Jaimey’s Comments (group member since Jun 18, 2009)

Jaimey’s comments from the Author Support Group group.

Susan wrote: "Hey, guys, I run a promo blog over at West of Mars. It's called Win a Book, and what I do is post LINKS ONLY to contests being run BY OTHERS. (You have no idea how many people ask if I'll give thei..."

Hi Susan! You have a great looking blog. Thanx for the link. I'll be sure to check it out from time to time. :o) It might be a good idea to post this as a new thread in the contests folder. You will get a little more exposure that way and people can ask you questions directly, if they have them. :o)

Sharon wrote: "I'm participating in the Smashwords summer promotion: Enter coupon code SSW50 at checkout to get "In The Eye of The Beholder" for half-price: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view..."

Hi Sharon! I think you should start your own thread for this one, since it's a full month promotion. :o)

Did I miss anything?

I wanted to note that if a thread is started in a folder that may not be the best one for it, it will be moved by one of the moderators to the appropriate folder.

Thank you.

It occurred to me that some of our wonderful members may not know how to create one of these fabulous fan pages on facebook. I thought I would include this brief tutorial. :o)

Start here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

Select your category: I chose the third one, Artist, Band or Public Figure. (Writer is the last option in the drop-down menu.)

Name of writer: (Rather self-explanatory)

Last step: Be sure to check mark the box that you are verified to create this page for the writer you represent, including your electronic signature.

After that, it is up to you what kind of related content you want to post. The first thing I did was edit my general info and upload a profile pic. Then I added a photo album featuring the cover art for my four books. I felt a little lost after that, wondering what to do. I added some links: one to smashwords.com for anyone who wants to sample up to 50% of each of my books, some nice reviews here on goodreads, some general "Jaimey Grant" related updates, etc. I made sure fans are able to post to my wall and comment on content--if I remember correctly, these are the default settings.

Eventually, you'll have something similar to this: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jaimey-...

Mine's not the best example, so here's a few more:

The Poisoned Apple: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Poi...
Gina Collia-Suzuki: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gina-Co...
Sharon Cathcart: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sharon-...

Super easy! Let's get those fan pages up and running, people!! :o)

Any questions?

Becky wrote: "I'm new to all this. Right now I'm using Twitter, various other forums, and Google checkout which brought me more exposure. I'm still trying to find ways to get it out there. We are also sending promotional copies to people who might have connections."

Sounds like you have a good start. It is all a learning experience. I'm currently offering a free download of my first book, Betrayal, from Smashwords.com. We'll see how well that works to get attention.

Penelope wrote: "The man,I did not know, took my picture with my book in hand and said it would be in the Washington State Museum with the other famous people from Spokane. It would be with the autographs of all he had collected. I felt important for that moment but humble. It was a great boost to make me really feeling like an author. He explained that my picture would be in the same company as several well-known authors, famous movie stars like Bing Crosby, TV personality, Craig T. Nelson who played The Coach and then race car driver Richard Petty."

That's great! How exciting for you!! :o)

I tried this yesterday; I'm not sure how effective it was. I recommended Madison's book to 33 of my friends. I tried to select friends with children or grandchildren, teachers, or ones with that sort of book on their shelves. Oh, and ones in the US since it is about the educational system in the US. I also left out those who are quite active in this group since I know many of you are already planning to read it. :o)

Bernadette wrote: "I'm on Chapter 10 of Betrayal now and loving it! (a little ice for your bruise?)"

Thank you, Bernadette. That helps. :o)

Welcome to the group, Susan! :o)

I didn't realize how close Betrayal actually was to the rest. I didn't think it would "sell" enough to do what it did. I really didn't want that to happen.

Ok, I'll drop it now.

Good news: I got a compliment on my short short. That surprised me a little. I was expecting it to be torn to shreds. Tough love and all...

Sharon wrote: ""In The Eye of The Beholder" is the #2 best-selling romance at Smashwords:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/cate...

Hooray!"

Sharon, your tip worked. All I can do is apologize profusely as what happened was not my intention. I swear. :o(

(Sharon wrote: "I had a half-price coupon once time and that elevated things ... I need to do it again, I think.")

Thanx. I'll have to check the Editor Unleashed forums, too, I think. If I can work up the courage. :o)

I don't suppose you know of any free contests? lol

I meant to ask you:

Do you know of any contests that would be right for my story? I'm very, very new to the whole flash fiction, entering writing competitions thing but I can't let go of the "liking" I have for my story. I don't know. What do you think? Should I try again?

That's a great title! Then, when people read his name, they'll go, OMG! (I think I had an actual blond teenager moment there. Did you hear the weird inflection in my "voice" when I said OMG?)

I'm so relieved you are not mad! And very glad I could be of help. :o)

Ok. Please, please, please don't take this wrong. It was the title. By using "Judas" in the title, you kind of gave the ending away. For me, anyway. I read the title, realized in the first sentence that there was a man involved, and kind of knew where it was heading. Otherwise, I thought it was very well-written and descriptive--I had no trouble picturing the whole scenario. An interesting story, really. It was just the title taking the surprise away that really "marred" it for me.

Are you mad? *cringe*

I didn't get to read them all either but I did get to read your story. Do you want to know what I thought? I hesitate to post in the forums--for the reasons stated earlier--but there was one semi(and I mean semi)-negative thing about yours that really stood out to me. (Honestly, I can't remember exactly what rating I gave you, though.)

As far as the rating goes, it was good old-fashioned sandbagging, as you said. With the views, however, most of the stories had at least 50 views before the voting even started.

Hey, Sharon! Did you get to read my story? Now that's the contest is over, I'm dying to know what you thought of it.

The Fold

I'm terrified of the people over in the forums so I don't know if I can go over there and see what others will say. I know I got a bunch of 1-star votes.

Yeah, wow. That would be a huge oops, wouldn't it? I recently discovered the word "hallway" wasn't used in Regency England either. Never even occurred to me to look that one up. Heck, it never occurred to me to look up "handicap" for some reason. I'm a little in awe of myself for thinking the term was that old...

After complaining to my hubby about it, he told me it was impossible to please some people and just focus on the good comments I've gotten. I'll pay close attention to the characterization in my WIPs, however--that's about all I can do at this point.

Sharon wrote: "I can tell you that, after reading four complete chapters of your book, I'm not confused at all."

Did you see the anonymous review I got for Heartless on Amazon? They claimed there were too many characters and not enough interaction between the main characters. I will admit that there are a LOT of characters. I had hoped I did well with them, though.

Oh, just FYI: My husband pointed out a historical inaccuracy in Heartless. I used the word "handicap" in reference to people with disabilities. That word was only used back then in regard to racing. Oops. :o)