which is another great reason to use .org with bluehost. Just so you know, wordpress doesn't use html it uses css. It is quite a learning curve, personally, but there are tons of sites that provide css code that is cut and paste so you can customize rather easily. Still, I recommend copying and pasting any code in its entirety before you make any changes just in case you goof and need to revert back to the original css code. I don't even miss html now and I don't do any css coding either. All of it is worth it because of shortcodes. They will be your new best friend! Lastly, here is my email in case you ever need to reach out (view spoiler)[eldanielsromance@gmail.com (hide spoiler)]

Erica wrote: "I am starting an author website and have already purchased my domain name. I have decided that I want to go with my own website instead of an option like worpress.com. This is new to me and I want ..."

Congrats and good for you! I use Bluehost and I really love them - great pricing, great customer service that will talk you down off any ledge and your Wordpress.org site is free with your domain registration. You just set it up, it takes 5 minutes and you're ready to start building a great site. Also bluehost gives you unlimited emails, so, yeah, I'm a fan. And yes there are hundreds of themes that are completely free - no hidden fees. Just take some time and test drive a few of them until you find one you love. Just make sure it is a responsive theme so you know it will work on IOS and Android devices. Feel free to ask me any questions - I'm a huge fan of WP and am happy to help :)

Jessica Richardson at The Cover Bistro is really good. Sorry I don't have a link but if you can't locate her site let me know and I'll dig through some emails :)

Alex wrote: "I have nothing to say other than I look forward to hearing and seeing what gets asked and what Nicole has to say in response. With any luck it will expand my knowledge and help me with my nascent a..."

*high five*

Carole wrote: "Sounds like a great idea!"

Thank you - I'd also love to eventually pull in some writing pros such as graphics designers, marketing gurus, even a trad publisher if I can catch one lol!

Great news NIW members - this week we will begin the first in a planned series of author resource Q&As. I know, right?!! This is an exciting opportunity for author members to share the knowledge and experience vital to helping us grow as authorpreneurs.
The key to this being awesome sauce is participation - the more of us that contribute the wider our knowledge base becomes. Collaboration and support are two important characteristics of this group so I'm excited to see what we can learn from one another!
Our first Q&A will be on Amazon Marketing Services and how it can help you get your titles in front of more Amazon customers. Our host will be author Nicole R Locker. Check her page out, visit her site, follow her, send her virtual cookies - all or any of the above. So line up your questions or concerns and watch out for Friday's post from Nicole.

The way it works is the Q&A host will post his or her topical info on Friday and you guys will have roughly 24-ish hours to post your own questions or requests for clarification, more information etc. The host will then go through the thread and answer questions, address issues etc. This way the host isn't scrambling back and forth checking for updates or new questions. This also gives us members time to think of our questions and check the thread to make sure it hasn't already been asked because no one likes repetition. Again, no one likes repetion.

Our first info sharing session will be Q&A but eventually we'd love to add webinars, workshops and other cool, interesting ways to educate, share and grow as writing professionals.

So yeah! Please comment below and leave any suggestions, ideas, cookie recipes, requests etc. Okay, one of those did not belong but I'm not comfortable saying which one ha ha. That, and I feel like I made up the word authorpreneur. Spellcheck thinks I did, at least. I could google it to see but being delusional is underappreciated, you know? Bigly thanks to Nicky Locker for taking on a complex subject to help us all out a bit. I'm looking forward to this and I can't wait for our first author Q&A!! Woot :) 

Pat wrote: "From a readers point of view, I've stopped reading the big name authors and opted to read more Indie authors. The novels are just as good or better. The issue is the price. I haven't read any novel..."

Very true. If I'm desperate for a new release trad book I just get it from Audible. I have a membership and I don't even have to do the reading lol. 40 books a year is awesome - the average American reads 12 books a year.

It's so complicated. People perceive value through cost and that can hurt indies while silmultaneously you have trad pubs intentionally pricing their ebooks significantly higher than the $2.99 KU baseline in order to draw a distinction between trad and indie for readers. Sadly that tactic is working and readers equate KU and the price to quality. What to do?I don't know but pricing yourself out of the market is just sales suicide. Another problem is the glut of free and reduced ebooks flooding the market, by indies mostly. If I didn't really want to and had the time to wade through the muck and find the really good ones, I could go forever without having to purchase a book. It's getting to the point where readers are saying, well for $0.99 this book better be really, really good. What?? How sad.