Random stuff - the something good happened thread Showing 1,851-1,900 of 3,973

[Amy]

Reported the price thingy Alex. Well done sorting that out.

Well done Chrys, excellent result.

[Amy]

Nice one Erica.

I wrote a chapter of Iridessian Haunts yesterday and a chapter of Missing Remnants today. They need typing up, editing, listening to and submitting before Wednesday. (I'm so very tired. I can't do any more today.)

[Erica]

Wish I was caught up on my reading list. I really want to read some of your new work, Amy. Will it eventually be available somewhere other that Radish? Not that I won't read it on radish, I am just curious. :)

[Amy]

Alex wrote: "Thanks, Amy. Good work on your two books, don't blame you for being tired, sounds like you need a bit of relaxation."

I've got sewing to do and a DVD to watch, I'm very much off duty.

[Amy]

Erica wrote: "Wish I was caught up on my reading list. I really want to read some of your new work, Amy. Will it eventually be available somewhere other that Radish? Not that I won't read it on radish, I am just..."

OMG yes, Amazon, ibooks, kobo, nook, that other one I can't remember and in paperback. I want it to go very wide and I want to end up in one of Carole's gift bags at some point if possible.

[Chrys]

I've signed up to NaNoWriMo, so I'm on duty every evening! So far I'm hitting my daily target.

[Sam (Rescue Dog Mom, Writer, Hugger)]

Congratulations Erica!! Hugs

[Sam (Rescue Dog Mom, Writer, Hugger)]

Congratulations, Chrys! I love helping people! Hugs

[Chrys]

Thanks Sam. Additional downloads are pouring in now that the promo has gone out, but I treasure the ones which friends helped to achieve for me.

[Erica]

Great progress Alex!

[Sam (Rescue Dog Mom, Writer, Hugger)]

Wonderful news, Alex. Wishing you sales and success. Hugs

[Judy]

great, Erica!

[Ben]

Well, I have a couple of good things that happened. First off, I sold a heap of one of my books on Ingram, I'm guessing to a library chain or club or something! That was pretty exciting!

And, I emailed Amazon and they price matched one of my books and made it perma-free! So, if anyone would like a free Kindle copy of The Day My Fart Followed Me To The Dentist, then check it out!

https://www.amazon.com/Fart-Followed-...

Good week so far!

[Carole]

Great news, guys!

Ben was that the book we put on the flyer?

[Angel]

Alex wrote: "That is fabulous Ben, so pleased for you. Having a permafree book in a series can make all the difference in the world. I'm trying to get my book permafree again and may have to resort to emailing ..."

Thanks, Alex for mentioning me!

[Angel]

I'm so excited because my book was just nominated for the 2017 Readers Choice Awards! Please vote for it at: https://www.tckpublishing.com/readers...

It's on page 10 in the Mystery category, scroll down and you'll see the Weeping Well title. Please, vote for me!

[Angel]

Alex wrote: "You're welcome Angel, I'm only sorry that I was selfish and used my single vote for myself."

That's ok.

[Anna]

Could you put a link to the exact pages you guys have your books on please? Sorry to be so lazy. My excuse is I'm always short of time but I'd love to help - if I've read them...!

[Angel]

Alex is correct. They don't give us exact links to our books in our category, which that's what I was worried about. It makes it hard to get votes because people are less likely to search for it when you don't have direct links.

[Sam (Rescue Dog Mom, Writer, Hugger)]

Congratulations Ben, Alex, Angel, and Carole (read in another thread her Children's book was nominated on the same site)! Good luck to you all! Hugs

[Anna]

Yes, good luck to you all. I wish you could all win. Wouldn't that be great! We could have a group party.

[Angel]

Sam (Rescue Dog Mom, Writer, Hugger) wrote: "Congratulations Ben, Alex, Angel, and Carole (read in another thread her Children's book was nominated on the same site)! Good luck to you all! Hugs"

Thank you!

[Angel]

Anna Faversham wrote: "Yes, good luck to you all. I wish you could all win. Wouldn't that be great! We could have a group party."
Yes, Anna! that would be nice!

[Erica]

I wish I could vote for more than one book in a category. Thanks for keeping us posted on everyone who is nominated and best of luck! If you haven't voted in the fantasy category yet (page 8) Del Henderson's book "The Unicorn Hunter" has been nominated.

[Carole]

I don't know how my books got in there- Brit must have entered it- Was there an entrance fee?

[Carole]

Ah ha!!

Well, I fired the fancy publicist we hired for my son's book. In the three months he's taken BIG money, all the articles, blogs, and mentions from Google come from my office, not his. He's gotten one spot on the radio- So, another expensive experiment I now have the experience to share- Even if you think you aren't known because you don't have a pr machine working to put your name out- I can tell you I would have had better results by placing all that money on the hard eight.

[Christine]

Congratulations and good luck to all of you in the Reader Choice Awards!

[Angel]

Carole wrote: "Ah ha!!

Well, I fired the fancy publicist we hired for my son's book. In the three months he's taken BIG money, all the articles, blogs, and mentions from Google come from my office, not his. He'..."

Sorry to hear that, Carole!

[Carole]

Thanks Christine
Alex-
I don't mind- it would have eaten at me- I'm discovering that some of the best publicity is the stuff I do on my own. We did a huge mailing and I know all his reviews are the result of my own mailing list. We sent out bags of books and swag to colleges all over the country- it's netted him quite a few interviews. What I'm saying is that people who think they can't sell their books because they don't have an expensive team pushing it- don't realize the best promoter is yourself.

[Carole]

I'm actually pretty proud of what we've done. We gave it our best shot- the rest is up to seeing if the book has staying power. But, I have to say- this is the saddest Christmas season I've seen for book sales in over five years. The numbers are just off. I lowered all my prices to save the books from sinking into the higher ratings, where thy can disappear.

[Carmel]

Carole wrote: "Thanks Christine
Alex-
I don't mind- it would have eaten at me- I'm discovering that some of the best publicity is the stuff I do on my own. We did a huge mailing and I know all his reviews are the..."

Carole, can you explain what you mean by sending books and swag to colleges across the country? What do you send, and how do you find the places to send to? College bookstores? I was thinking of trying some local, but if you have any advice about how you go about it, I'd love to learn from you. When you do mailings, who all do you target, and how do you get the database to use to find them? And....I voted! The links at the top allow you to skip to find the appropriate genres...didn't take long to find you!

[Carole]

Thanks, Carmen. I have a mailing list that I started building six years ago, when I began publishing. I would do a press announcement with Bostick and people would write asking for a copy to review. I combed the Amazon top reviewers and wrote them asking for honest reviews. I did blog tours with people like Bianca Schulz The Children's Book Review and she would give me people who signed up to hear about the books. I put them in a Mail Chimp list that now has over five thousand people. My mailing lists is over a thousand, my Kindle list is also over a thousand. For my son's book, Monsterland- we bought swag- t shirts, hats, pencils, my son made the front page of the fictional town where the event happens, fidget spinners- crap like that- We googled a list of all college newspapers. Every college newspaper has an arts and entertainment editor. We sent it to them and have had a great result. Every time I had someone interested, I added them to my lists and it keeps growing. I do event bags for the awards shows in LA- so I started filling them with our books. I then decided to open it up to other indies- so, for instance-- I think we had eighty bags for the Emmy's. They had a few books that were donated, and I had Brit prepare a flyer with everyone's books- because I know most can't send in that many books. Carmen, I don't go to the drug store without books- I hand them out in the salon, doctor's office, - you name it.

[Carmel]

Carole wrote: "Thanks, Carmen. I have a mailing list that I started building six years ago, when I began publishing. I would do a press announcement with Bostick and people would write asking for a copy to review..."

Well, you are truly amazing! Thank you for all that information. It sounds like I need to be more creative, as well as be willing to give more away as a place to start!

[Carole]

Read through the threads. It's filled with creative people who are all working on getting their book out there.

RL started a magazine because she couldn't afford ads- it's now in it's sixth month and going strong. You can write an article for it and it is a great way for people to learn about you.

We have a blog roll- Do you have a blog? Would you like to be on mine? Ben Jackson would be happy to feature your book. We all do it as a courtesy to each other. Many of the other people here would be willing to share their blog space as well. There are clever folks here, who can rattle off all kinds of statics of which is the best blog tour, or place to advertise. They have studied it and really know their stuff.

Don't be afraid to ask- there is never a wrong question or a bad answer.

[Carole]

Something interesting happened to me today- I was invited to be a contributing author on some site called Medium.

They accepted my first article which should be put up sometime in the next few days. I don't know anything about them- but I'll let you know as I learn.

[Sam (Rescue Dog Mom, Writer, Hugger)]

Congratulations, Carole! Have fun! Hugs

[Anna]

On here? https://medium.com/

Wow! Congratulations.

[Amy]

Congrats. I joined Medium a couple of weeks ago as I saw a Radish article on it. Not sure what Medium actually is though.

[Carole]

Apparently, I have a page already. I commented on someone's else's article and my comments are there. I have to figure this place out.

https://medium.com/search?q=carole%20...

[Sam (Rescue Dog Mom, Writer, Hugger)]

Alex... I believe I have all your books, but will download them again... you had me at that adorable dog photo!! Hugs

[Becky]

Wow, Carole, that's awesome!! Post that link here when it's up. Yay!

[Becky]

Also, your list of the things you do is so inspiring. I just now sent off a message to Bostick to see if they accept press releases for already-published books as opposed to to-be-published ones. I should also arm myself with my books and sow them blithely everywhere I go! I've been in Alex's boat where I _want_ to do something like all those things, but various reasons/excuses hold me back. Just sending that message out made me feel pretty good and able to tackle more.

[Carole]

I hope Bostick does the release- They may not- They like to do new books- but you never know.

A lot of what I do is just time consuming. Also, things have changed on Amazon- willing reviewers are harder to find then hen's teeth. Beck- google my name and just write all the blogs I've been on- they are all mommy bloggers and willing to review if you read their policies. Do ten at a time, so it's not overwhelming. Start with Jaylynn Patterson, from It's a Simple Life- Really and Gabby Bixler Reviews. The other think you can do is google mommy reviewers- Thousands will come up- you just have to sit and write them- They all have policies and if you send an ebook- most will review.

[Erica]

I am the Readers Review Room November Blog Boast winner!!! The really cool thing is that the article I submitted was originally posted on the Navigating Indieworld website, so anyone who wants to read it is automatically redirected to Navigating Indieworld. :) http://readersreviewroom.com/november...

[Carole]

YEAH!! Great job!!

[Sam (Rescue Dog Mom, Writer, Hugger)]

Awesome! Congrats, Erica! Hugs

[Becky]

Excellent advice, thank you, Carole.

Erica, you go, girl!!!!

[Erica]

Thanks all! :)

[Judy]

Erica wrote: "I am the Readers Review Room November Blog Boast winner!!! The really cool thing is that the article I submitted was originally posted on the Navigating Indieworld website, so anyone who wants to r..."

Great, Erica!

[Angel]

Way to go, Erica!